Daily Archives
28 posts · Thursday
“When you bring that up you get people who get crazy on us. And they’ll start saying, ‘Oh there you go comparing to the Nazis.’ And I understand the reaction, but it’s the truth.”
— Mike Huckabee, on his radio show, defending comparisons of the Obama administration to Nazi Germany.
“Declaring that he’s likely not done with politics,” former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) refused to rule out a run for office in New Hampshire, while describing the Granite State as ”almost a second home,” the AP reports.
Asked if he might challenge Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) in 2014, Brown said: “I’m not going to rule out anything right now.”
ABC News: “A New Hampshire run would be feasible for him. The state’s
eligibility requirements to run for Senate are loose, and the Granite
State tends to be a friendlier territory for Republicans than
Massachusetts, offering greater political appeal for the former senator.”
Just as French President François Hollande is trying to impose budgetary discipline on his countrymen, his chief tax enforcer has admitted to hiding $770,000 in an offshore bank account, Businessweek reports.
“Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac, who resigned as budget minister two weeks ago, acknowledged this week that he lied to Hollande and others who questioned him after allegations about his secret overseas accounts surfaced several months ago.”
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) “has endorsed gay marriage, the latest in a string of lawmakers to change his position on the issue,” the Washington Post reports.
He becomes the 51st senator to announce his support for same-sex marriage.
“She’s brilliant and she’s dedicated, she’s tough. She also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general.”
— President Obama, quoted by the Washington Post, praising the appearance of California attorney general Kamala Harris (D).
BuzzFeed compiles a list of the 12 hottest attorney generals.
Just published: Political Power: Election 2012 Recap by Marc Shapiro and illustrated by Nick Justus and Luciano Kars.
A new graphic novel recaps last year’s presidential election.
Ron Brownstein: “For decades after the cultural upheavals of the 1960s, Republicans regularly provoked confrontations on a broad array of polarizing noneconomic ‘wedge issues,’ from crime and welfare to immigration and gay rights. Democrats, with a few exceptions, mostly tried through those years to neutralize the debates and quickly pivot back to economic terrain.”
“Now, that has flipped. In Washington and in blue-leaning states, Democrats are forcing the collisions on these issues. Democrats may not win all of these fights legislatively, in Congress or in the state capitals. And in most red states, Republicans are still pursuing their own culturally conservative agenda, particularly on abortion. But the Democrats’ willingness to take the offense on so many cultural issues represents a stark change–and a measure of their confidence that they now represent the national majority on these disputes.”
New York Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D), “who wore a wire to help indict his colleague, Eric Stevenson, announced his resignation,” the New York Observer reports.
“Stepping down from office, in addition to cooperating with federal authorities, were steps he took in order to avoid prosecution himself.”
The Westchester Journal News notes Castro “has been working as an informant for investigators since July 2009.”
A new political action committee launched this week to support bearded candidates from across the political spectrum, The Hill reports.
Said spokesman Andy Shapero: “It’s been 125 years since our last bearded President, Benjamin Harrison, was elected. We’re hoping that with our support, bearded individuals will shrug off over a century of political irrelevance and start running for office again.”
Patti Davis, daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, told the New York Times that she believes her father would back same-sex marriage if he were alive today.
Said Davis: “All I know is the heart of the man who raised me as my father.”
But Michael Reagan, the late president’s son by a different marriage, told the Washington Post that people shouldn’t be making assumptions about where this father would stand on the issue today.
Said Reagan: “You’d have to ask him… t’s easy to say he would do or not do something when he’s not here to answer.”
Rick Santorum tells Newsmax he’s not ruling out another presidential bid.
Said Santorum: “I’m certainly leaving the door open for that. I’m making no commitments at this point, but we’re not doing anything inconsistent with running in 2016.”
President Obama “seems resigned to the reality that big chunks of his second-term agenda will die without Nancy Pelosi holding the speaker’s gavel,” Roll Call reports.
“In remarks at two fundraisers for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Wednesday night, Obama said he still hopes to achieve bipartisan action on an immigration overhaul, guns and the budget… But he balanced that with an acknowledgement that much of his agenda isn’t going anywhere as long as Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) runs the House.”
A new Pew Research poll finds for the first time that a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana, 52% to 45%.
“Support for legalizing marijuana has risen 11 points since 2010. The change is even more dramatic since the late 1960s. A 1969 Gallup survey found that just 12% favored legalizing marijuana use, while 84% were opposed.”
Time looks at the differences between Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, who was never seen as a viable GOP standard bearer.
“Whereas his dad played the outside scold castigating the GOP, Rand assuages fears that his positions clash with party doctrine. To explain his stand on foreign aid, he asks why the U.S. builds bridges in Egypt or Pakistan when our own infrastructure is crumbling. Unlike his father, he backs Iran sanctions and says a robust defense requires some military bases abroad. He’s certainly marking the stations of the GOP cross: he recently toured Israel with evangelical leaders and party bosses from South Carolina and Iowa. He boasts a new super PAC, an entrenched network in key primary states and an e-mail list more than 2 million strong. And his publicity burst has caught the eye of GOP fundraisers.”
The AP reports Paul is already headed to New Hampshire.
When it comes to the federal budget deficit, a new Marist Poll finds 50% of voters nationally have more faith in President Obama than in the Republicans in Congress to handle the issue.
This compares with 41% who have more faith in the Republicans in
Congress to make the correct choices and 8% who trust neither the
president nor the Congressional GOP.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office “announced yet another New York State elected official, Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, has been arrested and accused of taking bribes,” the New York Observer reports.
“Earlier this week, New York’s political world was rocked when corruption charges were leveled against State Senator Malcolm Smith and Councilman Dan Halloran. Mr. Stevenson’s charges will be formally unsealed at noon today.”
Hillary Clinton inked a deal with Simon & Schuster to write a book “sharing key decisions and experiences as secretary of state,” CNN reports.
“Clinton’s book doesn’t have a title yet, but will be released in 2014. Washington lawyer Robert Barnett represented her to publishers, though financial details of her book deal weren’t immediately available.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.