Sources tell ABC News that President Obama has decided that he will nominate Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) to be Secretary of State.
The Week summarizes the case for and against picking Kerry.
Microsoft Looks to Political Strategist to Battle Google
The New York Times profiles former Clinton strategist Mark Penn show is now in charge of “strategic and special projects” at Microsoft and “much of his job has involved efforts to trip up Google, which Microsoft has failed to dislodge from its perch atop the lucrative Internet search market.”
“The campaigns by Mr. Penn, 58, a longtime political operative known for his brusque personality and scorched-earth tactics, are part of a broader effort at Microsoft to give its marketing the nimbleness of a political campaign, where a candidate can turn an opponent’s gaffe into a damaging commercial within hours. They are also a sign of the company’s mounting frustration with Google after losing billions of dollars a year on its search efforts, while losing ground to Google in the browser and smartphones markets and other areas.”
Colbert Donates Super PAC Money to Charity
Splitsider reports that comedian Stephen Colbert will give the remaining $773,704.83 left over from his campaign super PAC to charities helping victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Quote of the Day
“This time our response must consist of more than regret, sorrow, and condolence. The children of Sandy Hook Elementary School and all victims of gun violence deserve leaders who have the courage to participate in a meaningful discussion about our gun laws – and how they can be reformed and better enforced to prevent gun violence and death in America. This can no longer wait.”
— Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), on Facebook.
Clinton Sustains Concussion After Fainting
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who skipped an overseas
trip this past week because of a stomach virus, sustained a concussion
after fainting, the AP reports.
“The 65-year-old Clinton, who’s expected to leave her job soon, was recovering at home after the incident last week and is being monitored by doctors… No further details were immediately available.”
Close Race for Virginia Governor
A new Public Opinion Strategies (R) poll in Virginia finds Terry McAuliffe (D) edging Ken Cuccinelli (R) in next year’s race for governor, 43% to 42%.
The poll was done for Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and also shows him with a 67% approval rating.
Obama Brings Gun Debate to Fore
The Wall Street Journal reports that President Obama’s comments “on the need to act against gun violence mirror those he made in the aftermath of the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that severely wounded then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six. He stopped short of making any proposals after that incident, however, and no new federal gun laws were enacted in its aftermath.”
“Whether the Connecticut school shootings, in which 27 people were killed, will lead to an effort to tighten gun laws will likely depend on the facts of the incident, many of which remained murky throughout Friday.”
Politico notes that “this time, the immediate, impassioned calls for new gun-control measures far outstripped the reaction to a series of other recent shooting sprees across the country, including at a Colorado movie theater, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and a shopping mall in Oregon.”
Schock Under Investigation for Ethics Violations
Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over possible violation of House rules, the Chicago Tribune reports, but the ethics panel declined to make public what it is investigating.
However, a spokesman said the ethics review involved super PAC money and reports that Schock solicited a $25,000 contribution from Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s political action committee to help fund a super PAC that successfully backed Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) in a March primary against another Republican incumbent, Don Manzullo (R).
Huckabee Blames Shooting on Removing God from Schools
Mike Huckabee told Fox News that today’s deadly massacre in an elementary school in Connecticut was due to the lack religion in public schools.
Said Huckabee: “We ask why there is violence in our schools, but we’ve systematically removed God from our schools. Should we be so surprised that schools would become a place of carnage because we’ve made it a palce where we don’t want to talk about eternity, life, what responsibility means, accountability?”
Obama’s Statement on the Shootings
President Obama’s emotional statement on the mass shootings in Connecticut indicated he wanted to take “meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.”
Wonk Wire: It’s time to talk about guns.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“What I won’t miss are the 20 people in their pajamas who go on Cleveland.com anonymously and feel that the world is just dying for their snarky, stupid comments.”
— Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH) telling Cleveland.com what he won’t miss when he retires from the House of Representatives in January.
Too Trained in Media?
Peggy Noonan: “I find both Mr. Ryan’s and Mr. Rubio’s media expertise mildly harrowing–look at the prompter here, shake your head here, lower your voice there, raise it here, pick up your pace in this section. An entire generation of politicians in both parties has been too trained in media, and to their detriment. They are very smooth but it doesn’t make them seem more convincing, it makes them seem phonier. My old boss [Mr. Reagan] had actually been an actor, but he didn’t seem like a phony. He talked like a normal person at a podium, with a nice voice, and occasionally stumbling. It’s not bad to be human when you’re trying to appeal to humans.”
White House Spokesman Brushes Off Gun Control Question
Hours after the tragic elementary school shootings today in Connecticut, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that it was not the time to discuss gun control legislation, the Washington Post reports.
Said Carney: “I’m sure there will be rather a day for discussion of the usual Washington policy debates, but I don’t think today is that day.”
Marc Ambinder: How to prevent more mass killings.
Very Few Doubt Global Warming
A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds that 78% of Americans now think temperatures are rising and 80% say global warming will be a serious problem for the United States if nothing is done about it.
Key finding: The biggest change in the polling is among people who trust scientists only a little or not at all. Within that highly skeptical group, 61% now say temperatures have been rising over the past 100 years. That’s a substantial increase from 2009, when the poll found that only 47% of those with little or no trust in scientists believed the world was getting warmer.
News Outlets Claim Romney Campaign Ripping Them Off
McKay Coppins reports media organizations are preparing to file a formal complaint to Mitt Romney’s campaign contesting some of the “seemingly inflated charges” that were billed to them during the campaign.
“It is standard procedure for presidential campaigns to arrange and prepay for meals, bus travel, and charter flights, then bill the news outlets afterward for their share of the cost. In order to travel with the candidate, reporters and their editors must agree upfront to pay for the cost of the trips, as determined by the campaign. But many of the bills from the Romney campaign — which have continued to trickle in since Election Day — are much higher than during other campaigns.”
Quote of the Day
“The truth of the matter is that my policies are so mainstream that if I
had set the same policies that I had back in the 1980s, I would be
considered a moderate Republican.”
— President Obama, in an interview with Univision.
Man Robs Bank Wearing Romney Mask
A man wearing a Mitt Romney mask robbed a Virginia bank yesterday — the same bank hit by a robber in a Hillary Clinton mask two years ago, NBC Washington reports.
The End of the Senate?
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) told the Tennessean that if Senate Democrats carry out a dramatic maneuver to change one of the institution’s most revered traditions, the filibuster, it will be “the end of the United States Senate.”
Alexander says the Senate “will become just like the House,” where a simple majority vote wins every time and the chamber loses its historic function of acting as a brake on popular proposals to give them more judicious consideration.
