A few positive signs

Amid all the bad news, the negative political posturing, and the just plain dumb GOP primary battles going on, there are a few positive signs that should be mentioned.

1. Having already picked up the spontaneous endorsement of the Massachusetts Nurses' Association, Elizabeth Warren is now seeing labor unions in the state coalescing around her anticipated run for the senate against Scott Brown.

Besides being terrific to have her voice in Senate debates, it would take back one seat from the Repubs.

2. Increasingly, the Repub presidential candidates are flocking to see who can out-pander to the Tea Party crowd. Romney, of all people, recently told a N.H. newspaper: "The tea party isn't a diversion from mainstream Republican thought. It is within mainstream Republican thought."

Just keep it up, guys; the more you paint yourself with those extremist views, the harder it will be for your eventual nominee to pivot for the competition with Obama.

3. Some pundits are now saying that Rick Perry has finally lit a fire under the liberal Democrats, who are getting worried. So maybe we'll begin to see more active support for Obama from the Dem Left.

4. Sarah Palin is obviously not going to get in the race, despite her continued coyness. This Labor Day weekend was her last chance before the train has definitely left the station. She'll try to extend her spot in the media craze as long as possible to keep the speaking engagements and TV appearances coming, and she will still draw crowds; but her poll numbers continue to sink of those who would actually vote for her.

5. The McClatchy News Service reports on a survey it did with randomly selected small business owners, asking how they thought taxes and federal regulations were affecting their business prospects (a main talking point of Repubs trying justify their call for tax cuts and slashing regulation).

At least in this sample, all interviewed said, in short, taxes and regulations are not what's hurting their business. It's the overall economic situation: people without money to spend because they don't have jobs or they're losing their mortgage.

This fits too with polls of the people -- whose top concern is not taxes, not the deficit, but JOBS.

Ralph