Aaron Goldfarb notes that “if I lived in Alaska, Kentucky, or South Carolina, I wouldn’t be allowed to imbibe whatsoever because alcohol cannot be served on Election Day until the polls close. (This is still a relic of a century ago when bars actually served as polling centers.)”
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Huckabee Mulling Another White House Bid
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) “is again looking at another bid for the presidency, this time backed by ministers eager to put an evangelical into the White House,” the Washington Examiner reports.
“Huckabee will test the waters when he returns home to Little Rock December 12-13 to address the Arkansas Renewal Project, part of evangelical organizer David Lane’s American Renewal Project… Among the potential candidates looking at a GOP bid, Huckabee is closest to the pastors. He is a social conservative who can quote the Bible as easy as former President Bill Clinton.”
“According to reports, pastors from Iowa and South Carolina–two key political states early in the GOP primary season–are meeting with Huckabee during the convention to urge him to run.”
Paul Says Wife Is Against 2016 Bid
When asked if he was running for president in 2016, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he had to convince his wife first, ABC News reports.
Said Paul: “Where’s my cellphone? Can I call my wife? There’s two votes in my family. My wife has both of them, and both of them are ‘no’ votes right now.”
He added: “If I’m a very able politician, I’ll tell you in a year whether I’m able to persuade my wife. Right now, I don’t know yet, but I thank you for your interest.”
Gillibrand Makes Waves in the Senate
The New York Times profiles Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), noting how she challenged Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), one of the most powerful men in the Senate, to support her bill to address sexual assault in the military.
“She defies her party in smaller ways: After a bipartisan farm bill was cobbled together with great effort by her colleague Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Ms. Gillibrand tried to block cuts to food stamps that other Democrats said were needed to retain Republican support and brought in high-profile foodies from New York, including the celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, to fight it.”
“Her other tactics include cornering colleagues on the Senate floor and refusing to stop talking, and popping out a news release picking apart a senator’s competing legislation as it is being announced.”
White House Pushes Back on Sebelius Report
The White House on Friday criticized as misleading a report claiming that President Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius met just once since the signing of the Affordable Care Act more than three years ago, Politico reports.
Said press secretary Jay Carney: “The published report that was written by an advocate is based on a ridiculously false premise. Cabinet secretaries don’t regularly get entered into the White House visitors logs, [though] they come frequently. Kathleen Sebelius comes frequently, and she meets frequently with the president.”
Cochran Will Run for Re-Election
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) has decided to seek re-election and is expected to
announce that decision shortly, Roll Call reports.
The incumbent will likely
face a competitive primary election against state Sen. Chris McDaniel (R).
Flashback Quote of the Day
“If cops are not doing stop-and-frisk, they are not doing their jobs. It
is a basic, fundamental tool of police work in the whole country. If you
do away with stop-and-frisk, this city will go down the chute as fast
as anything you can imagine.”
— New York City police chief designate William Bratton, quoted by the New Yorker in May, expressing very different views than Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio.
Obama Rarely Met with Sebelius
Politico notes that with so much riding on the line with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, “one would assume” President Obama “held weekly, if not daily, one-on-one meetings with his Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to isolate problems, challenge assumptions, apply executive pressure where needed and successfully manage a project of scale.”
“A new Government Accountability Institute (GAI) analysis finds that from July 12, 2010, to Nov. 30, 2013, the president’s public schedule records zero one-on-one meetings between Obama and Sebelius. Equally shocking, over the same period, the president’s calendar lists 277 private meetings with his other Cabinet secretaries (excluding full Cabinet meetings).”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Let me explain it this way, Joel, and you might feel the same way. When I find out my wife’s been shopping at a home improvement store, I get nervous. I wonder what ideas are going on in her pretty little head and ‘What’s it going to cost me?'”
— North Dakota State Sen. Dwight Cook (R), in an interview on KFGO.
Will Democrats Force Another Fiscal Showdown?
Charlie Cook: “Democrats may be counting on Republicans to engage in more self-destructive behavior when government funding expires in mid-January and the debt ceiling expires in February. But it looks increasingly likely that Republicans will go along with a deal, averting a spending/debt-ceiling crisis, and not repeat the disaster of this fall. Avoiding such a fight would keep most of the public’s focus on Obamacare, and, in Republicans’ eyes, give them the gift that will keep on giving. At this point, that doesn’t appear to be an unrealistic expectation.”
“But what will happen next? A jaded observer might suggest that certain Senate Democrats may try to move the goalposts of a budget deal, pushing for additional Republican concessions to the point that House Speaker John Boehner can’t deliver enough of the hard-liners in his caucus, thus creating a repeat of last fall’s showdown. Of course, that is a highly cynical view, but it does not seem implausible that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid might try such a strategy. The catch is whether Democrats could potentially sabotage a budget deal without leaving any incriminating fingerprints.”
On the Wrong Side of History
First Read: “But as universally praised and beloved as Mandela is now, anyone who was politically aware in the 1980s or 1990s knows that always wasn’t the case. After all, in 1986, President Ronald Reagan vetoed legislation — which Congress overrode — punishing South Africa for its racial apartheid. A lot of it had to do with Cold War mentality at the time; some viewed Mandela as on the wrong side of that fight. But it’s all a reminder how the passage of time and history can transform a one-time controversial figure into a political saint, and vice-versa. But it’s also a lesson that sometimes a policy of the moment will end up being embarrassing; politicians today ought to think about what a policy decision in the moment will look like a generation later.”
The Romney Family Table
Just published: The Romney Family Table by Ann Romney.
Republicans Turn Focus to Detroit
Detroit Free Press:
“Today, Detroit has the eye of the Republican Party. This morning, the
state Republican Party will open an African American Engagement Office
as part of a nationwide effort to reach out to black voters. Then, U.S.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. — expected by many to run for president in 2016 —
will outline a plan to the Detroit Economic Club to get the bankrupt
city back on its feet by slashing taxes. Along with a grassroots event
featuring Paul at Grace Bible Chapel on Oakman, the moves are designed
to help support a Republican plan to connect with minority voters who
widely rejected the party in last year’s presidential election.”
Brown Says No Timetable for Senate Decision
Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) was in New Hampshire last night but kept dodging the question of whether he would run for Senate from that state, the Londonberry Patch reports.
Said Brown: “I don’t think anything’s off the table at this point. I’m in no hurry, there’s no timetable.”
Meanwhile, a video caught Brown showing he wasn’t even sure what state he was in.
Politico: “Scott Brown: Where am I?”
Democrats Blast Third Way
“Several House Democrats are feeling heat for their connections to a centrist think tank that has called for cuts to federal entitlements, highlighting fissures within the Democratic Party over the direction of economic policy,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The lawmakers are being criticized by progressive groups due to their association with Third Way, a centrist think tank whose positions on issues are more conservative than those in the Democratic base. For instance, Third Way advocates some cuts to entitlement programs to help shrink the federal deficit.”
Obama Won’t Pick Between Clinton and Biden
President Obama stayed neutral about his possible successor, saying both Vice President Biden and former secretary of State Hillary Clinton “would make outstanding presidents,” The Hill reports.
Asked to “compare and contrast” the pair’s presidential attributes, Obama said there was “not a chance am I going there.”
He added: “They’ve got different strengths, but both of them would be outstanding.”
Obama Says Republicans Should Be Embarrassed
President Obama told Chris Matthews that Republicans ought to be “embarrassed” of their record low productivity during their time in charge of the House of Representatives.
Said Obama: “They’ve got to be embarrassed. Because the truth of the matter is they’ve now been in charge of the House of Representatives – one branch or one chamber in one branch of government – for a couple of years now. They just don’t have a lot to show for it.”
Quote of the Day
“I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set. And so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him.”
— President Obama, quoted by the Washington Post.
