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Rumors Swirl Over Putin’s Absence

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Russian President Vladimir Putin “had not been seen in public for more than a week. Where he has been – or is, if he doesn’t appear today – has been the subject of worldwide speculation. Whatever the answer, it is beyond doubt that there was a gaping, Vladimir Putin-sized hole in Russia for 10 days,” the Independent reports.

New York Post: “Putin hasn’t been seen in public for more than a week — and rampant speculation over the Russian president’s whereabouts took a wild turn on Friday with reports he was in Switzerland for the birth of his secret daughter.”

Daily Mail: “Vladimir Putin is ‘alive’ but ‘neutralised’ as shadowy security chiefs stage a stealthy coup in Moscow, it was claimed last night.”

Netanyahu Trails in Final Days Before Election

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is fighting for his political life this weekend, as a rival aided by a former consultant to President Obama threatens to oust the long-serving Israeli leader in Tuesday’s parliamentary election,” USA Today reports.

“Polls show a coalition led by Isaac Herzog clinging to a small lead over Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party.”

Haaretz has a round up of the latest polls.

Hollings Makes Grand Gesture for Former Judge

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Former Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC) called Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to ask that a federal courthouse named after him be renamed for former U.S. District Judge Julius Waties Waring instead, the Charleston Post & Courier reports.

Waring was a relatively unknown judge but one who Hollings believes kicked off the civil rights movement with his rulings.

Said Graham: “I was touched by it; it was incredible. It speaks volumes about Sen. Hollings. Not many people in my business would do that.”


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Schock Benefited from Donor Projects

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Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) “has built much of his personal wealth over a decade through real estate investments with political donors, an Associated Press review found. His relationships with other contributors, which afforded him flights on private planes and other expenses, are already under scrutiny.”

“Donors built, financed and later purchased a house Schock owned as an investment in a suburb of Peoria, Illinois. Schock owns a stake in a Peoria apartment complex involving other contributors. And he pushed for a federal appropriation that would have benefited a donor’s development project.”

No Bipartisanship In Sight

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“The sour start to the new Senate’s year appears likely to continue — with the unexpected partisan blowup over a human trafficking bill and its abortion provision seeming to end the last chance for a broad, bipartisan vote before the recess at the end of the month,” Roll Call reports.

“That’s assuming the partisan standoff over the inclusion of language restricting use of funds for abortions — the Hyde Amendment — an effort by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to limit debate on the bill, will come up short of the 60 needed votes on March 17.”

“Then it’s time for another contentious floor debate: the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as attorney general.”

Senate Republicans Will Break with Ryan’s Blueprint

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“Senate Republicans will not include detailed plans to overhaul entitlement programs when they unveil their first budget in nearly a decade this week,” The Hill reports.

“The decision would break from Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) House budgets from recent years, which Democrats used to pound Republican candidates in the 2012 and 2014 elections… The Senate GOP blueprint will not propose reforming Social Security, the political third rail that Ryan also avoided as former chairman of the House Budget Committee.”

Quote of the Day

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“Pass a budget for crying out loud. Let the process work again. That’s what’s missing.”

— Jeb Bush, quoted by The Hill, “slamming members of his own party.”

New Generation Takes Over for the Clintons

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The New York Times profiles Robby Mook, who was just 12 when Bill Clinton was elected president but will now be managing Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

“Over more than two decades in national politics, the Clintons have amassed an army of well-meaning defenders who will bring to 2016 old battle wounds and axes to grind that date back to the White House and Arkansas — perhaps not the ideal message in a presumptive campaign that seeks to reintroduce the 67-year-old Mrs. Clinton as a fresh, forward-looking candidate.”

“It falls largely on Mr. Mook, and the band of young operatives he has assembled (called the Mook Mafia), to move the grievance-laden Clinton machine into the modern political age. The success of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign will rest in part on whether this younger generation of earnest, data- and social-media-savvy operatives can prevail.”

Quote of the Day

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“I could spend an entire speech talking about how this president has ignored evil, has misinterpreted evil, has maybe even intentionally turned his back to evil and allowed it to prosper around the world.”

— Rick Santorum, quoted by The Hill.

Christie Bridge Probe Nears Conclusion

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The federal investigation “into lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and other alleged abuses at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is expected to wrap up in coming weeks after more than a year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The investigation has seemed to quicken in recent weeks, with prosecutors returning to witnesses with questions that indicated they were close to finishing this stage of their probe… It remains unclear whether the findings will implicate current or former allies to Gov. Chris Christie and whether prosecutors can answer questions that investigations by the governor’s office and the Democrat-led Legislature haven’t.”

Politico: “An end to the probe could be politically convenient for Christie, whose apparent 2016 presidential aspirations have been hampered by the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal.”

Bush Used Private Email to Discuss Troop Movements

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“Jeb Bush used his private e-mail account as Florida governor to discuss security and military issues such as troop deployments to the Middle East and the protection of nuclear plants… The e-mails include two series of exchanges involving details of Florida National Guard troop deployments after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the review by The Washington Post found.”

New Hampshire Primary Looks Critical to GOP Race

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“Over its 100-year history, the New Hampshire primary has presented many hard-fought races that proved crucial in determining party nominees and eventual presidents. But the already-crowded 2016 Republican race here in the nation’s first primary state could prove especially critical,” the New York Times reports.

“That is in part because the campaign is opening with no favorite. Longtime political observers and practitioners here believe its contours are as uncertain as those of any New Hampshire Republican primary in decades, perhaps since the 1964 campaign, when Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., the American ambassador to South Vietnam, won as a write-in candidate.”

Politico: Bush wonks out in New Hampshire

Democrats Begin To Go Their Own Way

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“Congressional Republicans may be singularly focused on unraveling President Obama’s executive orders and actions, but when it comes to what is left of his viable policy agenda on Capitol Hill, Mr. Obama’s biggest problems are now often with Democrats,” the New York Times reports.

“The administration’s most pressing goal, expansive trade legislation, is adamantly opposed by scores of Democrats in the House and Senate even as most Republicans support it. Mr. Obama’s formal request for congressional authorization to fight the Islamic State is deeply imperiled, in no small measure because Senate Democrats find it wanting.”

What Clinton Dislikes About Running for President

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“This was the week when Hillary Clinton’s highest aspiration, being president, collided with her deepest fear — actually running for president,” Politico reports.

“It’s not that Clinton craves a coronation, people close to her say, it’s just that she wants to forestall her leap into the sulfurous political lava as long as possible. The chaotic indignity of Tuesday’s press conference on her use of a private email server as Secretary of State did nothing to change that opinion, or convince her to push up the campaign start date.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I’m embarrassed for them. For them to address a letter to the Ayatollah, who they claim is our mortal enemy, and their basic argument is ‘don’t deal with our president because you can’t trust him to follow through on an agreement’, that’s close to unprecedented.”

— President Obama, in an interview with Vice, on the letter GOP senators sent to Iranian leaders.

Insiders See Backlash After GOP Letter to Iran

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A survey of political influentials finds that one-third of Republicans believe that Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and his GOP colleagues — including several potential presidential candidates — crossed the line when they published an open letter to Iranian leaders warning about a possible nuclear deal, Politico reports.

“Democrats feel strongly that the freshman’s gambit was not just a breach of protocol — one Iowan called it ‘borderline treasonous’ — but a political ‘gift’ that neutralizes an issue where they have been potentially vulnerable.”

Christie Will Push Entitlement Reform

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Gov. Chris Christie (R) “told leading GOP policy analysts this week that he will make overhauling Medicare, Social Security and other long-term entitlement programs a centerpiece of his likely presidential campaign,” the Washington Post reports.

“Christie’s decision to embrace a politically risky campaign theme is central to an attempt to revive his wilting national prospects… By casting himself in the coming months as a blunt truth-teller on issues that some in his party have resisted tackling, Christie hopes to win support from conservatives who have been reluctant to back him and are unsure of his rationale for running.”

Note to Readers

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If you can see this message it means you’re on Political Wire‘s new server.  The growth of the audience has been really gratifying. This should be a much more reliable platform as we head into a new election cycle.

Some comments may have been lost in the transition but I’ll see if I can restore them.

Thanks for reading!

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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