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Liberal Democrats update
News report following the Liberal Democrats update.

By: Thames News

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Liberal Democrats update - Video

As the two political parties begin to gear up for next years presidential election, the public has a more positive general image of the Democrats but trust Republicans more on specifics, a newly released survey shows.

The survey released Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center suggests an important underlying dynamic for the presidential contest:

A Republican nominee may be able to count on a presumption that he or she will be able to handle major issues, but will be challenged on empathy and tolerance, as Mitt Romney was in 2012.

The Democratic nominee may be able to take those attributes for granted, at least to some extent, but will need to reassure the public about his or her abilities on managing issues.

Large segments of the public believe each party has strong principles. Asked if either has "good policy ideas," just over half say the Democrats do and just under half say Republicans do.

But the overall images of the parties differ markedly.

About six in 10 American adults say the Democratic party cares about the middle class and is tolerant and open to all groups of people, the poll found.

By contrast, only about one-third of Americans say Republicans are tolerant and open to all, and just over four in 10 say they care about the middle class.

Half say the Republicans are too extreme, considerably more than the share -- just over one-third -- who say that about the Democrats.

But asked which party could do a better job on seven major issues, the public gives Republicans the edge on three and the Democrats on only one, the survey showed.

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Americans have more positive view of Democrats, trust GOP on issues

Washington Ohio is always big in presidential races. Its the ultimate bellwether state. Now add Ohio to the column called marquee Senate races of 2016.

Ted Strickland, the states Democratic former governor, announced Wednesday that hes running against Republican Sen. Rob Portman, a big score for the party out of power on Capitol Hill. Democrats need a net gain of five seats to retake control of the Senate, in a cycle whose map favors the Democrats.

Republicans are defending 24 seats in 2016, versus only 10 for the Democrats. Of those, 10 Republican-held seats are competitive, while two Democrat-held seats are, according to the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report.

Democrats are also better at turning out their base minorities, single women, and young voters in presidential election years.

Mr. Strickland is a Democratic elder statesman, with a strong statewide profile. He lost reelection to current Gov. John Kasich (R) in 2010, a tough year for Democrats, by two percentage points. Senator Portman, respected in Washington as a leader of the center-right, isnt so popular at home. Only 37 percent of Ohioans gave him positive job marks in a recent Quinnipiac poll.

Strickland is the second Democrat to enter the race to take on Portman, a sign of the incumbents vulnerability. Cincinnati Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld announced in January and has raised $500,000 so far, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

Though its only February 2015, Democrats are moving fast to fill slots in the 2016 Senate cycle. Heres a rundown:

California. California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) declared for the Senate within days of Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxers announcement Jan. 8 that shes not running for reelection. On Tuesday, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced he wont run, leaving Ms. Harris as the early front-runner to replace Senator Boxer in solid-blue California.

A Field Poll of likely California voters released Feb. 18 shows former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice coming out on top, three percentage points ahead of Harris, but Ms. Rice says she wont run.

New Hampshire. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) is seen as vulnerable in this presidential tossup state, and Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) would be her partys top get if she agrees to run. An NBC News/Marist poll released Feb. 17 shows Governor Hassan beating Senator Ayotte 48 percent to 44 percent.

Read more from the original source:
Why are Democrats suddenly cheering in Ohio? (+video)

One by one, the six Democrats running for mayor of Philadelphia gave their best pitches Wednesday night to about 300 members of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, in an effort to secure the union's coveted endorsement in the May primary.

The meeting, in the sheet-metal workers' hall on Columbus Boulevard, was closed to reporters, but afterward the candidates talked about their prospects of having one of the city's largest unions on their side, and about their views on education funding, which has emerged as one of the top issues in the campaign.

"They know all of the funding does not come from the city," said PFT president Jerry Jordan, "but that there is a need for a mayor to work with the legislature and the governor in Harrisburg in order to make sure that the resources are there for our children."

His members, he said, want "someone who is honest and who will work to make sure the resources are in the classroom for them."

Most of the candidates said they told the union members they would work with Harrisburg for an equitable school-funding formula that would send more money for the district, which is facing an $80 million budget deficit for the next school year.

Some, however, said they would also try to get more money from local sources.

Former Common Pleas Court Judge Nelson Diaz said he would try to shift the tax base to increase the burden on real estate. If the wage tax is lowered, he said, more people will work here and more real estate taxes will come in.

Former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham also discussed tax reform and how the city's fiscal decisions play a role in the school funding debate. "How we spend our money, and can we be more efficient with how we spend our money, so we can use some of the savings to give to the schools," she said.

Former city spokesman Doug Oliver said he would consider selling city assets that are not "a primary function of government." He listed the Philadelphia Gas Works, the Water Department, and Philadelphia International Airport as examples.

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Democrats running for mayor seek teachers' union backing

Relying on Republicans and going against the grain of his own party for his legislative successes has not been much of a go-to play in President Barack Obama's game plan.

Then there's international trade.

On Thursday, Obama stepped up his campaign for expanding exports and negotiating new trade deals in Asia and Europe, a rare spot of common ground with Republicans and a raw point of friction with Democrats. Obama pushed his trade themes in interviews with television stations from states represented by some of the handful of Democratic senators who may be willing to side with the president on his plans for new commerce agreements.

"There have been times in the past where some of the trade deals didn't work out for particular sectors in particular communities," Obama told KMBC in Kansas City, Missouri. "Which is why we're organizing trade in the Asia Pacific region, the fastest growing region in the world, to make sure you have strong enforceable labor provisions, make sure you have strong enforceable environmental provisions, make sure you have a level playing field."

Before cutting those deals, however, Obama wants authority to negotiate trade agreements that Congress can only approve or reject, but not amend. Presidents have had an increasingly tough time getting that authority from Congress; Bill Clinton had to buck his party to win it and George W. Bush got it by a single vote.

But Obama's task may be even tougher.

"He has a harder challenge because the last Democratic president (Clinton) who did this did it in the context of a historic economic boom, a period in which globalization still looked like it had enormous upsides with relatively little downside," said Rob Shapiro, a former senior Commerce Department official and economic adviser to President Clinton.

"The upsides are still there, but the downsides have become more apparent."

Critics, including labor unions, complain past trade deals have sent U.S. manufacturing jobs to countries with lower wages, have flooded the U.S. with cheaper imports and not helped U.S. exporters.

The Obama administration on Thursday released data promoting the role of exports in the economic recovery. According to the White House, exports supported about 11.3 million jobs in 2013, an increase of 1.6 million over 2009. While the U.S. posted a record $2.35 trillion in exports in 2014, it also posted a $500 billion trade deficit, higher than 2013 but lower than the $760 billion high recorded in 2006.

Read more from the original source:
Obama Steps up Pitch for Trade, Exports, Targets Democrats