A new Public Policy Polling survey in Iowa finds Joni Ernst (R) leading the Republican U.S. Senate primary field with 34%, followed by Mark Jacobs (R) at 18%, Sam Clovis (R) at 14% and Mark Whitaker (R) at 6%.
An Authentic Scandal
Wonk Wire: The Veterans Affairs Debacle
The Nixon Tapes Uncensored
Coming soon: The Nixon Tapes: 1971-1972 by Douglas Brinkley and Luke Nichter.
“The famous — and infamous — Nixon White House tapes that reveal for the first time President Richard Nixon uncensored, unfiltered, and in his own words.”
McConnell Proposes Lincoln-Douglas Style Debates
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), “fresh off his primary win against challenger Matt Bevin, is challenging Democratic nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes to three debates,” Sam Youngman reports.
The invitation: “In order to present our views fairly and without interpretation by traditional media filters, I believe we should participate in three traditional Lincoln-Douglas style debates moderated only by a single timekeeper/moderator. By conducting these debates without an audience, without props and without notes, it will allow for an unvarnished exchange of views for Kentuckians to evaluate.”
Clinton Rakes In $5 Million for Speeches (So Far)
Since leaving the State Department, Hillary Clinton “has made more than 90 speeches and notable appearances. Her hosts have included private equity firms, investment banks, nonprofit galas, trade association conventions, and a slew of colleges and universities,” Mother Jones reports.
“At least two-dozen of those were paid speeches. With her usual fee of $200,000 a speech, Clinton has banked close to $5 million for her speeches and appearances in the last 15 months.”
Nunn’s Narrow Path in Georgia
Nate Cohn: “In the racially polarized South, where white voters have been trending Republican for more than a generation, the Democratic route to 50% is mainly a matter of racial demographics. Democrats must wait for more nonwhite voters to overcome their disadvantage with white voters.”
“That wait might end soon in Georgia, but not in this November’s election. In the midterm balloting, the share of whites will be around 64% of registered voters, down from 72% in 2002, when the Democratic senator Max Cleland lost re-election by 7 points. Ms. Nunn will need nearly 30% of white voters to prevail. If Mr. Cleland were running today, his 30 or 31% of white voters would probably be enough to squeak out a win.”
“But most Democrats running for federal office in Georgia fall well short of that 30%… The difference between 26 and 30% of white voters might not seem like much, but it is very significant in the South. It is even harder for Democrats to reach 30% of Georgia’s white voters today than it was in 2002.”
McDaniel Fumbles Radio Interview
Mississippi U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel (R) walked into a buzzsaw during a radio interview regarding the blogger who was arrested for filming Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-MS) bedridden wife.
First Read: “It’s quite possible McDaniel and his campaign had nothing to do with the blogger, but McDaniel’s statements and body language are striking.”
Obama Faces Feeding Frenzy Over VA Story
First Read: “The White House has just announced that President Obama will meet at 10:00 am ET with embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki… Will Obama make public remarks after the meeting? Is Shinseki headed out the door? We don’t know the answers to those questions, and it’s unlikely Shinseki would exit today — it just isn’t Obama’s style. But what we do know is that the president, potentially, has a feeding frenzy on his hands… And it’s now turned into a local news story, in which news organizations are looking closely at their own VA hospitals.”
“Perhaps more importantly, the story has resurrected all of the complaints about President Obama’s management style, especially during a crisis. He’s too methodical. He doesn’t get that mad. He seems to have found about this at the same time everyone else did (through the news). And he’s always a couple of beats too slow in taking action. All of those things are being re-litigated in this VA story.”
Support for Same-Sex Marriage Hits New High
A new Gallup poll finds Americans’ support for laws recognizing same-sex marriages as legally valid has increased yet again to 55%.
Ex-Aide Contradicts Christie on Efforts to Woo Mayor
A former aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) described an aggressive effort “to cultivate Fort Lee’s mayor for at least a year and a half before lanes were closed at the George Washington Bridge in an act of political retribution,” the New York Times reports.
“The description of the efforts to woo the mayor seemed to run contrary to the governor’s statement after the lane closings exploded into a scandal in January that Mayor Mark Sokolich had never been on his ‘radar screen.'”
Quote of the Day
“I’ve had some radical ideas about voting and it’s probably not a good time to tell them, but you used to have to be a property owner to vote.”
— Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL), quoted by the Huffington Post.
Cuomo Ahead by Huge Margin
A new Quinnipiac poll in New York finds Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) crushing challenger Rob Astorino (R), 57% to 28%.
GOP Establishment Runs Up Primary Wins
“In 2014, the tea party insurrection is starting to look more like the Boston massacre,” Politico reports.
“In state after state this primary season, entrenched politicians are proving that incumbency counts for something after all, leveraging the stature and financial firepower that comes with high office to demolish challengers from the activist right. In three states Tuesday night, long-serving lawmakers rolled over tea party opponents.”
Washington Post: “After years of intraparty turmoil that cost Republicans key races, voters this year are coalescing around the GOP’s strongest candidates ahead of November’s general election, when control of the Senate during President Obama’s final two years in office will be up for grabs.”
The Hill: “One of the biggest winners of the night was the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who saw all of their major endorsed candidates in Georgia, Kentucky, Idaho, Pennsylvania and Oregon net big wins.”
Wehby Wins Despite Personal Issues
Monica Wehby (R) handily defeated Jason Conger (R) in the Oregon Republican race for the U.S. Senate as she survived the personal controversy that dogged the last days of her primary race, the Oregonian reports.
In her victory speech, Wehby thanked Republican voters for seeing through “all the negativity” and said, “I do have a message for those national Democrats who were willing to shred my family for their own political gain: People are tired of your dirty tricks.”
Roll Call: “Still, the opposition research on Wehby is already flying, and she will have to deal with some image issues straight out of the gate in a state already challenging for Republicans statewide.”
Perdue and Kingston Advance to Run Off in Georgia
David Perdue (R) and Jack Kingston (R) advanced to the runoff for the Republican Senate nomination in Georgia, Roll Call reports. The winner will face Michelle Nunn (D) in the general election.
“The runoff will serve as a continuation of the skirmish already underway between Kingston and Perdue, who regularly touted his position as the only candidate among the top five to never hold public office. Perdue grouped his four top opponents in early ads that portrayed them as crying babies. Kingston pushed back in the final week with an ad showing Perdue as a greedy toddler, prompting another Perdue ad, calling Kingston ‘desperate.'”
Bloomberg: “The two Republicans will spend the next eight weeks competing against each other in what promises to be a tough and expensive campaign, instead of focusing their fire on Nunn.”
Wolf Easily Wins Democratic Nod in Pennsylvania
Tom Wolf (D), “the wealthy small-town businessman who sold himself as an outsider, cruised to the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania governor Tuesday, dispatching three rivals after a dominant television advertising campaign,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “With nearly 70 percent of the vote counted, the first-time candidate appeared to be on a track to finish first in every one of the state’s 67 counties, capturing three of every five Democratic votes, more than three times the tally of his closest competitor.”
Allentown Morning Call: “Numerous polls showed Wolf enjoying double-digit leads built largely on TV spots that started in January. For many voters the ads introduced
and defined Wolf, a relative unknown compared to at least two of his opponents, as a successful small-town businessman who drives a Jeep, cares for his family and shares profits with employees. While polls repeatedly showed voters embracing those ads, Schwartz and McCord stayed off the air for more than two months, despite having millions of
dollars each at their disposal. In effect they conceded the air wars to Wolf.”
McConnell and Grimes Kick Off An Epic Battle
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) emerged victorious from their respective primaries in Kentucky Tuesday night, “setting up a bruising battle this fall as Grimes tries to deny McConnell a sixth term,” the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
“The primary winners used their victory speeches to outline the cases they will take to Kentuckians beginning Wednesday, as Grimes vies to become the state’s first female senator and McConnell hopes to claim the title of majority leader in the Senate.”
Margolies Defeated in Comeback Attempt
Brendan Boyle (D) “easily defeated three other Democrats Tuesday night, including former Rep. Marjorie Margolies (D), to win an open-seat primary in Pennsylvania’s 13th District,” Roll Call reports.
“Margolies started the race as the odds-on favorite to succeed Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz, who ran for governor. Margolies’ name was still familiar to voters in the district thanks to her one term in Congress in the early 1990s, and she had ties to the Clinton dynasty as former first daughter Chelsea Clinton’s mother-in-law — making her appear to be a near lock for the nomination.”