Democratic party identification is at its lowest mark since the second quarter of 2005, while GOP ID is at its highest point since the first quarter of 2006, according to Gallup's quarterly party identification report.

At 48% Democrat or lean-Democrat and 42% Republican or lean-Republican, the six-point gap is the smallest since 2005. Although the number of people identifying themselves as Republican has remained stable, more independents now lean Republican (15%) than Democrat (13%) for the first time in at least four years.

The report is based on five polls conducted of 5,090 adults between July 1 and Sept. 30.

From an AP story earlier today:

WASHINGTON – Too many agencies are still holding their secrets close nine months after President Barack Obama ordered the federal government to open the flow of information to the public, advocates of access said Wednesday.

Some are trying to circumvent the 42-year-old Freedom of Information Act through special provisions slipped into legislation "without debate or public scrutiny," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said.

It might be obvious to us rubes outside the beltway, but special provisions can only be "slipped into legislation without debate or public scrutiny" if no one is reading the bills they are voting on.

By the way, 83% of rubes - er, people - in the United States think the common sense idea of reading bills before voting on them is a good idea. And if the excuse is that the 1,000+ page behemoths coming out of Congress are just too much for one person to read, maybe the answer should be to make the bills shorter. At the very least they should be put online ahead of time so that the public can read them - even if their representatives are too busy or not interested enough (64% of rubes think this is also a good idea, per the aforementioned Rasmussen poll).

Honestly, it's no wonder the public is so fed up with politicians in Washington. Half the stuff they do is worthless - and the other half actually makes things worse.

It reminds me of the ad below from Sprint which, while oversimplified for dramatic effect, resonates with a public that watches what goes on inside the Beltway these days with increasing levels of befuddlement and disgust:

A new Rasmussen poll finds Bob McDonnell (R) leading Creigh Deeds (D) by 9 points in the race for governor of Virginia (Sept. 29, 500 LV, MoE +/- 4.5%). The result is a 7-point margin increase from two weeks ago, and is the second poll released in the last day to show McDonnell increasing his lead.

McDonnell 51 (+3 vs. last poll, Sept. 17)
Deeds 42 (-4)
Und 7

SurveyUSA released a poll late yesterday showing McDonnell out to a 14-point lead -- a stark contrast to polling over the last month that has shown the race tightening. Still, a PPP poll out yesterday as well showed the race down to just 5 points.

With just over a month remaining in the race, it's hard to tell exactly where the race is at this point with such differing results. McDonnell now leads in the RCP Average by 7.2 points.

As a Chicago-area resident I'm conflicted over the prospect of the Windy City winning the 2016 Games. On one hand, it would be great for the city and fun to be able to take my kids to see some of the action without having to travel half way around the world. On the other hand, I dread the construction (which would probably start post-haste), and the crowds and congestion that would accompany the Games - so much so that it makes me think we might want to plan to be out of town for the entire month of August that year.

As a political matter, the GOP's criticism of President Obama for going to Copenhagen to make a personal pitch for the Games is silly. Sure, he's doing a favor for his buddy/patron Mayor Daley. He's also understandably pitching his home town.

And, yes, there are a lot of other very important things going on right now, but it's ridiculous to suggest that the President spending 24 hours in Denmark to make this pitch is going to have some material effect on whether health care gets passed or whether the Iranians decide to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions.

Personally, I think the President could have gotten away with sending just the First Lady, but I have no problem that he decided to go the extra mile to try and close the deal on an event that will benefit his hometown and will also be a great source of pride for the United States.

All that said, now that Obama has put his personal prestige on the line it will be quite a personal embarrassment for him if Chicago doesn't win the Games. That's another headache he just doesn't need at the moment.

The Democratic National Committee has launched a TV ad calling out the GOP for its "scare tactics" and "scare mongering."

"Republicans are trying to scare seniors about health reform," the announcer states. "Tell Republicans: Stop the lies on health reform."

"It takes some nerve on the part of the Republican Party - the same party who has tried for decades to end Medicare as we know it - to now feign an interest in protecting health care for seniors all in an effort to scare them and 'kill' the President's health insurance reforms, as leading Republicans have publicly stated they wish to do," said DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse, in a press release.

The core dilemma of Democratic reformists is underscored in yet another poll out this morning.

It's not the minutia of health care proposals that dogs Democrats. It's not Barack Obama's personality. And it's not the anger on the radical right.

Democrats have a mainstream problem, one long inseparable from U.S. politics and entirely predictable, the American tension with government.

The prolonged, at times clumsy and quixotic, push for health care reform has both allowed and caused this tension to increasingly define the debate. As many liberals are learning the hard way, health care reform is yet another issue not inoculated from rugged individualism—for better or worse, a most American of creeds.

Democrats' progressive caucus is pushing for a more expansive government role. At the same time, the public is more skeptical of government than at anytime in the past decade.

The public believes by a 61 to 37 percent margin that it's the responsibility of their fellow Americans and not the federal government to “make sure” they have health insurance, according to a Gallup poll published Wednesday.

This is only the latest poll to show that Americans' skepticism of government has been exacerbated in recent months. And it's a trend at odds with the most active state liberal president since Lyndon Johnson. Americans had a far less skeptical view of government in Johnson's day.

Washington's trillion dollar push to shore up Wall Street, under a Republican and Democratic White House, appears to be the initial trigger for this heightened "apprehension of the federal," to use Alexander Hamilton's phrasing.

This month, another Gallup poll found that 57 percent of Americans believe the government is “trying to do too many things” that should be left to individuals and businesses.

Gallup also found in early September that 45 percent of Americans believe that there is “too much” government regulation of business—also the highest level for at least a decade—while 27 percent say the country has the “right amount” and 24 percent say Uncle Sam regulates “too little.”

Put another way, the majority does not want less regulation but they also don't broadly want more. Other polls do show Americans support increased regulation of the financial sector, specifically.

The public is also far from definitive in its view on health care and government. Last November, Gallup asked another responsibility question. “Is it,” or “is it not” the government's responsibility to provide health care? With that wording, 54 percent said “it is” the government's responsibility. And in a similarly worded Fox News poll in late July, 51 percent of Americans still said “it is” the government's responsibility to provide health care.

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll in mid September asked: “is [it] more important than ever to take on health care reform now; or, given the serious economic problems facing the country we cannot afford to take on health care reform right now?”

Fifty-seven percent of Americans said health care reform was “more important than ever.”

So we are left with a public that clearly has mixed feelings about health care reform. They want something significant but not everything Democrats' propose.

And the core Democratic problem remains. When given a stark choice between placing “responsibility” on the people or the government, the public chooses the people. More accurately, most Republicans, a strong majority of independents and about a third of Democrats believe health care is the public's burden.

The White House was late to digest that they would have to confront the core debate over government in order to succeed in changing the role of government. This month Obama began that deeper confrontation—time will tell if it's too little too late.

Clearly, the public's view of government and health care is malleable. But the rub for Democrats is that the trend is against them.

The big Democratic obstacle is Americans' increased weariness of big government itself. It has proven a philosophical hurdle for Democrats on health care, and will continue to do so in every foreseeable reform ahead.

Attorney General Tom Corbett (R) is the most well known of the candidates looking to replace the term-limited Gov. Ed Rendell (D), and therefore leads his potential opponents by wide margins, a new Quinnipiac survey finds (Sept. 21-28, 1100 RV, MoE +/- 3%).

Corbett leads Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.), who represents a district northwest of Philadelphia, by a 42%-13% margin among Republicans, with 43% undecided.

Among the Democrats, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato leads with 14%, followed by Montgomery Co. Commissioner Joe Hoeffel (the 2004 Senate nominee) at 12%, State Auditor General Jack Wagner at 11%, Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty at 8% and businessman Tom Knox at 5%. Forty-six percent remain undecided.

“The Democratic race for Governor is wide open,” said Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown. “The candidates just aren't that visible to most voters and that race is still far, far away from even having a front-runner. The Republicans are another story. Corbett has a large lead and although it is certainly not insurmountable, Congressman Gerlach certainly has his work cut out for him."

General Election Matchups
Corbett 47 - Onorato 28 - Und 24

Corbett 44 - Wagner 29 - Und 25

A new Quinnipiac poll of the New Jersey gubernatorial race seems to show a September surge of sorts for Gov. Jon Corzine (D).

General Election Matchup
Christie 43 (-4 from last poll, 9/1)
Corzine 39 (+2)
Daggett 12 (+3)
Undecided 6 (unch)

The poll brings Chris Christie's (R) lead in the RCP Average down to 5 points, the lowest in our tracking. One potential reason why: a sharp spike in Christie's unfavorable numbers -- from 30 percent earlier this month, to 38 percent in today's survey. His unfavorable rating has nearly doubled since July, while Corzine's has held steady.

Favorable Ratings
Christie 38 / 38
Corzine 34 / 56
Daggett 11 / 3

Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, finds that at this stage, independent Chris Daggett's numbers "do matter," with him now above double digits. Christie leads among independent likely voters by a margin of 45-32, with Daggett getting 16 percent.

Corzine's job approval rating is now at 36 percent, with 58 percent disapproving. President Obama's approval rating improved to 56 percent from 51 percent earlier this month; 39 percent disapprove.

The survey of 1,188 likely voters was conducted September 23–28, with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percent points.

Blanche Lincoln voted against two variants of the so-called public option today in the Senate Finance Committee.  For those who are somewhat befuddled by this development, take a look at the Rasmussen polling out today:

Kim Hendren 44%, Lincoln 41%

Gilbert Baker 47%, Lincoln 39%

Curtis Coleman 43%, Lincoln 41%

Tom Cox 43%, Lincoln 40%

For those keeping score, that's two state Senators and two Republican activists who have never held elected office that Lincoln can't get above 41% against.  We have a term for Senators like that, and it is "soon-to-be-former-Senators."  Blanche Lincoln needs this health care debate right now like she needs a case of shingles.  Don't expect to see her signing up for too many things supported by DailyKos over the next year or so.

The public option took another blow Tuesday. As expected, the Senate Finance Committee rejected an amendment this afternoon to create a government-run health plan to compete with private insurers.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller's amendment was shot down by a hard 15-8 vote. There is sure to be some liberal frustration targeted at the Democratic senators who voted against the measure. Joining the unified Republican opposition were Democrats: Max Baucus, Blanche Lincoln, Thomas Carper, Bill Nelson and Kent Conrad.

Rockefeller's declaration that “the public option is on the march” appears, today, more wishful than fact. The progressive push for a government plan, most visibly from Nancy Pelosi in the House, remains mired down in the Senate. And the cleavage between Democratic moderates and the political left earns its latest anecdote this afternoon.