1. Real Change: Faith in Government Collapses Under Obama

2. Why a Federal Grand Jury Could Put Georgia’s Governor’s Mansion in Democrat Hands

3. Sharron Angle is in a Good Position Against Harry Reid

4. Democrats Underestimate the American People Once Again

5. Oil spill update.

6. No, The Thumpin’ is/was not inevitable.

7. The Bizarro World of San Fran Nan and the House Dems

1. Real Change: Faith in Government Collapses Under Obama

President Obama and the current Congressional leadership were swept into office on a wave of dissatisfaction with George Bush and a Republican Congress. Polls showed that Americans were open to the idea of greater government intervention as a way to address serious problems. President Obama promised that he would expand the role of government to ‘fix’ health care, Wall Street, the economy, energy, and other challenges. A new poll from the liberal Center for American Progress shows that less than 2 years later, confidence in the ability of government to solve such problems has plummeted. Faith in the federal government is now at its lowest level in the history of the poll.Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Why a Federal Grand Jury Could Put Georgia’s Governor’s Mansion in Democrat Hands

I mentioned this article yesterday. A federal grand jury is asking questions about Nathan Deal’s business deals (pun intended).Deal, for his part, says he is not the subject of any federal investigation — which either means he is right or United States Attorneys are randomly subpoenaing people to talk to federal grand juries about Nathan Deal for no reason other than politics. Riiiigggghhhhtttttt.This will be the first election since passage of the Voting Rights Act that Republicans do not control the White House during redistricting. That makes solidifying Republican majorities in as many states as possible crucial as we head into redistricting in 2011.A federal grand jury investigating Nathan Deal could seriously undermine the Republicans’ chances in November should he be the nominee. But to understand why, we need to back up to March 29, 2010.Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Sharron Angle is in a Good Position Against Harry Reid

Here is a not so secret dirty little secret. For the past month a lot of conservatives have been nervous over Sharron Angle’s Senate bid in Nevada. Her campaign seemed uncoordinated and unprofessional — amateurishly caught off guard by the hell unleashed on her.Behind the scenes, Sharron Angle recognized she needed to regroup and reassess. For the past couple of weeks there has been a reorganization, some new faces, and renewed commitment to winning. Angle realizes a lot more is at stake than just beating Harry Reid.Conservatives went with Angle against Sue Lowden. If Angle screws us, there will be a lot of egg on a lot of conservatives’ faces by the “we told you so” crowd — some of whom would actually like to see Harry Reid win so they can rub it in.I’ve now been on the ground in Nevada, met with Sharron Angle, gotten to know her updated campaign team, and talked to Nevada voters. Harry Reid should be scared.Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Democrats Underestimate the American People Once Again

Clearly, the Democrats think they have something here tying together the Republican Party and the Tea Party. However, it seems to me that this political miscalculation is exactly why Congress’ approval rating is at 11%.What the Democratic Leadership doesn’t seem to understand is that the Tea Party isn’t a political party; it’s a set of ideas shared by the overwhelming majority of Americans.The Tea Party is made up of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Constitution Party members, and apolitical Americans.Please click here for the rest of the post.

5. Oil spill update.

So, let us recap: an unexpected leak has dumped highly alarming amounts of crude oil into the water, taxing the resources of local authorities. Wildlife and wetland areas are already affected, and there’s no sign of swift relief. The governor of the state primarily involved – a state that frankly cannot afford more bad things happening to it – is screaming for the relevant federal authorities to get out of neutral and actually help, and screaming largely in vain. And, of course, nobody’s quite sure how much crude has leaked, and how culpable the oil company is in the leak, and whether the same federal authorities that aren’t helping now are responsible for missing the conditions that caused the original leak.Michigan can’t just seem to catch a break.Please click here for the rest of the post.

6. No, The Thumpin’ is/was not inevitable.

Stuart Rothenberg is having absolutely none of this preemptive excuse-making that the Democrats are starting to indulge in. You seem the conventional wisdom is now congealing into the notion that of course the Republicans were going to have a great year in 2010, and it was absolutely silly for anybody to think that it was ever in doubt that this would happen.Please click here for the rest of the post.

7. The Bizarro World of San Fran Nan and the House Dems

As Friday’s House recess deadline looms, the CLEAR Act is rushing toward a floor vote. The CLEAR Act was supposed to fix whatever went wrong with Federal oversight of the Deepwater Horizon. One provision of the bill, offered by Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), would have set up a Congressional commission of petroleum engineering experts to investigate the accident. This proposal was accepted unanimously in committee and a similar idea has been endorse by the Senate.Please click here for the rest of the post.