House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was asked about whether there is anti-Semitism in the House GOP caucus — the “darker side,” Cantor called it — and his silence when pressed is deafening.
Walsh Settles Child Support Case
Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) said that he’s settled his child-support dispute with his ex-wife and cleared up “mistakes in private,” the Chicago Sun Times reports.
“The issue was embarrassing for Walsh, who’s campaigned on fiscal responsibility and blasted President Barack Obama on his financial stewardship of the nation.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Further, the subject continued, that as a single man running as a political conservative, it was necessary for him to appear at campaign related events with a female escort.”
— A “close-out” memo from the Florida State Attorney’s Office ending it’s investigation into Rep. David Rivera’s (R-FL) campaign finances.
Iowa Republicans to Review Caucus System
In light of the logistical issues
that marred Iowa’s Republican presidential caucuses this year, the Iowa
Republican Party has “now set itself to the task of figuring out what
happened and how to fix it next time,” reports ABC News.
The
Iowa GOP has “formed an Iowa Caucus Review Committee comprised of 17
party members including county chairs, former state-party officials,
party activists, volunteers and supporters of multiple presidential
campaigns. Next Thursday, the committee will convene its first meeting,
where it will hear the first round of reports from subcommittees on vote
tabulation, public information and volunteer training.”
Obama Leads Despite Low Approval
A new Economist/YouGov poll finds President Obama leading Mitt Romney in the presidential race among registered voters, 49% to 42%.
However, Obama’s approval rating is a dismal 41% to 51%.
Ending the Campaign is the Hard Part
Bloomberg Businessweek: “Running for president is exhausting and all-consuming. Putting an end to a presidential campaign can be a nightmare that lasts years. There are employees, consultants, lawyers, and ad makers clamoring to be paid, ad buys to cancel, contracts and legal disputes to settle, office space, computers, phones, and furniture around the country to unload, and a staggering pile of disclosure forms and other paperwork to complete before the Federal Election Commission will certify that a campaign is officially over.”
“In all, 38 past presidential contenders going back 16 years are still candidates, if only in the eyes of the federal government.”
Mourdock Edges Lugar in New Poll
A new McLaughlin & Associates poll in Indiana finds Richard Mourdock (R) edging Sen. Richard Lugar (R) in their U.S. Senate primary, 42% to 41%.
Congressional Approval Recovers Slightly
Gallup: “Americans still hold Congress in low regard, but its 17% job approval rating is the highest since last July. Congress’ approval had dipped to a record-low 10% in February.”
Do Romney’s Favorability Numbers Matter?
Nate Silver:
“Mr. Romney’s mediocre favorability ratings at this early stage of the
race are no death sentence. There have been clear reversals in
favorability ratings in the recent past once the general election
campaign got under way, such as in 1988 and 1992… The favorability
deficit between Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama is more likely to be meaningful
the longer it persists. If, for instance, we still see this
favorability deficit in July — and certainly if we see it in September
or October — the odds are fairly good that Mr. Obama will perform more
strongly than the economic fundamentals alone would dictate and could
win an election that he is otherwise ‘supposed’ to lose… For the time
being, I’d consider them a negative but fairly minor factor when we
evaluate his chances at victory.”
Waiting for Caro
Smithsonian Magazine: “It has become one of the great suspense stories in American letters, the nonfiction equivalent of Ahab and the white whale: Robert Caro and his leviathan, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Caro, perhaps the pre-eminent historian of 20th-century America, and Johnson, one of the most transformative 20th-century presidents — in ways triumphant and tragic — and one of the great divided souls in American history or literature.”
Just 10 more days until Passage of Power is out.
Government Gone Wild?
First Read: “In American politics, there are actual problems and perceived problems. And when it comes to that exorbitant GSA trip to Las Vegas or the Secret Service prostitution scandal in Colombia, those are perceived problems — that somehow the government isn’t working and a handful of employees aren’t taking their jobs seriously. The question, in this election year, is whether that perception hurts the guy running the government.”
“Make no mistake: These scandals aren’t coming from the Obama White House or from the aides working closest with the president… But the attention on these GSA and Secret Service stories only sullies the government’s reputation. Bottom line: The government can’t afford another one to surface again anytime soon, and neither can the party that has come to represent the idea that government is at least part of the solution to collective problems — the Democrats.”
Gingrich Still Has Secret Service Protection
Because he’s still officially a presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich is “likely costing the taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars a day with his Secret Service detail on the campaign trail,” the Daily Caller reports.
Gingrich recently had three people on his personal security detail, though sometimes there are “many more.”
Raese Compares No Smoking to Hitler’s Jewish Star
West Virginia U.S. Senate candidate John Raese (R) compared no smoking laws to one of Adolf Hitler’s most notorious policies.
Said Raese: “I don’t want government telling me what I can do and what I can’t do because I’m an American. But in Monongalia County you can’t smoke a cigarette, you can’t smoke a cigar, you can’t do anything… I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. OK? Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody’s lapel, remember that? Same thing.”
Pryor Will Run Again in 2014
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) has been “quietly making it official” that he’ll seek re-election in 2014, the Arkansas Times reports.
A letter to friends which was described as a “somewhat rambling” eventually “got around to the point that he’d definitely be running in 2014. It noted that there’d been rumors that he would not run, that he might run for governor, that he might once have been interested in the presidency of the University of Arkansas. He said those rumors weren’t true, that his family was happy at their home in Little Rock and that he looked forward to another race.”
Secret Service Pre-Planned Party at Hotel
Secret Service officials “planning a wild night of fun in Colombia did some of their own advance work last week, booking a party space at the Hotel Caribe before heading out to the night clubs,” ABC News reports.
“As first reported by ABC, the men went to the Pley Club brothel, where they drank expensive whiskey and bragged that they worked for President Obama. The men were also serviced by prostitutes at the club. But the night didn’t end there. The men brought women from the Pley Club back to the hotel and also picked up additional escorts from other clubs and venues around town, sources tell ABC News.”
A Mess for North Carolina Democrats
First Read: “Allegations of sexual harassment inside the North Carolina Democratic Party has turned into a mess for the state party, as well as the national one. Why? Because North Carolina is the convention state, thus ensuring that any problems or controversy there will be magnified. And it isn’t helping the Democrats that the state party chair, David Parker, is refusing to step down from his post.”
The Charlotte Observer reports the allegations are detailed in a letter just made public.
Quote of the Day
“The debt number is alarming and gives you great concern, of course, because we’re moving toward the Greek-type numbers. My guess is, by the way, at the Democratic convention, he will not be appearing in front of Greek columns like in Denver. He won’t want to remind people of Greece.”
— Mitt Romney, in an interview on Fox News.
Obama Holds Small Lead Nationally
A new Quinnipiac poll shows President Obama holds a thin 46% to 42% lead nationally over Mitt
Romney in the presidential race.
Said pollster Peter Brown :”Obama has a big lead among women and is seen as the candidate most
in tune with their needs. He is seen as more in touch with average Americans. Republican
Romney seems to hold an edge on the economy – the top issue of the campaign – and holds his
own against the incumbent on being a strong leader. His opening is that by 56% to 38%
voters disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy.”
