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Oren Calls on Netanyahu to Cancel Speech to Congress

January 26, 2015 at 10:43 am EST By Taegan Goddard 29 Comments

Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his upcoming address to Congress, scheduled for March 3, Haaretz reports.

“Oren, an American-born Israeli who served as envoy to Washington under Netanyahu from 2009 to 2013, reportedly said House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to the Israeli premier and the subsequent behavior involved ‘created the impression of a cynical political move, and it could hurt out attempts to act against Iran.'”

Said Oren: “It’s advisable to cancel the speech to Congress so as not to cause a rift with the American government. Much responsibility and reasoned political behavior are needed to guard interests in the White House.”

Why Are So Many Republicans Running for President?

January 26, 2015 at 10:19 am EST By Taegan Goddard 43 Comments

Morning Line: “We are in a new age in politics. There’s a train of thought that says if you’re not in the conversation for president, they won’t pay attention to you. They all want to be president, but if it doesn’t work out, most believe they can at least make money (or get a talk show) off running for it.”

Also: “Many conservatives are confounded by the idea that Barack Obama, someone who had so little experience before running, could win. (Remember, he was just a state senator four years before running for president.) Many Republicans wake up and look at themselves in the morning and say, ‘Hey, if he could do it, why not me?’ But that can be a dangerous takeaway from Obama’s election. Catching lightning in a bottle twice is nearly impossible. And the fact is, for as much as conservatives have underestimated him, not everyone is Barack Obama — with his personality, oratory, campaign skills, ability to raise money, and perhaps most importantly, an ahead-of-its time campaign.”

Jeb Bush Stays Invisible

January 26, 2015 at 10:16 am EST By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

“After taking the political world by surprise in early January with the formation of a shiny new political committee, Bush has largely receded from public view, instead putting an acute focus on raising money and building what his growing team of aides describe as a ‘shock and awe’ campaign operation,” CNN reports.

“Aside from some previously-booked paid speeches, a series of banal postings on Instagram and Twitter and a few random run-ins with scrap-hungry reporters, the former Florida governor seems determined to avoid the traps of the horse race-driven daily news cycle and the expectations game that comes with it. Bush’s mission in these early days of the cycle is to keep his head down and raise as much money as possible in an effort to muscle out his closest Republican rivals, hire a talented staff and build a high-octane campaign apparatus that can go the distance against Hillary Clinton in 2016.”

Jindal Stages Prayer Rally Ahead of 2016 Decision

January 26, 2015 at 8:44 am EST By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

The New Orleans Times Picayune has an interesting piece on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s controversial prayer rally over the weekend.

“Jindal’s national strategy, should he run for president in 2016, clearly involves wooing conservative Christian voters. The governor has gone out of his way to speak on topics in recent weeks — Islam is an example — that he doesn’t have control over as governor of Louisiana, but that matter greatly to that constituency.”

Said Jindal: “On the last page, our God wins.”

Ohio Democrats Think Convention Dates Favor Columbus

January 26, 2015 at 8:36 am EST By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

Democrats announced that their 2016 convention will be the week of July 25, one week after Republicans have their convention in Cleveland, scheduled for July 18-21, the Columbus Dispatch reports.

Ohio Democrats “believe the date is a good sign of the city’s chances to land the convention. One of the reasons is that planning for and providing security for both the DNC and RNC will be much easier and much less expensive, given that the cities are less than three hours apart by car.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

January 26, 2015 at 8:35 am EST By Taegan Goddard 19 Comments

“I think the GOP needs to earn the right to be a governing party. We can’t just be the party of no. We have to be a party of solutions.”

— Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, quoted by the Washington Post.

The Rise of Scam PACs

January 26, 2015 at 8:34 am EST By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

Politico: “Since the tea party burst onto the political landscape in 2009, the conservative movement has been plagued by an explosion of PACs that critics say exist mostly to pad the pockets of the consultants who run them. Combining sophisticated targeting techniques with fundraising appeals that resonate deeply among grass-roots activists, they collect large piles of small checks that, taken together, add up to enough money to potentially sway a Senate race. But the PACs plow most of their cash back into payments to consulting firms for additional fundraising efforts.”

Invisible Primary in Full Swing

January 26, 2015 at 8:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 1 Comment

While many GOP presidential hopefuls were in Iowa this weekend, Time notes the real action “lay elsewhere, off the stage and out of sight, in an invisible primary taking place behind closed doors in states not known for their place in the nominating calendar. Candidates have been crisscrossing the nation and working the phones, dialing for dollars and loyalty in a contest that may prove far more consequential than speech that can be given before any crowd at this point.”

Quote of the Day

January 26, 2015 at 7:09 am EST By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

“This is the president’s night, and so I sit there and try to make no news. Although, inside, I’ve got a lotta things rollin’ through my mind.”

— Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted by the AP, on what he’s thinking about during the State of the Union address.

Palin’s Bizarre Speech Panned

January 26, 2015 at 7:07 am EST By Taegan Goddard 52 Comments

John Fund notes Sarah Palin’s “meandering and often bizarre” speech in Iowa proved she “clearly lacks the discipline for a full-fledged campaign.” The New York Daily News called it a “multitude of brief nonsensical tirades.”

The Huffington Post has an excerpt: “Things must change for our government. Look at it. It isn’t too big to fail. It’s too big to succeed! It’s too big to succeed, so we can afford no retreads or nothing will change with the same people and same policies that got us into the status quo. Another Latin word, status quo, and it stands for, ‘Man, the middle-class everyday Americans are really gettin’ taken for a ride.’ That’s status quo, and GOP leaders, by the way, y’know the man can only ride ya when your back is bent. So strengthen it. Then the man can’t ride ya, America won’t be taken for a ride, because so much is at stake and we can’t afford politicians playing games like nothing more is at stake than, oh, maybe just the next standing of theirs in the next election.”

The DNC had a brief response: “Thank you.”

Clinton In Final Stages of Planning

January 26, 2015 at 7:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 9 Comments

Hillary Clinton “is in the final stages of planning a presidential campaign that is likely to launch in early April, and has made decisions on most top posts,” Politico reports.

“Campaign advisers say the likelihood of a campaign, long at 98 percent (she never really hesitated, according to one person close to her), went to 100 percent right after Christmas, when Clinton approved a preliminary budget and several key hires. Most of the top slots have been decided, with one notable exception: communications director, a job that is now the subject of intense lobbying and jockeying by some of the biggest names in Democratic politics.”

“The exact timing of Hillary Clinton’s launch is unknown, but close allies expect her to officially enter the 2016 race shortly after the end of this quarter, so that her first fundraising report will be a blockbuster.”

Christie Begins Groundwork for 2016 Presidential Bid

January 26, 2015 at 6:48 am EST By Taegan Goddard 3 Comments

Gov. Chris Christie “will make his most decisive moves yet toward a presidential run by creating a political action committee, hiring eight experienced campaign aides and outlining plans for a spree of fund-raising events across the country,” the New York Times reports.

“The aides will also serve as a skeletal campaign-staff-in-waiting. He is not expected to make a final decision until spring.”

Wall Street Journal: “The launch of the PAC, called Leadership Matters for America, is the clearest sign yet that Mr. Christie is running. It allows Mr. Christie to assemble a team of about a dozen staffers and fundraisers who could support a potential run for president, as well as to raise money that can be used to contribute to like-minded political candidates.”

Mitt Romney Decision Tied to His Faith

January 26, 2015 at 6:44 am EST By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

New York Times: “Three years ago, Mr. Romney’s tortured approach to his religion — a strategy of awkward reluctance and studied avoidance that all but walled off a free-flowing discussion of his biography — helped doom his campaign. (The subject is still so sensitive that many, including the prominent Republican, would only discuss it on condition that they not be identified.)”

“But now as Mr. Romney mulls a new run for the White House, friends and allies said, his abiding Mormon faith is inextricably tied to his sense of service and patriotism, and a facet of his life that he is determined to embrace more openly in a possible third campaign.”

Silver Will Step Aside Temporarily

January 26, 2015 at 6:17 am EST By Taegan Goddard 1 Comment

Sheldon Silver (D), “the longtime speaker of the New York State Assembly, agreed on Sunday to relinquish his duties on a temporary basis as he fights federal corruption charges,” the New York Times reports.

“His decision came amid mounting pressure from his fellow Democrats in the Assembly, who worried that the criminal charges would impair his ability to carry out the duties of one of the most powerful positions in the state’s government. In an unusual arrangement, Mr. Silver would not quit his post. Instead, he would temporarily delegate his duties as speaker to a group of senior Assembly members.”

Ron Paul Presents Problem for Son’s White House Bid

January 26, 2015 at 5:54 am EST By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

“This weekend was a crucial one for Rand Paul, the Republican senator from Kentucky and undeclared candidate for the presidency. He was in California, trying to line up donors at an opulent retreat organized by the billionaire Koch brothers,” the Washington Post reports.

“At the same time, his father — retired after 12 terms in Congress and three presidential runs — was in the ballroom of an airport hotel here, the final speaker at ‘a one-day seminar in breaking away from the central state.’ He followed a series of speakers who said that the U.S. economy and political establishment were tottering and that the best response might be for states, counties or even individuals to break away.”

Greek Voters Shift Hard Left

January 25, 2015 at 9:08 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 40 Comments

“Greek voters were set to hand power to a radical leftist party in national elections on Sunday, a popular rebellion against the bitter economic medicine Greece has swallowed for five years and a rebuke of the fellow European countries that prescribed it,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“With nearly all votes counted, opposition party Syriza was on track to win about half the seats in Parliament. In the wee hours of the morning, it clinched a coalition deal with a small right-wing party also opposed to Europe’s economic policy to give the two a clear majority.”

Nothing Is Inevitable In Politics

January 25, 2015 at 9:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

Jeff Greenfield: “They are the three American political giants; the only three 20th Century candidates who won two consecutive landslide Presidential elections; three whose triumphs are seen now as the inevitable victories of larger-than-life figures riding powerful historical trends.”

“And each of them came very close to never being President at all—a piece of history to remember as we read of the ‘inevitable’ forces driving the 2016 campaign.”

“There’s a lesson to be drawn from this history. If three of the most dominant political figures of the last century all came perilously close to political defeat, it should remind us to take a ‘determinist’ approach to politics—’this is what will happen, this is what can’t happen’—with several pounds of salt.”

Republican Governors Move to Hike Taxes

January 25, 2015 at 8:55 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 14 Comments

“Republican governors across the nation are proposing tax increases — and backing off pledges to cut taxes — as they strike a decidedly un-Republican pose in the face of budget shortfalls and pent-up demands from constituents after years of budget cuts,” the New York Times reports.

“At least eight Republican governors have ventured into this once forbidden territory: There are proposals for raising the sales tax in Michigan, a tax on e-cigarettes in Utah, and gas taxes in South Carolina and South Dakota, to name a few. In Arizona, the new Republican governor has put off, in the face of a $1 billion budget shortfall, a campaign promise to eliminate the unpopular income tax there.”