“Dozens of House Republicans have recently backed legislation that calls for legal action against President Obama,” The Hill reports.
“Forty-three Republicans have cosponsored the resolution since Obama’s State of the Union address, where he threatened to enact policies if Congress didn’t act.”
Pandora Media “plans to roll out a new advertising service next week that would enable candidates and political organizations to target the majority of its 73 million active monthly Pandora listeners based on its sense of their political leanings,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“How can it do this? The company matches election results with subscribers’ musical preferences by ZIP Code. Then, it labels individual users based on their musical tastes and whether those artists are more frequently listened to in Democratic or Republican areas. Users don’t divulge their political affiliations when they sign up for Pandora.”
Willie Brown: “The real news in the San Diego mayoral race isn’t that a Republican won, but that the candidate backed by public-employee unions lost.”
“That is a real shift in California politics. And it’s the second time it’s happened in a big-city mayoral race in less than a year.”
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A new Hawaii poll finds Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D) has pulled ahead of Sen. Brian Schatz (D) in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, 48% to 40%, with 11% undecided.
A new Baltimore Sun poll in Maryland finds Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (D) has staked out a sizable lead in the Democratic contest for governor over Douglas Gansler (D), 35% to 14%, with Heather Mizeur (D) at 10%.
Hopwever, the primary race is far from decided as 40% of likely Democratic voters have yet to pick a candidate.
In the Republican primary, Larry Hogan (R) leads a crowded field with 13%.
MSNBC: “A Port Authority police officer with personal ties to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was at the George Washington Bridge when access lanes were closed last September and personally drove David Wildstein, the Christie appointee who supervised the closings, on a tour of the area as traffic brought it to a standstill.”
“Documents submitted to a New Jersey legislative committee by Wildstein also show that the officer, Lieutenant Thomas ‘Chip’ Michaels, appears to have sent periodic text messages to Wildstein updating him on the effects of the lane closures and their crippling impact on the town of Fort Lee. In one message, on the first day of the lane closures, Michaels told Wildstein he might have an idea to ‘make this better.’ It is not clear what he meant.”
A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll finds Gov. Mark Dayton (D) heads into re-election with the highest job approval rating of his term: 58% of Minnesotans think Dayton is doing a good job as governor, with 29% saying they disapprove.
“Those numbers come after the governor orchestrated an income tax increase on the wealthy and after the troubled rollout of the state’s health care exchange that opponents hoped would diminish his popularity.”
Despite his denial of interest, some supporters and donors, pollsters and pundits are starting to suggest that Mitt Romney run for president in 2016, the Boston Globe reports.
“Those close to Romney say he is giving the talk little thought, and party operatives in key states and some of his former advisers say they cannot imagine a scenario in which he would run… And yet the former candidate who rarely gave interviews during the 2012 campaign and laid low for the year following his defeat is now suddenly everywhere.”
Washington Post: “Though more united than Republicans, Democrats nevertheless face simmering tensions between the establishment and a newly energized populist wing, led by the unabashed liberalism of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and the fiery rhetoric of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.”
“The schisms are as much stylistic as substantive. But however defined, they offer a challenge to the party’s next leader… The Democratic Party, by various measures of public opinion, has moved to the left in the past decade. But that does not necessarily mean that progressives have become the party’s dominant force or that the policies and messages they advocate can carry the day in a national election.”
Lyndon Johnson’s family and friends “have commenced one last campaign” in rebuilding the late president’s image, the New York Times reports.
“They are seeking a reconsideration of Johnson’s legacy as president, arguing that it has been overwhelmed by the tragedy of the Vietnam War, and has failed to take into account the blizzard of domestic legislation enacted in the five years Johnson was in the White House.”
“The campaign comes at the end of a long period in which aides and advisers to Johnson, who died at age 64 in 1973, have largely stayed in the shadows, quieted by the memory of a war that still prompts anguished debate and condemnation. They have patiently watched the adulation of John F. Kennedy — whom Johnson succeeded and with whom he had a decidedly competitive relationship — that accompanied the commemoration of another 50th anniversary: the Kennedy assassination.”
Los Angeles Times: “During his first four years as America’s top law enforcement officer, Holder’s tenure at the Justice Department seemed so unfocused and controversy-prone that even Democrats began to question what the nation’s first African American attorney general had accomplished, and whether he had the passion to stick it out.”
“But since President Obama’s reelection, the 63-year-old Holder has tackled his responsibilities with newfound energy and determination, surprising critics and supporters alike by striking out on a broad, ambitious and unapologetically liberal agenda.”
According to a press release, Groupon apparently thinks Alexander Hamilton was President of the United States.
“Starting tomorrow, Groupon will be kicking off Presidents Day weekend by giving customers 10 dollars off 40 dollars when they purchase a deal for any local business. The $10 bill, as everyone knows, features President Alexander Hamilton — undeniably one of our greatest presidents and most widely recognized for establishing the country’s financial system.”
Dana Millbank has a fascinating look at how Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) nearly caused a catastrophe in the U.S. Senate this week by filibustering an effort to raise the debt ceiling.
“Watching the chaos from the side of the chamber was the man who caused it: Cruz, his hands in his pants pockets and a satisfied grin on his face. The Texas Republican strolled to the clerk’s table to check on the vote count and was met with a look of disgust from Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). And the feeling was widespread: Moments after Cruz walked into the Republican cloakroom, four senators emerged from it and changed their votes to ‘aye.'”
“Cruz reemerged from the cloakroom, chewing gum, his hands again in his pockets. He smirked as his colleagues finally overcame his filibuster after a 59-minute struggle. “
Tennessean: “Just 87 votes at the Volkswagen plant in Tennessee separated the United Auto Workers union from what would have been its first successful organization of workers at a foreign automaker in the South. Instead of celebrating a potential watershed moment for labor politics in the region, UAW supporters were left crestfallen by the 712-626 vote against union representation in the election that ended Friday night.”
Washington Post: “The loss came in spite of an unprecedented level of support from the company being organized. “
Slate: “Tenneesee Republicans certainly did turn up the pressure, but whether their actions count as unfair influence remains to be seen. Republican Governor Bill Haslam said unionization would make it harder to recruit automotive suppliers to the state.”
Celinda Lake of the George Washington University Battleground Poll talks about why this year’s midterm elections might be unique.
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Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report helps us unpack the battle for control of the U.S. Senate.
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Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) gave a rare national interview with CNN, The Hill reports.
“Franken is one of a few lawmakers on Capitol Hill who evades reporters. The others include Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and David Vitter (R-LA).”
McKay Coppins goes on “the fake campaign trail” with Donald Trump.
“The notion that he is simply too big — too presidential — for a measly job in the Albany Statehouse has temporarily quelled his insecurity. But after this morning, Trump can no longer escape the fact that his political ‘career’ — a long con that the blustery billionaire has perpetrated on the country for 25 years by repeatedly pretending to consider various runs for office, only to bail out after generating hundreds of headlines — finally appears to be on the brink of collapse.”
“The reason: Nobody seems to believe him anymore.”
A Trump aide told The Wrap that the interview was “dishonest and unfair” and that Trump was “totally unfazed by this article.”
“A century-old debate over whether presidents should reward political donors and allies by making them ambassadors has flared again after a string of embarrassing gaffes by President Obama’s picks,” the Washington Post reports.
“The nominee for ambassador to Norway, for example, prompted outrage in Oslo by characterizing one of the nation’s ruling parties as extremist. A soap- opera producer slated for Hungary appeared to have little knowledge of the country she would be living in. A prominent Obama bundler nominated to be ambassador to Argentina acknowledged that he had never set foot in the country and isn’t fluent in Spanish.”
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.
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