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GOP Unloads on Hillary Clinton

April 28, 2015 at 6:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

“Democrats are quickly learning the perils of having a de facto presidential nominee in Hillary Clinton,” The Hill reports.

“With the controversy around donations to her family’s charitable foundation growing, Democrats are bracing for more attacks on the former secretary of State — just the beginning of what they expect to be an 18-month assault on their party’s front-runner. Few people on either side of the partisan divide expect Clinton to face a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination. But that advantage also allows the GOP to bring its full arsenal to bear upon her.”

Landrieu Won’t Run for Governor

April 27, 2015 at 5:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D) officially ruled out a run for governor in the October election, saying Monday his focus remains on his home city, the AP reports.

Aggressive Effort Underway to Recruit Elizabeth Warren

April 27, 2015 at 5:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 35 Comments

The New York Observer “has obtained private email correspondence among a small group of Democratic insiders that reveals a plan to recruit Sen. Elizabeth Warren to challenge Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president.”

“The email, sent by Niko Elmaleh to a group that includes Andy Tobias, who has been the treasurer of the Democratic National Committee since Bill Clinton was president, and Jim Dean, the chairman of the nation’s largest political action committee, Burlington, Vt.-based Democracy for America.”

Walker Plan Cedes Early Momentum to Bush

April 27, 2015 at 12:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

Gov. Scott Walker (R) “has put campaign plans in motion that cede early momentum to his chief rival, Jeb Bush, in favor of beating Mr. Bush and other opponents with a long-game strategy designed to achieve financial and political success next winter,” the New York Times reports.

“The strategy, described in interviews with advisers and donors to Mr. Walker, is an acknowledgment that despite leading in some early polls and earning praise from party kingmakers, Mr. Walker faces serious obstacles — money, readiness, stature — to becoming his party’s standard-bearer… Advisers said that Mr. Walker, conceding that he has no hope of raising more than Mr. Bush this spring and summer, is devoting considerable time instead to addressing a weakness that could derail him with a single gaffe no matter how much some donors love him: his lack of depth on issues facing a president, especially national security.”

Cuomo Suggests He’ll Run for Third Term

April 27, 2015 at 12:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 20 Comments

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “signaled that he intends to run for a third term in 2018,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Cuomo: “We are in the midst of a phenomenal transformation in the state of New York. There’s nothing else that I would rather do than what I’m doing. I plan to stay as long as the people will have me.”

Quote of the Day

April 27, 2015 at 11:15 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

“I don’t think you need to spend $1 billion to be elected president of the United States in 2016. I don’t think it’s necessary if you run the right kind of campaign, you don’t need to have these massive amounts of money to spend.”

— Jeb Bush, quoted by Bloomberg.

O’Malley Heads Overseas to Make Paid Speeches

April 27, 2015 at 10:21 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

Martin O’Malley (D), “who’s been busy traveling to early presidential nominating states, is diverting overseas for a few days to make some money for his family,” the Washington Post reports.

“The Democrat is scheduled to deliver a series of paid speeches in London and Dublin the first part of the week on topics including data-driven governance and renewable energy, according to aides.”

Republicans Brace for Another Unruly Primary Season

April 27, 2015 at 10:04 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 44 Comments

“The 2016 Republican presidential contest, designed to be a tidy affair, is instead shaping up to be a chaotic, drawn-out slog, thanks largely to an expanding pool of rich patrons raining money on a broad field of candidates,” the Washington Post reports.

“Never have so many candidates entered a White House contest boosted by such huge sums. The financial arms race could fuel a protracted primary season similar to the one in 2012 — exactly what party leaders were hoping to avoid.”

Newt Gingrich on ABC News: “This is now maybe the most open field in Republican history. I used to say the most open since 1940, but they’ve now blown past that. I think we may have 25 candidates.”

Wonk Wire: A Republican zombie apocalypse?

Gay Businessman Apologizes for Hosting Cruz Event

April 27, 2015 at 9:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 96 Comments

“Ian Reisner, one of the two gay hoteliers facing boycott calls for hosting an event for Senator Ted Cruz, who is adamantly opposed to same-sex marriage, apologized to the gay community for showing ‘poor judgment,'” the New York Times reports.

Said Reisner: “I am shaken to my bones by the emails, texts, postings and phone calls of the past few days. I made a terrible mistake.”

Clinton Author Admits He Doesn’t Have Evidence

April 27, 2015 at 9:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 82 Comments

“In back-to-back interviews over the past 24 hours, conservative author Peter Schweizer admits he doesn’t have direct evidence that Hillary Clinton intervened to assist individuals and entities because they donated large sums of money to the Clinton Foundation,” NBC News reports.

Said Schweizer: “No, we don’t have direct evidence. But it warrants further investigation because, again… this is part of the broader pattern. You either have to come to the conclusion that these are all coincidences or something else is afoot.”

Schweizer is the author of the new book, Clinton Cash.

Can Politics Be Unbundled from the Parties?

April 27, 2015 at 9:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

My column in The Week: “Everywhere you look, the world is being unbundled… This unbundling trend gives consumers more choices at lower cost. And it raises an intriguing question: What if our politics could also be unbundled?”

The Supreme Court Takes Up Gay Marriage

April 27, 2015 at 9:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 14 Comments

“The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments this week in a landmark gay marriage case that many legal experts believe will pave the way for same-sex couples to wed in all 50 states,” The Hill reports.

“Same sex-marriage has been the subject of fierce national debate for well more than a decade, with more than 30 states and the District of Columbia allowing same-sex couples to marry. More than a dozen other states, meanwhile, have approved bans on gay marriage, touching off a series of legal battles around the country.”

Wonk Wire: America can change its mind quickly

Nevada May Switch Back to Primary

April 27, 2015 at 9:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

“Republican leaders in Nevada are moving to junk their presidential caucuses and re-implement a standard primary election for 2016,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Nevada hosts the fourth nominating contest of the 2016 GOP primary and the first out west, making any change to how the contest is conducted potentially significant. Libertarian folk hero and former Texas Rep. Ron Paul finished a close third in the 2012 caucuses, a method of competing for delegates to the GOP presidential nominating convention deemed advantageous to Paul because his band of liberty activist supporters are small but intensely loyal… That’s why the move by Nevada Republicans to go back to a standard primary could be interpreted as a shot at Paul’s son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is running for president in 2016 and whose base of support here consists of the same community of activists who boosted his father to third place in the caucuses three years ago.”

Inside Warren’s Campaign to Influence Clinton

April 27, 2015 at 9:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 6 Comments

Ryan Lizza has a must-read piece on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and what she’s really trying to do in 2016.

“Warren is not running for President. But she is mounting a campaign to insure that Clinton and other prominent Democrats adhere to her agenda of reversing income inequality and beating back the influence of corporate power in politics. These are issues that Warren has pursued for three decades, as an academic, a policy adviser to Democrats, an Obama Administration regulator, and, since 2012, a U.S. senator and the anchor of a progressive wing of the Democratic Party.”

“Clinton has taken notice. Last December, she invited Warren to a private meeting at her Washington home, near Embassy Row, to hear Warren’s advice on issues such as income inequality. In recent months, members of Clinton’s policy team have consulted with Dan Geldon, one of Warren’s closest advisers, about economic policy… Clinton even sounds like Warren these days, evidently hoping to fend off charges that she is a captive of Wall Street money and influence.”

Huffington Post: Warren is still Clinton’s biggest threat even if she isn’t running

Majority of Voters Back Iran Deal

April 27, 2015 at 7:17 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters support the preliminary agreement with Iran to restrict that country’s nuclear program by a wide margin, 58% to 33%.

Bush Tells Donors They’ve Set Fundraising Record

April 27, 2015 at 7:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

Jeb Bush “told about 350 of the top donors to his super PAC on Sunday evening that the organization has raised more money in its first 100 days than any other Republican operation in modern history,” the Washington Post reports.

“Bush did not say how much had been raised, but senior Republicans said they think his super PAC, Right to Rise, is on track to collect $100 million by the end of May. Those who heard Bush speak said it signals that he and his team are confident that they’ve amassed a sizable political fortune that will help bankroll his fledgling presidential aspirations.”

The Polling Roller Coaster Begins

April 27, 2015 at 6:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

Nate Cohn: “The wave of candidate announcements that began late last month has set off a new phase of volatile polling, when voters will rally behind news-making candidates and move on as soon as the next arrives.”

“Republican voters are just starting to tune in, and they start with few allegiances to this year’s deep field of candidates. As Republican hopefuls announce their bids and attract media attention, they’ll probably get a bounce in the polls. These bumps could easily be enough to give long-shot candidates the lead. But for now — and for a while — it might be wise to tune out the polls altogether.”

GOP Looks to Undercut Obama’s Climate Talks

April 27, 2015 at 6:04 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

President Obama and Congress “are headed for another power clash on the international stage, as key Senate Republicans challenge his efforts to forge a global pact on climate change,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The White House considers the agreement with nearly 200 nations a historic opportunity to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions world-wide. But some GOP senators view it as executive overreach, and they are quietly considering ways to warn other countries that the president doesn’t speak for them and may not be able to deliver on his promises to slash emissions.”

Wonk Wire: Is the EPA Clean Power Plan a job booster?