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A new Public Policy Polling survey in Kentucky shows Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) leading all three of his potential opponents for re-election.
McConnell leads Ben Chandler (D), 46% to 41%, tops Ed Marksberry (D), 46% to 35%, and beats Alison Lundergan Grimes (D), 45% to 41%.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is testing Republicans’ resolve to filibuster gun legislation by setting up an important procedural vote on the measure Thursday, Roll Call reports.
Reid “filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the most ambitious set of gun control proposals to reach the Senate floor since 1994. The package is a top priority for President Obama and congressional Democrats, who in recent days have assailed a group of 13 Senate Republicans — in addition to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — for threatening to block an up-or-down vote on the plan.”
The Week: Is the GOP’s filibuster threat collapsing?
“Under this law, I am considered a felon. I am not your equal.”
— Montana Rep. Bryce Bennett (D), quoted by the Missoulian, arguing for repeal of a state law that criminalizes gay sex.
Micah Cohen: “The two most unpopular governors up for re-election in 2014 are Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, an independent, and Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois, a Democrat. But the remaining eight governors with net negative job approval ratings are Republicans, including four who rode the Tea Party wave to power in blue and purple states in 2010 and now appear to be in some danger: Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, Gov. Paul LePage of Maine and Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan.”
Stuart Rothenberg says the distinction of most vulnerable incumbent senator “surely boils down to either Arkansas’ Mark Pryor or Louisiana’s Mary L. Landrieu.”
“It’s a close call on who is more vulnerable, but I’d probably pick Pryor,” especially if Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) runs. The Harvard-educated Iraq veteran who worked for McKinsey would be an especially difficult opponent for Pryor, and the Democratic base in Arkansas appears to be evaporating quickly.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) “campaign has accused opponents of bugging McConnell’s headquarters and has asked for an FBI investigation after a recording from an internal campaign meeting surfaced,” the Washington Post reports.
Charlie Cook: “At this point, there are two competing theories on what theme will
dominate the 2014 congressional elections. The one that seems to have
become the conventional wisdom is that Republicans will continue to have
problems with perception of their brand–specifically with younger,
minority, female, and moderate voters. The other scenario is that as
more provisions of the Affordable Care Act kick in early next year,
certain ones will alienate many voters who now either support or are
ambivalent toward ‘Obamacare,’ creating an undertow for Democratic
candidates. Other scenarios could develop, but these now seem to be the
most plausible.”
“At the very least, the council should have also included a requirement for warning signs on women’s and girl’s public restroom and locker room doors saying that women and girls may be confronted there by men who think they are women.”
— Michigan state Rep. Tom McMillin (R), quoted by MLive, opposing a law because it would allow transgendered men and women to use restrooms designated for the opposite sex.
A former Tennessee politician “who was investigated on indecent exposure allegations while in office more than two years ago has been arrested… after a new complaint was filed,” the Kingsport Times-News reports.
William Lee Blakely “is charged with one count of indecent exposure as a result of allegations made by a female motorist who claimed that he ‘fondled himself’ and made obscene gestures while they drove beside each other on Interstate 26.”
A witness told WJHL-TV that Blakely was masturbating out of his open car window while speeding down the highway at 90 miles per hour.
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) broke with 14 of his Republican colleagues saying he believes gun control legislation deserves a “vote up or down,” Politico reports.
Said Isakson: “I’ll speak for myself on that question. There’s no ambivalence on the gun issue, I think everyone knows what the issues are. We have not seen the final draft of the legislation that was produced, I understand, last night, but I think it deserves a vote up or down.”
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had similar sentiments on CBS News over the weekend “I don’t understand it. What are we afraid of?…If this issue is as important as all of us think it is…why not take it up and debate?”
The Week: Why Senate Republicans should think hard about a filibuster of gun control legislation.
A new Harper Polling survey in Louisiana finds Sen.Mary Landrieu (D-LA) with a small lead over Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in a possible U.S. Senate race, 46% to 41%.
Key findings: Landrieu leads among women 50% to 33% while Cassidy leads among men 48% to 41%. Among white voters, Cassidy leads 49% to 34%.
Chicago Tribune: “Voters across the Chicago area will go to the polls for local elections today, picking winners in a range of races from a replacement for U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson to a high-profile suburban mayoral contest featuring a former Bears’ star.”
Jill Lawrence explains why there’s been a shift on gay marriage but not on guns control
“Demographics offers one answer. Acceptance of gay marriage in the political world is being driven in part by polling that shows overwhelming support for it among young people. By contrast, at least two polls this spring show there is no corresponding generation gap on guns. … The relative power of the lobbies on guns and gay marriage is another factor.
“I may be a Republican. I’m not an idiot.”
— Lancaster, California Mayor Rex Parris (R), quoted by the New York Times, when asked if global warming was a threat.
Former Rep. Jeff Landry (R-LA) “aims to keep stirring up trouble on Capitol Hill from the outside with a new super PAC to support hard-right conservatives in the House of Representatives,” Politico reports.
“Landry, who lost his bid for reelection last year, will helm a group dubbed Restore Our Republic. The goal of the super PAC… is to give conservatives aligned with the GOP’s activist base the same outside support that establishment-side Republicans get from independent expenditure groups.”
The first volume of an authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher — to be titled Not for Turning — was announced just after her death yesterday, The Guardian reports.
Commissioned in 1997 on the understanding that it would not be put out during her lifetime, the publisher said it would be released immediately after her funeral. Thatcher herself did not read the manuscript before she died.
Stephen Colbert convinced former President Bill Clinton to send his first tweet.
Just spent amazing time with Colbert!Is he sane? He is cool! #cgiu
— Billy Jeff Clinton (@PrezBillyJeff) April 6, 2013
Mother Jones obtained audio of a private meeting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell held with aides “to discuss how to attack his possible Democratic foes, including actor/activist Ashley Judd, who was then contemplating challenging the minority leader. During this strategy session McConnell and his aides considered assaulting Judd for her past struggles with depression and for her religious views.”
Said one aide: “She’s clearly, this sounds extreme, but she is emotionally unbalanced. I mean it’s been documented. Jesse can go in chapter and verse from her autobiography about, you know, she’s suffered some suicidal tendencies. She was hospitalized for 42 days when she had a mental breakdown in the ’90s.”
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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