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Boehner Not Going Quietly

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Politico: “With less than four weeks left in his decades-long congressional career, Boehner is maneuvering to shape the House Republican Conference on his way out. His goal is to leave the conference he helped build —with countless hours of grunt work and hundreds of millions of dollars in fundraising — in the strongest position possible.”

“He has all but officially endorsed Rep. Kevin McCarthy to succeed him, giving the majority leader enough of a nod to express confidence but short of the full-throated endorsement that could sink him. Boehner tried to lure a candidate into the majority leader race against one of his own top lieutenants, a move aimed at bolstering McCarthy’s right flank.”

Trump Sends Rubio a Case of Water

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CNN reports that Donald Trump’s campaign sent a “care package” to Sen. Marco Rubio’s Washington campaign office that contained a 24-bottle case of “Trump Ice Natural Spring Water,” with Trump’s face on it, two “Make America Great Again” towels and bumper stickers and a note reading, “Since you’re always sweating, we thought you could use some water. Enjoy!”

A Trump campaign aide said they added the towels “for him sweating,” and described the overall gesture as a lighthearted prank.

Clinton Distances Herself from Obama Deportation Policy

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Hillary Clinton criticized President Obama’s immigration policies in an interview with Telemundo, accusing the White House of breaking up families through an aggressive deportation policy.

Wall Street Journal: “Her comments echoed long-running complaints of the immigration advocacy community that Mr. Obama’s immigration policy has been overly harsh. But they stand in contrast to comments Mrs. Clinton made in June 2014 defending the Obama policy, where she said the president was doing all he could within the law to keep families together. They also appeared to ignore changes in deportation policy that Mr. Obama ordered in late 2014.”


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Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I did sacrifice a goat. I know that’s probably a quibble in the mind of most Americans. I sacrificed an animal to the god of the wilderness … Yes, I drank the goat’s blood.”

— Florida U.S. Senate candidate Augustus Sol Invictus (L), quoted by the Associated Press.

Tennessee Official Urges Christians to Arm Themselves

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In the aftermath of the Oregon mass killings at a community college, Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R) took to Facebook to say that “fellow Christians who are serious about their faith” should “think about getting a handgun permit.”

Said Ramsey: “The recent spike in mass shootings across the nation is truly troubling. Whether the perpetrators are motivated by aggressive secularism, jihadist extremism or racial supremacy, their targets remain the same: Christians and defenders of the West.”

He added: “While this is not the time for widespread panic, it is a time to prepare… Our enemies are armed. We must do likewise.”

Boehner Delays Speaker Vote Due to Uncertainty

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Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner said that lawmakers “will elect his replacement on Oct. 29, one day before he is set to leave Congress, and that elections for other members of the House Republican leadership will be delayed until after a new speaker is chosen,” the Washington Post reports.

“Sitting Majority Leader Kevin O. McCarthy (R-CA) is seeking to succeed Boehner, and he is the heavy favorite. But there are doubt about whether he can convince hard-line conservatives to support him in the crucial floor vote, where the next speaker must gain a majority of all House members, Democrat and Republican.”

Benghazi Committee Democrats Will Release Transcripts

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“The Democratic minority on a U.S. congressional committee investigating the attack in Benghazi, Libya, intend to defy the committee’s Republican leaders by releasing the transcript of a closed-door interview with a former senior aide to Hillary Clinton,” Reuters reports.

“The announcement came six days after Kevin McCarthy, the leader of U.S. House Republicans, went on television to boast that the federally funded investigation had successfully dented Clinton’s poll numbers as she runs for the Democratic presidential nomination.”

Fiorina Says She Can Finally Use Her Degree

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“For over three decades, Carly Fiorina’s bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in medieval history and philosophy has had little real-world application. But as she mounts a presidential bid, the Republican candidate says her degree is finally of use as she considers how she would deal with ISIS as commander-in-chief,” ABC News reports.

Said Fiorina: “Finally my degree in medieval history and philosophy has come in handy, because what ISIS wants to do is drive us back to the Middle Ages, literally.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I have gone further than anybody that I’m aware of in American history. Now it’s not a long history since we haven’t had emails that long — as long as we’ve had them, I’ve gone longer and farther to be as transparent as possible. Nobody else has done that.”

— Hillary Clinton, quoted by the Weekly Standard.

Pollsters Warn Against Using Polls

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“Pollsters surveyed by Politico have a unanimous warning for the Republican National Committee and the TV networks who are using public-opinion surveys to exclude presidential candidates from debates: Don’t trust polls to detect often-tiny grades of opinion in a giant field.”

“Indeed, the unprecedented reliance on polls to winnow the Republican field is coming at a time when many pollsters feel they’re blinder than ever to trends in public thinking — and that using polls to keep out candidates who are otherwise well qualified could seriously alter the race.  But when CNBC announced on Wednesday its criteria for the Oct. 28 GOP debate, it marked the third time out of three debates that the sponsoring news organization is using the candidates’ standing in public polling as the main determinant for eligibility.”

Rubio vs. Bush Was Inevitable

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Benjy Sarlin: “Rubio, who has steadily improved in the polls since the last debate, is looking more and more like a threat to win the nomination as Bush’s campaign fails to reach escape velocity. Recognizing the danger, Bush has started to raise pointed questions about his old friend’s qualifications, portraying him as a promising protégé who needs more time in the minor leagues. Their jostling will likely determine who carries the establishment banner against Trump and outsiders like Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, and Sen. Ted Cruz.”

Biden Eyes Decision Next Weekend

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“He’s finally close. Confidants of Vice President Joe Biden expect him to make a decision next weekend, or shortly thereafter, on whether to launch an epic battle with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination,” Politico reports.

Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I really believe this is great for the Democratic Party. We want to turn out as many people as possible.”

— Hillary Clinton, quoted by Bloomberg, on rival Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential bid.

U.S. Reaches Trade Deal with Pacific Nations

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“The U.S., Japan and 10 countries around the Pacific reached a historic accord Monday to lower trade barriers to goods and services and set commercial rules of the road for two-fifths of the global economy,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“For the U.S., the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement opens agricultural markets in Japan and Canada, tightens intellectual property rules to benefit drug and technology companies, and establishes a tightknit economic bloc to challenge China’s influence in the region.”

New York Times: “The Trans-Pacific Partnership still faces months of debate in Congress and will inject a new flash point into both parties’ presidential contests. But the accord — a product of nearly eight years of negotiations, including five days of round-the-clock sessions here — is a potentially legacy-making achievement for President Obama.”

Scalise Claims He’s Locked Up Votes for Majority Leader

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House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) “held a conference call with backers Sunday evening during which he indicated he’s locked up support from more than half of the 247-member GOP conference,” The Hill reports.

“Closed-door voting for the majority leader post is expected on Thursday, though some Republicans are pushing to delay it until after a new Speaker is sworn in.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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