Obama To Use Campaign Infrastructure To Build Support For Budget
President Obama and the Democratic National Committee will be leveraging Obama’s 13-million name e-mail list in order to mobilize support for Obama’s budget proposal. From the Washington Post: “Aides familiar with the plan said it is an unprecedented attempt to transfer the grass-roots energy built during the presidential campaign into an effort to sway Congress.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama and Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner will be meeting at 11:25 a.m. ET with small business owners and community leaders. Obama and Geithner will deliver remarks to the group and members of Congress at 12 p.m. ET. At 2 p.m. ET, Obama will speak at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will be speaking this afternoon at the International Association of Fire Fighters 2009 Legislative Conference. In the evening, Biden will attend an event for the Democratic National Committee, where he will be speaking.
Obama To Roll Out Small Business Aid Plan
At their White House event today, President Obama and Sec. Geithner will announce plan to help small business. The plan will include lower small-business lending fees, as well as an increase on the government guarantees for some Small Business Administration loans, and other steps aimed at unlocking the credit markets.
Poll: Economy Is Top Issue, And Unemployment Is Top Economic Issue
A new CNN poll finds 36% of Americans saying unemployment is the single most important economic issue — compared to 13% last April, when the biggest economic issue during a time of rising gas prices was inflation. Overall, 63% say the economy is their top concern.
Simmons Running Against Dodd
Former Rep. Rob Simmons (R-CT) has announced that he is running for Senate against Chris Dodd in 2010. Simmons lost re-election by less than 100 votes in the 2006 Democratic wave, but a recent Quinnipiac poll gave him a 43%-42% edge over the embattled Dodd.
GOP Spending Big In Special Election For Gillibrand’s House Seat
The Hill reports that the Republicans are investing heavily in the special election for Kirsten Gillibrand’s former House seat, where the polls are showing just a small lead for GOP candidate Jim Tedisco (after he’d previously held a much larger one). In all, 82 members of the GOP conference have agreed to donate to Tedisco’s campaign, and both John Boehner and Eric Cantor have held fundraisers for him.
