A new Quinnipiac poll in New Jersey finds Gov. Chris Christie (R) is the overwhelming favorite to win re-election in the state’s gubernatorial race and leads Barbara Buono (D) by 58% to 26%.
Lawmaker Jokes About Assault Pressure Cookers
Tennessee State Sen. Stacey Campfield (R) joked on his personal blog about “assault pressure cookers” in the wake of last week’s bombing in Boston, the Tennessean reports.
“Under a headline that referred to U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, one of the leading proponents of gun control, Campfield cataloged the dangerous features on a pressure cooker, including a ‘muzzle break thingy,’ ‘tactical grip’ and ‘evil, black’ color.”
When asked about his comments he refused to apologize and said liberal commentators should be calling for “crock pot control” if they were consistent with their calls for gun control after last year’s Sandy Hook school shooting.
GOP Operative Charged with Extortion and Stalking
Adam Savader, who worked for former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, “has been charged with federal stalking charges after allegedly threatening to expose nude photos of women,” the Daily Caller reports.
Savader “was arrested after women complained to law enforcement that he told them he would distribute nude photos he found of them to friends and family unless they provided more naked photos, according to a news release by the FBI.”
Wyden’s Rise May Cause Problems for Democrats
“Liberals may have cheered when Montana Sen. Max Baucus announced he would retire in 2014 and give up his stranglehold on the Senate Finance Committee gavel. But the likely ascent of Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden to the top of the committee creates its own problems for Democrats,” Roll Call reports.
“Wyden has often perturbed leadership by freelancing on bipartisan talks that have run counter to the party’s message.”
SEC Asked to Force Disclosure of Donations
“A loose coalition of Democratic elected officials, shareholder activists and pension funds has flooded the Securities and Exchange Commission with calls to require publicly traded corporations to disclose to shareholders all of their political donations, a move that could transform the growing world of secret campaign spending,” the New York Times reports.
Clinton Hits Speaking Circuit
“Hillary Clinton’s next chapter — the paid speaking circuit — begins today,” Politico reports.
“The former first lady, senator and secretary of state has overnight become one of the most in-demand speakers in the world — as a a reported $200,000-a-pop fee attests — even before she takes the stage at the National Multi-Housing Council in Dallas.”
Lawmaker Says Government Planned Boston Bombing
New Hampshire state Rep. Stella Tremblay (R) posted on Glenn Beck’s Facebook page that “the Boston Marathon attack and the subsequent search for suspects was playing out how Beck had suggested. She said the bombings were a plot by the federal government, and included a link to a video from another conservative talk show host Alex Jones, in which Jones also claims the federal government planned the bombing,” the Huffington Post reports.
Kerry Donates to Senate Democrats
Secretary of State John Kerry, who left the Senate in February for his current job, donated $100,000 in surplus campaign funds to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on March 15, Bloomberg reports.
Reynolds Will Not Seek Senate Seat
Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) has decided against seeking a U.S. Senate seat, the Des Moines Register reports.
Reynolds “has generally been viewed as the next Republican in line for a bid for the governor’s office and has decided not to change that career trajectory. She and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad are nearly inseparable, which has led politics watchers to think he’s grooming her to be his eventual replacement.”
“But her decision today leaves the GOP still struggling to find a candidate to enter the hotly competitive race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, who declared in early February he’d seek Harkin’s seat. Iowa has yet to send a woman to Congress, and Reynolds was the only woman listed in the top tier of possible U.S. Senate candidates.”
Lawmaker Comes Out During Gay Marriage Debate
“Following more than an hour of riveting and personal floor speeches — during which one state senator publicly announced for the first time he is gay — the Nevada Senate voted 12-9 to begin the process of repealing the gay marriage ban from the state constitution,” the Las Vegas Sun reports.
Gingrich vs. Cutter?
Sources tell Politico that CNN is in talks with Newt Gingrich and former Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter about hosting a new version of Crossfire.
Angle Says She Might Run Again
Failed Nevada U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R) told supporters “it’s a possibility” she would run for Senate again, the Elko Daily Free Press reports.
Said Angle: “Certainly, we need to replace Harry Reid’s leadership and it would be nice to have a different person representing our state as well. I encourage you all to run for office. I wouldn’t encourage you to do anything I haven’t done myself and wouldn’t do again.”
Koch Brothers Will Review 2012 Elections
Mother Jones obtained details of an upcoming Koch brothers retreat where they “will unveil a new plan to recruit and train political candidates who will advance their free-market worldview. Another priority is improving the conservative movement’s outreach to ‘growing demographics’ such as Latinos, young people, and women.”
“Another big item on the Kochs’ agenda is a long-awaited post-mortem on last year’s elections. Charles Koch announced in December that he was pushing back the winter retreat from January to late April so that an internal review of his circle’s election strategies could be completed.”
Man Accused of Sending Ricin-laced Letters Released
“The Mississippi man charged with sending poisoned letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a state judge was released from jail on Tuesday, federal official said, though the reason for the release wasn’t immediately clear,” the AP reports.
Two sources tell Fox News that the FBI was looking
into the possibility that he might have been framed as part of a grudge
against him from someone in his neighborhood.
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I think we can still preserve the Bill of Rights. I see no reason why our Constitution is not strong enough to convict this young man, with a jury trial, with the Bill of Rights. We do it to horrible people all the time. Rapists and murderers, they get lawyers, they get trials with juries ,and we seem to do a pretty good job of justice, so I think we can do it through our court system.”
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), quoted by the Huffington Post, arguing that Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should not be treated as an enemy combatant.
House of Cards
Now available for pre-order: House of Cards: The Complete First Season.
Romney Campaign in Reverse
First Read: “It used to be that being a businessman was a sterling credential on a political resume. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and his allies, annihilated that axiom in 2012, morphing Republican challenger Mitt Romney into an outsourcing, job-killing, vulture capitalist who had something to hide by not releasing (more of) his tax returns.”
“That playbook is now in full effect again. But this time it’s being employed by a Republican, Ken Cuccinelli, against a Democrat Terry McAuliffe, best known as a prolific Democratic fundraiser and Clinton ally.”
Quote of the Day
“The flight delays, the furloughs among air traffic controllers, the shutting down of air traffic towers is entirely, utterly unnecessary… This is a willful choice being made by this administration in order to inflict as disruptive a process as possible on the American public and on our economy all to further a political agenda. And the political agenda is to try to convince the American people that there are no circumstances under which we can ever cut spending at all.”
— Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), quoted by the Daily Caller, arguing that the sequester is not to blame for flight delays.
