“Carol Shea-Porter rightly faced the August heat for at first avoiding her constituents and face-to-face town halls and later for hastily throwing together a staged forum, packing it with supporters and leaving many concerned voters out in the rain. Her actions go against the fundamentals of Democracy and the long-standing New Hampshire tradition of town hall meetings with open, honest debate.

“It’s time to synthesize and harmonize these strands and get this done.” — White House adviser David Axelrod, quoted by Politico , on the new White House strategy for health care reform.

So some Obama advisers want him to rescue himself on health care by foregoing the public option, getting the left to scream, then standing up to the screamers in order to look tough? That’s what Politico is “> “> reporting , citing unnamed administration aides. It’s hard to tell whether this really represents West Wing thinking or whether it’s just Politico writing the story they want to write.

Senior advisor to the President, David Axelrod, said yesterday, “We’re entering a new season.  It’s time to synthesize and harmonize these strands and get this done. We’re confident that we can do that. But obviously it is a different phase. We’re going to approach it in a different way. The president is going to be very active.”  The President’s popularity has taken a nose-dive in the month of August over the push to cram government healthcare on Americans.  Obama had handed over the drafting of

A few final words before I hit the hay – politicalbyline.com 09/02/2009 I am sure you have noticed that my posting has been a bit light as of late. There is a reason. For one, my laptop keyboard was not working properly; this has been fixed, the keyboard was replaced. Never thought that the damn “N” key was so vital to one’s ability to communicate properly.  Thank God for extended warranties. Another thing is; I am just getting bored of it all. There’s nothing really worth writing about anymore.

Politico – Whilehe’s publicly coy about making another W.H. bid, Mitt Romney’s calendar tells a very different story. Here is the original: (Politico)”> (Politico)”>Romney lays groundwork in autumn (Politico)

Politico – Former Rep. Jim Traficantis proving to be just as provocative as when he was expelled from Congress. Read the rest here: (Politico)”> (Politico)”>Traficant: out of pokey, into spotlight (Politico)

Aides to President Barack Obama are putting the final touches on a new strategy to help Democrats recover from a brutal August recess by specifying what Obama wants to see in a compromise health care deal and directly confronting other trouble spots, West Wing officials tell POLITICO. Obama is considering detailing his health-care demands in a major speech as soon as next week, when Congress returns from the August recess.