The worst fiscal crisis since 1929 is not a good time to be the party in power.  Republicans learned this in 2008, and Democrats are learning this today.  Quinnipiac today finds Governor David Patterson at 20% in a potential primary matchup with Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, while Kirsten Gillibrand trails Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney by four points (27%-23%).

In the general election, Rudy Giuliani leads Patterson by almost twenty points.  In an open seat race against Cuomo, the state reverts to Democratic form, and Cuomo leads 51%-39%.  Gillibrand and Maloney both lead Congressman Peter King by about 15 points in a general election matchup, but King is unknown and the real danger to Gillibrand or Maloney is former Governor George Pataki, who was not tested.

The State has just posted an interview with Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), in which he discloses that he traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, not the Appalachian Trail.

Sanford, in an exclusive interview with The State Media Company, said he decided at the last minute to go to the South American country to recharge after a difficult legislative session in which he battled with lawmakers over how to spend federal stimulus money. Sanford said he had considered hiking on the Appalachian Trail, an activity he said he has enjoyed since he was a high school student. "But I said 'no' I wanted to do something exotic," Sanford said "... It's a great city."

Sanford also said he's taken similar "adventure" trips alone or with friends to "get out of the bubble I am in."

You can read the full article here.

The Democratic National Committee has produced a web video highlighting the media buzz surrounding South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's (R) odd disappearance the last few days.

"The people of South Carolina told Governor Sanford to take a hike after he said no to millions in job creation funds for political purposes and he apparently took the advice quite literally," said DNC National Press Secretary Hari Sevugan.

Sanford, chairman of the Republican Governors Association and a potential 2012 presidential candidate, will reportedly return to work tomorrow.

The Republican National Committee will air a TV ad tomorrow that takes aim at the health care event at the White House tomorrow night, which will be aired by ABC. The RNC is upset with both the format and the content of the event.

"Today a national TV network turns its airwaves over to President Obama's pitch for government-run health care," the announcer states in the ad. "Shouldn't this be a bipartisan discussion?"

ABC's Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer will moderate the event, titled, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America." The president "will answer questions from an audience made up of Americans selected by ABC News who have divergent opinions in this historic debate," according to an ABC press release.

The RNC ad is 60 seconds and will air tomorrow on select national cable outlets.

"Republicans want bipartisan health care reform where people are free to choose the best care for their families," the announcer states in the RNC ad. "Tell President Obama to work with Republicans -- and to stop rushing into another government takeover"

In a midday press conference given by Barack Obama, the president stepped directly into health care reform's biggest sticking point--the private-public plan debate. Obama was asked whether a public plan will drive private insurance out of business.

"Why would it drive private insurance out of business?" Obama rhetorically asked. "If, if private, if private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best quality health care; if they tell us that they're offering a good deal, then why is it that the government, which they say can't run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That's not logical."

Liberals want health care reform to include a public option that would, ideally in their view, pressure insurance companies to provide better coverage and lower costs. Private insurers claim the plan will be too difficult to compete against.

Obama did offer a bone to critics. "There can be some legitimate concerns on the part of private insurers that if any public plan is simply being subsidized by taxpayers endlessly that over time they can't compete," he said.

But today's comments were Obama's most forceful public statement yet that liberals primary ambition for reform, that of a public option, was in his view “conceptually” correct. Obama did however stop short of answering whether the public plan was a "non-negotiable."

President Obama yesterday hit his lowest point in the RCP Job Approval Average since being inaugurated in January. Recent polling placed his rating below 59.0% for the first time, however a new survey from Washington Post/ABC News bumped the president back above that threshold.

The new survey (June 18-21, 1001 A) found 65% of Americans approving of the job Obama is doing as president, despite the fact that only 52% believe the stimulus plan is improving or will improve the nation's economy.

Besides briefly dropping below 60% in the RCP Average in early March, Obama had stayed above that number until June -- when he's spent a majority of the days at 59%-60%.

From Mike Memoli, on Politics Nation blog:

A spokesperson for Gov. Mark Sanford (R-MIA) has just sent an update on the whereabouts of the potential 2012 contender, saying he'll return to his office tomorrow.

"Governor Sanford called to check in with his Chief of Staff this morning. It would be fair to say the governor was somewhat taken aback by all of the interest this trip has gotten," spokesperson Joel Sawyer said in an e-mail to reporters. "Given the circumstances and the attention this has garnered, the governor communicated to us that he plans on returning to the office tomorrow."

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich's "tri-partisan" American Solutions group is launching a national TV ad today to campaign against the Waxman-Markey energy plan still working its way through the House.

"We'll lose more jobs, pay more for gas and electricity - pushing our economy to its breaking point. Stop the National Energy Tax. Call your member of Congress before it's too late," the ad's announcer says.

The 30-second ad shows the famous footage of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge twisting and bending. American Solutions did not announce how big the ad buy was or whether it would air on network or cable.

John Bercow has been elected the 157th Speaker of the House of Commons in an unprecedented secret ballot. An MP since 1997, Bercow becomes the first Jewish Speaker, and follows the first ever Catholic Speaker.

From the BBC:

"The Buckingham MP received 322 votes to his rival and fellow Conservative MP Sir George Young's 271.

A message is being sent to Buckingham Palace for approval. Mr Bercow said it was the "greatest honour" of his political life.

He will replace Michael Martin, who stepped down after nine years in the job amid the furore over MPs' expenses.

After the result was announced Mr Bercow was "dragged" to the chair, a tradition for the new Speaker, and pledged to cast aside his political views and be "completely impartial". He also congratulated his nine rivals.

He said MPs felt "very sore and very vulnerable" in the wake of the expenses scandal but added "large members of the public also feel angry and disappointed".

Here's something you don't read every day: the governor of South Carolina is apparently missing. The State reports:

The whereabouts of Gov. Mark Sanford have been unknown to state officials since Thursday, and some state leaders are questioning who is in charge of the executive office.

Neither the governor's office nor the State Law Enforcement Division, which provides security for governors, has been able to reach Sanford after he left the mansion in a black SLED Suburban SUV, said Sen. Jake Knotts and three others familiar with the situation but who declined to be identified.

Sanford's last known whereabouts were near Atlanta, where a mobile telephone tower picked up a signal from his phone, authorities said.
Sanford

First lady Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press today her husband has been gone for several days and she doesn't know where he is.

UPDATE: Here's the statement from Sanford communications director Joel Sawyer.

The governor put in a lot of time during this last legislative session, and after the session winds down it's not uncommon for him to go out of pocket for a few days at a time to clear his head. Obviously, that's going to be somewhat out of the question this time given the attention this particular absence has gotten. Before leaving last week, he let staff know his whereabouts and that he'd be difficult to reach. Should any emergencies arise between the times in which he checks in, our staff would obviously be in contact with other state officials as the situation warrants before making any decisions.