The Cloakroom: 5 moments when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton weren’t so friendly.
Bloomberg at a Party
A New York magazine anecdote suggests New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn’t realized he was introduced to a journalist at a Christmas party a few weeks ago.
“Later in the evening, the host interrupted me to point out that the mayor himself had just arrived. Did I want to meet him? Sure. My friend and I followed the host over, shook Bloomberg’s hand, and my friend thanked him for his position on gun control. Without even acknowledging the comment, Bloomberg gestured toward a woman in a very tight floor-length gown standing nearby and said, ‘Look at the ass on her.'”
Is Sarah Palin Over?
The Fix says that Sarah Palin “was that rare politician about whom there was no gray area in terms of how people regarded her. If you loved her, you LOVED her. And if you hated her, well, you HATED her. That division of opinion made Palin perhaps the single most compelling Republican politician over these past four years. No matter what you thought of her, you wanted to see what she would do next. In that way, Palin had as much in common with a celebrity as she did a politician.”
“Palin had as much natural ability as anyone this side of Barack Obama or John Edwards but was unable to translate that talent into results once the bright lights came on. That she never made good on her remarkable natural talents is a sign of how the political process can chew up and spit out those who aren’t ready for it.”
Marc Ambinder: “Sarah Palin won’t be able to make a political comeback until she decides to put in the work necessary to make Sarah Palin mean something other than it now does.”
Obama Not Expected to Make 2016 Endorsement
Former Clinton chief of staff Mack McLarty told CNN that despite President Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s strong working relationship, the president would likely refrain from making an endorsement in the early stages of the 2016 race.
Said McLarty: “He probably stays neutral, certainly during the primaries. I think that’s been the standard for any sitting president. And look, it’s a long time. Four years is a long time.”
Obama Just Wants to Cripple the Republican Party
Richard Benedetto: “When an irate House Speaker John Boehner declared last week that President Obama was out to ‘annihilate‘ the Republican Party, he was exaggerating, or at least engaging in a bit of hyperbole. Obama is not out to destroy the Republican Party, just severely cripple it, and thereafter to cement his legacy in the final two years of his presidency.”
“What upset Boehner and many of his Republican colleagues is that they have finally recognized what Obama’s second inaugural address really was: the first speech of the 2014 congressional campaign.”
“That has them in a panic. It is now obvious to Republicans that Obama has no intention of becoming a lame duck president at the end of his second term. He’s seems willing to bide his time and push for a more-friendly Congress.”
The Cloakroom: 3 tensions that are breaking apart the Republican party.
Why Obama Thanked Hillary
National Journal notes the highlight of last night’s 60 Minutes interview with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the president’s public thank you to his former rival.
“Obama has, in truth, good reason to feel grateful to his former political rival — far more than the public generally knows. In a remarkable display of discipline and devotion after one of the fiercest primary fights in American political history, Clinton managed to submerge her political ego almost totally during her four years in office. Yet her journey from dominant Democratic political figure — a presidential candidate seen at one point as an easy winner over the upstart Obama — to loyal messenger and defender of the Obama faith wasn’t easy. And, to Clinton’s credit, it happened almost entirely out of the headlines.”
First Read: “Here’s a thought exercise: Imagine what Obama’s presidency would have been like had Clinton stayed in the U.S. Senate. During the tough times (health care, the debt-ceiling debate), everyone would have looked for any kind of daylight between the two politicians, and Hillary potentially launching a primary challenge would have been a constant story, even if she had no plans on such a move. But what’s been extraordinary is how loyal Obama and Clinton have been to each other.”
Quote of the Day
“It looks like he’s running for president. He said he wasn’t going to raise taxes, and then he did, which probably helps you in a Democratic primary by saying, ‘See? I can lie to voters, vote for me!’ But I don’t know that it helps nationally.”
— Grover Norquist, quoted by the Albany Times Union, on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
Palin Was Paid $15 a Word
A Smart Politics review of the more than 150 Fox News broadcasts in which Sarah Palin appeared as a paid commentator from 2010 through 2012 finds that she spoke 189,221 words on air during this span, for an average pay rate of $15.85 per word.
The Wrap: Sarah Palin and Fox News split.
From Mailroom to Top Democratic Staffer
Politico: “Twenty-one years ago, Nadeam Elshami got his first job on Capitol Hill, working in the Senate mailroom Today,
he’s the chief of staff to House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of
California after serving as her communications director for the past
several years.”
Democrats Ready to Back Tea Party Candidate in Kentucky
Politico reports tea party activists “looking to oust Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in a GOP primary may get some help from an unlikely source: Democrats.”
“Big Democratic donors, local liberal activists and a left-leaning super PAC in Kentucky are telling tea partiers that they are poised to throw financial and organizational support behind a right-wing candidate should one try to defeat the powerful GOP leader in a 2014 primary fight.”
Treasury Gets a Citibanker
The Wall Street Journal blasts President Obama’s pick of Jack Lew to be the next Treasury secretary, noting his “only business credential is a stint at the most troubled too-big-to-fail bank.”
“The greatest irony is that given Mr. Lew’s crisis-era resumé, he bears a remarkable resemblance to the bankers who President Obama says created the financial crisis and deserve federal investigation. But apparently there’s an exception as long as your liberal intentions are noble and you’re a loyal Democrat. Then you can get rich at one of Wall Street’s biggest failures and end up running the entire financial system.”
Senators Agree on Immigration Blueprint
“A bipartisan group of senators has agreed on a set of principles for a sweeping overhaul of the immigration system, including a pathway to American citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants that would hinge on progress in securing the borders and ensuring that foreigners leave the country when their visas expire,” the New York Times reports.
“The senators were able to reach a deal by incorporating the Democrats’ insistence on a single comprehensive bill that would not deny eventual citizenship to illegal immigrants, with Republican demands that strong border and interior enforcement had to be clearly in place before Congress could consider legal status for illegal immigrants.”
Politico: “The group is expected to unveil the basics of its proposal at a
Monday news conference on Capitol Hill, essentially laying down a marker
on the issue one day before President Barack Obama heads to Las Vegas
to unveil more details about his own immigration proposal.”
Why Obama Chose Hagel
Bob Woodward: “The two share similar views and philosophies as the Obama administration attempts to define the role of the United States in the transition to a post-superpower world. This worldview is part hawk and part dove. It amounts, in part, to a challenge to the wars of President George W. Bush. It holds that the Afghanistan war has been mismanaged and the Iraq war unnecessary. War is an option, but very much a last resort.”
“So, this thinking goes, the U.S. role in the world must be carefully scaled back — this is not a matter of choice but of facing reality; the military needs to be treated with deep skepticism; lots of strategic military and foreign policy thinking is out of date; and quagmires like Afghanistan should be avoided.”
Cantor Looks Beyond Budget Battles
After lying low for several months, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) “is reasserting his presence in the Capitol, even as Speaker John A. Boehner continues his struggles to maintain Republican unity. In the coming weeks, the majority leader plans to lay out a second, softer track for his party beyond the constant cycle of budget showdowns and deficit talks,” the New York Times reports.
“Notably, that track will include a new push for private-school vouchers for underprivileged children, health care options beyond the old fight over the president’s health care law, new work force training initiatives and a renewed push for science, technology and engineering visas for would-be immigrants.”
Obama Campaign Gives Database to New Advocacy Group
President Obama’s presidential campaign “has turned over its most valuable asset — a massive computer database containing personal data on millions of American voters — to a new advocacy group created to advance the White House agenda on issues ranging from gun control to immigration reform,” NBC News reports.
“Dubbed the ‘nuclear codes’ by campaign aides, the Obama campaign database is widely described as one of the most powerful tools ever developed in American politics. According to published reports, it contains the names of at least 4 million Obama donors – as well as millions of others (the campaign has consistently refused to say how many) compiled from voter registration rolls and other public databases. In addition, the campaign used sophisticated computer programs — with code names like ‘Narwhal’ — to collect information through social media: Anybody who contacted the campaign through Facebook had their friends and ‘likes’ downloaded. If they contacted the campaign website through mobile apps, cellphone numbers and address books were downloaded. Computer “cookies” captured Web browsing and online spending habits.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“You know, Steve, I gotta tell you, the — you guys in the press are incorrigible. I was literally inaugurated four days ago. And you’re talking about elections four years from now.”
— President Obama, in an interview with 60 Minutes, responding to a question about the “date of expiration” of his endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s job as secretary of state.
Quote of the Day
“It’s not the platform of the party that’s the issue. In many cases, it’s how we communicate about it.”
— RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, quoted by Politico.
The GOP’s Path Back to Power in the Senate
The Cloakroom: Democrats will be playing defense in 2014.
