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Joni Ernst Tapped to Deliver GOP Response
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) will be delivering the Republican response to the State of the Union Address, the Weekly Standard reports.
“The State of the Union is scheduled for next week. Ernst was elected in November and has only been a U.S. senator for a couple weeks.”
McConnell Urges House Republicans To Be Realistic
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered a reality check to House Republicans, the Washington Examiner reports.
“House bills aren’t guaranteed to pass the Senate just because Republicans now control the chamber with 54 seats… McConnell cautioned the House GOP that the new Senate majority is limited in what it can accomplish by the filibuster. Almost any legislation that clears the Senate must garner 60 votes, meaning Democratic support will be required to move most bills. Republicans face an early test of this challenge with a Feb. 27 deadline to fund the Department of Homeland Security.”
Team Cincinnatus
Political Blotter has a poll commissioned by Tom Steyer (D) last month gauging his chances in a race for U.S. Senate in California.
But this was most amusing: “Lest anyone worry how healthy an opinion Steyer, 57, of San Francisco has of himself, the memo was addressed to ‘Team Cincinnatus’ — presumably referring to the Roman statesman hailed as an icon of virtue, selflessness and humility after twice being chosen for, and then twice resigning, the mantle of dictator in order to protect the republic. Big sandals to fill, there.”
Obama Will Seek 7% Budget Increase
President Obama will ask Congress for as much as $68 billion more than current budget limits in fiscal 2016, Bloomberg reports.
“The request sets up a fight with the Republican-led House and Senate over whether to reverse part of the spending limits that Congress and the White House agreed to in a series of fiscal deals earlier this decade… It’s a bold move at a time when many Republicans in Congress say they are eager to make deeper cuts in spending and are invigorated by a November election in which they expanded their House majority and seized control of the Senate.”
Mike Huckabee Never Stopped Running
Michael Scherer: “After losing in his bid for the Republican nomination in 2008, Huckabee created a show on Fox News that gave him a Saturday-night audience of 1.3 million likely Republican-primary voters, wrote four books, carefully grew his base of Facebook and email followers and launched a talk-radio commentary career, all while continuing to travel the country to support Republican candidates and meeting regularly with conservative pastors in off-the-record settings…. This time, Huckabee says he needs $50 million by the Iowa caucuses in February 2016 to mount a serious campaign. It’s an ambitious target for him, but his staff believes there are several deep-pocketed donors who will step forward to fund a super PAC with unlimited donations for campaign ads if he runs.”
Harry Reid is a Political Survivor
Geoffrey Skelley: “Reid has won five straight elections for Senate, starting in 1986. His average share of the vote in those contests was 52.1%. If we compare Reid to other senators who won at least five consecutive contests (including special elections), his mark is the lowest average percentage won by any qualifying senator. Reid also had the lowest median percentage (50.3%).”
“Remarkably, Reid has only won more than 51.0% of the vote once, cruising to victory with 61.1% in 2004. Otherwise, his percentages have been very low for a winner — 50.0% in 1986, 51.0% in 1992, 47.9% in 1998, and 50.3% in 2010.”
3 Things We Know About Clinton’s Emerging Campaign
First Read: “First, by grabbing Obama’s chief pollster (Joel Benenson) and media consultant (Jim Margolis), Clinton has decided to enlist key parts of Obama’s campaign 2008-2012 team, discarding the folks who ran her polling and media in ’08…. When you add the fact that John Podesta is leaving the Obama White House to serve as a liaison between the Clinton campaign and White House (as well as to handle the Clinton Old Guard), it’s pretty easy to conclude that Clinton won’t be running away from Obama. In fact, it’s looking like she will be more connected to him than ever.”
“Two, we’ve learned that Clinton most likely won’t receive any real Democratic primary challenge, allowing her to focus on a general-election campaign much earlier than everyone else.”
“And three, the growing realization that 2016 is going to be the year of the political re-run or spinoff — you’ve got Romney, a Bush, a Paul, Huckabee, Santorum, and of course Clinton — is a potential problem for her… when it’s a growing cast of the same stale characters (or their relatives), it’s automatic to lump Clinton into that group. So she has to find a way to distance herself from that. Running as a historic candidate — trying to be the first female president — is a way to do that. But this could very well be her biggest challenge in 2016.”
Chaffetz Removes Issa’s Portrait from Hearing Room
One of Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) first acts since taking over the House Oversight gavel: Removing portraits of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and other past chairmen from the walls of the Oversight hearing room, The Hill reports.
“A Chaffetz spokeswoman said it’s much ado about nothing. But Issa allies see the move as a slap in the face to the last chairman, who tapped Chaffetz in 2011 as chairman of the Oversight subcommittee on national security. Issa’s likeness, they note, had only been hanging in Rayburn 2154 for two months.”
Clinton Aides Prefer to Face Off Against Romney
“Advisers to Hillary Clinton said the former secretary of state has a better shot of winning the White House in a race against former Mitt Romney than she does against Jeb Bush,” the New York Daily News reports.
“Clinton advisers said Romney has proven he lacks the ability to relate to voters and comes across as out of touch.”
Said former White House aide Tommy Vietor: “I would like to run against Mitt Romney in every election forever.”
Santorum May Ditch Sweater Vest
“Rick Santorum, who famously rocked a sweater vest during the 2012 presidential race, might try a new look if he runs again in 2016,” a Santorum source told Fox News.
“The source said the former Pennsylvania Republican senator has been getting some fashion tips for a potential 2016 run from one of his daughters with a keen fashion sense – and he may end up shedding his classic campaign attire.”
Romney Begins Staffing Up
“Mitt Romney is beginning to assemble a campaign team, and is turning to a former aide with ties to Chris Christie to work as a liaison with the media as the 2012 GOP presidential nominee takes steps to once again run for the White House,” CNN reports.
“Colin Reed, who most recently served as Sen. Scott Brown’s campaign manager, will begin to work for Romney immediately on a ‘volunteer basis.’ Reed was the deputy director of Rapid Response for Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign and worked in the governor’s press office.”
Why Don’t Conservatives Like Jeb Bush?
David Weigel: “On the right, the return of Mitt Romney—which I prefer to call the Romneyssiance—has sparked fresh new debates about why Jeb Bush was ever the great 2016 GOP hope. Why does he inspire such skepticism, from the right and the center-right, when his brother didn’t?”
Obama Redefines the State of the Union Speech
Politico: “He’ll use the speech as an opportunity to assert himself, remind people that though Republicans are enjoying the majorities in Congress, he’s still here. But as for the State of the Union tradition of unveiling big announcements for a year-ahead agenda, Obama’s done with that. The country’s been done with that for a while, aides say, and the White House has finally caught up.”
“They believe they’ve now redefined the State of the Union model, not just for this year and next but for the next couple of presidents at least.”
Rand Paul Kicks Campaign Into High Gear
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “is in full-blown campaign mode,” The Hill reports.
“While most potential GOP contenders’ early efforts are taking place behind closed doors with donors and top strategists, the Kentucky senator is engaged in the kind of retail politicking that won’t become commonplace until the candidates officially announce their intentions later this year.”
Obama Avoids the Bush Trap
Washington Post: “While Obama has certainly been battered over his six years, he can at least say this: He’s in considerably better shape than his predecessor, George W. Bush, heading into the home stretch.”
“While Obama’s and Bush’s numbers rivaled each other for the better part of the middle of their presidencies — complete with hard-fought reelection races — Obama in recent months has differentiated himself from the tail end of the Bush years, keeping his approval rating steadily above 40 percent.”
Ex-Lawmaker Says Call to Behead Journalists Was a Joke
Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) said that his social media post calling for Islamic terrorists to “behead the cowards at CNN, MSNBC” and other news outlets was “satire,” TPM reports.
Where’s Hillary?
“As the 2016 race heats up on the Republican side, with a new Super PAC, donor check or staffing announcement dropping every hour since Christmas, Hillary Clinton’s schedule has been notably empty,” CNN reports.
“The last time the presumed Democratic front-runner headlined an event — something she did with regularity throughout most of 2014 — was Dec. 15, when she joined forces with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to promote keeping reliable date about women and girls around the globe.”
