Roll Call notes 10 from the House and 5 from the Senate to watch as key indicators for the 2014 midterm elections.
House GOP Out of Ideas to End Impasse
Byron York: “As the partial government shutdown enters its third day, many House Republicans are determined to keep fighting, even though they see no plausible way out of the current impasse, because they’ve come so far they cannot imagine backing down now.”
Said one GOP House member: “I think there’s a sense that for us to do a clean CR now — then what the hell was this about? So I don’t think it’s going to end anytime soon.”
Washington Post: “Now that Boehner has survived several days of the shutdown, his
friends say there is no point in moving a clean funding resolution.”
GOP Governors Want End to Shutdown
Jessica Taylor:
“Washington Republicans are getting little help from their friends in
governor’s mansions across the country. GOP governors aren’t urging John
Boehner to stand strong: they’re calling for an end to the stalemate or
ducking the shutdown issue entirely. That’s the same strategy that
Republican presidential hopefuls and lawmakers in tough 2014 races are
following. As the shutdown goes on, the collateral damage will
grow-along with voter anger at the GOP. Polls show that Americans blame
the Republicans more than the Democrats or President Obama for causing
the crisis.”
Clinton Meets with Key Democratic Operative
Hillary Clinton “met privately Monday night with veteran Democratic operative Robby Mook, one of her well-regarded 2008 campaign aides who’s currently managing Terry McAuliffe’s bid for Virginia governor,” Politico reports.
“Mook is also the operative cited most often by former Clinton aides and Obama aides as someone who could manage a 2016 Clinton presidential effort. And the race Mook has managed for McAuliffe — whose last gubernatorial campaign in 2009 was generally rated as a disaster — has been streamlined and focused, with clear messaging and no drama.”
Iowa Lawmaker Resigns Over Presidential Campaign Payments
Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson (R), facing accusations that he inappropriately received pay from at least one presidential campaign in the lead-up to the 2012 Iowa caucuses, resigned from office, the Des Moines Register reports.
“The report found “probable cause” that Sorenson broke ethics rules by accepting payments from a political action committee associated with 2012 presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, a U.S. representative from Minnesota. The report also said his denials of taking such payment may represent a felony under Iowa law.”
The Lemming Caucus
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) told CNN that a small group of conservative lawmakers, what he calls “the lemming caucus,” have been blocking GOP House leadership for three years.
Said Nunes: “It’s guys who meet privately. They’re always conspiring. It’s mostly just about power. And it’s just gotten us nowhere.”
Quote of the Day
“The Hastert Rule never really existed. It’s a non-entity as far as I’m concerned.”
— Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), in an interview with the Daily Beast, on the “rule” that is currently governing House Republicans.
Cruz Blasted by Angry Republican Senators
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “faced a barrage of hostile questions Wednesday from angry GOP senators, who lashed the Texas tea party freshman for helping prompt a government shutdown crisis without a strategy to end it,” Politico reports.
“At a closed-door lunch meeting in the Senate’s Mansfield Room, Republican after Republican pressed Cruz to explain how he would propose to end the bitter budget impasse with Democrats, according to senators who attended the meeting. A defensive Cruz had no clear plan to force an end to the shutdown — or explain how he would defund Obamacare, as he has demanded all along, sources said.”
Said one Senate Republican: “He kept trying to change the subject because he never could answer the question. It’s pretty evident it’s never been about a strategy – it’s been about him. That’s unfortunate. I think he’s done our country a major disservice. I think he’s done Republicans a major disservice.”
More Blame Republicans for Shutdown
A new CBS News poll finds 72% of Americans disapprove of shutting down the federal government over differences on the Affordable Care Act while just 25% approve of this action.
“Republicans in Congress receive more of the blame for the shutdown: 44% of Americans blame them, while 35% put more blame on President Obama and the Democrats in Congress. These views are virtually the same as they were last week before the shutdown, when Americans were asked who they would blame if a shutdown occurred.”
Coburn Says Senate GOP Has ‘Leadership Vacuum’
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) recently challenged Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at a closed-door meeting, saying there is a GOP “leadership vacuum” in the upper chamber, The Hill reports.
Two GOP senators confirmed the exchange but Coburn declined to talk about his private conversation.
Reid Plays Hardball in Showdown
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) “is the power behind the scenes driving a hard-line strategy that the White House and Congressional Democrats are hoping will force Republicans to crack,” the New York Times reports.
“His tactics have been unapologetically aggressive, even when measured by the fast and loose rules of engagement in a political climate so bitterly polarized.”
“Advisers and Senate colleagues say that Mr. Reid, of Nevada, who at 73 is more wily and scrappy than his stooped posture and shuffling walk suggest, is animated and outraged to a degree they have rarely seen in his 25 years in the Senate.”
Wall Street Journal: “More than any other Democrat, Mr. Reid seems to be setting the tone of his party in the showdown over the shutdown… The brass-knuckle tactics are nothing new for Mr. Reid, a former boxer,
but his frustration with the GOP has built steadily since Mr. Obama was
elected president.”
Why Many Republicans Won’t Back Down
Politico: “The vast majority of GOP lawmakers are safely ensconced in districts that, based on the voter rolls, would never think of electing a Democrat. Their bigger worry is that someone even more conservative than they are — bankrolled by a cadre of uncompromising conservative groups — might challenge them in a primary.”
“So from the standpoint of pure political survival, there’s every incentive to keep the government closed in what looks like a futile protest over Obamacare. The latest theory gaining currency in Congress is that it will take a potential default on the nation’s debt in a few weeks to bring the crisis to a head.”
The Daily Beast quotes NRCC chairman Greg Waldman to a group of frustrated GOP donors: “Listen. We have to do this because of the Tea Party.
If we don’t, these guys are going to get primaried and they are going to
lose their primary.”
Boehner is Stuck
Washington Post: “A host of dynamics in the GOP have forced him to align himself with a camp of hard-core conservatives who, for much of the past three years, have made his life miserable.”
“Since Boehner became speaker in 2011, these lawmakers, most of them elected in 2010, have challenged his leadership and questioned his conservatism. They have defied him on one big vote after another, often throwing the House and sometimes the country into disarray.”
“Boehner’s unyielding position on the six-week government funding bill, which the Senate passed, is a testament to the power of that conservative bloc and a concession to its members. The insurgents are now his palace guards.”
De Blasio Headed for a Landslide
A new Quinnipiac poll in New York City Bill de Blasio (D) threatening to bury Joseph Lhota (R) in the mayoral race, 71% to 21% among likely voters.
Said pollster Maurice Carroll: “These numbers say Public Advocate Bill de Blasio’s kids can start arguing over who gets the best bedroom in Gracie Mansion. The flurry of negative headlines about name changes, the Sandanista visit, the Cuban honeymoon don’t seem to have any effect.”
Walsh Will Run for Senate in Montana
Montana Lt. Gov. John Walsh (D) will run for the U.S. Senate in 2014, “giving Democrats the high-profile candidate they’ve been scrambling for in a bid to keep the seat they’ve held for decades,” the AP reports.
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“We’re not going to be disrespected, We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”
— Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), quoted by the Washington Examiner, on the government shutdown.
Boehner Says Obama Still Won’t Negotiate
Speaker John Boehner “emerged from White House talks on Wednesday to say that President Barack Obama again refused to negotiate with them to end a government shutdown,” Reuters reports.
It doesn’t sound like there’s anyone to bargain with, grand or otherwise.
Boehner Seeking a ‘Grand Bargain’
Robert Costa: “House Republicans tell me that Speaker John Boehner wants to craft a ‘grand bargain’ on fiscal issues as part of the debt-limit deliberations, and during a series of meetings on Wednesday, he urged colleagues to stick with him.”
Big caveat: “What’s not being discussed: increased taxes or revenues. From what I hear, this combined deal is being softly and informally sold to members; Wednesday’s talks were abotu gradually getting them engaged in the prospect. And it’s all about what the GOP could win – there’s little about what they’ll give in return.”
Wall Street Journal: “Republicans fear that their negotiating position is weakening headed into the debt ceiling fight.”
