“I do want to see more women compete for the highest positions in their countries. I will do what I can, whether or not it’s up to me to make a decision on my own future — right now I’m not inclined to do that — to make sure women will compete at the highest levels around the world.”
— Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, quoted by Capital New York.
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that Texas voters — even Republicans — have had enough of Gov. Rick Perry (R).
The poll finds that only 31% of voters think Perry should seek reelection next year, compared to 62% who think it’s time for him to step aside. He’s also among the most unpopular governors in the country, with only 41% of voters approving of him to 54% who disapprove.
Tim Mathieson, the long-term partner of Australian prime minister Julia Gillard, “has landed himself in hot water over comments that men wanting to get their prostates checked should seek out small, female Asian doctors to perform the examination,” the Guardian reports.
Said Mathieson: “We can get a blood test for it, but the digital examination is the only
true way to get a correct reading on your prostate so make sure you go
and do that, and perhaps look for a small Asian female doctor is
probably the best way.”
One commentator observed that Gillard’s face “performed a remarkable transition – jolly, carefree smile to impenetrable stone on the turn of a phrase.”
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Since an embarrassing sex scandal in 2007, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) “has lain low, ducking reporters at the Capitol and largely avoiding the media spotlight,” Politico reports.
“But Vitter has weathered a Category 3 public relations disaster that would have ruined most politicians. Voters shrugged at the scandal and overwhelmingly reelected him to a second term, and polls show he leads the field of potential candidates in the 2015 governor’s race. And he even has a new super PAC supporting him.”
A new Pew Research survey finds 66% of Americans support allowing women in the military to serve in
ground units that engage in close combat, while just 26% are opposed.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced he would life the ban on women in combat last week.
Marc Ambinder: 5 silliest reactions to women in combat.
BuzzFeed has a good profile of Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) who says if he becomes a U.S. Senator he “would call for a reinvention of the role: to act in addition to and outside of a Senator’s official duties as prescribed in the Constitution, to push for urban and criminal justice reform, and to stay on Twitter.”
Said Booker: “Look, I’m not different from most Americans who catch glimpses of what goes on down there and and worry what is going on in that body. But I’ve evolved about how that body can make changes on the issues I’m passionate about.”
He adds: “So I’m telling you right now. If a snow storm hits and I’m here, I’ll be on Twitter saying, ‘Hey, who needs help.’ And I’ll get out in my four-by-four and be able to band together more volunteers than most people could.”
With Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) likely to be confirmed as Secretary of State today, the Boston Globe reports on Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s (D) potential picks to temporarily fill Kerry’s seat.
“Patrick has suggested he will choose a woman or a person of color to reflect the changing face of politics in Massachusetts. Top contenders are said by political insiders to include his former chief of staff, William ‘Mo’ Cowan, and Victoria Kennedy, Edward M. Kennedy’s widow.”
“Politically connected Democrats do not believe that Barney Frank, former US representative, who has openly urged Patrick to appoint him, will get the interim Senate job. Patrick and his political advisers have bristled at Frank’s public pursuit of the job.”
President Obama will give his much-anticipated immigration speech this afternoon in Nevada, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
First Read: “So why is the president giving his speech in Las Vegas? There is no state that better epitomizes the power of the Latino vote in American politics than Nevada. In 2010, Harry Reid won 69% of Latinos in his race against Sharron Angle, according to the exit polls, saving his Senate seat from a GOP that was convinced was theirs for the taking. And two years later, Obama won 71% of that vote — matching what he received nationwide. The three states that have moved the most dramatically in presidential contests since 2004 have been Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico, and it’s due primarily to the Latino vote in all three states. (New Mexico is not even remotely a purple state anymore.) In Nevada, in particular, Latinos make up 27% of the state’s population and 19% of the voters in the 2012 election. Translation: The Latino influence in the state has even more room to grow.”
The Obama administration “has developed its own proposals for immigration reform that are more liberal than a separate bipartisan effort in the Senate, including a quicker path to citizenship for illegal immigrants,” the Washington Post reports.
But First Read says “that information is outdated. Had the bipartisan senators NOT acted yesterday, you likely would have seen Obama offer his own plan. But the senators did act, and their plan is the plan. The last thing the White House wants to do is blow up this fragile coalition.”
“That said, the White House insisted last night to reporters that if the
Senate coalition falters and if bill shows signs of dying, the president
will step in with his own legislation.”
The Week: Is the bipartisan push for immigration reform doomed?
Tony Babauta, a Department of Interior official whose official travel and other conduct was being investigated, has resigned, the Washington Post reports.
The department’s inspector general reportedly was looking into Babauta’s travels as well as grants awarded by his office.
An inspector general’s report found the U.S. Treasury Department approved “excessive” salaries and raises at firms that received taxpayer-funded bailouts during the financial crisis the Washington Post reports.
The report said Treasury “approved all 18 requests it received last year to raise pay for executives at American International Group Inc., General Motors Corp. and Ally Financial Inc. Of those requests, 14 were for $100,000 or more; the largest raise was $1 million.”
David Brooks: “It’s probably futile to try to change current Republicans. It’s smarter to build a new wing of the Republican Party, one that can compete in the Northeast, the mid-Atlantic states, in the upper Midwest and along the West Coast. It’s smarter to build a new division that is different the way the Westin is different than the Sheraton…”
“Would a coastal and Midwestern G.O.P. sit easily with the Southern and Western one? No, but majority parties are usually coalitions of the incompatible. This is really the only chance Republicans have. The question is: Who’s going to build a second G.O.P.?”
Marc Ambinder reports that a Super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton has already formed.
“ReadyForHillary aims to have its ducks in a row should Clinton decide
to press go on a 2016 bid. It will serve as a virtual gathering place
for supporters and donors. When prominent Democrats like Donna Brazile
offer their endorsements — like Brazile did today in a tweet — the
organization, which already claims close to 50,000 Twitter followers,
will document them and push them out to the world.”
A new Roanoke College poll in Virginia shows Ken Cuccinelli (R) topping Terry McAuliffe (D) in this year’s gubernatorial race, 33% to 26%.
In a three way race, Cuccinelli leads with 25%, followed by McAuliffe at 19% and Bill Bolling (I) at 12%.
Josh Green reports that a team of top Obama donors decided to surprise Hillary Clinton — “and thank her for her loyal service” — by raising enough money to pay off her 2008 campaign bills.
“The challenge was tougher than it may appear, since it required a particular kind of donor. In order not to run afoul of campaign finance laws, the Obama team had to find people who had not already given Clinton the 2008 maximum primary donation of $2,300 or maxed out their total federal candidate donations during the 2012 cycle ($46,200). And of course, those people also had to be warmly disposed toward Clinton and still have plenty of free cash on hand.”
“In the end, it took the checkbooks of about 120 people and several months to retire the debt… And as it turned out, the Obama folks substantially overshot the mark. Clinton’s campaign, which has not yet formally been shut down, now shows a surplus of about $205,000.”
NBC News reports that the Boy Scouts of America “is actively considering an end to its decades-long policy
of banning gay scouts or scout leaders.”
“If adopted by the organization’s board of directors, it would
represent a profound change on an issue that has been highly
controversial — one that even went to the US Supreme Court. The new
policy, now under discussion, would eliminate the ban from the national
organization’s rules, leaving local sponsoring organizations free to
decide for themselves whether to admit gay scouts.”
The Cloakroom: 5 moments when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton weren’t so friendly.
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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