“As a person and as a woman and as a wife, I’ve been through the painful
reality of marriage with a troubled individual and having it in the
press. My heart goes out to her.”
— Jenny Sanford, quoted by the Washington Post, on Anthony Weiner’s wife, Huma Abedin.
“With the Obama administration poised for a huge public education campaign on healthcare reform, Republicans and their allies are mobilizing a counter-offensive including town hall meetings, protests and media promotions to dissuade uninsured Americans from obtaining health coverage,” Reuters reports.
“Party officials, political analysts and lobbyists say the coming showdown will mark a new phase in the years-old battle over healthcare reform by shifting the focus from political ideology to specific examples of how ‘Obamacare’ allegedly falls short, just as the administration presses the public on its benefits.”
“By a margin of 56% to 27%, more Americans say they’d prefer to impose limits on abortions after the first 20 weeks of pregnancy rather than the 24-week mark established under current law,” according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
“Another 10% surveyed in the poll volunteered they would prefer to outlaw abortion in the United States altogether or limit it earlier than 20 weeks after fertilization. At the same time, however, 54% say they oppose state laws that make it more difficult for abortion clinics to operate; compared to 45% who support such legislation.”
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The relationship between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “is going to be awkward in the coming months,” The Hill reports.
“McConnell finds himself increasingly constrained by both his new primary challenger and McCain’s expanded deal-making role with Democrats… McCain is interested in being a major player in the talks later this year when Congress must pass legislation to continue government funding and raise the national debt limit.”
GOP senators say that McConnell “is in danger of looking weak” if McCain again seizes the leadership reins as he did to broker a deal to avert the “nuclear option” on President Obama’s executive nominees.
Morgan Rose told KPBS that San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D) “repeatedly tried to kiss her in a public restaurant” in 2009.
She is the third woman to step forward this week to publicly make allegations against the embattled mayor.
Roll Call: “Other than a clear front-runner, Georgia’s GOP race for Senate race has it all — including three sitting congressmen, a minister, a runner-up for the 2010 gubernatorial nomination and three candidates who may be capable of at least partially self-funding.”
Swedish lawmaker Lars Ohly “was caught with his pants down Wednesday after flashing his private parts in a picture meant to show off his newly-inked Liverpool football club tattoo,” AFP reports.
He deleted the photo on Instagram but other Swedish politicians “were quick to weigh in on the issue after the picture went viral.”
Responded political opponent Carl Bildt: “Congratulations to you, after all these years, for getting this genuinely public breakthrough!”
Anthony Weiner finally offered “a rough date” for when his sexting with women online finally ended, Politicker reports.
Said Weiner: “Last summer. Yeah, roughly August. Maybe even a little earlier than that.”
Walter Shapiro listened to President Obama’s speech on the economy today but says it “comes three years too late. In early 2010, Obama confronted the question that ultimately every president has to answer: What will be my legacy?”
“Obama chose health care reform, and it has made all the difference. To govern is to choose – and by choosing health care, Obama inadvertently lost his chance to put a lasting imprint on the economy. High unemployment, and the personal anguish that comes with it, will be as much a legacy of his two terms in office as Obamacare.”
A new Quinnipiac poll in New York City finds Anthony Weiner leads in the Democratic mayoral race with 26% of likely voters, followed by Christine Quinn at 22%, William Thompson at 20%, Bill deBlasio at 15% and John Liu at 7%.
The poll was conducted before news that Weiner continued his “sexting” issues even after he resigned from Congress. If Weiner drops out of the race, Quinn leads with 30% to Thompson’s 26% with de Blasio at 21% and Liu at 10%.
In a Democratic primary runoff, however, Thompson tops Weiner 52% to 41% and leads Quinn 51% to 42%.
Marc Ambinder: Hath Weiner no shame?
Zeke Miller: “Obama’s address, spread over an hour and six minutes, read like a laundry list of prior policy announcements, from job training and education programs to mortgage relief, health care and raising the minimum wage. But there is little appetite in Washington for making these programs a reality. The administration sees value in just talking about them.”
“Officials are approaching the speeches as part of a coordinated, campaign-style effort to gain the upper hand in the looming fiscal fights over the debt limit and the budget this fall. The White House wants to increase funding from the current levels under sequestration, but House Republicans are opposed to any measure that would raise taxes to pay for a fix.”
Wonk Wire: Obama signals new perspective on the economy.
President Obama will nominate Caroline Kennedy as ambassador to Japan, the AP reports.
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) told Breitbart News that he stands by his comments saying that many undocumented workers were criminals — despite condemnation from the House GOP leadership.
Said King: “You know when people attack you–in this business, when you’re in this business, you know that when people attack you, and they call you names, they’re diverting from the topic matter. You know they’ve lost the debate when they do that. We’ve talked about it for years. Tom Tancredo and I joked about it that that’s the pattern. When people start calling you names, that’s what confirms you’ve won the debate.”
Roll Call: Steve King’s greatest (recent) hits.
The Week: Republicans have a Steve King problem.
“Never in the last century of our state has the power of government been so misused. Today is the day when history will mark this General Assembly did what was morally right in the eyes of God.”
— North Carolina Rep. Nelson Dollar (R), quoted by the Winston-Salem Journal.
Rick Hasen: “Anyone wondering about the importance of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling hobbling a key part of the Voting Rights Act needs look no further than North Carolina, whose Republican legislature is poised to enact one of the strictest voting laws in the Nation, one which will make it harder to register and vote, likely hurting minority voters most. North Carolina is making it harder to vote now because it can, but recent experience in Florida and elsewhere shows it is a decision North Carolina Republicans may come to regret.”
Nate Cohn: “It’s not that these polls show Republicans poised to take back the White House by 2016, or something. That’s way too far away. Instead, the polls give us an idea of which voters are peeling away from Obama and, therefore, might be most receptive to switching sides if the GOP could craft a message for them. Trying to win over the voters sticking with Obama would presumably be more difficult.”
“Today’s Pew Research poll paints a clear picture of the Obama defectors. They’re almost exclusively white voters without a college degree. Obama’s standing among minorities, college educated whites, and affluent whites has actually improved since the final Pew Research poll before last November’s presidential election. Instead, Obama’s support among white working-class voters has taken a huge hit, opening an unprecedented 41 point education gap among white voters. Incredibly, the poll now even shows Obama with a stronger approval rating among affluent whites than downscale whites–something that’s never happened for a Democrat in a presidential election.”
“A day after Anthony Weiner acknowledged that he continued sending lewd messages to women even after he resigned from Congress, former Gov. Eliot Spitzer said he hadn’t used prostitutes after his own downfall in 2008,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Spitzer: “Absolutely not. And we’re done answering those questions.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I love this job… there has been no consideration of that.”
— Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), in an interview with NBC Washington, on whether he’s ever considered resigning over the gift scandals swirling around him.
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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