New York State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R) “said he would resign his leadership post a week after being charged in a corruption scheme involving his son, and was replaced by a fellow senator from Long Island,” Reuters reports.
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Toomey Comfortably Ahead of All Rivals
A new Harper Polling survey in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R) with large leads over three possible Democratic challengers.
Toomey leads Ed Pawlowski (D), 54% to 30%, tops Jos Sestak (D), 53% to 32%, and beats Josh Shapiro (D), 55% to 27%.
Democrats Have Advantage in Senate Battle
Charlie Cook: “The battle for control of the Senate is finally underway and if early indications are correct, Republicans can be no more confident that they will keep the majority in the next Congress than Democrats could have been at this point in 2013.”
“In the 2014 cycle, Republicans had every advantage. They had few of their own seats to defend, and they got to run against an unpopular Democratic president and his policies… Now the tables are turned. Republicans are defending 24 seats this cycle, compared to just 10 for Democrats. While President Obama carried all 10 of the Democratic-held seats up this cycle, he also carried seven states with Republican-held seats: Florida (Marco Rubio), Illinois (Mark Kirk), Iowa (Chuck Grassley), New Hampshire (Kelly Ayotte), Ohio (Rob Portman), Pennsylvania (Pat Toomey), and Wisconsin (Ron Johnson).”
Obama Picks Chicago for Presidential Library
President Obama “made it official Tuesday: His presidential library and museum will be built in Chicago while his foundation will have a presence at Columbia University in New York,” Bloomberg reports.
Bush Is Using a Non-Profit Group for Advisers
Washington Post: “A nonprofit group allied with former Florida governor Jeb Bush is playing a more expansive role in his current political operation than previously known, housing several top policy advisers who are expected to join his eventual campaign, according to people familiar with the structure.”
“Bush’s reliance on the nonprofit as he prepares for a likely presidential bid puts him on untested legal ground, cloaking who is paying the salaries of his expected advisers. But a polarized Federal Election Commission is unlikely to scrutinize the maneuver, campaign finance experts said.”
Another Bonus Quote of the Day
“I don’t feel old. I don’t feel like yesterday’s news, and I’m not.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by the Washington Post, in an interview set to air on Fox News tonight.
The Case for Hiring a Former Politician
National Journal: “Collecting data from 1996 to 2011, financial researchers Reza Houston and Stephen P. Ferris tracked 243 politicians—including senators, House members, governors, cabinet secretaries, presidents, and vice presidents—who made the jump from public office to an executive or official role at a publicly traded company. They analyzed the stock performance of those companies, both in the days after the hiring announcement, and then over a three-year span.”
“To make that comparison to the overall market, Houston and his coauthor set up another portfolio of stocks with a similar risk assessment, but filled it with companies that did not have political connections… Those stocks beat the average return by 3.65 percent.”
Rand Paul Staffer Licks Tracker’s Video Camera
Gawker: “On the campaign trail, absolutely everything you say is fair game—which is why both parties will send trackers to record the competition’s every move. And how do you swat these camera-toting pests? For Rand Paul’s camp, the answer is apparently a drawn-out, tender loving lick.”
Kasich May Skip Iowa If He Runs
Gov. John Kasich (R), “who last week made his third trip in six weeks to New Hampshire and has been to South Carolina twice, has yet to make a public appearance in Iowa, which in January holds the first presidential nominating contest,” the Columbus Dispatch reports.
“It’s a sign that if Kasich enters the race, he is inclined to emulate the strategy employed by Republican John McCain in 2000 when he bypassed Iowa, focused his time and money in New Hampshire and scored an unexpected triumph there over George W. Bush.”
Naked Lawmaker Confronted Ex Before Shooting
Michigan State Sen. Virgil Smith (D) “told police his ex-wife stormed into his house and assaulted his girlfriend before he did ‘the most stupid thing in his life’ — opening fire at the ex-wife’s Mercedes Benz with an automatic rifle,” the Detroit News reports.
“He was naked when he met her at the front door, the senator’s ex-wife claims in a second police report, beat her with his fists, chased her outside and shot at her four or five times.”
On That Chipotle Visit
Washington Post: “One afternoon in April, Bill Clinton looked up at a television in his midtown Manhattan office and saw the grainy security-camera photo of his wife and her aide, Huma Abedin, at a Chipotle in Ohio, appearing incognito in dark sunglasses. He turned to aides and wondered, ‘What are she and Huma doing? Are they robbing that place?'”
Texas Bill Would Identify Those With Obamacare Subsidies
A bill introduced in the Texas legislature — and passed by the House — “would add a special label to the health insurance cards of people receiving financial assistance under the Affordable Care Act,” the Texas Tribune reports.
“Roughly a million Texans with government-subsidized health coverage could see a new label on their health insurance cards, and critics say the designation is akin to a ‘scarlet letter.'”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“I have the biggest crowds, I get the biggest standing ovations, and then I read these sleaze-bag reporters. And they say, ‘Donald Trump had a smattering of applause.’ A smattering – and they’ll say about some guy that’s a loser politician that’s up and nobody’s even watching him, ‘He gave a brilliant speech!’ They’re very dishonest.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by the Daily Mail, on political journalists.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“What is under way is a transition to a new order, and that’s going to take a long time. What we now regard as extraordinary turbulence in the Middle East is going to be the norm over the next several decades.”
— Former Sen. George Mitchell (D-ME), in an interview with Bangor Daily News.
White House Account of Bin Laden Killing Questioned
Seymour Hersh: “It’s been four years since a group of US Navy Seals assassinated Osama bin Laden in a night raid on a high-walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The killing was the high point of Obama’s first term, and a major factor in his re-election. The White House still maintains that the mission was an all-American affair, and that the senior generals of Pakistan’s army and Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) were not told of the raid in advance. This is false, as are many other elements of the Obama administration’s account.”
Clinton Foundation Funding Remains Elusive
The Clinton Foundation “has acknowledged that the government funding totals omitted from their tax returns cannot be found on their website either, despite the foundation’s acting chief executive officer earlier suggesting they were available there,” Reuters reports.
“The foundation’s acknowledgement means precise totals for government grants to the charity for the last three years of Clinton’s four-year tenure as secretary of state have still not been publicly disclosed. All U.S. charities have to separately disclose each year how much they get in government funding, both domestic and foreign.”
Is Bush Making a Mistake Not Announcing?
Rick Klein: “It’s too early to panic, of course, but… Jeb Bush’s quiet, no-rush non-campaign got a touch louder over the weekend, with a pair of moves that suggest a recalibration during this pre-announcement phase. He used a speech at the Falwell-controlled Liberty University to do what candidates speaking at Liberty University do these days: Blast the Obama administration for limiting religious freedom… Then, in an interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, Bush said he would have invaded Iraq just like his brother did, saying it was a ‘news flash’ that there wouldn’t be ‘big space’ between them on the issue.”
“For context, Bush’s expected candidacy has scared exactly zero candidates out of the race. Two new New Hampshire polls showing a jumble at the top – a four-way tie in a state that’s pretty close to must-win for the former Florida governor. It might be time for Bush to send some signals to the party base, at least around the edges.”
Why the GOP Wants a Foreign Policy Election
First Read: “There are at least four reasons why the GOP candidates are focused so heavily on foreign affairs — more so than at this time in the 2012 presidential cycle. One, the economy has improved (223,000 jobs were created last month, and Obama’s economic handling is up to 49% in the latest NBC/WSJ poll), while the deficit has decreased. Two, there’s the rise of ISIS. Three, there’s the Iran deal that the Obama administration is racing to finalize by next month. And four, there’s the GOP recognition that focusing on foreign policy is maybe the best way to go after Hillary Clinton’s record as secretary of state.”
