A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll finds Gov. Rick Perry (R) would defeat Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) by a nearly 3-to-1 margin if a Republican gubernatorial primary were held today, 49% to 17%.
“Such a contest might never come: Neither man has declared for that 2014 race, with each saying he will wait until June or later to make a public announcement of his political plans. Perry recently said they have talked and that Abbott wouldn’t run if the governor sought re-election.”
Karl Rove’s American Crossroads released an amusing video slamming President Obama’s outside advocacy arm seeking $500,000 for quarterly meetings with the president’s team.
“Or pay $1 million and you don’t have to meet with Biden–ever!”
“I have a voice, I want to share my beliefs about how the conservative movement and the Republican party can regain its footing, because we’ve lost our way.”
— Jeb Bush (R), on the Today Show, adding that he wouldn’t rule out a presidential bid in 2016, “but I won’t declare today either.”
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Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that he will not run for Senate in 2014.
“The news… is not particularly shocking given the difficulties Graves would have faced against some of his more seasoned U.S. House colleagues, but Graves used the interview to make the point — unsolicited and repeatedly — that he still has statewide goals.”
Washington Post: “Reps. Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey are so far the only Republicans in the race for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss’s (R-GA) seat. Democrats are still in search of a standard-bearer, with Rep. John Barrow appearing to be their best hope if he runs.”
Vali Nasr writes about his time working for Richard Holbrooke, the special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009 and 2010, noting it “turned out to be a deeply disillusioning experience. The truth is that his administration made it extremely difficult for its own foreign-policy experts to be heard. Both Clinton and Holbrooke, two incredibly dedicated and talented people, had to fight to have their voices count on major foreign-policy initiatives.”
“Holbrooke never succeeded. Clinton did — but it was often a battle. It usually happened only when it finally became clear to a White House that jealously guarded all foreign policymaking — and then relied heavily on the military and intelligence agencies to guide its decisions — that these agencies’ solutions were no substitute for the type of patient, credible diplomacy that garners the respect and support of allies. Time and again, when things seemed to be falling apart, the administration finally turned to Clinton because it knew she was the only person who could save the situation.”
Out this week: Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill by disgraced former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who spent 17 months in federal prison.
Roll Call: “Behind a discreet set of double doors on the first floor of the Russell Senate Office Building lies one of the last oases of what was once the world’s greatest good-old-boys club: the Senate’s members-only gym, one of the few places where members… can just be themselves without fear of repercussions.”
Said Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY): “The sweat-filled room has now replaced the smoke-filled room.”
“What I said is not what I believe.”
— Mitt Romney, in an interview with Fox News, on his infamous 47% comment, leading First Read to conclude “that one sentence sums up Romney’s two failed presidential bids.”
The New York Times reports Republicans are now split on Obamacare, immigration and even same-sex marriage. But they remain firm on spending and taxes.
“Four months after Mr. Obama won a second term, the only issue that truly unites Republicans is a commitment to shrinking the federal government through spending cuts, low taxes and less regulation. To have compromised again and agreed to further increase taxes or roll back spending cuts would have left Republicans deeply split and, many of them say, at risk of losing the core of the party’s identity.”
First Read notes that “if everyone gets a break and if the sequester cuts do have impact in the next few months, count us as ones who are a bit optimistic that a Grand Bargain on the budget could be reached in September.”
“Yes, we know that a Grand Bargain has been harder to find than the Loch Ness Monster. But here’s how it could happen: After some breathing room, after both parties let their budget processes play out, and after evidence that the U.S. economy has been negatively impacted by the sequester, both sides could determine that a Grand Bargain is in their interest — Republicans decide they really, really want entitlement reforms and are willing to put up some additional revenue; Democrats decide they really, really want additional revenue and are willing to put up additional entitlement reform. And in September, the president and Democrats will have this response when Boehner and Republicans say, ‘The president got his tax increases.’ They’ll be able to say, ‘The Republicans got their spending cuts.'”
Elizabeth Drew: “As the Republicans search for a new and more electable identity they have a fundamental problem. Ever since they took their major right turn in 1964, they have made a series of bargains in order to strengthen their ranks: the Southern strategy, which validated racism; the Christian right; the Sagebrush Rebellion, which represented big ranching and farming interests as well as the mining industry; and the Club for Growth, a highly conservative anti-tax, anti-spending group that can pour money into primaries to knock off incumbents who don’t vote according to their views. However successful momentarily, this series of deals ultimately cost the Republicans broad national appeal and flexibility.”
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg tells Jeffrey Toobin she intends to stay on the court “as long as I can do the job full steam.”
Said Ginsburg: “There will come a point when I — It’s not this year. You can never tell when you’re my age. But, as long as I think I have the candlepower, I will do it. And I figure next year for certain. After that, who knows?”
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) told New York magazine that he wanted his ex-wife, Jenny Sanford, to run his congressional campaign.
“According to Jenny, she had already told Mark she would be taking a pass on the race the day before, at the funeral of a mutual friend. So when Mark came to visit her, he arrived with a proposal. ‘Since you’re not running, I want to know if you’ll run my campaign,’ he said. ‘We could put the team back together.'”
“Jenny told him, in so many words, that wasn’t going to happen. Mark made one last appeal.”
“I could pay you this time,” he said.
Time reports on a group of Republicans consultants who believe the the conservative movement does not have what liberals have: “An infrastructure to train and nurture the next generation of campaign operatives and develop cutting-edge techniques. So they decided to take a shot at filling the void, by developing a proposal for a suite of new outside groups that would mimic, and eventually outpace, Democratic efforts.”
“The first part of that ecosystem, for which incorporation papers were filed last week, will be called the Empower Action Group. It is envisioned as a conservative answer to the New Organizing Institute, a place for training and connecting young conservative talent. It will aim to increase the ranks of people with digital, data and organizing know-how working for the GOP.”
President Obama “is moving quickly to change the face of the federal judiciary by the end of his second term, setting the stage for another series of drawn-out confrontations with Republicans in Congress,” the Washington Post reports.
“The president has named three dozen judicial candidates since January and is expected to nominate scores more over the next few months, aides said. The push marks a significant departure from the sluggish pace of appointments throughout much of his first term, when both Republicans and some Democrats complained that Obama had not tried hard enough to fill vacancies on federal courts.”
“The new wave of nominations is part of an effort by Obama to cement a legacy that long outlives his presidency and makes the court system more closely resemble the changing society it governs.”
President Obama will nominate EPA air chief Gina McCarthy as the agency’s next administrator and MIT physicist Ernest Moniz to take over the Energy Department, Politico reports.
“The long-anticipated announcements will place McCarthy and Moniz in crucial roles in Obama’s agenda to tackle climate change while building an economy based on green energy, yet taking advantage of a boom in domestic production of oil and natural gas.”
Former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado (R) told the San Francisco Chronicle he is “seriously considering” a 2014 run for governor against incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown (D).
President Obama will nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell as his next budget director, the AP reports.
Burwell served as OMB’s deputy director in the Clinton administration and chief of staff to former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.
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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