Chuck Hagel, “known for his unswerving relentlessness
both as a senator and as a soldier, plans to stand fast as President
Obama’s nominee to head the Pentagon despite a growing GOP effort to
defeat him with a rare filibuster,” National Journal reports.
Said a spokesperson: “He could be defeated, but he’s not withdrawing. It’s not something anyone is discussing.”
A Senate vote on his nomination faces a 60 vote hurdle and is scheduled for Friday.
Matt Lewis wonders if the sexual allegations involving Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) hadn’t been made public, would we even be talking about the more mundane — but serious — ethical issues concerning his conduct?
Nate Silver told Student Life that he might stop doing his election forecasts after the 2014 or 2016 elections should his projections actually influence the elections’ outcome.
Said Silver: “The polls can certainly affect elections at times. I hope people don’t take the forecasts too seriously. You’d rather have an experiment where you record it off from the actual voters, in a sense, but we’ll see. If it gets really weird in 2014, in 2016, then maybe I’ll stop doing it. I don’t want to influence the democratic process in a negative way.”
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Ron Fournier: “Inside the cozy enclaves of GOP bonhomie–hunkered at the tables of see-and-be-seen Washington restaurants–Republican leaders are sourly predicting a party-busting independent presidential bid by a tea-party challenger, like Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in 2016.”
“To them, the GOP apocalypse looms larger than most realize. Dueling State of the Union rebuttals and Karl Rove’s assault on right-wing candidates are mere symptoms of an existential crisis that is giving the sturdiest Republicans heartburn.”
“And yet, the heart of the matter extends beyond the GOP. My conversations this week with two Republican officials, along with a Democratic strategist’s timely memo, reflect a growing school of thought in Washington that social change and a disillusioned electorate threaten the entire two-party system.”
Businessweek reports that out of the 535 members of Congress, only five — Rep. Jared Polis, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Rep Bob Goodlatte, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, and Rep. Darrell Issa — are recognized as being fluent in the language of the Internet.
Politico notes Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is staying out of the spotlight.
“Since taking office, Warren has kept the lowest of profiles, speaking only to select Massachusetts media outlets while shutting out the national press save for a smattering of interviews, most notably with the liberal-friendly Huffington Post. For a left-leaning icon and national media darling, the role of silent senator is a sharp departure from her rousing campaign and outspoken consumer advocacy.”
“It’s the same tactic used by other first-term senators who entered the chamber to great fanfare, including former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.”
Joe Klein: “Barack Obama, liberated from the thrall of electoral politics, has now given us two major speeches to set the style and substance of his second term. Both were powerful; both had moments of high passion, a quality the President kept in mothballs for most of his first term. But neither was daring; neither pointed a way past the rutted politics of the moment. They assumed the status quo. They paved the way to past arguments.”
“We’re citizens, Obama amplified. But most of us aren’t very active citizens, though, and the President never addressed the responsibilities that accompany citizenship. He asked nothing of us. But government isn’t only about taking from some and giving to others. It is about the creation and maintenance of something much larger than all of us–a learning, evolving democracy, which requires an informed, rigorous public. I haven’t heard a politician speak honestly about the sacrifices required for greatness in a long time.”
This looks really interesting: Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry by Marc Ambinder and D.B. Grady.
Roll Call: “Actress Ashley Judd’s movement toward a Senate run against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell makes Democrats in Washington, D.C., happy. But back in Kentucky, for many Bluegrass State Democrats, a potential Judd run brings a different feeling: heartburn.”
“Democrats plugged into the Frankfort, Ky., zeitgeist publicly and privately confirmed those sentiments. The crux of their worry is this: As a celebrity and strong supporter of President Barack Obama, Judd’s position at the top of the ticket could nationalize state and local races. They see her losing the Senate contest — an uphill climb for any Democrat — and potentially poisoning the conservative brand of some state Democrats.”
A new poll shows Judd tailing McConnell by nine points in a Senate match up.
“I think it’s a mistake on the part of Republicans to try to pin the sequester on Obama. It’s totally disingenuous.”
— Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), quoted by BuzzFeed, adding “you can’t vote for something and, with a straight face, go blame the other guy for its existence in law.”
Start your political job hunt here.
After Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced he is prepared to hold John Brennan’s nomination to be CIA director, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said he wouldn’t honor the hold, NBC News reports.
Reid also refused to honor holds on Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be defense secretary which is scheduled for a Friday vote.
GOP pollster Neil Newhouse warned Republicans to beware of President Obama’s use of the bully pulpit this election cycle, Roll Call reports.
He also suggested they not count on the six-year itch.
Said Newhouse: “I kind of emphasized to the members that second midterm elections have never been friendly to the president. You can’t count on that. That’s not going to happen. We’ve got to realize that the House Republicans are going to be Obama’s top target.”
“Facing stiff Republican opposition to moving quickly on Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be secretary of Defense, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed a cloture motion this afternoon to cut off debate,” Politico reports.
“Sixty votes will be required to cut off debate and then move to an up-or-down vote on the nomination; the vote is scheduled for Friday unless a deal can be reached to hold it earlier.”
Said Reid: “This is the first time in the history that a presidential nominee for secretary of defense has been filibustered. What a shame.”
A new Harper Polling survey in Kentucky finds Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) would handily beat Ashley Judd (D) in a race for U.S. Senate, 49% to 40%.
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) declares in a new fundraising letter that he was “the first Member of Congress to call him a socialist who embraces Marxist-Leninist policies like government control of health care and redistribution of wealth,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Broun is running for U.S. Senate in Georgia for the seat being vacated by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA).
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) told the nation in his State of the Union rebuttal last night, “I still live in the same working-class neighborhood I grew up in.”
But the Miami New Times reports that Rubio “has been trying to sell that house for an un-working-class-like $675,000 so he can up and move his family to godless elite D.C.”
“That’s the line that will cripple Barack Obama.”
— Newt Gingrich, in an interview on CNN, on the president’s State of the Union claim that his proposals would “not add a single dime to the budget.”
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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