“Let’s tell it like it is. If the doctors told Sen. McConnell he had a kidney stone, he wouldn’t pass it.”
— Alison Lundergran Grimes (D), quoted by The Hill.
Donor Cooperating in Probe of McDonnell
“A prominent political donor and his dietary supplement company have been cooperating for several months with federal prosecutors in a fast-moving public corruption investigation of Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell,” the Washington Post reports.
Jonnie Williams “has turned over personal financial records and sat for interviews in which he provided firsthand accounts of luxury gifts and more than $120,000 given to McDonnell (R) and his family members since 2011… The cooperation is an ominous sign for McDonnell, suggesting that federal prosecutors are focused on trying to build a potential criminal case against him.”
Candidate’s ‘I Heart Head’ Signs Stolen
Phoenix City Council candidate Austin Head is having trouble keeping campaign sings from being stolen, “leading the first-time candidate to believe he is either very popular or very disliked,” the Arizona Republic reports.
The signs use the phrase ‘I Heart Head.’ (The heart is actually a sparkly heart shape.)
Said Head: “Some people find it humorous and entertaining. I’ve had a lot of e-mails from people who want T-shirts and stickers that say ‘I Heart Head.'”
He added: “It has absolutely helped my campaign. My opponents have instant name credibility being the son of the former mayor and the daughter of a congressman. The other opponents have all been political types who’ve run in races before. This is my first campaign, and I certainly need this name recognition.”
Quote of the Day
“The bottom line is we’re not broke, there’s plenty of money, it’s just the government doesn’t have it.”
— Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), quoted by CNS News.
O’Malley Putting Together ‘Framework’ for 2016 Bid
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), said he has spent the last several months weighing a bid for the presidency and laying what he called the “framework of a candidacy for 2016,” Ruby Cramer reports.
“He described a handful of recent speeches as the conduit through which he has been able to present his national policy beliefs to a wider audience,” adding “So by the end of this year, I think we’re on course to have a body of work that lays the framework of a candidacy for 2016.”
16 Candidates for a Powerless Post
There are 16 candidates running for mayor Detroit, the New York Times reports.
“The city’s finances are in the hands of a bankruptcy judge, and a state-appointed emergency manager is calling the shots at City Hall. The position of mayor, a once powerful job that now seems at best undefined, if not irrelevant, was left open when Mayor Dave Bing announced in May that he would not seek a second term. A primary election will be held on Tuesday to whittle the field down to two contenders, who will face off in a general election in November.”
Messina Hired by Britain’s Cameron
Britain’s governing Conservatives have hired Jim Messina, President Obama’s former campaign manager, to advise them ahead of the 2015 general election, the AP reports.
Man Who Had Crack Video Arrested in Raid
One of the men who tried to sell the video of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack was arrested in a drug raid, the Toronto Star reports.
An ongoing investigation reveals that Mohamed Siad “was the man who sat in the back seat of a car on May 3 and showed two Star reporters a cellphone video of the mayor appearing to smoke crack cocaine and making homophobic and racist remarks. When police arrested Siad early in the morning of June 13 his home was searched, but the Star does not know if police recovered the video.”
Another Woman Accuses Filner
A ninth woman stepped forward accusing San Diego Mayor Bob Filner (D) of sexual harassment, KSWB reports.
Marilyn Monroe impersonator Emily Gilbert said that she met the mayor at a fundraiser just days after Filner took office in December: “He grabbed me a little too tight, then proceeded to slide his hand down my arm and then did a little grab on my derriere. I didn’t want to make a scene. There were kids around.”
Weiner Says He’s Stopped Sexting
Anthony Weiner tells NBC New York he is “100 percent not” having any type of online relationships with anyone now, and says for the first time he has not kept any records of his past lewd affairs.
Said Weiner: “I don’t have any of the records. I deleted everything.”
A Month Away
Out next month: The Almanac of American Politics 2014 by Michael Barone and Chuck McCutcheon.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“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.
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.”
