Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) offered a theory to KSHB-TV when asked why significant numbers of Republican primary voters cast ballots against incumbents on Tuesday.
Brownback won, but his little-known primary opponent Jennifer Winn (R) received 37% of the vote.
Said Brownback: “I think a big part of it is Barack Obama. That a lot of people are so irritated at what the president is doing, they just, they want somebody to throw a brick.”
Politico: “All other states — except Hawaii, which votes this Saturday — hold their primaries on a Tuesday. Tennessee even holds its presidential primaries on Super Tuesday. Yet, when it comes time to elect or nominate state or federal candidates, the Volunteer State waits until Thursday.”
“The rule is tucked away in the state’s first constitution, which was drafted in 1796 and meant to govern elections “forever after.” Since then, it’s survived the drafting and amending of two new constitutions, Tennessee’s secession from the Union and efforts by the federal government to standardize when and where Americans vote.”
A new CBS News poll finds 54% of Americans disapprove of the House Republican plan to sue President Obama, while just 37% say they approve of the plans.
The Fix: “Despite Obama’s unpopularity, the public as a whole does not think he should be sued. Moreover, Republicans may have handed Democrats a way to fire up a sleepy base that so far has looked like it is not planning to turn out in big numbers in November. That could become a serious problem for the GOP.”
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A new SurveyUSA poll in Oregon finds Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) is crushing challenger Monica Wehby (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 52% to 33%.
In the race for governor, Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) leads challenger Dennis Richardson, 48% to 36%.
“The most corrupting force in politics, we are repeatedly told, is big money — super PACs, corporate lobbyists, rapacious oligarchs. And there’s plenty of evidence to support the claim,” Matt Bai reports.
“But let’s be clear: It wasn’t big money that drove Republican House members, before they left town last week, to approve the first-ever Congressional lawsuit against a sitting president, when they should have gotten serious about a pressing border crisis. And it wasn’t big money that had gleeful Democrats doing backflips in the streets at calls from the conservative fringe to impeach Barack Obama.”
“What’s really fueling the hyperbole and dysfunction in Washington now isn’t one privileged special interest or another, but rather the mouse clicks of ordinary, angry Americans whose $25 contributions add up to a mountain of influence. And in this way, at least, American politics has finally caught up to where the rest of society is going.”
A new MRG poll in Michigan finds Gov. Rick Snyder (R) just ahead of challenger Mark Schauer (D) in the race for governor, 45% to 44%.
In the U.S. Senate race, Gary Peters (D) leads Terry Lynn Land (R), 47% to 40%.
“The party can’t become the opposite of what it is. If you tell people from Alabama, Mississippi or Georgia, ‘You know what, guys, we’ve been wrong, and we’re gonna be the pro-gay-marriage party,’ they’re either gonna stay home or — I mean, many of these people joined the Republican Party because of these social issues. So I don’t think we can completely flip.”
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), quoted by the New York Times.
Kyle Kondik: “To be clear, the overall House atmosphere favors Republicans. The president’s party almost always loses seats in a midterm: an average of 33 seats per election in the 38 midterms held since the start of the Civil War. Of course, those elections often come after the president’s party was elected with acclaim two years prior to the midterm, inflating the president’s party’s numbers in the House to artificial heights, but President Obama and his Democrats are already at a rather low ebb in the House, where they hold just 201 seats… President Obama’s approval rating is 43%, two points lower than where he was on Election Day 2010. The national House generic ballot is roughly tied, although these polls generally have a built-in Democratic slant, so Republicans probably have a tiny edge in all actuality (though considerably smaller than 2010 at this time).”
“But the GOP is limited in the sense that the House playing field is small: The most recent Crystal Ball House ratings list just 37 seats in the most competitive categories, Toss-up or Leans Democratic/Republican. Of those seats, 21 are currently held by Democrats and 16 by Republicans.”
New York Times: “Libertarians, who long have relished their role as acerbic sideline critics of American political theater, now find themselves and their movement thrust into the middle of it. For decades their ideas have had serious backing financially (most prominently by the Koch brothers, one of whom, David H., ran as vice president on the 1980 Libertarian Party ticket), intellectually (by way of policy shops like the Cato Institute and C.E.I.) and in the media (through platforms like Reason and, as of last year, ‘The Independents’). But today, for perhaps the first time, the libertarian movement appears to have genuine political momentum on its side.”
Kansas GOP official Gavin Ellzey said last month that “offending Muslims is the duty of any civilized person,” the Kansas City Star reports.
He added: “Especially with a .45.”
Associated Press: “Those close to Perry say he is aggressively eyeing a second presidential bid… With the help of veteran Republican operative Henry Barbour, Perry has also begun hiring staff in key states to help prepare for a possible run. His travel and staffing is being paid by a nonprofit group, led by his chief political adviser, called Americans for Economic Freedom, which can raise and spend unlimited sums of money without disclosing its donors.”
House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) had federal lobbyist John Feehery participate in multiple official interviews with job candidates last month for the new majority whip’s press operation, Politico reports.
“Sometimes lawmakers rely on lobbyists for strategic advice. But inviting a lobbyist into an interview is highly unusual. Several ethics lawyers and current and former leadership aides said they have never heard of a similar arrangement.”
A new CBS News poll finds Americans’ views of both political parties are negative and nearly match historic lows.
“Just 29% of Americans have a favorable view of the Republican Party, down four points from May and just one point above the lowest favorability rating for that party recorded in this poll (in June, 2009). While more — 41% — have a positive impression of the Democratic Party, this percentage is also just one point above the all-time low for the Democratic Party, reached in November 1994.”
Sen. John Walsh (D-MT) “hasn’t made a public appearance since the weekend, and Montana Democrats are reviewing the steps they would need to take to replace him with another candidate if he decides to withdraw from the Senate race,” the Montana Standard reports.
“Walsh has until Aug. 11 to drop out of the race against Republican Rep. Steve Daines, and the state’s Democratic Party has until Aug. 20 to submit the name of a replacement candidate to the Montana Secretary of State.”
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds that “a commanding majority of people, cutting across party lines, lacks confidence that the world will be a better place for their children.”
“That economic anxiety also cuts across all income groups, regions of the country, and levels of education. And at a time when there are big differences of opinion between men and women on a range of issues, the polled showed, this is one thing they largely agreed on: The kids are not all right.”
Politico: “House Democrats have their email fundraising down to a science: Cast Speaker John Boehner as the leading villain, use President Barack Obama’s signature (but sparingly) and don’t hesitate to go ALL CAPS with a subject line like this: BREAKING: IMPEACHMENT.”
“Over the top? Undoubtedly. But the fact is it’s working — better than anything Republicans have tried so far. Last week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised $4.8 million, thanks to a series of ‘red alert’ emails feeding off talk of impeachment and Boehner’s lawsuit against Obama over executive actions. It was the committee’s best week for online fundraising.”
The Fix has a “visual scorecard” of who wants to impeach President Obama.
“I think we all agree that Obama’s out of control.”
— Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller (R), quoted by the Anchorage Daily News, calling for President Obama’s impeachment because he is “acting almost like a dictator.”
President Obama and his top aides “believe they are putting in place a new global security structure that will frame international relations for decades. Every day, however, brings a split-screen contrast between the White House’s confidence in its long-term strategy and the daily chaos playing out from Ukraine to the Middle East,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The disconnect is reflected in the president’s declining poll ratings. The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released this week shows Americans’ approval of his foreign-policy record at a new low of 36%.”
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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