“I mean, right now, I’ve got my hands full being governor. I’m not real involved yet at the — strike that last word — at the federal level, so I’ll let them work that out for right now.”
— Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), quoted by BuzzFeed.
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McCain-Schumer Partnership Remains Strong
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) talked about his bipartisan partnership with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) with ABC News and said it “remains strong and has been solidified through months of negotiations on tough issues like immigration reform, potential filibusters and the fiscal cliff.”
Said McCain: “Sen. Schumer is a person who is as good as his word. His word is good, and he reminds me, in a way, of the work that I used to do with Ted Kennedy.”
Quote of the Day
“We all are freaky. He just exposed his freaky-ism in the wrong way.”
— Jimmy McMillan of The Rent is Too Damn High Party, quoted by Politicker, endorsing Anthony Weiner in the New York City mayoral race.
Previewing Fancy Farm
The Lexington Herald Leader looks at the kickoff of Kentucky’s U.S. Senate race:
“Mitch McConnell and his major Democratic opponent,
Alison Lundergan Grimes, will take the same stage Saturday for the first
time as rivals in next year’s U.S. Senate race in Kentucky. The
occasion will be the political speaking program Saturday afternoon at
the 133rd annual Fancy Farm picnic in the far Western Kentucky county of
Graves, where candidates often unleash old-school stemwinders laced
with political raw meat.”
Scott Wartman: “The heated political rhetoric at Fancy Farm this weekend should
give voters a sense of how the 2014 U.S. Senate candidates stand up in a
hostile environment.”
How Republicans Can Win the Senate
Charlie Cook looks at the Senate math for Republicans: “The bottom line: While
Republicans have a narrow path to the majority, the seats they must win
are in friendly states, and turnout will work in their favor because
this is a midterm election. It’s going to be a heck of a fight.”
A Dysfunctional Congress Faces a Tough Fall
First Read: “Congress leaves town Friday for five weeks (returning Sept. 9th), and they leave a lot of unfinished business on the table. In short, September and October now are going to be a mess. The assumption was there would at least be some spending bills moved, the Farm bill dealt with, and possibly progress on immigration. And, yet, nothing really happened other than a few deals on nominations in the Senate and the student loan compromise (which took ALL MONTH to get done). And there is one common thread for the lack of progress and stunning inertia, inability of the GOP to get on the same page on any of these issues. The only thing they can get on the same page about are symbolic items that have no chance of becoming law.”
Graham Gets Two More Primary Challengers
Nancy Mace (R), the first woman to graduate from The Citadel, and South Carolina state Sen. Lee Bright (R), one of the Legislature’s more outspoken libertarians, say they will announce soon that they will run against Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in next year’s Republican primary, the Columbia State reports.
The two challengers would join businessman Richard Cash (R) “who lost a 2010 Republican congressional runoff, in trying to block Graham from winning a fourth six-year term in the Senate.”
Unemployment Rate Falls to 7.4%
The U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate fell to 7.4%, the lowest since December 2008, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Ezra Klein: “If labor-force participation had held at its pre-recession peak, unemployment would be around 9.7 percent today.”
Warren Often Sidesteps Reporters
Boston Globe: “On any given day in the elegant corridors of the United States Capitol, some of the most powerful people in the world continue a tradition as old as the marble floors: Senators stop and take questions from the news media… It is one of the quainter rituals in an era when the people in power are increasingly removed from the people they most affect, often talking through staff members in written statements or during heavily choreographed events. Most senators typically stop on their way to and from floor votes and committee hearings, and partake in the unthinkable: They answer the questions they are asked.”
But not Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) who will “either huddle close to a Senate colleague, breezing past several reporters as if they don’t exist, or use a variety of other methods to avoid hallway questions. There’s the tricky cellphone to her ear maneuver, the more athletic dash for the elevator, the outright sprint to catch a departing tram.”
Why Republicans Will Lose the Next Fiscal Showdown
Charles Krauthammer: “Never make a threat on which you are not prepared to deliver. Every fiscal showdown has redounded against the Republicans. The first, in 1995, effectively marked the end of the Gingrich revolution. The latest, last December, led to a last-minute Republican cave that humiliated the GOP and did nothing to stop the tax hike it so strongly opposed.”
“How many times must we learn the lesson? You can’t govern from one house of Congress. You need to win back the Senate and then the presidency. Shutting down the government is the worst possible way to get there. Indeed, it’s Obama’s fondest hope for a Democratic recovery.”
Another Poll Shows Grimes Ahead
A new Mellman Group (D) poll in Kentucky finds Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) edging Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a U.S. Senate race, 44% to 42%.
It’s the second poll this week giving Grimes a slight edge over the Senate GOP leader.
The Cook Political Report moves the race to “toss up.”
Texas Lawmaker Wants Davis to Pay for Special Session
After Texas racked up $1.6 million in expenses for holding two special sessions of the legislature, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R) said state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) — who led an epic filibuster against abortion restrictions — should foot the bill, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reports.
Said Capriglione: “I am upset at the cost. I think we need to remember why we are having this extra special session. One state senator, in an effort to capture national attention, forced this special session.”
He added: “I firmly believe that Sen. Wendy Davis should reimburse the taxpayers for the entire cost of the second special session. I am sure that she has raised enough money at her Washington, D.C., fundraiser to cover the cost.”
Senate Headed for Another Filibuster Showdown
“Senate Republicans are standing firm by their threat to block every one of President Obama’s nominees to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, insisting on eliminating all three vacant seats on the country’s second most powerful court,” TPM reports.
“If they follow through, it could spark yet another nuclear showdown over filibuster rules.”
Protecting the Clinton Image
“Moments before Huma Abedin stood amid a phalanx of television cameras last week and announced to a national audience that she was standing by her embattled husband, Anthony D. Weiner, she made a quick phone call to a trusted colleague,” the New York Times reports.
Philippe Reines “said his primary interest was in supporting his close friend Ms. Abedin” but his “behind-the-scenes presence illustrates the overlapping roles played by Clinton advisers as they seek to help Ms. Abedin navigate the circuslike atmosphere surrounding the campaign, and at the same time protect the Clinton brand from any spillover damage.”
“It underscores the extent to which top aides in the extended Clinton family, whatever titles they take on inside and outside government, remain steadfast in their desire to protect the interests of their benefactors, Bill and Hillary Clinton.”
Path to Recall Filner Clears
The path to recalling beleaguered San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D) “became much clearer Thursday as more business leaders called on him to forego that process and resign amid a sexual harassment scandal that has made national headlines,” the San Diego Union Tribune reports.
“One of the obstacles in the way of the nascent recall movements had been the murkiness of the city law that dictates the rules for how to oust an elected official. The City Attorney’s Office issued an opinion that the law allows simultaneous attempts to recall an official until one of them qualifies for the ballot.”
What was the CIA Doing in Benghazi?
Sources tell CNN dozens of people working for the CIA were on the ground the nigh of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya “and that the agency is going to great lengths to make sure whatever it was doing, remains a secret.”
“The CIA is involved in what one source calls an unprecedented attempt to keep the spy agency’s Benghazi secrets from ever leaking out.”
Americans Split on Obama But Not on Congress
A new Quinnipiac poll finds President Obama gets a divided job approval rating as 46% approve and 48% disapprove.
But this is much better than the negative 19% to 73% job approval for congressional Republicans and the negative 31% to 61% score for congressional Democrats.
American voters also trust President Obama more than Congressional Republicans on the economy, 45% to 39%.
More Republicans Favor Paul Over Christie
A new Pew Research survey sheds some light on the fighting between Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) over civil liberties: Paul is seen favorably by 55% of Republican voters, compared to 47% who have a positive view of Christie,
