“If I win, I might demand a recount.”
— Former Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD), quoted by Roll Call, on possibly running an unconventional idealistic campaign for his old seat.
Boehner Lays Out Strategy for Defeating Obamacare
A source in a closed-door House GOP conference meeting told National Review that Speaker John Boehner said “targeted strikes” would ultimately undermine President Obama’s health care law.
Said Boehner: “Remember the strategy for stopping Obamacare we laid out to you back in July. It had two components: Aggressive, coordinated oversight, and targeted legislative strikes aimed at shattering the legislative coalition the president has used to force his law on the nation. That plan is being executed as we speak.”
Booker Has a Girlfriend
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is dating a 36-year-old Los Angeles entertainment lawyer, the New York Post reports.
Booker remarked last summer that his “great dismay” was he has not “settled down with a life partner” but was amused at speculation he might be gay.
Paul Says Christie Won Because of Federal Money
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was re-elected because he got federal relief funds after Hurricane Sandy, CBS Philadelphia reports.
Said Paul: “Well, his victory was, in large form, based on that he got a lot of federal money for his state. The problem is…unlimited spending is sort of – you could call it moderate, or even Liberal, to think that there’s an unlimited amount of money, even for good causes.”
He added: “If you’re a conservative Republican, the federal government will be involved in certain things, but when you spend money, particularly when you’re at trillion dollars in the hole, it shouldn’t be just this, ‘gimme, gimme, gimme all my money’ without any considerations or strings. It should be, ‘Yes, this is why it’s necessary, but this is also why I’ll cut spending somewhere else.'”
Republicans Get a Gift
Politico notes that “as the Obamacare rollout gets worse with each passing day, Speaker John Boehner and his House GOP colleagues are being handed political gold — and they think they’ve figured out a way to avoid screwing it up.”
“The Obamacare playbook, as described by several high-level House GOP aides and lawmakers, includes lots of committee oversight, some targeted legislation and lots of rhetoric. But there will be no more votes to defund or repeal Obamacare — the issue that led to the disastrous 16-day government shutdown — the GOP leadership says. At some point, top Republicans say, there might be a vote to delay the law for a year.”
The Week: The Democratic panic over Obamacare has begun.
Republicans Weigh a Midwestern Primary
“The national Republican Party is considering a number of major changes to its presidential nominating process to avoid a repeat of the debacles of 2012, according to several party officials,” David Freedlander reports.
“Most significantly, the party is considering holding a “Midwestern primary” featuring Great Lakes states such as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota that would come immediately after the votes in the traditional early primary states. Also being weighed and thought likely to be approved when the Republican National Committee meets in early 2014 is a plan to shorten the primary season considerably by holding the party’s convention in July, almost as soon as the last primary ballots are cast.”
Democrats in Disarray Again
Michael Tomasky: “Yes, Republicans have been in disarray, too, from time to time–the low points of the Iraq War, Katrina, and just last month during the government shutdown. But for a variety of reasons, the 24-7 news cycle era has found Dems in disarray to be a far more potent story line than Republicans in disarray. It’s alliterative, for starters. And it has been, I readily concede, legitimately true at times. Plus, Fox, for many years, drove the agenda that the other cable nets swallowed hook, line, and sinker. MSNBC has been a liberal pushback channel only for five years or so, or less than half the life span of the 24-7 cycle. (Remember when Tucker Carlson was an MSNBC host?) And Republicans have tended to have tougher game faces, march more in lockstep, and not concede those crucial rhetorical inches that Democrats so often feel compelled to grant.”
Still Locked in the Cabinet
“Sixteen years ago, president Bill Clinton’s secretary of labor, Robert Reich, summed up the frustrations of adjusting to life in the Cabinet, where even a close personal relationship with the president, dating to their Oxford days, didn’t spare him from being bossed around by arrogant West Wing nobodies,” Politico writes.
“Two presidents later, the Cabinet is a swarm of 23 people that includes 15 secretaries and eight other Cabinet-rank officers. And yet never has the job of Cabinet secretary seemed smaller. The staffers who rule Obama’s West Wing often treat his Cabinet as a nuisance: At the top of the pecking order are the celebrity power players, like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to be warily managed; at the bottom, what they see as a bunch of well-intentioned political naifs only a lip-slip away from derailing the president’s agenda.”
Trust Problems Threaten Obama Legacy
Washington Post: “Many second-term presidents run into trust problems, but in important ways the problem Obama now faces is more pressing. Honesty goes to the rationale for his election and to the core of his philosophy that government is something to be trusted, not feared or ridiculed as his political opponents claim.”
It Could Get Worse for Democrats
Stu Rothenberg says Democrats are right to worry about recent polls showing a sharp drop in President Obama’s approval rating.
“It would be surprising if other national surveys conducted over the next few weeks don’t show the same trend. The media’s reporting on each survey tends to have a cumulative impact, as if each poll is finding something new.”
“Of course, each is simply reporting on the same development, but the repeated drumbeat about the president’s weaker standing adds to the buzz about Obama’s problems. That’s exactly what happened to President George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina and the economy’s plunge undermined his standing.”
Ford Did Drugs and Partied with a Prostitute
A police report says Toronto Mayor Rob Ford “snorted cocaine, swilled vodka, popped a dose of Oxycontin and partied with an apparent prostitute during an all-night binge last year that raved from his office to a private room in a Toronto bar and back,” the Toronto Star reports.
Obama Campaign Manager Will Back Clinton
Jim Messina and John Podesta, top former aides to Barack Obama and Bill Clinton respectively, “are currently in talks to co-chair a board backing Hillary Clinton — a plan that, should it come to fruition, would be a dramatic early symbol of party unity behind the former secretary of state,” Ruby Cramer reports.
Obama Renews Immigration Push as Doubts Emerge
The White House “is intensifying its push to get an immigration overhaul through Congress this year, but House Speaker John Boehner cast new doubt Wednesday about the prospects for quick action,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“President Obama brainstormed at the White House Wednesday with religious leaders over how to persuade House Republicans to move on the issue… But Mr. Boehner said House lawmakers wouldn’t vote on any immigration bills while Republicans work on ‘principles’ behind legislation. Many advocates for an immigration overhaul read the Ohio Republican’s announcement as a setback.”
Democrats Threaten to Abandon Obama on Health Law
“Anxious congressional Democrats are threatening to abandon President Obama on a central element of his signature health care law, voicing increasing support for proposals that would allow Americans to retain the health insurance coverage they are losing because of the Affordable Care Act,” the New York Times reports.
“The dissent comes as a vote looms Friday in the Republican-controlled House on a bill that would allow Americans to keep their existing health coverage through 2014 without penalties.”
Ezra Klein: “The Affordable Care Act’s political position has deteriorated dramatically over the last week.”
Democrats Lose Edge in Generic Ballot
A new Quinnipiac poll finds voters evenly divided on whether they would vote for a Democrat or a Republican in their Congressional district, 39% to 39%.
Democrats held a 9 point edge in early October.
Voters still disapprove of Republicans in Congress, 73% to 20%, more than they disapprove of Democrats, 62% to 30%.
On Wonk Wire
Some great clicks over at Wonk Wire:
- Budget Negotiations Already in Trouble
- Predicting Economic Recovery in 2014
- Can Obamacare Survive More Bad News?
- Justifying the Early 2016 Speculation
- Latest Obamacare Glitch: Real Possibility It Won’t Work by End of November
- Key Environmental Policy is Damaging the Environment
- Obamacare Battle Centers on Fear it Will Take Hold
Congress is as Polarized as Ever
National Journal: “If you’re looking for a quick fact to explain congressional gridlock,
it’s this: In the 113th Congress, only 59 members have voted with the
majority of their party less than 90 percent of the time (20 Republicans
and 39 Democrats).”
Boehner Draws Hard Line on Immigration Reform
House Speaker John Boehner “says he will not allow any House-passed immigration legislation to be blended with the Senate’s sweeping reform bill, further quashing the chances of comprehensive immigration reform legislation being signed into law anytime soon,” NBC News reports.
Said Boehner: “We have no intention of ever going to conference on the Senate bill.”
