A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds that nearly 9 in 10 Americans say they disapprove of how Congress is handling its job, and 6 in 10 disapprove of President Obama. More than half of Americans, 54 percent, disapprove of both.
Snowden Can Stay in Russia for 3 More Years
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has been granted permission to stay in Russia for three more years, the AP reports.
Tough New Ad in Wisconsin Governor’s Race
Mary Burke (D) put out a devastatingly effective ad against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) that should make Republicans at least a little more worried.
Chris Cillizza: “I’ve become convinced that the best (read: most effective) negative ads in the modern political world are those that feature a politician’s own words. The video of Walker promising that he would create 250,000 jobs is political gold — and something the Burke campaign can just keep running on TV in lots of different iterations between now and November.”
Nixon’s Memos
Jeff Shesol: “Whatever else you might say about Richard Nixon–and you might say a lot–the man knew how to write a memo. He wrote an untold number in the twenty years between his resignation from the Presidency, forty years ago this week, and his death, on April 22, 1994, at the age of eighty-one. He wrote memos to his successors, to their White House aides, and to his designated political heirs–memos on foreign policy and press strategy, memos of political pre- and post-game analysis. He wrote serious-minded memos, ingratiating memos, and incendiary memos…. He wrote secret memos–as well as nominally secret memos he intended to be leaked, so that he could be caught, time and again, in the act of offering wise counsel to Presidents and all the Presidents’ men.”
“This, of course, was the point: not merely to influence events but to be seen as influencing them. The flurry of memoranda was part of Nixon’s rolling campaign for redemption and, not least, relevance. The former will always elude Nixon, but he needn’t have worried so much about the latter. ”
GOP Spends Big in Georgia
Democrats were thrilled to see that Republicans “are going to spend early and big on the Georgia U.S. Senate race,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“The news that the National Republican Senatorial Committee will spend $2.5 million on Atlanta TV on a five-week span starting Tuesday — a huge sum at this stage of the race — was immediately picked up by Democrats as evidence that Georgia is not as safe as the GOP would like to claim.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“There’s no doubt that he has done plenty of things worthy of impeachment.”
— Mike Huckabee, in an interview with Steve Deace, accusing President Obama of “acting like God.”
Will It Be Worse for the Next President?
Reid Cherlin: “Beltway wags have long wondered how it is that Obama, such a gifted communicator, can’t manage to tell the story of his own accomplishments. As an insider, that criticism always annoyed me, because it conveniently ignores the realities of how things have changed. As an outsider now, I see the point. If someone this talented and this appealing can’t succeed in forging consensus – or even settle on a consistent narrative about what he’s done – then what hope is there for the next president? We suddenly find ourselves living in a post-narrative world, and our politics, somehow, are going to have to adapt.”
Cain Says Tea Party Still Strong
Herman Cain insists the Tea Party is still strong despite relatively weak showings in GOP primaries this year, Politico reports.
Said Cain: “The tea party movement, in terms of its impact, is still very strong. The key thing is it’s called many of the incumbents to move more towards the right relative to what the tea party message is.”
GOP Kicks Off New Big Money Effort
“Republicans are launching a fundraising effort that will let donors cut six-figure checks to support GOP Senate candidates this fall — a move that capitalizes on the Supreme Court’s landmark McCutcheon v. FEC decision,” Politico reports.
“Senate Republicans have filed paperwork to form the Targeted State Victory Committee, a joint fundraising effort between the National Republican Senatorial Committee and Republican state parties in 13 Senate battleground states.”
How Tony Blair Used His Connections to Get Rich
Since stepping down as British prime minister in 2007, Tony Blair “has tried to fashion a second act as a globe-trotting do-gooder… But at home, enthusiasm for such endeavors has been tempered by
criticism of his equally ambitious business enterprises, through a
private consultancy called Tony Blair Associates, whose clients have
included controversial monarchs and autocrats,” the New York Times reports.
“In many ways, Mr. Blair faces a perception problem. Years into his postpolitical makeover, confusion lingers about what particular hat he wears at any given time… His various roles often intersect with polarizing figures, which has only given the press more fodder.”
Daines Crushing Walsh in Montana
A new Vox Populi (R) poll in Montana finds Steve Daines (R) way ahead of Sen. John Walsh (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 34%.
Man Says McDaniel Paid Him to Lie About Vote Buying
A man who claimed Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-MS) campaign asked him to pay people to vote for Cochran now says he was actually paid $2,000 by a member of Chris McDaniel’s (R) campaign to make the accusation, the Jackson Clarion Ledger reports.
Paul Denies Fleeing Confrontation on Immigration
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) denied running away from a potential confrontation with an immigration activist in Iowa, Business Insider reports.
Said Paul: “Now you know my life. You know my life on the campaign trail. About five minutes before that — or two minutes before that — the video doesn’t show that — another reporter came up and said, ‘Will you do an interview?’ I said, ‘I need to take a couple more bites and we’ll do an interview.’ And then I was told we need to leave.”
Just 31 Cases of Voter ID Fraud in 14 Years
Justin Levitt: “I’ve been tracking allegations of fraud for years now, including the fraud ID laws are designed to stop. In 2008, when the Supreme Court weighed in on voter ID, I looked at every single allegation put before the Court. And since then, I’ve been following reports wherever they crop up.”
“To be clear, I’m not just talking about prosecutions. I track any specific, credible allegation that someone may have pretended to be someone else at the polls, in any way that an ID law could fix. So far, I’ve found about 31 different incidents (some of which involve multiple ballots) since 2000, anywhere in the country.”
“To put this in perspective, the 31 incidents below come in the context of general, primary, special, and municipal elections from 2000 through 2014. In general and primary elections alone, more than 1 billion ballots were cast in that period.”
Which Party Is Better for the Economy?
Wonk Wire: The economy grows faster under Democratic presidents
GOP Establishment vs. Tea Party Is an Expensive Fight
Bloomberg says the cost of the GOP civil war has been more than $135 million already this year.
“The yearlong fight over the direction of the Republican Party — stretched over two dozen Senate and House primaries involving more than 50 candidates — means the tug-of-war will go on, extending into next year’s debate on the debt ceiling and the 2016 presidential and congressional races.”
Scott Holds Edge in Florida
A new Survey USA poll in Florida finds Gov. Rick Scott (R) edging challenger Charlie Crist (D) in the race for governor, 45% to 43%.
Congresswomen Bunk at the Office
Wall Street Journal: “Women have served in the House since 1917 and in the Senate since 1922. Only recently have they cracked another formerly male preserve: the club of congressional office sleepers.”
“Reps. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Lynn Jenkins of Kansas and Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington are believed to be the first congresswomen to bunk in their offices, joining the ranks of lawmakers eschewing rent and a commute for an air mattress and showers at one of the congressional gyms. Like their male counterparts, the women are forgoing beds, bathtubs and home-cooked meals primarily to save money and maximize efficiency–and for some, to also make a political point–on the four days a week they generally spend in Washington. All three previously lived in apartments, not always close to the Capitol.”
