President Obama has asked Jeff Zients to stay on as acting budget director, “a move that takes him out of the running to become trade chief,” Reuters reports.
“Zients would stay in his current role until the confirmation of Sylvia Mathews Burwell, whom Obama has nominated to lead OMB.”
Nate Cohn: “While some might interpret his strength among younger voters as a sign that the GOP could benefit from a more libertarian tone, 59 percent of young voters believe that the government ‘should do more.’ Young voters are libertarian on cultural issues, but Paul is pro-life and against gay marriage. Even if young voters were libertarian on economic issues, the GOP’s small-government message attracts many of the same voters persuaded by economic libertarianism, without the cost of questionable ideas like ending the Fed. If Paul’s proposals for restraint abroad and marijuana at home would help Republicans, the party would be best served by attaching those proposals to a more traditional conservative, not Rand Paul.”
Politico: Five reasons you should take Rand Paul seriously.
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President Obama “came into office four years ago skeptical of pushing the power of the White House to the limit, especially if it appeared to be circumventing Congress,” McClatchy reports.
“Now, as he launches his second term, Obama has grown more comfortable wielding power to try to move his own agenda forward, particularly when a deeply fractured, often-hostile Congress gets in his way.”
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) advanced to a runoff in the Republican contest for an open congressional seat, “taking a step toward reviving a political career that was derailed by an extramarital affair while he was governor,” The State reports.
Sanford will face either Curtis Bostic (R) or Larry Grooms (R) who are locked in a tight race for second place.
The eventual Republican candidate will square off in the May 7 general election against Elizabeth Colbert Busch (D), the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert.
A new Basswood Research poll in Arkansas finds Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) holds a 8% lead over sitting Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), 43% to 35%..
A new Quinnipiac poll in Florida shows former Gov. Charlie Crist (D) tops current Gov. Rick Scott (R) by 16 points, 50% to 34% among registered voters if the 2014 election were today.
A PPP poll released yesterday found Crist with a 12 point lead.
First Read calls Scott “the most endangered governor in the country as we head into next year’s midterms.”
Just published: The End of Power: Why Being In Charge Isn’t What It Used to Be by Moises Naim.
“We know that power is shifting: From West to East and North to South, from presidential palaces to public squares, from once formidable corporate behemoths to nimble startups and, slowly but surely, from men to women. But power is not merely shifting and dispersing. It is also decaying. Those in power today are more constrained in what they can do with it and more at risk of losing it than ever before.”
Kansas City Mayor Sly James (I) was delivering an upbeat State of the City speech when an irate man commandeered the microphone, the Kansas City Star reports.
James “quickly recovered his composure and delivered the rest of his speech before a crowd of about 250 people.”
On the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war, Gawker published former President George W. Bush’s private email address.
A new Rasmussen poll finds Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) approval rating has plummeted since the November election to 35% to 54% — a stunning reversal from last August, when his approval rate was 50% to 32%.
The Week: So what happened to Ryan’s once-shining star?
Roll Call: “At the White House and in the Capitol, sequestration has nearly faded from view as an issue, with no compromise in sight to roll back automatic spending cuts that were supposed to bring a doomsday scenario but so far have been met by shrugs across the country.”
Wonk Wire: The invisible hand of sequestration.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “plans to start shopping a book proposal to publishers, seeking to enhance her national political stature while promoting what she considers the cause of her public and legal career: protecting the middle class from abusive financial practices,” the Boston Globe reports.
“The book’s working title is Rigged… and she expects it to offer a first-hand account of her battles in Washington to rein in the sorts of predatory lending and Wall Street excess that victimized everyday Americans.”
“Democratic heavy-hitters — including Bill Clinton — are quietly trying to woo a new candidate to jump into the race to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, even as actress Ashley Judd is taking steps toward launching a star-studded campaign of her own,” Politico reports.
“With fears growing in some Democratic quarters over Judd’s potential candidacy, some prominent Democrats in the Bluegrass State are beginning to set their sights on 34-year-old Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state. Among Grimes’ attributes: She lacks political baggage since she’s served barely a year in office, and she hails from a well-connected family influential in Kentucky Democratic politics. But it’s not at all certain if she’ll jump into the race.”
“Oh, no question, I would clean his clock… Just one knock on the head. It’s done.”
— Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, quoted by the Washington Examiner, on if he could win in a fight with current RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds former Gov. Charlie Crist (D) leads current Gov. Rick Scott (R) by 12 points in a possible 2014 match up, 52% to 40%.
Key finding: Scott’s approval numbers have seen no improvement over the last two months, even after his decision to allow Medicaid expansion in Florida. 33% of voters continue to approve of the job he’s doing to 57% who disapprove.
We’ll have another poll from Florida in the morning.
As President Obama departs for Israel tonight and Vice President Biden returns from Rome, “there will be about a 20-minute window when the nation’s two highest-ranking elected officials will not be on U.S. soil,” the Washington Post reports.
“Luckily, there is no reason to panic. This brief gap does not trigger a succession crisis, as White House officials are quick to point out.”
And Speaker John Boehner’s office “declined to comment on the fact that he might spend a quarter of an hour as the top American official on U.S. soil, or how he might take advantage of that brief home court advantage.”
Senate Democrats are preparing to move ahead with a gun control bill that doesn’t include a ban on hundreds of specific assault weapons and parts, the Washington Post reports.
Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) told Roll Call that the ban will not pass but that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) has promised her an up-or-down vote on the measure.
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.