President Obama “said he was near tears while talking to the parents of slain U.S. journalist James Foley, and he appeared to express some misgivings about his decision to play golf minutes after delivering an angry public statement about Foley’s killing in Syria three weeks ago,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Onama: “I should’ve anticipated the optics. Part of this job is also the theater of it. It’s not something that always comes naturally to me. But it matters.”
A new NBC/Marist poll in Kentucky finds Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) has opened up an eight point lead over challenger Alison Grimes (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 39%.
A new NBC/Marist poll in Arkansas finds Tom Cotton (R) leads Mark Pryor (D) by five points in the U.S. Senate race, 45% to 40%.
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A new NBC/Marist poll in Colorado finds Sen. Mark Udall (D) leads challenger Cory Gardner (R) by six points in the U.S. Senate race, 48% to 42%.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) “has quietly set up weekly meetings with business titans and media heads and hunkered down with policy experts — many from George W. Bush’s administration and Mitt Romney’s campaign,” according to a review of his official calendar by the Dallas Morning News.
“Perry has frequently said that if he jumps into another presidential race, he will not make the same mistakes he did during his disastrous outing in 2012. One of the most damaging was his struggle discussing policy issues in depth. In the most evident display of his intentions, the calendar shows Perry is studiously preparing for another run.”
“I’m being honest now about the politics of it.”
— President Obama, in an interview on Meet the Press, about his decision to delay action in immigration reform.
“As the 2016 White House race begins to form, more than a few dark horse GOP candidates could end up breaking away from the pack. With the Republican presidential field wide open, the campaign could be a repeat 2012, when even candidates thought to be longshots briefly stole the spotlight and spiked in the polls,” The Hill reports.
“Republican National Committee rules have changed since then, shrinking the debate schedule that gave underdog candidates a chance to leap out front. Still, the lack of any clear front-runners, the rise of single-candidate super-PACs and the ease of reaching voters online with less money and free media makes it easier than ever for anyone to gain traction with a catchy message.”
A new poll finds far right candidate Marine Le Pen would defeat French President Francois Hollande in a runoff by eight points, 54% to 46%.
“The survey confirmed earlier polls showing Le Pen leading all other contenders in the first round. But it was the first time she had been shown ahead of a mainstream candidate in the second round – a scenario regarded to date as unrealistic.”
A new Mason-Dixon poll in Florida shows Gov. Rick Scott (R) leading challenger Charlie Crist (D) in the governor’s race, 43% to 41%.
Three days before the Democratic primary on Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) “lurched into re-election mode on Saturday with a pair of campaign stops in Manhattan and Queens,” the New York Times reports.
“It was his first political outing of the campaign season, and a modest one at that. But it also offered a preview of how Mr. Cuomo, who is seeking a second term, plans to frame his case for re-election as the general election in November approaches.”
President Obama “will delay executive action on immigration until after the midterm elections, White House officials said Saturday, a bow to political pressure from Democrats in tough Senate races who had complained the expected action could hurt their campaigns,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The delay breaks Mr. Obama’s promise, broadcast from the Rose Garden in June, that he would act on his own by summer’s end to set new policy on immigration. It was widely expected that Mr. Obama would act without Congress to scale back deportations of illegal immigrants and possibly offer work permits to many people in the U.S. illegally. Now, the White House is saying that the president will act by year’s end.”
Neither of former President George W. Bush’s twin daughters are registered as Republicans, the New York Daily News reports.
Jenna Bush Hager mistakenly signed up with the Independence Party in New York when she meant to declare herself an independent. Records show her sister, Barbara, is registered to vote in Texas as unaffiliated with any party.
San Luis Obispo County supervisor candidate Lynn Compton (R) is holding a “hobo stew” fundraiser, the Cal Coast News reports.
“The Compton campaign is planning an Oct. 5 fundraiser at the Oceano train depot in which attendees are invited to come dressed in hobo attire and eat soup dubbed hobo stew.”
Patricia Murphy: “The office of secretary of state was once little more than a pit stop on the road to higher office–four years of resume building that included inglorious duties like licensing beauticians and other small businesses, maintaining state historical records, and running around the state handing out proclamations to civic groups. But more than three dozen secretaries of state across the country have one duty that’s as serious as they come: They oversee and administer elections.”
“Over the last several years, secretary of state offices have taken on a new and more controversial role as partisan legislatures pushed changes to election laws and secretaries of state were charged with making decisions on everything from ballot language to voter eligibility to voting hours and crucial calls in contested elections. The decisions ultimately affect not only who votes in elections, but often who wins them… As the jobs have gained prominence and power, so has the pressure for the two parties to win them.”
Wendy Davis (D), “in her memoir due out next week, discloses the most personal of stories preceding her nationally marked fight against tighter abortion restrictions: a decision she and her then-husband made 17 years ago to end a much-wanted pregnancy,” the San Antonio Express News reports.
“The prosecution of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell could have far-reaching effects on federal public-corruption cases — making it easier for prosecutors to bring charges against those accused of abusing their official powers,” the Washington Post reports.
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) “is preparing for his first debate with a surprisingly strong independent campaign challenger in a race that has become an unexpected battleground in the broader fight for control of the Senate,” the AP reports.
“The race was upended this week. Democrat Chad Taylor ended his campaign, presumably boosting Orman’s chances. Meanwhile, Roberts overhauled his struggling campaign.”
“Wall Street analysts at Fitch Ratings today downgraded New Jersey’s bond rating for the second time this year, citing the state’s poor economic performance, Gov. Chris Christie’s rosy revenue forecasts — which failed to materialize — and his decision to plug the resulting budget gap by cutting $2.4 billion in funding for the state’s strained pension system,” the Newark Star Ledger reports.
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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