In the first sign that Democrats “are preparing to pull out the party’s big financial guns” for U.S. Senate nominee Ed Markey (D-MA), Michelle Obama “is scheduled to appear at a Boston fund-raiser for the Malden congressman later this month, an event that can collect up to $37,600 from an individual donor,” the Boston Globe reports.
President Obama is also likely “to make an appearance in Massachusetts for Markey before the June 25 election if the campaign requests his help.”
The Colorado Senate passed a bill “that would provide a ballot by mail to every state voter, allow vote centers for those who choose not to use the mail ballot and — controversially — allow people to register and vote on Election Day,” the Denver Post reports.
“The bill passed 20-15 with the full support of Democrats and no Republican votes. The bill passed the House on a party-line vote last month.”
The first Senate primary of 2014 is on: Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) will challenge Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) in Hawaii, the Washington Post reports.
“Schatz was appointed to the Senate in January by Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) to serve out the term of the late Daniel Inouye, against the dying senator’s last wishes. The decision came as a surprise. Aside from Inouye’s influence, Hanabusa was considered “next in line” for the spot. She also knows Washington and has cultivated relationships on Capitol Hill, something she alludes to multiple times in her statement.”
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“Rhode Island is poised to join nine other states and the District of Columbia in allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry,” the AP reports.
“Gov. Lincoln Chafee planned to sign gay marriage legislation into law Thursday evening, immediately following a final procedural vote in the state’s General Assembly. The outcome of the vote is not in doubt.”
Daily Beast: “New figures from Public Policy Polling find voters more likely to support Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Kay Hagan (D-NC) after they voted ‘yes’ on tightening background checks. These numbers are especially notable because both Democratic senators are up for reelection in 2014 in red states.”
‘On the flip side, as we showed here on Tuesday, approval ratings for several senators in both parties who voted against the measure–ultimately defeating it–have taken a noticeable dip. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Mark Begich (D-AK) were among the most bruised, according to the numbers.”
“Mitt Romney appeared like a kid who showed up for his science project and the teacher said, ‘Explain it,’ and Mitt couldn’t do it,” Sessions said. “His ‘dad,’ Paul Ryan, explained it to him, but Mitt didn’t get it… That’s why we lost the last election.”
— Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), in an interview with D Magazine.
Jon Stewart handicaps Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) presidential aspirations.
The Week: “Most commentators weren’t terribly impressed with Cruz’s chances, and it’s pretty safe to say that the 2016 presidential hopefuls in the Democratic Party weren’t shaking with fear.”
“National Republicans are building a new data-sharing platform as the party moves to close a digital divide with Democrats that became glaringly apparent in the aftermath of the 2012 presidential election,” Roll Call reports.
They’ve got a partnership with two third-party entities “designed to facilitate unprecedented data generation and sharing across all GOP party committees, consultants, vendors and the conservative outside groups that have become increasingly active in political campaigns. The effort, which could cost up to $20 million, stems from recommendations made by the Growth and Opportunity Project, the RNC’s internal autopsy of what went wrong last year commissioned by Chairman Reince Priebus.”
Just published: Unflinching Courage: Pioneering Women Who Shaped Texas by former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).
Joe Klein: “During the chaotic week of the Boston bomb attacks, Barack Obama finally did something a lot of people had been waiting for: He got angry. In public. In the Rose Garden. It happened after the Senate had shamefully failed to pass a bill, favored by the overwhelming majority of Americans, requiring background checks for gun purchasers…”
“To which I say, Bring it on, Mr. President. Obama’s anger served a larger purpose. It was directed at the plague affecting–no, paralyzing–our public life: the ability of well-funded extremist groups to thwart the will of the overwhelming majority. This is a problem that goes well beyond the gun issue.”
First Read notes that just after Terry McAuliffe (D) released a “warm and fuzzy TV ad showing him, among other things, in the delivery room when one of his children was born” came a Buzzfeed bombshell:
“McAuliffe also wrote about the birth of his children in his 2007 book What A Party, noting on one instance he left his wife at the hospital to attend a party for Washington Post reporter Lloyd Grove before the birth of his daughter Sarah.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer that President Obama was “misleading” and making “untrue” statements about Obamacare and its implementation in his news conference this week.
“The president has refused repeated Republican calls to take concerns about Obamacare public and prepare the American people for the changes ahead. In fact, on Tuesday, he actually chose to do the exact opposite, saying that ‘this thing’s already happened’ for most Americans. ‘Full stop, that’s it… they don’t have to worry about anything else.’ Well, that’s simply untrue, and that kind of misleading statement is only going to cause more Americans to be blindsided when more pieces of the law start to take effect.”
A new Quinnipiac poll finds Hillary Clinton has a huge lead over other potential 2016 candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination with 65%, followed by Joe Biden at 13% and Andrew Cuomo at 4%.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “Hillary Clinton has a rock-solid hold on the hearts of Democratic voters at this point. If she decides not to run, Vice President Joseph Biden does almost as well as she does against the rest of the field. There is a long way to go until 2016, but none of the other younger potential candidates for the Democratic nomination currently has anything approaching widespread support from party voters.”
“Then, my first gut reaction seeing the horror of that person that has their legs blown off. You know, the bone sticking out? He was not in shock. I looked and I thought there’s something… I don’t know what’s wrong, but it seems surreal to me. I talked to my sister, who’s not into politics at all, and she said, yes, I saw the same thing. He was not in shock. He was not in pain. If I had had those type of injuries, I’d be screaming in agony.”
— New Hampshire state Rep. Stella Tremblay (R), in an interview with Pete Santilli, suggesting “there’s something wrong here” in the official explanation behind the Boston bombings.
“Iowa’s Supreme Court chief justice will appoint an independent investigator with full subpoena powers to probe alleged ethics and criminal violations by Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson, who is accused of being paid to work on U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s 2012 presidential campaign,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
“In a 4-2 bipartisan vote, the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee voted Wednesday to request that an independent counsel investigate two charges against Sorenson. The investigator also will look into allegations that Sorenson stole a private database of home-school families from the personal computer of another Bachmann campaign worker, then used it to solicit campaign support from thousands of home-school families in Iowa.”
“Detroit has agreed to spend nearly $14 million since December to contract nine firms to provide a range of financial and legal services to help the city overcome its staggering deficit and costly long-term liabilities.” the Detroit Free Press reports.
“More than $3 million of that came in hiring emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s former law firm last month.”
“Making official what many Democrats have expected for weeks, President Obama plans to nominate Chicago business executive Penny Pritzker, a longtime political supporter and heavyweight fundraiser, as his new Commerce secretary this morning,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
“Pritzker’s nomination could prove controversial. She is on the board of Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp., which was founded by her wealthy family and has had rocky relations with labor unions, and she could face questions about the failure of a bank partly owned by her family.”
The Washington Post reports Obama will also name economic adviser Michael Froman as U.S. Trade Representative.
Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) will announce his plans for 2014 on Friday, the AP reports.
“He could seek re-election. Parnell inherited the governor’s office when Sarah Palin resigned in 2009 and won it in his own right in 2010. But he’s also been mentioned as a possible challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich.”
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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