The propaganda line of the GOP from the very first months – as the deficit inevitably soared in the wake of an inherited super-recession – was that the Democrats are once again the party of deficits and debt. But when you look at the trajectory over Obama’s full term, you find something a little different:

via Confirmed: The GOP Is The Party Of Debt « The Dish.

A Gallup Poll on May 29th was strikingly titled “U.S. Support for Euthanasia Hinges on How It’s Described,” and it contains unambiguous new evidence that Republicans are more manipulable than are Democrats – at least when the question concerns the important issue of whether or not a terminal patient’s request for assistance to die should be carried out by the person’s doctor. It reported that, “A May 2-7 Gallup survey finds 70% of Americans in favor of allowing doctors to hasten a terminally ill patient’s death when the matter is described as allowing doctors to ‘end the patient’s life by some painless means.’ At the same time, far fewer – 51% – support it when the process is described as doctors helping a patient ‘commit suicide.’” The precise question in the latter instance was “When a person has a disease that cannot be cured and is living in severe pain, do you think doctors should or should not be allowed by law to assist the patient to commit suicide if the patient requests it?”

The remarkable finding was that 71% of Democrats, and 68% of Republicans, support a doctor’s ending a patient’s life by some painless means if the patient requests that and has a terminal illness, but only 60% of Democrats, and 41% of Republicans, do when that is referred to as “to assist the patient to commit suicide.”

That’s a fall-off from 71% down to 60% for Democrats – or a reduction of 11/71, or 15% – of Democrats, who can be manipulated by using different terminology; but it’s a fall-off from 68% down to 41% for Republicans – or a reduction of 27/68, or 40% – of Republicans, who can be manipulated by a mere synonymous rephrasing of the same question.

Or, to put that in the other way, based upon this poll, 85% of Democrats, versus only 60% of Republicans, were not manipulable on this issue – they responded to the issue itself, and not to the wording of it.

There is a vast amount of other empirical evidence showing that conservatives, and Republicans in particular, are more manipulable than are non-conservatives.

via Eric Zuesse: Gallup Poll Shows Republicans Are More Manipulable Than Democrats.

The numbers are in and after a week of Benghazi, IRS, and AP/DOJ hysteria, the American people are not turning on President Obama–in fact, his numbers are actually improving.

A new CNN poll shows that President Obama’s approval rating is at 53%, up two points from the previous poll. Clearly, the American people are not buying into the false narrative promulgated by the media and the Republican Party, as a majority of respondents believe that the president and his statements on the “scandals” are “mostly true.” The GOP was not so lucky.

via Fake Republican Scandals Backfire: Obama's Approval Jumps As GOP's Hits Record Low (Video) – Americans Against the Tea Party.

Republicans are continuing on their mission to turn off every single Republican woman voter, and in Virginia, they’re going at it warp speed, courtesy of the Virginia GOP gubernatorial ticket of Cuccinelli and Jackson.

Former President of the Virginia Federation of Republican Women Jan Schar and former Republican and Independent Delegate Katherine Waddell are reportedly none too impressed by the Virginia GOP gubernatorial ticket of Ken Cuccinelli and EW Jackson. Speaking to Lowkell at Blue Virginia Wednesday morning, Waddell called “the worst ticket ever”, adding that she was “completely embarrassed and mortified by the Republican ticket of Cuccinelli and Jackson.”

Jan Schar told Blue Virginia that although she’s been a Republican for years, “I simply cannot support them,” as they would “end a woman’s right to make her own health care choices, including access to birth control.”

Schar was disturbed by the Republican ticket’s attack on Planned Parenthood, “which does so much good for women in Virginia…. to call them a racist group is simply beyond the pale and hopefully will frighten Virginians from voting for them. This team of three would take us back to their ideology.” Schar concluded, “I know so many Republicans who just can’t support [this ticket].”

via Republican Women Flee from ‘Mortifying’ ‘Anti-Woman’ Virginia GOP Gubernatorial Ticket.

GOP strategist Karl Rove ventured into hostile territory on Tuesday night, delivering a speech repeatedly interrupted by boisterous protesters at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

According to CBS 3, the demonstrations raged both inside the auditorium and out, and Rove had barely begun speaking before people began standing up and shouting Rove down with accusations that his guidance of former President George W. Bush on the Iraq War had led to countless American and Iraqi casualties.

Calls of “murderer” and “terrorist” rained down on Rove, while others held signs that read “war criminal.” Rove faced a similar confrontation by opponents in 2010, when demonstrators actually forced Rove to abandon a book signing in California.

via Karl Rove Heckled Throughout Speech In Massachusetts, Called 'Murderer,' 'Terrorist' (VIDEO).

Michele Bachmann not running again – Mike Allen – POLITICO.com

Rep. Michele Bachmann — the tea-party firebrand and former presidential candidate, facing investigations and a daunting reelection race — announced in a video on her website Wednesday morning that she will not seek reelection to a fifth term.

Bachmann, 57, who took office in 2007, says on the video: “My good friends: After a great deal of thought and deliberation, I have decided next year I will not seek a fifth congressional term to represent the wonderful people of the Sixth District of Minnesota. After serious consideration, I am confident that this is the right decision.”

POLITICO reported over the weekend that the Minnesota Republican faced “existential” political threats. The Federal Election Commission and the Office of Congressional Ethics are investigating the finances of last year’s Republican primary bid. And she was being challenged again by Jim Graves, a Democrat who came within 5,000 votes, or 1.2 percentage points, of unseating her last November.

Bachmann added on the 8½-minute video: “[T]he law limits anyone from serving as president of the United States for more than eight years. And in my opinion, well, eight years is also long enough for any individual to serve as a representative for a specific congressional district.

via Michele Bachmann not running again – Mike Allen – POLITICO.com.

Ever heard the line “no plan survives first contact with the enemy?” Well, no big law ever fully survives first contact with reality. There are always provisions that prove poorly drafted, or parts that don’t elicit quite the behavior you expected. Then there are the parts that work better than you expected, and which you want to expand.Medicare was signed into law in 1965. In 1967, Congress passed a bill making a suite of technical changes and modest reforms to the new program. They did the same in 1972. The 1986 immigration bill was corrected in 1988. Social Security was altered in 1939, and has been changed time and again in the intervening years. Medicare Part D’s difficult implementation process led to Democrats calling hearings to gather ideas on how to fix it. This is how it should be. Laws are written on paper, not stone. They can be easily changed.Usually.In today’s New York Times, Jonathan Weisman and Robert Pear report on a peculiar problem faced by the Affordable Care Act: Republicans who’re unable to repeal it also refuse to permit any tweaks or technical correction that would help it work better. In fact, they’re creating new problems by withholding implementation funds.

via Wonkbook: The GOP’s dangerous Obamacare strategy.

Holding on to the conservative label can be tough, especially if you have your own ideas that counter the mainstream, according to Paul Krugman.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist wrote in a blog post Saturday that people who identify as conservative, but take stances opposing the conservative mainstream — acknowledging the connection between humans and global warming, opposing austerity and favoring tax increases, for example — often find themselves disowned by the conservative movement.

“There remains essentially no room for independent thinking within the conservative movement,” Krugman wrote. “Being a good liberal doesn’t require that you believe, or pretend to believe, lots of things that almost certainly aren’t true; being a good conservative does,” he went on to say.

Krugman has written before that there are some issues in which there is little room for debate because the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of one side, and yet conservatives continue to argue in favor of the opposite. In one example, he responded to critics of his stance against government belt-tightening, who argue that he’s cherry-picking facts to make his case, by writing “maybe I actually am right,” in an April blog post.

via Paul Krugman: Conservative Movement Allows 'No Room For Independent Thinking'.

“I doubt it. Reagan couldn’t have made it. Certainly, Nixon couldn’t have made it, cause he had ideas. We might’ve made it, but I doubt it.”

– Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS), quoted by Politico, noting he doesn’t believe he could make it in today’s Republican Party.

via Quote of the Day.

See also http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/05/26/2062861/bob-dole-scolds-gop/