Nate Silver finds an, ah, silver lining in a recent same-sex marriage poll

The blogosphere's favorite numbers cruncher digs an interesting stat out of recent Gallup poll. If you ask people about same-sex marriage in a certain way, you get a positive response.

When USA Today asks whether gay marriage is a private decision, or rather whether government has the right to pass laws which regulate it, 63 percent say it's a private decision. This contrasts significantly with all other polling on gay marriage.

How to win an election & lose the economy

Barack Obama -- the new Great Communicator -- isn't. Because of that and because of the fumbling messaging of Democrats in Congress, the Republicans are winning the debate on the stimulus bill. Nate Silver, as always, has the numbers.

At Salon, Joan Walsh details Obama's failures and his path back to success. She writes:

Democrats know the Republicans are wrong. Little children know they're wrong. Cats and dogs know they're wrong. But somehow this week, unbelievably, Obama and the Democrats seem to be losing the spin war.