“He’s not overwhelming, that’s the problem through the whole damn
primary. What’s the spark? What’s the thing that gets him off and
running? No one knows.”
— Former House GOP leader Bob Michel (R-IL), quoted by Politico, on Mitt Romney.
Rubio’s Memoir Pushed Up
Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) memoir, An American Son, will now be published on June 19 instead of in October, as previously planned.
According to Politico, the goal is to beat a more critical biography, The Rise of Marco Rubio — currently scheduled to come out July 3 — by a few weeks.
Mitt Romney, Then and Now
“This is all about getting delegates. If the polls are right, we’ll pick up some delegates. That’s what it’s all about.”
— Mitt Romney, quoted by ABC News ahead of the Alabama and Mississippi primaries last week.
“I know a lot of people will talk about delegates and strategies and math and that’s all very interesting to the insiders. But I think the American people want to see someone who has the leadership, skill and experience to defeat the president, and a vision of conservatism that will get American back on track again.”
— Romney, in an interview yesterday on Fox News Sunday.
Lugar Faces Tight Primary Challenge
A new Global Strategies Group poll in Indiana finds Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) leads his GOP primary rival Richard Mourdock (R) by just six points, 45% to 39%.
Barbour Voted for Gingrich
In what First Read calls “another gut punch” for Mitt Romney, former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) told ABC News that he voted for Newt Gingrich last week in his state’s GOP primary.
Said Barbour: “I didn’t endorse anybody. I didn’t want to try to influence anybody’s vote, so beforehand I didn’t say who I voted for. But Newt and I have been friends a long, long time… Out of friendship, I voted for Newt.”
Obama Moves to Defend Health Care Law
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds two-thirds of Americans say the U.S. Supreme Court should throw out either the “individual mandate” in the federal health care law or the law in its entirety — signaling the depth of public disagreement with that controversial element of health care reform.
The Supreme Court opens hearings on the law’s constitutionality next week.
Meanwhile, BuzzFeed notes President Obama’s re-election campaign “has launched an all-out defense of his landmark, and unpopular, health care overhaul, a move that marks a realization: The issue can’t be avoided.”
Quote of the Day
“This is someone who doesn’t have a core. He’s been on both sides of almost every single issue in the past 10 years.”
— Rick Santorum, on CBS’s This Morning, about Mitt Romney.
Romney Holds Big Lead in Illinois
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Illinois finds Mitt Romney comfortably ahead of Rick Santorum in the GOP primary, 45% to 30%, followed by Newt Gingrich at 12% and Ron Paul at 10%.
A new American Research Group poll shows Romney leading with 44%, followed by Santorum at 30%, Gingrich at 13%, and Paul at 8%.
Menendez Leads in Re-Election Bid
A new Fairleigh Dickinson University poll in New Jersey finds Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) ahead by double digits over Joe Kyrillos (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 43% to 33%.
Romney Wins in Puerto Rico
Mitt Romney will win the Puerto Rico GOP primary, CNN projects.
Early results show it was a blowout. It looks like a possible strategic blunder for Rick Santorum for trying to compete there.
Enemies
Just published: Enemies: A History of the FBI by Tim Weiner.
New York Times: “This is certainly the most complete book we are likely to see about the F.B.I.’s intelligence-gathering operations, from Emma Goldman to Osama bin Laden… Illegal wiretaps and burglaries were the F.B.I.’s key weapons almost from the beginning. Time and again, going back to the 1930s, this or that court would rule such procedures illegal. Time and again, J. Edgar Hoover, the bureau’s director from 1924 until his death in 1972, simply ignored the law. A string of presidents, from Roosevelt to Richard M. Nixon, knew exactly what the bureau was doing and refused to stop it.”
GOP Braces for Possible Open Convention
“For the first time in a generation, Republicans are preparing for the possibility that their presidential nomination could be decided at their national convention rather than on the campaign trail, a prospect that would upend one of the rituals of modern politics,” the New York Times reports.
“The race remains Mitt Romney’s to lose, and if he continues to accumulate delegates at a steady clip… he can still amass the 1,144 necessary to secure the nomination before the last primary, in Utah on June 26. But as he struggles to win the hearts of conservative voters and hold off a challenge from Rick Santorum, party leaders, activists and the campaigns are for the first time taking seriously the possibility that neither he nor anyone else will get to that total.”
Obama Lags in Big Money Donors
The Washington Post notes President Obama trails Republican front-runner Mitt Romney “in finding donors willing to give $2,000 or more — a surprising development for a sitting president, and one that could signal more worrisome financial problems heading into the general election. At this point in the last election cycle, Obama had received such large donations from more than 23,000 supporters, nearly double the 11,000 who have given him that much this time. President George W. Bush had more than four times the number of big donations at this point in his reelection.”
“Republicans and Democrats alike thought that Obama would have a big financial advantage over Republicans this fall given his record-breaking 2008 fundraising and his status as the sitting president. But the trend of slackening big-donor support is the latest in a series of indications that the 2012 money battle is going to be much tighter than once imagined.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“A contested convention isn’t necessarily all bad.”
— Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, in an interview on This Week, on a deadlocked Republican convention.
The Democrats’ Bill Maher Problem
Brad Phillips: “By accepting Maher’s donation, top Obama officials are now forced to spend valuable time parsing the differences between the appropriate and inappropriate uses of misogynistic language, having to explain to voters why calling Sarah Palin a ‘c*nt’ is different than calling Sandra Fluke a ‘slut.’ As a result, the Obama Administration – and more broadly, the Democratic Party – is ceding the moral high ground it temporarily claimed after Limbaugh made his incendiary comments.”
“Top Obama officials are trying to dismiss Mahers’ comments as somehow different than Limbaugh’s. And I agree with their assertion that comedians should have more license to push the rhetorical envelope than others in public life. But the standards of politics, not stand-up comedy, started to apply the moment the President’s SuperPAC accepted Maher’s high-profile, seven-figure gift.”
Quote of the Day
“It’s gone way too long and gotten way, way too personal.”
— Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), in an interview on Meet the Press, describing the Republican presidential primary as “the nastiest I’ve ever seen.”
Behind the Failed Debt Talks
Must-read piece in the Washington Post:
“Last summer’s effort at a “grand bargain” on the debt, described by White House officials as the most consequential of Obama’s presidency, illuminated pitfalls in the road he had taken and directed him down a partisan path now defining the reelection campaign.”
Project to Target Limbaugh Started Years Ago
Commentary: “Wonder how the left was able to mobilize so quickly on the Rush Limbaugh boycott? According to the architect behind it, Media Matters online strategy director Angelo Carusone, the project was actually created in 2009, but stayed inactive until the Sandra Fluke controversy boiled over.”
