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Quote of the Day

January 24, 2013 at 1:35 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I’m not personally, at this stage, ready to get rid of the 60-vote threshold. With the history of the Senate, we have to understand the Senate isn’t and shouldn’t be like the House.”

— Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), in an interview with Ezra Klein, on why he essentially killed filibuster reform in the U.S. Senate.

Study Casts Light on Robo-Polls

January 24, 2013 at 1:21 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new study “makes a startling suggestion about so-called ‘robo-polls’ in the 2012 Republican presidential primaries, raising the question of whether these automated surveys may have been adjusted to match live-interviewer polls,” Gary Langer reports.

Key excerpt: “There is no difference in the accuracy of IVR polls and human polls when IVR polls occur after a human poll, but IVR polls do significantly worse if human polls are not conducted first. The apparent equivalence of IVR polls and human polls in the 2012 Republican primary appears to depend on human polls being conducted prior to the IVR polls.”

That said, the authors admit they “did not test the reverse
possibility, that traditional polls were altered to match automated
ones.”

Game Over

January 24, 2013 at 12:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just published: Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down by Dave Zirin.


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Bill Would Require Rape Victims to Keep Pregnancies

January 24, 2013 at 11:24 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New Mexico state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R) has introduced a bill that would legally require victims of rape to carry their pregnancies to term in order to use the fetus as evidence for a sexual assault trial, the Huffington Post reports.

Americans Back Obama’s Gun Control Proposals

January 24, 2013 at 9:12 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds a slight majority of Americans give positive marks to new gun control proposals put forward by President Obama, 53% to 41%.

Fully 76% of Democrats rate Obama’s proposals favorably, while 72% of Republicans say the opposite. Independents tilt positively toward the newly announced restrictions: 51% favorable and 44% unfavorable.

Gallup: “Given the chance to vote ‘for’ or ‘against’ each of nine key proposals included in President Obama’s plan to reduce gun violence, Americans back all nine.”

Very Close Race for Virginia Governor

January 24, 2013 at 8:50 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Christopher Newport University poll shows a very tight race for Virginia governor with Terry McAuliffe (D) barely ahead of Ken Cuccinelli (R), 31% to 30%.

A three-way race is even tighter with McAuliffe and Cuccinelli tied at 27% and possible independent candidate Bill Bolling (I) way back at 9%.

Al Gore Now Wealthier Than Mitt Romney

January 24, 2013 at 8:24 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Time looks at Al Gore’s recent business dealings — including a new book — and notes he “has built his net worth to some $300 million, according to the
scorekeepers at Forbes. By their measure, he is now richer than the
renowned super­capitalist Mitt Romney.”

Jindal Offers Tough Love to Republicans

January 24, 2013 at 8:21 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “will deliver a forceful denunciation of his party’s Washington-centric focus in a speech to the Republican National Committee on Thursday evening, arguing that the GOP is fighting the wrong fight as it seeks to rebuild from losses at the ballot box last November,” the Washington Post reports.

“Jindal’s speech — and his call to ‘recalibrate the compass of conservatism’ — is the latest shred of a growing amount of evidence that the Louisiana governor is positioning himself to not only run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 but do so in direct (or close to it) opposition to his party in the nation’s capital.”

House GOP Gambles on Pledge to Balance Budget

January 24, 2013 at 8:07 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Stepping up their austerity campaign, House Republicans plan to demand far deeper spending cuts from President Obama to balance the federal budget in just 10 years, an extraordinary goal that would hit Medicare and other safety-net programs,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “agreed to the dramatic initiative to coax reluctant rank-and-file lawmakers Wednesday to approve a temporary suspension of the $16.4-trillion debt limit without any cuts in spending.”

The Hill: “Democrats eyeing a takeover of the House in 2014 view the move as a gift, since the GOP budget plan will likely make deeper cuts to popular government programs that any leadership-backed blueprint has before.”

Democrats Launch Plan to Make Texas a Swing State

January 24, 2013 at 8:05 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

National Democrats “are taking steps to create a large-scale independent group aimed at turning traditionally conservative Texas into a prime electoral battleground, crafting a new initiative to identify and mobilize progressive voters in the rapidly-changing state,” Politico reports.

“The organization, dubbed ‘Battleground Texas,’ plans to engage the state’s rapidly growing Latino population, as well as African-American voters and other Democratic-leaning constituencies that have been underrepresented at the ballot box in recent cycles. Two sources said the contemplated budget would run into the tens of millions of dollars over several years – a project Democrats hope has enough heft to help turn what has long been an electoral pipe dream into reality.”

Obama Picks New Bank Regulators

January 24, 2013 at 7:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Obama will nominate Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, “tapping an attorney with broad experience in prosecuting white-collar crimes to lead an agency that has a central role in implementing Wall Street reform,” the AP reports.

Obama will also “renominate Richard Cordray to serve as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau… The president used a recess appointment last year to circumvent Congress and install Cordray as head of the bureau. That appointment expires at the end of this year.”

Bipartisan Filibuster Deal Close

January 24, 2013 at 5:17 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Democratic and Republican leaders are nearing an agreement on new limits to the filibuster, an effort to speed action in the often-clogged chamber by prohibiting senators from using a common tactic to slow the legislative process,” the New York Times reports.

“Lawmakers and aides said the new rules, which both sides were preparing to announce on Thursday, would end the use of a procedural tactic that forces the majority party — Democrats currently — to marshal 60 votes to even bring a bill to the floor, sometimes killing it before it ever gets debated.”

Boehner Says Obama Seeks to “Annihilate” the GOP

January 23, 2013 at 3:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he believes the primary goal of President Obama’s second term is to “annihilate the Republican Party,” The Hill reports.

Said Boehner: “Given what we heard yesterday about the president’s vision for his second term, it’s pretty clear to me that he knows he can’t do any of that as long as the House is controlled by Republicans. So we’re expecting over the next 22 months to be the focus of this administration as they attempt to annihilate the Republican Party.”

He added: “And let me just tell you, I do believe that is their goal — to just shove us into the dustbin of history.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

January 23, 2013 at 3:34 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I wish you the best in your future endeavors…mostly.”

— Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), at today’s hearings on Benghazi.

Panetta Lifts Ban on Women in Combat

January 23, 2013 at 3:32 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta “is removing the military’s ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs after more than a decade at war,” the AP reports.

Booker Would Crush Lautenberg in Senate Primary

January 23, 2013 at 2:20 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Quinnipiac poll finds Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) crushing Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) in a hypothetical Democratic primary, 51% to 30%.

Meanwhile, a Merriman River poll shows Booker leading 48% to 21%.

House Votes to Suspend Debt Ceiling

January 23, 2013 at 1:50 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The House voted “to approve legislation suspending the debt ceiling for three months, a move that will allow the government to keep paying its bills and give lawmakers breathing room for long-term budget negotiations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The House bill, which needs a Senate vote and the president’s signature, requires the Senate to pass a budget by mid-April and threatens to withhold lawmakers’ pay if it fails to do so.”

New York Times: “The debt ceiling legislation — mindful of constitutional hurdles imposed
by the 27th Amendment on Congressional pay — would simply impound
lawmaker salaries until a budget is passed or the 113th Congress ends,
whichever comes first. And it would not require the House and the Senate
to come to a compromise on the two spending and tax blueprints, which
are likely to be very different. That will be the really difficult task.”

Financial Times: Republicans seek to avoid debt backlash.

Clinton’s Next Chapter

January 23, 2013 at 12:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Daily News:. “For 20 years, Clinton has been a fixture in Washington,
capturing the nation’s attention as First Lady, a U.S. senator from New
York and secretary of state… But next week, she will reclaim her
private life. After logging nearly 1 million miles and visiting 110
countries as the nation’s top diplomat, she will step down from the
State Department to relax and recharge… The big question now is
whether her departure from the Obama administration is her farewell to
public service — or if she’ll back in four years on the same stage for
her own inauguration as Madame President.”

Fox News: Will Clinton’s Benghazi testimony put questions to rest?

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Word of the Day

Gerrymander: The term “gerrymander” refers to the practice of manipulating the boundaries of electoral districts in order to benefit a particular political party or group.

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

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