Daily Political Wire 3-29-2010

George Wenschhof



Yesterday, President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan - after, he fooled most of the media (including me) with a story he was spending the entire weekend at the presidential retreat Camp David.

After giving a pep talk and the assurance of support to the 2000 troops at Bagram Air Base near Kabul, the President flew by helicopter for a meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.

Interestingly, reports are that Karzai was not informed until the President was within two hours of Afghanistan. The Karzai government remains fragile and full of corruption.

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President Nicolas Sarkozy of France arrives in D.C. today - he will be in town for two days including a meeting and dinner with President Obama tomorrow. France has been an ally with the U.S. in Afghanistan so expect that to be part of the discussion. The NY Times has more here.

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Washington Post/ABC News poll shows bounce for Democrats - 76% of registered Democrats are now looking forward to the mid term elections and the poll also shows Democrats with a 4 point advantage (48-44) over Republicans in a generic ballot test.

The final passage of the health care reform bill along with the announcement by President Obama of a new agreement with Russia to reduce nuclear weapons has also given Obama a boost and he now has a 54% approval rating.

However, the economy, the federal deficit and immigration continue to be lagging indicators for the President and these three areas are sure to have an impact on the mid term elections. The Washington Post has more here.

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In case you missed some of the Sunday morning "Talking Heads", some highlights courtesy of Politico.com

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U.S. Treasury to sell it's entire assets of Citgroup - the U.S. had acquired a 27% stake in Citigroup during the bailouts on 2008 and 2009. A trading plan has been developed and will be implemented based on market conditions. It is estimated this sale would result in 8 billion in U.S. profit. Citigroup has already repaid the other 20 billion it owed the Treasury. MSNBC.com has more here.

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