A new Survey USA poll in Kentucky finds Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) barely edging Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) in their U.S. Senate race, 43% to 42%.
In the GOP primary, McConnell holds a commanding lead over Matt Bevin (R), 55% to 35%.
A new Survey USA poll in Kentucky finds Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) barely edging Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) in their U.S. Senate race, 43% to 42%.
In the GOP primary, McConnell holds a commanding lead over Matt Bevin (R), 55% to 35%.
Hillary Clinton’s health and age are “fair game” for political debate if she decides to run for president, Republicans argued Sunday, even as Democrats called it “pathetic” for Karl Rove to suggest recently that she suffered from some kind of “brain injury” two years ago, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Said RNC Chairman Reice Priebus: “I’m not a doctor. What I do know is that the issue is going to come up as it does for any person running for president.”
A new Insider Advantage poll in Georgia finds David Perdue (R) leading the GOP Senate pack with 27%, followed by Jack Kingston (R) at 19%, Karen Handel (R) at 17%, Phil Gingrey (R) at 10% and Paul Broun (R) at 9%.
However, a poll done for GA Pundit finds a three-way tie between Perdue, Kingston and Handel.
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A new Rasmussen Reports survey in Nebraska finds Ben Sasse (R) way ahead of David Domina (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 51% to 34%.
A Public Opinion Strategies (R) poll in Oregon shows Monica Wehby (R) way ahead of Jason Conger in the GOP Senate primary, 41% to 24%.
President Obama “is preparing to nominate Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio as his new secretary of housing and urban development, elevating one of his party’s Hispanic rising stars as part of a cabinet shuffle that has possible implications for the 2016 presidential race,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Castro, who has often been mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate for the Democrats, would take the place of Shaun Donovan, who is to become director of the Office of Management and Budget. That job is being vacated by Sylvia Mathews Burwell, whom Mr. Obama tapped to be secretary of health and human services and who seems headed to Senate confirmation.”
Susan Demas, publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, joins us to discuss a very tight U.S. Senate race, a compelling governor’s race and an unbelievable recent blunder by a 25-term U.S. Congressman.
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Huffington Post: 10 lessons we learned from Idaho’s incredibly dysfunctional GOP candidates
“A last-minute change avoided what could have been an uncomfortable moment in the Sept. 11 museum dedication ceremony Thursday: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie followed by Bridge Over Troubled Water,” the AP reports.
“The original program for the ceremony had Christie’s remarks followed by Idina Menzel’s performance of the song. That sent social media aflutter with speculation that the scheduling was a jab at the Republican governor, whose staff was accused of intentionally clogging traffic near a bridge that connects New York City and New Jersey to punish a political adversary.”
Huffington Post: 10 songs that can no longer be played at Christie events
Brendan Nyhan: “Democrats know they face a difficult midterm campaign landscape, but they can cling to one seeming reason for hope: The public agrees with them more than with Republicans on the issues.”
“This apparent political advantage is less important than it might seem, however. For instance, Democrats had greater advantages on several major issues at comparable points in the 1994 and 2010 electoral cycles, which both resulted in Republican landslides.”
Washington Examiner: “The secretary of Veterans Affairs has almost overnight replaced Sebelius as the new fall guy for Obama, in this case over mismanagement of veterans’ health care. But, for various reasons, Shinseki is faring a little better. Unlike Sebelius, most elected lawmakers have resisted calling for his resignation for now. Republicans seem to prefer pinning the problem on Obama, not Shinseki.”
Seth Masket: “But a few points stand out. First, small donors appear to be more polarized than the CEOs and the top .01 percent. All those donors are relatively polarized, with donors clustered around the party medians, but the wealthier folks are somewhat less so. Second, the 30 wealthiest donors in the country are actually pretty moderate, at least judging from this measure. Apart from some extremists like George Soros and the Koch brothers, most exist between the party medians.”
“This presents an interesting conundrum. We know Congress has grown more polarized over the past three decades. And we know that the very wealthy are donating more and more each year. But the very wealthy aren’t necessarily that polarized. If they were buying the government they wanted, they’d be getting a more moderate one than we currently have.”
First Read: “The outlook for the Tea Party in the next four weeks looks bleak. Things can always change, of course, but the GOP establishment finds itself in a stronger position right now than anyone would have thought six months ago. So how have they done it? Perhaps two reasons. One, establishment Republicans took their challengers more seriously and did oppo on them as if they were Democratic opponents. Two, the issue that animated the Tea Party base more than any other — the debt (remember, that was Santelli’s rant; not health care) — just doesn’t seem like a crisis anymore. The deficit controls that have been put into place over the last two years seem to have satisfied a significant chunk of the GOP base.”
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that Hillary Clinton has a 57% positive favorability rating with 43% have a negative view.
Also interesting: Nearly one-quarter of Republicans said they had a favorable view of Clinton.
The Cook Political Report updated its ratings for a slew of Senate, House and Governor’s races.
If you don’t subscribe yet, you really should.
Oregon U.S. Senate candidate Monica Wehby (R) was accused by her ex-boyfriend last year of “stalking” him, entering his home without his permission and “harassing” his employees, according to a Portland, Oregon police report, according to Politico.
The Week: Wehby is having a bizarre month.
“As he hints at a possible second bid for president, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) is contending with an unusual criminal investigation into whether he abused his authority, a case that legal experts say has virtually no precedent in modern Texas history,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A grand jury was impaneled in April to consider a watchdog group’s complaint filed last year. It alleged the Republican governor may have violated Texas law by withholding money from a prosecutorial unit because its Democratic district attorney refused to resign after pleading guilty to drunken driving.”
Taegan 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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