The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) “was equipped with a catheter, but nixed an offer of a continuous IV drip” to help her make it through an 11+ hour filibuster earlier this week.
GOP Leaders Warn Leagues Not to Promote Obamacare
“Senate Republican leaders have sent letters warning six professional sports leagues not to provide the Obama administration any assistance in promoting Obamacare,” TPM reports.
“The letters, dated June 27, warn the chiefs of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Professional Golf Association and NASCAR that partnering with the administration to publicize the benefits of the health care law would damage their reputations.”
Republicans Seek to Recruit More Women
National Republicans “launched a series of programs aimed at recruiting more female candidates and getting conservative women involved in politics,” the Washington Post reports.
“The efforts come as Republicans continue to trail Democrats when it comes to electing women and also as the female vote continues to tilt toward Democrats. Democrats have four times as many women serving in the Senate and three times as many women in the House, and President Obama won the female vote 55 percent to 44 percent last year — just one point off his 2008 showing.”
Christie Veers Right
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) veered to the right this morning, twice touting himself as a “conservative Republican” and taking a shot at President Obama within the first 10 minutes of a town hall meeting, the Newark Star Ledger reports.
Said Christie: “I know when you look at Washington right now, you shake your head at a president who can’t figure out how to lead, at a Congress that only 11 percent of the people in the last poll I saw approve of the job they’re doing.”
Lawmaker Seeks to Regulate Men’s Reproductive Health
Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner (D) has proposed a bill forcing men to “see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit signed by a sexual partner affirming impotency” before allowing them to get a prescription for Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, the Dayton Daily News reports.
“Turner said if state policymakers want to legislate women’s health choices… they should also be able to legislate men’s reproductive health.”
Feds Seek to Seize Jackson’s Homes
“Federal prosecutors asked a judge today to let the government seize the homes of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi, in Washington and Chicago, plus an IRA he has worth almost $80,000,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Up for Grabs in New York City
Harry Enten looks at the New York City Democratic mayoral race and finds that Christine Quinn, William Thompson or Anthony Weiner could advance to a runoff.
“I went through the polling that I could find since 1989, and I can’t find a single poll this late in the mayoral primary campaign when the leading candidate had less than 26% and certainly not less than 20%. There simply is no precedence for this in the past thirty years…. When the candidates are polling so poorly and close to each other anything can happen.”
Obama Not Helping America’s Image Abroad
Michael Crowley: “Recent polling shows America more unpopular than ever in Muslim countries, enraged by Obama’s heavy reliance on drone strikes against suspected terrorists. Though occasionally cooperative, Russia and China are content to speak about America with borderline hostility. Even a bite-sized nation like Ecuador is thumbing its nose at the U.S. over Snowden’s fate…turning around world opinion has been severely complicated in recent weeks. Snowden’s leaks about U.S. surveillance, spying and hacking activities revived the image of an arrogant post-9/11 America that acts without regard for the law, and forced Obama to publicly protest that he is no Dick Cheney.”
Nationalized Gay Marriage is Inevitable
Charles Krauthammer says the Supreme Court is on the verge of “nationalizing gay marriage, the way Roe nationalized abortion. This is certainly why David Boies, the lead attorney in the companion Proposition 8 case, was so jubilant when he came out onto the courthouse steps after the ruling. He understood immediately that once the court finds it unconstitutional to discriminate between gay and straight couples, nationalizing gay marriage is just one step away.”
The Strongest Non-Incumbent in History
Nate Silver on Hillary Clinton: “From the standpoint of the party primary, it’s almost as though she’s an incumbent president, right, where she even trumps, kind of, the VP, who very often wins nomination after a president is term-limited. If you look at polls, you know, 60 to 70 percent of Democrats say they prefer Hillary to be the nominee. There’s no kind of non-incumbent in history with those types of numbers.”
McCain Says GOP Can’t Win Without Immigration Reform
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was asked by TPM if Republicans can recover in 2016 if the immigration overhaul falters. He took a deep breath and shook his head.
“No,” he said.
McCain added: “All I can say is that maybe they ought to look back at what happened in 2012 and 2008 with the Hispanic voters and then maybe they ought to reevaluate what they are saying. There’s plenty of issues that separate Republicans and Democrats but… 70, 80 percent, depending on which polls you judge by, are in favor of what we’re trying to do.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“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.
Scott’s Odds Improve Among Florida Insiders
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.”
Best Shoes for a Filibuster
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.
The Next Battleground for Gay Marriage
“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.
Quote of the Day
“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.
Jeb Bush to Give Award to Hillary Clinton
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.”
Paul Makes High Profile Visit to South Carolina
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.
