Obama pursued a fascist takeover of the private sector instead of jobs; now, it may be too late for him to save his party with jobs

Robert Gibbs, Barack Obama’s chief spokesman, got into hot water this week for daring to speak the truth – that the Democrats could lose control of the House of Representatives in November. But it could be even worse than that.

Contrary to pretty much every projection until now, Democratic control of the Senate is also starting to come into question. While Mr Obama’s approval ratings have continued to fall, and now hover at dangerously close to 40 per cent according an ABC-Washington Post poll published on Tuesday, the fate of his former colleagues in the Senate looks even worse.

In the past few days polls have shown Republican challengers taking the lead over previously safe Democratic incumbents, such as Barbara Boxer in California and Russ Feingold in Wisconsin. Indeed, given the uniformly negative direction in the numbers, it is now quite possible the Republicans could win the Senate seats formerly held by both President Obama in Illinois, and Joe Biden, vice-president, in Delaware.

Add to that the continuing woes of Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic majority leader, in Nevada, where the Republican party’s recent nomination of Sharron Angle, a far-right and highly eccentric Tea Party supporter, appear to have had no positive effect on Mr Reid’s prospects, and the Grand Old party has a good shot at taking control of both houses of Congress. Worse for Mr Obama, political scientists say that at this stage in the calendar, there is almost nothing he can do about it.

“If you ask me where the silver lining is for President Obama, I have to say I cannot see one,” says Bill Galston, a former Clinton official, who has been predicting for months the Democrats could lose the House. “Just as BP’s failure to cap the well has been so damaging, Obama’s failure to cap unemployment will be his undoing. There is nothing he can do to affect the jobless rate before November.”

Spectator blog rips RINO Charlie Crist for indie bid for Florida Senate seat

Florida's Republican in Name Only governor Charlie Crist made it official Thursday. He won't even be a Republican in name on the ballot in November. He will run for the U.S. Senate as an independent because conservative former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio ran him out of the Republican primary.

Of course, Crist didn't frame his move this way yesterday. Rather he made yet another attempt to conflate his own self-interest with that of all Floridians. It's unlikely a large fraction of Florida voters will buy it. .

"My decision to run for the United States Senate as a candidate without party affiliation in many ways says more about our nation and our state than it does about me," Crist unctuously intoned to a small crowd in downtown St. Petersburg gathered to hear his announcement. "Our political system is broken," he added.

Nonsense on steroids. Crist's desperate decision to bolt the Republican Party came entirely because Republicans in Florida clearly prefer Rubio, who has run an effective retail campaign based on principles of limited government, free enterprise, a strong national defense, and opposition to the Obama agenda.

Crist tried to counter Rubio's solid record in the Florida House and Rubio's conservative campaign with a record as governor that's all over the ideological map:

Barely one-third like McCain's performance, but he's headed for another win

Sen. John McCain got some good and bad news in a new Public Policy Polling survey of the Arizona Senate race (April 23-25, 813 RV, MoE +/- 3.4%). The longtime incumbent polls far better against a Democrat than does his GOP primary opponent, former Rep. J.D. Hayworth.

However, at 34% McCain's job approval rating is 11 points lower than Obama's. Less than 50% of Republicans approve of McCain's job performance, as do only 28% of independents.

With Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman (D) unknown to most of the state, McCain bests him in a hypothetical matchup by 16 points while Glassman holds a 3-point lead over Hayworth.

McCain 49 - Glassman 33 - Und 18

Hayworth 39 - Glassman 42 - Und 19

RCP currently classifies the race as Safe Republican.