Jon Lovett: “Perhaps the Republican Party needs to hit rock bottom and Liz Cheney is the last shot of rail tequila before the conservative movement blacks out, wakes up and heads to a meeting.”
Michelle Cottle: “And just like that, the entire Republican establishment grabbed for the Advil and the Johnnie Walker Black.”
President Obama may cancel a scheduled trip to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin in September as the standoff over the fate of Edward Snowden takes its toll on already strained relations between the United States and Russia, the New York Times reports.
“A cancellation of the Moscow meeting would be seen as a direct slap at Mr. Putin, who is known to value such high-level visits as a validation of Russian prestige. While the White House may be using the meeting as leverage to win cooperation as it seeks the return to the United States of Mr. Snowden, who is now staying at Moscow’s airport, the reconsideration also reflects a broader concern that the two countries are far apart on issues like Syria, Iran, arms control and missile defense.”
“Now listen, we made clear when we took over, that we weren’t going to be doing commemorative legislation on the floor. A lot of changes. In addition to that, most Americans think we have too many laws. And what they want us to do is repeal more of those. So I reject the premise to the question.”
— Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted by the Huffington Post, rejecting the idea that Congress has been “historically unproductive.”
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“The farming and ranching town of Deer Trail, Colorado, which boasts that it held the world’s first rodeo in 1869, is now considering starting a 21st century tradition — paying bounties to anyone who shoots down an unmanned drone,” Reuters reports.
“Next month, trustees of the town of 600 that lies on the high plains 55 miles east of Denver will debate an ordinance that would allow residents to purchase a $25 hunting license to shoot down ‘unmanned aerial vehicles.'”
“Similar to the bounties governments once paid to hunters who killed animals that preyed on livestock, but only after they produced the ears, the town would pay $100 to anyone who can produce the fuselage and tail of a downed drone.”
The vice president drops a hint to GQ: “I can die a happy man never having been president of the United States of America. But it doesn’t mean I won’t run.”
Liz Cheney launched her campaign for Senate by calling 69-year-old Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) “confused,” NBC News reports.
Said Cheney: “I think Sen. Enzi may be confused. I think he may have me mixed up with Cynthia Lummis. What happened is I called Sen. Enzi to tell him that I was considering a run. And I have always believed that that decision should be made irrespective of whoever else is in the race.”
She added: “It’s not true — I did not tell Sen. Enzi I wouldn’t run if he did. I suppose he’s just confused.”
First Read: “This ‘confused’ line has some wondering if Cheney is trying to play up the age difference between herself and Enzi a bit too much, and it has the potential to backfire.”
“Today, President Obama makes another attempt at what has become his greatest domestic challenge: selling the health-care law to the American public,” First Read reports.
“Yes, it’s a complex subject. Yes, an entire political party remains adamantly opposed to it. And, yes, the media’s coverage has often emphasized what’s not working rather than what is. But here’s the P.R. reality for the Obama White House: Since health care’s passage in 2010, one side has been lobbing grenades on a daily basis (see yesterday’s symbolic House votes to delay the individual mandate), while the other side has been mostly quiet.”
Wonk Blog: Inside the White House campaign to sell Obamacare.
“When Aurora happened, when Tucson happened and certainly when Newtown happened, we as a country launched a heartfelt conversation about gun violence, gun safety and the use of weapons. We lurch from tragedy to tragedy to tragedy, trying to figure out what to do along the way… We are way past the time of just talking. What we really need is action.”
— Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D), quoted by Time.
Rep. Peter King (R-NY) “is being encouraged by friends in and outside the Empire State to seek the GOP nomination for president in 2016,” Newsmax reports.
Said one source: “A lot of folks are telling him to do it and he sure acts interested.”
A good point from First Read on the dissension in the Senate GOP caucus:
“Is this what happens when the Senate GOP’s top two leaders — McConnell and John Cornyn — are in an election cycle? Is there tension because some Republicans believe McConnell and Cornyn are so concerned about their own re-elections that they no longer look out for the best interests of the party? It’s never easy being in leadership and being vulnerable to re-election, because it creates this exact concern: confused priorities or the PERCEPTION that their priorities are out of whack.”
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) “has found a way to defray part of his monthly real estate expenses on the millions in property he owns — by renting his western Henrico home to his hand-picked state health commissioner,” the Richmond Times Dispatch reports.
“News that the governor entered into a financial relationship with a top state official under his supervision comes as federal and state investigators probe the gifts the first family and McDonnell have received during his time in office and his relationship with Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams Sr.”
The Maryland Republican Party “is weighing whether to open its primary elections to independent voters, a plan some envision delivering statewide victories that have largely eluded the party,” the Baltimore Sun reports.
The woman whom Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) “has been claiming is his out-of-wedlock daughter is not, according to a paternity test revealed,” Politico reports.
Said Cohen: “I was stunned and dismayed at the results. I still love Victoria, hold dear the time I have shared with her and hope to continue to be part of her life.”
The relationship was disclosed when Cohen sent tweets to the woman during the State of the Union address.
Former Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent Larry Hedlund, who complained about excessive speeds by Gov. Terry Branstad’s (R) state trooper drivers, was fired after an internal investigation, the Des Moines Register reports.
Said Hedlund: “I’ve been treated like a criminal. The best analogy I can give you is that they investigated me like I was a murderer, and in the process they murdered my career.”
A new Quinnipiac poll in Virginia finds a “yawning gender gap” in the governor’s race leaves Terry McAuliffe (D) with a slight lead over Ken Cuccinelli (R), 43% to 39%.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “McAuliffe is ahead by a nose in this tight race, but half the electorate doesn’t know enough about him to decide whether they view him favorably or unfavorably. Cuccinelli is somewhat better known with only a third of voters having no opinion about him.”
“When someone has never gotten a paycheck in Wyoming and
has lived their entire adult life in Virginia, I think they
should run from Virginia.”
— Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), quoted by Bloomberg, on Liz Cheney’s announced primary challenge of Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY).
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “As we survey the developing House, Senate and governors races, we thought it would be fun — and, hopefully, instructive — to recall some classic ads from past races (we excluded presidential commercials) that contained themes, images and ideas that today’s candidates might consider borrowing.”
Former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is “at war with Republicans — again,” Politico reports.
“The tea party firebrand who made his mark in GOP primary races across the country is now at the helm of the Heritage Foundation where its political arm is doing the same thing: holding conservatives’ feet to the fire.”
“DeMint only joined the group earlier this year, but already Heritage’s political arm has had some early fights out of the gate that have Republican leaders both angry and frustrated – feeling like DeMint is diminishing one of the party’s most powerful intellectual engines by turning it into a group taking cheap shots at Republicans.”
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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