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One Question for Frank Rich

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As the Executive Producer of a political drama, what do you think of House of Cards?

Frank Rich: “Needless to say I am not objective and I feel that VEEP more accurately captures the DC I know. House of Cards can be quite entertaining and of course is very well acted. And for all the nastiness of its characters and events, it actually suggests things can get done in Washington, even if in a malevolent way. There’s something heroic about that. In VEEP, no one gets anything done, there’s no grandeur, and no competence, and no concern for the voters whatsoever. To me that’s the farce of Washington today.”


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Toomey Way Ahead of Sestak in Pennsylvania

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A new Quinnipiac poll in Pennsylvania finds Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) with a 13 point edge over potential challenger Joe Sestak (D), 48% to 35%.

“Toomey’s job approval rating stood at 49 – 24, and 44 percent of voters see him favorably, compared to 23 percent who view him unfavorably. Sestak’s favorability was at 24-14, but 61 percent didn’t know enough about him to form an opinion.”

Bush Has More Campaign Flexibility Than His Rivals

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Although Jeb Bush “is perhaps the least coy of the pre-candidates about his plans to run — and among the most aggressive fundraisers — his announcement may not come for a while,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“Because of his support from big donors and the fact that he holds no federal office — unlike Cruz, Paul and Rubio, all Republican senators — the former Florida governor is ideally positioned to take advantage of massive holes that have been poked in campaign finance laws in recent years. So long as he doesn’t say the magic words ‘I’m running,’ Bush contends that he can raise and spend unlimited sums through a so-called super PAC under his control.”

“Instead of assembling an official campaign apparatus, Bush is trailblazing into a new frontier of super PACs. It is a place off-limits to most of his GOP competitors, who are inhibited by conflict-of-interest rules that limit how much money senators and congressmen can solicit and from whom.”

Rand Paul’s Campaign Slogan

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Politico says it will be, “Defeat the Washington machine. Unleash the American dream.”

“The slogan, beneath the RANDPAC logo of a torch flame, will be unveiled tomorrow as the senator kicks off a five-day, five-state announcement tour – starting in Kentucky and then going to New Hampshire, South Carolina, Iowa and Nevada (plus a Friday night fundraiser in Newport Beach, Calif.). The slogan is designed to set a theme that would work in both the primaries and the general election.”

Can Obama Keep Democrats Together on Iran?

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First Read: “President Obama faces several obstacles before actually achieving his historic nuclear deal with Iran. There’s a Republican Party willing to fight him every step of the way. There’s an Israeli prime minister vowing to kill it. And there’s the fact that the U.S. and Iran still have to finalize key issues like the timing of sanctions relief. But the first test for Obama is making sure that his own party doesn’t scuttle the deal — by providing enough votes to override a presidential veto on bipartisan legislation scrutinizing the deal.”

“With just a few exceptions (like trying to make Larry Summers Fed chair), Obama has maintained discipline over his party — due in large part to the work of Harry Reid in the Senate and Nancy Pelosi in the House. Can he do so again?”

Quote of the Day

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“Early on, when my wife and I were dating, we went to the grocery store, and I told her that sometimes I just buy birthday cakes, and I eat them. And she said: ‘Really? I do, too.'”

— Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), in an interview with the New York Times.

Is Hillary Clinton a Good Candidate?

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Jason Zengerle: “The grind can be obvious watching Clinton on the campaign trail. In her two successful Senate races and her unsuccessful presidential run in 2008, she often struggled to exhibit the basic qualities required of politicians… Where most pols project warmth, she often runs cold. Her speeches can be leaden and forced. She tightens up in unscripted moments. Above all, she bristles at what the public and the press now want most from politicians: authenticity.”

“And yet, there’s an increasingly popular school of thought, especially among political scientists but also among some political consultants, that being a good candidate is overrated. Some even argue that it’s irrelevant — not just to what sort of president a candidate would be, but also to whether he or she can get to the White House in the first place.”

First Read: “But here’s the fundamental question we’ve asked before about Clinton and 2016: Is she so flawed of a presidential candidate that she was destined to lose in 2008 — to anyone who was “decent”? Or did she lose what was essentially a 51%-49% Democratic race to the only person on the planet who could beat her?”

Clinton Will Acquire Obama’s Email List

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Politico reports Hillary Clinton “is expected from the start to have access to two potent collections of names, email addresses and other useful information — Obama’s vaunted 2012 campaign list of roughly 12 million supporters, and a separate list of about four million people gathered over the last two years by the outside group Ready for Hillary. While the legal details for the lists’ transfer are still being worked out, Democratic strategists say they expect both will eventually help Clinton raise money and build her team of volunteer field staffers.”

Hillary Clinton Staff on Alert

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CNN: “The long and winding prelude to her announcement is nearly over, according to aides, and the start of her second bid for the White House is likely only days away. Top Democratic activists in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire privately say they have been placed on alert that Clinton will soon be on her way.”

“The specific moment she jumps into the race remains a closely-guarded secret, even inside the crowded corridors of her small office suite in Manhattan, which new aides have descended upon to build the operation. Only a handful of confidantes actually know the precise time Clinton will pull the trigger — first on social media — yet aides have been instructed to be ready from Monday forward.”

The Palatable Paul

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As he prepares his own run for the White House, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “is trying to present a profile distinct from his father’s: not so libertarian, not so antiestablishment, not so antiwar,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Executing this pivot has become a central challenge for Mr. Paul, who plans to launch his campaign on Tuesday, as he seeks to reach beyond his father’s base of libertarians and appeal to a wider audience. The adjustment requires the younger Mr. Paul to keep a distance from some elements of his father’s legacy—his opposition to U.S. military engagement abroad, his uncompromising libertarianism and his deep hostility to GOP elites.”

“But drawing this distance is a difficult move for a candidate who learned his politics at his father’s knee. There was little daylight between the two over the years Rand Paul spent as a campaigner-in-training during Ron Paul’s runs for the House, Senate and presidency.”

The Hill: Paul seeks a Republican revolution

Think Progress: 6 reasons Rand Paul is not a Libertarian

Democrats Shift Social Security Strategy

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“For years, liberal Democrats have fought against proposals to cut Social Security benefits. Now, they’re pushing the party not just to defend benefits but to increase them, and that could present a problem for Hillary Clinton,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The call for higher benefits is a marked difference from recent years in which the White House and Republicans were negotiating deficit-cutting deals, leaving liberals to argue merely for staving off benefit cutbacks. Separately, many experts in both parties have long argued that extending the solvency of the program would require a combination of benefit cuts and tax increases.”

Paul Taps House GOP Troublemakers

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“While other presidential contenders have thus far been sluggish in soliciting help from Capitol Hill,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “has already enlisted some of Congress’s leading rabble-rousers to assist his White House run,” National Journal reports.

“Paul will officially launch his campaign Tuesday in Louisville, before embarking on a four-day tour through the first four states—Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada— on the GOP nominating calendar. During the launch, or soon after, the senator is expected to announce endorsements from a host of House Republicans who will help his campaign in some capacity. Among them: Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Raul Labrador of Idaho, and Mark Sanford of South Carolina.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

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“The best deal, I think, comes with a new president. Hillary Clinton would do better. I think everybody on our side, except maybe Rand Paul, could do better.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by the Huffington Post, on the nuclear talks with Iran.

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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