Michigan Democrats hit U.S. Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land with a Seinfeld-themed web video parody.
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Democrats Unveil Program to Boost Voter Registration
MSNBC: “Democrats are set to roll out a new program that uses sophisticated data analysis to identify the neighborhoods that are ripest for registering new voters — potentially making the party’s registration drives far more effective. The effort underlines Democrats’ growing focus on bringing new voters into the process, with the party’s chances for electoral success increasingly hinging on boosting turnout.”
More Americans Find Obama Less Competent Than Bush
A new Fox News poll finds that 48% of Americans say the Obama administration is less competent than George W. Bush’s, compared to 42% who say it is more competent. Seven percent judge Obama’s and Bush’s the same.
Similarly, 68% of Americans say the Obama administration is less competent that the Clinton administration.
Brown Suddenly Cuts Ties to Florida Company
Scott Brown (R) “abruptly resigned Wednesday from an obscure Florida company and gave up stock initially valued at $1.3 million after facing a barrage of questions about his role as a ‘senior adviser,’ a controversy that had dogged his US Senate campaign in New Hampshire,” the Boston Globe reports.
Putin Takes Issue with Clinton
Russian President Vladimir Putin “took a swing at former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, responding particularly to remarks she made earlier this year in which she compared Russia’s tactics to Adolf Hitler’s in the 1930s,” ABC News reports.
Said Putin: “It’s better not to argue with women. But Ms. Clinton has never been too graceful in her statements.”
McCain Called Out on Prisoner Swap Shift
The Huffington Post notes that in “true Tim Russert style,” Jake Tapper played footage of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) decrying the deal to exchange five Taliban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who was being held in Afghanistan.
He then cut to new video of McCain saying that an exchange was something he would “seriously consider” and be open to if it meant that Bergdahl would be returned to America.
The Myth of Inevitability
Joe Klein: “We are sure to be smothered by Hillary (or hillary!, as an old campaign button had it) well past the summer solstice… I approach the coming spectacle with a combination of obsession, exhaustion, dread and exhilaration. This is going to be horrible fun – and crucial, as the Clintons always are… Some presidential campaigns are about inevitability. Others are about energy. The best have both, but it’s rare: inevitability tends to crush energy.”
“I’ve seen her candor more than once, but always off the record. That will have to change. If Hillary Clinton hopes to succeed, she’s going to have to drop the veil – spontaneously, quite possibly in a crucial moment, like a debate – and trust the public to accept who she really is. Absent that, there is no such thing as inevitability.”
Quote of the Day
“You can’t be the candidate that shakes down more money on Wall Street than anybody since I don’t know, Woodrow Wilson, and be the populist. You can’t be the one to say we’re going to focus on rebuilding America if you voted to go to the Iraq war.”
— Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D), quoted by Time, on a possible presidential bid by Hillary Clinton in 2016.
McDaniel Seen as Having Edge in Runoff
Jackson Clarion-Ledger: “Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) needs a large, broad turnout in a June 24 runoff — a steep hill, since runoffs are typically parochial with low turnout. Challenger Chris McDaniel needs his blue collar and tea party base of voters in his strongholds to turn out strong again. They still appear fired up and ready. Both Republican U.S. Senate campaigns need money, lots of it fast, or outside groups willing to spend on their behalf.”
“As the two campaigns analyzed Tuesday’s voting — in which they fought to nearly a draw — and plotted strategy moving forward, most prognoses had the runoff tilted in McDaniel’s favor.”
However, Harry Enten
says “we should be cautious in speculating how the Mississippi runoff
will go. There hasn’t been a GOP primary for Senate or governor in the
past 26 years in which an incumbent didn’t get the most votes but still
made a runoff. We’re in mostly uncharted territory.”
Democrats Unlikely to Prevail in Mississippi
Nate Cohn says Democrats shouldn’t get their hopes up about winning a U.S. Senate seat in Mississippi — even if tea partier Chris McDaniel (R) prevails in a runoff against Sen. Thad Cochran (R).
“There is no state more polarized than Mississippi. Eighty percent of voters are black or white evangelical Christian. And the problem for Democrats is that they’re on the wrong side of the ledger. In 2012, 50 percent of voters were white evangelical Christians, and they voted 95 percent for Mitt Romney. They form a nearly unbreakable bloc, and they’re augmented by the state’s deeply conservative non-evangelical white voters. Over all, Mr. Obama barely exceeded 10 percent of white voters, if at all… There just might not be a road to victory for Democrats in Mississippi.”
The Velcro President
John Feehery: “They said that Ronald Reagan was the Teflon President. Nothing, not even Iran-Contra, could stick to him. Barack Obama is the Velcro President. Everything is sticking to him.”
“He probably thought he could get some major political mileage out of bringing home the only prisoner of war held by the Taliban. He even did a Rose Garden ceremony to announce the deal. Boy, was he wrong.”
The GOP’s Science-Free Stand on Science
Jon Stewart has a field day with Republicans who admit they “aren’t qualified” to debate climate change but then debate climate change. It’s brilliant.
Top Christie Aide Called to Testify
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) chief of staff “has been subpoenaed to testify Monday before the legislative committee investigating the politically motivated tolls lane closures to the George Washington Bridge,” the Newark Star Ledger reports.
Yes, Obama Broke the Law
Marc Ambinder: “There’s no bones about it: in trading five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, President Obama willfully broke a law. And this wasn’t an old law, or a law that was passed before he became president. It was his law — or more accurately, successive versions of the military budget bill called the National Defense Authorization Act.”
“Now, Obama did not like the provision that required him to give Congress 30 days of notice before transferring detainees out of Guantanamo. And in a signing statement, he said as much: the executive branch’s ability to defend the country shouldn’t be constrained by the notification period. But the law’s language was clear, as was Congress’s intent.”
The Hill: “A special briefing by senior administration officials Wednesday evening failed to sell skeptical senators concerned about President Obama’s decision to trade five Taliban commanders for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release.”
Rick Perry’s Legacy is Unraveling
“As he gears up for a possible second presidential run, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is crisscrossing the country extolling a business-first philosophy he says made his state’s economy white-hot — and can work for the rest of America too,” the AP reports.
“But back home, members of Perry’s own party seem poised to dismantle key parts of his legacy. The longest-serving governor in state history isn’t seeking re-election and may see two of his achievements — distributing hundreds of millions of dollars to attract top employers to Texas and stockpiling a rainy day fund robust enough to bankroll infrastructure projects — swept away not long after he moves out of the governor’s mansion.”
Tea Partier Locked in Courthouse with Ballots
TPM: “A Mississippi tea party official with close ties to U.S. Senate candidate Chris McDaniel apparently ended up inside a locked and empty county courthouse late Tuesday night after primary election results had come in.”
Candidate Arrested After Losing Primary
South Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Annette Bosworth (R) turned herself in following the issuance of a warrant for her arrest just after she lost the election, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports.
Keloland: “Bosworth confirms that she has been charged with six counts of perjury and six counts of offering a false or forged instrument for filing… Concerns were raised during her campaign that she had submitted nominating petitions where she was listed as the petition circulator but was allegedly not in the country at the time the petition was circulated.”
According to Business Insider, Bosworth’s Facebook and Twitter accounts provided evidence against her.
McChrystal Defends Prisoner Swap
Retired General Stanley McChrystal told Yahoo News that Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s critics should not to “judge” him until all of the facts are in and sharply defended the extensive and risky search efforts that claimed the lives of some of his fellow soldiers.
Said McChrystal: “We did a huge number of operations to try to stop the Taliban from being able to move him across the border into Pakistan. And we made a great effort, and put a lot of people at risk in doing that, but that’s what you should do. That’s what soldiers do for each other.”
