Trent Kelly (R) has won a special election to succeed late Mississippi Rep. Alan Nunnelee (R-MS), easily defeating Walter Zinn (D) in Tuesday’s runoff, Politico reports.
The 56-year-old Nunnelee died in February after a fight with brain cancer.
Jindal Will Announce White House Bid This Month
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), “who has been actively exploring a campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, will announce his decision later this month,” CNN has learned.
“The Louisiana governor will make his intentions known at a June 24th event in New Orleans.”
Senate Approves Bill to Rein In NSA Surveillance
“In a remarkable reversal of national security policy formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Senate voted on Tuesday to curtail the federal government’s sweeping surveillance of American phone records, sending the legislation to President Obama’s desk for his signature,” the New York Times reports.
“The vote was a rebuke to Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, as lawmakers beat back a series of amendments that he sought that would have rolled back proposed controls on government spying.”
License Plates as a Political Favor
The Fix: “In several states we’ve researched, low-number plates — the less numerals, the better — are a way to show off your political connections. That’s because in states like New Hampshire, you can’t just walk into a DMV and request one; you have to know someone to give you the plate. It’s supply-and-demand: The more difficult something is to acquire, the more valued it is.”
How the Clintons Built a $2 Billion Global Empire
Washington Post: “Today, the Clinton Foundation is unlike anything else in the history of the nation and, perhaps, the world: It is a global philanthropic empire run by a former U.S. president and closely affiliated with a potential future president, with the audacious goal of solving some of the world’s most vexing problems by bringing together the wealthiest, glitziest and most powerful people from every part of the planet.”
“The evolution of the foundation, which began as a modest nonprofit focused largely on the ex-president’s library in Arkansas, is a nearly perfect reflection of the Clintons themselves. It was not designed as a master plan, but rather has grown, one brainstorm at a time, in accordance with the ambitious, loyal, restless and, often, scattered nature of its primary namesake… In the middle of it all is Bill Clinton, a new kind of post-presidential celebrity: a convener who wrangles rich people’s money for poor people’s problems. In the process, the foundation elevates the wealthy by giving them entrée to one of the nation’s most prominent political families.”
Who Actually Governs?
Just published: Who Governs?: Presidents, Public Opinion, and Manipulation by James Druckman and Lawrence Jacobs.
“America’s model of representational government rests on the premise that elected officials respond to the opinions of citizens. This is a myth, however, not a reality… Druckman and Jacobs combine existing research with novel data from US presidential archives to show that presidents make policy by largely ignoring the views of most citizens in favor of affluent and well-connected political insiders.”
FBI Using Surveillance Planes Over Cities
“The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology — all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government,” the Associated Press reports.
“The planes’ surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge’s approval, and the FBI said the flights are used for specific, ongoing investigations. The FBI said it uses front companies to protect the safety of the pilots and aircraft. It also shields the identity of the aircraft so that suspects on the ground don’t know they’re being watched by the FBI.”
Dick Cheney Likes Being Compared to Darth Vader
Former Vice President Dick Cheney “doesn’t seem all that ruffled by his villainous public persona,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Cheney showed off “the latest feature on his Ford F-350 Super Duty truck, a Darth Vader trailer-hitch cover, a nod to his alter-ego from the Bush days.”
Said Cheney: “Darth Vader. I’m rather proud of that.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Now I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE. I’m pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, ‘Coach, I think I’d rather shower with the girls today.'”
— Mike Huckabee, quoted by BuzzFeed, calling the growing acceptance of transgender people “ridiculous.”
The Latest on Wonk Wire
Here’s what’s trending on Wonk Wire today:
- How an Obamacare Loss Means a Loss for Republicans
- 1 in 13 Gun Killings Are Committed By Police
- There’s ‘No Easy Fix’ to an Adverse Obamacare Ruling
- Maryland Bans Fracking
- Polygamy and Suicide Are OK. Extramarital Affairs Are Not.
- A Slow-Moving Strategy to Abolish the Death Penalty
- GOP: Total Obamacare Repeal is Impossible
- Obamacare: Who Signed Up and Where in 2015?
Quote of the Day
“JFK would be a Republican today. There is no room for John F. Kennedy in the modern Democratic Party.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by MSNBC.
GOP Effort to End Nevada Caucus Thwarted
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that a bill “that would have allowed political parties to end Nevada’s presidential caucus system and switch to a secret-ballot primary… died Monday, when the Assembly didn’t bring it forward for a vote before the midnight deadline when the session ended.”
An Unlikeable Group of Presidential Candidates
Rick Klein: “That’s among the takeaways of the new ABC News/Washington Post poll, which features Hillary Clinton and nearly all of her major Republican challengers viewed more unfavorably than favorably. (Marco Rubio, at 31-31, is the only top contender not underwater; Donald Trump has an unfavorable rating of 71 percent, the highest among the names polled.) Those are tough numbers to face for any candidate, and the poll indicates damage from the campaign thus far. Clinton, for instance, faces strong disapproval for her handling of her email and stories of her personal wealth.”
“But more remarkable about the crop of numbers is how early these perceptions have been set, and how widely they are held. This is before candidates and their allies spending hundreds of millions of dollars to trash each other on television for a year. It’s a useful lesson for the would-be presidents: voters might tolerate you, but they’re not in general inclined to actually like you.”
Both Parties Favor Overhaul of Campaign Finance
A new New York Times/CBS News poll finds Americans of both parties “fundamentally reject the regime of untrammeled money in elections made possible by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling and other court decisions and now favor a sweeping overhaul of how political campaigns are financed.”
“The findings reveal deep support among Republicans and Democrats alike for new measures to restrict the influence of wealthy givers, including limiting the amount of money that can be spent by ‘super PACs’ and forcing more public disclosure on organizations now permitted to intervene in elections without disclosing the names of their donors.”
Can Billionaires Really Buy the Election?
Reuters: “Campaign finance watchdog groups fear heavy spending by these ultra-rich Americans will warp the election – already expected to be the most money-soaked in history. The idea that billionaires can buy elections has taken root in the public imagination.”
“Those billionaires are now seeing small, early signs of a pushback. Whether these are the beginning of a new trend is far too soon to say, but polls show there is wider discontent about the perceived influence of big money in U.S. politics and a growing gulf between the country’s very rich and very poor. These nascent rumblings – along with evidence that the super-rich are inefficient political spenders – raise questions about how effective billionaires will be in the 2016 elections.”
Senate Hawks Stage Showdown on Surveillance
The Senate “cleared the final procedural hurdle on legislation to curtail the federal government’s sweeping surveillance program, currently suspended, but an afternoon showdown loomed over amendments that defense hawks are seeking to roll back proposed controls on government spying,” the New York Times reports.
“Most contentious is a push by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, to strike a provision in the House-passed USA Freedom Act that would declassify some significant opinions by the secret surveillance court.”
Clinton Favorable Numbers Take a Hit
A new CNN/ORC poll finds more people have an unfavorable view of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton now than at any time since 2001.
“A growing number of people say she is not honest and trustworthy (57%, up from 49% in March), less than half feel she cares about people like them (47%, down from 53% last July) and more now feel she does not inspire confidence (50%, up from 42% last March).”
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll also finds Clinton’s personal attributes “continue to erode in the wake of stories about fundraising practices at the Clinton Foundation and her use of a personal e-mail server while at the State Department… Today, 41% of Americans say she is honest and trustworthy, compared with 52% who say she is not — a 22-point swing in the past year.”
How Clinton Is Wooing Rich Liberals
“Hillary Clinton’s allies are working to win over unenthusiastic rich liberals by pitting her against the Koch brothers and prospective GOP rivals rather than more progressive Democrats,” according to a draft of a secret memo obtained by Politico.
“The memo was prepared for Clinton enforcer David Brock ahead of an April major donor meeting in San Francisco. But the concerns it reveals about liberal donors’ coolness toward her presidential candidacy – with some even holding out hope for a robust primary challenge from the left – are just as acute today, Clinton allies say. Winning over such donors is seen as critical to Clinton’s White House prospects.”
