Jon Stewart comments on President Obama’s handshake with Cuban President Raul Castro.
First Read: “But here’s probably the best way to view it: Would you greet (or shake hands with) an estranged family member at a memorial service for a loved one? Or do you go out of your way to snub that person? In other words, is that day about you and your conflict? Or about that loved one who’s being memorialized lying in a casket?”
“When you dent a president on honesty and straightforwardness, you have done major damage that can be difficult and time-consuming to repair.”
— GOP pollster Bill McInturf, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, noting “a clear parallel to sentiment toward President George W. Bush at the same point in his second term.”
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds the federal health-care law “is becoming a heavier political burden for President Barack Obama and his party, despite increased confidence in the economy and the public’s own generally upbeat sense of well-being.”
“Disapproval of Mr. Obama’s job performance hit an all-time high in the poll, at 54%, amid the flawed rollout of the health law. Half of those polled now consider the law a bad idea, also a record high.”
Said pollster Fred Yang: “The president is being weighed down by one issue, his health-care law. It’s probably fair to say that as goes health care, so goes the Obama presidency for the next year.”
The Fix: “After weeks filled with nothing but bad news for President Obama, there have been some reasons for optimism in recent days. But even if Obama has moved past the lowest low of his presidency, there is no way around the reality that his image has been badly damaged since he triumphed at the polls last fall.”
Wonk Wire: Views of Obamacare improve slightly.
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) walked out of Nelson Mandela’s memorial service when Cuban President Raul Castro gave a speech, ABC News reports.
Said a spokeswoman: “Sen. Cruz very much hopes that Castro learns the lessons of Nelson Mandela. For decades, Castro has wrongly imprisoned and tortured countless innocents. Just as Mandela was released after 27 years in prison, Castro should finally release his political prisoners. He should hold free elections, and once and for all, set the Cuban people free.”
Presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin joins us on the Political Wire podcast for a terrific conversation about her new book, The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism.
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Katherine Clark (D) handily defeated Frank Addivinola (R) in Massachusetts’ 5th District special election to fill the seat left vacant by Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Roll Call reports.
Smart Politics notes it’s the 92nd consecutive House loss for Republicans in the state.
Roll Call: “House and Senate negotiators have unveiled their budget blueprint to partially undo the sequester, but ardent defenders of 2011’s automatic spending cuts sought to undercut the agreement even before it was announced.”
A new Bloomberg poll finds President Obama getting little credit for economic progress under his watch as his job approval has plummeted to a new low of 42%.
Key findings: Americans by 50% to 45% say improvements in the unemployment rate would have happened regardless of anything the Obama administration has done. 60% say he isn’t responsible for a turnaround in housing and 64% don’t give him credit for surging stock prices.
“House and Senate negotiators are on the verge of announcing a budget agreement that would avert a government shutdown and bring a rare dose of stability to Congress’s fiscal policy-making over the next two years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
The WSJ also has a good Q&A on the budget deal.
A new Quinnipiac poll finds President Obama’s job approval among American voters has dropped to a new low, a negative 38% to 57%.
Republicans lead by 41% to 38% in the generic congressional ballot, the first time they’ve led all year.
Said pollster Tim Malloy: “A rousing chorus of Bah! Humbug! for President Barack Obama as American voters head into the holidays with little charitable to say about the president. President Obama could be pretty lonely during his last two years in office if voters decide they want Republican majorities in the House and Senate.”
However, a new Pew Research survey finds Obama’s approval rising slightly to 45% to 49%, reversing a six-month slide.
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) in a toss up with all of her potential Republican opponents.
She leads Thom Tillis (R) 44% to 42%, is tied with both Heather Grant (R) and Mark Harris (R) at 43%, and trails both Greg Brannon (R) and Bill Flynn (R) 45% to 43%.
Coming on DVD next month: Inequality for All, the excellent documentary from Robert Reich.
“Neville Chamberlain shook hands with Hitler.”
— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quoted by Public Radio International, on President Obama shaking hands with Cuban President Raul Castro.
“A divided U.S. Senate confirmed Washington lawyer Patricia Millett to serve on a powerful U.S. appeals court, the first Obama administration nominee to receive approval since Democrats last month made controversial changes to Senate rules,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The 56-38 vote showed partisan divisions remain deep after Democrats changed rules to eliminate filibusters on most nominations. The move came after Republicans blocked votes on Ms. Millett and two other nominees for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, considered one of the nation’s most influential because it considers lawsuits challenging major federal rules and regulations.”
Avik Roy: “Is the Republican nominee for president in 2016 really going to
run on a platform of taking health coverage away from 24 million
Americans? Especially after the Republicans ran in 2014 on ensuring that
Americans can keep their health plans?”
First Read looks at Rep. Steve Stockman’s surprise announcement last night that he’ll challenge Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in a Republican Senate primary next year.
“One can’t help but wonder if this primary challenge is more about Stockman trying to list build for his various political businesses than it is about winning. In a lot of ways, Stockman reminds us of JD Hayworth, who challenged John McCain in 2010 — he’s someone who can get 35%-40% of the vote, but probably can’t take down Cornyn. But what Stockman DOES do, which is what Matt Bevin does to Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, is freeze the Senate GOP leadership from doing anything that remotely looks like compromising with the Democrats. McConnell and Cornyn are essentially non-players in the Senate until they get past these challenges.”
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Michigan finds Gov. Rick Snyder (R) leading challenger Mark Schauer (D) in the race for governor, 44% to 40%, with 16% still undecided.
In the U.S. Senate race, Terri Lynn Land (R) leads Gary Peter (D), 42% to 40%.
President Obama “shook the hand of Cuban President Raul Castro at Nelson Mandela’s memorial service — the first time the leaders of the two countries long at odds have had any contact,” McClatchy reports.
“The brief greeting came as Obama made his way to the podium, past the VIP seating section of the soccer stadium. Castro appeared to speak to Obama, who acknowledged Castro and the encounter left Castro beaming, even as Obama moved over to warmly greet Brazil’s president, Dilma Rouseff with a kiss on the cheek.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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