Become a member. Already a member? Log in.
The Senate Conservatives Fund, a PAC founded by former Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), “had its best fundraising month of the year by raising $2.1 million during September,” Political Moneyline reports.
“The largest expenditure of the PAC was $522,934 spent on non-candidate issue ads, and $236,990 on telemarketing. The committee reported paying $224,135 in September to Simon & Shuster for ‘Book Purchase.’ The author and title were not listed.”
Several readers have asked for the ability to follow Political Wire on LinkedIn:
Thanks for being a reader!
Just published: The Power of Citizenship: Why John F. Kennedy Matters to a New Generation by Scott D. Reich.
Get smarter about politics with exclusive insights, bonus newsletters, a private podcast and no advertising -- join Political Wire today and save 20% off an annual membership.
A new Gonzales Research poll in Maryland finds Anthony Brown (D) leading the Democratic race for governor with 41%, followed by Doug Gansler at 21% and Heather Mizuer at 5%.
Key findings: “Brown, who would be Maryland’s first African-American governor, has the support of 56% of black voters, compared to 12% for Gansler. Among white voters, Brown and Gansler are in a virtual dead heat, with Brown receiving 29% and Gansler getting 28%.”
Joe Scarborough: “If this sounds all too familiar, it’s because Republicans were licking their wounds around this time last year after being blindsided by a presidential election whose outcome they should have seen coming a mile away. But ignorance was bliss as conservative politicians and talkers pushed bogus polls and political fairy tales to angry voters who were once again on the losing side of history. Media outlets that released polls showing President Obama winning were attacked as biased and conservatives who warned of Romney’s weaknesses were rhetorically burned at the stake as heretics.”
David Frum reviews Days of Fire noting how complicated a book on George W. Bush’s presidency might be: “The Bush administration opened with a second Pearl Harbor, ended with a second Great Crash and contained a second Vietnam in the middle.”
“The story of those eight years would seem far too vast to contain inside a single volume. Yet here that volume is.”
“Baker’s book is informed by remarkable access to its main characters, including Vice President Dick Cheney… Yet Days of Fire is something more than the reporter’s ‘first rough draft of history.’ Almost every leading figure in the Bush White House, including Bush and Cheney, has now published his or her version of events, and Baker has painstakingly worked through them all. The result is what you might call a polished second draft of history, most likely the most polished draft we’ll have until the archives are opened and the academics can get to work.
Reid Wilson: “The latest game of political chicken that drove Washington to a government shutdown and the very edge of the debt ceiling gave new life to the omnipresent complaint of elder statesmen and centrist wise guys: If only Congressional districts weren’t so gerrymandered in the decennial redistricting process, moderation and across-the-aisle deal-making wouldn’t be so rare.”
“But there’s another solution to the partisan extremism that seems to dominate Congress today, one that’s already in practice in two states: A top-two primary system, one that incentivizes candidates in even the most conservative or liberal districts to appeal to the vast middle that otherwise plays a limited role in picking members of Congress.”
John Sides: “I too would like less partisan warfare. But political science suggests that reforming primaries isn’t likely to work.”
Having lost the battle to defund President Obama’s health care law, “conservative activists are pursuing a hardball campaign as they chart an alternative path to undoing Obamacare — through the states,” the New York Times reports.
“The state-by-state strategy represents a split from the course pursued by Heritage Action for America and its sister organization, Heritage Foundation, which drove the ‘defunding Obamacare’ movement that led to the recent government shutdown.”
Writes Heritage president Jim DeMint in the Wall Street Journal: “Obamacare will now be the issue for the next few years.”
The Wall Street Journal looks at HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and her role in the rocky Obamacare rollout.
“As the chief advocate for the Affordable Care Act, Secretary Sebelius is scrambling behind the scenes to address the website’s technical failures. With anger growing over the inability of consumers across the U.S. to access the new online marketplace, Mrs. Sebelius has become the target of late-night spoofs and calls for her resignation.”
Said Sebelius: “It’s tough to take these shots. But I will take them until we get this right.”
Wonk Wire: At least one health insurance exchange is working
Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-FL), the longest-serving Republican in Congress, died Friday evening from complications related to a chronic injury at age 82, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
“Young served with eight U.S. presidents over parts of five decades. He leaves behind a stunning volume of legislative accomplishment in which he tapped federal funds to improve science and public health, military readiness, the beaches, transportation and access to drinking water.”
Bloomberg: “A battle for control of the Republican Party has erupted as an emboldened Tea Party moved to oust senators who voted to reopen the government while business groups mobilized to defeat allies of the small-government movement.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said in forthcoming interview that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) did what he did during the government shutdown because he wants to run for president, the Washington Post reports.
Said Reid: “In an effort to help him run for president, he has done some stuff that’s really damaging to our country. He’s been attempting to raise money. And who has he hurt? He has hurt average Americans. The government being shutdown for 14 or 15 days, that has been very hurtful to people. Not only the people that work for government, but the people who work around government.”
Former Speaker Thomas Foley (D-WA), who spent
30 years in Congress as a kingpin on agriculture, ultimately leading the
chamber as the ‘Speaker from Spokane,’ has died, Roll Call reports.
He was 84.
This is kind of amazing: JFK 50 Year Commemorative Collection.
The most important moments of Kennedy’s 1,000 days as president as compiled by the National Archives.
The Associated Press obtained an early copy of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s forthcoming book, Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge.
The book, due out in November, “provides a detailed account of his 2011 battle against public unions, the campaign he won against their efforts to recall him, and his unhappiness with Romney and other Republicans he says didn’t learn the lessons from his political victories.”
A new Pew Research survey finds just 19% of Americans say that they trust the government in Washington to do what is right just about always or most of the time, down seven points since January.
Key findings: “The share of the public saying they are angry at the federal government, which equaled an all-time high in late September (26%), has ticked up to 30%. Another 55% say they are frustrated with the government. Just 12% say they are basically content with the federal government.”
Great book just published: How to Sweet-Talk a Shark: Strategies and Stories from a Master Negotiator by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Richardson talked about his book with Julie Mason on Sirius XM.
Sarah Palin suggested she might get involved in Kentucky’s Republican Senate race between Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Matt Bevin (R), the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
“Bevin said a number of national high-profile people had contacted him about helping his campaign, but he declined to say whether Palin was one of them.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.