A new Rasmussen survey in Virginia shows Terry McAuliffe (D) has opened up a seven-point lead over Ken Cuccinelli (R) in the Virginia gubernatorial race, 45% to 38%.
How Obamacare Fixed the Health Care Market
Wonk Wire shows there’s now real competition that keeps insurance premiums down.
Obama to Address Nation on Need for Syria Strike
President Obama said he will make his case for a military strike on Syria in an address to the nation on Tuesday, The Hill reports.
“Obama’s decision to address the country from the Oval Office underscores concerns that the administration is losing ground in its bid to secure congressional approval for a vote.”
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports Russian President Vladimir Putin said that his country “will continue arms sales and aid Syria if the U.S. goes forward with a military strike.”
Republicans Can’t Win With Whites Alone
Ron Brownstein:
“This much is undisputed: In 2012, President Obama lost white voters by
a larger margin than any winning presidential candidate in U.S.
history. In his reelection, Obama lost ground from 2008 with almost
every conceivable segment of the white electorate. With several key
groups of whites, he recorded the weakest national performance for any
Democratic nominee since the Republican landslides of the 1980s. … And
yet, behind rousing support from minorities everywhere, and often much
more competitive showings among whites in both Democratic-leaning and
battleground states, Obama not only won reelection but won fairly
comfortably.”
“Few decisions may carry greater consequences for the
Republican Party in 2016 than how it interprets these facts. The key
question facing the GOP is whether Obama’s 2012 performance represents a
structural Democratic decline among whites that could deepen even
further in the years ahead–or a floor from which the next Democratic
nominee is likely to improve.”
Woman Featured in Attack Ad Says She Was Misled
A new attack ad from Ken Cuccinelli (R) released this week in the Virginia governor’s race is causing a backlash “now that some of its subjects are publicly saying they were duped into being filmed for it,” the Virginian-Pilot reports.
Terry McAuliffe’s (D) campaign said Cuccinelli’s campaign had “reached a new low when they tricked workers into appearing in a false, negative television spot.”
Critics of Syria Intervention Blast McCain
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “felt the heat of opposition to U.S. military intervention in Syria on Thursday during a town-hall meeting in Phoenix that exposed the emotions and ethic and religious tensions connected to crisis in the Middle East,” the Arizona Republic reports.
What Happens if Obama Loses the Vote on Syria?
First Read: “If the Obama administration loses, many might not realize the
full-fledged political crisis the president will face. His congressional
opposition will be more emboldened, if that was possible. (Any
advantage the Democrats hold in the upcoming fiscal fights ahead could
quickly disappear.) A year before the 2014 midterms, Democrats will
start hitting the panic button with a wounded Democratic president in
office. (If you’ve paid attention to politics over the past two decades,
when the going gets tough, Democrats often jump ship.) And any
lame-duck status for Obama would be expedited. (After all, a “no” vote
by Congress would rebuke the nation’s commander-in-chief.)”
“Up until now,
the first nine months of Obama’s second term have been, well, a
disappointment. Gun control was stopped in the Senate; immigration
reform is stalled in the House; no progress has been achieved in the
budget talks. So if you throw in Congress rebuking the president from
taking military action in Syria — something he has said is necessary —
that would be a huge political blow to Obama’s political standing.”
Foreign Policy: “It’s not easy to get yourself into the kind of predicament that
the president of the United States finds himself in today.”
Brown Will Visit Iowa Again
The Quad City Times
reports that former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) will be making his second trip to Iowa on November
12.
America’s Changing Views on Intervention
Ron Brownstein: “For nearly a
decade, from Bill Clinton’s first-term moves into Haiti and Bosnia
through George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, the current of
American foreign policy moved steadily toward greater tolerance of
military intervention abroad. The division, ambivalence, and hesitation
in both parties about intervening in Syria culminate a subsequent decade
that has almost completely reversed this tide.”
Quote of the Day
“I violated all of my own standards and rules for management and leadership.”
— Charlie Baker (R), in an interview with the Boston Globe, on his previous bid for Massachusetts governor.
Israel Lobby Steps Up Pressure for Syria Attack
Politico:
“The powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC is planning to launch a major
lobbying campaign to push wayward lawmakers to back the resolution
authorizing U.S. strikes against Syria, sources said Thursday. Officials
say that some 250 Jewish leaders and AIPAC activists will storm the
halls on Capitol Hill beginning next week to persuade lawmakers that
Congress must adopt the resolution or risk emboldening Iran’s efforts to
build a nuclear weapon. They are expected to lobby virtually every
member of Congress, arguing that ‘barbarism’ by the Assad regime cannot
be tolerated, and that failing to act would ‘send a message’ to Tehran
that the U.S. won’t stand up to hostile countries’ efforts to develop
weapons of mass destruction, according to a source with the group.”
Another Investigation Into Bachmann’s Campaign
Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) “presidential hopes ended 20 months ago, but her brief and chaotic campaign continues to be the focus of ethics investigations,” the New York Times reports.
“The latest is a federal inquiry into whether an outside super PAC improperly coordinated strategy with Mrs. Bachmann’s campaign staff, including her husband, in violation of election laws.”
Politics Can Hurt Your Ability to Do Math
Mother Jones: “Everybody knows that our political views can sometimes get in the way
of thinking clearly. But perhaps we don’t realize how bad the problem
actually is. According to a new psychology paper,
our political passions can even undermine our very basic reasoning
skills. More specifically, the study finds that people who are otherwise
very good at math may totally flunk a problem that they would otherwise
probably be able to solve, simply because giving the right answer goes
against their political beliefs.”
Obama Stakes Credibility on Syria Attack
President Obama scrambled with senior advisers “to soften resistance to a military strike against the Syrian government among U.S. lawmakers and some of Obama’s most reliable global allies,” the Washington Post reports.
“Obama has staked the credibility of the United States — and his presidency — on his call for a military operation to punish the Syrian government for its alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians last month.”
“But the president faces hardening barriers in Congress, where both Republican critics and Democratic allies have voiced deep reservations or flat opposition to his proposal to intervene militarily in a predominantly Muslim nation after a decade of war overseas. Polls show that much of the American public is skeptical, too.”
New York Times: “In private, Mr. Obama and his team see the votes as a guidepost for the rest of his presidency well beyond the immediate question of launching missiles at Syrian military targets. If Congress does not support a relatively modest action in response to a chemical attack that killed more than 1,400 people in Syria, Obama advisers said, the president will not be able to count on support for virtually any use of force.”
Henry Won’t Close Door on Possible 2014 Bid
Former Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry (D) said it’s “unlikely he’ll run for governor in 2014, but he didn’t completely rule out the possibility and said he’s confident he’s eligible for a third term as the state’s chief executive,” the AP reports.
When asked if the door was completely shut on a gubernatorial bid against Republican Gov. Mary Fallin in 2014, Henry responded: “There’s a little bit of light shining through that door, because you never say never.”
U.S. May Get Pulled Into Syrian Civil War
Fareed Zakaria: “From the start of the Syrian conflict, President Obama has wanted to take two very different approaches to it. On the one hand, he has been disciplined about the definition of American interests and the use of force. On the other hand, he has sought a way to respond to Bashar Assad’s human-rights atrocities…. The reality is, the U.S. has now put its credibility on the line. It will find it extremely difficult to keep its actions limited in a volatile situation. And were it to succeed in ousting Assad, it would be implicated in the next phase of this war, which would almost certainly lead to chaos and the slaughter or ethnic cleansing of the Alawite sect (to which Assad belongs) and perhaps of other minorities, as happened in Iraq.”
An Epic Fall for Congress
Politico: “In the next two months, the most unpopular institution in America will decide the fates of a president’s power, a military strike, defense contracts, the budget, health-care implementation, the Federal Reserve chairmanship, illegal immigrants, and all of us who would be hit by a debt default.”
“It will be bitter, ugly, extremely high stakes and in every case wildly unpredictable.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I’m not exactly leading the charge. But I’m supporting the president.”
— House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in an interview with Time, on President Obama seeking authorization for military intervention in Syria.
