Series Overview: The Pulse Of The Nation

JACKI LYDEN, host:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Jacki Lyden in for Liane Hansen.

The politics of Afghanistan are critical to the politics of America this week as President Obama ponders the future of the U.S. mission there amid uncertainty about that country's elections. In Washington, Congress is poised to take the year long debate on health care to the floor of the House and several states will be holding elections for governor, mayor and other offices. Joining us to talk about this political potpourri is NPR's senior Washington editor Ron Elving. Welcome, Ron.

RON ELVING: Good to be with you, Jacki.

LYDEN: So, let's just start with the elections in Afghanistan. The main challenger to the Hamid Karzai regime there has officially just dropped out of the special runoff election coming up next weekend. Ron, that cannot be good news for the Obama administration, it complicates things. Right?

ELVING: It does. It settles any question about the Karzai government remaining in charge, of course, but it also guarantees that the questions about the legitimacy of that government that followed the fraudulent election of August, August 20th are going to continue. And let's remember that this second vote, this runoff was necessary because an international panel ruled out about a million ballots for Karzai.

And so, when Abdullah Abdullah pulled out and criticized the election system that they have there in Afghanistan, saying that a second vote next weekend would be just as fraudulent as the first, even though he didn't call on his followers to boycott and even though he didn't denounce the Karzai government, clearly the cloud is going to remain over Kabul.

LYDEN: Do we expect the president to announce a decision about troops this week?

ELVING: Certainly a lot of people would like to have him do so. The Pentagon is pressing for an answer. Conservative critics are saying that it's hurting the United States to be indecisive on this front. But this may not be the best week if you assume that the president wants to make an address to the nation regarding this decision. This is a week in which he would have to compete with the World Series and, of course, the elections on Tuesday. There might not be a good night for an announcement until late in the week and then right after next weekend, the president is going to be leaving for a ten-day trip to Asia.

LYDEN: And Ron, on the domestic front, we have this enormous health care bill approaching the critical weeks of floor debate in Congress.

ELVING: Right now it does look as though the House is going to debate and pass this health care bill with an option for individuals to buy insurance from the government if they can't get private insurance or don't want to get private insurance. The Senate may also begin debate very soon, certainly in November, on a bill that has this provision or a version of it, but with an opt-out for the states. Not clear, though, yet that the Senate has the 60 votes it will need just to begin debate on that particular bill.

LYDEN: And some pretty important elections coming up across the country. Tell us just a little about Virginia and New Jersey.

ELVING: That's right. The most closely watched is probably the one in New Jersey. You've got a three-way contest there between Jon Corzine, the Democratic incumbent Chris Christie, who is the Republican challenger and Chris Daggett, who is an independent and taking some votes probably from both candidates. That one is too close to call and President Obama is campaigning there for Jon Corzine this weekend. Virginia is a lot simpler and easier to predict. You've got there Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate, opening a double digit lead over Creigh Deeds, the Democrat and it's just a two way race. And so the president has been weighing in there on behalf of the Democrat as well, but it doesn't seem to be doing him much good.

We're also going to be seeing some mayors probably reelected in New York and Boston. It is conceivable that Atlanta will be electing its first non-African-American mayor in 40 years, while in Charlotte they may be electing their first African-American mayor and a number of other races around the country as well. But, you know, a lot of the national attention has focused on one special election for Congress in upstate New York.

LYDEN: Yes. And the - one of the candidates has just dropped out there.

ELVING: Yeah. This is a stunning development, it truly is, where the official Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, has decided she has had enough. That the insurgent Republican rebellion against her candidacy, they view her as being insufficiently conservative or insufficiently orthodox, particularly on gay rights, particularly�

LYDEN: Ron?

ELVING: �particularly on abortion rights. Pardon me?

LYDEN: Sorry to interrupt, but what can I ask you about the year ahead? President Obama has been in office for one year now and NPR is going to be taking a special look at that.

ELVING: That's right. We are going to be doing a series of stories all week long beginning tonight on ALL THINGS CONSIDERED about the independents and their feelings about politics right now and continuing right through the week starting with MORNING EDITION tomorrow.

LYDEN: Well, we'll look forward to that. NPR's senior Washington editor Ron Elving, thanks very much.

ELVING: Thank you, Jacki.

LYDEN: And no matter how popular first term president is in office, mid-term Congressional elections have rarely spelled good news for his party. You can trace the outcome of those elections going back to 1946 on our Web site npr.org.

JACKI LYDEN, host:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. Im Jacki Lyden in for Liane Hansen.

The politics of Afghanistan are critical to the politics of America this week as President Obama ponders the future of the U.S. mission there amid uncertainty about that countrys elections. In Washington, Congress is poised to take the yearlong debate on healthcare to the floor of the House and several states will be holding elections for governor, mayor and other offices. And joining us to talk about this political potpourri is NPRs senior Washington editor Ron Elving. Welcome, Ron.

RON ELVING: Good to be with you, Jacki.

LYDEN: Ron, lets just start with the elections in Afghanistan. Weve had news there, the main challenger to the Hamid Karzai regime there has officially just dropped out of the special run-off election coming up next weekend. How does that complicate President Obamas decisions about the war?

ELVING: It eliminates any doubts about the Karzai government remaining in power, but it also leaves open the questions about the legitimacy of that government. As you said, there were questions about the election back in August. And international observers said that about a third of the Karzai vote was fraudulent. And in pulling out his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, said he believed the runoff would be just as fraudulent. So its fair to say that questions of this kind make it more difficult for the president to commit tens of thousands more U.S. troops to defending that regime.

And hes not really got a lot of time to announce a decision with respect to that before he goes to Asia himself on November 10th.

LYDEN: Ron, moving to the domestic front, it seems like its been forever this enormous health care bill is finally approaching - critical weeks of floor debate in Congress.

ELVING: Thats right. The House, we expect this week will begin its debate and eventually pass the bill with an option for individuals to buy insurance from the government as an option to private insurance. Now, the Senate may debate the bill very soon, too, and its provision would allow states to opt out from that public option. But they still dont know if they have 60 votes that they will need to proceed to a vote in the Senate.

LYDEN: This week, also, some pretty important elections around the country. Tell us about a couple.

ELVING: In Virginia it appears that Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell has opened a pretty wide lead over Democrat Creigh Deeds. But up in New Jersey, its still too close to call between Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, his Republican challenger Chris Christie and a third party candidate Chris Daggett.

The president has been campaigning there for Corzine. And up in New York state, in upstate New York, theres a congressional special election there. Unusual circumstance where the Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, has actually chosen to take herself out of the running against a Republican insurgent who is running as the conservative party candidate, and attracting a lot of support within the party. And now shes dropped out and Doug Hoffman, who had been just a conservative party candidate is now becoming the official Republican candidate and that vote is on Tuesday as well.

LYDEN: So, Ron, does this have national implications for the Republican Party?

ELVING: It may indeed because this was a seat they thought they wanted to hold onto by nominating a relatively moderate candidate. Someone who had made a name for herself as someone who went back and forth between the positions of the two parties. And this is a seat they have held for over a century. They really wanted to make sure they held onto this seat.

And yet, what has happened is that the more conservative activists in New York have rebelled against that nominee. And people have come in from all over the country. Sarah Palin has come in on the side of the conservative party candidate, Doug Hoffman. So, whatever happens on Tuesday, and there is a democratic candidate, Bill Owens, its going to be read as a clear signal to the Republican establishment: dont nominate people we consider too moderate.

LYDEN: So, Ron, its been just one year since President Obamas historic November election and much has changed in Washington. But the economy is still struggling and polls show the publics in a really downbeat mood. What does that mean, you think, for the year ahead?

ELVING: Its a huge question. Were going to devote stories to it all week long on NPR news programs. Its a series were calling Pulse of the Nation: A Year After Election 08. And tonight, on WEEKEND ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, well hear about trends among the independent voters who were crucial to the Obama victory and other democratic victories in the last couple of election cycles. And were going to see where they are today, where theyre going.

And then tomorrow well focus on some of those off-year elections you and I have been talking about. And later in the week well have reports about prospects for the Obama agenda, health care, climate, financial regulation, as well as the recovering spirits of Republicans and conservatives and the direction of their resistance to the administration.

LYDEN: NPRs senior Washington editor Ron Elving. Ron, thank you very much.

ELVING: Thank you, Jacki.

LYDEN: And no matter how popular a first-term president is, mid-term congressional elections have rarely spelled good news for his party in recent history. You can trace the outcome of those elections going all the way back to 1946 on our Web site npr.org. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.