Become a member. Already a member? Log in.
“I did not believe that as a member of that body that I should allow
someone to make comments such as he was preparing to make that
ultimately were just open rebellion against what the word of God has
said, what God has said, and just open rebellion against God’s law.”
—
Pennsylvania Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R), quoted by WHYY, after using a procedural maneuver to end remarks of openly gay Rep. Brian Sims (D) on the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage.
A new Tampa Bay Times Florida Insider Poll of more than 120 of Florida’s most plugged-in political players finds them nearly evenly divided on whether Gov. Rick Scott will win a second term, with 51% predicting Scott wins and 47% predicting he loses. Just two months ago, the poll found 60% expecting Scott to lose.
“While more than seven in 10 Democrats still expect to retake the Governor’s Mansion in 2014, Republican optimism in Scott’s chances has climbed from just 53% of Republicans in April expecting him to win to 75% today.”
The Mizuno Wave Rider 16 Running Shoes worn by Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) during her filibuster to kill Republican abortion legislation have become the bestselling shoe on Amazon, the Guardian reports.
The reviews of the shoes are hilarious.
A new report says a member of Elon Musk's DOGE task force may have taken sensitive Social Security data to a private-sector job. Troubling — but data brokers already collect and sell your social security number, birth date, home address and more to anyone willing to pay.
You can’t stop data brokers — but you can make them delete your information.
Incogni does the work for you — contacting brokers and demanding removal of your personal data, including from hard-to-clean People Search sites.
It’s a simple way to reduce identity-theft risk, cut spam calls and keep sensitive financial and health data private.
Political Wire readers get 55% off with this link.
“The Supreme Court’s invalidation of a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act changed the political and legal landscape for gay marriage across the country. But nowhere will the effects of the ruling be seen more immediately than in New Jersey,” the Washington Post reports.
Wonk Wire: Where the same-sex marriage battle goes from here.
“I can’t tell you what’s in that big Senate bill, and the well over 1,000 or 1,500 pages that it may be, and that’s my concern. I don’t know if you could ask a lot of the senators what’s in that bill. And that’s my concern.”
— House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), quoted by Yahoo News, on the immigration bill passed by the Senate yesterday.
Hillary Clinton (D) will receive the 2013 Liberty Medal this fall from Jeb Bush (R), “who many speculate could be a hypothetical 2016 presidential challenger to the former first lady,” TPM reports.
The National Constitution Center’s website notes Clinton will be honored “in recognition of her lifelong career in public service and her ongoing advocacy efforts on behalf of women and girls around the globe.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) will visit South Carolina today to help the Republican Party raise money and meet with activists and state GOP donors, the Columbia State reports.
Paul said his main focus will be talking to party activists “about a vision for a bigger Republican Party.” He will decide in 2014 if he will run for president and in the meantime, he will “continue to travel to early primary states with the understanding that I’m interested,” because in those states “people pay attention.”
Peter Hamby looks at Paul’s delicate balancing act.
Seeking an explanation for the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, Pat Robertson speculated on the 700 Club that Justice Anthony Kennedy may have been influenced by law clerks on his staff who “happen to be gays.”
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) “refused to answer questions on whether he knew that an expensive Rolex watch he received from his wife was, in fact, a gift from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams Sr.,” the Richmond Times Dispatch reports.
Said McDonnell: “I’m not going to comment any further on that.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) “gave a spirited defense of Republican proposals to curtail abortions” while criticizing state Sen. Wendy Davis (D), whose filibuster earlier this week helped kill the legislation, in unusually personal terms, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Said Perry: “I’m proud that she has been able to take advantage of her intellect and her hard work, but she didn’t come from particularly good circumstances. What if her mom had said, ‘You know, I just can’t do this, I don’t want to do this.’ At that particular point and time, it becomes very personal for us.”
Davis, who was raised by a single mother, said his statement was “without dignity and tarnishes the high office he holds.”
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley (D), “whose political standing has rebounded after her embarrassing defeat in the 2010 US Senate race against Scott Brown, is giving serious consideration to running for governor,” the Boston Globe reports.
“Those people said Coakley is gauging the political climate and reviewing the dynamics of jumping into what is becoming a crowded Democratic primary race, and is on the verge of making a final decision.”
About 90 members of Congress “collected a government pension atop their taxpayer-financed $174,000 salary in 2012, National Journal found in an examination of recent financial records. Including a dozen newly elected freshmen who reported government pensions last year, the number now stands above 100. That’s nearly one-fifth of Congress.”
A new Basswood Research poll in Arkansas finds Sen. Mark Pryor (D) just edging likely challenger Tom Cotton (R), 41% to 40%.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told USA Today “there’s a great deal of
excitement” about a potential Hillary Clinton candidacy for president in 2016, adding that she
personally hopes Clinton enters the race.
She added: “I don’t know why she wouldn’t run. She’s prepared, she’s well known, she’s highly respected. She knows she would be able to do the job so very, very well.”
Rep. John Campbell (R-CA) will not run for reelection in 2014, Roll Call reports.
Said Campbell: “At the end of this term, I will have spent 14 years serving in full-time, elected politics. I am not, nor did I ever intend to be, a career politician. I am ready to begin a new chapter in my life.”
“Insiders are split on whether or not an immigration overhaul will ever make it into law, but no one believes that the process will be easy,” NBC News reports.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) “has insisted – both privately and publicly – that he won’t bring legislation to the floor that does not have the support of a majority of House Republicans. On Thursday, he went even further, extending that pledge to any piece of legislation that results from a merger of House-and-Senate-passed bills.”
National Journal:
“As big a deal as this vote was–and by modern Senate standards it was
quite an accomplishment–the day’s celebration is very much tempered by
the chaos that lies ahead.”
Washington Post: “One voice lost in this battle over what the right, next move is on
immigration for the party? The major donors of the party who serve as
the bundlers of presidential campaigns and the funders of super PACs.
And, those big check-writers have a very clear preference: They want a
deal done.”
Retired Gen. James Cartwright, the former second-ranking officer in the United States military, “is a target of an investigation into the leak of classified information about American cyberattacks on Iran’s nuclear program,” the New York Times reports.
“After three weeks of debate and 18 votes, the Senate overwhelmingly voted, 68-32, to pass an immigration overhaul Thursday, capping a process begun in January when the bipartisan ‘gang of eight’ announced it had agreed to a set of key principles for overhauling the system,” Roll Call reports.
The Washington Post notes that Vice President Biden presided over the vote
and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) “made the unusual
request that senators site at their assigned desks and stand to vote
when called.”
The Week: But will the House follow?
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.