Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) announced that she will undergo treatment for lung cancer, Newsday reports.
House Republicans Have Broken Into Factions
The Washington Post reports that the vote to avert the fiscal cliff on New Years Day “marked a breaking point for House Republicans, who had disintegrated into squabbling factions, no longer able to agree on — much less execute — some of the most basic government functions.”
“Ever since, Boehner has cautiously tried to steer his party away from that bitter moment, with varying success. A short-term strategy, which conservatives called ‘the Williamsburg Accord,’ emerged from a bruising mid-January retreat. It restored enough unity to permit the House to dodge a government shutdown, badger the Senate into passing its first budget in four years and open investigations of the Obama White House.”
“But beyond those limited efforts, the House has not approved ambitious
legislation this year. Lawmakers have instead focused on trying to
re-brand the party around kitchen-table issues — although even some of
those bills have run into trouble. And the most momentous policy
decisions, including an immigration overhaul and a fresh deadline for
raising the federal debt limit, have no coherent strategy to consolidate
Republicans, much less take on the Democrats.”
Candidate Accidently Announces Bid Via Twitter
Donna Christensen (D) prematurely announced her run for Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands and then deleted the tweet which was apparently intended to be a private direct message.
Politwoops archived the tweet before it was erased.
Corzine Breaks Silence to Eulogize Lautenberg
Newark Star Ledger: “Jon Corzine has kept a low profile since facing allegations that his mismanagement expedited the downfall of the commodities brokerage MF Global. But the embattled former governor broke his silence today to eulogize his friend and Senate colleague U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.”
Time to Cash In
Walter Shapiro notes the many former Obama staffers who now illustrate the enduring adage about political aides in D.C.: “They came to do good and stayed to do well.”
“Over the years, Washington has lost any sense of shame. The standard bipartisan pattern has become to work for an important political figure for a few years — and then monetize your Rolodex.”
Recall Looms for Gun Control Backer in Colorado
“Gun-rights activists in Colorado turned in petition signatures Monday to set up the first recall in state history of a state lawmaker after he backed some of the strictest gun control measures to become law in the U.S. this year,” the Denver Post reports.
“The opponents of Democratic Senate President John Morse said they turned in twice as many signatures as needed Monday to put Morse back on the ballot. Carting white paper boxes of petitions, the gun-rights advocates said Morse will pay for backing a series of gun control measures that were signed into law earlier this year.”
Joshua Spivak notes this would be Colorado’s first state level recall.
Two Democratic House Challengers to Watch
Stu Rothenberg: “Democratic prospects of taking back the House in 2014 may be remote, but two Democratic congressional challengers I interviewed recently have the potential to knock off GOP incumbents next year. At the very least, their races are worth watching.”
“New York City Councilman Domenic Recchia is off and running in a Staten Island/Brooklyn district against two-term GOP Rep. Michael G. Grimm, who can’t afford to take this challenger lightly.”
“And in the Florida Panhandle, attorney Gwen Graham, daughter of former Florida Gov. and former Sen. Bob Graham, is mounting what looks to be a potentially serious challenge to two-term GOP Rep. Steve Southerland II.”
Not Clear How New Jersey Will Replace Lautenberg
Here’s another reason to read the Cook Political Report: Despite early reports, Jennifer Duffy notes it’s not at all clear how and wehn New Jersey’s U.S. Senate seat will be filled now that Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has died.
“According to one provision, the law says that if a vacancy occurs more than 70 days before the next regularly scheduled statewide general election, then it will be filled during that general election… However, another provision in state law says that a special election will be held in the next regularly scheduled statewide general election (e.g., this November) only if the vacancy occurs more than 70 days before the state’s primary election. New Jersey’s primary election is tomorrow (June 4, 2013). If a vacancy occurs less than 70 days before the primary, then the vacancy would be filled at the next general election – or November 4, 2014. It should be noted that the Governor does have the discretion to call a special election anytime between now and November 4, 2014, including holding one on November 5 of this year.”
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Bonus Quote of the Day
“We ought to abolish the IRS and instead move to a simple flat tax, where the average American can fill out our taxes on a postcard.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), in an interview with Fox News, offering his solution to the controversy of the IRS targeting conservatives groups.
Nasty in Virginia
Ken Cuccinelli (R) and Terry McAuliffe (D) are running one of the ugliest campaigns in recent memory, Time reports.
“Not all of the nastiness is the fault of the candidates. Both campaigns have been at the receiving end of two of the most brutal outside opposition research and attack efforts by dueling Super PACs: Democratic-leaning American Bridge and Republican-backing America Rising… Campaigns that once had the ability to control the tone of campaigns, now don’t have a choice. There’s so much mud being thrown now that has to be responded to, it’s hard to drive a positive message.”
Steele Mulls Bid for Maryland Governor
Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele “is weighing a run for Maryland governor, a move that could put him back into the realm of electoral politics,” Huffington Post reports.
Said Steele: “We’re looking at it. You’re gonna take a look at the numbers. Maryland’s a tough state, there are a lot of challenges there.”
The Center Holds
The New York Times reviews Jonathan Alter’s “highly informed, energetically reported but often tiresomely familiar new book,” The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies.
“Read today, much of the material here feels like reheated news.”
Ventura Hints He Could Run for President in 2016
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura (I), “who rarely returns to the Capitol offices he occupied from 1999 to 2003, took the opportunity to say that an independent fellow like him would make an excellent candidate for president in 2016,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
Said Ventura: “”I said that 2016 is an opportune moment because there’ll be no incumbent. I believe one issue that would carry me to victory … I would give the people of America to their first opportunity to elect a president who doesn’t belong to either party, since George Washington.”
Lautenberg’s Seat to be Filled by Special Election
New Jersey voters will have a chance to vote for a successor to Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) — who passed away today — “on Election Day this November, though Gov. Chris Christie could schedule a special election earlier if it is deemed ‘advisable,’ according to New Jersey law,” BuzzFeed reports.
“That will kick New Jersey’s Senate race into high gear in the coming days, particularly on the Democratic side where Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Rep. Frank Pallone, who has not announced his campaign, have for months been prepping for a potentially bruising primary battle.”
Christie is likely to make an interim appointment and, as the Washington Post notes, “could, as is often the case in situations like these, choose to nominate a close ally from his own party.
The GOP Has Lost Young People
The College Republican National Committee released a new postmortem on the November elections which offers a searing indictment of the GOP “brand” and the major challenges the party faces in wooing young voters, Politico reports.
“It’s not a pretty picture. In fact, it’s a ‘dismal present situation,’ the report says.”
Has Obama Gone Off Message?
First Read: “Beginning the sixth month of his second term in office, President Obama today hosts — along with Vice President Biden — a daylong White House conference on mental health. This comes after Friday’s event on student loans, last Tuesday’s trip to New Jersey to talk about rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy, and the even earlier national-security speech at the National Defense University. And these different events raise this question: What is the White House’s overall message? Because right now it’s all over the place. The above events are all worthy, don’t get us wrong. But they seem disconnected from whatever larger narrative the president offered up in January during his inaugural and State of the Union.”
Lautenberg is Dead at 89
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) died at age 89, the New York Times reports.
Lautenberg “died as a result of complications from viral pneumonia at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, his office said. He had decided not to run for another term next year.”
Meltdown at America’s Most Conservative Political Consulting Firm
McKay Coppins has a fascinating look at the collapse of the political consulting firm behind the rise of Rep. Michele Bachmann, Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Ted Cruz.
“This is the headquarters of the largest, most combative, and perhaps
most controversial band of messaging warriors in Republican politics.
Their blandly named company, Strategy Group for Media, has spent a
decade developing a slashing formula for turning the party’s right-wing
rejects into members of Congress. Now there are at least 40 Republicans
in Congress who have worked with the Strategy Group, which serves as a
campaign and strategy clearing house for the uncompromisingly
conservative wing of the congressional caucus that has been at the
center of American politics since 2010.”
