Inside the Dome: April 6th, 2010

April 6th, 2010, Washington, DC–From ALG News’ Capitol Hill Correspondent Derek Baker:

In the Senate, members and staff are enjoying their second week of recess (as is the House), so the country is safe for a few more days. Meanwhile, Reid is back home in Nevada trying to put his best face forward in an ugly reelection battle. Since Sarah Palin and thousands of Tea Party activists descended upon Harry’s home town of Searchlight recently, Reid has been taking some shots at Palin at his sparsely attended events, mocking her for writing on her hand and throwing in a “You betcha” in as well, getting a laugh from his supporters.

Not as funny for Reid is his latest poll numbers. Rasmussen’s latest poll shows Reid getting 39-42 percent when matched against three other Republican opponents, and two of his potential opponents now top 50 percent. Furthermore, Rasmussen reports that a whopping 62 percent of Nevada voters support repeal of ObamaCare.

Bottom Line: Since Reid was one of ObamaCare’s champions and deserves much of the credit (blame) for its passage, his dismal poll numbers are striking fear in Democrats across the country. While each take-away the Republicans get in the Senate is key, the moral win of taking down the Leader would be huge.

In the House, Rep. Darrell Issa, ranking Republican on the Oversight Committee, has pledged to investigate and expose any back room deals that Democrats cut during the healthcare debate. Issa sent letters to five coalition groups demanding that each one disclose information about their meetings with the White House and Democrat congressional leadership and state any benefits they provided or received during the negotiations. The groups Issa targeted thus far are the American Medical Association, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Hospital Association, and PhRMA.

In the letter to the groups, Issa stated “Contrary to the president’s oft-stated goal of transparency, the rank-and-file members of the Democratic Caucus and the entire Republican Conference have not had the opportunity to participate in the negotiations between Democratic leadership, the White House and health care stakeholders. This is troubling to members of Congress who value transparency in government.”

Also, Democrats seem to be in a bit of a panic about two upcoming special elections in Pennsylvania’s 12^th district and Hawaii’s 2^nd district, where they could potentially lose both currently Democrat held seats within four days of each other. This would likely be seen as a devastating blow to the current momentum that BO and the Dems are riding from passage of ObamaCare, and would be a foreboding sign of things to come in November. Former Rep. Ed Case is running against Republican state senator Colleen Hanabusa in Hawaii, and Murtha’s former aide Mark Critz is running against Republican businessman Tim Burns.

Bottom Line: Issa is taking wise advantage of his perch on the Oversight Committee and the persistent negative view Americans have of ObamaCare. Though he doesn’t have the power of the chair, he does have other useful tools and he’s proven he is not afraid to use them.

At the other end of the Avenue, Obama announced he will be significantly shifting America’s nuclear strategy, imposing strict and narrow conditions under which the U.S. would use nuclear weapons. According to the NYT, his aim is to actually make nuclear weapons “obsolete” and part of the policy would be to renounce the future development of new nuclear weapons. At the same time, Obama stated “I’m going to preserve all the tools that are necessary in order to make sure that the American people are safe and secure.”

In a more social setting, Michele Obama and hubby hosted the Annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House south lawn yesterday. The theme of the event was “Ready, Set, Go!” to go along with Michele’s ongoing “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity. In a sweet irony that might illustrate her true commitment to this cause, the White House handed an entire box of sugary sweet Peeps candy to every child as they departed the event.

Bottom Line: The oft cited criticism of Democrat presidential nominees – and Dem presidents – is that they are weak on foreign policy and tend to appease the enemy. Obama’s move to swear of nukes fits the mold, and will likely be seen as refreshing news to Ahmadinejad and his friends. This will undoubtedly be an issue in the 2012 race for the presidency, particularly if (God forbid) another terror attack happens on American soil.

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