The Week: “In a development that might not bode well for their electoral prospects, Democrats appear to be pushing news stories selectively framing their 2014 losses — some seven months out from Election Day.”
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Christie Wins the Adelson Primary
“There were many candidates at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual spring meeting Saturday at The Venetian. But there was only one real contender,” the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
“If there can be said to be a winner of what the Washington Post dubbed the ‘Adelson primary,’ for Las Vegas Sands Chairman Sheldon Adelson, it was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Apart from almost every other speaker, Christie showed a pragmatic understanding of the real nature of politics — winning comes first — without seeming as if he was ready to sell his soul to move from Trenton to Washington, D.C.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“You can ask anything you want, but you’ll have to talk to the wall, because I’m not talking to you.”
— Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, quoted by Politico, before reporter Ken Vogel was escorted out by security.
Obamacare Enrollment Surge Continues
Wonk Wire: Obamacare enrollment could top 7 million
The Morning Line: “Monday is the last day to sign up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act without incurring a penalty. At least that’s what’s supposed to happen. In reality, if you have a mild sense of engagement, you can figure out a way to get an extension until at least mid-April and beyond.”
Wonk Wire: Why Obamacare enrollment numbers are higher than forecast
GOP Odds of Taking Senate Increase
The Monkey Cage: “As we have begun to incorporate candidate experience into the model, our initial sense is this: Republicans may have a far better chance of winning control of the Senate than we or other analysts previously thought. Here is a preliminary estimate: The GOP could have as much as a 4 in 5 chance of controlling the chamber.”
The Week: 5 key insights in the GOP’s political strategy
Candidate Secretly Recorded Potential Endorser
Former dairy executive Scottie Mayfield says congressional candidate Weston Wamp (R) secretly recorded a conversation they had when Wamp came to his home to talk him out of supporting Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN) in the August Republican primary, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.
Less Early Voting in Washington, DC
“Despite predictions that more District residents would vote early for mayor, the opposite has turned out to be true — a sign of potentially historic low turnout and a reason for new uncertainty in Tuesday’s already fluid Democratic primary,” the Washington Post reports.
Why the GOP Has a Built-In Midterm Edge
“Even if Democrats recruit great candidates, raise gobs of money and run smart campaigns, they face an uphill fight to retake control of the House in this year’s congressional elections, regardless of the political climate in November,” the AP reports.
“The reason? Republican strategists spent years developing a plan to take advantage of the 2010 census, first by winning state legislatures and then redrawing House districts to tilt the playing field in their favor. Their success was unprecedented.”
“In states like Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina, Republicans were able to shape congressional maps to pack as many Democratic voters as possible into the fewest House districts. The practice is called gerrymandering, and it left fertile ground elsewhere in each state to spread Republican voters among more districts, increasing the GOP’s chances of winning more seats.”
How the Stock Market is Rigged
Michael Lewis’ great new book Flash Boys comes out today and he was on 60 Minutes last night explaining how traders use high-frequency, algorithmic trading to rig the stock market in their favor.
Democrats Aim to Ramp Up Turnout
“Faced with a strong prospect of losing control of the Senate in November, Democrats have begun a high-stakes effort to try to overcome one of their party’s big weaknesses: voters who don’t show up for midterm elections,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“The party’s Senate campaign committee plans to spend $60 million to boost turnout. That’s nine times what it spent in the last midterm election, in 2010.”
“The Democratic National Committee has begun to make the sophisticated data analysis tools developed to target voters in the 2012 presidential campaign available to all the party’s candidates.”
Quote of the Day
“I’m just trying to run for secretary of state. I hope I don’t get indicted.”
— California state Sen. Leland Yee (D), quoted by the Sacramento Bee, talking with undercover agents as he allegedly arranged for a $10,000 payoff.
Frustrated Latinos Reject Ballot Box
New York Times: “Across the country, immigrant-rights advocates report mounting disillusionment with both parties among Latinos, enough to threaten recent gains in voting participation that have reshaped politics to Democrats’ advantage nationally, and in states like Colorado with significant Latino populations. High hopes — kindled by President Obama’s elections and stoked in June by Senate passage of the most significant overhaul of immigration law in a generation, with a path to citizenship for about 11 million people here unlawfully — have been all but dashed.”
“Latinos mainly blame Republicans, who control the House and have buried the Senate bill, but they also have soured on Mr. Obama. The federal government has so aggressively enforced existing immigration laws that one national Hispanic leader recently nicknamed the president ‘deporter in chief’ for allowing nearly two million people to be deported.”
Grimm Uses Maher Campaign to Fundraise
Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) is using comedian Bill Maher’s Flip a District campaign as a fund-raising opportunity, the New York Observer reports.
“The Republican lawmaker’s campaign fired off an email to supporters earlier this afternoon declaring that Staten Island and Brooklyn voters do not agree with Mr. Maher’s ‘anti-Catholic, leftist propaganda.'”
GOP Lawmaker Charged with Sexual Assault
“Prosecutors charged former Wisconsin Assembly Majority Leader Bill Kramer (R) with sexually assaulting a political aide three years ago following a Republican mixer,” the AP reports.
“Kramer is charged with two counts of second-degree felony sexual assault. He faces up to $200,000 in fines and 80 years in prison if convicted on both charges. He is due to make an initial court appearance on April 14.”
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think it means anything… I think they’re cooking the books on this.”
— Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), quoted by Huffington Post, on the White House announcing more than 6 million Obamacare enrollments.
GOP Works to Limit Voting in Swing States
New York Times: “Pivotal swing states under Republican control are embracing significant new electoral restrictions on registering and voting that go beyond the voter identification requirements that have caused fierce partisan brawls. The bills, laws and administrative rules — some of them tried before — shake up fundamental components of state election systems, including the days and times polls are open and the locations where people vote.”
“In all, nine states have passed measures making it harder to vote since the beginning of 2013. Most have to do with voter ID laws. Other states are considering mandating proof of citizenship, like a birth certificate or a passport, after a federal court judge recently upheld such laws passed in Arizona and Kansas. Because many poor people do not have either and because documents can take time and money to obtain, Democrats say the ruling makes it far more difficult for people to register.”
GOP 2016 Hopefuls Audition for Adelson
New York Times: “Amid a crisis in Ukraine, some of the top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 addressed a meeting here of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a collection of elite campaign donors and party activists, offering a unified message of alarm and dismay over the White House’s approach to national security and foreign policy.”
“The event has long lured national Republican candidates eager to burnish their reputations with the interventionist wing of their party. But it now doubles as something else: a de facto audition for the electoral affections of the casino magnate and top Republican donor Sheldon G. Adelson, a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s board and the owner of the Venetian hotel, where the event was held.”
Politico: “All the prospective presidential hopefuls pitched the crowd on their pro-Israel bonafides — the top issue for Adelson and many RJC donors — and all were expected to meet privately with Adelson over the course of the weekend.”
This Week on the Podcast
Robert Costa of the Washington Post gives us an inside look of the Republican leadership ahead of the midterm elections:
Jim Galloway of the Atlanta Journal Constitution takes us on a deep dive into the Georgia U.S. Senate race:
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Special thanks to our sponsor this week: AMC’s original series TURN, the untold story of America’s first spy ring. Premieres Sunday, April 6 at 9pm ET on AMC.
