“We reached a turning point, and we have to speak for our base that isn’t being heard any more. There isn’t unanimity anymore; you can’t deliver a bloc…. Blind loyalty–I don’t think that’s an option anymore. People are going assert what they think is best for their base, their district, and more importantly, how the Democrats are going to look going into 2014.”
— Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), quoted by National Journal, on liberal Democrats starting to take on President Obama.
A new Suffolk Poll in Boston shows John Connolly leading the mayoral race with 16%, just head of Martin Walsh and Daniel Conley who are deadlocked at 12%.
Said pollster David Paleologos: “Since the July poll, Councilor-at-large John Connolly has opened up a little distance from the pack. If the undecided voters continue to fall in the same proportion as they have over the past two months, Connolly may be the only candidate who breaks through the magical 20 percent threshold, which would earn him a place on the final ballot for mayor.”
Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) told Politico that “nothing happens” if the debt ceiling is reached.
Said Fleming: “Technically, it’s not possible to default because there’s always enough revenue to cover the interest. If we defaulted it was because the president chose to default, not because we ran out of money.”
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Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) released a video slamming President Obama for negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Syria but not with congressional Republicans over the debt ceiling.
Greg Sargent digs into the new Washington Post/ABC News poll on the debt ceiling and finds this amazing nugget:
“Among Republicans who believe that not raising the debt ceiling would cause serious harm to the economy, a majority of them wants Congress not to raise it anyway.”
Bob Woodward’s notes of his discussions with “Deep Throat” during the Watergate crisis are now posted online.
Karl Rove: “A shutdown now would have much worse fallout than the one in 1995. Back then, seven of the government’s 13 appropriations bills had been signed into law, including the two that funded the military. So most of the government was untouched by the shutdown. Many of the unfunded agencies kept operating at a reduced level for the shutdown’s three weeks by using funds from past fiscal years.”
“But this time, no appropriations bills have been signed into law, so no discretionary spending is in place for any part of the federal government. Washington won’t be able to pay military families or any other federal employee. While conscientious FBI and Border Patrol agents, prison guards, air-traffic controllers and other federal employees may keep showing up for work, they won’t get paychecks, just IOUs.”
“Going down that road would strengthen the president while alienating independents. It is an ill-conceived tactic, and Republicans should reject it.”
Los Angeles Times: “The ambitious U.S.-Russian deal to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons, hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough just days ago, hit its first delay Wednesday with indications that the Syrian government will not submit an inventory of its toxic stockpiles and facilities to international inspectors by this weekend’s deadline.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) published an op-ed in Pravda taking aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin: “They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media.”
But it was the wrong Pravda, CNN reports.
“The Pravda McCain had publically said he wanted to be published in is one of the oldest Russian newspapers, founded in 1912… Pravda.ru, the news outlet that actually published McCain’s piece, is an electronic news website founded in 1999. Even though the website also bears the name Pravda, it is not connected to Pravda newspaper. The website has English and Russian editions and covers everything from politics to fashion and celebrities.”
House Republicans “expressed outrage” with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) when he admitted Republicans did not have the votes in the Senate to defund Obamacare, CNN reports.
“The reaction from House Republicans and senior GOP leadership aides to Cruz’s latest statement on the matter was swift and angry, both about Cruz’s lack of confidence in a vote and his urging of the House to ‘stand firm.'”
Josh Marshall: “So he’s created this monster he can’t control. Only he was the monster the last crew created. I can’t keep up. But as the Bible says, the Popcorn shall passeth.”
“Seeing a more uneven economic climate than they expected and the potential for fiscal discord in Washington, Federal Reserve officials got cold feet Wednesday and decided to keep their signature easy-money program in place for the time being,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Washington Post: “It’s not just the tax increases and budget cuts that have slowed growth all year. It’s also the possibility that the looming fiscal standoff could endanger the U.S. economy in the same way the July 2011 debt ceiling standoff did.”
According to National Review, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) complained in a closed-door GOP meeting that many congressional aides “may be 33 years old now and not making a lot of money. But in a few years they can just go to K Street and make 500,000 a year. Meanwhile I’m stuck here making $172,000 a year.”
Hillary Clinton told a charity luncheon in Chicago that Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D), who lost a tough primary challenger when Bill Daley dropped his bid yesterday, “has just been entered into the Guinness World Records book as luckiest politician,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Real Clear Politics shows President Obama’s average net approval rate is now underwater by 6.6 percentage points.
Harry Enten: “Obama’s approval rating can greatly affect the 2014 midterm elections and, to a lesser extent, the 2016 presidential election… If the president’s approval rating were to hold, a very simple regression finds the Democrats would lose 30 seats in the House.”
“To be sure, the incumbent president’s approval rating matters less when he is not running for re-election… [Even so,] once we control for the economy, every 5pt increase in a president’s net approval rating increases his party’s candidate’s margin by 1pt in the [next] presidential election per Drew Linzer.”
Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) will not
run for U.S. Senate in 2014, National Journal reports.
“Amash was tempted by the allure of a
campaign for higher office, sources say, but the second-term lawmaker
ultimately was unwilling to risk surrendering the clout he enjoys among
conservatives in the GOP-controlled House.”
“All that really matters is what my district wants. And my district is overwhelmingly in favor of my position.”
— Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), quoted by the Washington Post. on why he supports a bill defunding Obamacare even if it leads to a government shutdown.
“The threat of a government shutdown intensified Tuesday as House Republican leaders moved toward stripping funding from President Obama’s landmark health-care initiative and setting up a stalemate with the Democratic Senate,” the Washington Post says.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “had hoped to keep the government open past Sept. 30 with relatively little fuss. But roughly 40 conservatives revolted. After a strategy session Tuesday, Boehner and his leadership team were being pushed into a more confrontational strategy that would fund the government into the new fiscal year only if Democrats agreed to undermine Obama’s signature legislative achievement.”
First Read: “As rough a stretch as President Obama and his team have had over the last couple of weeks (something we chronicled extensively yesterday), they have one thing going for them right now: House Republicans are in disarray, increasing the likelihood that the federal government could shut down.”
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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