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The Political Price of the Presidency

August 1, 2013 at 11:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball argues that if Sen. John McCain had won the presidential election in 2008, Democrats “would probably still control the House, and they’d certainly still control the Senate.”

“That’s because the president’s party almost invariably pays a price for holding the White House, a price that can be measured in the loss of House representatives, senators, governors and state legislators.”

Of the 12 presidents who served after World War II, most “left office with their parties having smaller House and Senate caucuses than when they arrived, and also fewer governors and state legislative chambers — often dramatically fewer.”

Spitzer Won’t Answer Question About Extramarital Affair

August 1, 2013 at 10:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Eliot Spitzer refused to respond to rumors — pushed by his arch-nemesis Roger Stone, among others — that he is engaging in an extramarital affair, Politicker reports.

Said Spitzer: “I’m so tired of the personal attacks and I’ve answered all those questions. The public cares about what I did in government and that’s what I’m going to be talking about. And that’s what the public is going to vote based on… We’ve said everything we can say about that. These are attacks that are coming from out of left field… I’ve said everything we can say about this.”

Quote of the Day

August 1, 2013 at 10:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“We need to prepare for the inevitable collapse that is going to
happen: You know it’s going to happen. That’s right, I am a politician
and I am standing up here and saying that.”

— Washington state Rep. Matt Shea (R), quoted by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, on the coming economic collapse.


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The Obama Paradox for House Democrats

August 1, 2013 at 10:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Roll Call: “House Democrats face a conundrum in 2014: They can’t run with the president, but they don’t want to run without his campaign organization either.”

“On the surface, vulnerable Democrats in conservative districts will likely be aided by President Barack Obama’s absence from the ballot in 2014. But in some districts, Democrats will miss the president’s campaign organization and robust turnout operation.”

Cruz May Be Trouble for Next Fed Chair

August 1, 2013 at 10:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

National Journal: “Whether the next chair of the Federal Reserve Board is Janet Yellen, Lawrence Summers, or anyone else, there may be some trouble getting through the Senate. That’s at least if Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has his way. That’s because in the Fed Chair selection, Cruz sees a potential way to pass legislation that would amp up Fed oversight.”

Mitch McConnell Loses Control

August 1, 2013 at 9:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “A month ago, McConnell had a strong command over his Senate GOP conference; a month ago, he had no general-election challenger; and a month ago, he had no GOP primary. Now everything has fallen apart for the GOP leader. And the one thing his team had been trying to avoid — a primary challenge — has now become a reality. He’s in a big political bind: McConnell has a Republican conference that now regularly breaks with him on enough things that it only energizes some of the conservative skeptics who have been trying to go after McConnell for years. We’re guessing there’s no one that might be looking less forward to the August recess and the coming fall budget battles than Mitch McConnell.”

Of course, there’s also that new poll that shows him losing to Democratic challenger Alison Lundergran Grimes.

House Republicans in Total Disarray

August 1, 2013 at 9:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Top Republicans halted debate on the House’s version of a
bill to fund the Departments of Transportation and House and Urban Development “once they realized it had no
chance of passage,” Roll Call reports.

“The bill foundered not only because a couple dozen
conservative Republicans thought it would spend too much, but also
because a small but pivotal number of Republican moderates had joined
virtually all the Democrats viewing the depth of the proposed cuts as
too deep.”

First Read: “We’ve made this point before, and we’ll make it again: Congressional
Republicans aren’t on the same page right now on, well, ANYTHING… And if they can’t pass this bill, it’s hard to imagine how they can pass
any kind of legislation relating to funding the government, which only
strengthens the White House’s hand in the upcoming fiscal fights.”

Obama Interview for the Kindle

August 1, 2013 at 9:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Obama gave an exclusive interview with Amazon which was just released as a free Kindle Single.

10 Republicans Who Could Be Speaker

August 1, 2013 at 8:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

As Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) faces down one mutiny after another, Roll Call looks at who might be next in line for his job.

Senate Plans Another Bipartisan Meeting

August 1, 2013 at 8:43 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Just a few weeks after 98 senators gathered for an unprecedented meeting in the Old Senate Chamber to settle a long-simmering dispute about the rules of the U.S. Senate, all 100 senators are scheduled to meet again Thursday for a ‘bipartisan caucus meeting.'”

Filner Says He Never Received Sexual Harassment Training

August 1, 2013 at 8:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s (D) legal strategy “appears to be to shift blame on the city for his alleged inappropriate behavior toward women because he didn’t receive sexual harassment training as required under the municipal code,” the San Diego Union Tribune reports.

Filner’s attorney said the city “has a legal obligation to provide such training to all management-level employees within six months of being hired. Berger said Filner was scheduled to receive the training, but it was canceled by the coordinator and never rescheduled.”

Grimes Edges McConnell in New Poll

August 1, 2013 at 7:24 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Kentucky finds that Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) leads Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) in the race for U.S. Senate, 45% to 44%.

Brown Has $10 Million Banked

August 1, 2013 at 7:17 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) “has more than $10 million in the bank to aid his 2014 reelection bid, and an additional $3 million left over from the effort to pass Proposition 30 last fall,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

“Brown filed his fundraising reports for the first half of 2013 with the secretary of state’s office on Tuesday. It shows the governor in a strong position to finance a reelection campaign. Brown has not declared his intention to seek an unprecedented fourth term as governor, but would be a strong favorite to win reelection if he decides to run.”

Simon Won’t Say if She Backs Quinn for Re-election

August 1, 2013 at 7:06 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Chicago Tribune: “More than five months after saying she wouldn’t return as Gov. Pat Quinn’s (D) running mate, Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon (D) announced Wednesday she would seek the Democratic comptroller nomination but wouldn’t say if she backs her boss for re-election.”

Edwards Has a Baby at Age 85

August 1, 2013 at 7:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards (D), who is 85 years old, is the father of a baby boy, the AP reports.

“Edwin Edwards served four terms, ending in 1996. He married Trina shortly after his release from federal prison for his role in a bribery and extortion scheme.”

Paul Suggests ‘Beer Summit’ with Christie

August 1, 2013 at 5:23 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “is ready to bury the hatchet” with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) “over the oldest of summits — a beer at the local pub,” the AP reports.

Said Paul: “Anytime he would like to come down and sit at a pub right around the corner from the Senate. We’ll have a beer.”

“When asked on his monthly call-in show Wednesday if he would be willing to have a drink with Paul, Christie said he is too busy to make it a priority but will ‘look him up’ if he is ever in Washington.”

Politico: “But the battle lines between the two men have been drawn in a more lasting way. More than anything else, what the firefight revealed was the extent to which Paul and Christie – two pols who have thrived on the appeal of their raw authenticity – have placed drastically different bets on the future of the Republican Party.”

Palin Fundraising Slows Considerably

July 31, 2013 at 9:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sarah Palin’s political action committee “brought in just over $460,000 during the first half of 2013, well short of its fundraising totals for the same period in previous years,” the Anchorage Daily News reports.

Palin’s SarahPAC ended June with about $1.1 million in cash available.

However, National Journal reports that of the $496,505.68 spent by SarahPAC in the first six months of the year, just $5,000 actually went to political candidates.

Snyder Holds Lead in Michigan

July 31, 2013 at 9:27 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Denno Research poll in Michigan finds Gov. Rick Snyder (R) leading challenger Mark Schauer (D) in the race for governor, 43% to 37%.

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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