The Justice Department “secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a ‘massive and unprecedented intrusion’ into how news organizations gather the news,” the AP reports.
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Bonus Quote of the Day
“Democrats worship abortion with same fervor the Canaanites worshipped Molech.”
— Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), quoted by The Hill.
Capuano Mulls Bid for Governor
“Eager for substantive debates that he says are lacking on Capitol Hill, Congressman Michael Capuano said Monday he is closer to his own decision on whether to run for governor in 2014,” the Taunton Daily Gazette reports.
Said Capuano: “The clock is running, so I’m closer.”
Boehner Staff Was Briefed on Benghazi Talking Points
“News of the Obama Administration’s role in the extensive editing of CIA talking points on Benghazi rocked the political world last week and prompted a demand from Speaker of the House John Boehner for the release of all related White House emails, but it should not have been a revelation to the Speaker,” ABC News reports.
“The White House first briefed the House leadership on the talking point revisions on March 19. The briefing was given to the House Intelligence Committee, but the White House also invited Speaker Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to attend or to send a senior staff member.”
Greg Sargent notes other top GOP officials and their staffs were also briefed.
Did Obama Wait Too Long on the IRS Story?
After three days, President Obama strongly condemned the fact that IRS officials were targeting conservatives groups.
Washington Post: “The question being asked in the political world today is whether the condemnations are too little, too late. As in, did the Obama Administration — and other Democrats in the House and Senate — miss their chance to claim some sort of high(ish) message ground by largely taking a pass on the story when it broke on Friday morning?”
Voters Trust Clinton Over Republicans on Benghazi
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that Republicans aren’t getting much traction with their focus on Benghazi over the last week. Voters trust Hillary Clinton over House Republicans on the issue of Benghazi by a 49% to 39% margin and Clinton’s 52% to 44% favorability rating is identical to what it was in late March.
Quote of the Day
“You don’t want the IRS ever being perceived to be biased and anything less than neutral in terms of how they operate. I’ve got no patience with it, I will not tolerate it and we will make sure we find out exactly what happened on this.”
— President Obama, quoted by NBC News.
Clinton Loyalists Not So Ready for “Ready for Hillary”
Ruby Cramer looks at the “Ready for Hillary” super PAC and finds “many of the allies and former aides in Clinton’s orbit are watching the organization warily, suspicious of the PAC as it gains outsize attention in the absence of any official moves from Hillaryland.”
“In a wide range of interviews with onetime staffers and fundraisers, the devotion, confusion, and quasi-paranoia among Clinton’s professional loyalists was on full display. Some spoke highly of Ready for Hillary’s ability to harness the energy around Clinton; others derided its methods and presentation as amateur; and still more refused to express an opinion at all, asking instead what their peers had said about the group. Several declined to even speak off the record: To publicly criticize one of the biggest Clinton love-fests ever seen, said one former staffer, would be to throw cold water on every voter clicking ‘like’ on Facebook.”
Palin Leads Alaska Primary Ballot
A new Harper Polling survey in Alaska finds Sarah Palin (R) leads a possible Republican U.S. Senate primary with 32%, followed by Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell (R) at 30% and 2010 GOP Senate nominee Joe Miller (R) at 14%.
Most Think Country Doesn’t Back Same-Sex Marriage
A new Gallup poll finds 53% of Americans “say the law should recognize same-sex
marriages, the third consecutive reading of 50% or above in Gallup
polling over the past year.”
More interesting: “Although a majority of Americans themselves support legal gay marriage,
an even larger majority perceive that most Americans come down on the
side of not legalizing it. When asked their impression of how
most Americans feel about the issue, 63% say the public is opposed to
gay marriage and 30% say the public favors it. These data suggest that a
segment of Americans who support same-sex marriage believe that their
views are in the minority, while in reality they are in the majority.”
All Eyes on Rubio for Immigration Reform
Dan Balz:
“Two realities shape the debate over immigration reform: No bill is
likely to pass without the expressed support of Sen. Marco Rubio
(R-FL), but even Rubio’s endorsement may not be enough to assure
passage. For Rubio, the political stakes of both sides of the equation
are huge.”
Why the IRS Story is Bigger Than Benghazi
First Read: “One reason why is because Benghazi has already been litigated so much (at congressional hearings, at two presidential debates, during Susan Rice’s consideration for the secretary of state job). But Friday’s revelation that the IRS had targeted conservative-sounding names (and not liberal-sounding ones) in applications for tax-exempt status will trigger new congressional hearings and new questions for the president and his team. More significantly, the IRS news is a political gift to a Republican Party whose base was strained on immigration (remember that Heritage Foundation study?) and even on guns (remember the tough questions Sens. Kelly Ayotte and Jeff Flake were getting?). Now, you’re seeing a GOP base united by two things they absolutely dislike: President Obama and the Internal Revenue Service. The news also is a gift to Republicans like Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, or any incumbent Republican in Washington hoping to avoid a tough primary in 2014 — they get to demagogue the heck out of this story and show they will stand up for the Tea Party.”
Herseth Sandlin Will Not Make Senate Bid
Former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) has announced that she will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2014, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports.
“Rick Weiland, a former aide to Tom Daschle, last week became the first Democrat to enter the race after months of attention focusing on U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson and former Herseth Sandlin. Johnson last week said he won’t seek the seat being vacated by his retiring father.”
“On the Republican side, former Gov. Mike Rounds has the field to himself — for now.”
Obama on the Defensive
Glenn Thrush:
“President Barack Obama genuinely believed he could buck the
second-term curse of fecklessness and scandal that afflicted the last
three two-term presidents, even if history — and his
adversaries — suggested otherwise. The combination of clever and
determined Republican resistance on nearly every front, bad luck,
Obama’s overconfidence in his capacity to leverage a decisive reelection
victory into legislative clout and his own administration’s past
mistakes have left the president feeling deeply frustrated, even
angry — and eager to find a way to recapture the offensive.”
First Read: “For the Obama White House, if there’s one common theme to both the
Benghazi and IRS stories, it’s how slowly it responded to them.”
Rove Kicks Off the 2016 Campaign
John Avlon reviews Karl Rove’s new attack on Hillary Clinton, calling it “the freshest evidence that hyper-partisan Super-PAC slush-funds are now a core part of the permanent campaign.”
“This American Crossroads ad matters because of its unsubtle purpose: a pre-emptive strike against a potential Clinton presidential campaign in 2016. Remember that through 2008, Clinton was widely considered the most polarizing figure in American politics. The days of Hillary as Republicans’ favorite member of the Obama cabinet are over. This dynamic was unlikely to the point of absurdity–a case of political amnesia brought on by a combination of her voting record in the Senate and the ’08 campaign-era conviction that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Gates Would Have Handled Benghazi Same Way
Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates forcefully defended the Obama administration against charges that it did not do enough to prevent the tragedy in Benghazi, telling CBS News that some critics of the administration have a “cartoonish impression of military capabilities and military forces.”
Said Gates: “Frankly, had I been in the job at the time, I think my decisions would have been just as theirs were.”
IRS Scandal Unifies Republicans
New York Times: “Since last year’s elections, Republicans in Congress have struggled for traction on their legislative efforts, torn between conservatives who drove the agenda after their 2010 landslide and new voices counseling a shift in course to reflect President Obama’s re-election and the loss of Republican seats in the House and the Senate.”
“But the accusations of I.R.S. abuse are sure to fuel an effort that appears to be uniting dispirited Republicans and their conservative political base: investigating Mr. Obama and his administration. Republicans are pushing a portrayal of an administration overreaching its authority and punishing its enemies.”
The Washington Post says the series of revelations suggest “it could grow into a major political problem for Democrats over the coming months.”
Paul Seeks to Win Over Evangelicals
The Washington Post reports that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has aggressively courted evangelical Christians over the last few months.
“Paul’s play for evangelical support is part of a broader effort by the rookie senator to court the Republican establishment — much of which views him with suspicion — and become a mainstream political player in a way his father never was. The younger Paul, for instance, does not call himself a libertarian, but rather a ‘libertarian Republican.'”
“As he openly considers a run for president in 2016, Paul’s rebranding effort is a test of his political skills as well as the state of the Republican Party. For the senator, the question is whether he can win over the establishment without upsetting his tea party base. For the GOP, Paul again raises the question of whether anyone can gain the trust of both sides.”
