Poll: The most unpopular senator
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- Category: News
- Created on Tuesday, December 11 2012 08:11
- Posted or Written by: KEVIN CIRILLI
From: Politico
Sen. Mitch McConnell is the most unpopular senator in the nation.
The Republican lawmaker faces a 55 percent disapproval rating, while just 37 percent of Kentucky voters approve of him, according to a Public Policy Polling poll released Tuesday.
PPP says that McConnell now has the worst favorable/unfavorable numbers of any senator, snatching the dubious title from Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).
Among Republicans, McConnell — now in his fifth term — has a 59 percent approval rating, with 28 percent disapproving of the Senate minority leader. Among independents, he’s got a 33 percent approval rating, 58 percent disapproval. And among Democrats, 23 percent approve and 73 percent disapprove.
Can Obama, McConnell overcome bad blood?
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- Category: News
- Created on Thursday, November 29 2012 11:56
- Posted or Written by: MANU RAJU and JOHN BRESNAHAN
From: Politico
Shortly before Thanksgiving, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered a blunt message in a private phone call to President Barack Obama: You won only four out of 120 Kentucky counties and lost many senators' home states.
McConnell was trying to pointedly warn Obama that mounting a public relations campaign to avert the fiscal cliff could backfire, according to sources familiar with the call.
It was a moment that exemplified the frosty relationship between two of the most important men in Washington. They've rarely met or spoken privately since Obama moved into the Oval Office four years ago. Obama and his team view McConnell as a cold political operator whose main goal has been to see Obama's defeat -- McConnell famously said two years ago that "the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." McConnell believes Obama has shown virtually no interest in bipartisan negotiating or even reaching out to Republicans at all -- and refuses to lead on difficult policy disputes.
Now, as Washington lurches towards an economy-shaking budget crisis, the adversarial relationship between the president and the top Republican in the Senate looms over serious deal making on the fiscal cliff. For any tax and spending package to get 60 votes in the Senate, McConnell and Obama will have to agree on something -- and so far, it's not clear if there's anything that the two men can settle on.
Complaint filed against Kentucky teacher who wrote 'You can't be a Democrat & go to heaven'
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- Category: News
- Created on Tuesday, November 27 2012 05:06
- Posted or Written by: Bill Estep
From: Lexington Herald-Leader
The mother of a Laurel County, Ky., high school student has filed a complaint against a teacher who wrote "You can't be a Democrat & go to heaven" on her classroom whiteboard.
The teacher, Kendra Baker, wrote the statement denigrating Democrats in her room at South Laurel High School the week after the Nov. 6 election, said Mary Gilbert.
Gilbert's daughter, Chelsea, 17, was in Baker's psychology class.
"I feel like she was bullied by a teacher," Gilbert said of her daughter.
Gilbert said she filed a complaint against Baker with the state Education Professional Standards Board, which issues credentials to teachers.
Attempts by the Herald-Leader to reach Baker for comment were not successful.
Laurel County Superintendent Doug Bennett confirmed Monday that the teacher's actions violated the school district's policy and that the issue had been addressed with her. -Video after the jump-
