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“First of all, the kid’s going to grow up in Gracie Mansion. So I’m going to say, ‘Kid, don’t complain.'”
— Anthony Weiner, quoted by the Staten Island Advance, on what he’ll eventually tell his now 18-month old son about the sexting scandal that ended his congressional career.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) hit back at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the two Republicans’ ongoing spat over national security, the Washington Post reports.
Paul said Christie’s position “hurts GOP chances in national elections, and that spending priorities of critics like the governor and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) do more to harm national security.”
Said Paul: “They’re precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending, and their ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme — give me all my Sandy money now.’ Those are the people who are bankrupting the government and not letting enough money be left over for national defense.”
A new Gallup Poll finds that if given the opportunity to vote on a law legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states, the slight majority of Americans, 52%, say they would cast their vote in favor, while 43% would vote against it.
Wall Street Journal: “Top White House officials are stepping up meetings with Senate Republicans in hopes of averting a deadline-driven clash over federal spending this fall, according to people familiar with the sessions. But the two sides remain far apart on basic questions of whether to raise tax revenue and how to rein in the cost of Medicare.”
Ralph Nader is looking for a billionaire to upend the two-party political system, Politico reports.
Said Nader: “Here’s what I think is going to happen. We will have the usual Green Party and libertarian parties in 2016. But there are some mega-billionaires who are seriously considering running third party. And the minute a mega-billionaire announces, like Ross Perot, they get enormous press, they get the polls and they are in play.”
He said it is “highly probable” that a billionaire will make a presidential play next cycle.
“It’s a little bit like going from the National League to the American League. It’s still politics. But the rules are a little bit different.”
— Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), quoted by the Boston Globe, on moving from the House to the Senate.
John Avlon notes Pope Francis “hasn’t been afraid to challenge the entrenched interests that have sullied his church’s perception. His style of reaching out is just what might save the Republican Party.”
“Much of the modern Republican Party is seems content preaching to a smaller and smaller choir. They seem, unfairly or not, more concerned with the head than the heart. Absolute faith in the power of tax cuts takes the place of alternative plans to alleviate poverty or expand the ranks of the middle class. This is not just a problem with communication; it is a problem with policy content that appeals outside the base.”
As an example, the AP notes Francis “is reaching out to gays, saying he won’t judge priests for their sexual orientation, in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference as he returns from his first foreign trip.”
Said Francis: “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?”
Byron York: “It’s more likely that this is just a rocky time for a rejected and confused party. The conflicts inside the GOP today just don’t line up in the configuration of a classic civil war. There are multiple issues involved, and the lawmakers on various sides of various issues don’t lean the same way on each issue. Republicans who are opponents on one issue are allies on another. Looking at the Senate, for example, it’s unlikely that there will be a total civil war between Senate Faction A and Senate Faction B when some members of the opposing factions are united in Faction C, or Faction D, or so on. In other words, it may be that the Republican party is too divided to have a real civil war. Perhaps chaos would be a better description. We’ll know more later.”
The chief of staff to the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-NJ) told Cory Booker’s staff that his boss would retire and asked Booker to wait before jumping in the U.S. Senate race, the Newark Star Ledger reports.
“The answer was no. And on Dec. 20, Booker all but declared his candidacy for the seat… For that and many other perceived slights, Lautenberg’s family members have not forgiven Booker. They’ve made it clear on the campaign trail by supporting one of Booker’s rivals, Rep. Pallone (D-NJ), in the Aug. 13 Democratic primary, which was called after the senator’s death last month.”
Rep. Kurt Schrader’s (D-OR) campaign account “was hit by what appears to be a case of bank fraud involving about $20,000,” the Oregonian reports.
Said a FEC report: “After extensive review, it is clear there is no wrongdoing by anyone associated with the campaign.”
“In a major shakeup for the radio industry, Cumulus Media, the second-biggest broadcaster in the country, is planning to drop both Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity from its stations at the end of the year,” Politico reports.
“Cumulus has decided that it will not renew its contracts with either host, the source said, a move that would remove the two most highly rated conservative talk personalities from more than 40 Cumulus channels in major markets.”
Republican senators “are nearly united” in their response to Liz Cheney’s (R) primary challenge to Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Politico reports.
“Despite the clout of the Cheney name in Washington, nearly the entire Senate establishment is backing Enzi — moderates, conservatives and the Senate GOP leadership team. And that unity could help Enzi surmount a very bloody fight next year.”
Anthony Weiner (D) paid a private investigator “nearly $45,000 in campaign cash to investigate his lie that a hacker posted a crotch shot on his Twitter feed,” the New York Daily News reports.
“Weiner’s brazen attempt to cover his tracks occurred shortly after Memorial Day weekend in 2011, when his first sexting scandal erupted and he went into furious spin control trying to save his career in Congress… Weiner ultimately paid a private investigations firm, T&M Protection services, $43,100 from his campaign fund — knowing nobody hacked anything and that he’d sent the image himself.”
“There’s not an action that I take that you don’t have some folks in Congress who say that I’m usurping my authority. Some of those folks think I usurp my authority by having the gall to win the presidency.”
— President Obama, in an interview with the New York Times.
Just published: Politics in America 2014 from CQ Roll Call.
“There’s no reason to be threatening to bring down the government, lets make this work get spending cuts we need but the American people get turned off with the threat of terror politics.”
— Rep. Peter King (R-NY), on CNN, rejecting the GOP plan to shutdown the government over Obamacare funding.
“I’ll worry about my legacy later, or I’ll let historians worry about my legacy.”
— President Obama, in an interview with the New York Times.
Coming soon: Top Down: A Novel of the Kennedy Assassination by Jim Lehrer.
“As Air Force One touches down in Dallas, ambitious young newspaper reporter Jack Gilmore races to get the scoop on preparations for President Kennedy’s motorcade. Will the bubble top on the presidential limousine be up or down? Down, according to veteran Secret Service agent Van Walters. The decision to leave the top down and expose JFK to fire from above will weigh on Van’s conscience for decades.”
An interesting side note: As a young reporter in Texas, Lehrer actually witnessed the decision to keep the Kennedy car’s top down.
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.
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— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
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— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
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— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
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