[Wildcatk23]

Senate Democrats remained united on Wednesday in killing a Republican effort to repeal the health care bill signed into law last March.

As expected, no Democrats voted against a procedural motion that effectively defeated a GOP amendment -- sponsored by Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and tacked on to an unrelated aviation bill -- to repeal the health legislation.
All Republicans voted together in favor of the McConnell-sponsored amendment. The vote was 47-51.
The House passed the repeal measure last month.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/201...l-measure-

[Hoot Gibson]

Great news. Now not only will Obama be running against Obamacare in 2012, every Democratic Senator and every Democratic Representative who voted against the Obamacare repeal will be defending this increasingly unpopular law.

Meanwhile, Obama continues to exempt his favorite special interest groups from the law, along with some states whose votes he believes he can buy.

[Wildcatk23]

His approval rating is as high as its been since May.

[TheRealVille]

His approval rating is as high as its been since May.

He was at 53% percent last week, and rising. Gallop has him at 50% right now.

[Hoot Gibson]

Nobody is running against him...yet. I should have said that Obama will be defending Obamacare in 2012 along with every Democrat who voted against repealing it.

By 2012, those of us who have been affected by Obamacare with higher costs and fewer benefits will be outraged at the number of exemptions that Obama has granted to his supporters. In the event that Obamacare has not been ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court, it will be impossible to defend the extraordinary exemptions from the law doled out to labor unions.

Look for more Democratic Senators to announce their retirements before the 2012 campaign kicks off. They are falling on their swords for Obama and many of them will be unelectable no matter what else they do before the election.

[Hoot Gibson]

He was at 53% percent last week, and rising.

Rasmussen has him at 49 percent approval, with 41 percent strongly disapproving of his job performance. He is not rising, he is treading water on the backs of the 90 percent of black Americans who will support him no matter what he does. Rasmussen polls likely voters, the only opinions that really matter in predicting election outcomes.

[TheRealVille]

Rasmussen has him at 49 percent approval, with 41 percent strongly disapproving of his job performance. He is not rising, he is treading water on the backs of the 90 percent of black Americans who will support him no matter what he does. Rasmussen polls likely voters, the only opinions that really matter in predicting election outcomes.

Rasmussen is a conservative leaning poll. They used to even admit it on their site, though I can't find it now. It's very easy to find his Republican ties, even with George W. Bush. I am surprised to see it at 49% on there though.

[Old School]

Does the outcome of the senate vote really surprise anyone? Straight down the party lines with the independents not voting.

[Hoot Gibson]

Rasmussen is a conservative leaning poll. They used to even admit it on their site, though I can't find it now. It's very easy to find his Republican ties, even with George W. Bush. I am surprised to see it at 49% on there though.

Rasmussen has consistently been among the most accurate pollsters in the business. A good pollster does not let his own opinions distract from his business. IMO, Zogby leans a little to the left and I think he does a great job as well.

The ones who are obviously hacks are the ones who deliberately skew results by oversampling one party or the other, and in the case of Democratic pollsters, sample all adults instead of likely voters and then try to show trends based on flawed survey methods. That type of poll is no better than a push poll.

[Hoot Gibson]

Does the outcome of the senate vote really surprise anyone? Straight down the party lines with the independents not voting.

The result is not surprising but I am a little surprised that there were no a single defection by Democrats who will be running in 2012. I thought that Reid might let on Democrat in a competitive state vote for repeal.

Republicans need to continue to press for an up or down vote on Obamacare itself. Make the Democrats defend their refusal to allow a clean vote repeatedly between now and 2012.

What I don't understand is how any court can find Obamacare constitutional. It seems to me that the hundreds of exemptions that Obama has granted to special interests violates the Equal Protection clause. Most of the people who are getting to keep their healthcare plan donated millions of dollars to Obama's campaign. The rest of us will be picking up the tab for insuring as many as 30 million deadbeats and their offspring, while many of those who lobbied hardest for its passage are avoiding its heavy burden entirely.