“Obama’s problem, I think, is he’s a man in politics that doesn’t like politics.”
— James Carville, quoted by Politico.
Christie Paid $46K to Romney Advisers
New Jersey Chris Christie (R) “criticized strategists for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign over the weekend saying no one should ‘give a darn‘ about their political advice,” but Yahoo News notes the New Jersey governor “isn’t nearly as dismissive of their input as he lets on.”
“During his re-election campaign this year, Christie hired a political consultancy firm run by Romney’s former top strategists and paid more than $46,000 for their services.”
Palin Gives Her Obamacare Alternative
Sarah Palin gave a long, rambling answer on the Today Show when asked to explain a better alternative to Obamacare.
Said Palin: “The plan is to allow those things that had been proposed over many years to reform a health-care system in America that certainly does need more help so that there’s more competition, there’s less tort reform threat, there’s less trajectory of the cost increases, and those plans have been proposed over and over again. And what thwarts those plans? It’s the far left. It’s President Obama and his supporters who will not allow the Republicans to usher in free market, patient-centered, doctor-patient relationship links to reform health care.”
Inhofe Blames Christie for Obama’s Re-Election
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) told The Oklahoman that he’d “have a hard time” backing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) for president in 2016 because he thinks that Christie’s embrace of President Obama after Hurricane Sandy last year helped him win a second term.
Said Inhofe: “Christie I still hold responsible for the re-election of Obama.”
Romney Trying to Bring 2024 Olympics to Boston
“An elite group including some of the area’s most powerful business leaders, developers, and construction experts is quietly exploring the prospect of bringing the 2024 Summer Olympic Games to Boston,” the Boston Globe reports.
The group “has recruited former governor Mitt Romney, who ran the 2002 Salt Lake City winter Games, as a key adviser.”
How Republicans Rig the Game
Rolling Stone: “National Republicans have waged an unrelenting campaign to exploit every weakness and anachronism in our electoral system. Through a combination of hyperpartisan redistricting of the House, unprecedented obstructionism in the Senate and racist voter suppression in the states, today’s GOP has locked in political power that it could never have secured on a level playing field.”
Is the Obama Bull Market About to End?
“Even with the flawed roll out of health-care reform and uproar over spying, Barack Obama is enjoying one of the best stock markets for a re-elected president. Signs are building that it might not last,” Bloomberg reports.
“Record Federal Reserve stimulus, interest rates around zero percent and a doubling of corporate profits since they fell to a five-year low in 2008 helped sustain stock increases under Obama. The rally that began just after he took office now exceeds the average length of bull markets by almost a year and valuations are up 18 percent in 2013. Add to that prospects for the Fed to curtail stimulus, threatening higher borrowing costs, and the outlook for further gains under Obama is grimmer.”
What Happens When the Mayor Can’t Buy Everyone Off?
Ben Smith: “One of Mike Bloomberg’s signal accomplishments in New York City was reversing the flow of corruption. In the old days, and in every other city in the world most days, favor-seekers bribe politicians — with cash in envelopes, with legal contributions, or with political support. In Mike Bloomberg’s New York, the mayor bribed you, buying the silence or cooperation of individuals, cultural organizations, and social service groups with hundreds in millions of dollars spent on small personal favors — a legal payment here, a medical procedure there — and charitable contributions.”
“As a liberal Democrat, Bill de Blasio’s biggest challenge when he takes power in January will not be keeping crime down or funding an ambitious expansion of early education. It will be dealing with the explosion of Bloomberg’s machine after the grease of money is gone and the gears start sticking.”
Palin Says Federal Debt is Like Slavery
Speaking in Iowa, Sarah Palin compared the federal debt to slavery, the Des Moines Register reports.
Said Palin: “Our free stuff today is being paid for by taking money from our children and borrowing from China. When that money comes due – and this isn’t racist, but it’ll be like slavery when that note is due. We are going to beholden to the foreign master.”
Quote of the Day
“Particularly since the shutdown, I’ve had a spate of e-mails and letters and phone calls saying, ‘Run for president again.’ As you know, I’m seriously thinking about running for re-election to the Senate. But I think, in the words of the late Morris K. Udall, as far as my presidential ambitions are concerned, ‘The people have spoken — the bastards.'”
— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), quoted by the Arizona Republic, dismissing another presidential bid in 2016.
Cain Fights Back Against Sexual Harassment Charges
Herman Cain is fighting back against accusations that emerged during his 2012 presidential campaign that he sexually harassed several women.
“Until now, I have never offered the facts that expose these accusations as lies, although I have been in possession of them. It is now time to do so, not only because the false accusations have received renewed attention with the publication of a book that discusses them, but more importantly because I refuse to live my life, pursue my radio and professional career or do anything else that God has left for me to do in this world with a dark cloud attached to my reputation that is not consistent with the truth.”
McCotter Says Aide Sabotaged Campaign
Former Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) “claims the longtime aide at the center of a nominating petition scandal that ruined his congressional career accepted a bribe to engage in a ‘deliberate sabotage’ of his 2012 re-election campaign,” the Detroit News reports.
Dozens of Bills in Legislative Purgatory
Washington Post: “There are dozens of such bills sitting in congressional limbo, passed by one house of Congress but not the other — and allowing both the House and the Senate to indulge the pleasant illusion that they are being productive.”
“Some of the bills in this political purgatory are the victims of ordinary congressional gridlock. But others are bound there from their very beginnings — conceived not as legislation that will eventually become law but simply as political instruments intended only to stoke the passions of liberal or conservative base voters.”
“With the gridlock worse than ever and the 2014 midterm elections less than a year away, that category is expected to grow.”
Democrats Challenge Bipartisan Portrayal of Martinez
Some New Mexico Democrats “wonder whether the governor portrayed in the national media is the same Susana Martinez they know. At the least, they paint a picture less rosy than the ones published outside the state extolling her bipartisan success,” the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
“There have been pieces of legislation that Martinez was able to pass with the cooperation of Democrats… But there also have been bruising legislative fights in which, Democrats say, Martinez has shown little if any willingness to compromise. And the harsh attack ads and mailers Martinez ran against some Democrats during the 2012 election still are fresh on the minds of lawmakers.”
Brown’s Approval Rating May Not Translate Into Votes
“More than half of those surveyed in a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll say they approve of the job Brown is doing as governor — the highest rating since he retook the governor’s office in 2011. Yet only 32% say they are inclined to vote for Brown if he seeks an unprecedented fourth term as California’s chief executive next year.”
“Moreover, respondents give Brown little credit for what is widely considered as his signature achievement since returning to the governor’s office in 2011 — erasing a $26 billion state deficit. Only 38% say they approve of the way Brown has handled the issue; 47% disapprove.”
How Vladimir Putin Seduced George W. Bush
Peter Baker has a must-read look at former President George W. Bush’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“But the story of Bush’s eight-year pas de deux with the master of the Kremlin, reconstructed through interviews with key players and secret notes and memos, offers lessons for President Obama as he struggles to define his own approach to Putin and shape the future of the two nuclear powers. The last few months have become another dramatic juncture in the volatile Russian-American relationship, with Moscow defying Washington by offering shelter to national security leaker Edward Snowden, Obama becoming the first president to cancel a Russian-American meeting in more than 50 years and then, suddenly, improbably, the Kremlin throwing the American leader a lifeline when his confrontation with Syria took a wrong turn.”
“Looked at in the context of time, Obama’s own dashed aspirations to build a new partnership with Moscow seem to echo his predecessor’s experience.”
Christie Hedges on Full Term
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R ) “dodged questions across the Sunday shows about his presidential aspirations, but left the door open to leaving his current position before his next four-year term is up,” The Hill reports.
Said Christie: “Listen. Who knows? I don’t know. I’m going to continue to do my job and finish the job, but everybody’s trying to figure out what life is going to bring you a few years from now. I didn’t expect to be sitting here four years ago, George. So nobody can make those predictions.”
Flood of Outside Money Helped Defeat Cuccinelli
Politico profiles Tom Steye, the California billionaire who pumped more than $8 million into Virginia’s gubernatorial race tp defeat Ken Cuccinelli (R).
“The sum is more than three times the investment that’s been previously reported, and it nearly matched what the Republican Governors Association, the largest GOP outside spender, put into the Virginia governor’s race. It is more money, on a per-vote basis, than the famously prolific conservative donors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson spent in the 2012 presidential election.”
