Associated Press: “Ever see a couple go through a nasty divorce, and then one side gets angry and starts bringing up old history as the other tries to move on in life with someone else? Well, that’s sort of what the Republican Party of Florida is going through with former Gov. Charlie Crist … When Crist says something nice about President Barack Obama, the state GOP immediately shoots out a press release with something not so nice Crist said about Obama when he was a Republican. If Crist endorses a Democratic candidate, the party reminds people Crist used to say he was a Ronald Reagan Republican. There’s strong speculation that Crist, 56, will challenge Gov. Rick Scott as a Democrat in 2014. He has dismissed talk of a potential return to politics, saying he won’t even think about his future until after Jan. 1.”

“The idea is this: defeat Crist before he can re-emerge as a political candidate with a D next to his name. The unusual part is Crist isn’t a candidate and the attacks began before the 2012 election was decided. It breaks traditional election strategy for a party to begin airing campaign ads for the next election cycle while in the middle of another.”

The Fix gives the award to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) “for his remarkably poor presidential campaign.”

“Remember back to the late summer of 2011. Perry entered the race with what looked like a straight path to frontrunner status. He was a conservative’s conservative with a proven record of doing what he said in Texas. He was a fundraising powerhouse. He had a charisma that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney lacked. It was all there for the taking. Until, it became clear that the idea of Rick Perry running for president was very different than the reality of Rick Perry running for president.”

Runners up: Thad McCotter, Ric Sanchez, Todd Akin, and Pete Hoekstra.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) declined to tell GQ magazine how old he thought the earth was, saying it’s “one of those great mysteries.”

Said Rubio: “I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.”

New Republic: “That perhaps the two most compelling politicians in America hail from the same state is dramatic enough. Now consider that soon they may be running against each other.”

“Visions of a Booker-Christie match-up make political junkies weak at the knees… There are no nationwide campaigns next year, and just two gubernatorial seats are up for grabs, so this race–hypothetical though it remains–would have America’s attention. Money would flow: Both are beloved by Wall Street and, having campaigned on other candidates’ behalf, are loaded with IOUs from political fundraisers around the country. Coverage would be nonstop: Both are extraordinarily talented at handling the microphone and delivering social media-optimized sound bites. And the stakes would be high: Both have designs on the presidency, and are aware of the benefits of handing the other a premature political death.”

Who would win? Take our poll.

[Read more…]

Mitt and Ann Romney were spotted at the new Twilight movie in California, TMZ reports.

Politico:
“Thirty-eight months before the next presidential vote is cast, Marco
Rubio on Saturday night became the first of the potential 2016
contestants to swoop in to this first caucus state and test the GOP’s
new rallying cry to broaden its appeal. Seven hundred people turned out
to see the Florida senator at the annual birthday fundraiser bash for
GOP Gov. Terry Branstad. Rubio had the spotlight all to himself — he
said he was merely here to help the governor mark his 66th birthday, but
no one believed it for a minute.”

“In his speech at Branstad’s
party, Rubio said he understood Republicans’ frustrations over their
electoral loss, but insisted that the country needed to return to its
traditional principles to remain a power and global role model.”

National Memo: GOP leaders already jockeying for 2016.

“We’re working on this budget, we’re going to need a lot of prayer for that.”

— President Obama, quoted by ABC News, visiting a Buddhist temple in Thailand.

Mike Allen: “The Obama campaign continues to refine, update and expand its vast database, working the muscle to increase its value for 2014 and 2016. The organization wants to avoid a post-2008 lull, when Obama’s high command was so focused on building a government and staving off a depression that some in the grassroots network felt neglected. This time, supporters are already being asked if they are interested in running for office, and “how many hours per week” they would be willing “to volunteer in your community as part of an Obama organization.”

“Republican governors are torn between essentially staying the course in the wake of Mitt Romney’s loss and a more proactive strategy aimed at radically shaking up their party in an effort to reach out to young and minority voters,” Politico reports.

“Some governors believe that Romney’s loss two weeks ago to President Barack Obama was just that — a loss by a single candidate who ran a defensive campaign pummeled by negative ads and lacking in vision… But other Republicans here attending the Republican Governors Association conference last week believe a more dramatic Republican makeover is in order.”

Daily Beast: How the Republicans can win again.

Ballot Access News reports that 25 minor party and independent candidates were elected to state legislatures this month.

“Checking records of past elections reveals that this is the highest such number since 1942, when there were 31 such candidates elected. In 1944, there were 22 such candidates elected, and at no time since 1944 (until 2012) had there been any election with more than 17.”

Peggy Noonan: “Thank goodness… for Mitt Romney, who in a conference call with donors said he got beat and beat bad, that his campaign was lacking, that his gut on the big issues was probably off, that he shouldn’t have allowed his campaign to become (in the grandiose, faux-macho lingo of campaign…) an air war and not a ground war, and that they were smoked in get-out-the-vote. He added, with an eye to concerns larger than his own, that he wanted to help the party analyze and define what didn’t work in 2012 so it would be stronger in 2016. Sorry. Kidding! He didn’t say that.”

Rep. David Curson (D-MI) was sworn-in last week to complete the remainder of former Rep. Thad McCotter’s (R-MI) term — but he’ll only be there until the end of the year, the AP reports.

“He was one of four members of the House sworn in this past week to fill a partial term, but he’s the only one who didn’t win a full, two-year term to go with the temporary gig. In January, he’ll drive his truck home and be replaced by Republican Rep.-elect Kerry Bentivolio, whom Curson beat out for the partial term.”