HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius acknowledged that the initial enrollment numbers through the new healthcare exchanges will be “quite low,” The Hill reports.
Said Sebelius: “I’m hoping that with the site improvement we’ll see more robust numbers, but until the site is really improved … we’re going to have a struggle getting significant numbers to sign up.”
Stu Rothenberg: “Democrats can look at Virginia and conclude that Republican ‘extremism on social issues like abortion, contraception and guns, combined with the deep divisions that appeared in the Alabama 1st District GOP primary results, continue to offer them opportunities for 2014 and virtually guarantee victory in 2016.”
“Republicans can look at the tightness of the Virginia contest and conclude that the unpopularity of Obamacare strengthens their hand for 2014 and will be an albatross around the neck of the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.”
“Pragmatic conservative Republicans can point to Bradley Byrne’s victory in Alabama and Chris Christie’s blow-out in New Jersey as evidence that the tea party wing of the GOP has met its match and “establishment” candidates have greater electability. And tea party conservatives can point to Alabama’s primary results to prove that the establishment will do whatever it can to deny grass-roots conservatives the victories that they deserve — and conclude that fighting just a little harder is all that it will take to defeat the establishment eventually.”
Just published: Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle That Will Decide America’s Fate by Newt Gingrich.
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“In politics, when you have to eat shit, you don’t nibble.”
— Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis, quoted by CBS News, saying that President Obama “would be wise to admit his like-your-plan-keep-your-plan dodge was a mistake and apologize immediately and conspicuously.”
Jimmy Kimmel explains with a useful video.
Jennifer Johnson (D) defeated her husband David Johnson (R) for a municipal seat in Waterville Maine, the Morning Sentinel reports.
The couple “say they entered the race to call attention to the importance of being involved and serving the community — and as a way of getting people out to vote.”
Jon Stewart cuts right to the truth again.
Rep. Jon Runyan (R-NJ), a former star football player, will not seek re-election next year, the Newark Star-Ledger has learned.
“Runyan, a moderate Republican, wrested back control of the traditionally Republican 7th District House seat in South Jersey from Democrat John Adler, who held it for one term after the retirement of longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton.”
Beth Reinhard:
“Hillary Clinton supporters are crowing that helping to install
Democrat Terry McAuliffe as the next governor of Virginia puts her one
battleground state closer to the White House in 2016. While drawing
broad conclusions from off-year political race can be dangerous, there
are signs that McAuliffe’s victory offers Clinton reasons for optimism
if she runs for president.”
Over at The Week, I’ve tallied 3 big wins for Democrats and 3 big wins for Republicans last night.
Charles Stile: “Christie’s bold leadership during Superstorm Sandy, the shrewd marketing of his Jersey tough guy persona and several important legislative accomplishments are indeed important factors in the strong support for his reelection. But while the public was seeing all of that, Christie discreetly and methodically courted Democrats with every lever of power at his disposal. By the end, many of those Democrats would supply the manpower, money or simply the photo ops for his campaign.”
“I believe that there’s been a crisis of confidence created in the dysfunctional nature of the website, the canceling of policies, and sticker shock from some people.”
— Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), quoted by Roll Call, signalling increasing Democratic anxiety over the botched roll out of Obamacare.
Politico: “Most public polls leading up to Election Day had Democrat Terry McAuliffe coasting to victory, some by double digits, in the Virginia governor’s race. Instead he squeaked by, beating Republican Ken Cuccinelli by less than 3 percentage points.”
“The much-closer-than-expected outcome blunts the narrative that this was a clean win for Democrats going into 2014 and guarantees an intense blame game among Republicans about what might have put Cuccinelli over the top.”
Bradley Byrne (R) defeated tea-party-backed candidate Dean Young (R) in a special GOP runoff in Alabama’s 1st District, “marking the first big win for more moderate Republicans in the fight for control of the GOP since the government shutdown,” Roll Call reports.
Politico: “The Republican establishment struck back on Tuesday, notching a win over a tea party candidate in a closely-watched special runoff election for an Alabama congressional seat.”
Mike Duggan “overcame questions about his outsider status to become Detroit’s first white mayor in about four decades,” the Detroit News reports.
Detroit Free Press: “For the first time in 40 years, predominantly black Detroit elected a white person as mayor. Community leaders, political observers and voters provided a number of theories on how that happened. But among them was a theme: The election was about much more than skin color, even in a region where race has been a foremost issue for decades.”
Martin Walsh, “a legislator and longtime labor leader, ground out a tight victory over Councilor at Large John R. Connolly Tuesday to become Boston’s 48th mayor, propelled by a diverse coalition that transcended geography, race, and ideology,” the Boston Globe reports.
The Boston Herald notes Walsh’s win “was fueled by a groundswell of union support, a massive, grassroots
get-out-the-vote effort and the backing of several key elected
officials of color.”
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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