A new Pan Atlantic SMS poll in Maine shows Gov. Paul LePage (R) leading his re-election race with 39%, followed by Michael Michaud (D) at 37% and Eliot Cutler (I) at 20%.
Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!
Crist Running Ahead in Florida
A new Survey USA poll in Florida finds Charlie Crist (D) leading Gov. Rick Scott (R) in the race for governor, 46% to 41%.
Panetta Says Obama Has ‘Mixed Record’ on National Security
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta told the New York Times that President Obama had a “mixed record” on making difficult national security decisions and suggested that Hillary Clinton would be better.
Said Panetta: “The president has made some tough decisions. But it’s been a mixed record, and the concern is, the president defining what America’s role in the world is in the 21st century hasn’t happened. Hopefully, he’ll do it and certainly, she would.”
Turnover Not High This Cycle
Geoffrey Skelley: “So far, 50 members of the 113th Congress have either left office or signaled their intentions to leave at the end of this cycle… Despite all that, the degree of turnover in the House this cycle is not unusually high. Over the last 40 years, an average of 70.4 members has exited the House for one reason or another each two-year cycle. That’s about one-sixth of the total House membership every cycle. At 50 exits so far, this Congress still has a ways to go in order to produce even an average level of turnover.”
Beauprez Barely Makes Ballot for Colorado Governor
Former Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-CO) “has made the GOP ballot for governor, but thousands of signatures he turned in were declared invalid by the secretary of state’s office,” the Denver Post reports.
“Considering the amount of money Beauprez spent collecting the signatures, failure to make the ballot likely would have resulted in plenty of embarrassment and a court challenge.”
Accused Video Leaker Quits
Leah Gordon, the staff member of Rep. Vance McAllister (R-LA) who is accused of leaking the video of the congressman’s scandalous kiss, has resigned as his district office manager, the Monroe News Star reports.
Koch Brothers Now Worth $100 Billion
Charles and David Koch “added $1.3 billion to their collective fortune yesterday on reports that U.S. industrial production gained more than forecast. The surge elevated their net worth to more than $100 billion,” according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“The Koch’s ascent comes as Freedom Partners, one of their fundraising networks, last week aired its first batch of television ads targeted at this year’s U.S. Senate races, including commercials knocking Democratic Senator Mark Udall of Colorado and Representative Bruce Braley of Iowa for supporting President Barack Obama’s health-care law.”
Majority Don’t See Obama as Black
A new Pew Research poll finds that 52% of Americans don’t see President Obama as black but instead consider him mixed-race.
Clinton Struggles to Define Her Legacy
Hillary Clinton “played an energetic role in virtually every foreign policy issue of President Obama’s first term, advocating generally hawkish views internally while using her celebrity to try to restore America’s global standing after the hit it took during the George W. Bush administration,” the New York Times reports.
“But her halting answer suggests a problem that Mrs. Clinton could confront as she recounts her record in Mr. Obama’s cabinet before a possible run for president in 2016: Much of what she labored over so conscientiously is either unfinished business or has gone awry in his second term.”
GOP Lawmaker Warns Colleagues on Immigration
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) told the Washington Post that President Obama would use executive action on immigration if Congress does not come up with a proposal by the August recess.
Said Diaz-Balart: “I’m convinced that if we don’t get it done by the August break, the president, who is feeling a lot of pressure from having not done anything on immigration reform, will feel that he has to act through executive action.”
However, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) “made it clear Wednesday that the legislation is as dead as ever in the House,” the Huffington Post reports.
Edwards Returns to Law
John Edwards “has returned to the courtroom to help represent a 4-year-old Virginia boy in a medical malpractice case,” the AP reports.
“In 2012, Edwards faced six felony charges in a case involving nearly $1 million provided by two wealthy political donors to help hide his pregnant mistress Rielle Hunter as he sought the White House in 2008. A jury acquitted Edwards on one count of accepting illegal campaign contributions and deadlocked on the remaining five.”
Republican Field is Wide Open
Al Hunt: “If you want to wager on who the 2016 Republican nominee will be and have only one choice, the best bet may be former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. However, the odds overwhelmingly suggest the former governor won’t win the nomination — assuming he even runs.”
“This underscores, more than any other time in memory, how unformed the contest for the Republican nomination is… The lack of any clear consensus in the party emerges after talking to several political wise men — none of them have committed to any of the potential 2016 candidates.”
An Opening to More Corruption
Norm Ornstein: “Thanks to McCutcheon, only quid pro quo corruption is sufficient to trigger any restrictions on campaign contributions–meaning, direct bribery of the Abscam or American Hustle variety, presumably captured on videotape for the world to see. The appearance of corruption? Forget about it. Restrictions on elected officials soliciting big money? Forget about them, too.”
“To anyone who has actually been around the lawmaking process or the political process more generally, this is mind-boggling. It makes legal what has for generations been illegal or at least immoral. It returns lawmaking to the kind of favor-trading bazaar that was common in the Gilded Age.”
Conversation with Skip Rutherford
Skip Rutherford, dean of the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock, joins us on the Political Wire podcast for a fascinating discussion of Arkansas politics.
Listen here:
Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or RSS to get episodes automatically downloaded.
Special thanks to Harry’s for sponsoring the show. They’re disrupting the shaving industry and highly recommended. Check them out and use promo code POLITICALWIRE for $5 off your first order.
Warren’s Book Out Next Week
The Boston Globe got an advance copy of A Fighting Chance by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and notes “the campaign-style book undoubtedly will stoke more calls for the Democratic Massachusetts senator, who won her Senate seat in 2012, to mount a 2016 presidential campaign. Warren has insisted she will not run for president in the next election, but even so the book and her heavy promotional tour will keep her in the national spotlight.”
“Unlike the former Harvard law professor’s previous books, which focused heavily on policy prescriptions and economic studies, this one is penned in a folksy style and contains extensive biographical sections and family photos, along with colorful stories from her battles over financial regulations in Washington.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“He was always nice and friendly and respectful of elder people, you know, he respected his elders greatly. As long as they were the same color as him.”
— Marionville, Missouri Mayor Dan Clevenger, quoted by KSPR, on the white supremacist accused of killing three people at a Jewish community center.
Could Sebelius Win in Kansas?
Harry Enten is doubtul that Kathleen Sebelius (D) could win the Senate race in Kansas she’s reportedly weighing.
“The last time a Democrat was elected to the Senate from Kansas was 1932. That’s not only the longest drought for the party, it’s by far the longest winless streak. (The next longest drought for Democrats is in Wyoming, where they haven’t won a Senate seat since 1970.) Democrats have lost 29 consecutive Senate races in Kansas, and they just don’t win federal statewide races. Since 1940, Lyndon Johnson, in 1964, was the only Democratic presidential nominee to win in the Sunflower State.”
Graham’s Approval Rate Still Negative
A new Winthrop poll in South Carolina finds Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) still upside down, 40% to 44%, despite months of television ads from his re-election campaign.
