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Polls Looking A Lot Like 1994
The Washington Post reports: “Is it deja vu all over again for Democrats? Some neutral observers and senior strategists within the party have begun to believe that the national political environment is not only similar to what they saw in 1994 — when Democrats lost control of the House and Senate — but could in fact be worse by Election Day. A quick look at the broadest atmospheric indicators designed to measure which way the national winds are blowing — the generic ballot and presidential approval — affirms the sense that the political environment looks every bit as gloomy for Democrats today as it did 16 years ago.”

Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will deliver remarks at 11 a.m. ET at the Veterans of Foreign Wars 111th National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. He will travel in the afternoon to Toledo, Ohio, for a Middle Class Task Force visit to the Chrysler Toledo Assembly Complex, where he will deliver remarks at 3 p.m. ET. He will attend an event at 4:30 p.m. ET for Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH). He will return to Washington in the evening.

Dems Urge Obama To Take A Stand
Politico reports: “White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’s recent complaint about the ingratitude of the ‘professional left’ is a small symptom of a larger problem for President Barack Obama: He has left wide swaths of the Democratic Party uncertain of his core beliefs. In interviews, a variety of political activists, operatives and commentators from across the party’s ideological spectrum presented similar descriptions of Obama’s predicament: By declining to speak clearly and often about his larger philosophy — and insisting that his actions are guided not by ideology but a results-oriented ‘pragmatism’ — he has bred confusion and disappointment among his allies, and left his agenda and motives vulnerable to distortion by his enemies.”

Lazio Finds An Issue in Furor Over Islamic Center
The New York Times reports on how former Rep. Rick Lazio (R-NY) has made opposition to the Cordoba House Muslim community center into a major issue for his campaign: “As a dominant New York voice against the center, Mr. Lazio has attracted a burst of public attention to a campaign that had failed to gather much momentum, overshadowed by the money and muscle of his Democratic rival, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo. The occasional voter has now taken to stopping Mr. Lazio in the street to urge him on, and any number of others have stocked his campaign’s Web site with letters of support made public by Mr. Lazio’s aides. ‘Rick’s got my vote,’ wrote one New Yorker, after seeing Mr. Lazio’s latest commercial about the center.”

House Democrats To Push Party Small-Business Agenda This Week
The Hill reports: “House Democrats are planning a coordinated effort to highlight the party’s small-business agenda this week, hoping to build momentum for stalled jobs legislation while hammering Republicans for obstructionism. As part of the push, Democratic incumbents and candidates are scheduling business-themed campaign events throughout the country. With an eye toward boosting its chances in November, the party also plans to release a report highlighting accomplishments by freshman and sophomore lawmakers – many of whom are among the most vulnerable this fall.”

Deficit Held Hostage In Partisan Tax Cut War
Roll Call reports: “Senate Democrats and Republicans are in for an epic election-year battle over Bush-era tax cuts when Congress returns in September, and both parties privately acknowledge the minefield they are walking into as the debate pits tax breaks against a troublesome budget deficit.”

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