Political Wire

Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!

Norm Coleman Opens Up About His Transgender Aide

April 30, 2015 at 4:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 13 Comments

Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) writes in the Daily Beast about his close relationship with a Republican transgender woman who served as one of his most senior aides.

“One of my most trusted colleagues during my career in public service is a transgender woman, Susan Kimberly. I knew of Susan before her transition, when she served on the St. Paul City Council. After her transition, Susan returned to public service and she served as my Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff while I was Mayor of St. Paul. Susan is a force of nature, a policy wonk, and possesses a brilliant, analytical mind. She was among the smartest and most capable individuals in City Hall. And I knew when I ran for U.S. Senate that I needed her on my team.”

Obama Hints at Return to Community Organizing

April 30, 2015 at 2:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 28 Comments

President Obama “dropped some hints about what he’ll do after his time in office, saying he could return to his roots as a community organizer,” The Hill reports.

Said Obama: “I’ll be done being president in a couple of years and I’ll still be a pretty young man,” he said. “And so I’ll go back to doing the kinds of work I was doing before, just trying to find ways to help people.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

April 30, 2015 at 1:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 35 Comments

“We’re looking at a system where our democracy is being owned by a handful of billionaires.”

— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), quoted by ABC News, on why he’s running for president.

Gregg Will Challenge Pence for Indiana Governor

April 30, 2015 at 1:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

John Gregg (D) “is running again for Indiana governor, this time with a stronger focus on Gov. Mike Pence’s (R) social issues, including the recent ‘religious freedom’ debacle,” the Indianapolis Star reports.

Said Gregg: “The governor had done what he said he wasn’t going to do. I thought he was going to focus on the economy, I thought he was going to focus on creating good paying jobs and improving our education system. He’s focused on nothing but social issues, which was his record in Congress, and those social issues do nothing but divide us.”

Bill Clinton’s Fundraising Threatens Wife’s Campaign

April 30, 2015 at 12:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 86 Comments

Joe Klein: “The bottom line is that the Clinton Global Initiative was used not only to do great works around the world but also to enrich the Clintons. No doubt, there was a lot of self-delusion going on.”

“One of the most damning charges, if it turns out to be true—and I’ve not seen it disputed—is that since he left the presidency, Bill Clinton gave 13 speeches for $500,000 or more. He gave 11 of them while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. He was, and is, her closest adviser. You would have to assume a high-mindedness that surpasses all understanding to argue that these speeches, and the generosity of their funders, had not even a subliminal impact on the mind of the Secretary.”

“There is more than the appearance of impropriety here. There is the appearance of plutocracy. There is the reality of platinum–level membership in the society of the rich and self-righteous, whose predatory business practices can be forgiven because they “give back” gazillions—call them the egregiously charitable.”

Shortened Primary Calendar Could Backfire on Republicans

April 30, 2015 at 11:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

First Read: “The shortened nominating calendar: After the party’s 2012 loss, the Republican National Committee decided to shorten its nominating calendar. The logic: The long-ish slog between Mitt Romney and underfunded Rick Santorum didn’t do the party any good, especially when facing an incumbent Democratic president. But the unintended consequence of a shortened nominating calendar is that about 70% of the delegates might not be decided until May. And with no incentives for candidates to drop out (because of well-financed Super PACs supporting them or with a convention in July), it’s possible that no one candidate has a majority of delegates by May or even later.”

“Does that mean a contested convention, with no candidate able to snag enough support to nail down the nomination? Maybe not, but it could mean behind-the-scenes agreements and forced alliances between campaigns as they limp to the finish line, or it could mean the ultimate winner has to pick a running mate who otherwise wouldn’t be their first choice.”

Where Is Aaron Schock?

April 30, 2015 at 11:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 15 Comments

“Aaron Schock once broadcast his worldly travels on Instagram for all to see. But two weeks after a campaign donor filed a federal lawsuit against the former congressman, an attorney for the donor said Wednesday he can’t track the Peoria Republican down,” the Chicago Sun Times reports.

Republicans Find a Way to Embrace Obamacare

April 30, 2015 at 11:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 17 Comments

“In nearly a dozen Republican-dominated states, either the governor or conservative legislators are seeking to add work requirements to Obamacare Medicaid expansion, much like an earlier generation pushed for welfare to work,” Politico reports.

“The move presents a politically acceptable way for conservative states to accept the billions of federal dollars available under Obamacare, bringing health care coverage to millions of low-income people. But to the Obama administration, a work requirement is a non-starter, an unacceptable ideological shift in the 50-year-old Medicaid program and a break with the Affordable Care Act’s mission of expanding health care coverage to all Americans.”

Greg Sargent: A crack in red state resistance to Obamacare?

Who’s the Biggest Idiot in Washington, DC?

April 30, 2015 at 11:20 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) says it’s Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), but only because Michele Bachmann (D-MN) retired.

An Interesting Race Even If It Might Be a Blowout

April 30, 2015 at 10:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 14 Comments

Rick Klein: “For a race that may wind up not being much of a race, we sure have seen a lot of action in recent days. Consider the ways that the contours of the Democratic primary have come into view this week. The liberal/Warren wing of the party got its seat at the 2016 table, in the person of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who’s still not becoming a Democrat but figures to tip the eventual nominee leftward before he’s done. The not-declared candidate Martin O’Malley saw his first moment in the campaign glare, with events far from his choosing bringing him onto the streets of his native Baltimore. And Hillary Clinton pushed up plans for a first policy address by giving a strong speech that showed daylight between her vision and Bill Clinton’s presidency – a theme of 2015 and 2016, surely, that we’ll see again. As major news events are wont to do, the would-be nominees were drawn a bit out of their early shells. They’re preparing for a race that, at least for now, has some spark.”

Abbott Orders Monitoring of Federal Troops

April 30, 2015 at 10:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 69 Comments

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has “ordered members of the Texas Military to monitor federal troops in an upcoming two-month training exercise planned for the Lone Star State,” the Houston Chronicle reports.

“Operation Jade Helm will bring the U.S. military’s most elite soldiers, including the Green Berets and Navy SEALS, to Texas for simulated special operations in a hostile territory. But plans for the exercise have roused fears in many Texans of a federal occupation.”

House Republicans Look at Ending Birthright Citizenship

April 30, 2015 at 9:14 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 129 Comments

House Republicans are talking about abolishing birthright citizenship, which grants automatic citizenship to any baby born on American soil, Dana Millbank reports.

“A House Judiciary subcommittee took up the question Wednesday afternoon, prompted by legislation sponsored by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) and 22 other lawmakers that, after nearly 150 years, would end automatic citizenship.”

What Is the Best State?

April 30, 2015 at 9:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

Wonk Wire has a fantastic interactive map allowing you to rank the states on a variety of measures.

The Case for John Kasich

April 30, 2015 at 9:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 23 Comments

Molly Ball points out that all of the Republican presidential candidates “seem to have weaknesses that could become fatal flaws.”

“If only, Republican voters might be thinking, there were a candidate who could appeal to blue-collar voters but also mingle with the GOP establishment. A governor who’d proven he could run a large state but who also had national experience. Someone who’d won tough elections and maintained bipartisan popularity in an important swing state. A candidate whose folksy demeanor and humble roots would contrast nicely with Hillary Clinton’s impersonal, stiffly scripted juggernaut. That’s Kasich’s pitch, in a nutshell.”

Rand Paul’s Effort to Woo Black Voters Falters

April 30, 2015 at 8:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 31 Comments

Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) “intensive effort to redeem himself — and the Republican Party — with minorities seemed to be on the verge of cratering,” CNN reports.

“He joked Tuesday to conservative radio host Laura Ingraham that he was happy his train didn’t stop in the riot-scarred city of Baltimore. It was exactly the type of tone-deaf remark the Kentucky senator’s group of black advisers urged him to avoid as he seeks to expand the GOP’s outreach to minorities… The episode underscores Paul’s complicated history with race. This is the man who openly questioned central tenets of the Civil Rights Act before he later voiced unequivocal support.”

Jon Stewart Skewers Judith Miller

April 30, 2015 at 8:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 35 Comments

It’s not clear why former New York Times reporter Judith Miller decided it would be a good idea to defend her reporting on the Iraq War on the Daily Show.

Here’s how Stewart opened the interview: “My feeling has always been… I believe that you helped the administration take us to, like, the most devastating mistake in foreign policy that we’ve made in, like, 100 years.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

April 30, 2015 at 8:04 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 33 Comments

“I respect the courts, but the Supreme Court is only that — the supreme of the courts. It is not the supreme being. It cannot overrule God.”

— Mike Huckabee, quoted by CNN, on the pending same-sex marriage ruling.

Wonk Wire: More religious Americans support gay marriage than oppose it

Fiorina Prepares to Defend Her Record as CEO

April 30, 2015 at 7:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 25 Comments

“Carly Fiorina’s political future depends on whether she can defend her record as CEO of Hewlett-Packard,” The Hill reports.

“The likely GOP presidential candidate is aiming to do just that in her new book Rising to the Challenge, set to be released May 5, a day after the expected launch of her 2016 campaign. Fiorina now claims the company’s decision to fire her in 2005, after a turbulent six-year tenure, was a result of a dysfunctional board of directors and not her leadership.”