Pope Francis said in an interview that he believes his pontificate will be short and that he would be ready to resign like his predecessor rather than ruling for life, Reuters reports.
Francis also said he “did not mind” being pope but would like to be able to go out in Rome unrecognized for a pizza.
“His mother must have been a Muslim. We don’t know that, but she married two Muslim men, so there must have been something there. And the framework that the President has growing up, his influences in his life, was that of Islam.”
— The Rev. Frankin Graham, quoted by Right Wing Watch.
Gov. Scott Walker told the Tampa Bay Times that he thinks Jeb Bush will be the GOP fundraising leader for the first quarter.
Said Walker: “Yeah, he’ll have by far the biggest report. There’s a lot of people who are loyal to that family because of an ambassadorship or an appointment or something like that, so those people are going to show up big on his first report. What we’re hoping going forward are not donors of obligation but donors of passion, people who are passionate about the reforms we bring to the table.”
However, it’s also interesting that Walker suggested to Breitbart that he was the GOP frontrunner: “Well, it suggests maybe we’re the front-runner if somebody is taking an active interest in what a state governor is doing, particularly in light of the fact that we’re not the only one.”
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Byron York: “Of course Republicans don’t trust Hillary Clinton when she claims she has turned over all government-related documents created on her secret email server. Some Democrats appear to have doubts as well. But surely Clinton’s old colleagues in the Obama administration — the people who worked with her for four years and know her well — surely they trust the word of the former secretary of state?”
“Not at all. Listen to the administration’s official voices, particularly at the White House and the State Department, and you’ll hear bureaucrats carefully keeping their distance from Clinton. Nobody wants to fully vouch for her truthfulness.”
ProPublica lists Clinton’s top five clashes over secrecy.
A new Chicago Tribune poll finds Mayor Rahm Emanuel has opened up a double-digit lead on challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, gaining support from a majority of voters for the first time in his bid for a second term, 51% to 37%.
“Hillary Clinton isn’t the only public figure whose email practices are under scrutiny. In recent weeks, the Cuomo administration has come under fire for the implementation of a policy that mandates purging New York state workers’ emails after 90 days,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Howard Dean endorsed Jesus “Chuy” Garcia over Rahm Emanuel for Chicago mayor, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
“Important back story: When Emanuel was the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, he stuck it to Dean in 2006 – when Dean was the DNC chair. Emanuel wanted Dean to funnel millions of dollars to help House candidates. Emanuel taunted Dean’s ’50 State Strategy’ and a leaked story about how little Emanuel thought of Dean found its way into print.”
White House adviser Valerie Jarrett told the New York Times that she plans on staying in the White House until the end of President Obama’s term.
Said Jarrett: “Oh, my goodness, I intend to stay until the lights go off. Why would I miss a single second of this?”
“Everyone has their off days, but when you’re the proudly virile and uncontested leader of one of the most-watched countries in the world, your days off make people nervous. Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn’t been seen for days, and now people are beginning to wonder why,” the Washington Post reports.
Hillary Clinton “is one of a few potential 2016 presidential candidates to have a significantly higher favorable (50%) than unfavorable (39%) rating among the American public,” according to a new Gallup Poll.
“And the 89% of Americans who are familiar enough with Clinton to have an opinion of her is more than any other potential 2016 presidential candidate. Clinton’s relatively high scores on both dimensions give her a better starting position regarding her image than other competitors would have in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”
“I hate to mention it because of what happened afterwards, but (he should be saying) the kinds of stuff Bill Cosby used to say.”
— Rudy Giuliani, quoted by the New York Daily News, saying President Obama should tell African-Americans they need “to focus more on education, be better parents and avoid lives of crime.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “is bulking up his political team with three veterans of George W. Bush‘s re-election campaign in preparation for a likely presidential bid, and his allies have formally launched a super PAC to amplify the expected campaign,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“This burst of activity from the Christie camp comes at a perilous juncture for the New Jersey governor. Polls show his support slipping among Republican primary voters, and the onetime front runner has been overshadowed recently by a pair of potential rivals – former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.”
The AP reports Christie’s team “is pushing back against the impression that he’s struggling in his expected presidential bid.”
Carly Fiorina (R) “easily sticks out among the wide field of possible Republican contenders for president: Most of the others are white men. But what has distinguished her most so far, aside from her gender, is not her private-sector experience or her pro-market policies, but her increasingly pointed attacks on Mrs. Clinton,” the New York Times reports.
“Of course, every Republican contender has taken aim at Mrs. Clinton, the presumed Democratic opponent who looms in the distance. But Ms. Fiorina alone can present herself as a natural foil without the added risk of being labeled a sexist man.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “hasn’t made any big hires for a potential presidential run. He doesn’t have the money he needs for a campaign and isn’t sure he can raise it. And he’s already sick of hearing about Hillary Clinton. This is not a guy who’s ready for 2016,” Politico concludes.
“He shakes his head no when asked if he’s figured out whether to run as an independent or a Democrat. Instead of dwelling on his recent visits to early nominating states Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders instead brings up upcoming trips to California, Texas and Nevada. He also admits he hasn’t gotten far on the financial and staffing fronts.”
“Add another trip to Rep. Aaron Schock’s list of potential headaches. Schock appears to have improperly accepted money from an outside group to cover travel expenses for a companion on a trip to India and failed to disclose it in a possible violation of House rules,” according to a National Journal review of public records.
Amy Walter: “Ask anyone on the Acela corridor who the frontrunner and/or likely nominee for the GOP is/will be and you are most likely to hear the name Jeb Bush. After all, he’s going to have bucketloads of cash. He’s vacuuming up GOP talent for his campaign staff. He’s substantive and comfortable talking policy. And, unlike many of his contemporaries, he’s yet to make a significant flub on the campaign trail. There’s just one little thing obstructing his path to the nomination: GOP voters.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel “went on the attack” against Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, airing a TV ad criticizing his challenger on city financial issues, the Chicago Tribune reports.
“The mayor, fighting for his political life on April 7, is using a time-tested campaign tactic: Define your opponent for voters before he can define himself. Emanuel has the money to do so, having raised 10 times more in campaign contributions than Garcia, who has yet to air a new TV ad since forcing a runoff election late last month.”
Jonathan Chait: “All the Republican predictions have failed. Just this week, the Congressional Budget Office once again revised down its cost projections for the law, which is now projected to cost 20 percent less than originally estimated. Given conservative certainty that the opposite would occur, you might expect some revision. But conservatives have not abandoned or even reduced their fervent opposition to Obamacare. This is because the right’s specific, measurable predictions about the law are subordinate to deeper, philosophical beliefs.”
“They oppose the law’s methods (more taxes, spending, and regulation) on principle. They believe those methods will fail to achieve their stated goals, but even if they succeed, they oppose them anyway. Republicans cannot design a partywide health-care alternative because they cannot reconcile the specific things most Americans want from the health-care system (access to affordable insurance, protection from discrimination against preexisting conditions) with their ideological commitments.”
Taegan 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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