Become a member. Already a member? Log in.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) “may be the congresswoman with nine lives. But 2014 could be the gravest threat to her political career yet,” Politico reports.
“The bomb-throwing conservative and onetime Republican presidential candidate is girding for what promises to be a ferocious reelection contest. Awaiting Bachmann is a serious Democratic opponent who has the full backing of his national party and a suburban Twin Cities electorate that six months ago nearly tossed her out of office.”
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s top communications aides, press secretary George Christopoulos and Isaac Ransom, have both resigned, the Toronto Star reports.
The Toronto Sun says Ford “was spotted going through the empty offices with City Hall security looking unhappy just before 2 p.m.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) “became the highest-ranking U.S. official to enter Syria since the bloody civil war there began over two years ago,” the Daily Beast reports.
“McCain, one of the fiercest critics of the Obama administration’s Syria policy, made the unannounced visit across the Turkey-Syria border with Gen. Salem Idris, the leader of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army. He stayed in the country for several hours before returning to Turkey. Both in Syria and Turkey, McCain and Idris met with assembled leaders of Free Syrian Army units that traveled from around the country to see the U.S. senator. Inside those meetings, rebel leaders called on the United States to step up its support to the Syrian armed opposition and provide them with heavy weapons, a no-fly zone, and airstrikes on the Syrian regime and the forces of Hezbollah, which is increasingly active in Syria.”
Get smarter about politics with exclusive insights, bonus newsletters, a private podcast and no advertising -- join Political Wire today and save 20% off an annual membership.
Just published: Being Oscar: From Mob Lawyer to Mayor of Las Vegas by Oscar Goodman.
A Las Vegas Review-Journal review says the book “dwells on how the government folks were the bad guys and most of his clients were really the good guys.”
A press release for a new romance book, Fires of Siberia, notes the story of the female protagonist — “full of firebrand pluck and red state sex appeal” — was “inspired by the life of Tea Party leader and Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann.”
Donald Trump has spent more than $1 million on “electoral research” for a potential presidential run in 2016, the New York Post reports.
“Scarlett Johansson and Reese Witherspoon are among actresses being considered to portray the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,” The Independent reports.
“Rodham — about the younger years of the former First Lady and senator — is due out some time around the 2016 presidential election, in which Clinton might be a candidate. It will focus on 1974, when she was a Washington lawyer.”
Los Angeles Times: “Wendy Greuel entered the race for mayor of Los Angeles with the formidable advantages of a front-runner… But six months after emerging as the leading candidate to succeed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Greuel’s campaign was handed a decisive defeat by her former City Council friend, Eric Garcetti.”
“The portrait that emerges from interviews with campaign aides and analysts begins with a candidate who underestimated the strength of her opponents in the primary election and the importance of maintaining her brand as a trusted public servant. The slippage accelerated when Greuel’s efforts to promote past accomplishments and future goals drew new rounds of scrutiny and criticism. And attempts to take down her opponents fell short, according to the interviews with campaign operatives and outside experts.”
New York Times: “Almost no law as sprawling and consequential as the Affordable Care Act has passed without changes — significant structural changes or routine tweaks known as ‘technical corrections’ — in subsequent months and years… But as they prowl Capitol Hill, business lobbyists… health care providers and others seeking changes are finding, to their dismay, that in a polarized Congress, accomplishing them has become all but impossible.”
“Republicans simply want to see the entire law go away and will not take part in adjusting it. Democrats are petrified of reopening a politically charged law that threatens to derail careers as the Republicans once again seize on it before an election year.”
“As a result, a landmark law that almost everyone agrees has flaws is likely to take effect unchanged.”
A must-read coming this fall: The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
A new CNN/ORC Poll finds 54% of Americans oppose President Obama’s new health care law, three years after he signed what was his signature domestic policy achievement.
But the poll also indicates that more than a quarter of those who oppose Obamacare, say they don’t support the measure because it doesn’t go far enough.
New York Times: “Representatives of these organizations have cried foul in recent weeks about their treatment by the I.R.S., saying they were among dozens of conservative groups unfairly targeted by the agency, harassed with inappropriate questionnaires and put off for months or years as the agency delayed decisions on their applications.”
“But a close examination of these groups and others reveals an array of election activities that tax experts and former I.R.S. officials said would provide a legitimate basis for flagging them for closer review.”
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford “unequivocally says there is no video that shows him using crack cocaine,” the Toronto Star reports.
He later called journalists a “bunch of maggots,” adding after a brief pause, “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”
NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd is writing an as-yet-untitled book about President Obama’s first term and what “Obamaism” truly is.
The Los Angeles Times profiles George P. Bush, who grew up “a prince amid Republican royalty.”
“He is the fourth generation to enter the family business: Great-grandpa was a U.S. senator, grandpa and an uncle were presidents, dad was a governor. And even if his aim is conspicuously low, a run for the office of Texas land commissioner, expectations could not be higher — the governorship sometime in the next decade, followed, in the manner of dynastic destiny, with another White House reign.”
Double Down: Game Change 2012, the forthcoming book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, is now available for pre-order.
Former Rep. Allen West (R-FL) told a radio show that he would be back in national politics soon.
Said West: “Well, we’ll get back into the political scene, but there are so many things I can do right now that can really help us going forward to the midterm elections. It’s not about me; it’s about the team, it’s about our country and that’s what I’m focused on primarily. So after the midterm election cycle we’ll look into getting back into the political framework in 2016. There’s no doubt about it.”
“I think they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors that says ‘closed for repairs’ until New Year’s Day next year and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas.”
— Former Sen. Bob Dole, quoted by CBS News, on the Republican party’s problems.
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.