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Hagel Filibuster Hinges on McCain

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Byron York: “Members of the Senate have left Washington for the President’s Day break, scheduled to return February 25. That means Republicans who voted to filibuster the nomination of Chuck Hagel to be Defense Secretary have ten days to search for new evidence against him and lobby colleagues to keep up the opposition.”

“With 41 votes needed to uphold a filibuster — exactly the number Republicans mustered against Hagel on Thursday — the GOP has no votes to lose. And the most critical of those votes appears to belong to Sen. John McCain.”

Washington’s New Bad Boy

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In just two months, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “has made his presence felt in an institution where new arrivals are usually not heard from for months, if not years,” the New York Times reports.

“Besides suggesting that Mr. Hagel might have received compensation from foreign enemies, he has tangled with the mayor of Chicago, challenged the Senate’s third-ranking Democrat on national television, voted against virtually everything before him — including the confirmation of John Kerry as secretary of state — and raised the hackles of colleagues from both parties.”

Lobbyists Use Campaign-Style Opposition Research

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Roll Call: “If a lobbying campaign is war, then opposition research is the equivalent of elite special forces. K Street deploys all sorts of quiet, behind-the-scenes tactics and troops to influence legislation and policy. The most clandestine and high-risk is the use of political-style operatives to dig up dirt on foes.”


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FBI Investigates Menendez Prostitution Claims

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Washington Post: “A team of FBI agents has been conducting interviews in recent weeks in the Dominican Republic and the United States, looking into allegations that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) patronized prostitutes in the Caribbean nation, but has found no evidence to support the claim.”

“One person said agents have asked about whether a Florida eye doctor — a close friend and major campaign donor to Menendez — provided the senator with prostitutes on vacations there. Another person said investigators are looking into allegations involving underage prostitutes and sex parties.”

Separate Vacations

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Weekly Standard: “The White House confirms today that President Barack Obama will be vacationing in Florida this weekend. His wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, will be in Colorado. The two daughters will be with Michelle.”

“While the rest of his family will be skiing, Obama is expected to be hitting the links with golf pros and buddies in Florida.”

GOP Leaders Plot Their Way Back

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Politico reports that for the last few days GOP leaders “have met behind closed doors to both craft an agenda that confronts the ghosts of Congresses past and figure out a way to sell it to the American people.”

There is agreement on sanding down “the party’s rough edges” and to stop talking “like the world is going to end.”

But the GOP leadership “has become
increasingly alarmed at how many lawmakers in the meeting think the
party has a messaging problem, not a policy problem.

Jackson Implicates Wife in Plea Deal

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Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) implicated his wife, Sandi, in his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, CBS Chicago reports.

“Jackson will plead guilty to one felony count of misuse of campaign funds and then let a federal judge determine his punishment… Jackson’s deal calls for him to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars spent for things like travel and meals with a mistress and a $40,000 men’s Rolex watch he bought for himself. Jackson’s resignation from Congress was also part of the deal.”

“But Jackson’s pleading guilty to using campaign funds for personal expenses could expose Sandi, his campaign manager, to tax-fraud charges. The congressman’s guilty plea says Sandi knew about improper purchases that apparently include breakfast snacks, cosmetic services, even beds purchased for campaign workers.”

Ryan’s Budget Will Include Sequester Cuts

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House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s upcoming budget “is expected to include savings from looming military and discretionary spending cuts worth $85 billion — the same package of cuts that Republicans have desperate tried to hang around President Obama’s neck,” BuzzFeed reports.

“According to two senior GOP aides familiar with Ryan’s thinking on the budget, the Wisconsin Republican and former vice presidential candidate will use the so-called sequester as part of the baseline level of spending for his budget. Doing so will likely make it significantly easier for him to craft a plan that balances the budget in 10 years, a time frame conservatives within the conference have demanded.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

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“There’s a lot of ill will towards Sen. Hagel because when he was a Republican, he attacked President Bush mercilessly. At one point, he said he was the worst president since Herbert Hoover, said the surge was the worst blunder since the Vietnam War, which is nonsense. He was very ‘anti ‘his own party, and people don’t forget that.”

— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in an interview on Fox News, explaining the GOP backlash against Chuck Hagel.

Can Rubio Live Up to the Hype?

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Beth Reinhard: “No matter that he’s only punched up the old
script, swung back and forth on immigration policy, and never shepherded
major legislation through Congress. What Rubio brings is the star
power, adoring fan base, and command of the national media unmatched
these days by anyone in Washington outside of the Oval Office. It’s the
same aggressive product placement that has made the 41-year-old a
top-tier presidential contender just two years after his swearing-in.
Rubio is the GOP’s Barack Obama, minus the intellectual heft intimated
by two Ivy League degrees and a law-school faculty post. A Generation
X-er with a name that sounds like change. The author of an American
Dream-laced memoir that, audiences are frequently reminded, helped pay
off his student loans. A former state lawmaker and a Senate short-timer
with a thin binder of achievements but perhaps blessed with the greatest
rhetorical gifts in politics today.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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