October 03, 2010 01:48 AM UTC

It's the issues, stupid.

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• by: Go Blue

(We interrupt our regularly scheduled coverage of the ongoing Republican Victory Party hosted by H-Man for this dash of cold water on Tea Party fantasies. – promoted by Voyageur)

Yes, Republibags are jazzed up about birth certificates, taking health care away from sick children, and putting Wall Street crooks back in the driver’s seat, but that’s not doing it for the rest of us.

According to a new poll released by NEWSWEEK, Democrats are up 8 points in the generic poll (50-42), and President Obama — a proven fighter who has been taking a lot of cheap shots from the far right and is still standing — has half the country in his corner. Compare that to Clinton in 1994 who had a 36 percent approval rating and Bush in 2006 with just 33 percent approving of the heckuva job he did.

But let’s get down to brass tacks. Who does the country trust on the issues?

Another factor that has garnered a lot of potentially unwarranted attention is “the issues.” Simply put, in the NEWSWEEK Poll, voters said they trust Democrats more than Republicans to handle pretty much every problem currently facing the country: Afghanistan (by 6 points), health care (by 12), immigration (by 2, though that figure is within the margin of error), Social Security (by 14), unemployment (by 12), financial reform (by 14), energy (by 19), and education (by 19). Voters even prefer Democrats to Republicans on federal spending (by 4 points), taxes (by 5), and the economy (by 10)-the GOP’s core concerns.

Folks are angry and for good reason. The Republicans took a wrecking ball to our economy, pink slipped 8 million American workers — shipping most of those jobs overseas — and if given a second chance they have pledged to do the exact same thing!

The choice couldn’t be more clear. Democrats are fighting FOR the middle class and Republicans are fighting AGAINST the middle class. I know who’s corner I’ll be in for this round and the next.

Fired up, ready to go!