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Obama’s Dangerous New Narrative

May 15, 2013 at 7:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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

May 15, 2013 at 6:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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

May 15, 2013 at 6:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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

May 15, 2013 at 6:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“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

May 15, 2013 at 6:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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

May 14, 2013 at 5:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“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.

Lawmaker Seeks to Remove Camera That Gave Him Ticket

May 14, 2013 at 5:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tennessee state Rep. Jon Lundberg (R), whose vehicle was shown speeding by a traffic camera in 2010,
co-sponsored a bill to take that camera down this year, the Nashville City Paper reports.

Lundberg said the traffic camera speeding ticket “has absolutely zero effect” on his decision to sponsor the bill, adding, “In fact, until you said that, I completely forgot about that.”

Lundberg is the same lawmaker who sponsored a resolution last month to honor himself.

The Politics of the IRS Scandal

May 14, 2013 at 4:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Josh Marshall: “We’re just at the front end of investigating the IRS scandal. And all the standard blah blah blah about how we don’t know just what we’ll find. But I think we do know pretty much exactly what the political implications will be. And they’re significant.”

“The primary effect is that for some time to come — and likely through next year’s election — it allows elected Republicans to get right on the same page with the Tea Party and what the Tea Party essentially is, which is the ideological base of the Republican party, which is pretty much unchanged for the last 25 years.”

The Week: But will Republicans overplay it?

Scandal May Protect Social Security from Cuts

May 14, 2013 at 3:48 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Greg Sargent: “The Monica Lewinsky scandal may have helped save Social Security in the late 1990s. Now the scandal fever currently gripping Washington — IRS, Benghazi, Associated Press phone records — may save Social Security and Medicare two decades later.”

“Liberals who are dreading the scandal-mania that is taking hold should note that it contains a potential upside: It could make a Grand Bargain that includes cuts to Medicare and Social Security benefits even less likely than it already is. That’s because when scandal grips Washington, a president actually needs his core supporters more than ever to ward it off, making it harder to do anything that will alienate them.”

Sanford Will Be Sworn In Tomorrow

May 14, 2013 at 3:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep.-elect Mark Sanford (R-SC) will be sworn in as the new representative of South Carolina’s 1st congressional district at 5:15 pm ET on Wednesday, the Washington Post reports.

Pallone Slams Booker as He Gears Up for Primary

May 14, 2013 at 1:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) “has fired the first volley in what could be a contentious primary battle with Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) for the 2014 U.S. Senate nomination,” the Newark Star Ledger reports.

Pallone sent a scathing letter to Booker last week accusing him of withholding money from AIDS patients.

Paterson Hints at Congressional Bid

May 14, 2013 at 1:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former New York Gov. David Paterson (D), who took the state’s top executive post after Eliot Spitzer suddenly resigned amid a prostitution scandal, suggested he might run for Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (D-NY) seat, Politicker reports.

Said Paterson: “I love public service. I love the people who do it. I would listen to people.”

White House Email Contradicts Earlier Benghazi Leaks

May 14, 2013 at 12:53 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CNN has obtained an email sent by a top aide of President Obama, “in which the aide discusses the Obama administration reaction to the attack on the U.S. posts in Benghazi, Libya. The actual email differs from how sources were inaccurately quoted and paraphrased in previous media accounts.”

“The significance of the email seems to be that whomever leaked the inaccurate information earlier this month did so in a way that made it appear that the White House…was more interested in the State Department’s desire to remove mentions of specific terrorist groups and warnings about these groups so as to not bring criticism to the State Department than the email actually stated.”

Like Nixon?

May 14, 2013 at 12:38 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Obama is just like Richard Nixon, at least according to cable news clips compiled by Now This News.

However, former Nixon White House counsel John Dean, who testified before Congress about “the cancer” on the Nixon presidency, tells the Daily Beast, “No, not yet, it’s not even close to Watergate at this point.”

[Read more…]

IRS Scandal Could Resonate in 2014 Midterms

May 14, 2013 at 12:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Nate Silver: “My rule of thumb is that a vast majority of alleged political scandals will have less electoral impact than the conventional wisdom initially holds… But the recent admission by the Internal Revenue Service that it targeted conservative organizations with terms like ‘Tea Party’ or ‘Patriot’ in their names when they applied for tax-exempt status could be an exception. It has the potential to harm Democrats’ performance in next year’s midterm elections, partly by motivating a strong turnout from the Republican base.”

The Week: Will scandals kill Obama’s second term agenda?

Rumsfeld’s Rules

May 14, 2013 at 11:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just published: Rumsfeld’s Rules: Leadership Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life by Donald Rumsfeld.

Rumsfeld tells USA Today the title is a bit of a misnomer and that they are not actually all rules. He calls them “life lessons and pieces of wisdom I’ve gathered from others.”

McConnell Says Obama is Stonewalling Investigation

May 14, 2013 at 11:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suggested President Obama was not being forthcoming in the controversy surrounding IRS targeting of conservative groups, Reuters reports.

Said McConnell: “I’m calling on the president to make available, completely and without restriction, everyone who can answer the questions we have as to what was going on at the IRS, who knew about it, and how high it went. No more stonewalling.”

Palin Offered Talk Show Deal

May 14, 2013 at 11:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sarah Palin “has been offered a major syndicated TV talk show by reality show producer Mark Burnett but turned down the deal,” Newsmax reports.

The deal is “not completely dead” as “sticking points have been over location and money… Burnett has insisted that Palin do the show from either New York or Los Angeles, which would require her to move for a significant portion of the year from her residence in Alaska where she lives with husband Todd.”

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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.

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