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What the Obama Campaign Spends Money On

June 25, 2012 at 12:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jim Geraghty looks at the Obama campaign spending reports and finds online advertising and other web-related efforts are the largest expenditures to date.

“Ironically, in an era of e-mail, postage was one of the campaign’s largest expenditures, totaling more than $14.7 million.”

Also interesting: “The Obama campaign appears to run on pizza: $2,084.37 went to Domino’s Pizza, $1,774.78 went to Pizzanno’s Pizza, $1,167.45 went to Papa John’s, $834.03 went to Pizza Hut, and $362 went to Little Caesars. (One hopes Michelle Obama won’t find out that some Obama campaign staffer in Winston-Salem, N.C., spent $239.39 at Krispy Kreme.)”

The $500 Private Breakfast for Powerful DC Dems

June 25, 2012 at 11:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Bloomberg TV looks at Sen. Harry Reid’s efforts to win Nevada’s U.S. Senate race for Democrats.

Supreme Court Rejects Corporate Spending Limits

June 25, 2012 at 11:26 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Supreme Court reaffirmed its 2-year-old decision allowing corporations to spend freely to influence elections, the New York Times reports.

“By a 5-4 vote, the court’s conservative justices said the decision in the Citizens United case in 2010 applies to state campaign finance laws and guarantees corporate and labor union interests the right to spend freely to advocate for or against candidates for state and local offices.”

Rick Pildes: “That outcome comes as no surprise to those of us who believe Citizens United
reflected powerfully held philosophical and constitutional convictions,
whether we agree with those convictions or not. But it should put the
final nail in the coffin of theories that assert the Court could have
decided Citizens United only ‘by mistake’… The American public might not believe in unlimited corporate speech rights in elections, but the Court’s majority does – and no amount of public backlash is going to cause this Court to back down.”


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A Crazy Month but a Stable Campaign

June 25, 2012 at 11:15 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “So when you step back and think about it, June has been a crazy month. It started with the monthly jobs report showing that just 69,000 jobs were created in May; then came the drumbeat of bad and uncertain news on the economy, both domestically and in Europe; then there was Wisconsin; then President Obama’s immigration announcement; and now we’re about to get the big SCOTUS health-care ruling (as well as the immigration one).”

“Yet despite it all, the Obama-Romney race has remained incredibly stable. Look no farther than the recent Pew poll and AP national poll showing Obama narrowly leading Romney (50%-46% and 47%-44%, respectively) — which is essentially where this race was after the former Massachusetts governor became the presumptive GOP nominee back in April.”

“What explains this stability, even if much of the media perception has been that Romney has the momentum while Obama is struggling? For starters, you could argue that given this nation’s political polarization, this tight race has always been locked in and perhaps is even more locked in than anyone appreciates. Then there’s the “demographics is destiny” argument that feeds the polarization; and finally, don’t overlook the Obama campaign’s heavy anti-Romney TV blitz have contributed to the stability. Bottom line: It’s probably a little of all three.”

Health Care Ruling Expected Thursday

June 25, 2012 at 10:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Supreme Court’s ruling on President Obama’s health care law will be released on Thursday.

It’s expected that Chief Justice John Roberts will write the opinion.
Sarah Kliff notes court watchers “expect that Chief Justice John Roberts will author the opinion, after seeing Justice Anthony Kennedy write the opinion in the Arizona immigration case. The justices tend to split up the workload each term, especially when it comes to high-profile and complicated rulings.”

Most of Arizona Immigration Law Thrown Out

June 25, 2012 at 10:13 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Supreme Court gutted the majority of Arizona’s controversial immigration law today, leaving in place only the “show your papers” provision that says police officers may check the status of those they stop, the Arizona Republic reports.

Interestingly, Mitt Romney is in Arizona today for a fundraiser. The decision seriously complicates his efforts to reach out to Latino voters.

Mark Halperin: “At first blush, there isn’t a lot in the Supreme Court immigration decision that is good politically for Mitt Romney. It is a muddy ruling that doesn’t really let him make hay. On the other hand, the mixed decision means this case isn’t likely to dominate the news beyond today’s cycle, letting Romney go back to the economy and — later in the week — health care, where he is on stronger footing.”

Wonk Wire has more.

Haley Faces Ethics Hearings

June 25, 2012 at 10:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The South Carolina House Ethics Committee will start a hearing to determine if Gov. Nikki Haley (R) illegally lobbied for her employers while she was a lawmaker, McClatchy reports.

It is the first time a governor has been investigated by the committee.

All Eyes on the Supreme Court

June 25, 2012 at 9:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

It’s a big day (or week) over at Wonk Wire as we wait for the Supreme Court ruling on President Obama’s health care law.

Start off with a crash course on what they’re deciding and look at what the White House plans to do and what Congress must do if the law is overturned.

First Read: “Don’t forget: We’ll also get the court’s decision on Arizona’s
immigration law this week. By the way, if you are a Republican
strategist involved in a competitive election, you are hoping the
Arizona decision gets released WITH health care. If it’s immigration
today and health care on Thursday, then the GOP has to deal with another
three days of the immigration issue in the news, and we’ve yet to see
how any day that has immigration in the news is a good one for
Republicans in November.”

Update: Wonk Wire has a rundown of all of the court’s decisions.

Romney’s Bain Problem is Bigger Than You Think

June 25, 2012 at 9:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “Ever since the Obama campaign began its Bain hit, there has been near universal agreement among elites that the hits were either “not working,” or “unfair,” or both. But as we’ve said before and we’ll say again: The Bain attacks aren’t meant to sway folks in NY and DC, but folks in three crucial battleground states: Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin. The whole point of this campaign by the Obama folks is to paint Romney as an out-of-touch Wall Street CEO…”

“And while the Romney campaign has comforted itself with the criticism of the Obama attacks by other Democrats (Booker, Rendell etc.), the campaign has done little to fix the larger image issue. So far, the Romney campaign has made this argument: Any attack on Bain is an attack on America’s free enterprise system. But how does it explain that Bain and its partners often made money, even if the firms they took over went belly up? And how do they now explain this Milken association? Does it keep using the “free enterprise” line? Or does it need to do something else?”

Obama Bets Big on Ground Game

June 25, 2012 at 9:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “Once again, the Obama high command is making a big bet on their ground operation. The aim is to flood the zone: open up offices in battleground states, call undecided voters, and swarm the shopping malls to register as many people as possible. In this way, Democrats hope to neutralize the Republican super PAC advantage by out-registering and out-working the GOP on the streets.”

Hatch Looks Safe in Primary

June 25, 2012 at 9:34 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Deseret News/KSL-TV poll finds Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) leads challenger Dan Liljenquist (R) in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, 60% to 32%.

The primary is on Tuesday.

Politicians Act Politically

June 25, 2012 at 8:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Paul Begala: “Let’s posit that the point of politics is to get more votes than the other side — so everything a politician does is by definition political. Shocking. But there is, frequently, also an element of principle, a dash of ideology, and maybe even a hint of idealism. To analyze every act in terms of motive, and to reduce every motive to its basest level, is just dumb.”

“You can drive yourself crazy trying to peer into a person’s soul–or you can do the sensible thing: ask not what inner motives drive a politician’s policy choices but instead whether those choices are good for the country. ”

Lawmakers Traded After Meeting with Treasury, Fed Officials

June 25, 2012 at 7:47 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

At least 34 members of Congress “took steps to recast their financial portfolios during the financial crisis” after phone calls or meetings with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; his successor, Timothy Geithner; or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the Washington Post reports.

“The lawmakers, many of whom held leadership positions and committee chairmanships in the House and Senate, changed portions of their portfolios a total of 166 times within two business days of speaking or meeting with the administration officials. The party affiliation of the lawmakers was about evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, 19 to 15.”

Majority Think Election Won’t Change Economy

June 25, 2012 at 7:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds half of Americans say it won’t matter much whether President Obama or Mitt Romney wins the presidential election “even though the presidential candidates have staked their chances on which would be better at fixing the economic mess.”

“People are especially pessimistic about the future president’s influence over jobs… Asked how much impact the November winner will have on unemployment, 6 in 10 gave answers ranging from slim to none.”

Meanwhile, a majority of those surveyed — 55% — say the winner will have from “just some impact” to “no impact” on the nation’s huge budget deficits.

Why the Founders Created a Chief Executive

June 24, 2012 at 5:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just published: Mr. President: How and Why the Founders Created a Chief Executive by Ray Raphael.

A Washington Post review notes the book “provides a rich harvest of insights for reflection during the next five months of political bloodletting.”

Wealthy Americans Renouncing Citizenship at Record Pace

June 24, 2012 at 4:24 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The New York Post reports America’s rich are renouncing their citizenship at record levels.

“Startling new data from Uncle Sam show that defections by Americans are expected to double this year, largely to avoid any stiff tax bills resulting from the proposed 55 percent hike on the rich — as well as the likely expiration on Dec. 31 of the Bush era tax cuts. As many as 8,000 US citizens are projected by immigration officials to renounce in 2012, or about 154 a week, versus 3,805 in 2011, or about 73 per week.”

Romney and Milken

June 24, 2012 at 3:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Boston Globe probes Mitt Romney’s business dealings with “junk bond king” Michael Milken.

“What transpired would become not just one of the most profitable leveraged buyouts of the era, but also one of the most revealing stories of Romney’s Bain Capital career. It showed how he pivoted from being a relatively cautious investor to risking his reputation for a big payoff. It is one that Romney has rarely, if ever, mentioned in his two bids for the presidency, perhaps because the Houston-based department store chain that Bain assembled later went into bankruptcy.”

“But what distinguishes this deal from the nearly 100 others that Romney did over a 15-year period was his close work with Milken’s firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. At the time of the deal, it was widely known that Milken and his company were under federal investigation, yet Romney decided to go ahead with the deal because Drexel had a unique ability to sell high-risk, high-yield debt instruments, known as ‘junk bonds.'”

Quote of the Day

June 24, 2012 at 11:34 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I don’t want to be vice president.”

— Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), quoted by Roll Call.

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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