Ten months ago, just days before a new dawn in America, then President-elect Barack H. Obama told us that

Economists from across the political spectrum agree that if we don’t act swiftly and boldly, we could see a much deeper economic downturn that could lead to double-digit unemployment and the American Dream slipping further and further out of reach.

(Via Instapundit.)  With the swift action he proposed, his team promised us we’d see unemployment top out at about 8% in the summer and start to decline in the fall.  We wouldn’t see double-digit unemployment.  Well, with the numbers announced today, we’re seeing just that.

(Chart via Gateway Pundit.)  Maybe we’d be seeing a different graph if Obama had authored a different stimulus, removing federal regulation and cutting the corporate income tax.

So, given that unemployment continues to climb, don’t you think the President would do well to adjust his priorities and follow the advice of a leading Democrat and “Forget healthcare, focus on employment.”

In trying to spin the results of this week’s elections to fit the Democratic/media narrative that Republicans are a dying species, Administration officials dwell on the results in NY-23 as if the White House were indifferent to the races in New Jersey and Virginia. And anyway, the Democratic candidate in New Jersey was an incumbent Governor weighed down by broken promises and corruption.

Let me remind you what a leading Democratic Governor said just over a month ago about the contest in the Garden State:

Asked in an interview with POLITICO about the New Jersey race, Democratic Governors Association chairman and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said flatly: “Corzine wins.”

Then the always-colorful Schweitzer stood up, reached into his pocket and shook a few coins, and doubled-down: “I bet whatever money is in my pocket he’s going to win.”

Was he just betting his change?

Let’s also recall where President Obama was last weekend.  Yup, you got it.  He was in Jersey, holding rallies in Camden and Newark.  And it wasn’t just the President.  The Democratic National Committee was urging Maine Democrats to make calls to New Jersey on behalf of Jon Corzine while doing nothing to help Defeat Question 1 (the citizens’ veto of a state law recognizing same-sex marriages).

According to liberal blogger John Aravosis:

the DNC was in fact doing more than sending generic “get out the vote” messages to advocate. In states they deemed worthy, they were actually organizing for specific things on the ballot. Marriage in Maine simply didn’t pass muster.

It’s not just that, a DNC official told Aravosis that it “did not send an email to our Maine list asking them to make calls in New Jersey.”  Democrats, while begging for gay money, were more concerned about reelecting an embattled Democrat than opposing Question 1.  

It must really hurt for those gay Democrats who have such high expectations for their party.

Let’s see, 69 (of 258) House Democrats “have expressed opposition to the Speaker’s health care bill.”  The party’s leadership may delay the vote slated for tomorrow on the bill as they struggle to find enough votes to pass it.  No wonder they’re doing what they always do when they’re in a jam:  blame Republicans.

Yeah, but if Republicans are so divided, um, how come they’re unified in opposing this big-government boondoggle?

As a further sign of discontent on the right, er, left, let’s not forget that

left-wing activist group MoveOn.org began sending out emails seeking contributions to fund primary challenges against any Democratic senator who does not fully support “health care reform with a public option.” Now there’s an update: MoveOn executive director Justin Ruben says the group has raised $3,578,117 for the project and is thinking of new ways to punish errant Democratic lawmakers.

They need to find a way to get those moderates to toe the Pelosi party line.  Wonder if CNN plans to run any articles on the divided Democrats.  ’Cause when it comes to partisan unrest, that’s the real story this week.

Focusing on the campaign in New York’s 23rd Congressional District as if it were the only election conducted last week, leading Democrats from the White House on down tell us that the GOP is a divided party, beholden to its far right extremist fringe.  Well, those people peddling that partisan nonsense weren’t paying much attention to events on the other side of the state.

In Westchester County (where Obama snagged 63.39% of the vote last fall), Republican Rob Astorino ousted Democrat Andy Spano, winning more votes than did Congresman-elect Bill Owens and erstwhile Republican Dede Scozzafava combined.  In Nassau County where Obama ran one point ahead of his national percentage, voters this week returned the County Legislature to Republican control.  Guess, everyone in in the Empire State (outside its far northern reaches) is becoming extremist.

And it wasn’t just the Empire State.

Republican Barbara Comstock’s ousted a Democratic incumbent in an inside-the Beltway Virginia Delegate district.  Republican Joan Orie Melvin won a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  Not to mention other Republican victories in Obama jurisdictions.

So, if the GOP is so divided and so beholden to its extreme wings, how did Republicans manage to do so well in these jurisdictions which went overwhelmingly for Obama last fall?

The Religion of Peace is alive and well in the ranks of our own military.

Wonderful.

RELATED: President Obama’s “My Pet Goat” Moment?

At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.

But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a “shout-out” to “Dr. Joe Medicine Crow — that Congressional Medal of Honor winner.”  Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

So, California Democrats are calling Carly Fiorina “a failed CEO.”  California Democrats know a lot about failures, failure to balance the budget, failure to stand up to public employee unions, failure to hold the line on taxes.  Failure to prevent businesses from leaving the state and taking jobs with them.

And if they think Carly’s a failed CEO, wait till they take a look at Barbara Boxer’s record in the Senate.  But, first, let’s look at Carly’s.  HP’s revenues more than doubled during her tenure there (from $39.3 billion the year before she took over to $86.7 billion when she left). She helped create the conditions for HP to become the world’s largest technology company and the world leader in PC sales.

Meanwhile, the woman Carly seeks to replace, Ma’am Babara Boxer has spent 17 years in the Senate, but only gotten three laws enacted.  Not just that, even though she was elected during a recession, she has seen unemployment in the Golden State increase by 33% since she first took office in 1993.  And since she voted in February for the “stimulus,” saying it was needed to save or create jobs, 336,400 jobs have disappeared from her jurisdiction.  Kind of sounds like a failure to me.

Not much of a record to run on.  No wonder her minions in Sacramento are attacking her likely opponent.  Hey, Ma’am, let me tell you something, your gutter politics may have worked in 1992 and 1998, but they won’t be effective this time.  Just take a look at New Jersey when Jon Corzine (kind of a Barbara Boxer in a beard) tried just that tack this time.  And though he outspent his Republican opponent three to one, Garden State voters ousted him from office.

Ma’am, you’ve been in office 17 years.  And today, in a world where the MSM has far less power than it did in the 1990s, we bloggers are going to do something the California media has failed to do, hold you to account for your record.  You haven’t gotten anything done these past 17 years while the citizens you were elected to represent keep losing their jobs.

And that’s why you should lose yours.