Former Vice President Dick Cheney has won rave reviews from conservatives and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gotten grief from from the liberal wing of her party — but the two are in one heck of a race for the lowest approval rating among Americans. A new Gallup poll shows that Pelosi, embroiled in a controversy about what [...]
Former Vice President Dick Cheney has won rave reviews from conservatives and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gotten grief from from the liberal wing of her party — but the two are in one heck of a race for the lowest approval rating among Americans.
A new Gallup poll shows that Pelosi, embroiled in a controversy about what the CIA did or did not tell her about enhanced interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects, at the moment holds the crown for the lowest favorable rating – 34 percent.
Cheney, who has tried to find every opportunity to blast the Obama administration over its national security policies and efforts to repudiate the Bush White House on that and other issues, is marginally better off at 37 percent.
But the ex-VP does have a higher unfavorable rating – 54 percent versus 50 percent for the House Speaker.
The numbers are fairly grim for Pelosi. Just six months ago she had about equal favorable and unfavorable ratings, in the low 40s. As for Cheney, his numbers are an improvement from March, when 30 percent had a favorable view of him and 63 percent held an unfavorable view.
“Both Cheney and Pelosi are now positioned as highly polarizing figures on the political landscape; both are viewed favorably by the large majority of their own party members, and unfavorably by most members of the opposing party,” Gallup said in its analysis.
The survey questioned 1,015 adults May 29-31 and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
For more Reuters political news, click here.
- Photo credit: Joshua Roberts (Cheney and Pelosi during the electoral college process in 2008.)
Don’t mention the R word
Policitians are often scared to use the "R" word, because a recession makes them unpopular. Investment bankers dislike the "R" word too, but in this case it stands for regulation. Regulation and lots of it is being cooked up in Washington and Brussels in response to the excessive risk-taking that helped bring on the credit crisis. Credit derivatives [...]
Policitians are often scared to use the "R" word, because a recession makes them unpopular. Investment bankers dislike the "R" word too, but in this case it stands for regulation.
Regulation and lots of it is being cooked up in Washington and Brussels in response to the excessive risk-taking that helped bring on the credit crisis.
Credit derivatives are in the firing line as the bad guys of the credit crisis and derivatives in energy and commodities could get caught in the cross-fire.
Oil could also take a hit after rampant speculation was blamed for driving the price to a record of nearly $150 a barrel last year.
Although the quest to get rid of excesses is driven by good intentions, industry insiders say there will be unintended consequences and argue the regulators could have underestimated the difficulty of their task.
"It's not easy to bring back the genie into the bottle," Libya's top oil official Shokri Ghanem told the Reuters Global Energy Summit.
Graphic: Timeline of global flu pandemics
What if a Gitmo detainee is acquitted? It’s hypothetical …
The Obama administration doesn’t want to talk about what might happen if a New York court acquits a Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspect. Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian, Tuesday became the first Guantanamo prisoner sent to the United States for trial. He pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court. Ghailani is accused of conspiring to bomb the U.S. [...]
The Obama administration doesn’t want to talk about what might happen if a New York court acquits a Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspect.
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian, Tuesday became the first Guantanamo prisoner sent to the United States for trial. He pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court.
Ghailani is accused of conspiring to bomb the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, killing 224 people. He had been held at the U.S. naval base in Cuba since 2006.
His transfer to New York was seen as a test case for President Barack Obama’s effort to close the controversial prison for foreign terrorism suspects.
A key question in dealing with the detainees has been whether to try them in military or civil courts. So has the issue of what to do with prisoners who are acquitted.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs refused Tuesday to say whether the administration would set Ghailani free if he was acquitted.
He was asked the question repeatedly at a White House briefing. Here are his replies:
“Well, I’m not going to get into hypotheticals.”
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals about the court cases either.”
“Well, let’s discuss that if it ever comes to fruition.”
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals about how certain cases may or may not play out.”
“I’m not willing to get into playing hypothetical games.”
“I’m not debating legal principles. I’m just not getting into the hypothetical back and forth of what happens on a case.”
“I am not going to get into the hypotheticals about specific outcomes of cases.”
“We will talk about what happens about a verdict when a verdict comes.”
“And I’m, in this specific case, not going to get into those hypotheticals.”
For more Reuters political news, please click here.
Photo credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Gibbs at a briefing earlier this year); Reuters/Christine Cornell (Artist rendition of Ghailani at hearing on Tuesday in New York)
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