Thomas Roberts invited me on a panel with Irin Carmon and Judd Legum to discuss the scandals that have at least temporarily sidetracked President Obama’s agenda.
GOP Senators Ask for Obama’s Full Cooperation
All 45 Republican senators signed a letter to President Obama calling for his full cooperation in a congressional investigation into IRS targeting of conservative political groups.
From the letter: “This type of purely political scrutiny being conducted by an Executive Branch Agency is yet another completely inexcusable attempt to chill the speech of political opponents and those who would question their government, consistent with a broader pattern of intimidation by arms of your administration to silence political dissent.”
Clinton is Big Favorite in Early New Hampshire Poll
A new New England College poll in New Hampshire finds Hillary Clinton running far ahead of other Democrats in a possible presidential primary matchup with 65%, followed by Vide President Joe Biden at 10%, Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 5%, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at 4% and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick at 3%.
No one dominates the early going on the Republican side. Sen. Marco Rubio led the pack with 17%, followed by Jeb Bush at 16%, Sen. Rand Paul at 15% and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Rep. Paul Ryan at 12% each.
The Biggest Story No One is Talking About
Wonk Wire: Just like that, the deficit shrinks.
Romney Aide Predicts Hillary Clinton Will Lose Primary
Stu Stevens, the top strategist to Mitt Romney’s failed presidential bid, said that Hillary Clinton wouldn’t survive a Democratic primary, Ruby Cramer reports.
Said Stevens: “She’s been around since the ’70s. It’s very rare that we go back a generation. And you know, unless we nominate Bob Dole, we won’t be going back a generation. If I was a Democratic hot-shot politician, I would primary her so fast.”
Asked who might beat her, Stevens offered just one name: Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D).
Quote of the Day
“My question isn’t about who’s going to resign, my question is who’s going to jail over this scandal?”
— House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted by the Washington Post.
Scandals Could Rock 2014 Elections
“As a trio of scandals threatens to engulf President Barack Obama, congressional Democrats facing election next year are talking tough about the administration and taking the first steps to detach themselves from the president,” Politico reports.
“Yet even as Republicans see an opening, some in the GOP are urging caution: They say the party needs to avoid appearing so eager to damage Obama and score political points that it undermines what looks like their best shot in three years to go on the offensive.”
“With Obama becoming an ever-larger political target, two midterm elections that saw voters take out their anger at Washington in ways that could potentially come into play next year — 2010 and 1998 — loom large in the minds of both parties.”
How Not to Respond After Losing an Election
Failed Dallas city council candidate Richard P. Sheridan left an amazing voice mail for D Magazine in response to his election preview article he didn’t like.
Be warned: It’s not safe for work listening.
The Press Turns on Obama
John Avlon: “For journalists, privacy concerns and the Patriot Act just got personal. In two brutal press conferences Tuesday afternoon, the Obama administration caught both barrels from a newly aggressive press corps.”
Was Obama Too Slow to Respond?
President Obama’s former press secretary Robert Gibbs “criticized his former boss for what he called a late and ‘exceedingly passive’ response to the controversy surrounding the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) targeting of conservative groups,” The Hill reports.
Said Gibbs: “The problem is this – the tenor of this briefing would be different if the president had spoken about this on Saturday or Sunday and not on Monday. And if the president had spoken on Monday, less about losing patience on this, which is what I do with my 9-year-old, and used far more vivid language.”
Dana Milbank calls Obama the “disinterested president.”
Obama Sidetracked
First Read: “The Benghazi/IRS/AP stories over the past week have had this additional impact for the Obama White House: They’ve sidetracked the other issues that President Obama has wanted to discuss. (Frankly, they’ve also sidetracked us in media, too.) Last Thursday, Obama was in Austin, TX to talk about the economy; on Friday, he was selling implementation of his health-care law; on Monday night, the president traveled to fundraisers in New York, where expressed his desire to still work with Republicans (even as he raised money for Democrats for the ’14 midterms); and today at 11:00 am ET, he delivers remarks at a national peace officers memorial. Oh, there was another piece of news from yesterday the White House would have enjoyed to tout — the budget deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office, is estimated to fall to its lowest level since 2008.”
“So is this a temporary distraction or the beginning of the end of
Obama’s second term? Remember the warning we issued months ago about
second terms. Legislatively, in the best of times, they last about 18
months. The last four presidents to win second terms saw their ability
to drive a legislative agenda get stopped in its tracks in 18 months or
less.”
Why Republicans Should Stop Comparing Obama to Nixon
Charles Krauthammer: “But the one advice I give to Republicans is stop calling it a huge scandal. Stop saying it’s a Watergate. Stop saying it’s Iran Contra. Let the facts speak for themselves. Have a special committee, a select committee. The facts will speak for themselves. Pile them on but don’t exaggerate, don’t run ads about Hillary. It feeds the narrative for the other side that it’s only a political event. It’s not. Just be quiet and present the facts.”
Obama’s Dangerous New Narrative
Politico: “No contemporary American politician has benefited more from the power of good storytelling than Barack Obama. He vaulted from obscurity to the presidency on the power of narrative — invoking his biography and personal values to make a larger point about how he would lead the nation.”
“So presumably no one understands more vividly than Obama and his close aides just how toxic and potentially paralyzing his situation has become this spring, as four distinct ethical and policy controversies have simultaneously converged.”
“Obama’s critics now have a narrative — a way of connecting four discrete episodes to a larger point about this president’s leadership style and values. In other words, they didn’t merely happen on his watch but were in important ways caused by his watch.”
IRS Approved Liberal Groups as Conservative Groups Waited
USA Today reports that as applications from conservative groups sat in limbo waiting for IRS tax exempt approval, “groups with liberal-sounding names had their applications approved in as little as nine months. With names including words like ‘Progress’ or ‘Progressive,’ the liberal groups applied for the same tax status and were engaged in the same kinds of activities as the conservative groups.”
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal has an interesting look at what Tea Party groups experienced as they were being scrutinized by the IRS.
Weiner Will Run for New York City Mayor
Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) is preparing to jump into the New York City mayoral race, possibly as soon as next week, the New York Daily News reports.
“At least two people close to Weiner have been contacting political operatives to gauge if they would go to battle for him.”
Politico reports Weiner has already hired Danny Kedem as his campaign manager, “a recent Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee adviser who spent four months working on a failed Staten Island congressional race last year.”
House to Vote Yet Again on Repealing Obamacare
“The 37th time won’t be the charm. But House Republicans are charging forward anyway this week on a vote to repeal President Obama’s signature health care overhaul, which will put the number of times they have tried to eliminate, defund or curtail the law past the three-dozen mark,” the New York Times reports.
“The repeal vote, which is likely to occur Thursday, will be at least the 43rd day since Republicans took over the House that they have devoted time to voting on the issue. To put that in perspective, they have held votes on only 281 days since taking power in January 2011… That means that since 2011, Republicans have spent no less than 15 percent of their time on the House floor on repeal in some way. ”
Schauer Close to Running for Michigan Governor
Former Rep. Mark Schauer (D-MI) “is in the final stages of preparing for a race for governor. He won’t say definitively yet that he’s in, but in an interview with the Detroit Free Press, he said: “I’m strongly leaning toward putting a campaign together and getting going. The desire is there.”
“And as he inches closer to an official campaign kickoff, other potential Democratic candidates have begged off, offering their support to Schauer. Last week, it was former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and state Board of Education President John Austin who stepped aside.”
“The only one left who is seriously talking about a race is state Rep. Vicki Barnett (D), who said last week that she is still weighing her options and talking with supporters about a possible run.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“I have no desire to spend my post-presidency trying to enhance my standing.”
— Former President George W. Bush, in an interview with Charlie Rose.
