A new ABC News/Washington Post poll finds the popularity of the U.S. Congress, while weak overall, has gained sharply among Hispanics, likely reflecting its current efforts on immigration reform.
Key findings: “Strongly negative views of Congress haven’t changed compared with 2011 among Americans overall. But among Hispanics, strongly negative opinions have eased, shrinking what was a 27-point negative gap in intensity (6-33 percent) to an even split now (17-16 percent).”
A new CBS News poll finds support for stricter gun control laws overall “has dropped since the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School from 57% then to 47% now.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) reiterated his stance against same-sex unions, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Said Perry: “In Texas, it is fairly clear about where this state stands on that issue. As recently as a constitutional amendment that passed – I believe, with 76% of the vote. The people of the state of Texas, myself included, believe marriage is between one man and one woman.”
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“Needless to say, I join you keenly aware that I am regarded in a different light now than I was a year ago. I am also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing.”
— Former CIA Director David Petraeus, quoted by the Washington Post, apologizing publicly for the extramarital affair that forced him to resign.
Roll Call: “With the latest Senate Democrat’s retirement announcement, there are now three open Democratic seats in highly competitive states. That’s half the total number of seats Senate Republicans must net to win the majority.”
David Freedlander notes that potential Democratic 2016 contenders may be shifting on same-sex marriage at breathtaking speed — Sen. Mark Warner, Sen. Tim Kaine, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer this week alone — but he’s found a few last opponents.
Marc Ambinder: How gay rights tipped so quickly.
A new Quinnipiac University poll in New Jersey finds voters are divided on scandal-plagued Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) with 40% approving and 41% disapproving.
A new WBUR poll in Massachusetts finds Rep. Ed Markey leading Rep. Stephen Lynch by double-digits in the Democratic Senate primary, 35% to 24% but 30% are still undecided or don’t know the candidates.
On the Republican side, Michael Sullivan (R) leads Daniel Winslow (R), 28% to 10%, with Gabriel Gomez at 8%.
The Supreme Court “returns to the subject of same-sex marriage for a second day on Wednesday, when the justices hear arguments about the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996,” the New York Times reports.
“The 1996 law defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman for purposes of more than 1,000 federal laws and programs, and it thus excludes married same-sex couples from benefits to which their opposite-sex counterparts are entitled.”
Washington Post: “The Obama administration has said that it will not defend the law, known as DOMA, and lower courts have said it is unconstitutional to deny federal benefits to same-sex couples who are legally married in the states where they live while offering the same benefits to opposite-sex married couples.”
Wonk Wire has an overview of the case.
The Cloakroom: From snollygoster to mugwump.
Dan Balz: “If justices on the Supreme Court sounded cautious and tentative as they addressed the issue of same-sex marriage Tuesday, it’s little wonder. Like everyone else in public life, they are operating in the middle of a political whirlwind.”
“The political and legal systems are caught between past and future. Public opinion has shifted rapidly, and a majority of Americans now back legalizing same-sex marriage. Among those younger than 40, support is overwhelming. The question is when and in what form the future arrives.”
Roll Call: The 12 best moments at the Supreme Court today.
Roll Call: “A little-noticed Senate vote just before 4 in the morning on March 23 — amid the chamber’s 13-hour vote-a-rama on a fiscal 2014 budget resolution — suggests trouble for President Barack Obama’s gun control agenda.”
President Obama will appoint Julia Pierson, a veteran U.S. Secret Service agent, as the first female director of the agency, the Washington Post reports.
“Obama’s selection of Pierson comes after an extraordinarily difficult year at the service, and amid calls that the next director make internal changes at the agency whose masculine culture was exposed during an overseas trip last year.”
“I kept my mouth shut for two years because, hey, I’m a party guy. But you know what, at the end of the day, you say to yourself, they’re dumping on you, they’re crapping on your legacy, they’re giving you crap for stuff that they didn’t want to do in the first place — coalitions, expanding media, social media networks.”
— Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, quoted by The Hill, continuing his feud with current RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.
North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) “has signed three abortion-limiting bills passed by the North Dakota Legislature, giving the state the most anti-abortion laws of any U.S. state and setting up possible legal challenges over provisions critics say are unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade,” the Fargo Forum reports.
“Dalrymple acknowledged the likelihood of an ensuing court battle and recommended that lawmakers set aside money for litigation.”
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) announced that his political action committee would launch a campaign to flip state legislatures around the country, the Huffington Post reports.
“In a conference call, Dean said that Democracy for America’s ‘Purple to Blue Project’ would work to swing state legislatures from Republican to Democrat, starting in Virginia, then adding three states in 2014.”
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) will formally announce he’ll run for the Republican nomination to replace retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Georgia Tip Sheet reports.
“Gingrey will be only the second candidate to enter the Republican contest, still 16 months out, and square off with outspoken conservative Rep. Paul Broun. Other possible GOP recruits include Reps. Jack Kingston and Tom Price.”
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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