Civitas Review Online

Our friends at Americans for Prosperity are up with a new health care ad featuring a breast cancer survivor reminding us the ramifications of passing Obamacare.

President Obama has nominated Goodwin Liu, an accomplished academic, to the 9th US Circuit Appeals Court.  Some wonder whether President Obama hopes to put Liu on the fast-track to the Supreme Court.

This nomination is especially newsworthy because Liu believes that the Constitution should be adapted to reflect changes in society.  In one of his books, Liu writes that “Applications of constitutional text and principles must be open to adaptation and change … as the conditions and norms of our society become ever more distant from those of the Founding generation.”

Perhaps my understanding of constitutional law is incorrect but it has always been my belief that the US Constitution was a guiding collection of timeless principles that created, and set limits on, government.  Which principles in the Constitution ought to be adapted and changed?  Perhaps our first amendment right to free speech or our fourth amendment rights protecting our privacy?

Failing to recognize that the principles of the Constitution are timeless renders the document little more than a collection of words.  Believing that the document should adapt over time relies on the assumption that the principles of freedom, liberty, limited government in individual rights are subject to change at the whims of a judicial official.  Our Constitution does not need to adapt or change but perhaps Mr. Liu’s views on it should.

NC voters’ opinion of Pres. Barack Obama inched up in January and now is at 52% favorable, 37% unfavorable or a +15 spread, the widest its been since the beginning of the health care debate last summer.

Obama’s favorability rating basically fell off a cliff once the health care reform measure was launched last July bottoming out at a +3 in October and has been slowly climbing back off those lows.  While his policies and proposals are widely opposed by NC voters, he still remains personally likable.  But NC voters are separating their warm and fuzzy feelings for Obama the man and the icy cold feelings for his policies.

Chart of his favorable/unfavorable rating in NC:

Support for Obamacare continues to struggle in North Carolina according to our latest poll with only 40% supporting and 48% in opposition.

We’ve had the public opposed to the bill by an 8-10 point margin since September and it doesn’t seem much has changed despite all the rhetoric and debate on both sides.

The breakdown by party is pretty remarkable but almost as expected.  Democrats support it (59-29), Republicans oppose it (13-77) and unaffiliateds are split evenly (41-42).

What stands out is the intensity gap between Republican opposition and Democratic support.  61 percent of Republicans “Strongly oppose” the measure, but only 39 percent of Democrats “Strongly support” it.

There is also a tremendous racial divide on the bill.  Whites oppose it 27-58, while blacks overwhelmingly support it 85-10.

We also polled whether coverage for abortion should be provided in the health care bill and as can be imagined, the public isn’t for that at all.  Only 24% support with 69% opposed.

Full press release and all the crosstabs and details here.

With rumors circulating that President Barack Obama has asked New York Governor David Patterson (D) to step aside and not run in 2010 due to the belief that his low poll numbers could be a drag on the Democratic ticket, the question must be asked, if he thinks Patterson should step aside, what about our own Gov. Bev Perdue?

If you look at a pollster.com comparison of job approval numbers, Perdue’s approval rating (29%) is actually lower than Patterson’s (32%).

So what gives Mr. President?  If Perdue’s numbers are worse than Patterson’s, shouldn’t she go too?