BuzzFeed: “Jeb Bush’s decision to forego this summer’s Iowa Straw Poll has roiled many conservatives in the state, but that snub might only be the beginning: According to three sources with knowledge of Bush’s campaign strategy, the likely Republican presidential candidate does not plan to seriously contest the first-in-the-nation caucuses — and may ultimately skip the state altogether.”
Kasich Says He Doesn’t Need to Study Foreign Policy
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said he “doesn’t need to go to other countries to learn about foreign policy like some candidates,” the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Said Kasich: “I have a lot of people that I talk to (about foreign policy) but I’m not a student. I’m not being tutored anywhere. I’m not going to fly to, you know, London to go get some education or something.”
Jeb Bush Struggles to be His Own Man
Jeb Bush “is struggling to navigate his relationship with George W. Bush and his legacy. He has fumbled the most basic, predictable questions about the Iraq war — while behind the scenes, he has assured skeptical conservatives that he draws wisdom and important counsel from the former president,” the New York Times reports.
“The uneasiness stems in part from the two men’s awkward relationship, which was never close and was often competitive. But it also reflects Mr. Bush’s challenge in trying to deal with a fractured electorate in which some conservatives cling to the former president, but he remains a focus of anger across much of the rest of the political spectrum.”
Washington Post: “The stumbles mark the toughest period yet for Bush’s still-undeclared campaign and have lit a fire under his likely GOP opponents, many of whom have happily proclaimed that they would not have authorized the Iraq invasion under those conditions. Many conservative leaders and pundits are also lacerating Bush as appearing unprepared to address an obvious topic and are casting him as a tone-deaf relic of the GOP elite. “
O’Mally Will Announce on May 30
Martin O’Malley (D), “who has been ramping up for a potential White House bid, plans to make an announcement about his political future on May 30 in Baltimore,” the Washington Post reports.
“O’Malley, who is widely expected to run for the Democratic nomination, will tell donors and other supporters about the announcement in a conference call scheduled for Thursday night… The aides expect O’Malley to say he is inclined to run but to remain somewhat circumspect about his intentions. Were he to tell them outright that he plans to enter the race, he could trigger a 15-day window that would require him to file candidacy papers before May 30.”
Bush Slips and Says He’s Running for President
Jeb Bush “appears to have unintentionally announced his candidacy for president in 2016 in a conversation with reporters on Wednesday that was caught on video,” Reuters reports.
Said Bush: “I’m running for president in 2016, and the focus is going to be about how we, if I run, how do you create high sustained economic growth.”
Just after those comments he quickly clarified that he had not made up his mind.
Grayson Flips Out Over Disclosure of Offshore Investments
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), “the outspoken, populist Democrat who thunders against Wall Street fat cats,and used to to joke about Mitt Romney’s low tax bill, incorporated a couple hedge funds in the Cayman Islands so investors could avoid taxes,” the Tampa Bay Times reports.
But he wasn’t happy when asked about it by a reporter.
Said Grayson: “Are you fucking kidding? I set up a fund that might solicit foreign investors….I have no present intention of soliciting foreign investors. Your perception issue is bullshit. This is even worse than Grayson’s girlfriend might run for congress 18 months from now. This is a whole nother level of bullshit. Are are you some kind of shitting robot? You go around shitting on on people?”
He added that every time “some bullshit artist calls you up and tries to stick a knife in my gut” makes him more inclined to run for U.S. Senate.
O’Malley Seeks Warren Supporters
Martin O’Malley “has a message for progressives clamoring for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s entry into the presidential race: she’s not running, but I am,” Politico reports.
“As part of an effort to position himself as the most viable candidate challenging Hillary Clinton from the left, O’Malley traveled to New York City Monday night for an off-the-record meeting with about 30 progressive influencers and academics handpicked to meet with him by his team.”
Bush Rivals Answer Questions About Iraq
As Jeb Bush continues to struggle with whether he would have made the same decision as his brother did to invade Iraq, his likely rivals for the GOP presidential nomination are much clearer.
Sen. Ted Cruz to The Hill: “Knowing what we know now, of course we wouldn’t go into Iraq.”
Gov. John Kasich to the Columbus Dispatch: “If the question is, if there were not weapons of mass destruction should we have gone, the answer would’ve been no.”
Gov. Chris Christie to CNN: “I don’t think you can honestly say that if we knew then that there was no WMD that the country should have gone to war.”
Will the GOP Allow Donald Trump to Debate?
“Having Donald Trump on the Republican debate stage come August, which is when the first presidential debate is scheduled, would be a total nightmare for the Republican party,” according to The Fix.
“Here’s why: Donald Trump will say almost anything to get a rise out of people. He is in the entertainment business, a professional provocateur of some renown. The business he is not in, of course, is politics.”
“Trump has the potential to blow up those well-laid plans. He will interrupt, bully and seek to dominate the debate in ways that will make it impossible to get a word in edge-wise. And, if past is prologue, the sorts of things he does say when he gains control of the debate floor will be stuff that appeals heavily to the Republican base and turns off, well, almost everyone else.”
Senate Leaders Reach Deal on ‘Fast Track’ Powers
Senate leaders reached an agreement to revive a bill that would provide fast-track trade-negotiation powers to President Obama, “one day after the chamber’s Democrats blocked the measure in a stinging defeat for the administration,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
New York Times: “Under the deal, the Senate would vote first on a trade enforcement bill that includes new remedies to counter currency manipulation by trading partners. The Senate would then begin debate on trade promotion authority, which would allow the Obama administration to complete negotiations on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, knowing Congress can accept or reject the accord, but would not be able to amend it.”
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Walker Still Tops GOP Presidential Race
A new Public Policy Polling national survey continues to find Scott Walker leading the GOP presidential field, “but it’s tightly clustered and his support has actually dropped two consecutive surveys now.”
“Walker’s at 18% to 13% for Marco Rubio, 12% each for Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee, 11% for Jeb Bush, 10% for Ted Cruz, 9% for Rand Paul, 5% for Chris Christie, and 2% for Rick Perry. This is the third national poll in a row where we’ve found Walker ahead but he was at 25% in late February and declined to 20% and now 18% on the two subsequent surveys.”
On the Democratic side Hillary Clinton leads with 63% to 13% for Bernie Sanders, 6% for Jim Webb, 5% for Lincoln Chafee, and 2% for Martin O’Malley.
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“They’re getting the taste of the same medicine that we’ve been getting for many years”
— Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), on CNBC, saying that Democrats opposed to President Obama’s free trade agreement are finding out how difficult it is to compromise with him.
White House Wants Apology from Sherrod Brown
The White House said it expects Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to apologize for calling President Obama’s criticism of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sexist, The Hill reports.
Said press secretary Josh Ernest: “I’m confident after he has gotten a chance to take a look at the comments he made yesterday that he’ll find a way to apologize.”
10 Lawmakers Took Trip Secretly Funded by Azerbaijan
“The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference at Baku on the Caspian Sea in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members… Three former top aides to President Obama appeared as speakers at the conference,” the Washington Post reports.
“Lawmakers and their staff members received hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of travel expenses, silk scarves, crystal tea sets and Azerbaijani rugs valued at $2,500 to $10,000, according to the ethics report. Airfare for the lawmakers and some of their spouses cost $112,899, travel invoices show.”
Hillary In 1979
BuzzFeed dug up a must-watch interview with Hillary Clinton from 1979, just after Bill Clinton became governor of Arkansas
“The interview covers how the Clintons compromised on her dual roles in her career and as first lady and how they traded the exposure of being a public couple but guarded their private life. She talked about her and Bill’s youth being an asset, and discussed wanting to have children (this interview took place before Chelsea was born).”
The Democrats Are a Mess Too
New York Times Magazine: “For all the much-discussed ailments of the Republican Party — its failure to win the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections; the corrosive bickering between its mainstream and its Tea Party stalwarts; and the plummeting number of Americans who identify themselves as Republicans — the inescapable reality is that the Democrats have fallen into a ditch arguably as deep and dismal as the one Republicans have dug for themselves.”
“The Democrats lost their majority in the Senate last November; to regain it, they will need to pick up five additional seats (or four if there’s a Democratic vice president who can cast the tiebreaking vote), and nonpartisan analysts do not rate their chances as good. The party’s situation in the House is far more dire. Only 188 of the lower chamber’s 435 seats are held by Democrats. Owing in part to the aggressiveness of Republican-controlled State Legislatures that redrew numerous congressional districts following the 2010 census, few believe that the Democratic Party is likely to retake power until after the next census in 2020, and even then, the respected political analyst Charles Cook rates the chances of the Democrats’ winning the House majority by 2022 as a long shot at best.”
“Things get even worse for the Democrats further down the political totem pole. Only 18 of the country’s 50 governors are Democrats. The party controls both houses in only 11 State Legislatures. Not since the Hoover Administration has the Democratic Party’s overall power been so low.”
McCain Turns on Kerry
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who praised John Kerry’s nomination as Secretary of State and raved about his “exemplary statesmanship” and “indefatigable persistence,” is now one of Kerry’s biggest critics, Politico reports.
In recent months McCain has branded Kerry a “human wrecking ball,” urged him to “recognize reality,” called him “delusional” and said he has “accomplished nothing except mileage as secretary of state.” Last month, for good measure, he suggested that he considers Iran’s Supreme Leader a more believable source on the nuclear talks than Kerry.
