Reid Wilson: “Politics, it appears, no longer stops at the water’s edge. Once upon a time, in the good ol’ days, both parties avoided criticizing each other in front of foreign audiences. But as national politics have grown more partisan, trashing a rival is now par for the course regardless of location.”
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Romney Campaign Staff Grows
The Boston Globe notes Mitt Romney’s often “secretive and always loyal” group of advisers “now face their ultimate test: transitioning from a relatively small circle that guided Romney through bruising primaries to a group that is expected to grow far larger in just a matter of weeks in order to reset the campaign for a general election fight against President Obama.”
“A number of those in the inner core have not previously worked in a presidential general election campaign, and new players with national experience recently have begun joining the campaign, potentially challenging the hierarchy with which Romney feels so comfortable… The expansion, and the potential change that comes with it, will be
swift. Romney’s campaign is preparing a dramatic increase in manpower,
with the current full-time staff of about 80 expected to reach 400 in
the coming weeks, according to a Romney aide.”
Quote of the Day
“I haven’t gotten the call and I doubt I will. I just go merrily on about doing my business.”
— Mike Huckabee, in an interview on Fox News Sunday, about whether he’ll be picked as Mitt Romney’s running mate.
A Tale of Two Incumbents
The Hotline notes the vastly different circumstances of two old bull Republican Senators: Richard Lugar (R-IN) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).
“The
consensus around Sen. Richard Lugar’s re-election bid has changed
markedly, from all-out optimism that he would easily dispatch
challenger Richard Mourdock to downright pessimism, bordering on
resignation… Meanwhile, things keep looking better for Sen. Orrin
Hatch, R-Utah. He announced strong fundraising numbers this week — over
$3 million in the bank for a potential primary (former state Sen. Dan
Liljenquist has $242,000 after putting in $300,000 of his own money).
And it still seems possible he could avoid a primary altogether: a poll
his campaign released of convention delegates showed him with 61 percent
support, just above the 60 percent threshold needed to win the
nomination outright.”
Republicans Angered By Cantor Donation
A number of Republican lawmakers anonymously vented to The Hill
about House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) recent $25,000
donation to the Campaign for Primary Accountability, a super PAC that
aims to defeat incumbents.
“One veteran lawmaker, upset with the
majority leader’s perceived aggression toward members of his own party,
said House GOP members will now fear payback when they speak out or vote
against leadership… The drama is a continuation of Cantor’s move to
take sides in the member vs. member Illinois Republican primary that
pitted freshman Adam Kinzinger — Cantor’s pick — vs. 20-year incumbent
Don Manzullo.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“He has been an unmitigated disaster to the country.”
— Former Vice President Dick Cheney, quoted by the Washington Post, about President Obama.
Big Donors More Likely to Visit White House
A New York Times review of campaign donations and White House access logs shows that those who donated the most to Barack Obama and the Democratic Party since he started running for president were far more likely to visit the White House than others.
“Among donors who gave $30,000 or less, about 20 percent visited the White House, according to a New York Times analysis that matched names in the visitor logs with donor records. But among those who donated $100,000 or more, the figure rises to about 75 percent. Approximately two-thirds of the president’s top fund-raisers in the 2008 campaign visited the White House at least once, some of them numerous times.”
Egyptian Authorities Bar Three Leading Candidates
Egyptian election authorities “eliminated three of the country’s leading presidential candidates in one broad stroke on Saturday night in an unexpected decision that once again threw into disarray the contest to shape the future of Egypt,” the New York Times reports.
“The High Election Commission struck down 10 candidates in all, including the three who have generated the most passion in this polarized nation: Khairat el-Shater, the leading strategist of the Muslim Brotherhood; Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, an ultraconservative Islamist; and Omar Suleiman, Mr. Mubarak’s former vice president and intelligence chief.”
The BBC notes the move “comes as a surprise and looks set to dramatically alter the race. Many of those banned and their supporters have expressed anger over the move and large demonstrations are expected in the capital, Cairo.”
Secret Service Scandal Widens
The rapidly unfolding prostitution scandal involving as many as a dozen Secret Service agents has upstaged President Obama’s trip to Columbia, where he is discussing trade and the economy with 32 other heads of state, the Washington Post reports.
“Though the agency has said Obama’s security was not compromised, the allegations of misconduct have brought intense scrutiny to an agency that had not had any major lapse since 2009, when two party crashers entered the White House uninvited. But the incident continued to grow Saturday when the Defense Department announced that five military personnel, who also are staying at the Hotel Caribe, violated curfew Wednesday night and have been confined to their rooms.”
New York Times: “Much remained murky, including the precise number of agents under scrutiny and the timeline, and officials emphasized that the investigation was still in its early stages.”
What We Learned from the GOP Primaries
Peggy Noonan: “The next king is the firstborn son of the current king. In political terms, the guy who came in second in the last presidential cycle stands most likely to be crowned and anointed in the current one. Republicans, for all their drama, still tend toward the orderly and still credit experience.”
Secret Service Agents Relieved of Duty in Prostitution Scandal
Secret Service agents sent to Colombia ahead of President Obama were sent home amid allegations of misconduct, CNN reports.
“The incident — reportedly related to involvement with prostitutes in Cartagena — overshadowed the start of the sixth Summit of the Americas, where the president was to focus on trade, energy and regional security.”
Ronald Kessler, author of In the President’s Service, said it’s “the biggest scandal in Secret Service history.”
According to Kessler, “One of the agents did not pay one of the prostitutes, and she complained to the police.”
Obama Holds Electoral College Edge
An Associated Press analysis of the presidential battleground finds Mitt Romney likely has 188 electorate votes in states that are either solidly Republican or leaning Republican while President Obama has 242 electoral votes in safe Democratic or likely Democratic states.
That leaves 104 electoral votes in states that are purely tossups: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia.
270 electoral votes are needed to win.
Adviser Says Romney Not as Anti-Immigrant as he Sounds
Fred Barnes suggests Mitt Romney “would be wise to move away from his harsh position” on immigration in the primaries because he “can’t afford to lose the Hispanic vote as decisively as John McCain — who won just 31% of it — did in 2008.”
“According to a Romney adviser, his private view of immigration isn’t as anti-immigrant as he often sounded.”
E.J. Dionne: “How many other ‘private’ positions does Romney hold that we don’t know about?”
Quote of the Day
“He has been on Wall Street’s side since day one.”
— Former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), in a Reuters interview, on President Obama’s “minimal steps” to regulate banks.
Today’s Republicans Most Conservative in 100 Years
NPR reports on research by political scientists Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal who find that the Republican Party is the most conservative it has been a century.
Said Poole: “The short version would be since the late 1970s starting with the 1976 election in the House the Republican caucus has steadily moved to the right ever since. It’s been a little more uneven in the Senate. The Senate caucuses have also moved to the right. Republicans are now furtherest to the right that they’ve been in 100 years.”
Obama Celebrates RomneyCare
President Obama’s re-election campaign puts out a video to mark the 6th anniversary of Mitt Romney’s health care reform in Massachusetts.
Why Clinton 2016 Speculaton Won’t Die
Paul Begala notes the speculation that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will run for president in four years has only intensified in the months since she declared she wouldn’t run.
It helps that she’s required to stay out of electoral politics.
“Hillary benefits from the fact that the job is designed to be above the political fray; she hasn’t had to comment on, say, gay marriage or the Trayvon Martin case. It’s a paradox Hillary must understand: the less political you are, the more popular a politician you become; the less you yearn for the presidency, the more the country yearns for you.”
Giffords War Chest Prompts Talk of Comeback
Two months after stepping down from Congress, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) “appears to be holding on to much of the nearly $1 million left in her campaign account, in order to leave the door open for a potential run for the House or the Senate in the next campaign cycle,” the New York Times reports.
“Ms. Giffords is still going through intensive rehabilitation in Houston, and her supporters say they are careful not to set expectations too high. Still, they openly speak of the possibility of her running for the Senate seat now held by John McCain or perhaps running for the House again.”
