“It’s a little bit like going from the National League to the American League. It’s still politics. But the rules are a little bit different.”
— Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), quoted by the Boston Globe, on moving from the House to the Senate.
Pope Francis’s Lessons for the GOP
John Avlon notes Pope Francis “hasn’t been afraid to challenge the entrenched interests that have sullied his church’s perception. His style of reaching out is just what might save the Republican Party.”
“Much of the modern Republican Party is seems content preaching to a smaller and smaller choir. They seem, unfairly or not, more concerned with the head than the heart. Absolute faith in the power of tax cuts takes the place of alternative plans to alleviate poverty or expand the ranks of the middle class. This is not just a problem with communication; it is a problem with policy content that appeals outside the base.”
As an example, the AP notes Francis “is reaching out to gays, saying he won’t judge priests for their sexual orientation, in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference as he returns from his first foreign trip.”
Said Francis: “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Republicans Are Too Divided to Have a Civil War
Byron York: “It’s more likely that this is just a rocky time for a rejected and confused party. The conflicts inside the GOP today just don’t line up in the configuration of a classic civil war. There are multiple issues involved, and the lawmakers on various sides of various issues don’t lean the same way on each issue. Republicans who are opponents on one issue are allies on another. Looking at the Senate, for example, it’s unlikely that there will be a total civil war between Senate Faction A and Senate Faction B when some members of the opposing factions are united in Faction C, or Faction D, or so on. In other words, it may be that the Republican party is too divided to have a real civil war. Perhaps chaos would be a better description. We’ll know more later.”
Booker Had Heads Up Lautenberg Would Retire
The chief of staff to the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-NJ) told Cory Booker’s staff that his boss would retire and asked Booker to wait before jumping in the U.S. Senate race, the Newark Star Ledger reports.
“The answer was no. And on Dec. 20, Booker all but declared his candidacy for the seat… For that and many other perceived slights, Lautenberg’s family members have not forgiven Booker. They’ve made it clear on the campaign trail by supporting one of Booker’s rivals, Rep. Pallone (D-NJ), in the Aug. 13 Democratic primary, which was called after the senator’s death last month.”
Lawmaker’s Campaign Hit by Bank Fraud
Rep. Kurt Schrader’s (D-OR) campaign account “was hit by what appears to be a case of bank fraud involving about $20,000,” the Oregonian reports.
Said a FEC report: “After extensive review, it is clear there is no wrongdoing by anyone associated with the campaign.”
Radio Broadcaster Will Dump Limbaugh and Hannity
“In a major shakeup for the radio industry, Cumulus Media, the second-biggest broadcaster in the country, is planning to drop both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from its stations at the end of the year,” Politico reports.
“Cumulus has decided that it will not renew its contracts with either host, the source said, a move that would remove the two most highly rated conservative talk personalities from more than 40 Cumulus channels in major markets.”
GOP Senators Rally Around Enzi
Republican senators “are nearly united” in their response to Liz Cheney’s (R) primary challenge to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Politico reports.
“Despite the clout of the Cheney name in Washington, nearly the entire Senate establishment is backing Enzi — moderates, conservatives and the Senate GOP leadership team. And that unity could help Enzi surmount a very bloody fight next year.”
Weiner Paid Private Eye $45K to Investigate Own Lie
Anthony Weiner (D) paid a private investigator “nearly $45,000 in campaign cash to investigate his lie that a hacker posted a crotch shot on his Twitter feed,” the New York Daily News reports.
“Weiner’s brazen attempt to cover his tracks occurred shortly after Memorial Day weekend in 2011, when his first sexting scandal erupted and he went into furious spin control trying to save his career in Congress… Weiner ultimately paid a private investigations firm, T&M Protection services, $43,100 from his campaign fund — knowing nobody hacked anything and that he’d sent the image himself.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“There’s not an action that I take that you don’t have some folks in Congress who say that I’m usurping my authority. Some of those folks think I usurp my authority by having the gall to win the presidency.”
— President Obama, in an interview with the New York Times.
Politics in America 2014
Just published: Politics in America 2014 from CQ Roll Call.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“There’s no reason to be threatening to bring down the government, lets make this work get spending cuts we need but the American people get turned off with the threat of terror politics.”
— Rep. Peter King (R-NY), on CNN, rejecting the GOP plan to shutdown the government over Obamacare funding.
Quote of the Day
“I’ll worry about my legacy later, or I’ll let historians worry about my legacy.”
— President Obama, in an interview with the New York Times.
Top Down
Coming soon: Top Down: A Novel of the Kennedy Assassination by Jim Lehrer.
“As Air Force One touches down in Dallas, ambitious young newspaper reporter Jack Gilmore races to get the scoop on preparations for President Kennedy’s motorcade. Will the bubble top on the presidential limousine be up or down? Down, according to veteran Secret Service agent Van Walters. The decision to leave the top down and expose JFK to fire from above will weigh on Van’s conscience for decades.”
An interesting side note: As a young reporter in Texas, Lehrer actually witnessed the decision to keep the Kennedy car’s top down.
‘Hillary’ the Miniseries
NBC Entertainment announced it is working on a miniseries about Hillary Clinton, played by Diane Lane, “which will follow her from the 1998 period of the Monica Lewinsky scandal through the present day,” Variety reports.
“The role of Bill Clinton has not yet been cast, nor is there a completed script yet… He said the mini would likely air before Hillary Clinton formally declares herself to be a presidential candidate in 2016.”
Gays Arrested in Louisiana Under Invalid Sodomy Law
The Baton Rouge Advocate has found at least a dozen cases where gay men “who merely discussed or agreed to have consensual sex with an undercover agent” have been arrested “based on a part of Louisiana’s anti-sodomy law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court a decade ago.”
Why Americans Still Reject the GOP
Ross Douthat says many Americans may agree with the GOP’s critique of President Obama but still reject the Republican alternative for two key reasons.
“First, while Republicans claim to oppose the ruling class on behalf of the country as a whole, they often seem to be representing an equally narrow set of interest groups — mostly elderly, rural… and well-off. A party that cuts food stamps while voting for farm subsidies or fixates on upper-bracket tax cuts while wages are stagnating isn’t actually offering a libertarian populist alternative to the court party’s corrupt bargains. It’s just offering a different, more Republican-friendly set of buy-offs.”
“Second, as much as Americans may distrust a cronyist liberalism, they prefer it to a conservatism that doesn’t seem interested in governing at all. This explains why Republicans could win the battle for public opinion on President Obama’s first-term agenda without persuading the public to actually vote him out of office. The sense that Obama was at least trying to solve problems, whereas the right offered only opposition, was powerful enough to overcome disappointment with the actual results.”
Weiner’s Campaign Manager Quits
“In a new sign of tumult within Anthony Weiner’s embattled political operation, his campaign manager has quit, leaving his already skeletal team without a day-to-day leader,” the New York Times reports.
“The move suggests that even as Mr. Weiner vows to press ahead with his candidacy, there are mounting doubts about its political viability within his own campaign.”
McDonnell’s Wife Used PAC Money for Clothes
Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell “bought nearly $9,800 in clothing with money from her husband’s political action committee and tapped into his campaign and inaugural funds to buy $7,600 in mostly unspecified items, according to records and a representative for the PAC,” the Washington Post reports.
“The spending is legal under Virginia’s lax campaign finance laws, which prohibit the conversion of political funds for private use only when a PAC or campaign committee disbands — not while it is operating.”
