From a must-watch Frontline airing tonight: “On the night of Barack Obama’s inauguration, a group of top GOP luminaries quietly gathered in a Washington steakhouse to lick their wounds and ultimately create the outline of a plan for how to deal with the incoming administration.”
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Bachmann Had “Unnatural” Relationship With Debate Coach
Former Michele Bachmann staffer Peter Waldron tells BuzzFeed that debate coach Brett O’Donnell developed an “unnatural” and “Rasputin-like” relationship with Bachmann during her failed 2012 presidential campaign.
Waldron said O’Donnell exercised an “unusual power over Mrs. Bachmann” and even “prohibited her husband, Dr. Marcus Bachmann, from sleeping in the same room with wife while on the campaign trail.”
Waldron is one of five staffers who says they are still owed money by the Bachmann campaign.
The Inside Story of Obama’s Last Campaign
Just published: Panic 2012 by Michael Hastings.
“The behind-the-scenes story of the campaign trail: from Obama’s self-destructive performance at the first debate to the harrowing days of Hurricane Sandy, all culminating in his triumphant victory late in the evening on November 6th.”
What’s Really Behind the Hagel Fight
Aaron David Miller points out that the bumpy nomination and confirmation process for Chuck Hagel to be the next defense secretary isn’t really about Hagel himself.
“This is really a fight about Barack Obama. It is being driven by three somewhat overlapping constituencies — a pro-Israel community that doesn’t trust the president, a Republican party and a neoconservative elite struggling unsuccessfully to define its own foreign policy identity, and finally, a party in opposition that is determined to remind Obama that, reelected or not, he doesn’t have a free hand.”
Lawmaker’s Wife Thought Top Aide Was a Stripper
When freshman Rep. Ted Yoho’s (R-FL) wife, Carolyn, first looked at his 24-year-old chief of staff’s Facebook page, she “was led to believe the young lady was a stripper,” National Journal reports.
Obama Did Fewer Press Conferences Than Bush or Clinton
President Obama had fewer press conferences during his first term than any other president since Ronald Reagan, Politico reports.
With Monday’s event, Obama has done a total of 79 over four years. That’s 10 fewer than George W. Bush, 54 fewer than Bill Clinton and 63 fewer than George H.W. Bush.
Reagan had only 27 press conferences during his first term.
NRA Puts Out New Shooting Game
The National Rifle Association just launched a new game for the iPhone called NRA: Practice Range. It features a shooting range and is geared towards children as young as four.
Just last month, the NRA blamed violent video games for gun violence.
Bill Keller: Is it a hoax?
Obama Close to Picking Another Chief of Staff
President Obama is close to naming Denis McDonough as his fifth chief of staff, with an announcement coming as soon as this week, Bloomberg reports.
McDonough would succeed Jack Lew, Obama’s choice as the next Treasury secretary.
Media Tip: Four Great Ways to Use Statistics
A guest post from Brad Phillips, author of The Media Training Bible.
If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember those old television commercials for the Christian Children’s Fund. In them, actress Sally Struthers sold viewers on the promise of saving a child for “the price of a cup of coffee.”
A quarter-century later, those ads are still memorable. And the way Ms. Struthers used numbers in those commercials is a big reason why. The ads succeeded by reducing numbers down to a manageable price tag for most viewers: “For about 70 cents, you can buy a can of soda….In Ethiopia, for just 70 cents a day, you can feed a child like Jamal nourishing meals.”
Lawmaker Threatens to Impeach Obama Over Guns
Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) says he’s willing to impeach President Obama should he implement new gun regulations through executive action, the Washington Post reports.
Said Stockman: “The White House’s recent announcement they will use executive orders and executive actions to infringe on our constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms is an unconstitutional and unconscionable attack on the very founding principles of this republic. I will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment.”
The Cloakroom: Why new gun controls are inevitable.
Weiner Maintains Office But Few Signs He’s Running
National Journal: “Disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) continues to maintain an office for his dormant campaign for New York City mayor, according to campaign-finance disclosure forms filed Tuesday. But his disclosure shows no signs of fundraising or spending to suggest that he is preparing for a political comeback in 2013.”
RNC Chair Backs Electoral Vote Gambit
RNC Chairman Reince Preibus told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel over the weekend that he thinks Wisconsin and other battleground states “should change the way they allocate their Electoral College votes, but he said he is not inserting himself into how states decide to proceed.”
The Fix: “Basically, Republicans who have control of states that went for President Obama in the 2012 election are pushing for their states to change how they award electoral votes. While almost every state awards electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis, Republicans want these states to instead award one vote to the winner of each congressional district.”
“The new system would allow Republicans to consistently win electoral
votes (and quite possibly a majority of electoral votes) from states
like Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Virginia, regardless of
whether they win the statewide vote. All five of these states went for Obama in 2012.”
McDaniel Pledges to Continue Bid Despite Sex Scandal
“Apologizing for an extramarital relationship and fighting for a political future that once seemed bright, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel (D) tried to reassure voters that there won’t be any similar revelations as he seeks the state’s top office,” Arkansas Business News reports.
Said McDaniel: “There is no other shoe to drop.”
McDaniel “came out of political hiding last week as he faced reporters
and eased back into public life following his Dec. 18 revelation that he
had an ‘inappropriate’ relationship with a Hot Springs attorney.”
Romanoff Weighs House Bid in Colorado
Former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D), “who helped lead a Democratic resurgence in the state before mounting an unsuccessful 2010 Senate campaign,” is considering challenging Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) in the upcoming midterm elections, Politico reports.
Said Romanoff: “I haven’t made much secret of the fact that I’d like to return to
public service and that’s one path I’ve looked at. I haven’t
made any decision.”
Schumer Will Back Hagel for Defense
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is seen as a key to Chuck Hagel’s becoming Defense secretary, is backing the former Nebraska Republican senator — despite past controversial statements on Israel, Iran, and the “Jewish lobby,” NBC News reports.
Said Schumer: “Based on several key assurances provided by Senator Hagel, I am currently prepared to vote for his confirmation. I encourage my Senate colleagues who have shared my previous concerns to also support him.”
Republicans are Frequent No-Shows at White House
Abraham Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” He might also have said a house that cannot watch a movie together also might not stand.
Glenn Thrush reports that House Speaker John Boehner “has been by the White House for most holiday parties — and he played that legendary round of golf with POTUS a couple of years back — but he declined Obama’s invitation to screen ‘Lincoln.’ So did McConnell, along with Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME).”
“House Republicans have routinely turned down White House invites (as Democrats did under Obama’s predecessor), with the high point of bipartisan schmoozing being a sparsely attended 2011 BBQ Obama threw for newly-elected Republicans after the 2010 midterms.”
Even the newer lawmakers are taking part: “One Republican freshman who didn’t go was Rep. Renee Ellmers whose flack said, with admirable candor, ‘She declined because she chose not to go.'”
Thomas Breaks His Silence
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas broke his seven-year silence on the Supreme Court yesterday but the official transcript shows he said just four words.
Tom Goldstein: “Wow, slow news day. On the Supreme Court front, the chatter has been over the sentence Justice Thomas interjected during today’s oral argument in Boyer v. Louisiana. Some of the commentary has devolved into psychoanalysis of the Justice’s supposed hostility towards Yale Law School. The real question to be asked is: can you take a joke?”
Why New Gun Controls are Inevitable
The Cloakroom: President Obama has the public overwhelmingly on his side.
