Michael Tomasky: “Yes, Republicans have been in disarray, too, from time to time–the low points of the Iraq War, Katrina, and just last month during the government shutdown. But for a variety of reasons, the 24-7 news cycle era has found Dems in disarray to be a far more potent story line than Republicans in disarray. It’s alliterative, for starters. And it has been, I readily concede, legitimately true at times. Plus, Fox, for many years, drove the agenda that the other cable nets swallowed hook, line, and sinker. MSNBC has been a liberal pushback channel only for five years or so, or less than half the life span of the 24-7 cycle. (Remember when Tucker Carlson was an MSNBC host?) And Republicans have tended to have tougher game faces, march more in lockstep, and not concede those crucial rhetorical inches that Democrats so often feel compelled to grant.”
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Still Locked in the Cabinet
“Sixteen years ago, president Bill Clinton’s secretary of labor, Robert Reich, summed up the frustrations of adjusting to life in the Cabinet, where even a close personal relationship with the president, dating to their Oxford days, didn’t spare him from being bossed around by arrogant West Wing nobodies,” Politico writes.
“Two presidents later, the Cabinet is a swarm of 23 people that includes 15 secretaries and eight other Cabinet-rank officers. And yet never has the job of Cabinet secretary seemed smaller. The staffers who rule Obama’s West Wing often treat his Cabinet as a nuisance: At the top of the pecking order are the celebrity power players, like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to be warily managed; at the bottom, what they see as a bunch of well-intentioned political naifs only a lip-slip away from derailing the president’s agenda.”
Trust Problems Threaten Obama Legacy
Washington Post: “Many second-term presidents run into trust problems, but in important ways the problem Obama now faces is more pressing. Honesty goes to the rationale for his election and to the core of his philosophy that government is something to be trusted, not feared or ridiculed as his political opponents claim.”
It Could Get Worse for Democrats
Stu Rothenberg says Democrats are right to worry about recent polls showing a sharp drop in President Obama’s approval rating.
“It would be surprising if other national surveys conducted over the next few weeks don’t show the same trend. The media’s reporting on each survey tends to have a cumulative impact, as if each poll is finding something new.”
“Of course, each is simply reporting on the same development, but the repeated drumbeat about the president’s weaker standing adds to the buzz about Obama’s problems. That’s exactly what happened to President George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina and the economy’s plunge undermined his standing.”
Ford Did Drugs and Partied with a Prostitute
A police report says Toronto Mayor Rob Ford “snorted cocaine, swilled vodka, popped a dose of Oxycontin and partied with an apparent prostitute during an all-night binge last year that raved from his office to a private room in a Toronto bar and back,” the Toronto Star reports.
Obama Campaign Manager Will Back Clinton
Jim Messina and John Podesta, top former aides to Barack Obama and Bill Clinton respectively, “are currently in talks to co-chair a board backing Hillary Clinton — a plan that, should it come to fruition, would be a dramatic early symbol of party unity behind the former secretary of state,” Ruby Cramer reports.
Obama Renews Immigration Push as Doubts Emerge
The White House “is intensifying its push to get an immigration overhaul through Congress this year, but House Speaker John Boehner cast new doubt Wednesday about the prospects for quick action,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“President Obama brainstormed at the White House Wednesday with religious leaders over how to persuade House Republicans to move on the issue… But Mr. Boehner said House lawmakers wouldn’t vote on any immigration bills while Republicans work on ‘principles’ behind legislation. Many advocates for an immigration overhaul read the Ohio Republican’s announcement as a setback.”
Democrats Threaten to Abandon Obama on Health Law
“Anxious congressional Democrats are threatening to abandon President Obama on a central element of his signature health care law, voicing increasing support for proposals that would allow Americans to retain the health insurance coverage they are losing because of the Affordable Care Act,” the New York Times reports.
“The dissent comes as a vote looms Friday in the Republican-controlled House on a bill that would allow Americans to keep their existing health coverage through 2014 without penalties.”
Ezra Klein: “The Affordable Care Act’s political position has deteriorated dramatically over the last week.”
Democrats Lose Edge in Generic Ballot
A new Quinnipiac poll finds voters evenly divided on whether they would vote for a Democrat or a Republican in their Congressional district, 39% to 39%.
Democrats held a 9 point edge in early October.
Voters still disapprove of Republicans in Congress, 73% to 20%, more than they disapprove of Democrats, 62% to 30%.
On Wonk Wire
Some great clicks over at Wonk Wire:
- Budget Negotiations Already in Trouble
- Predicting Economic Recovery in 2014
- Can Obamacare Survive More Bad News?
- Justifying the Early 2016 Speculation
- Latest Obamacare Glitch: Real Possibility It Won’t Work by End of November
- Key Environmental Policy is Damaging the Environment
- Obamacare Battle Centers on Fear it Will Take Hold
Congress is as Polarized as Ever
National Journal: “If you’re looking for a quick fact to explain congressional gridlock,
it’s this: In the 113th Congress, only 59 members have voted with the
majority of their party less than 90 percent of the time (20 Republicans
and 39 Democrats).”
Boehner Draws Hard Line on Immigration Reform
House Speaker John Boehner “says he will not allow any House-passed immigration legislation to be blended with the Senate’s sweeping reform bill, further quashing the chances of comprehensive immigration reform legislation being signed into law anytime soon,” NBC News reports.
Said Boehner: “We have no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate bill.”
More Chatter Suggests Bush May Run in 2016
Morning Money: “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gets all the love as the current GOP front-runner for 2016 (to the extent there can even be a front runner three years out.) But there is growing chatter in elite New York financial circles that former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is giving more serious consideration to getting in the race, especially if it appears at any point that Christie is not drawing big national appeal beyond the northeast. Several plugged in GOP sources said Bush has moved from almost certainly staying out to a 30 percent chance of getting in. The ’70/30′ odds pop up in so many conversations they almost seem like circulated talking points.”
McConnell Only Wants to Talk About Obamacare
In a candid moment, Sen. McConnell (R-KY) told reporters that Obamacare was all that he wanted to discuss at a press conference, WFPL reports.
Said McConnell: “I’m probably not going to be answering questions about anything else, but I’m happy to respond to questions about Obamacare. As some of you have complained from time to time that I don’t do a stake out after every event and I’m not going to do a stake out after every event because as you can imagine I prefer the news of that day to be what I’d like for it to be rather than what you all may be interested in pursuing.”
Wonk Wire: Can Obamacare survive more bad news?
Shutdown was Key Factor in Virginia Race
USA Today:
“Top campaign aides to Virginia Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe and his GOP
opponent, Ken Cuccinelli, agreed Wednesday on two things about the
just-concluded bitter campaign: that the federal government shutdown was
a critical factor in Cuccinelli’s defeat, and that political
fact-checking has become so prevalent it is in danger of become
irrelevant.”
Abortion Cases Head to Supreme Court
“A steady stream of abortion cases are heading toward the Supreme Court,
making it only a matter of time before the justices are likely to
consider a new wave of state restrictions,” USA Today reports.
Congressional Approval Sinks to Record Low
A new Gallup poll finds Americans’ approval of the way Congress is handling its job has dropped
to 9%, the lowest in the 39-year history of asking the question.
The previous low point was 10%, registered twice in 2012.
First Read: “This is worse than 1992, when the public had collective disapproval for
Washington Democrats (in Congress) and Washington Republicans (in the
White House). This is truly unchartered territory.”
Romney Wants Fewer Caucuses
Mitt Romney tells the Boston Globe that the Republican presidential nominating process should reward states that hold primaries rather than caucuses.
Said Romney: “I’m concerned that there’s an effort on the part of some to move toward caucuses or conventions to select nominees, and I think that’s a mistake. I think we should reward those states that award delegates to the convention based upon primaries. Primaries are the place where you see whose message is connecting with the largest number of people.”
