A new Public Policy Polling survey in Colorado finds Sen. Mark Udall (D) leading challenger Cory Gardener (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 43%, with another 10% still undecided.
Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!
Ernst Thinks Iraq Had WMDs
Iowa U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R) told the Des Moines Register that she still thinks there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the U.S. invasion.
Said Ernst: “We don’t know that there were weapons on the ground when we went in, however, I do have reason to believe there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. That was the intelligence that was operated on. I have reason to believe there was weapons of mass destruction. My husband served in Saudi Arabia as an Army Central Command sergeant major for a year and that’s a hot-button topic in that area.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“If the Republicans don’t do it they shouldn’t bother to run a candidate in 2016. I mean, think about that. Think about who the voters are.”
— Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue, quoted by Huffington Post, on the need to pass immigration reform.
Thanks to Our Sponsors!
Thanks to Media Temple which is offering 50% off Premium WordPress hosting through May 16. It’s an incredible deal.
And thanks again to Cook Political Report for sponsoring our podcast.
Shaheen Holds Edge in New Hampshire
A new Dartmouth poll in New Hampshire finds Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) just ahead of Scott Brown (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 39% to 36%.
Candidate Falsely Claimed She Was a Prosecutor
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Christine Jones (R) has suggested in testimony before Congress that she is a former Los Angeles prosecutor, the Daily Caller reports.
“Jones, however, has never been a paid employee of the Los Angeles District Attorney Office or even been admitted to the bar in California. But she was a certified law clerk that helped the D.A.’s office prosecute cases in the nineties.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“If you bastards want a fight, you damn well will get one.”
— Bill Clinton, as recounted by Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) in his new memoir, Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black, after Hillary Clinton lost the 2008 South Carolina Democratic primary to Barack Obama.
August Deadline for Immigration Reform
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) says the deadline to pass immigration legislation is this August, Roll Call reports.
Said Diaz-Balart: “The legislative process in essence, frankly, has to work on deadlines. There’s a deadline. And the deadline is that if we don’t get it done by August it doesn’t happen.”
Voter Enthusiasm Down Sharply
Gallup: “A majority of U.S. registered voters, 53%, say they are less enthusiastic about voting than in previous elections, while 35% are more enthusiastic. This 18-percentage-point enthusiasm deficit is larger than what Gallup has measured in prior midterm election years, particularly in 2010 when there was record midterm enthusiasm.”
The VA Story is Bigger Than Benghazi
“Amid increasing patient loads and an exodus of disenchanted employees, VA medical centers in Phoenix and elsewhere became overwhelmed over the past few years, with new patients sometimes waiting a year to see a primary-care physician and facing months-long delays for specialist appointments,” the Arizona Republic reports.
First Read: “For all the political sound and fury over Benghazi, the mismanagement at the Department of Veterans Affairs has been (and will be) the bigger story… There’s bipartisan outrage (unlike regarding Benghazi), and it cuts at the heart of the ‘competency’ issue for the Obama administration (see the health-care website). Yes, VA hospitals have been a mess for years. Then again, we’re now in Year Six of the Obama presidency.”
Huffington Post: The real cost of Benghazi politics
A Wild Night for Rob Ford
The Toronto Star reconstructs one recent night in Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s life.
“In the course of this March 5 night, Ford will bring together two of his closest felon friends, beating one and accepting drugs from another; go on a racist tirade; and boast that he often has sex with ‘girls’ in front of his wife.”
Voters Like Obamacare if You Call It Something Else
The latest Marist poll in Kentucky finds that registered voters dislike Obamacare by a wide margin, 57% to 33%.
However, when voters were asked to give their impression of “kynect,” the state exchange created as a result of the health care law, the picture was quite different with a plurality in favor, 29% to 22%.
Said pollster Lee Miringoff: “Call it something else, and the negatives drop.”
Greg Sargent noted last month one Democratic House candidate “is running a new ad hitting Republicans specifically for wanting to end Kentucky Kynect, as opposed to wanting to repeal Obamacare.”
Democrats Competititve in Southern Senate Races
Three new NBC News-Marist polls in Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky were released today.
In Arkansas, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) leads challenger Tom Cotton (R) by 11 points among registered voters, 51% to 40%.
In Georgia, Michelle Nunn (D) is running neck and neck against all of her potential GOP opponents in November. In the GOP primary, David Perdue leads with 23%, followed by Jack Kingston at 18% and Karen Handel at 14%.
In Kentucky, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) barely edges challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes (D), 46% to 45%.
GOP Goes Silent on Obamacare
“House Republicans have no scheduled votes or hearings on ObamaCare, signaling a shift in the party’s strategy as the White House rides a wave of good news on the law. Not a single House committee has announced plans to attack the healthcare law in the coming weeks, and only one panel of jurisdiction commented to The Hill despite repeated inquiries.”
“The lack of action highlights the GOP’s struggle to adjust its message now that enrollment in the exchanges beat projections and the uninsured rate is going down. Insurers also report that 80 to 90 percent of new policyholders are paying their premiums, contradicting a frequent criticism from the GOP.”
Rubio Says He’s Ready to be President
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that he “was ready to be president, becoming the second potential Republican candidate recently to drop big hints about 2016 as he vies for early attention in a crowded field of maybes,” the New York Times reports.
“Rubio said that while he would take until the end of the year to decide whether to seek his party’s presidential nomination, he thought he had a ‘vision’ for the nation’s future and a strategy for achieving it, among other qualifications that he said he shared with other potential candidates.”
Romney Adviser Says Geithner is Lying
Glenn Hubbard, the top economic adviser to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, accused Tim Geithner of “lying” in a forthcoming memoir about a private discussion on tax increases they had during the 2012 race, Politico reports.
Hubbard said Geithner “fabricated a claim in the book that Hubbard endorsed raising taxes in a conversation the two men had in early 2012 at an Economic Club of New York dinner.”
Quote of the Day
“The recent generic ballot numbers showing the GOP ahead add very little to the debate over whether Republicans will take over the Senate. No one, repeat, no one on our side is measuring the drapes for GOP control of the Senate. Campaigns matter, and this one has only just begun.”
— GOP pollster Neil Newhouse, quoted by the Washington Post.
Liberals Revolt Over Judges
“The Obama administration is facing a liberal revolt in the Senate over two high-priority judicial nominations, potentially jeopardizing its push to shape the federal judiciary in advance of the midterm congressional election,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The disputes, which involve hot-button issues including abortion, the Confederate flag and drones, could come to a head as early as Tuesday.”
