San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D) “faces a deadline Monday to submit a statement to organizers of a recall drive saying why he should not be voted out of office in the face of claims that he sexually harassed women and made numerous unwanted advances,” the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
“If he does respond by midnight, organizers are required to publish his statement, limiting it to 300 words or less.”
“Well, I don’t know, was there a birth certificate? You tell me. You know some people say that was not his birth certificate. So maybe it was; maybe it wasn’t.”
— Donald Trump, in an interview on ABC News, continuing to suggest President Obama was not born in the United States.
“White male Democrats once dominated Texas politics. But next year’s elections could leave five or fewer of them in the House, the Dallas Morning News reports.
“As Democrats put their emphasis on turning out more women and Hispanic voters and Republicans try to maintain advantages in the state’s small towns and rural areas, the trend, decades in the making, is expected to continue.”
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
Wall Street regularly shrugs off the fiscal showdowns on Capitol Hill, but Politico notes this time “could be different. Really, seriously different.”
“Here is just a sampling of why Wall Street may be wrong: The House GOP is hopelessly fractured on spending strategy. Senate Republicans who might otherwise broker a deal face primary challenges that make compromise potentially deadly. Other Senate Republicans are jockeying for 2016. And congressional Democrats have no appetite for any bargain — grand or otherwise — that cuts entitlement spending.”
“President Barack Obama at his Friday news conference before leaving for vacation lectured Republicans and mocked their threats to shut down the government rather than fund his signature health care law. Hardly a promising sign for the fall.”
Wonk Wire: Prepare for budget chaos.
Anthony Weiner released his first televised ad in the New York City mayor race.
His message: “I’ve waged a campaign focused like a laser beam on fighting for the middle class and those struggling to make it.”
Republicans are “already jockeying over what is expected to be a wide-open 2016 presidential race, barely nine months after the latest one concluded and more than two years before any party primaries would start,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Iowa, traditionally the first state to hold a presidential contest, often receives early visits from hopefuls, but even some veteran operatives are surprised by what is under way.”
“Five dozen wealthy donors from Wall Street to Silicon Valley have placed their bets on both of New Jersey’s big political stars — Republican Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic Newark Mayor Cory Booker — this campaign season,” a Newark Star-Ledger review of state and federal records shows.
Lloyd Green notes that Gov. Chris Christie (R) “is at the top of the 2016 Republican presidential scrum and, for the moment, he even leads Sen. Rand Paul in Live Free or Die New Hampshire. The governor of reliably Blue New Jersey and possessor of an outsize personality, he commands attention.”
“Yet, none of this guarantees Christie the nomination. Electability is not the same as nominability. He just needs to ask another Northeast Catholic executive who was also once deemed electable: former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Conceivably, Giuliani might have beaten Barack Obama; but he didn’t get past the primaries. Not. Even. Close.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) says Democrats “are still focused on getting at least one more judge confirmed to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals — and hinted at more changes to Senate rules unless Republicans stop filibustering ‘literally everything,'” Roll Call reports.
Said Reid: “People don’t focus much on the D.C. Circuit. It is, some say, more important than even the Supreme Court.”
A new Siena poll finds that although 16% of New Yorkers think the national attention from the Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer candidacies is not a big deal, 8% find it entertaining and 68% think it’s embarrassing.
Said pollster Steven Greenberg: “Spitzer is not viewed as unfavorably as he was right after he resigned as Governor,
however, he’s still viewed unfavorably by 59% of voters — including a majority of Democrats and New York City voters. While Spitzer’s unfavorable rating is down from the 79% who viewed him unfavorably in the aftermath of his resignation, Weiner has set a new all-time Siena College Poll record with 80% of voters viewing him unfavorably – including three-quarters of Democrats and New York City voters – compared to only 11% who have a favorable view of America’s most infamous tweeter.”
A new Siena poll in New York finds that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is viewed favorably by 65% of voters and unfavorably by 30% — up from 58% to 35% in June.
Key finding: 55% say they are prepared to re-elect him while 35% would prefer someone else.
Said pollster Steven Greenberg: “With the Legislature out of town for the summer, Cuomo has reversed his downward polling trend from the first half of this year. His favorability rating is back in the mid-60s and his re-elect number is back in the mid 50s. More than two-thirds of voters, including majorities of Republicans and conservatives, say that Cuomo has been an effective governor in his first three years.”
“Republicans are increasingly concerned about Georgia’s Senate race, where a crowded primary threatens to produce a flawed candidate who could put at risk a seat in a Republican-leaning state,” The Hill reports.
“Recent polling shows the two candidates Republicans are most anxious about — Reps. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) and Paul Broun (R-GA) — leading the pack. Whoever emerges from the clown-car primary, with seven candidates and counting, will face a candidate Democrats are high on in a state where shifting demographics benefit their party.”
A rodeo clown dressed as President Obama at the Missouri State Fair, KMOX reports.
Show Me Progress: “Just prior to the start of the bull riding event, one of the clowns came out dressed in this. The announcer wanted to know if anyone would like to see Obama run down by a bull. The crowd went wild. He asked it again and again, louder each time, whipping the audience into a lather. One of the clowns ran up and started bobbling the lips on the mask and the people went crazy. Finally, a bull came close enough to him that he had to move, so he jumped up and ran away to the delight of the onlookers hooting and hollering from the stands.”
Vice President Joe Biden has accepted Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) invitation to attend his steak fry this year, the Des Moines Register reports.
“The annual steak fry is one of the largest Democratic Party events of the year in Iowa and has a long history of attracting top national political figures – especially presidential aspirants.”
New York Times: “Mr. Biden’s attendance is a sign, Democratic officials here say, that he wants Iowa caucus-goers to know he is very much considering another White House race.”
Coming this fall: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell.
Wonk Wire highlights how Larry Summers has kept his options open for one last stint in public service while earnings millions in a series of part time jobs.
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) reelection bid may be the first Senate contest to crest the $100 million mark, the Washington Post reports.
“Races in recent years have come close to breaching the $100 million mark. The Massachusetts Senate race between Scott Brown (R) and Elizabeth Warren (D) carried an $82 million price tag, making it the most expensive contest in Senate history. (The massive spending in that race is all the more remarkable when you consider that neither Brown nor Warren had significant personal money to spend on it.) For more than a decade before the Massachusetts race, the 2000 New York Senate fight between Hillary Clinton (D) and Rick Lazio (R)held the record for spending at $70 million.”
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) announced this week that he would run for re-election in 2014, but Political Moneyline notes “plans had already been underway for months. From April through June his committee spent a quarter of a million dollars gearing up his image and the campaign.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.