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A new Rasmussen Reports survey finds President Obama’s approval rate even at 49% to 49% among likely voters.
“This is the first time since October 27 that the president’s total disapproval has fallen below 50%. Disapproval peaked at 56% on November 20.”
Associated Press: “His agenda tattered by last year’s confrontations and missteps, President Obama begins 2014 clinging to the hope of winning a lasting legislative achievement: an overhaul of immigration laws… If successful, an immigration compromise could restore some luster to Obama’s agenda, tarnished in 2013 by failures on gun legislation, bipartisan pushback on his efforts to take military action against Syria and the disastrous enrollment start for his health care law.”
“Obama, whose support among Latinos has dropped from nearly 80 percent to 55 percent, has been under increasing pressure to use his executive powers to limit deportations. Obama’s Homeland Security Department has deported 1.9 million people during the president’s nearly five years in office, prompting protests ranging from a 22-day fast by activists in Washington to outbursts at Obama public events.”
The Los Anglees Times talks to Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear (D) about his successful rollout of Obamacare in his state.
“Leading one of the nation’s poorest, sickest states, Beshear has improbably overseen one of the most successful rollouts of Obama’s troubled healthcare overhaul and become, deep in his long public career, a hero to Democrats grasping to find a redeeming figure amid the political wreckage. He’s an unlikely champion, not least because Kentucky’s two U.S. senators are both implacable opponents of the program.”
Said Beshear: “I think we’ve started something here that a generation from now you’ll see a very different Kentucky than what you see today.”
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The New York Times notes that while Liz Cheney cited “serious health issues” in her family as
the reason for dropping her Senate race, her problems were much larger.
“She ran in a state that she had not lived in for
decades rather than in her longtime home state, Virginia, she targeted a
genial and well-liked incumbent with no glaring ideological
vulnerabilities, and she carried the banner of a hawkish foreign policy
at a moment when a more restrained approach to national security is
ascendant in the Republican Party. Further, she prompted an ugly and
public split with her lesbian sister, Mary, by declaring her opposition
to same-sex marriage — and was nevertheless attacked with television ads
by a third-party conservative group over gay rights. Most of all,
though, Ms. Cheney miscalculated the degree to which her father’s
popularity among conservatives was transferable to her own race.”
Washington Post: “On Tuesday morning, Senate Republicans are expected to block an emergency measure to extend unemployment insurance. Soon after, President Obama will stand before a handful of the 1.3 million Americans who have begun to lose their benefits and try to shame Republicans for failing to help the nation’s neediest.”
“A similar political dynamic is likely to play out in the weeks and months to come as both parties battle to address mounting concerns over economic fairness and the growing gap between the rich and the poor.”
Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) “turned a resort hot tub into a steamy love cauldron over the weekend — kissing and sucking the toes of his topless mistress, Lis Smith, in front of families with children,” witnesses told the New York Post.
“This is a faith-based nation and a faith-based state. I think it is very offensive they would contemplate or even have this kind of conversation.”
— Oklahoma state Rep. Earl Sears (R), quoted by Tulsa World, insisting that a Satanist religious group should not be given the same treatment as Christians.
An extended trailer of the new season of House of Cards is out.
If you missed the first season, you can catch up here.
“If it weren’t clear already that lawmakers — especially Republicans — want to avoid another government shutdown, the overwhelming optimism Monday that Congress will pass an omnibus spending measure for the first time in two years tips their hand,” Roll Call reports.
“The goal is to announce a deal by Wednesday and file the bill by Friday. Senate Democratic aides said the House would ideally file the legislation by the end of this week and get it on the Senate floor next week, ahead of Congress’ Jan. 15 deadline to avert a shutdown.”
The Senate confirmed Janet Yellen to head the Federal Reserve, “setting her up to take office Feb. 1 as one of the most powerful economic policy makers in the world,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Ms. Yellen, who will be the central bank’s first female chief in its 100-year history, was easily confirmed by the Democratic-controlled Senate. She is expected to be sworn into office Feb. 1 and lead the Fed’s policy meeting in March.”
Dunkirk Observer: “A unique style of headwear was present during newly-seated Pomfret Town Council member Christopher Schaeffer’s oath of office Thursday afternoon, but it wasn’t intended to keep his head warm.”
“Schaeffer wore a colander (a strainer typically used to drain water from spaghetti) while Town Clerk Allison Dispense administered the oath of office to him before the board’s reorganizational meeting. When the Observer asked afterward why he wore a colander on his head, Schaeffer said he was a minister with an even more unique organization – the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.”
“We have tremendous respect for Liz’s decision. She and her entire family are in our thoughts and prayers.”
— Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), quoted by the Casper Star Tribune, on Liz Cheney dropping her Senate primary challenge due to “serious health issues” in her family.
Some great click over at Wonk Wire:
Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-PA) announced he will not seek re-election in 2014, marking yet another moderate House Republican to leave Congress, Roll Call reports.
Gerlach’s departure gives Democrats a decent opportunity to pick up the seat as Mitt Romney carried the district with just 51% in 2012.
PoliticsPA: “Gerlach was a Democratic target in 2012, but redistricting made his seat even safer for the Republican, but from the 2002 until the 2010 election, Gerlach’s district was one of the nation’s most competitive.”
The U.S. Supreme Court “put same-sex marriages in Utah on hold, granting the state’s request for a stay while it appeals a ruling that laws banning such marriages are unconstitutional,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
“The court said the stay would be in place until the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver makes a decision on Utah’s appeal.”
Rick Hasen: “This is no surprise. Recognizing a constitutional right to same sex marriage is a big deal, which requires thought, consideration and preparation in the public if this is going to happen through the courts. In Utah, one of the most conservative states in the union, we went all of a sudden overnight from no gay marriage to gay marriage. There was little indication for those not following developments it would happen. I think it did happen because Utah’s lawyers continually botched their stay requests, and the Judge was following the arguments that were presented to him. And once things started, Utah botched again how it handled its request in the 10th Circuit.”
National Journal: “The status of some 1,000 same sex marriages that have occurred since the ruling remains unclear.”
Out this month: The Loudest Voice in the Room: How the Brilliant, Bombastic Roger Ailes Built Fox News — and Divided a Country by Gabriel Sherman.
Capital New York: “Random House is preparing for a ‘shitstorm,’ to borrow the phrase Matt Drudge used in a tweet four months ago, that will surely ensue with the publication of Gabriel Sherman’s forthcoming Fox News book.”
Rick Klein: “The end of Cheney-for-Senate marks an early stumble in a year that may be defined by political dynasties — some with more than legacy-defining stakes on the line. Aside from the abandoned bid by this daughter of the former vice president, two grandsons of former presidents (H.W. Bush and Carter) are seeking their first statewide offices this year, and there’s even a Clinton-in-law who wants her old House seat back. The candidates are using the famous names in different ways and to varied effect. But the Cheney campaign’s failure to connect with Wyoming Republicans — the family health issues she’s citing aside — stands as a lesson that no name is big enough to carry an election without an argument and strong rationale for a candidacy. It’s also a reminder that national names aren’t necessary bigger than those of obscure lawmakers, even in the state a family has called home.”
The Atlantic profiles GOP consultant Frank Luntz, noting that “politics hasn’t been his principal business for some time: He still advises his friends here and there, but he no longer has any ongoing political contracts. (Corporations and television networks, not politicians, are his main sources of income.)”
“Luntz would also like to break into Hollywood as a consultant, but he can’t get his calls returned. He can’t figure it out. He thinks it must be a partisan thing. In every other industry, he says, 90 percent of his presentations result in a contract. But in entertainment, he pitches and pitches and pitches (he wouldn’t tell me which studios or shows) and things seem to go well, but then there’s some excuse. Not this time. Not the right project.”
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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