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Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball tweaks its 2014 House ratings and finds “small Republican gains — as in, less than five seats — look likelier than a similarly small gain for Democrats. That’s because the Republican targets just look a little better than the Democratic ones.”
“While it would be foolish to rule out any outcome, there is no indication at this point that the Republican House majority is in jeopardy.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slow jams the news with Jimmy Fallon. Just hilarious.
“It is the principle of sin, rebellion against God and His truth which has brought about birth defects and other destructive natural occurrences.”
— Virginia Lt. Gov. candidate E.W. Jackson (R), quoted by BuzzFeed in his 2008 book, Ten Commandments to an Extraordinary Life.
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“I think that there’s a group of people, younger people who are not fighting the war, who are libertarians mostly, who feel like the government is the problem.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Time, on the NSA surveillance programs he helped write into law.
National Journal: “To much acclaim, the Republican National Committee released its road map for reform in March, emphasizing that the path to success called for moderating the party’s position on immigration, courting a more diverse set of officeholders, and building the GOP around pragmatic governors rather than polarizing members of Congress.”
“Three months later, those recommendations seem to have already been forgotten. Party leaders in Washington anonymously rebuked New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for his self-interested scheduling of a Senate special election, treating a rare blue-state conservative governor like a pariah. As the debate on immigration heats up in Congress, the majority of House Republicans cast a symbolic vote rejecting President Obama’s executive order to end deportations of young people brought to this country illegally as children. In Massachusetts, the party nominated a Hispanic military veteran who is within striking distance of winning a Senate seat, but few major donors are giving money to his campaign.”
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled “that human genes extracted from the body can’t be patented, a victory for doctors and patients who argued that such patents interfere with scientific research and the practice of medicine,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The court was handing down one of its most significant rulings in the age of molecular medicine, deciding who may own the fundamental building blocks of life.”
Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) surprisingly showed up at an LGBT event on Capitol Hill, the Houston Chronicle reports.
“Of course, that was before the he realized he was at the wrong event. As it turns out, Hall and his staffers were under the impression that they were attending an event for a fellow congressman, an event scheduled for that same day. After being welcomed into the event and offered refreshments, Hall inquired about the congressman whom he was there to support. After being told that he was indeed in the wrong place, the longtime conservative quickly left the premises — that is, as quickly as a 90-year-old can physically leave a premises.”
After Roll Call noted his presence by suggesting he might be “letting his hair down” by attending the event, Hall responded: “I would just say that while I do have a good head of hair for a 90-year-old, I do not have the quantity of hair, nor the inclination, to let it down.”
“I do not believe that yoga leads to Satanism.”
— Virginia Lt. Gov. candidate E.W. Jackson (R), in a must-read Richmond Times-Dispatch article.
A new Time poll finds that 42% of Americans say there is little difference between President Obama and former President George W. Bush in being careful about protecting Americans’ privacy.
First Read point out that if you’ve followed Hillary Clinton’s career “since she became a national figure in 1992, something pretty remarkable has happened over the past four years: She now, more than ever before, has a political brand and identity that’s separate from her husband’s. And that’s a pretty powerful development when thinking about 2016, because it means she’s not as associated with any potential baggage (Lewinsky, Marc Rich, etc.) as she was when she ran for president in 2008.”
Said one Democratic strategist: “In ’08, she was coming out of Bill’s shadow. Now there is no shadow in the world big enough to cover her.”
Important point: “The reasons for this separate and distinct brand come from her holding
one of the biggest jobs in the world as secretary of state; from her
stepping away from domestic politics; and from her quick embrace of —
and loyal work for — President Obama since losing the Democratic
nominating fight.”
A new Monmouth poll in New Jersey finds that among potential voters in the August Democratic primary, Cory Booker (D) holds a commanding lead over his challengers, garnering 63% support, compared to 10% for Rush Holt (D), 8% for Frank Pallone, and 6% for Sheila Oliver (D).
Democrats are seizing on recent GOP comments that many feel are unfriendly to women voters as the American Bridge Super PAC has re-launched its “It’s Not Just Akin” website.
“Some members of the Congress say that getting straight answers from intelligence agencies about top-secret surveillance is like playing the game ’20 Questions,’ where answers come only if a questioner knows exactly what to ask,” Reuters reports.
“They say quality of closed briefings depends largely on who conducts the sessions and whether members go in with a working knowledge of programs and pointed questions.”
Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-AZ) son Tanner used Twitter to threaten the “faggot” who stole his bike that he “will find you, and … will beat the crap out of you,” joked about an acquaintance stealing one-liners because he’s Jewish, and went by the name “n1ggerkiller” in an online game, BuzzFeed reports.
Said Flake: “I’m very disappointed in my teenage son’s words, and I sincerely apologize for the insensitivity. This language is unacceptable, anywhere. Needless to say, I’ve already spoken with him about this, he has apologized, and I apologize as well.”
“I think that he’s a moron and he proves that stupid has no specific political affiliation. I have no idea what goes into the mind of a moron like that… These kinds of comments only come from a moron and they shouldn’t be tolerated one bit.”
— Massachusetts U.S. Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez (R), quoted by ABC News, on Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) claiming that few women who are raped end up pregnant.
A new Harper Polling survey in Massachusetts finds Rep. Ed Markey (D) with a 12-point lead over Gabriel Gomez (R), 49% to 37%.
Said pollster Brock McLeary: “Simply put, Gomez trails because there are more Democrats than Republicans in the state. In the next two weeks, the challenge for Gomez is to open up a sizable lead among independents. There are indications that this is possible, but this survey indicates that the race is currently tied among independents.”
Showbiz411 reports Ted Widmer, a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton, will be ghost writing Hillary Clinton’s memoir expected to be published next year but, “It’s still unclear how he will be billed.”
New York Times: “It can sometimes seem that Mr. Booker was born on third base in politics, too. For more than a decade, he has occupied a level of celebrity outsized for a councilman and then mayor of the historically troubled city of Newark.”
“Now, as he embarks on a whirlwind run for the United States Senate, he finally seems poised to step into a position that matches his much-discussed promise.”
“If he wins, Mr. Booker will instantly become one of the most prominent figures in Washington. If he loses, it will be a spectacular and surprising flameout.”
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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