“What we feared would happen, is happening… The administration has made things worse, not better. It is enough to make some people simply throw in the towel.”
— Mitt Romney, quoted by WMUR, at a New Hampshire fundraiser.
Congressional Leaders Fan Out for August Push
Alexander Will Not Seek Re-election to the House
Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA) told the Monroe News-Star that he won’t run for re-election next year.
“Alexander, who hadn’t yet drawn serious opposition for 2014, said he’s grown weary of brutal party politics in Washington and fundraising.”
He’s added to the casualty list.
King Plans Visit to South Carolina
Rep. Steve King (R-IA), “whose hard line immigration rhetoric has angered some of his fellow Republicans and delighted Democrats eager to keep Hispanic voters in their fold, is quietly planning meetings with political activists in the early presidential primary state of South Carolina,” CNN reports.
“If King is curious about seeking the Republican nomination in 2016, as his visit to South Carolina suggests, he would certainly face difficult odds… King, though, would have a national platform to discuss his policy ideas and might appeal to elements of the Republican base that remain firmly opposed to the immigration reform bill — ‘amnesty,’ in his words — that recently passed the Senate.”
Why McConnell and Graham are Likely to Survive
Harry Enten looks at the primary challenges to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and points out that all incumbent senators who were defeated or close to being defeated in primaries in the past 20 years “were not very close to the base of their party Senate caucuses.”
“All Republicans were in the first quartile for conservatism among Republican senators, while all Democrats were among the first quartile for ‘liberalness’ among Democratic senators. That is, about 75% of their caucus was less moderate than they were… So, you can say that there was a real ideological hole for potential primary opponents to run through. No such gaps exist for McConnell and Graham. McConnell was in the 47th percentile for conservatism among Republicans in the 112th Congress. Graham was in the 55th percentile for conservatism among the Republican caucus. In other words, both of them have been right in the middle of their caucuses.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“What are you going to do about it, grandpa?”
— Anthony Weiner, quoted by the New York Post, to a 69-year-old man who objected to Weiner touching him at an AARP mayoral forum.
10 Secrets for Seducing a Politician
Sydney Leathers, Anthony Weiner’s sexting partner, offers her secrets.
“Bottom line: Don’t ever let the politician know how pathetic you think they really are.”
Another Day in New York City Politics
New York City comptroller candidate and former madam Kristin Davis has been arrested for allegedly selling hundreds of prescription pills, NBC News York reports.
Abramson Will Not Run for Kentucky Governor
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson (D) said told cn/2 that he won’t run for governor in 2015 because he wants to pour his efforts into improving Kentucky schools and preparing the next generation for jobs.
Said Abramson: “The next chapter in my life, I want to focus on just the issue of education.”
He did not say specifically how he planned to do that once he leaves the lieutenant governor’s office in December 2015.
Former MLB All Star Enters Venezuelan Politics
Magglio Ordonez, a six-time Major League Baseball All-Star who earned $133 million with the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers, will run for mayor of a Venezuelan oil town on the socialist party ticket of the late President Hugo Chavez, Businessweek reports.
What Politicians Does Bezos Give Money To?
With his announced purchase of the Washington Post yesterday, many are trying to better understand the politics of Jeff Bezos.
Political Moneyline looks at his campaign contributions.
Clinton Comments on New York Mayoral Race
In his first public comments on the New York City mayoral race, Bill Clinton told CNN that he and his wife Hillary Clinton “are a hundred miles from that race and everyone understands that we are not going to be involved.”
He added: “Neither Hillary or I was ever involved in the political campaign, and they understood that from the beginning. There are too many people running for mayor who have been my supporters, who supported her for senator, her for president.”
Arkansas Senate Race Appears Tight
A new Harper Polling survey in Arkansas shows Rep. Tom Cotton (R) with a small lead over Sen. Mark Pryor (D), 43% to 41%.
In contrast, a poll released yesterday found Pryor with an eight point lead.
Chelsea Clinton Open to Running for Office
Chelsea Clinton told CNN that she’s still not ruling out a future run for office.
Said Clinton: “I’m grateful to live in a city and a state and a country where I really believe in my elected officials, and their ethos and their competencies. Someday, if either of those weren’t true, and I thought I could make more of a difference in the public sector, or if I didn’t like how my city or state or country were being run, I’d have to ask and answer that question.”
Romney Headlines GOP Fundraiser
Mitt Romney is attending his first political fundraiser since he lost last November’s presidential election, CNN reports.
Romney will be the headliner at a New Hampshire Republican Party reception and fundraiser very close to Romney’s vacation home near Lake Winnipesaukee.
GOP Strategists Fear Gender Gap Could Grow
National Journal: “When the House Judiciary Committee passed a late-term abortion ban in June, Republican leaders scrambled to find a female, media-savvy legislator to bring the legislation to the floor. Their biggest problem: Not a single Republican woman was represented among the committee’s 23 Republican members. They eventually settled on Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who isn’t on the Judiciary Committee.”
“The episode underscored a growing problem that is worrying Republicans: Women are badly underrepresented within their party in the Congress. Only eight percent of House Republicans are women, and there are only four female Republican senators. Of the long list of potential 2016 GOP presidential contenders, there’s not a single woman.”
What Kind of Senator Would Cory Booker Be?
First Read: “Our educated guess – he would be a disruptor, in ways that could be interpreted as both good and bad, depending on your view of the U.S. Senate. You would see him partner with someone like Rand Paul on legislation; you would see him alienate some of the old bulls, both Democrats and Republicans (just like he alienated Lautenberg when he started to eye the seat before the incumbent said he wouldn’t run for re-election); and you would see him become the first true social-media senator (with his 1.4 million Twitter followers). So you could have a disruptive force in one of the government’s most orderly and decorous bodies. That could produce some interesting results and stories and surprising rivalries and surprising bedfellows.”
“The way Ted Cruz has lit up the right in his first 9 months, don’t be surprised if Booker becomes a liberal counterweight to Cruz. He’s unlikely to pursue the strategy that Hillary, Franken and Elizabeth Warren have all pursued or are pursuing and that is to keep a low profile in his first term. That’s not how Booker ticks.”
Lawmaker Pushes Investigation to Invalidate Obama
Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) told constituents at a town hall meeting that though he thinks questions about President Obama’s birth certificate are mostly a “distraction,” but he is supporting legislation to investigate further because if it is true, “we can get rid of everything he’s done,” Salon reports.
