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Most Blame Republicans for Gridlock

July 12, 2013 at 7:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Quinnipiac poll finds 51% of Americans say Republicans are responsible for gridlock in Washington, D.C while 35% percent say President Obama “lacks the skills to convince leaders of Congress to work together.”

Asked another way, 53% say Obama is doing “too little” to compromise with congressional Republicans, but 68% of voters say congressional Republicans are doing “too little.”

Said pollster Peter Brown: “Voters think the Democrats and Obama aren’t playing nice, but they think the Republicans are worse.”

GOP on the Verge of Committing Political Suicide

July 12, 2013 at 6:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Brooks: “It’s beginning to look as though we’re not going to get an immigration reform law this year. House Republicans are moving in a direction that will probably be unacceptable to the Senate majority and the White House. Conservative commentators like my friends Bill Kristol and Rich Lowry are arguing that the status quo is better than the comprehensive approach passed by the Senate. The whole effort is in peril.”

“This could be a tragedy for the country and political suicide for Republicans, especially because the conservative arguments against the comprehensive approach are not compelling.”

Alaska Republicans Hear Nothing from Palin

July 12, 2013 at 6:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Even though Sarah Palin said she is considering a U.S. Senate — resulting in a lot of national buzz — “party leadership in Alaska hasn’t heard a peep from her,” Alaska Public Media reports. “Republican Party Chair Peter Goldberg says that there’s been no communication between him and Palin. Ever.”

Said Goldberg: “I would think she would want to at least speak briefly to the new head of the Alaska Republican Party. But no, never met the lady. Never spoken to her. I have seen her once.”

Spitzer Submits Signatures to Get on Ballot

July 12, 2013 at 6:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just four days after he launched his campaign, Eliot Spitzer (D) said that “over 27,000 signatures” were submitted to the Board of Elections just ahead of a midnight deadline to get on the ballot for New York City comptroller, the AP reports.

Spitzer needs 3,750 valid petition signatures to get on the Democratic primary ballot for September.

Perry Plans Foreign Trip

July 12, 2013 at 6:21 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said that he will visit Israel in October, “a move that signals to the political world that he is seriously considering making another presidential run in 2016,” the Washington Times reports.

Said Perry: “We will be going to Israel to bring together Arabs, Christian and Jews in an educational forum.”

Certified Dead Man Wins Election in Mexico

July 12, 2013 at 6:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A man who has been legally dead since 2010 was elected mayor of a small Mexican town, the New York Times reports.

“Authorities say relatives of Lenin Carballido used a death certificate showing that he died of a diabetic coma in 2010 to convince police to drop an arrest warrant against him for allegedly participating in a 2004 gang rape.”

“A living Carballido later ran in, and narrowly won, Sunday’s election in San Agustin Amatengo in Oaxaca state.”

Clinton Would Beat Christie in 2016 Race

July 12, 2013 at 6:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Quinnipiac poll finds Hillary Clinton leads New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) 46% to 40% among American voters in an early look at the 2016 presidential election.

Mayor Admits He Sexually Harassed Women

July 11, 2013 at 8:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D) admitted to allegations from political allies that he has sexually harassed numerous women, the San Diego Union Tribune reports.

Said Filner: “I begin today by apologizing to you. I have diminished the office to which you elected me. The charges made at today’s news conference are serious. When a friend like Donna Frye is compelled to call for my resignation, I’m clearly doing something wrong. I have reached into my heart and soul and realized I must and will change my behavior.”

“As someone who has spent a lifetime fighting for equality for all people, I am embarrassed to admit that I have failed to fully respect the women who work for me and with me, and that at times I have intimidated them.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

July 11, 2013 at 5:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“So this is really a sad, sad day for the United States Senate. And if we don’t pull back from the brink here, my friend, the majority leader, is going to be remembered as the worst leader of the Senate ever.”

— Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), quoted by Mediaite, in regards to pushing filibuster reform.

Robertson Insists He’s Not Anti-Gay

July 11, 2013 at 3:38 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Pat Robertson said on the 700 Club that’s he’s not “ant-gay” and said “we have many, many, many homosexuals watching this program and many of them are looking for love and acceptance and help.”

Said Robertson: “A lot of people are into this homosexual thing because they’ve been abused by a parent, abused by a coach, abused by a sibling, abused by a friend, they’re little boys and little girls and they don’t know any better and then they somehow think, ‘well I must be gay,’ they aren’t they are heterosexual and they just need to come out of that.”

He added that some gay people “maybe got some chromosomal damage that’s different from heterosexuals.”

Clinton Racks Up Speaking Fees

July 11, 2013 at 2:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Washington Post reports Hillary Clinton has given or has scheduled at last 14 speeches, for which she charges $200,000 per appearance.

“As a former secretary of state and U.S. senator, Clinton is following a path well-worn by retired politicians such as her husband — who has racked up tens of millions of dollars in speaking fees since leaving office — and by State Department predecessors such as Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright. But the extent of Clinton’s speaking schedule, and the size of her standard fee, is more unusual for someone considering a run for president.”

Boys with Sisters More Likely to be Republicans

July 11, 2013 at 1:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new study in the Journal of Politics by Andrew Healy and Neil Malhotra finds that young men who were raised with sisters are more likely to express socially conservative views on attitudes about gender roles.

“Having sisters makes males more politically conservative in terms of their gender role attitudes and their partisanship. Particularly for gender role attitudes, we find that these political socialization effects persist until respondents are well into adulthood.”

[Read more…]

Republicans Have Little Leverage to Block Nuclear Option

July 11, 2013 at 1:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ezra Klein: “What’s so odd and interesting about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s threats to eliminate the filibuster on executive-branch nominees is that the… majority is considering rules changes precisely because there’s nothing more the minority can obstruct that they really, really care about.”

“These aren’t usual times in the Senate. So far as Reid is concerned, Republicans have already killed pretty much everything else the Democrats might want to do. When he’s been confronted with the argument that Republicans might bring everything to a stop if Democrats change the rules, I’m told Reid’s reply is sharp: ‘And that would be different how?'”

Roll Call: Reid defends his threat to go nuclear on filibusters.

The Black Party

July 11, 2013 at 12:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Thomas Edsall: “In private discussions, Republicans in the South talk explicitly about their goal of turning the Democratic Party into a black party, and in many Southern states they have succeeded. African-American legislators make up the majority of state House and Senate Democratic caucuses in most of the Southern states.”

Snowden Has No Escape Route by Air

July 11, 2013 at 11:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beginning a third week holed up in a Moscow airport’s transit zone, Edward Snowden finds himself far enough away to evade U.S. authorities, but also too far from any of the sympathetic nations willing to shelter him,” McClatchy reports.

“Aviation experts say that even if Snowden accepts the tentative offers of Venezuela, Nicaragua or Bolivia to give him shelter, it’s virtually impossible to chart a flight plan to those nations that doesn’t include traveling over or refueling in a U.S.-friendly country that could demand inspection of the plane – and detain him.”

CNN looks are the available flight routes.

Senate Nears Showdown Over Filibuster

July 11, 2013 at 11:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A confrontation in the Senate between Republicans and Democrats over the confirmation of President Obama’s cabinet nominees edged closer on Thursday toward a showdown over changing the rules on filibusters,” the New York Times reports.

“After a tense exchange on the floor with his Republican counterpart,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) “planned to recommend to his fellow Democrats at a private lunch meeting that they should vote to take the exceptional step of barring the minority party from filibustering presidential appointees.”

Greg Sargent has a good road map of how he expects thing to unfold if Democrats use the nuclear option.

What Would Spitzer Do If Elected?

July 11, 2013 at 11:15 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new poll shows Eliot Spitzer leading in the race for New York City Comptroller.

Wonk Wire looks at what he might do if he wins.

Lessons from the Comeback Kid

July 11, 2013 at 10:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Daily Beast: “B.C., or before Clinton, politicians caught with a prostitute, sharing crotch shots with anonymous strangers or disappearing to hike the trail — would be drummed out of office, never to return. But that was before the 42nd president wrote the modern playbook on how to come back from a sex scandal.”