Become a member. Already a member? Log in.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in New Mexico finds Sen. Tom Udall (D), who was elected by 22 points in 2008, starting out with leads in the 20-22 point range against both of his potential GOP opponents for this fall.
Udall leads Allen Weh (R), 53% to 33%, and tops David Clements (R), 55% to 33%.
Meanwhile, Gov. Susana Martinez (R) leads challenger Gary King (D) by five points, 47% to 42%.
A new George Washington University Battleground Poll finds the generic congressional ballot tied between Republicans and Democrats at 43% each.
Key finding: Among self-identified conservative Republicans 61% say they are not pleased with the direction of the party. Self-identified moderate or liberal Republicans have a 57% disapproval rating for their party’s direction.
President Obama’s approval rating is an upside down 44% to 53%.
A new Washington Post poll finds a “once-fractious primary battle” for Washington, DC mayor has narrowed into a two-person race with Muriel Bowser leading embattled Mayor Vincent Gray, 30% to 27%.
“The new polling indicates that, across a wide field of eight candidates, Bowser is now best positioned to capitalize on concerns about Gray’s honesty. Bowser’s surge offers more evidence that the electorate sees little connection between the city’s chief executive and its economic boom; by a two-to-one margin, voters say the city is on the right track, according to the poll.”
A new Marist Poll finds Bowser leading 28% to 26%.
Wonk Wire: “In the end, it’s easier to attack Obamacare than offer a viable alternative.”
The Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether for-profit companies can refuse to offer certain mandated contraception coverage under the national health-care law due to the owner’s religious beliefs.
Wonk Wire rounds up analysis of the the issue.
First Read: “If the court rules that for-profit companies should be allowed to be exempt from the contraception mandate, that COULD be something Democrats and the left could politically capitalize on. Remember, the contraception issue has been an important one for the party, especially among swing female voters. On the flip side, if the court rules that companies shouldn’t be exempt, it’s hard to see the right get more fired up about the health-care law than it already is.”
“Bottom line: There may be more to gain for the left by losing than by the right for losing. (And yes, politically, losing on issues before the Supreme Court can be more galvanizing than winning.)”
“She and I are fine. Are we besties for the rest of our lives? No.”
— Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), quoted by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on her relationship with Hillary Clinton.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) “said he will follow however a federal judge rules on the legality of same-sex marriages in his state, and insisted he has never taken a public position on the issue,” Politico reports.
Said Snyder: “Social issues, generally, I don’t take a position. I stay focused on jobs and kids.”
“The 2016 presidential race has received more attention earlier than any
other in recent memory, quickening a tendency that began some 30 years
ago,” National Journal reports.
“To make sure this wasn’t a fluke, we looked at month-by-month data going back all the way to the month before the preceding presidential election. The early coverage of 2016 easily outstripped the early coverage of 2008 in all but three months, and overall about doubled the number of stories written from October 2004 through March 2006.”
Federal agents were searching for child pornography when they seized computers from Illinois state Rep. Keith Farnham’s (D) home and offices this month, the AP reports.
Farnham resigned last week but said he had to attend to “battling serious health issues.”
“A trained ape could get a status of forces agreement. It does not take a genius. And we have so mismanaged that relationship.”
— Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, quoted by the Washington Post, attacking President Obama for failing to secure a status of forces agreement with Afghanistan.
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) accused Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) of trying to oust him from Congress during the recent primary, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Said Sessions: “I don’t think there’s any doubt that Senator Cruz did get involved and had ideas about who he would prefer to work with, and that’s OK.”
“Meanwhile, Sessions says he’s not holding any grudges. But he wants Cruz to learn how to play inside the GOP sandbox.”
Stu Rothenberg looks at the recent polling and finds that attitudinally, independent voters “once again more closely resemble GOP voters than Democrats.”
“Democrats can hope that this cycle’s independents really are closet Republicans — presidential candidate Mitt Romney won independents by 5 points in 2012, according to the exit poll — but dismissing the president’s problems with independent voters seems like a risky strategy that looks dangerously like denial.”
“Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who along with his wife plowed more than $92 million into efforts to help mostly losing candidates in the 2012 elections, is undertaking a new strategy for 2016 — to tap his fortune on behalf of a more mainstream Republican with a clear shot to win the White House,” the Washington Post reports.
“This time, the Adelsons are plotting their investments based not on personal loyalty, but on a much more strategic aim: to help select a Republican nominee they believe will have broad appeal to an increasingly diverse national electorate.”
“Heading off a lawsuit over compliance with a federal voting rights law, California officials have agreed to help millions of state residents register to vote,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Under a deal announced Monday by several voting-rights groups, the state will send voter registration cards to nearly 3.8 million Californians who have applied for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.”
“The move will ensure that many residents can complete or update their registration in time for the June 3 primary election, representatives of the groups said, and bring the state into compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The law requires that certain state offices provide clients with registration opportunities.”
During the Clinton administration, David Brock “was a self-described conservative hit man intent on taking down the Clintons,” the New York Times reports.
“He famously went to Arkansas in 1993 and wrote an article for a conservative magazine asserting that state troopers had facilitated sexual liaisons for Bill Clinton, then the governor, which led to Paula Jones’s 1994 sexual harassment lawsuit against Mr. Clinton and Mr. Brock’s elevation in Republican power circles.”
“On Tuesday, Mr. Brock will return to Arkansas for the first time since that article, this time in the warm embrace of the Clinton world: He is a featured speaker at the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas, delivering an address titled ‘Countering the Culture of Clinton Hating.'”
“Newly disclosed secret settlements between state government and former public employees show that some of the workers believed they were subjected to discrimination, inappropriate behavior and retaliation for blowing the whistle on improper bidding practices,” the Des Moines Register reports.
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) “answered questions publicly for the first time Monday about the controversy… He vowed Monday that ‘heads will roll’ if any secret settlements are made again. Branstad signed an executive order prohibiting confidentiality clauses in future settlements.”
“Do I have the best credentials? Probably not. ‘Cause, you know, whatever. But I have long and strong ties to this state,”
— Former Sen. Scott Brown (R), quoted by the AP, on his New Hampshire U.S. Senate race.
People close to Jeb Bush (R) “said he has not formally begun to consider a presidential campaign but plans to decide no later than early 2015,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Bush adviser Sally Bradshaw: “People who thought he was not looking at this race six months ago were underestimating his interest, and people who think he’s made a decision and is moving forward to run right now are exaggerating where his thinking is.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.