Kenosha News

by Mark Silva

We've heard a lot about the so-called "voices of the Republican Party'' lately - radio's Rush Limbaugh, former Vice President Dick Cheney perhaps. Colin Powell begs to differ, suggesting that the Republican Party he loves has a lot more room for moderation than those voices offer.

The face of the Republican Party, however, looks a lot more like its most voluble voices and less like that of Mr. Moderation, according to a Gallup Poll breakdown of the ethnicity and political views of those who identify themselves as Republicans, Democrats and independents.

More than 6 in 10 self-styled Republicans are non-Hispanic white conservatives. Another one quarter are white but not conservative. Just 5 percent are Hispanic, 2 percent black and 4 percent of other races, according to Gallup's polling.

The majority of Democrats also are non-Hispanic and white - 53 percent - but they are not conservative. Only 12 percent are white conservatives. Nearly one in five Democrats are black, 11 percent Hispanic and 6 percent of other races.

The greatest number of Hispanics, interestingly, is found among self-styled independents: 14 percent - another indication of the potential swing vote that lies within the fastest growing minority of the American population. Blacks account for 6 percent of independents, but the greatest percentage of independents -- 48 percent - are non-Hispanic and white.

The numbers "reinforce the basic challenge facing the Republican Party today as it ponders how best to remedy a situation that finds Democrats in control of the White House and both houses of Congress,'' writes Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup Poll.

"Republicans have a clear monopoly on the allegiance of white conservative Americans, but the GOP's challenge is figuring out whether this is enough of a base on which to build for the future,'' he notes. "The alternative is for the GOP to broaden its base to include more minorities and/or more whites who are moderate or liberal in their ideological outlook -- groups now predominantly loyal to the Democratic Party.''

The president hails the 40th anniversary of Stonewall. The proclamation lists campaign promises with no pledge to achieve them and no sign of action on any of them.

President Obama will be traveling across the Atlantic again, and as judging by the pictures below in Germany, there?"s already a lot of enthusiasm about his trip:

Obama begins his trip June 3 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he?"ll meet with King Abdullah. He travels June 4 to Cairo for meetings with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his long-anticipated speech at Cairo University.

On June 5 Obama heads to Dresden, Germany, for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, a visit with wounded U.S. troops at a military hospital and a tour of the former Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald. He closes his trip June 6 with a trip to France to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day.

For more, see ?SObama Seeks Enhanced Engagement with the Middle East, Europe.?

Walter Shapiro: "Dodd, who is one of the last of the old-style Ted Kennedy liberals in the Senate, still has the potential to eke out another term. Connecticut is such a Democratic state that its last orthodox Republican senator was (it is worth waiting for) Prescott Bush, the father of one president and the grandfather of another. (To be technical, erratic liberal Lowell Weicker was also a GOP senator, but certainly not an orthodox one.) Attorney General Richard Blumenthal -- the one powerhouse Democratic statewide official who could theoretically challenge Dodd in a primary -- is apparently prepared to wait and hope that Joe Lieberman (remember him?) does not run for re-election in 2012."

IT'S ON!...
Dems are attacking Republican Representatives in radio ads for not spending enough taxpayer money!
Really!

Barack Obama will quadruple the deficit this year.

Democrats believe they have a winning formula for 2010.
They are airing ads attacking Republican Representatives for not voting on the massive Democratic spending bills this year.
Roll Call reported:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is running radio advertisements for the next week targeting six House Republicans, according to details obtained by Roll Call. The committee blasted these GOP Members for voting against Democrats?" Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which passed earlier this year.

Radio advertisements, automated calls and e-mails will target Reps. Don Young (Alaska), Brian Bilbray (Calif.), Tom Rooney (Fla.), Thaddeus McCotter (Mich.), Peter King (N.Y.) and Charlie Dent (Pa.).

?SDid you know Congressman King voted against the economic recovery plan?? says an announcer in the spot running in King?"s district. ?SHe opposed an $800 tax cut and opposed creating or saving 215,000 New York jobs. Tell King to put New York first.?

In addition to the radio advertisement, which is scheduled to air during drive time, automatic phone calls will run in each of the Republicans?" districts. The automated calls refer to specific projects in the districts that could be funded by the stimulus, such as widening a road in McCotter?"s district.

Obviously, the democrats didn't get the message from the California voters 10 days ago.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) announced he will seek another term in the Senate, Tulsa World reports.