Three topics this week…(yeah, three whole thoughts in seven days–it’s been pretty exhausting).

One, President Barack Obama has been combative recently regarding the Republican Party.  According to an article in the Washington Post, The President’s Democratic base is excited about the President’s confrontational approach.  Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner expressed his frustration that Congress is doing its job, but the President is campaigning instead of governing.

The President is conscious of the fact that his election is next year, and the reality is that like any incumbent, he has two choices–go positive or go negative.  But there really isn’t much for him to brag about.  Unemployment is worse than he said it would be and much worse than it was when he took office.  He pushed through his health care plan, but the public isn’t really enamored with that.  There were a lot of things that he promised liberals that he hasn’t been able to deliver (yet).  So what does that leave him with?  Attacking the opposition.

The thing is, though, that people are usually drawn to the positive.  You can score some points by going negative, but to win the game you usually have to offer a better alternative.  The public was tired of Republican leadership in 2008, but Obama did more than present himself as an alternative–he promised hope and change.  That sounded nice.  Voters are going to want to be inspired in 2012, too.

Two, who is Herman Cain?  The Republican contender had been about as significant in Republican opinion polls as the voting option of “Other.”  But lately, people have started to take notice.  He’s a social and fiscal conservative.  There’s a YouTube video of him standing up to then-President Bill Clinton in a discussion over universal health care.  Lately in the polls, he’s been holding steady with the two front runners, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.  If Cain were to win the Republican nomination, it would at least make some Democrats move beyond two of their most frequent attacks against Republicans–they’re stupid and they’re racists.   Herman Cain is smart and black.

Update: Iran is spreading the word that they are not planning on executing Christian pastor Youcef Nadarkhani.  He had been charged with apostasy for converting from Islam to Christianity then preaching to others to do the same.  Now Iran is saying that their real beef all along is that the guy is a rapist and a Zionist spy (two other crimes that are punishable by death).  There is apparently no record of this being part of their legal case against him.  At least the good news in the short term, though, is that he was not executed.  People around the world have been praying for this guy.  Keep it up, I say.