“As he seeks to extend the discussion about a possible candidacy for mayor — and shift attention away from the online sex-messaging scandal that cost him his Congressional seat — Anthony D. Weiner released a 21-page policy booklet on Sunday that he described as a blueprint for keeping New York City ‘the capital of the middle class,'” the New York Times reports.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t know. You’ll have to call all the people who’ve written these books about me, who claim they know me, the psycho-babblers.”
— George W. Bush, in an interview with the Dallas Morning News, when asked why he’s taken up painting since his retirement from politics.
Miller Gears Up for Another Senate Bid
Joe Miller (R), the tea-party-backed Alaska Republican who lost a 2010 Senate race, announced that he is launching an exploratory committee as he considers another Senate campaign, Roll Call reports.
Many Republicans Once Favored Gun Control
Peter Beinhart: “Every now and then I encounter some random piece of historical trivia and I remember: the Republican Party used to be sane. The last such epiphany occurred when I was researching the assault-weapons ban, which first passed the Senate in 1993. Scanning the roll call, I noticed an odd letter–‘R’–next to some of the senators who had voted yes. Overall, 10 Republicans voted for the assault-weapons ban back then, almost a quarter of the GOP caucus. Today, by contrast, not a single Republican senator supports such a ban. Even the Obama administration’s less controversial proposal for background checks faces overwhelming GOP opposition. Today, in fact, most Senate Republicans don’t merely oppose new gun-control legislation; they oppose even holding a vote.”
Rubio Takes a Big Risk
On Tuesday, the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” is set to unveil a proposal that would represent the most far-reaching overhaul of immigration laws since 1986, the Washington Post reports.
“But in many ways, the senators’ negotiations, behind the scenes and in public, have hinged on a party of one.” Sen. Marco Rubio “has been considered the most crucial player all along… By joining the cause, the potential 2016 presidential candidate has set himself down a politically risky path — one that could pay big dividends but is likely to become even more treacherous after details of the bill become public.”
The Cloakroom: Rubio launches his campaign.
Venezuela Picks Chavez Successor
“In an unexpectedly close race, Venezuelans narrowly voted to continue Hugo Chávez’s revolution, electing his handpicked political heir, Nicolás Maduro, to serve the remainder of his six-year term as president,” the New York Times reports.
“But the thin margin of victory could complicate the task of governing for Mr. Maduro, emboldening the political opposition and possibly undermining Mr. Maduro’s stature within Mr. Chávez’s movement.”
The Washington Post notes that polls conducted days before the vote showed Maduro with a
double-digit lead.
Illinois GOP Chief Survives Another Ouster Attempt
Illinois Republican party chairman Pat Brady “emerged from another ouster attempt” and said his party “must be more welcoming of diversity and inclusive of people who disagree if it’s going to grow and win future elections,” the AP reports.
More conservative members have been trying to oust Brady for months, “largely because he took a position in favor of gay marriage when a bill to legalize it was before the Legislature earlier this year.”
Rifts Threaten Gun Background Check Legislation
“Deep divisions within both parties over a bipartisan measure to extend background checks for gun buyers are threatening its chances as the Senate this week begins debating the first broad gun control legislation in nearly 20 years,” the New York Times reports.
Some Democrats “who are facing re-election next year in conservative states have already said they will not vote for the background check measure… Republicans, in the meantime, are bitterly torn between moderates who feel pressure to respond to polls showing a majority of Americans in support of some new gun regulations and conservatives who are deeply opposed to them.”
However, the Washington Post reports that the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms — which calls
itself the second-largest gun rights organization in the country — broke with the NRA to endorse the background check bill.
Alaska Republican Leader Removed
“The head of the Alaska Republican party was ousted from her post and a public feud raged on this week between state party traditionalists and Tea Party loyalists allied variously with Sarah Palin and Ron Paul,” Reuters reports.
Debbie Brown “was the second GOP chief ousted this year in sparsely populated Alaska, where big personalities can be just as powerful politically as ideology.”
On Virtues
In the mail: On Virtues: Quotations and Insight to Live a Full, Honorable, and Truly American Life by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).
Top Iowa Republicans Unlikely to Run for Harkin’s Seat
Iowa Republican party insider Doug Gross tells the Des Moines Register that the three Republicans considered to be among the GOP’s best options for U.S. Senate won’t end up running.
Gross said he doesn’t expect Rep. Steve King (R-IA) to enter the race against Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) to replace retiring Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) in 2014. And he’s skeptical that Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) or Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey (R) will run either.
Said Gross: “So I don’t think we know who the candidate is going to be right now.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I mean, first of all, I think Jay-Z needs to get informed. One of his heroes is Che Guevara. Che Guevara was a racist. Che Guevara was a racist that wrote extensively about the superiority of white Europeans over people of African descent, so he should inform himself on the guy that he’s propping up.”
— Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), in an interview on ABC News.
Exchange of the Day
Candy Crowley, to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) via Mike Allen: “You seem to be the go-to guy for this Gang of Eight. Do you think this would help or hurt Marco Rubio if he, perhaps, ran for president in 2016?”
Rubio: “You know, I haven’t even thought about it in that way …”
Crowley: “Seriously, Senator?”
Rubio: “… I really haven’t. I have a job. My belief has always been that if I do my job and I do my job well, I’ll have options and opportunities in the future to do things — whether it’s run for reelection, run for something else or give someone else a chance at public service. And that’s how I view this issue.”
Brown Mum on Possible Bid from New Hampshire
Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) wasn’t willing to talk on Fox News Sunday about making a possible Senate run in New Hampshire.
Said Brown: “I’m not going to comment on that, obviously. Nothing is off the table, and nothing is on the table. Right now I’m recharging the batteries and working hard.”
SNL on the Gun Control Deal
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) provide the perfect script to open Saturday Night Live.
Quote of the Day
“In the age of constant communications, our politics has devolved to the point that political rehab is now the norm.”
— Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, quoted by Politico, adding that “there is no distinction between private and public life… everything is public.”
Obama Weighs Options as Agenda Sits in Congress
President Obama’s “ability to secure the three high-profile legislative items now confronting Congress — gun-control measures, reform of the immigration system and his long-term budget priorities — is likely to determine his domestic legacy,” the Washington Post reports.
Obama’s plan now is to ensure that as much of his politically challenging agenda as possible is enacted, after months of effort to frame the policies for the American public and, perhaps more important, for the House and Senate. Each of the issues that Obama is pursuing is being managed independently by the second-term White House team — an improvisational strategy that is testing the president’s ability to calibrate when to get involved and when to stay out of the way.”
However, administration officials “acknowledge that only immigration
legislation has a chance of resembling Obama’s ideal bill once it
emerges from the Democratic-run Senate and the Republican-controlled
House.”
Democrats Face Attacks Over Obama’s Budget Proposal
“Whether or not Republicans ever agree to a budget deal with President Obama, one thing seems certain: now that he has officially put Social Security and Medicare benefits on the negotiating table, opponents on his party’s left will make that an issue for Democrats in the midterm elections next year — and perhaps in the 2016 presidential contest,” the New York Times reports.
“In the midterm races already taking shape, Democrats who back Mr. Obama’s budget proposals to trim future benefits as part of a long-term deficit-reduction compromise could be attacked from the left and the right.”
The Hill: “A growing number of House Democrats are concerned that President Obama’s proposal to cut Social Security benefits will haunt the party at the polls in 2014.”
Robert Shrum: “The Republican jeremiads were expected–but why can’t liberals see the sense in the president’s not-at-all draconian budget proposals?”
