“Some people would call it chivalry, some people call it sexism — that the man should come forward and not let the woman do time on his behalf.”
— U.S. District Judge Robert Scola, quoted by the Miami Herald, who gave former Rep. David Rivera’s (R-FL) friend, Ana Alliegro, a one-year jail sentence.
“New Jersey had its credit rating cut one step by Standard & Poor’s, handing Chris Christie his eighth downgrade, the most ever for a Garden State governor,” Bloomberg reports.
Jack Goldsmith: “Future historians will ask why George W. Bush sought and received express congressional authorization for his wars (against al Qaeda and Iraq) and his successor did not. They will puzzle over how Barack Obama the prudent war-powers constitutionalist transformed into a matchless war-powers unilateralist. And they will wonder why he claimed to ‘welcome congressional support’ for his new military initiative against the Islamic State but did not insist on it in order to ensure clear political and legal legitimacy for the tough battle that promised to consume his last two years in office and define his presidency….[Obama’s] announcement…marks his latest adventure in unilateralism and cements an astonishing legacy of expanding presidential war powers.”
Byron York: Five things that could go horribly wrong with Obama’s action in Iraq
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The New York Times reports that as President Obama “prepares to send the United States on what could be a yearslong military campaign against the militant group, American intelligence agencies have concluded that it poses no immediate threat to the United States. Some officials and terrorism experts believe that the actual danger posed by ISIS has been distorted in hours of television punditry and alarmist statements by politicians, and that there has been little substantive public debate about the unintended consequences of expanding American military action in the Middle East.”
Wonk Wire: Terrorism is not a major worry for Americans.
Some Washington, D.C. public school 7th graders “were assigned the rather unpatriotic task this week of comparing Adolf Hitler to former President George W. Bush. But now the school district wants you to know that such an intellectual exercise is not part of the official D.C. curriculum,” the Washington City Paper reports.
“The GOP’s political machine is kicking into overdrive to save a Senate seat in Kansas that’s suddenly complicating its path to the majority,” Politico reports.
“With polls showing Sen. Pat Roberts in serious trouble against independent Greg Orman, top Senate Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, are leaning on big-ticket donors to fill the long-time Kansas senator’s campaign coffers. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and John McCain of Arizona are planning to barnstorm the state on Roberts’ behalf. And in a bid to boost the senator’s sagging poll numbers, the Roberts campaign is planning an ad blitz to cast his long record and seniority in Washington in a more positive light.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “is continuing to send signals that he’s running for president,” Politico reports.
“The Texas senator’s chief of staff, Chip Roy, a former top hand to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is leaving his role as chief of staff and will play a larger role in Cruz’s political office, according to an aide with knowledge of the changes. He will gradually transition from the congressional office to serve as a senior political adviser for Cruz.”
Larry Sabato: “For several months, we’ve held steady on our range of expected gains for Republicans in the Senate: a net of four to eight seats. With Labor Day in the rearview mirror and with less than 55 days to go until the midterms, we’re giving Republicans a slight bump: Our new range is a Republican net of five to eight Senate seats.”
“This means that the best-case scenario we can now envision for Democrats is a 50-50 tie in the Senate, with Vice President Joe Biden’s tiebreaking vote narrowly keeping Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) as majority leader.”
“The likeliest outcome remains a Republican gain of six or seven seats, which we noted before Labor Day and stand by now. That would be good for a narrow 51-49 or 52-48 Republican Senate majority.”
The Hill: “Senate Republicans are brimming with confidence they will be in the majority next year — and say Democrats are beginning to acknowledge privately that harsh political reality.”
Huffington Post: “Wednesday was former White House press secretary Jay Carney’s first night as a CNN commentator, so the network did the nice thing and brought John McCain on to yell at him for a while about President Obama’s speech on ISIS. Since McCain loves both TV and arguing, it made for a lengthy brawl. Carney mostly kept his cool and defended his former boss as McCain accused him of lying about lots of things. It ended when McCain left to appear on every other television channel on earth.”
Lloyd Grove: “Jay Carney may have been hoping for a smooth debut as CNN’s ‘senior political commentator.’ Instead, he was violently mugged on live TV by Senator John McCain.”
A new Magellan Strategies poll in Kentucky finds Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) leads Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) in the U.S. Senate race by eight points, 50% to 42%, with Libertarian David Patterson at 6%
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s “future in the mayoral race is again in question after he was admitted to hospital with an abdominal tumor on Wednesday… Doctors are still looking for a definitive diagnosis… It is not yet known what kind of tumor Ford has,” the Toronto Star reports.
Ford was complaining of “left, lower quadrant abdominal pain” for three months before the pain became “unbearable” Wednesday morning, a doctor said.
A new Survation poll in Scotland suggests 53% will vote in a referendum next week to stay in the United Kingdom while 47% will vote for independence.
“In ordering a sustained military campaign against Islamic extremists in Syria and Iraq, President Obama on Wednesday night effectively set a new course for the remainder of his presidency and may have ensured that he would pass his successor a volatile and incomplete war, much as his predecessor left one for him,” the New York Times reports.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Iowa finds Joni Ernst (R) with a slight lead over Bruce Braley (D) in the race for Senate, 45% to 43%.
A new Quinnipiac poll in Pennsylvania finds Tom Wolf (D) has a commanding 24-point lead over Gov. Tom Corbett (R) among likely Pennsylvania voters with a little more than seven weeks until the election, 59% to 35%.
Jay Carney: “The truth is we would do it more, but the networks, especially the broadcast networks, are not always willing to say yes. The threshold question is, you know, is it of national significance on a major issue something that the president feels the American people need to hear about? Matters of military force are the most obvious circumstances that merit a prime time address. There are also issues around significant domestic legislation, or national issues. He did a national speech launching health care reform that was primetime. It’s not a well you can go back to that often, though, because it requires the networks to give the time.”
Senate Democratic leaders “prepared legislation to expressly authorize the United States military to train Syrian rebels to help battle the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and House Republicans appeared ready to follow their lead,” the New York Times reports.
“The flurry of activity means that Congress is likely to weigh in on the looming military action before the midterm elections in eight weeks. House Republicans have called an emergency meeting for Thursday morning to discuss their options, and leaders are leaning toward a vote to express some support for a broader campaign against ISIS.”
“When Bill Clinton left the White House in January 2001, Americans had experienced quite enough of the boisterous Big Dog and his unending dramas, both personal and political,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“All of which makes it rather remarkable that today Clinton, as reviled a figure as ever served in the White House, stands as arguably the most popular political figure in America.”
“It’s not just his desirability to campaign for Democrats who, apart from distant fundraising assistance, want absolutely nothing to do with the current occupant of the White House. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed that, alone among today’s major political figures, Clinton is seen in an overwhelmingly positive light, with 56% approving of the former president compared to 21% who disapprove.”
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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