Maj. Gen. Allen Tackett, the campaign chairman for West Virginia U.S. Senate nominee Natalie Tennant (D), was recorded on video saying Tennant agrees with President Obama “on most of his policies” forcing the campaign to say he misspoke, the Charleston Daily Mail reports.
Said Tennant campaign spokeswoman Jenny Donohue: “Natalie does not support the majority of the president’s policies.”
A new Civitas poll in North Carolina finds Sen. Kay Hagan (D) barely leading challenger Thom Tillis (R) in a three way U.S. Senate race, 41% to 39%, with Libertarian Sean Haugh at 7%.
In a head-to-head match up, Tillis leads by two points, 45% to 43%.
Columbus Dispatch: “Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ed FitzGerald had not had a regular Ohio driver’s license for at least five years when Westlake police found him in a car with a woman early one morning two years ago. If he drove his car home after dropping her off at her hotel, as he said he did, he would have violated Ohio law requiring those with just a temporary permit to be accompanied by a licensed driver.”
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “didn’t even get to finish chewing,” National Journal reports.
“Within moments of Erika Andiola introducing herself as a ‘Dreamer’ immigration activist to Paul and Rep. Steve King at an Iowa fundraiser on Monday, the Kentucky senator and likely 2016 GOP presidential candidate made a hasty exit… With a head nod from aide Sergio Gor, Paul wiped his mouth and departed while still visibly chewing, leaving behind his half-eaten hamburger.”
The episode was caught on video.
A new Marist Poll finds a majority of New Yorkers don’t think Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) acted ethically in shutting down a corruption commission but he still holds a wide lead over challenger Rob Astorino (R) in the race for governor, 54% to 23%.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) “has a campaign stockpile of $4.4 million collected for a now nonexistent re-election battle — and that state pot can work to his political benefit as he eyes another run for president,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
One interesting item: Perry spent $17,000 for speech coaches “to smooth his public delivery after earning a reputation for tripping over his tongue during his run for the 2012 Republican presidential nod.”
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Arkansas finds Tom Cotton (R) just ahead of Sen. Mark Pryor (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 41% to 39%.
Also interesting: “At least for now Republicans appear to be positioned for a sweep at the state level. In the race for Governor Asa Hutchinson leads Democratic foe Mike Ross 43/38… Republicans hold leads ranging anywhere from 4 to 11 points in all of the down ballot races.”
Asked whether the Republican Party has any chance of retaking the U.S. Senate if he doesn’t win his re-election bid in Kentucky, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told National Review: “No.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), “who’s weighing a White House bid in 2016, has formed a federal political action committee to aid fellow Republican candidates in the Nov. 4 elections,” Bloomberg reports.
RickPAC was created with the “goal of helping elect Republicans to office who share the governor’s philosophy of low taxes, limited government, border security, and job creation.”
First Read: “There was a time when the states and governors were the ones working across the aisle, getting things done. But state capitals have become more nationalized and polarized, so now the LAST bastion of bipartisan work is taking place in cities and counties. The states should no longer be viewed unilaterally as the “better than Washington” ideal. Basically, many state capitals have become ‘Washington-ized.'”
Wonk Wire: Obamacare premiums won’t skyrocket as many predicted
Roll Call: “Three months before Election Day, it’s clear some senators may not return to Congress after the midterms — and that’s mostly good news for Republicans.”
Roll Call: “Two House members have already lost their re-election in primaries this cycle — and it’s unlikely they will be the last with ruined plans to return to Congress.”
There are more tea party vs. establishment primaries tonight.
Politico notes that if Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) win today, “this will be the first cycle since 2008 in which no incumbent senator loses in a primary.”
Harry Enten says Alexander and Roberts “are heavy favorites to win their primaries this week against conservative challengers, but the data from past primary challenges suggest that Alexander has a higher chance of being upset.”
Roll Call has 6 things to watch as results come in.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds the number of Americans who approve of their representative in Congress is at an all-time low.
Key findings: 51% said that they disapprove of the way their member of Congress is “handling his or her job” while 41% approve of how their member handles his or her work. It’s the first time in 25 years that the number of Americans who disapprove of their own Congress member has risen over 50 percent.
“She is such a dominant frontrunner. I think most people will decide to stand down.”
— David Plouffe, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on Hillary Clinton’s presidential chances.
New York Times: “They aim to match President Obama’s feat in 2012, when the incumbent used topics such as same-sex marriage and contraception as weapons to offset his vulnerability on the economy. That they would even try while facing the older, whiter, more conservative midterm electorate shows how thoroughly the politics of social issues have turned upside down.”
“The tumultuous social changes that began in the 1960s supplied decades of political ammunition for Republicans. Beginning with Richard M. Nixon, they rallied Americans disturbed by noisy protests over civil rights, the sexual revolution and the Vietnam War.”
“With the prospect of a Republican takeover of the Senate looming, the White House is quietly mulling potential silver linings of such a dynamic during President Obama’s final two years in office,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“While it’s hard to find anyone in the administration who sees any upside for Mr. Obama if the GOP controls both chambers of Congress-certainly no one is making a public case-one optimistic view of a GOP-controlled Congress is that maybe Mr. Obama would finally be able to cut some deals.”
“The idea is that after November, Republicans will be less inclined to block Mr. Obama because they’ll be looking toward the presidency in 2016 and will want to round out the GOP record to include some planks that have broader national appeal; at the same time, Mr. Obama could have more space to make deals because Democratic leaders won’t be reining him in with their own congressional politics.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.