A new CNN poll finds that a majority of Americans oppose impeaching President Obama by 65% to 33%, and also oppose House Speaker John Boehner’s lawsuit against the president by 57% to 41%.
In addition, a majority disagree by 52% to 45% that Obama gone too far in expanding executive power.
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In a video greeting, Palin promises her new venture will “cut through the soundbites” and “find solutions” for the “problems confronting America.”
Said Palin: “Tired of media filters? Well, so am I. So, let’s go rogue together and launch our own member-supported channel!”
“With 100 days to go until the midterm election, unexpectedly strong bids by several Republican candidates and President Obama’s continued sagging approval ratings are boosting GOP chances of capturing a Senate majority,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A battery of recent polling shows Republican candidates mounting competitive bids for at least 10 Senate seats now held by Democrats, including in Iowa and Colorado, states that have been leaning Democratic in recent years. Many Republican candidates have narrowed their opponents’ fundraising advantage, according to the latest campaign-finance reports. And a series of international crises has dealt the president some of the lowest approval marks of his second term, weighing on his party’s candidates.”
Roll Call: 6 reasons Senate Republicans should be optimistic — and concerned about Election Day
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“What happens in New Jersey over the coming months could do more to determine Christie’s chances of winning the 2016 GOP presidential nomination than anything he does on his closely watched early forays into Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,” the Washington Post reports.
“That is because the biggest prerequisite for a sitting governor to run for president is a success story in his home state. And months after being reelected in a landslide, Christie… does not have a rosy one to tell. New Jersey was shocked in April by an $807 million budget gap that Christie’s administration did not foresee. The governor now says he will have to miss a couple of yearly installments against the state’s unfunded pension liability — payments that were part of a law he signed in 2011 and touted as one of his greatest achievements.”
“An explosion of spending on political advertising on television — set to break $2 billion in congressional races, with overall spots up nearly 70 percent since the 2010 midterm election — is accelerating the rise of moneyed interests and wresting control from the candidates’ own efforts to reach voters,” the New York Times reports.
“In the first full midterm cycle where outside groups have developed a sophisticated infrastructure, the consequences are already becoming apparent: a harshly negative tone dictated by the groups and a nearly nonstop campaign season that could cause voters to tune out before Election Day.”
Wall Street Journal: “With just a week left before the start of a five-week August recess, it is increasingly likely that Congress will wrap up for the summer having cobbled together only the bare minimum to keep the government functioning without addressing a list of expiring laws and a pileup of potential national crises.”
“After failing to win a deal to end fighting in Gaza last week, Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to salvage Plan B: a succession of temporary cease-fires that he hopes might yet open the door to Israeli and Palestinian negotiations for a long-term solution,” the New York Times reports.
“On Sunday, however, Mr. Kerry was having difficulty accomplishing even that, despite a phone call in which President Obama, in a sign of mounting impatience, urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to embrace an ‘immediate, unconditional humanitarian cease-fire’ while the two sides pursued a more lasting agreement… Israel and Hamas seem to be dug in this time, with Israeli officials appearing dismissive of Mr. Kerry’s push for a weeklong cease-fire in a way that few American secretaries of state have faced.”
“A $15 billion VA health care deal has been reached after a weekend of negotiating to resolve differences between the House and Senate,” Roll Call reports.
“According to a summary of the agreement… the negotiators agreed to $15 billion in emergency mandatory spending — $10 billion for a new private care option for veterans and another $5 billion for improvements within the VA, like hiring doctors and nurses and upgrading facilities.”
Wall Street Journal: “The agreement is a bright spot for a Congress that has been legislatively impotent recently, unable to reach agreement on bills or even bring much substantive legislation to the floor for a vote, causing even congressmen to criticize the acrid environment in the Capitol.”
“House Republicans want to use their final week in Washington before the August recess to send a signal that they are ready to govern,” The Hill reports.
“As the country’s attention turns to the fight for control of the House and Senate, Republicans want to show they are capable of handling two of the nations toughest issues: the thousands of children crossing the border, and the veterans in need of healthcare.”
“If Republicans fail to approve legislation on either issue, their final big achievement over the summer is likely to be more partisan: authorizing a lawsuit against President Obama for his use of executive action to delay ObamaCare’s employer mandate.”
House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) “repeatedly declined to give a straight answer on whether he would support impeaching President Obama,” The Week reports.
“Even in the relatively friendly confines of Fox News Sunday, Scalise deflected three times when asked by host Chris Wallace whether impeachment was on the table.”
The Upshot: “With the addition of the YouGov estimates to our model, the overall outlook for the Senate remains roughly the same. The Republicans appear to have a slight advantage, with the most likely outcome being a Republican gain of six seats, the minimum they need to finish with a 51-49 seat majority. But we, like many other forecasters, would not be surprised by a gain of anywhere from four to eight seats.”
“Summing up the possible outcomes, our model gives the Republicans a 60 percent chance of taking control, up from 54 percent on April 1.”
From the political dictionary: “nut-cutting time”
“They want to abolish age of consent laws, which means children would, we would do away with statutory rape laws so that adults will be able to freely prey on little children sexually. That’s the deviance that we’re seeing embraced in our culture today.”
— Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), quoted by the Huffington Post, on what the gay community really wants.
In the mail: Buying the Vote: A History of Campaign Finance Reform by Robert Mutch.
“If a rematch of the 2012 presidential election were held today, GOP nominee Mitt Romney would top President Barack Obama in the popular vote… But a CNN/ORC International poll also indicates that if Romney changes his mind and runs again for the White House, Hillary Clinton would best him by double digits in a hypothetical showdown.
Dan Balz: “Tens of millions of dollars will be spent this year in an effort to boost turnout in the November midterm elections. But the longer-term trends suggest that any marginal increase in what is expected to be a low-turnout election won’t have much effect on one of the chronic problems of America’s politics.”
“In their much-anticipated federal corruption trial set to begin Monday, former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, will seek to win acquittal on multiple charges and restore their honor in the eyes of the law,” the Washington Post reports.
“But over the course of the trial in a Richmond courtroom, expected to last five weeks, the McDonnells also will submit themselves to a potentially humiliating spectacle that will showcase an intimate view of their frayed marriage and odd personal relationships.”
Said former Gov. Douglas Wilder: “It’s going to be ugly. The more you read, the more sleaze develops. It’s not going to be nice for anyone.”
New York Times: “Taliban fighters are scoring early gains in several strategic areas near the capital this summer, inflicting heavy casualties and casting new doubt on the ability of Afghan forces to contain the insurgency as the United States moves to complete its withdrawal of combat troops, according to Afghan officials and local elders.”
“The Taliban have found success beyond their traditional strongholds in the rural south and are now dominating territory near crucial highways and cities that surround Kabul, the capital, in strategic provinces like Kapisa and Nangarhar. Their advance has gone unreported because most American forces have left the field and officials in Kabul have largely refused to talk about it.”
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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