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A new Pew Research survey finds that 62% of Americans says the Republican party is out of touch with the American people, 56% think it is not open to change and 52% say the party is too extreme.
Opinions about the Democratic Party are mixed, but the party is viewed more positively than the GOP in every dimension tested except one. Somewhat more say the Republican Party than the Democratic Party has strong principles (63% vs. 57%).
First Read: “By the way, there are NO talks scheduled before Friday’s sequester kicks in. Just a lot of media events designed to lay the groundwork for the negotiations in March. That said, don’t be surprised, if simply for appearances sake, there is a last minute meeting at the White House before Friday — simply because both sides need to be seen as pretending to try to stop the sequester, even if there aren’t any serious proposals right now to do so.”
Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) tells the Philadelphia Daily News that she will challenge Gov. Tom Corbett (R) in next year’s gubernatorial race.
Said Schwartz: “It is my intention.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is not one of almost 40 featured speakers at next month’s Conservative Political Action Conference because he is “not being invited,” ABC News reports.
“The source would not answer why Christie, who is widely thought to be interested in the 2016 presidential race, would not be invited to the confab of conservative activists.”
Police have arrested a Colorado man for sending racially and sexually offensive e-mails to state Rep. Rhonda Fields (D), “including one that said he hoped she would meet the same fate as a congresswoman who was shot in the head,” the Denver Post reports.
One of the e-mails called Fields “pathetic” and also mentioned state Rep. Beth McCann (D). It said, “Hopefully somebody Giffords both of your asses with a gun…”
The man told police he was “just voicing some frustrations” about efforts to tighten state gun laws.
Teddy Turner (R) released an amusing ad in South Carolina’s special election in the 1st congressional district urging voters against choosing a career politician such as his main rival, former Gov. Mark Sanford (R)
An actor looks directly into the camera while drinking a glass of wine and pleads for voters to take him back and concludes, “I’m sorry for all the mistakes I’ve made. Sugar, would you give me one more chance?”
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson sued a Wall Street Journal reporter for libel over an article from December in which the Republican mega-donor was described as “foul-mouthed,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Chicago-area voters head to the primary polls to select former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s successor, Roll Call reports.
Among the Democrats in the race, Robin Kelly is the candidate most political observers expect to win, but special elections are unpredictable. There are narrower paths to victory for former Rep. Debbie Halvorson and Anthony Beale.
“Adding to the uncertainty in the 2nd District special election is a crowded lower tier of candidates.”
The Chicago Tribune notes another big unknowns: “Voter turnout, already anticipated to
be very low, could be exacerbated by nasty weather.”
Roll Call has the must-read list.
Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) told a Libertarian conference over the weekend that former Vice President Dick Cheney would probably end up in hell for the Iraq War, the Huffington Post reports.
Said Jones: “Congress will not hold anyone to blame. Lyndon Johnson’s probably rotting in hell right now because of the Vietnam War, and he probably needs to move over for Dick Cheney.”
If the “let-the-cuts-happen” approach on the sequester seems risky, Politico notes the alternative for Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is worse.
“Jump-start negotiations with Obama, and he would be slammed for engaging in out-of-sight, secret talks with a president his party doesn’t trust. Raise taxes, and Boehner’s courting trouble in his conference and endangering his speakership. Both are simply nonstarters.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Fox News that Boehner would lose his speakership if he agreed to a deal with the president that included new tax revenues.
“This is not time for a road-show president.”
— Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), quoted by the Washington Post, criticizing President Obama for his planned trips this week to highlight the damage that will be caused by the sequester.
“Dozens of prominent Republicans — including top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress — have signed a legal brief arguing that gay people have a constitutional right to marry, a position that amounts to a direct challenge to Speaker John A. Boehner and reflects the civil war in the party since the November election,” the New York Times reports.
The Supreme Court next month will hear back-to-back arguments in a suit seeking to strike down Proposition 8, a California ballot initiative barring same-sex marriage, and another case that challenges the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act.”
“Legal analysts said the brief had the potential to sway conservative justices as much for the prominent names attached to it as for its legal arguments.”
A new Pew Research/Wasington Post poll finds 45% of Americans say Republicans in Congress are to blame for the upcoming automatic budget cuts, while 32% say it’s President Obama’s fault.
A new Hendrix College poll finds Asa Hutchinson (R) well ahead of two Democratic challengers in the 2014 gubernatorial race.
Hutchinson leads Bill Halter (D), 47% to 31%, and tops Mike Ross (D), 43% to 38%.
“Robert Bork says President Richard Nixon promised him the next Supreme Court vacancy after Bork complied with Nixon’s order to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox in 1973,” the AP reports.
“Bork’s recollection of his role in the Saturday Night Massacre that culminated in Cox’s firing is at the center of his slim memoir, Saving Justice, that is being published posthumously by Encounter Books. Bork died in December at age 85.”
Roll Call: “The Senate is expected this week to confirm Chuck Hagel to be the
next Pentagon chief, but the weeks-long partisan battle over the former
Republican senator from Nebraska has provided a taste of some of the
biggest national security fights that lay ahead.”
“Early results from Italy’s election suggest the houses of parliament may split between left and right, causing new anxiety in the eurozone,” the BBC reports.
“Projections suggest Pier Luigi Bersani’s centre-left bloc has a narrow lead in the lower house while Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right is ahead in the powerful Senate. A protest movement led by comedian Beppe Grillo surged into third place.”
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.
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