“You want to prevent your race from being about Obamacare. If you enable your race to be about Obamacare, you’re making a mistake.”
— Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, quoted by National Journal.
Corbett Falls Further Behind
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Pennsylvania finds Gov. Tom Corbett’s (R) political situation has gone from bad to worse in the last eight months.
Key findings: “Corbett is now the most unpopular Governor anywhere in the country that we’ve polled, with only 24% of voters approving of him to 65% who disapprove. It’s gotten to the point where Corbett’s numbers are even upside down with Republicans, only 37% of whom approve of him with 51% disapproving.”
More bad news: “Corbett already trailed his potential Democratic opponents by 7 to 11 points in March but those deficits have increased to 12-20 points now.”
Democrats Worry Obamacare Will Cost Them the Senate
National Journal: “For Democrats, the politics of the health care law are creating a death spiral of their own. For the White House to protect its signature initiative, it needs to maintain a Democratic Senate majority past 2015. But to do so, Majority Leader Harry Reid needs to insulate vulnerable battleground-state Democrats, who are all too eager to propose their own fixes to the law that may be politically satisfying, but could undermine the fundamentals of the law.”
“Race-by-race polling conducted over the last month has painted a grim picture of the difficult environment Senate Democrats are facing next year.”
Wonk Wire: Supreme Court takes up Obamacare again.
Tea Party Survives GOP Civil War
Politico:
“The Republican civil war erupted into full view this fall, and the
establishment looked like it was about to shove the movement back in
line. But the early skirmishes ended with the tea party no weaker than
it was. And while the party’s internal fight will rage on, the opening
battles suggest the establishment is just starting to see how much it
will take to reclaim the power it has ceded to the movement in recent
years.”
GOP Senators Oppose Recess Appointments
Roll Call: “The
entire Senate Republican Conference on Monday filed a friend of the
court brief with the Supreme Court, continuing its effort to oppose
President Barack Obama’s disputed use of the recess appointment power.”
The Do (Almost) Nothing Congress
Carrie Dann:
“It’s not quite a ‘do nothing’ Congress – but it’s not far off. With
only a handful of remaining legislative days on their calendar, this
current Congress is on track to go down as one of the most unproductive
in modern history. The paltry number of bills Congress has passed into
law this year paints a vivid picture of just how bad the gridlock has
been for lawmakers, whose single-digit approval rating illustrates that
the public is hardly satisfied with their trickle of legislative
activity.”
Years of Dysfunction Ahead
Doug Sosnik: “The ballot box has traditionally been the place where Americans’ voices their discontent. But the political system has built-in safeguards through reapportionment and redistricting that will limit the vulnerability of most incumbent elected officials. These lines will not be redrawn until the beginning of the next decade, forestalling the massive desire for change that is building in our country.”
“This all suggests that the period of turmoil and dissatisfaction that we have been experiencing for the past 10 years could well continue through the end of this decade. However, underneath this turmoil you can see the shape of an emerging populist movement that will, in time, either move the politicians to action or throw them out of office. The country is moving toward new types of leaders, those who will be problem-solvers and build institutions that are capable of making a difference in people’s lives.”
Kerry Started Deal While Still in the Senate
Secretary of State John Kerry began back channel talks for an Iran nuclear deal with a secret trip to Oman before he was even confirmed for his job, the Boston Globe reports.
“The trip — aimed at ending Iran’s nuclear program — was undertaken with the blessing of the Obama administration. The overture proved to be the beginning of a relationship that Kerry has now relied on as secretary of state and that aides credit with helping the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany, and China reach the agreement with Iran. Oman has become a vital link in communication between the US and Iranian leaders.”
Congressional Vacation Halts Budget Negotiations
National Journal reports that “as congressional negotiators work to craft a budget agreement, they’re working against an old foe: the calendar.”
“Congress will soon likely be forced to consider yet another short-term, stopgap bill to fund the federal government, not because a budget deal can’t be reached, but because there isn’t time to reach one… The two chambers of Congress have scheduled just 10 days in session together between Nov. 22 and Jan. 15, out of a possible 51 days, not counting Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.”
GOP Leaders Call On Radel to Resign
The Republican Party of Florida called on Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL) to resign, “adding to growing demands the freshman lawmaker step down after pleading guilty to a cocaine charge,” the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Miami Herald: “Fueling the move to call for Radel’s resignation: A sense among some Republicans that his rehabilitation at a pricey Naples facility wasn’t genuine and that he wasn’t honest with them. Two Republicans, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of disclosing private GOP talks, said Radel was reaching out to fellow Republicans to shore up support and talk politics while he was in rehab — instead of focusing on getting well.”
Republicans Take Lead in Generic Ballot
A new CNN/ORC International survey finds Republicans with a two-point edge in the generic congressional ballot, 49% to 47% — a big reversal from just last month when Democrats led by eight points.
Kasich Leads in Re-Election Match Up
A new Quinnipiac poll in Ohio finds Gov. John Kasich (R) begins his re-election year with a seven point lead over a largely
unknown possible Democratic challenger, Ed FitzGerald (D), 44% to 37%.
Gore Goes Vegan Too
Washington Post: “Maybe it was something about what they served in the White House mess in the 1990s. Or perhaps it’s what happens to baby boomer Democrats more than a decade after leaving office. For whatever the reason former vice president Al Gore has gone vegan, just like the president with whom he once served.”
PAC Carries Unpayable Debt to a Dead Man
A federal PAC in Minnesota has carried a $56,025.62 debt to a company that no longer exists because the owner died, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.
Said PAC treasurer Steve Simon: “The company is no more. The owner is no more. Yet the FEC won’t let us take it off the books.”
“The solution, derived from legal advice and the FEC? The DFL just has to report the debt cycle after cycle forever and ever.”
Dinkins Zings De Blasio After Praise
“To punctuate an impassioned pitch for his signature plan to raise taxes on the wealthy, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio went out of his way during a speech to praise a cherished political mentor and former boss watching from the audience,” the New York Times reports.
“The recipient of his warm words, former Mayor David Dinkins, did not exactly return the favor.”
“In an unscripted and cringe-inducing moment of political candor, Mr. Dinkins opined before a crowd of journalists and academics at Columbia University that Mr. de Blasio should consider a different approach to funding an expansion of prekindergarten programs, throwing a wrench into what was meant to be a carefully choreographed day of municipal theater.”
Obamacare Website Won’t Be Fixed by Month’s End
Administration officials said that “some visitors to Obamacare’s federal enrollment site would experience outages, slow response times or messages to try again later during the month of December,” The Hill reports.
“The administration has staked its healthcare rollout on expanding the system’s user capacity and addressing site errors by the end of the month. Both supporters and opponents of the Affordable Care Act are closely watching the deadline… Both groups know that if the site cannot recover by next month, its dysfunction will plunge the administration into another political crisis.”
White House Sells Iran Nuclear Deal
The Obama administration “is mounting an aggressive campaign to head off new congressional sanctions against Iran, arguing they would jeopardize the high-stakes deal sealed this past weekend to curb Tehran’s nuclear program,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“After arguing for weeks that sanctions would hurt the prospects of reaching a deal, senior administration officials are now asking lawmakers to hold off for another six months while negotiators try to achieve a long-term accord… In an indication of the importance of the agreement to his agenda, President Obama will devote significant focus to the diplomatic effort in his State of the Union address shortly after the new year.”
Afghan Accord Near Collapse
Washington Post: “Efforts by the United States and Afghanistan to finalize a long-term security arrangement appeared on the brink of collapse Monday as Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a new set of demands, and the Obama administration said it would be forced to begin planning for a complete withdrawal of all U.S. forces at the end of 2014.”
The New York Times reports Karzai was said to have assured National Security Adviser Susan Rice “he would sign the deal at some
point, he gave no time frame for it. And over dinner at the presidential
palace in Kabul, he later insisted on difficult new conditions as well,
including the release of all inmates at the American prison camp at
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, adding to the perception of crisis between the two
nations.”
