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By Jeremy Diamond, CNN

updated 12:06 PM EDT, Wed October 15, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- As Democrats head into the last throes of the campaign season, the party and the president are facing some of their lowest favorability and approval ratings, respectively, according to two new surveys.

President Barack Obama hit his lowest point in the eyes of the public according to that poll, with just 40% of Americans approving of his job performance, the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll released Wednesday shows. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll also released Wednesday handed Obama a similar 42% approval rating.

And Obama could be pulling down his party as just 39% of Americans hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party, the lowest in modern history according to the Washington Post/ABC News poll.

Obama steps (cautiously) back into campaign mode

That's a ten-point drop for Democrats from the same poll in August and the decline comes in part from a dropoff among African-Americans and women -- two key voter blocs Democrats will need to turn out on Nov. 4.

The numbers come less than three weeks before Election Day in a cycle where the President's sagging approval numbers have been blamed for impacting Democratic candidates, especially in crucial toss-up Senate races that could help Republicans take full control of Congress.

Republicans have picked up on the President's low approval ratings in battleground states by linking Democratic -- and even independent candidates in Kansas and South Dakota -- to the president.

Originally posted here:
Surveys say Obama and Democrats hit lowest marks

The Democrats are trying to tie Ebola to the Republicans.

This is a political season, so this is not surprising.

The theory goes that because Republicans want to cut spending, they have cut critical resources that could have gone to pay for an Ebola vaccine.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) director even directly said that if it werent for budget cuts, we wouldnt be having this Ebola problem.

Democrats, more broadly, have been blaming the sequester on Republicans, and they are making the point that if there had been no sequester, there would have been ample resources to combat Ebola.

There are several problems with this theory.

First, the sequester was Obamas idea. He pushed it because he didnt want to make entitlement cuts.

Second, the president never asked directly for an Ebola supplemental or anything close to it. Had he said: I need $2 billion to deal with Ebola, he would have some ground to stand on.

But he could never quite tear himself away from the golf course to spend any time worrying about Ebola. He never requested a supplemental to pay for Ebola spending. He never asked Congress for any help on Ebola.

Third, the Republicans wanted to cut spending because the president, when the Democrats controlled the Congress, went on a spending binge, which squandered a trillion dollars of taxpayer money. Remember Solyndra?

Read the rest here:
How Democrats are playing politics with Ebola

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: Sally Kohn is an activist, columnist and television commentator. Follow her on Twitter @sallykohn. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- The midterm elections are less than three weeks away, but by several measures, Democrats have already won.

Sure, elections are about the race to the top between competing candidates, but they're also a barometer on long-term trends, issues and party trajectories. While the winners of this season's sprints have yet to be determined, Democrats look well-positioned for the lengthier political marathon. How?

1. There's still a contest for the Senate

Sally Kohn

Historically, the party in the White House tends to lose seats in Congress during midterm elections. The second midterm election of a two-term president -- as this election is for President Barack Obama -- is usually brutal. Only six times since the Civil War has a president come close to gaining seats in both chambers in a sixth-year election.

Add to that this year there are simply more Democratic-held Senate seats up for grabs -- with more ranked "toss ups" than Republican-held seats -- and the very fact that Democrats still have a shot at holding onto the Senate is, as Vice President Joe Biden might say, a BFD.

2. Democratic policies are emerging as third rails

Witness Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, running for re-election in Kentucky, and the dance he did around Obamacare during a debate. McConnell insisted that he would repeal Obamacare "root and branch" but somehow, miraculously, keep the law's state-based health insurance exchange.

More:
4 ways Democrats have already won

Rep. Michael Grimm and Domenic Recchia are battling to represent Staten Island in Congress, but at least one topic on the campaign trail stretches beyond the district's borders: immigration reform and unaccompanied minors. NY1's Courtney Gross filed the following report.

The only border in the 11th congressional district is with New Jersey. Nonetheless, immigration reform is creeping into this race for Congress.

"Before we start talking about legalization and citizenship, really close the border," said Rep. Michael Grimm.

Grimm says close the borders. His Democratic challenger, Domenic Recchia, supports a path to citizenship.

"We need a path to citizenship. We need to secure our borders, but we need an immigration bill and we need it passed now," Recchia said.

Take the crisis over unaccompanied minors crossing the border, and positions are not quite as clear.

"When the mayor and the speaker of the City Council say that we should take these poor children from Central America that took that horrible trek across Mexico into our border, that we should house them here in New York City, that, to me, is a slap in the face of everyone here," Grimm stated.

Grimm is clearly against providing services to these children, which is what the de Blasio administration announced it would do last month.

"As bad as I feel that these families in Central America are living in poverty, I have to first, though, take care of my own," he said.

As for Recchia, on Wednesday, he declined to weigh in on whether these children should take refuge in the five boroughs.

Here is the original post:
Immigration Reform Creeps Into Grimm/Recchia Race

He is widely expected to announce a crack down on migrants coming to the UK from within Europe in the coming months.

Mr Cameron today said there is "more that we need to do" to curb migration but declined to offer further details.

He is in Rochester today with several Cabinet ministers on his first of at least five visits to the by-election.

The contest was triggered by defection of Mark Reckless, the town's Tory MP, to Ukip.

Mr Reckless made a similar demand in his defection speech ten days ago, saying: "Does anyone left or right genuinely support an immigration system where we turn away the best and brightest from our Commonwealth, people with links and family here, in order to make room for unskilled immigration from southern and eastern Europe?"

Mr Reckless said seeking the immigration reform he wanted had become incompatible with membership of the Tory Party.

"I promise to cut immigration while treating people fairly and humanely. I cannot keep that promise as a Conservative. I can keep it as UKIP," he said.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, last weekend urged the Prime Minister to introduce such a scheme to win back Ukip voters.

However, with freedom of movement a sacrosanct principle for most in Brussels, delivering such a policy would almost certainly be impossible while remaining a member of the EU.

Mrs Firth, a former barrister and stay-at-home mother of three children, made the remarks at a hustings in Rochester last night alongside her rival, Kelly Tolhurst.

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Tory candidate in Rochester says government's immigration policy not 'sensible'