An embarrassing correction from the BBC:
“In our Newshour radio programme on Friday, a man claiming to be Senator Cory Booker was interviewed in what appears to be a deliberate hoax. We have apologised to Senator Booker and are looking into what went wrong to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
The White House plans to withdraw the nomination of Neera Tanden as director of the Office of Management and Budget as early as Tuesday evening, the Washington Post reports.
Wall Street Journal: “White House chief of staff Ron Klain said last month that the administration hoped to find a position for Ms. Tanden that didn’t require Senate confirmation if she were unable to win enough support.”
South Carolina senators voted to bring back the firing squad as a method of execution, the Columbia State reports.
“A bipartisan group of lawmakers voted in favor of the measure, which was proposed as an amendment to an execution bill that would make the electric chair the default method of execution.”
“With Democrats navigating battles over labor rights and wage policy, the two have back-channeled, applauded each other, and crafted carefully worded statements designed to project peace and the aura of collaboration,” Politico reports.
“It is, in part, a recognition that each side needs the other in order to be successful. It’s also driven by a desire to avoid the problems of the past.”
The Washington Post has an eye-opening look at the big cuts fundraising firms take to help new candidates running for office go viral — many of who are running in deep-blue districts with little chance of winning.
An example: “By the end of Kim Klacik’s campaign, she would raise a staggering $8.3 million and pay nearly $3.7 million of it to Olympic Media… Klacik, now a frequent Fox News and Newsmax commentator, lost to Mfume in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District by more than 40 percentage points.”
NPR: “Manny Diaz is the person charged with picking up the pieces and rebuilding the state party as the new party chairman. The 66-year-old says when he campaigned for the job, he didn’t know how bad things were, especially with the party’s finances. After the election, Florida’s Democratic Party was in debt and couldn’t pay its bills. Employees found out their health insurance had been canceled. Diaz says that was his first challenge.”
Said Diaz: “It was like survival. And I’m talking about the kind of survival where you’re involved in counting paperclips.”
President Joe Biden said he expects the United States will have enough Covid-19 vaccine for every adult Americans by end of May — two months earlier than anticipated, the Washington Post reports.
Biden also wants all states to vaccinate, with at least one shot, all teachers, childcare workers and school staff by the end of this month.
Perry Bacon Jr.: “Voters may like a president’s policies in the abstract but still think he isn’t doing a good job or that his policies aren’t that effective if those policies aren’t bipartisan. Think of this as the Mitch McConnell theory.”
“Put another way: The opposition party can guarantee a lack of bipartisan support — and then criticize the president for lacking bipartisan support.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) angered Joe Biden’s campaign in 2020 over his speech at the Democratic National Convention, “which aides considered to be self-aggrandizing,” The Hill reports.
According to Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency, Cuomo “did not deliver his recording of his speech until the day he was set to appear and used much of his remarks to tout his response to the coronavirus pandemic rather than praise Biden.”
Said one Biden aide: “They put his speech on our doorstep, lit it on fire, rang the doorbell, and then ran away.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot (R) announced that he will end his state’s coronavirus restrictions next week with an upcoming executive order.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) secured U.S. Senate confirmation as the nation’s next commerce secretary, 84 to 15, WPRI reports.
“Raimondo is expected to be sworn in as commerce secretary later Tuesday, once President Biden signs her formal commission document. She will resign as governor at some point before she is sworn in.”
Republican leaders are demanding that Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) resign after she voted to impeach Donald Trump and vowed to find a replacement for her in 2022 if she doesn’t, the Longview Daily News reports.
The goal, say party leaders, is “anybody but Jaime.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “No longer is the state’s political gravity squarely in sparsely populated South Georgia, as it was throughout decades of Democratic rule in the 20th century, or centered in the conservative bastions of North Georgia that dominated the state GOP through most of the 2010s.”
“Now, Atlanta and its suburbs have increasingly become the center of state politics, home to a burgeoning left-leaning electorate that fueled Democratic wins in November and January and the rise of homegrown politicians such as Stacey Abrams, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Jon Ossoff while also harboring a growing number of influential Republicans.”
“There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless asshole who thinks he is smarter than everyone else.”
— Former House Speaker John Boehner, describing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in his new book, On the House.
Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R) “is under fire after a damning report confirmed she harassed a former aide by fat-shaming him, making comments about his lesbian sister, and demanding he work while sick with Covid-19,” the Daily Beast reports.
The report “included text messages and an eyewitness account” to corroborate the claims that Rogers “cultivated a hostile work environment.”
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South Bend Tribune: “Buttigieg said he considered trying to hold onto the house on West North Shore Drive, near downtown South Bend, after his confirmation last month to President Biden’s cabinet but ultimately decided it wouldn’t be feasible.”
“He said he and Chasten recently bought a vacation home near Chasten’s hometown of Traverse City, Mich.”
“When a team of outside investigators begins to examine sexual harassment allegations lodged against Gov. Andrew Cuomo, its scope may be far broader than first anticipated,” the New York Times reports.
“The team, which will be hired by Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, will have far-reaching subpoena powers to request troves of documents and compel witnesses, including the governor, to testify under oath.”
Insider: Impeachment is “almost unprecedented” in New York, but calls for Cuomo to resign are growing among Democrats.
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.
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