In his classic style — and on camera — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) blasted political leaders in Washington: “I don’t have the first damn idea of what they’re doing down there.”
Quote of the Day
“It just, it breaks my heart he’s not there. He didn’t run — his campaign
wasn’t the best, but he would have been a really fine president.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by Politico, on Mitt Romney’s loss in the presidential election.
When Politics Comes Down to Simple Math
Ryan Lizza: “A fundamental fact of modern political life is that the only way to advance a coherent agenda in Washington is through partisan dominance. When Obama had large Democratic majorities in Congress during his first two years in office, he led one of the most successful legislative periods in modern history. After he lost the House, his agenda froze and the current status quo of serial fiscal crises began. Like it or not, for many years, Washington has been most productive when one party controlled both Congress and the White House.”
“The boring fact of our system is that congressional math is the best predictor of a President’s success. This idea is not nearly as sexy as the notion that great Presidents are great because they twist arms in backrooms and inspire the American people to rise up and force Congress to bend to their will. But even the Presidents who are remembered for their relentless congressional lobbying and socializing were more often than not successful for more mundane reasons–like arithmetic.”
Bush’s Poorly Timed Flip Flop
The stunning reversal by Jeb Bush on supporting a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants “comes down to a colossal political miscalculation,” National Journal reports.
“When Bush and co-author Clint Bolick were writing the book during the 2012 presidential campaign, the GOP was veering far to the right. Republican nominee Mitt Romney had staked out a hardline position against illegal immigration, blasting his primary rivals as pro-amnesty and promoting ‘self-deportation’ for undocumented workers. Bush sent the book to the printer before Christmas – weeks before a handful of Senate Republicans embraced a sweeping overhaul that, like the proposals backed by Bush’s brother, former President George W. Bush, would allow illegal immigrants to earn citizenship.”
“In other words, Bush’s party unexpectedly moved a lot faster than the book publishing world.”
The Miami Herald quoted an angry adviser to Mitt Romney’s presidential run: “Where the hell was this Jeb Bush during the campaign?”
Will McMahon Run Again in Connecticut?
Although she lost back-to-back U.S. Senate races in 2010 and 2012, the Greenwich Time reports Connecticut Republicans are quietly trying to gauge Linda McMahon’s (R) interest in running for Congress in the 4th congressional district in 2014.
More Blame Republicans for Sequester
A new CBS News poll finds Americans blame the Republicans in Congress more for the difficulty in reaching agreement on automatic spending cuts that took effect last week.
Key findings: 38% place more blame on the Republicans in Congress for the failure, while 33% blame President Obama and the Democrats in Congress more. Nineteen percent volunteer that they blame both sides.
GOP Seeks to Prevent “Todd Akin Moments”
Roll Call: “The National Republican Senatorial Committee plans to expand its press operation to train campaigns earlier in the cycle on how to better handle the kind of candidate missteps that have plagued its party’s nominees.”
Obama Lets Cabinet Play Bigger Role
President Obama, “facing a limited window of time to enact an ambitious second-term agenda, is rounding out his Cabinet with relative outsiders and empowering them with more policymaking responsibility than secretaries had during his first term,” the Washington Post reports.
“The appointees and others named in recent weeks mark a departure for Obama, who stocked his first-term Cabinet with politicos but has recruited more business executives and other outsiders for his last four years. The new nominees are expected to play an expanded role in helping develop executive actions and other policy initiatives, according to officials who detailed the second-term plans.”
With his EPA and Energy nominees unveiled yesterday, the New York Times notes they “send an unmistakable signal that the president intends to mount a multifaceted campaign in his second term to tackle climate change by using all the executive branch tools at his disposal.”
GOP Still Sniping Over 2012
Politico: “Each week brings a new diagnosis of the party’s woes. Karl Rove says it’s candidate quality. Mitt Romney chief strategist Stuart Stevens argues Democrats have won over minority voters through government programs like Obamacare. Some Bush White House vets say it’s the GOP’s trouble understanding how to approach a changing electorate. Techy conservatives blame the party’s inferior social media presence and outdated voter targeting and data-mining.”
“With fault to go around for allowing a president mired in a weak economy to handily win reelection, the finger-pointing and blame-shifting from various corners are showing no sign of abating.”
Lawmaker Lived Rent-Free in Lobbyist’s Home
Tennessee state Rep. Curry Todd (R) “lived rent-free for an undisclosed amount of time in the expensive Nashville home of a prominent lobbyist in 2011,” the Tennessean reports.
“The lobbyist, Chuck Welch, regularly worked on legislative issues that passed through the House State and Local Government Committee, which Todd chaired until he was removed in late 2011. That came after Todd, who had sponsored legislation allowing guns in places that serve alcohol, was arrested on DUI and gun charges in October 2011.”
Legislation Would Create January Primary in Nevada
A new legislative proposal would move Nevada to a late January presidential primary instead of a caucus, the AP reports.
Josh Putnam: “This bill, if passed, would also be a violation of the national party rules. There are no Democratic Party rules for the 2016 cycle yet, but if the rules from the previous cycle carryover, then Nevada would lose half of its delegates. Things on the Republican side, where there are 2016 rules, would be more interesting. Nevada would be subject to the super penalty (a reduction to nine delegates plus the three RNC members from the state) in the RNC rules if it held the only January contest and (importantly) was not forced to that date by another state encroaching on the carve-out states’ calendar territory.”
Why Jeb Bush Will Never Be President
Marc Ambinder: “Bush is an ideal Republican presidential candidate. He has a national stature, an enviable record as governor, a solid temperament, and nothing significantly scandalous in his past. He is one of his party’s best voices on immigration.”
“But he is a Bush. That’s going to be a problem. It’s not going to be an insurmountable problem, but the Republican base is definitely wary of the Bush brand and will not embrace him, no matter how hard he tacks to the right.”
Escort Says Menendez Prostitution Claims Were Made Up
An escort who appeared on a video claiming Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) paid her for sex has told Dominican Republic police that she was instead paid to make up the claims and has never met the senator before, the Washington Post reports.
The woman identified a lawyer who approached her and a friend to make the videotape. That man has in turn identified another lawyer who gave him a script for the tape and paid him to find women to fabricate the claims.
Latest Cabinet Nominees May Face Confirmation Delays
President Obama “pushed for quick Senate confirmation of his new picks for budget director, EPA administrator and Energy secretary — although the nature of the positions themselves all but ensures plenty of partisan fireworks on the Hill,” Roll Call reports.
Bush Reverses Himself on Immigration Reform
In his new book, Immigration Wars, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) makes a notable reversal on immigration reform, “arguing that creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would only encourage future unauthorized immigration,” Huffington Post reports.
Writes Bush: “It is absolutely vital to the integrity of our immigration system that actions have consequences — in this case, that those who violated the law can remain but cannot obtain the cherished fruits of citizenship. To do otherwise would signal once again that people who circumvent the system can still obtain the full benefits of American citizenship.”
Digging for Dirt in Los Angeles
First Read has a great overview of the Los Angeles mayor’s race in a city “where scandal and celebrity sometimes go hand-in-hand with governance. So it should be no surprise that the candidates are hitting each other by digging deep for dirt.”
The election is on Tuesday.
Obamacare Is No Longer Radioactive
The Cloakroom: After years of deriding the law, even Republicans now see its benefits.
Obama Team Had Secret Meeting About Walker Recall
Out this month: More than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions, and the Fight for Wisconsin by Jason Stein and Patrick Marley.
One interesting highlight from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “The top two officials within Obama’s re-election campaign quietly met with key Wisconsin Democrats and union leaders in October 2011 and expressed skepticism about the looming effort to recall Walker and how it could affect the president’s own re-election chances.”
