“There’s a lot of ill will towards Sen. Hagel because when he was a Republican, he attacked President Bush mercilessly. At one point, he said he was the worst president since Herbert Hoover, said the surge was the worst blunder since the Vietnam War, which is nonsense. He was very ‘anti ‘his own party, and people don’t forget that.”
— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in an interview on Fox News, explaining the GOP backlash against Chuck Hagel.
Beth Reinhard: “No matter that he’s only punched up the old
script, swung back and forth on immigration policy, and never shepherded
major legislation through Congress. What Rubio brings is the star
power, adoring fan base, and command of the national media unmatched
these days by anyone in Washington outside of the Oval Office. It’s the
same aggressive product placement that has made the 41-year-old a
top-tier presidential contender just two years after his swearing-in.
Rubio is the GOP’s Barack Obama, minus the intellectual heft intimated
by two Ivy League degrees and a law-school faculty post. A Generation
X-er with a name that sounds like change. The author of an American
Dream-laced memoir that, audiences are frequently reminded, helped pay
off his student loans. A former state lawmaker and a Senate short-timer
with a thin binder of achievements but perhaps blessed with the greatest
rhetorical gifts in politics today.”
“Frankly, every time I’ve gotten into one of these high-profile negotiations, you know, it’s my rear end that got burnt.”
— House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted by the Associated Press.
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Charlie Cook: “Democrats face twin struggles as they seek to retake the House majority they lost in 2010. First, the chamber has largely sorted itself out. With 96 percent of Democratic House members representing districts carried by President Obama and 94 percent of Republican House lawmakers representing districts won by Mitt Romney, each party pretty much has the seats God intended. The House simply doesn’t have much elasticity right now. Substantial gains would either require Democrats winning a bunch of Romney districts or Republicans capturing a lot of Obama districts. Given this sorting out and the almost parliamentary-style voting we’re seeing these days, either party would require one heck of a head of steam to pick up a lot of seats from the other side.”
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) tells NBC News that “the 24-year-old woman he tweeted at during the State of the Union address was not a romantic interest, but in fact his daughter.”
“The congressman would not elaborate on how he only found out three years ago that he had a daughter. He said circumstances led him to search on Google for the mother of his child.”
Roll Call: “It’s man vs. the machine: Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. are on track to have a New Jersey-style knockout primary for the Democratic Senate nod in 2014.”
“This brewing political battle would match an outsider with an army of Twitter followers, wealthy celebrity connections and television news fame against a congressman who has spent years currying favor with the state establishment to run for this very seat.”
However, Steve Kornacki says the way Booker “handled the past two months does raise questions about how he’ll hold up under the national spotlight.”
Former San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor (D) “spent the last decade wagering more than a billion dollars at casinos across the country, eventually liquidating her savings, auctioning her belongings, selling off real estate, borrowing from friends and taking more than $2 million from a charity set up by her late husband, a fast-food tycoon,” the New York Times reports.
O’Connor “blamed an addiction to gambling aggravated by a brain tumor for the gargantuan spree. Her lawyers said that while she had made well over a billion dollars in bets at casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and San Diego, her actual net losses were around $13 million.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel “is said by well-connected Democrats to be considering the idea of running for president if Hillary Clinton opts out of the 2016 race,” Lloyd Grove reports.
“The 53-year-old Emanuel, who is busy raising money for his 2015 reelection campaign in the Windy City, has had discussions both over the phone and face to face in the past month with Democratic Party donors and fundraisers about a possible White House run, according to sources.”
But the Chicago Sun Times says Emanual was “was scrambling to throw cold water” on the report.
A new WBUR poll in Massachusetts shows Rep. Ed Markey (D) leading Rep. Stephen Lynch (D) among likely Democratic U.S. Senate primary voters, 38% to 31% with 4% prefering another candidate and 26% still undecided.
Although the federal government “currently puts hemp in the same category of illegal drug as heroin, LSD and ecstasy,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “wants to change that,” NBC News reports.
McConnell “joined forces Thursday with a pair of West Coast Democrats — Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley — to cosponsor a bill that would allow American farmers to grow hemp without fear of punishment.”
Politico: “California fancies itself as a trendsetter and Florida prizes its claim as a microcosm of America. But when it comes to politics — both present-day battles and future trends — ground zero right now is the fastest-growing of the mega-states: Texas.”
“To redefine marriage is discriminatory towards those who hold the sincerely held religious belief that it is a sacred institution between a man & a woman.”
— Illinois state Sen. Kyle McCarter (R), on Facebook, in response to the state Senate approving same-sex marriage in Illinois.
Politico reports that Republicans have blocked Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be secretary of Defense, voting to prevent his confirmation on a 58-40 roll call vote, with one senator voting “present.”
The procedural vote the Senate used required 60 votes. But the nomination will get another vote the week of Feb. 25 and Hagel may have the votes for confirmation by that time.
Illinois Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon (D) told WLS-TV that she will not seek reelection with Gov. Pat Quinn (D), the latest political trouble for the increasingly embattled governor.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) will not seek re-election to a sixth term next year, the Newark Star Ledger reports.
Said Lautenberg: “While I may not be seeking re-election, there is plenty of work to do before the end of this term and I’m going to keep fighting as hard asever for the people of New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.”
“The decision by Lautenberg, who has been giving mixed signals for months, marks the end of a political era in New Jersey and one that is likely to set off a fierce primary battle as Democrats, including Newark Mayor Cory Booker, jockey for the rare open seat.”
Between at 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. yesterday, MSNBC played the tape of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) taking a drink of water 155 times, the Washington Times reports.
“The president likes to attack Congress, but if he is serious about enacting this agenda, I think it must start with the part of this Congress that his party controls — the United States Senate. What can he get passed in the United States Senate?”
— House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted by The Hill.
Chuck Hagel will not have the 60 votes to overcome a filibuster at tomorrow’s scheduled cloture vote on his nomination to become Defense secretary, NBC News reports.
Roll Call: “Republicans insist they are not mounting a filibuster but merely demanding a delay in a vote until their demands have been satisfied.”
Meanwhile, the Washington Free Beacon digs up a 2007 account of a speech by Hagel in which he claimed that the State Department “has become adjunct to the Israeli Foreign Minister’s office.”
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.
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