A new USA Today/Pew Research poll “finds that 55% of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters expect the GOP to do better than it has in recent elections, 33% think it will do about the same, while just 5% say it will do worse. Democrats and Democratic leaners are less confident: 43% say the party will do better than in recent elections, 43% about the same and 9% worse.”
Huckabee Opens Door to 2016 Bid
Mike Huckabee tells the New York Times that he is considering another run for president.
Said Huckabee: “I’m keeping the door open. I think right now the focus needs to be on 2014, but I’m mindful of the fact that there’s a real opportunity for me.”
Huckabee made his case “brandishing a two-page memo about a survey his longtime pollster took earlier this month showing him leading the Republican field in both Iowa and South Carolina.”
Washington Examiner:
“Mike Huckabee … ended his daily radio show heard on 200 stations
across the nation, the first obvious sign that he is considering another
presidential bid in what is shaping up to be a jammed 2016 GOP
primary.”
Tempers Flare in the Senate
“If there is a rock bottom in the frayed relationship between Senate Republicans and Democrats, it seemed uncomfortably close as the final days of 2013 on Capitol Hill degenerated into something like an endurance contest to see who could be the most spiteful,” the New York Times reports.
“As the sun rose on Friday, the Senators had worked through a second straight all-night session — called by Democrats as a way of retaliating for Republicans’ delaying tactics on confirmations — and before the senators headed in for the votes, they were chugging Red Bull or sleeping in their offices, and angrily assigning blame.”
Said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN): “I think it resembles fourth graders playing in a sandbox, and I’ll give the majority leader, Harry Reid, 99 percent of the responsibility for it.”
New Poll Shows Tight Race in Maine
A new Pan Atlantic SMS Group poll in Maine finds Rep. Mike Michaud (D) has a very slim lead over Gov. Paul LePage (R) in the race for governor, 37% to 36%, while independent Eliot Cutler trails with 18%.
Glenn Beck Attacks Boehner, McConnell
Conservative radio host Glenn Beck went off on Republican leadership after the House passed a budget compromise Thursday, calling House Speaker John Boehner “worthless” and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell a “liar,” Politico reports.
Said Beck: “I think John Boehner is one of the prime examples of worthless, worthless Republicans. All these people saying, ‘Hey, the Republicans aren’t as bad,’ no. I think they actually might be worse, because they claim to be something that they’re not.”
Conversation with Stuart Stevens
Stuart Stevens, chief strategist for Mitt Romney in 2012, joins us on the Political Wire podcast for an inside look at a presidential campaign and a candid discussion of what worked and what didn’t. It’s a fascinating discussion.
Listen here:
Subscribe via iTunes or RSS to get episodes automatically or download the episode here.
Thanks to the Cook Political Report for sponsoring this episode and offering listeners a special trial subscription offer.
Lie of the Year
“If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.”
— President Obama, as selected by Politifact.
Coburn Concedes Exchanges Will ‘Work Well’
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), one of the most ardent opponents of Obamacare, admitted that the law’s health insurance exchanges “will work and work well,” Huffington Post reports.
Said Coburn: “I’m not worried about the exchanges. They’ll get that fixed.”
He said the early failures of HealthCare.gov were due to an “incompetency of management” but “will eventually work and work well.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“You still have more freedoms than most here in New Hampshire. I love riding my motorcycle without my helmet. I will tell you that.”
— Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), quoted by Politico.
What Republican Rebound?
The latest Democracy Corps survey “belies the conventional wisdom that Republicans have enjoyed a major rebound over the last few months. On the contrary, our survey of the 50 most competitive Republican House seats and the 30 most competitive Democratic seats shows that there has been no movement. Furthermore, the second tier of less vulnerable Republican target districts has actually destabilized — meaning that there may be more Republican seats up for grabs than many believe right now.”
Is Gregg Planning Another Senate Bid?
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) “is stepping down as the head of Wall Street’s biggest lobbying group,” Bloomberg reports.
“Gregg, 66, was named chief executive officer of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in May. He retired from the Senate in 2011. A New Hampshire Republican, he also served two terms as the state’s governor. The people briefed asked not to be identified because Gregg’s plans haven’t been announced.”
Boehner Blasts Conservative Groups Again
Speaker John Boehner “for the second day in a row used a news conference to air grievances against the conservative outside groups who have sought to strong-arm House Republicans into moving further to the right,” Roll Call reports.
Said Boehner: “Frankly, I think they are misleading their followers. I think they’re pushing our members in places where they don’t want to be, and frankly I just think they’ve lost all credibility.”
He also blamed these groups for forcing Republicans to shut down the government in an ill-fated effort to defund Obamacare.
Christie Complained to Cuomo About Bridge Controversy
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) called New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) this week “to complain about a Cuomo appointee’s handling of a growing controversy over traffic pattern changes on the George Washington Bridge,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Democratic lawmakers in New Jersey have accused Christie appointees of ordering the lane closures to punish Fort Lee’s mayor, Democrat Mark Sokolich, for not endorsing the governor’s re-election campaign. Mr. Christie’s campaign has denied that, and his Port Authority team has said the lanes were closed to study traffic patterns on the bridge.”
All Senate Freshman Have Their Own PACs
Roll Call: “After eleven months as Senators, all twelve Senate freshmen in the 113th Congress now have a registered personal political action committee (PAC) to raise funds and pay for some political activity from an account separate from their campaigns.”
Rouse is Leaving the White House
CNN reports that Pete Rouse is actually leaving his post at White House.
Said a senior official: “He’s said many times that he is leaving. This time, people seem to believe him.”
“Rouse has been one of President Obama’s closest and longest serving aides, in the key advisory role of Counselor to the President. When Obama entered the U.S. Senate in January 2005, Rouse served as his Chief of Staff. When Obama was elected President in 2008, Rouse followed him to the White House, serving as key member of Obama’s his inner circle.”
The New York Times notes Rouse “is the quirky insider who built the Obama organization, hired nearly
everyone from the White House chief of staff on down, plotted strategy
and regularly said he was about to leave.”
Biden Doesn’t Exchange Christmas Gifts with Obama
Vice President Joe Biden told TMZ that he and President Obama do not exchange Christmas gifts.
Said Biden: “We exchange birthday gifts, we don’t exchange Christmas gifts.”
He quickly added, “He gave me a great birthday gift!”
Pollster Urges Democrats to Go On Offense on Obamacare
Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg – having just done extensive polling in 86 competitive House districts — is advising Democrats they should go on offense over the Affordable Care Act, Greg Sargent reports.
The key finding: “Even though voters in the battlegrounds have extreme doubts about the law, they still prefer implementing it to the GOP stance of repeal. And after a month of crushingly awful press for Obamacare, opinions on this matter in the battlegrounds have barely budged since October.”
Wonk Wire: An Obamacare deadline that could be hard to meet.
Quote of the Day
“It’s too bad the election isn’t today.”
— Ann Romney, quoted by USA Today.
