Joe Scarborough: “If this sounds all too familiar, it’s because Republicans were licking their wounds around this time last year after being blindsided by a presidential election whose outcome they should have seen coming a mile away. But ignorance was bliss as conservative politicians and talkers pushed bogus polls and political fairy tales to angry voters who were once again on the losing side of history. Media outlets that released polls showing President Obama winning were attacked as biased and conservatives who warned of Romney’s weaknesses were rhetorically burned at the stake as heretics.”
Days of Bush
David Frum reviews Days of Fire noting how complicated a book on George W. Bush’s presidency might be: “The Bush administration opened with a second Pearl Harbor, ended with a second Great Crash and contained a second Vietnam in the middle.”
“The story of those eight years would seem far too vast to contain inside a single volume. Yet here that volume is.”
“Baker’s book is informed by remarkable access to its main characters, including Vice President Dick Cheney… Yet Days of Fire is something more than the reporter’s ‘first rough draft of history.’ Almost every leading figure in the Bush White House, including Bush and Cheney, has now published his or her version of events, and Baker has painstakingly worked through them all. The result is what you might call a polished second draft of history, most likely the most polished draft we’ll have until the archives are opened and the academics can get to work.
The Solution to Hyper-Partisanship
Reid Wilson: “The latest game of political chicken that drove Washington to a government shutdown and the very edge of the debt ceiling gave new life to the omnipresent complaint of elder statesmen and centrist wise guys: If only Congressional districts weren’t so gerrymandered in the decennial redistricting process, moderation and across-the-aisle deal-making wouldn’t be so rare.”
“But there’s another solution to the partisan extremism that seems to dominate Congress today, one that’s already in practice in two states: A top-two primary system, one that incentivizes candidates in even the most conservative or liberal districts to appeal to the vast middle that otherwise plays a limited role in picking members of Congress.”
John Sides: “I too would like less partisan warfare. But political science suggests that reforming primaries isn’t likely to work.”
States Are Focus of Effort to Foil Obamacare
Having lost the battle to defund President Obama’s health care law, “conservative activists are pursuing a hardball campaign as they chart an alternative path to undoing Obamacare — through the states,” the New York Times reports.
“The state-by-state strategy represents a split from the course pursued by Heritage Action for America and its sister organization, Heritage Foundation, which drove the ‘defunding Obamacare’ movement that led to the recent government shutdown.”
Writes Heritage president Jim DeMint in the Wall Street Journal: “Obamacare will now be the issue for the next few years.”
Health Law Rollout Puts Sebelius in Cross Hairs
The Wall Street Journal looks at HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her role in the rocky Obamacare rollout.
“As the chief advocate for the Affordable Care Act, Secretary Sebelius is scrambling behind the scenes to address the website’s technical failures. With anger growing over the inability of consumers across the U.S. to access the new online marketplace, Mrs. Sebelius has become the target of late-night spoofs and calls for her resignation.”
Said Sebelius: “It’s tough to take these shots. But I will take them until we get this right.”
Wonk Wire: At least one health insurance exchange is working
C.W. Young Dies at 82
Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-FL), the longest-serving Republican in Congress, died Friday evening from complications related to a chronic injury at age 82, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
“Young served with eight U.S. presidents over parts of five decades. He leaves behind a stunning volume of legislative accomplishment in which he tapped federal funds to improve science and public health, military readiness, the beaches, transportation and access to drinking water.”
Republican Civil War Erupts
Bloomberg: “A battle for control of the Republican Party has erupted as an emboldened Tea Party moved to oust senators who voted to reopen the government while business groups mobilized to defeat allies of the small-government movement.”
Reid Says Cruz Wants to Run for President
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said in forthcoming interview that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) did what he did during the government shutdown because he wants to run for president, the Washington Post reports.
Said Reid: “In an effort to help him run for president, he has done some stuff that’s really damaging to our country. He’s been attempting to raise money. And who has he hurt? He has hurt average Americans. The government being shutdown for 14 or 15 days, that has been very hurtful to people. Not only the people that work for government, but the people who work around government.”
Former Speaker Foley Dies
Former Speaker Thomas Foley (D-WA), who spent
30 years in Congress as a kingpin on agriculture, ultimately leading the
chamber as the ‘Speaker from Spokane,’ has died, Roll Call reports.
He was 84.
Kennedy’s Best Moments
This is kind of amazing: JFK 50 Year Commemorative Collection.
The most important moments of Kennedy’s 1,000 days as president as compiled by the National Archives.
Walker’s Book Leaks
The Associated Press obtained an early copy of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s forthcoming book, Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge.
The book, due out in November, “provides a detailed account of his 2011 battle against public unions, the campaign he won against their efforts to recall him, and his unhappiness with Romney and other Republicans he says didn’t learn the lessons from his political victories.”
Trust in Government Nears Record Low
A new Pew Research survey finds just 19% of Americans say that they trust the government in Washington to do what is right just about always or most of the time, down seven points since January.
Key findings: “The share of the public saying they are angry at the federal government, which equaled an all-time high in late September (26%), has ticked up to 30%. Another 55% say they are frustrated with the government. Just 12% say they are basically content with the federal government.”
How to Sweet Talk a Shark
Great book just published: How to Sweet-Talk a Shark: Strategies and Stories from a Master Negotiator by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Richardson talked about his book with Julie Mason on Sirius XM.
Palin Might Campaign Against McConnell
Sarah Palin suggested she might get involved in Kentucky’s Republican Senate race between Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Matt Bevin (R), the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
“Bevin said a number of national high-profile people had contacted him about helping his campaign, but he declined to say whether Palin was one of them.”
Do Republicans Need an Intervention?
Charlie Cook:
“Here’s a question for conservatives and Republicans: Going into the
2012 Election Day, or even in the last few days before Election Day, did
you think Mitt Romney was going to win? A couple of months ago, did you
think the strategy of threatening to shut down the government or
prevent raising the debt ceiling, to force the outright repeal or
defunding of Obamacare, would really work?”
“So the question is whether conservatives and
Republicans should begin to worry if their instincts–specifically, their
judgment on matters of politics and policy–are a bit off. Maybe ‘spectacularly wrong’ would be more accurate.”
“It
may be time for the GOP’s Non-delusional Caucus to stage an
intervention. Otherwise the party may be headed for some
voter-administered therapy.”
Conservatives Say No Chance for Immigration Reform
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “has said he is committed to advancing immigration legislation in this Congress but there is virtually no interest among GOP lawmakers to vote for the kind of sweeping bill that Democrats are seeking,” USA Today reports.
Said Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID): “It’s not going to happen this year. After the way the president acted over the last two or three weeks where he would refuse to talk to the speaker of the House… they’re not going to get immigration reform. That’s done.”
Added Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS): “That would really melt down the conference.”
Red Sox Run Overshadows Boston Mayoral Race
“In a city obsessed with baseball and politics, baseball almost always wins — at least when it comes to voters’ attention,” the Boston Globe reports.
“The race to succeed Mayor Thomas M. Menino has already been overshadowed by a run of unrelated events, from the Marathon bombings to the trial of gangster James “Whitey” Bulger. Now, in the final stretch, mayoral finalists John R. Connolly and Martin J. Walsh find themselves fighting for the spotlight. In October, it’s tough to compete with the bat of David Ortiz or the glove of Dustin Pedroia.”
Shunning Cruz Only Increases His Power
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-AZ) told ABC News that he doesn’t need “99 new friends” in the Senate.
Rick Klein: “That’s just as well, but the problem for Republicans who see Cruz’s actions these past few weeks as problematic is that he doesn’t need any friends in Washington to do it all over again. Cruz is deriving his power – and the power of his convictions – well outside of Washington. Like Sarah Palin before him, efforts to shun and sideline him figure to only make him stronger, at least in the near future. Cruz’s reaction to the series of events he helped trigger speaks to the split inside the Republican Party: He sees victory in the process and defeat in the outcome. Most of his erstwhile friends see a disastrous process and the only hopeful signs in the way it came to an end.”