A new Crain’s/Ipsos poll in Chicago finds Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s (D) popularity has fallen sharply since last surveyed in September. He now has a net minus 16 rating, down from the plus 4 he had in September.
Texas GOP Chair Says State Could Be a Battleground
While many Republicans dismiss the idea that Texas could be competitive in 2016, Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri tells Real Clear Politics that his state could become a battleground in the next presidential election, particularly if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.
Said Munisteri: “If she’s the nominee, I would say that this is a ‘lean Republican’ state but not a ‘solid Republican’ state. I don’t know anyone nationally who’s scoffing at this. The national party leadership is aware and tells me they’re taking it seriously.”
Quote of the Day
“Jon Huntsman would make a great Democrat.”
— Utah Democratic Party Chairman Jim Dabakis, quoted by the Deseret News, in response to Jon Huntsman’s support of same-sex marriage.
Mayor Claims He Didn’t Know $100K Salary Was Illegal
Oscar Hernandez, the unschooled and illiterate former mayor of the scandal-ridden suburban city of Bell, CA claimed in court that he had no training that would have alerted him that his huge salary was illegal, the AP reports.
“Hernandez is among six former Bell city officials charged with misappropriating funds. He was earning just under $100,000 a year for the part-time job.”
“Legally, the officials could have paid themselves $673 a month for what was a part-time job, since they didn’t actually run the city… But in addition to their inflated council salaries, the officials appointed each other to commissions that did nothing and often met yearly just to increase their pay, he said.”
White House Calm Ahead of Sequester
President Obama “is just seven days away from the first significant test of his second term as deep spending cuts loom, yet inside the White House a clear sense of confidence stands in contrast to the air of crisis that surrounded previous fiscal showdowns with Republicans,” the New York Times reports.
“The confrontation holds peril for both the president and Republicans. But for now, Mr. Obama believes he is acting from a greater position of strength, advisers say, pointing to several recent polls that show he holds an upper hand in the budget debate. Yet his standing would be at risk if the so-called sequester caused economic growth to collapse.”
Byron York: “There’s no doubt President Obama is using the so-called Washington Monument maneuver
in the fight with Republicans over sequestration budget cuts. It’s a
time-honored tactic of bureaucratic warfare: When faced with cuts, pick
the best-known and most revered symbol of government and threaten to
shut it down.”
Thune Tells Kids He’s Not Running for President
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) told some elementary school students that he does not plan to seek the presidency, Roll Call reports.
Said Thune: “Do I plan on running for president? I don’t. I enjoy the job I have. And being the president is a very, very hard job.”
Obama Thanked Finder of 47% Video
Former President Jimmy Carter, whose grandson James helped uncover the infamous “47% video” during last year’s presidential campaign, told Piers Morgan that President Obama thanked James Carter “profusely” when the two met last week.
Said Carter: “When James went to meet President Obama, President Obama ran across the room, embraced him and thanked him profusely for his time.”
Obama Group Targets 16 GOP Lawmakers
The Los Angeles Times reports 16 GOP lawmakers “are being targeted by a pro-Obama advocacy group in a new online ad campaign urging them to back a more robust background check system for gun sales.”
“The online ad buy, which cost close to six figures, is the first such campaign by Organizing for Action, the month-old advocacy group formed by top advisors to President Obama to build momentum for his legislative agenda.”
The Castro Brothers
Texas politicians Joaquin and Julián Castro “tell their family story and discuss career ambitions in the March issue of Vogue,” the Dallas Morning News reports.
“The article, titled ‘Pair of Aces,’ echoes the twins’ frequent labeling as ‘Democratic rising stars’ — Joaquin is a freshman congressman representing San Antonio, while Julián has been mayor of the city since 2009.”
Mississippi Lawmaker Lures Gun Makers
Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn (R) sent letters to 14 gun manufacturing companies inviting them to come to more gun-friendly Mississippi, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports.
Said Gunn: “We need more businesses to establish home base in Mississippi. We can provide these companies with an educated workforce, a superior quality of life, an evolving education system for their children, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing we support their industry.”
Huntsman Backs Same-Sex Marriage
Jon Huntsman writes in The American Conservative that he favors same-sex marriage rights and encouraged other Republicans to join him:
“Today we have an opportunity to do more: conservatives should start to lead again and push their states to join the nine others that allow all their citizens to marry. I’ve been married for 29 years. My marriage has been the greatest joy of my life. There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love.”
Unreality TV
Lexington watched all 13 episodes of the new House of Cards and says it is “at heart a palace intrigue, unfolding within the Beltway bubble. Politicians are raised up by decisions taken in the White House or the high-ceilinged rooms of congressional leaders. They are cast down by plots and ill-judged broadcast interviews. Whenever actual voters threaten trouble, they are soothed by the elite with improbable ease…”
“In the real world, federal funding is a fast-dwindling resource, and populist pandering a bigger drag on problem-solving than any individual villainy. Richard III is altogether the wrong model for a modern political tragedy: better to try Shakespeare’s Coriolanus and the Roman mob. For it is not the dagger in the back that haunts today’s ruling classes, but the pitchfork in the front, brandished by voters. By skirting that truth, House of Cards, for all its dramatic tension and clever dialogue, amounts to a kind of Washingtonian escapism.”
Several readers tell me the original U.K. House of Cards Trilogy is better.
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“I missed the meeting among Republicans where it was decided this would become an angry cause célèbre that should be pursued at all costs and with no holds barred.”
— Republican strategist Ed Rogers, in an interview with NPR, on the GOP’s obsession with the Benghazi embassy attack.
Democrats Still Driving Fiscal Narrative
Stu Rothenberg: “Congressional Republicans figured that after the fiscal cliff, they’d have the advantage talking about the sequester and, down the road, the continued funding of the government.”
“Clearly, they were wrong.”
The Cloakroom: The sequester isn’t really about spending cuts at all.
Why Democrats Have an Edge on the Sequester
James Carville told Morning Joe that Democrats have a big advantage in the debate over the coming automatic budget cuts because of the word used to describe them.
Said Carville: “The sequester has an advantage, and this is kind of cruel to Republicans, but it’s true. The sequester, not many people know what it is, but it sounds stupid and cruel. Therefore people think it’s a Republican thing.”
Reid Says He’ll Seek Another Term in 2016
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told the Reno Gazette Journal that he will seek re-election in 2016.
Said Reid: “Sure, why not?”
Immigration Reform Threatens to Tear Apart the GOP
The Fix: “The Republican political establishment sees immigration reform as a political necessity. Much of the party’s base sees it as the end of the rule of law. And therein lies the problem for a party trying to pick itself up off the mat following an across-the-board defeat in 2012.”
“It’s not clear how Republicans can bridge the growing divide between how the establishment views immigration (a political problem that needs to be solved yesterday) and how some significant portion of the base views it (a foundational principle about not rewarding rule-breakers).”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The Constitution must be amended. The Dred Scott decision had to be repealed, we have to repeal Citizens United.”
— Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), quoted by BuzzFeed, comparing the decision upholding slavery to the campaign finance ruling.
