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The Most Important Election of 2014

October 21, 2013 at 4:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Stu Rothenberg: “The single most important election in the country next year won’t take place in Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina or Alaska. And it won’t occur next November, when voters across the country pick the next Congress. It will take place in Kentucky on May 20.”

“While the general election in the commonwealth — and in other states — could decide which party controls the Senate for President Barack Obama’s final two years in office, the GOP primary will go a long way in determining whether the Republican Party continues its evolution toward uncompromising utopian purity and, eventually, possible irrelevance.”

De Blasio Headed for Epic Win

October 21, 2013 at 4:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Quinnipiac poll in New York City find Bill de Blasio (D) now leads Joseph Lhota (R) in the race for mayor by an incredible 44 points among likely voters, 68% to 24%.

Will ‘Obamacare’ Become a Linguistic Symbol of Failure?

October 21, 2013 at 3:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Brad Phillips: “The words ‘Edsel,’ ‘Buckner,’ and ‘Ishtar’ stand as single-word reminders of spectacular failures. The question now facing the Obama administration is whether the term ‘Obamacare’ will join their ranks — not in reference to the policy itself, but rather to its botched rollout…”

DNC Hitting 2016 Hopefuls with Robocalls

October 21, 2013 at 3:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Democratic National Committee “launched three more robocalls hitting potential Republican presidential contenders for expressing openness to shutting down the government again in order to dismantle ObamaCare,” The Hill reports.

“The robocalls are targeting Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY), all of whom have indicated an interest in running for president in 2016.”

The Anti-Ted Cruz

October 21, 2013 at 3:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Week has my take on the newest member of the U.S. Senate.

Obama Notes Rocky Start on Health Law

October 21, 2013 at 2:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Obama acknowledged his frustration “with the technical problems that have hampered the online health-insurance marketplaces, but pledged that the issues would be resolved and the Affordable Care Act would prove successful,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Said Obama: “Nobody’s madder than me about the fact that the website isn’t working as well as it should, which means it’s going to get fixed… There’s no sugarcoating it.”

But the Washington Post notes Obama also admonished Republican critics saying that “it is time to stop rooting for the law’s failure.”

Wonk Wire: Obamacare exchanges were destined for failure

GOP Donors Push Party on Gay Rights

October 21, 2013 at 2:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Washington Post reports “a powerful group of Republican donors, who see the GOP’s staunch opposition to gay rights as a major problem, is trying to push the party toward a more welcoming middle ground — where candidates who oppose marriage rights can do so without seeming hateful.”

“The behind-the-scenes effort is being led largely by GOP mega-donor Paul Singer, a hedge fund executive whose son is gay, and former Republican National Committee chairman Ken Mehlman, who revealed his homosexuality in 2010, long after he had left the GOP leadership.”

Witt Will Make Bid for Congress

October 21, 2013 at 12:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former FEMA Director James Lee Witt (D) will run for the seat currently held by Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who is running for the U.S. Senate, the Arkansas Times reports.

Taylor Ponders Comeback as a Republican

October 21, 2013 at 12:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS) is considering a run for the congressional seat he held for two decades, but if he runs it probably will be as a Republican, the Biloxi Sun Herald reports.

Said Taylor: “I wrestle with it.”

A Smart Politics review finds it has been 129 years since the last time a Mississippi congressman came back to win a U.S. House contest after losing his seat at the ballot box.

How Much Did the Shutdown Cost?

October 21, 2013 at 12:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wonk Wire rounds up the estimates.

Maria Belen Chapur Speaks Out

October 21, 2013 at 11:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine woman who former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) left his wife and derailed his career over, has finally spoken on camera about their relationship,” Politico reports.

Enough Bushes and Clintons?

October 21, 2013 at 10:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jeb Bush:
“Some guy told me that on the plane in — stuck on O’Hare Airport. He
said he was supporting Obama. This was early in the primary and I go,
‘Why?’ And he goes, ‘Well, we had a Bush, then we had a Clinton. Then we
had a Bush. And now we’re going to have a Clinton.’ And then he looked
at me and said, ‘And then we’re going to have a Bush.’ So he had an
interesting perspective. I think some people believe that. That won’t
be a motivating factor in my decision, though.”

House Back in Action

October 21, 2013 at 10:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

National Journal:
“The Senate is out on recess, but the House returns to session Tuesday
for the start of what could be a bellwether week to gauge the political
tone in Washington for the rest of the year. Much of the attention is
already shifting to focus on the formal start of negotiations in the
joint House-Senate budget conference. And the action will pick up in
committees and on the floor as well.”

Bolling Gets Endorsement in Virginia

October 21, 2013 at 9:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The conservative Charlottesville Daily Progress endorsed Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) for Virginia governor — even though he isn’t on the ballot.

The lack of excitement by conservatives is just one more indication of why Ken Cuccinelli (R) is trailing Terry McAuliffe and why it’s increasingly likely he’ll lose the race.

Obama Admits There’s a Problem

October 21, 2013 at 9:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “In remarks on the health-care law from the White House at 11:25 am ET, the president will acknowledge the problems with the website and will discuss the efforts to fix it, per NBC’s Kristen Welker. He also will note the other ways uninsured Americans can apply for health-care coverage on the exchanges — through call centers or paper application. But here’s why this problem is potentially more than just a glitch: The law doesn’t work if not enough people, especially healthy young adults, are signing up for coverage.”

“The extra challenge for the White House is that they touted to reporters (both publicly and privately) how the website would work and that it would work as well as Apple, and now many of these same reporters feel burned or even lied to. And, of course, none of this should have been a surprise for Team Obama. It knew that Republicans were ready to pounce on any deficiency, real or imagined. Well, these problems are real.”

Time: “While Obama could probably continue to tell Americans that the Obamacare rollout is little more than an iPhone app in need of an update, his health care law actually needs uninsured people to choose to sign up or it will fail. And so the spin can no longer stand.”

Wonk Wire: Repairing Obamacare exchanges could take weeks.