“I recognize that as a result, my views will often be held up in comparison to theirs. But I am my own man – and my views are shaped by my own thinking and own experiences.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by the AP, in a speech referring to his father and brother.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “is eyeing April 7 as the day he will announce his plans to run for president, people close to him said, a step that would position him ahead of his potential Republican rivals as a declared candidate and allow him to begin raising money directly for his campaign 10 months before the Iowa caucuses,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky and the heir to the robust Ron Paul grass-roots network, will take the next month to continue talking with members of his family about whether they are comfortable moving forward with the exhausting and, at times, agonizing rigors of a modern presidential campaign.”
“The Obamacare window technically just closed this weekend, but a new round of political headaches could just be beginning for the administration,” the Washington Post reports.
“That’s because it’s tax season, and many Americans could soon be getting an unwelcome surprise that they owe the government a penalty for skipping health insurance coverage.”
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“Vin Weber, a former Minnesota congressman and top policy adviser on Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign, is assisting Jeb Bush’s all-but-certain bid for the Republican presidential nomination, adding yet another high-powered strategist to the former Florida governor’s political circle,” the Washington Post reports.
“Weber confirmed his move Tuesday, as did a Bush aide, after several GOP officials said Weber was working behind the scenes to win Bush support among influential donors and conservative intellectuals.”
Washington Post: “Along with the immigration action, the fate of two of Obama’s other signature initiatives — a landmark health-care law and a series of aggressive executive actions on climate change — now rests in the hands of federal judges. It is a daunting prospect for a president in the final two years of his tenure who believes he is on the path to leaving a lasting impact on intractable and politically perilous issues, despite an often bitter relationship with Congress.”
“Now, Obama and his Republican antagonists in Congress face the uncertainty of having their disputes mediated by the third branch of government.”
“In a sign of his rising interest in a potential 2016 presidential bid, Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich (R) said Tuesday he is studying up on foreign policy and beginning to outline his worldview, which includes support for sending U.S. ground forces to fight the Islamic State,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Kasich: “You will not solve this problem with only air power. There needs to be a coalition of NATO, Arab states, and ultimately some boots on the ground to stop the advancement of that group.”
He added: “The Western world and the Arab world need to get serious about stopping this kind of radicalism. If not, it will continue to spread and just bombing is imposing the status quo at best.”
Wall Street Journal: “For many would-be presidential candidates, Twitter and other social-media outlets have become an extension of their efforts to build a national following, and in many cases a way to mix personality with policy. Social media comes with a host of dangers, but for candidates, it can be a powerful tool to attract attention and engage voters.”
A federal judge warned New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) that if he doesn’t schedule a special election to replace former Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) by the end of the week, the court will do it for him, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“It’s been almost a month and a half since Mr. Grimm, a Republican, resigned from office after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Special elections in New York take place 70 to 80 days after a governor issues a proclamation to fill a vacancy. That means that Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn that make up the district will have to do without someone to represent them in the House of Representatives for at least 111 days.”
“If you ever come to the train station with me, you’ll notice that I have great relationships with them because there’s an awful lot of them driving cabs and are friends of mine. For real.”
— Vice President Joe Biden, quoted by Business Insider, saying he’s quite popular with the Somali community of Wilmington, Delaware.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) said he won’t challenge fellow Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) next year, the Deseret News reports.
Said Huntsman: “I don’t rule out another run, but not against Mike. We don’t always agree (who does) but he’s very capable.”
“Just one day before undocumented immigrants were set to begin applying for work permits and legal protections, the Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it would delay carrying out President Obama’s executive actions on immigration, saying a federal judge’s last-minute ruling had tied the White House’s hands,” the New York Times reports.
Roll Call: “Republicans still aren’t yet ready to cave… But with Democrats pledging to once again block the bill next week, Republicans will now have to justify potentially shutting down parts of the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to stop a program that already is being blocked by the courts.”
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), the DNC chair, “is strongly considering a bid for U.S. Senate, calculating that having Hillary Clinton at the top of the 2016 ticket would help lift her candidacy in a year-of-the-woman campaign,” Politico reports.
A new CNN/ORC poll finds a large majority of Americans believe that Republican congressional leaders should not have invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak to Congress without consulting the White House, 63% to 33%.
“Wimps. Snowing in DC and they close the government. Imagine if the rest of the country closed when it snowed.”
— Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), quoted by The Hill.
Derek Willis: “The field of potential Democratic presidential candidates is ideologically cohesive. While there is room to the left of Mrs. Clinton’s Crowdpac score of -6.4, there is not a lot. The lack of distance between the Democratic hopefuls suggests that creating a wedge between someone like Ms. Warren and Mrs. Clinton would be harder among Democratic donors, and perhaps among the broader primary electorate.”
“The situation is different for Republicans, with considerable space available to the right of Jeb Bush (4.2) — and a lot of candidates to vie for it.”
Hillary Clinton held a private, one-on-one meeting with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in December at Mrs. Clinton’s Washington home, “a move by the Democrats’ leading contender in 2016 to cultivate the increasingly influential senator and leader of the party’s economic populist movement,” the New York Times reports.
“The get-together represented a step toward relationship-building for two women who do not know each other well. And for Mrs. Clinton, it was a signal that she would prefer Ms. Warren’s counsel delivered in person, as a friendly insider, rather than on national television or in opinion articles. And for Ms. Warren, the meeting offered the opportunity to make clear what she believes are the most pressing national issues.”
Failed Mississippi U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel (R) is “absolutely thinking about it” on challenging incumbent Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) in the GOP primary, the Clarion Ledger reports.
The deadline for qualifying for state races is Feb. 27.
The latest NBC News/Marist polls show that about half of likely GOP caucus and primary voters in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina said they find opposition to gay marriage either “mostly” or “totally” unacceptable in a candidate.
“Voters in all three states find a candidate who supports gay marriage to be about as amenable as one who doesn’t toe the party line on any of these issues.”
Wonk Wire: Opposition to gay marriage hurts Republican candidates
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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