Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told TPM that new revelations about Mitt Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital mean he’d have trouble gaining U.S. Senate approval for pretty much any appointed job.
Said Reid: “He not only couldn’t be confirmed as a cabinet secretary, he couldn’t be confirmed as dog catcher.”
The Atlantic notes that “underwhelming recruitment” by will make it tough for Republicans to win a majority in the U.S. Senate.
A new Economist/YouGov poll shows Mitt Romney with a small edge over President Obama nationally, 44% to 43%.
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Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) has published A Mindful Nation which the Washington Times says is “a book touting the benefits of a meditative practice known as mindfulness.”
It’s target audience: “anyone and everyone suffering from chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, information overload.”
Said Ryan: “I don’t want to give away names, but I’ve had members of Congress approach me and say, ‘I want to learn more about this.’ Between the fundraising, being away from family, the environment of hyperpartisanship, Washington is really stressing people out. They’re getting sick.”
David Bernstein thinks Mitt Romney’s “shadow years” at Bain Capital are an important story.
“First of all, there’s Romney’s ‘buck stops here’ problem; the buck never seems to stop with him. Everything bad that’s ever happened under him — especially involving Bain — he always blames on other people, and that just isn’t very Presidential. The shadow years look like that in a huge way.”
“It also reinforces the image of Romney as part of the specially insulated corporate overlord class, who get to manipulate the rules so that they always end up the winner… He apparently was able to make a lot of money (or at least, what seems like a lot of money to most people) for being president, owner, and investor in a company while actually being off in Utah doing a completely different full-time job.”
“And, of course, he was apparently freely signing off on anything required of the president and owner, without, apparently, feeling like that meant he actually had any responsibility for anything happening at the company. It looks like legal, regulatory, and fiduciary responsibilities don’t really mean anything to super-wealthy executive types — not like when regular people sign employment documents, or mortgage documents, and so on.”
“Elections are about numbers, and right now the president’s are bad.”
— Karl Rove, writing in the Wall Street Journal.
President Obama’s campaign steps up the attacks on Mitt Romney’s personal finances in a tough new video.
Alan Abramowitz updates his presidential election forecasting model and finds “growing partisan polarization has important implications for forecasting
the outcome of the 2012 presidential election. With the American
electorate both closely and deeply divided along party lines, we can
expect another close election this year — probably closer than the 2008
election and possibly as close as the 2000 election.”
“There is only one prediction that seems very safe right now — it’s going to be a long election night.”
Mitt Romney “has repeatedly sought to distance himself from some business dealings at Bain Capital by asserting that he left the firm in February 1999, but a review of public records shows that his authority lingered for three more years as Bain repeatedly listed him on government filings as the man in charge,” the Boston Globe reports.
“Until 2002, when Romney and Bain Capital finalized a severance agreement, he remained the firm’s ‘sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president,’ according to SEC documents. The description was applied even to the creation of five new Bain partnerships a full three years after Romney has said he relinquished all control.”
“A new urgency has swept into President Obama’s campaign as disappointing fundraising numbers have emerged alongside the shaky economy as a major threat to his prospects for reelection,” The Hill reports.
“While the president’s aides originally maintained they wouldn’t be moving from ‘zero to 60’ when they launched their campaign in May, now, with less than four months until Election Day, it appears they’re pushing down harder on the pedal.”
Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray “knew in January that associates spent money on behalf of his successful 2010 election that was not properly reported, a violation of campaign finance laws,” the Washington Post reports.
“The disclosure also comes as Gray faces mounting political pressure to make a fuller accounting of his role in the campaign. The city’s political fabric showed signs of fraying Wednesday as three of 12 D.C. Council members became the first elected officials to call for his resignation.”
“If they want more stuff from government, tell them to go vote for the other guy — more free stuff. But don’t forget, nothing is really free.”
— Mitt Romney, quoted by MSNBC.
A new Quinnipiac poll finds voters agree by a 48% to 45% margin with with the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama’s health care law, while they say 49% to 43% that the Congress should repeal it.
Meanwhile, 59% say the Supreme Court decision will not affect their vote for president, 27% say it will make them less likely to vote for President Obama, while 12% say more likely.
A new Gallup poll finds 75% of registered voters say the fact that Mitt Romney is worth more than $200 million makes no difference to their likelihood of voting for him. However, 20% of voters, mostly Democrats and independents, say Romney’s wealth makes them less likely to vote for him, while 4% say it makes them more likely.
Bloomberg looks at pay raises and the top earners on the White House payroll.
NBC News reports that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), whose mysterious absence from Congress has prompted calls for more disclosure, is
being treated for alcoholism and addiction at an Arizona facility.
However, the AP reports a statement from Jackson’s office responding to the report says the lawmaker is receiving “intensive medical treatment” for a “mood
disorder.”
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell tells the New York Times he’s reading The Summer of 1787 by David O. Stewart.
“As I grow older, I am
increasingly fascinated by our founding fathers. The challenges they
faced and the compromises they made, good and bad, to create a nation
have inspired us and people around the world. I wish today’s political
leaders, especially in Washington, would show the courage and
willingness to fight for what they believe in, but possess an
understanding of the need to compromise to solve the nation’s problems.
They all need to go off and read 1787.
His recommendation for President Obama: The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam.
“Theories and grand ideas are important. But they seldom unfold as planned. People — it is all about people.”
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) was declared the Democratic primary winner in New York’s 13th District — seemingly surviving the most serious reelection threat of his 42-year career — but now Politico reports it’s not so clear.
“It’s a bizarre situation that just keeps getting weirder, a strange case of missing precincts, questionable ballots and utter confusion over who’s to blame for the mess and when the race might be settled.”
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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