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Running for President Can Kill Your Political Career

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First Read: “A word of warning to anyone thinking about 2016: Running for president doesn’t always help your political career. After unsuccessful presidential bids in ’04 and ’08, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) later found himself without a congressional seat. After he finished sixth in the ’08 Iowa caucuses — after moving his family to the state — Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) saw his popularity in his state plummet and decided not to run for re-election. And after briefly running for president in 2008, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) lost a Senate race four years later. And now you can add Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who like Dodd finished sixth in Iowa in 2012, to this list.”

Reid Wilson:
“Bachmann may have been the loudest member of the class of 2006, the
one who inspired the most heated arguments. But she will hardly be the
most consequential; her enduring legacy may be the lessons she taught in
how to lose friends and become completely uninfluential.”

Cantor Says Obama Has Lost Focus

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House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said that President Obama had become “disconnected” and “lost focus” because of scandals surrounding the White House, The Hill reports.

Said Cantor: “He has given the impression that somehow, he’s disconnected with what’s gone on at the IRS, just like he’s now saying he was disconnected with what’s going on in Benghazi. He’s disconnected with what’s going on in the DOJ as far as its investigation of the national security leak. It seems that he is disconnected with the leadership and lost focus in terms of what he should be doing as far as leading the country.”

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McConnell Invokes IRS Scandal and Nixon in New Ad

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Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “is seizing on the scandal at the Internal Revenue Service in a new campaign advertisement, using vintage video footage of Richard Nixon to amplify his criticism of President Obama and his administration,” ABC News reports.

“It is the clearest sign yet the IRS controversy is likely to play a central role in the midterm elections next year.”

[Read more…]

IRS Higher-ups Requested Info on Conservative Groups

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“Additional scrutiny of conservative organizations’ activities by the IRS did not solely originate in the agency’s Cincinnati office, with requests for information coming from other offices and often bearing the signatures of higher-ups at the agency,” NBC News reports.

“At least one letter requesting information about one of the groups bears the signature of Lois Lerner, the suspended director of the IRS Exempt Organizations department in Washington.”

Bachmann Will Not Run for Re-election

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With an early morning video message to supporters, embattled Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) announced she would not run for re-election next year, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Said Bachmann: “The law limits anyone from serving as president of the United States for more than eight years. And in my opinion, well, eight years is also long enough for any individual to serve as a representative for a specific congressional district… Be assured: My decision was not in any way influenced by any concerns about my being reelected to Congress… I have every confidence that if I ran, I would again defeat the individual who I defeated last year, who recently announced he is once again running.”

“The high-profile congresswoman had a narrow re-election last year and is under federal investigation for her 2012 presidential campaign. A recent poll found that a rematch with her 2012 Democratic challenger, Jim Graves, was a dead heat.”

[Read more…]

Ford Allies Say They Believe Video Exists

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Two of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s close allies tell the Toronto Star they believe the journalists who reported on a video Ford says doesn’t exist of him smoking crack cocaine.

“Ford was bombarded from morning until evening with questions on an ongoing crack cocaine scandal that threatens his career. He refused to offer any answers.”

Daily Beast: “If the allegations, which Ford denies, were true, the alleged video really wouldn’t have to surface. He’d just do it again, and again, and again until he’s physically restrained, either by family or friends who get him into rehab, or by the police when they catch him dirty. I don’t know of anyone who quit smoking crack of their own volition; it’s just not that kind of party.”

Perry Vetoes GOP-Backed Disclosure Bill

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Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) vetoed a Republican bill “that would have required nonprofits that engage in politics to disclose their donors,” the Huffington Post reports.

The measure “would have required 501(c)4 social welfare groups that spend more than $25,000 in a calendar year on political expenditures to disclose contributions above $1,000.”

GOP Issues Subpoena for Benghazi Documents

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“House Republicans accused the Obama administration of withholding information about its initial response to last year’s terror attack in Benghazi, Libya, and issued a subpoena on Tuesday seeking additional information,” NBC News reports.

“The subpoena is another step in Republicans’ long journey to unearth
more details about the Benghazi response, which they have used to
politically ding President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

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“I like winning, I’m different. I definitely am a RINO in that respect, my dear howling friends. I like to win. In fact, I do win. That’s just what I do. I go out — I don’t know if you knew this or not — the idea in elections is to get more votes than the other side.”

— Joe Scarborough, quoted by the Huffington Post reports, asking Republicans if they “ever want to be in the White House again.”

Senators Report No Progress Since Obama Dinner

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Senate Republicans “who shared laughs with President Obama over dinner at the Jefferson Hotel in March are grumbling there has since been little follow-through from him on deficit talks,” The Hill reports.

“They say the White House has not set up a process for negotiating controversial reforms to Social Security, healthcare programs and the tax code, and that absence of basic organization has stalled negotiations.”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

Praise for Political Wire

“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

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— 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.