“We can go indefinitely without hitting default.”
— Rep. Steve King (R-IA), quoted by BuzzFeed.
Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!
Cuccinelli Says McAuliffe is Despicable
Ken Cuccinelli (R) released a brutal ad attacking Terry McAuliffe (D) in an increasingly nasty Virginia governor’s race.
Can Democrats Resist Their Political Instinct?
Matt Taibbi: “The modern Democrats may be morally suspect cynics who have failed the country on issue after issue, from the NSA to torture abroad to their refusal to fight corruption in the financial markets. But politically, they are not stupid. They surely see that there is no immediate political downside to letting Cruz play this out. Polls show the Republican Party approval rating has already dropped ten points, from 38 percent to an all-time low of 28 percent, and will only go lower from here unless disaster is avoided.”
“But the Democrats have to be big enough to resist the temptation to let the Republicans destroy themselves. They should be bringing every conceivable kind of pressure to save Cruz from himself and educate the public about the dramatic consequences of a default.”
Democrats Hold Double-Digit Lead on Generic Ballot
A new Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (D) survey that that by a 16-point margin, 43% to 27%, voters blame the Republican in Congress, rather than President Obama and the Democrats, for the government shutdown.
On the generic congressional ballot, Democrats now lead by double digits, 46% to 36%.
GOP Offers New Plan But No Agreement Yet
House Republicans “are offering to pass legislation to avert a default and end the 11-day partial government shutdown as part of a framework that would include cuts in benefit programs,” the AP reports.
“Republicans also seek changes in the three-year-old health care law known as Obamacare as part of an end to an impasse that has roiled financial markets and idled 350,000 federal workers.”
A Senate Democratic leadership aide tells Greg Sargent that Democrats “aren’t prepared to comment directly on the House GOP offer — because details involving things such as duration are unclear — but reiterated to me that the general framework underlying the offer is still not acceptable.”
Meanwhile, National Review reports House Republicans have scheduled a closed-door conference meeting for tomorrow morning.
Quote of the Day
“They’re talking about extending the debt ceiling for two months or six weeks — please. We do not believe a six-week delay of a catastrophic default is enough time to give the economy the confidence it needs.”
— Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), quoted by The Hill, rejecting the GOP proposal to extend the nation’s debt limit.
Headline of the Day
“Republicans are working out the terms of their surrender”
— ABC News analysis by Jonathan Karl.
Shutdown Backfires on Republicans
First Read: “Here are maybe the most worrisome numbers for the GOP in our poll: After the shutdown, the health-care law has become MORE popular, and a majority believes the government should be doing MORE. Per the poll, 38% see the health-care law as a good idea, versus 43% who see it as a bad idea — up from 31% good idea, 44% bad idea last month… And by a 52%-to-44% margin, respondents believe the government should do more to solve problems. Back in June, the public was split, 48% to 48%, on whether the government should do more or less.”
Said GOP pollster Bill McInturff: “That is an ideological boomerang. As the debate has been going on, if there is a break, there is a break against the Republican position.”
Speaker In Name Only
Ron Brownstein:
“Embattled throughout his nearly three-year tenure, Boehner has never
seemed more a SINO–that’s Speaker In Name Only–than during this crisis.
He’s allowed the House Republicans’ most conservative members to
repeatedly escalate the confrontation despite his doubts about their
strategy, if that word applies. At times lately, Boehner has hinted he
might isolate the Right by building a coalition of Democrats and more
pragmatic Republicans before allowing the federal government to default
on its debts. But, so far, he’s effectively thrown up his hands and
surrendered the wheel to the Right’s insatiable demand for collision.”
Saving Face
Charlie Cook:
“Too many Democrats seem to be enjoying this debacle, appearing to view
the fight as a terrific political opportunity to inflict some real
damage on the Republican Party. It certainly looks as if Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid, a boxer in his early years, thinks he has his foot
on the throat of House Speaker John Boehner and the GOP and is not
interested in taking it off.”
“Somehow, though, Obama and congressional
Democrats have to give Republicans, at least the ones who want to
resolve this–and I would put Boehner in that category, regardless of
what he has said in recent days–a place to land, some way to get to
yes.”
The Great Political Depression
First Read: “This country might be the midst of a Great Political Depression. In the poll, 60% say they would fire every member of Congress if they could.”
Connolly Leads in Boston
A new UMass Lowell poll in Boston finds John Connolly leads Marty Walsh by a margin of 45% to 37% among likely voters in the race for mayor.
Michaud Ahead for Maine Governor
A new Critical Insights poll in Maine finds Mike Michaud (D) leading Paul LePage (R), 33% to 30%, with Eliot Culer (I) close behind at 24%.
De Blasio Headed for a Landslide
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC New York poll in New York City finds Bill de Blasio (D) way ahead of Joe Lhota (R) in the race for mayor, 67% to 23%.
Southern Discomfort
“The Tea Party-inspired drive to derail Obamacare is anchored in a place where opposition to the federal government is as old as the nation: the American South,” Bloomberg reports.
“The current fight, a budget standoff that threatens the creditworthiness of the U.S, has vestiges of the secession from the union that started in South Carolina and led to the Civil War. It carries echoes of the nullification crisis over tariffs in the 1830s and the so-called ‘massive resistance’ movement to oppose desegregation of public schools in the 1950s.”
“In each of those fights, led by Democrats who then dominated the region, Southerners said they were overrun by Northerners hostile to their culture in ways that undermined their freedom. Now, their forebears are Republicans and, while the region’s prevailing party affiliation has changed, the basic orthodoxy has remained.”
GOP Establishment Strikes Back
“From county chairmen to national party luminaries, veteran Republicans across the country are accusing tea party lawmakers of staining the GOP with their refusal to bend in the budget impasse in Washington,” the AP reports.
“The Republican establishment also is signaling a willingness to strike back at the tea party in next fall’s elections.”
Will Blame of Republicans Hurt Them at the Polls?
Nate Silver: “The unanswered question is how this abstract notion of blame, on just one issue, might translate into tangible changes in voter preferences 13 months from now. Republicans are taking more blame for the shutdown — but they were extremely unpopular to begin with. How many people’s votes will be changed by the shutdown?”
“The best measure of this might be the generic congressional ballot, which measures overall preferences for Democrats or Republicans in congressional races around the country. However, very few generic ballot polls have been released since the shutdown began, and the exceptions are from dubious polling firms like Public Policy Polling and Rasmussen Reports.”
“That isn’t to say Republicans are without any reason for concern: The most recent Gallup poll shows a much sharper drop in Republican favorability ratings than in those for Democrats, which could presage a shift in the generic ballot.”
Offer by Republicans Shifts Tone in Stalemate
President Obama and House Republicans “failed to reach agreement on a six-week extension of the nation’s borrowing authority during a meeting Thursday at the White House, but the two sides kept talking, and the offer from politically besieged Republicans was seen as an initial step toward ending the budget standoff,” the New York Times reports.
“Even before the meeting, the White House and its Democratic allies in Congress were all but declaring victory at the evidence that Republicans — suffering the most in polls, and pressured by business allies and donors not to provoke a government default — were seeking a way out of the impasse.”
Washington Post: “The developments meant that bipartisan negotiations were suddenly underway on two separate tracks Thursday after weeks of stalemate. Major questions remain, however, about the path ahead.”
