The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that both David Perdue (R) and Karen Handel (R) said they will not support Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as the party’s leader if they’re elected to the U.S. Senate this year.
Daily Archives
May 19, 2014
28 posts · Monday
Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 191
Blue Wave Update
Trial Balloon · Ep. 191: Blue Wave Update
LBJ’s Legacy Still Defines Politics in America
Washington Post: “Virtually every political battle that rages today has roots in the federal expansion and experimentation that began in the 1960s. It set terms of engagement for ideological warfare over how to grapple with income inequality, whether to encourage a common curriculum in schools, affirmative action, immigration, even whether to strip federal funding for National Public Radio. (Yes, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is another Great Society program.)”
“Many Great Society programs are now so popular it is hard to imagine the country as we know it without them. Others — including some of its more grandiose urban renewal efforts — are generally regarded as failures. Poverty remains with us, with the two parties in deep disagreement over whether government has alleviated it or made it harder to escape.”
Midterm Danger Signs for Democrats
A new Politico poll finds that in the congressional districts and states where the midterm elections will actually be decided, likely voters said they would prefer to vote for a Republican over a Democrat by 7 points, 41% to 34%. A quarter of voters said they were unsure of their preference.
Key finding: “Both Obama’s job approval and the partisan ballot matchup are markedly more negative for Democrats in this poll than other national surveys — a reflection of the political reality that the midterm campaign is being fought on turf that is more challenging for Democrats than the nation as a whole.”
Latest from the Cook Political Report: House races | Senate races | Governor races
GOP Incumbents Fend Off Challengers
Politico: “Tuesday’s primary here in Kentucky, along with others in Georgia, Idaho and Oregon, represents the most important moment on the 2014 calendar to date in the tug of war between GOP leaders and conservative activists. From the beginning, Mr. McConnell has highlighted his conservative stances, but never at the expense of his main message–that his perch as a party leader gives Kentucky more clout in Congress.”
“Last year, a stampede of conservatives declared their intent to challenge dozens of Republicans in Congress. But at this point, many of those campaigns have fizzled, as incumbents responded in various ways.”
Huffington Post: The tea party may be losing, but it’s pulling the GOP right
Glass Ceiling in the Northeast
New York Times: “The industrial Northeast enjoys a reputation as a cradle of liberalism, a region that voted overwhelmingly for America’s first black president, started the push on same-sex marriage rights and can reliably be found at the forefront of causes for equality. But there is a notable gap: The Democratic Party has yet to elect a female governor in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island or Massachusetts.”
Inside the Rise of the Koch Brothers
Here’s a must-read: Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America’s Most Powerful and Private Dynasty by Daniel Schulman.
Huffington Post: “Charles and David Koch are the unofficial standard-bearers of a new generation of billionaires, willing to spend immense sums to influence politics. Best known for bankrolling the tea party movement, the fiercely private Koch family has achieved a quasi-mythical status in political circles. Yet they remain an enigma to most Americans.”
GOP Shifts to Talk About Fixing Health Care Law
“In response to polling data showing that the Affordable Care Act has become more popular, a prominent Republican pollster said that he expected Republicans to change how they talked about the law,” the New York Times reports.
Said Bill McInturff: “After the primaries, expect a shift in Republican candidates’ rhetoric against Obamacare. Only few want to repeal the law. Most want to fix and keep it.”
Romney Rips Police Commissioner Statement
“The Wolfeboro, N.H., police commissioner who has stood by his comment calling President Obama a racial slur is facing a growing cascade of calls to step down, including from the tiny lakeside town’s most famous summer resident — one-time Obama opponent Mitt Romney,” the Boston Herald reports.
Said Romney: “The vile epithet used and confirmed by the commissioner has no place in our community. He should apologize and resign.”
Supreme Court Decisions to Shape Campaign
David Hawkings: “As the justices bring this season’s caseload to a close, they have a pretty clear idea how the rest of this Supreme Court year will play out. The rest of the country, however, will remain almost entirely in the dark until the remaining decisions are unveiled over the next six weeks.”
“The outcome in at least four of the most important disputes will help shape both the policymaking and campaign agendas of Congress through the midterm elections and beyond. But it’s possible no single ruling will have as much impact on the national political climate as the pattern that emerges in how the cases get decided.”
Corruption Becomes Issue in California Races
“A trio of Democratic lawmakers, suspended from their posts and facing possible jail time on criminal charges, are star attractions in legislative races across California even though they’re not running for reelection,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Republicans are using the allegations — perjury, bribery, conspiracy — in an attempt to taint their rivals, hoping to prevail in swing districts in the June 3 primary election and to shatter the dominant party’s hopes of regaining a powerful supermajority lost to the suspensions.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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