“I know we ran the most sophisticated and aggressive digital campaign in the history of Republican politics.”
— Romney campaign digital director Zac Moffatt, quoted by National Journal.
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Clean Sweep for Democrats
The Economist: “The Democrats won 50.6% of the votes for president, to 47.8% for the Republicans; 53.6% of the votes for the Senate, to 42.9% for the Republicans; and…49% of the votes for the House, to 48.2% for the Republicans (some ballots are still being counted). That’s not a vote for divided government. It’s a clean sweep.”
Fiscal Cliff Talks Get Fast Track
Congressional leaders said they have agreed to a fast-paced negotiation process to broker a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“In an unusual display of bipartisanship, the four congressional leaders addressed reporters jointly after meeting with President Barack Obama. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said White House and congressional staff would work together next week to begin sorting through details, and suggested they could all reconvene in two weeks.”
Bloomberg: How Obama is taking control of the fiscal cliff debate.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“We don’t — I know no one believes it — we have no agenda.”
— Fox News chief Roger Ailes, quoted by TV Newser.
Graham Says Romney Lost Because Christians Didn’t Vote
The Rev. Franklin Graham claimed in an interview with David Brody that the “majority of Christians” did not vote.
Said Graham: “We know that from of the statistics that I’ve heard that the majority of Christians in this country just did not vote for whatever reason. The vast majority of evangelicals did not go to the polls. God is in control, and if Christians are upset, they need to be upset at themselves. We need to do a better job of getting our people- the church to vote. Now, I’m not trying to tell you how to vote, you can vote, but vote, my goodness, and vote for candidates that stand for Biblical values.”
First Read: “But Graham’s assertion — and implication that had white Christian evangelicals just showed up in bigger numbers, President Obama would have lost — is off base. In fact, white evangelicals/born-again Christians made up the same percentage of the electorate as they did in 2008 – 26%. They voted for Mitt Romney, a devout Mormon, by a wider margin than they did for Sen. John McCain four years ago.”
Three House Races Still Undecided
Two close congressional races in California were finally decided, with Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) and Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA) losing their seats.
NBC News notes there are still three undecided House races: “The Undecided Three now include LA-3 (which is scheduled for a runoff in three weeks) and NC-7 and AZ-2 (where Democratic incumbents cling to narrow leads).”
Booker Delays Decision on Bid for Governor
Newark Mayor Cory Booker said his decision on whether to run for New Jersey governor has been pushed back by Hurricane Sandy but vowed not to keep Democrats waiting too much longer, the Newark Star Ledger reports.
Said Booker: “The reality is Sandy has pushed my timeline back.”
The mayor originally said he would make his decision by early December.
Senate Democrats Eye Solution to Filibuster
The Huffington Post has the outlines of a Democratic proposal to weaken the filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
“The critical component, though, is a mechanism that would force senators to physically take the floor and speak in order to maintain opposition to legislation. The effort to end a filibuster is called a cloture motion. Under the proposed rules, if a cloture vote failed to win a simple majority, the bill would be killed and the Senate would move to new business. But if it won a majority — though less than a supermajority of 60 — the bill would remain on the floor for any senator who wished to opine on it. If at some point no senator rose to speak, after given several chances to do so, a new vote would be called — and only a simple majority would be needed to pass it.”
Meghan McCain Threatens to Leave Republican Party
Meghan McCain: “Times are changing. The face of America is changing and we as Republicans stand at a crossroads. Are we going to accept the changing face of America and change with it? Or are we going to continue to become more isolated and irrelevant? It’s possible to maintain the core values of this party and evolve when it comes to social issues. Quite frankly, I don’t see any other path to success.”
“I’ve spent most of my adult life fighting for change from inside the Republican Party… And if we don’t move forward, adapt, and become relevant again, the Republican Party isn’t going to survive. It will just continue to alienate more moderate voters like myself. If I don’t see some changes in the next four years, I’m going to consider registering as an Independent in 2016.”
How TV Killed the GOP’s Family Values
Daily Beast: “Republicans are searching for an explanation as to why voters rejected their vision of America. The answer may be on their television screens, where an ever-expanding, bluer definition of family values makes their nostalgic idea of family values feel like a foreign world.”
Obama Kicks Off Budget Talks
President Obama “is kicking off budget dealings with congressional leaders with new leverage from last week’s big win, but he confronts a decidedly tricky path to avoiding a market-rattling ‘fiscal cliff’ that could imperil a still-fragile economy,” USA Today reports.
“Obama’s GOP rivals promise greater flexibility on new tax revenues, but Democrats face pressure from liberal interest groups urging the president to take a hard line and avoid cutting big benefit programs like Medicare and food stamps. It’s up to Obama to navigate the course toward an agreement.”
New York Times: “After years of wrangling, members of the bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight are ratcheting back expectations for a deficit reduction breakthrough and now say the best they can probably do is offer ideas for the one fiscal negotiation that will truly matter: talks between President Obama and Speaker John A. Boehner that begin in earnest on Friday.”
Wonk Wire: Another U.S. credit downgrade looms.
GOP Governors Soften Opposition to Tax Hikes?
“Some Republican governors are softening on the party’s hard-line toward tax increases for the wealthy, suggesting that GOP congressmen at least be open to rate hikes in exchange for a comprehensive fiscal agreement on taxes and entitlements,” Politico reports.
Said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R): “The people have spoken, I think we’re going to have to be [flexible] now. Elections do have consequences. The president campaigned on that.”
Walker Will Not Arrest Officials Implementing Obamacare
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “does not agree with nine Republican state lawmakers who say they would support arresting federal officials who try to implement President Barack Obama’s health care law in Wisconsin,” the Madison Capital Times reports.
McCain Explodes When Asked Why He Wasn’t At Briefing
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipped a classified Senate briefing on the Benghazi consulate attack to hold a press conference about the lack of information on the same attack. When CNN asked him about it, he exploded.
Republicans Resist Calls to Retool
“Two weeks after their presidential election defeat, Republican Party leaders are falling into roughly two camps as they struggle to explain what happened and devise ways to broaden the party’s base,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Some top GOP officials worry their message is wrong for a rapidly diversifying population, and that fundamental shifts in policy may be required. But the more dominant voice, and the one gaining currency within the center of the party, says such drama isn’t necessary.”
“It asserts that Mitt Romney’s loss to President Barack Obama was primarily a tactical failure, a combination of poor articulation of GOP positions and a weak effort to register voters and move them to the polls. Better execution on both, they say, would have swung the few hundred thousand votes in a few states that would have tipped the presidential election the other way.”
Quote of the Day
“In chess you have fixed rules and unpredictable results. In [Russian politics] it’s the opposite.”
— Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, quoted by the Daily Beast, on why he’s not running for political office.
GOP Governors Already Buzzing About 2016
As Republican governors gathered for their national meeting, the New York Times reports “the party is moving forward without a clear national leader. But Republicans have a deep reservoir of strength in their roster of 30 governors, several of whom are planting seeds for a potential presidential bid.”
“It is far too early for a shortlist of prospective candidates in the 2016 campaign — the election, after all, is 1,454 days away — but the early aspirations were on display here.”
Washington Post: “Some of them are considered to be among the Republicans’ brightest prospects for the 2016 presidential election — a topic that was much discussed outside the formal sessions of the meeting.”
Obama’s Digital Fundraising Efforts Surged
President Obama’s re-election campaign raised $690 million digitally in 2012, up from about $500 million in 2008. The total number of donors increased to 4.4 million individuals, up from 3.95 million four years ago, Time reports.
“But when the final numbers are counted, Obama’s aides now expect more than $1 billion dollars to have been raised by the 2012 campaign and its affiliated party committees, breaking the 10-figure milestone for the first time in history. The reason is simple: the campaign brought in more small-dollar fundraising through email, social media, mobile and its website during the final months of the race than initially projected.”
