Members get an ad-free site, exclusive analysis, the private Trial Balloon podcast, real-time trending news and the full Political Wire experience.
Become a member. Already a member? Log in.
The Daily Caller notes President Obama “has become the first political $1 billion man. He’s the first politician to take in that stratospheric number in donations during his political career.”
“His total take reached $1,017,892,305 in April, some nine years after he began his 2004 race for the Senate. Obama is widely expected to raise at least $300 million more before November.”
The Iowa Republican Party is “intentionally questioning” President Obama’s citizenship with wording in their platform document which calls for presidential candidates to “show proof of being a ‘natural born citizen’ of the United States,” Radio Iowa reports.
Said Don Racheter, chairman of the Iowa GOP’s platform committee: “There are many Republicans who feel that Barack Obama is not a ‘natural born citizen’ because his father was not an American when he was born and, therefore, feel that according to the Constitution he’s not qualified to be president, should not have been allowed to be elected by the Electoral College or even nominated by the Democratic Party in 2008, so this is an election year. It’s a shot at him.”
“I’m very surprised that President Obama went down this road.”
— Newt Gingrich, in an interview with CNN, on criticizing Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital.
Gingrich, of course, led the attack during the GOP primary.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows President Obama and Mitt Romney are locked in a dead heat over who could fix the country’s economic problems, 47% to 47%.
When asked where they stand financially compared with when Obama took office, 30% say they are worse off, and only 16% say they are better off.
“There is not a widespread sense that things would be better had Romney
been president for the past three-plus years, but for the incumbent it
is a critical measure. On this question, Obama’s numbers continue to
resemble those of George H.W. Bush, who lost his bid for reelection in
1992 amid a flagging economy.”
However, in a general election match up, Obama still leads Romney, 49% to 46%.
Amy Walter:
“On the one-hand, the fact that President Obama is statistically tied
with Mitt Romney, even as his approval rating on handling the economy is
a dismal 42 percent suggests a strong Obama brand. Voters are unhappy
with the economy, but haven’t yet given up on the President. On the
other hand, these numbers are like a ticking time bomb. If the economy
doesn’t improve, and if Romney can present himself as a reasonable
alternative, there’s nowhere for Obama’s numbers to go but down.”
CBS News has learned that three Drug Enforcement Administration agents are under investigation for hiring prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia.
“The alleged incident happened at the same time as the Secret Service agents were in Colombia for President Obama’s visit in mid April, but is separate from the ongoing Secret Service investigation.”
A Texas Tribune poll finds Mitt Romney crushing President Obama in the Lone Star state, 55% to 35%.
A Sooner Poll in Oklahoma finds Romney headed for a landslide, 62% to 27%.
President Obama said that attacks on Mitt Romney’s experience at Bain Capital were fair game and that Romney’s years heading the private equity firm were “worthy of serious debate,” the New York Times reports.
Said Obama: “This is not a distraction. This is what this campaign is going to be about.”
“Obama’s comments were his first explicit endorsement of his campaign’s aggressive strategy attacking Bain Capital. The Obama campaign’s full-throated assault, through ads, statements and Web videos, is now in its second week and portrays Mr. Romney in highly personal and unflattering ways.”
A new Texas Tribune poll finds David Dewhurst (R) leading Ted Cruz (R) in the Republican U.S. Senate primary, 40% to 31%, with Tom Leppert running a distant third at 17%.
In the Democratic race, Paul Sadler (D) is ahead of Sean Hubbard (D), 29% to 25%, with Addie Dainell Allen at 19% and Grady Yarbrough at 15%.
“Yes, and some Americans who will remain nameless really extol the virtues of no cooperation. It’s really my way or the highway.”
— Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), quoted by WXIN-TV, when asked if he saw a lack of cooperation amongst Americans and apparently still not over his Senate primary defeat earlier this month.
Google has a map featuring the newly-redrawn congressional districts for almost every state.
The exception is Kansas, which hasn’t finalized their new districts. There are also court challenges pending in several states, so there may be additional changes in the coming weeks.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that robocalls made by Sarah Palin to influence the outcome of the Republican U.S. Senate primary in Texas were actually going to voters in Kansas.
Said Palin: “Hello, Texas! I’m Sarah Palin.”
Palin is backing Ted Cruz (R) in the May 29 primary that includes David Dewhurst (R) and Tom Leppert (R).
Political Wire is all about politics. Wonk Wire is all about policy.
I welcome your feedback and suggestions.
In an interview on NBC News, David Axelrod criticized Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s comments yesterday that attacks on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital made him “uncomfortable.”
Said Axelrod: “In this particular instance, he was just wrong. There were specific instances here that speak to an economic theory that isn’t the right theory for the country.”
He added: “I love Cory Booker. He’s a great mayor. If my house was on fire, I’d hope he was my next door neighbor.”
“If you have led a productive life, you have to wonder if it’s worth your time being here.”
— Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), quoted by the Memphis Commercial Appeal, in deciding to run for re-election, adding he’s become “more optimistic” the Senate can still work.
Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James (D), who left office in 2006, tells the Bergen Record that “political life after prison is not out of the question.”
In fact, he is “so confident he’ll eventually reverse his 2008 fraud conviction he keeps a campaign fund that currently has $725,000 in it.”
Said James: “It should be remembered that former Mayor Marion Barry of Washington returned home to win reelection and is still serving on the D.C. City Council.”
A new Sunlight Foundation analysis finds the U.S. Congress speaks at nearly a full grade level lower than it did seven years ago.
“Today’s Congress speaks at about a 10.6 grade level, down from a high of 11.5 in 2005. By comparison, the U.S. Constitution is written at a 17.8 grade level, the Federalist Papers at a 17.1 grade level and the Declaration of Independence at a 15.1 grade level. The Flesch-Kincaid test was used to conduct the analysis, which equates higher-grade levels with longer words and longer sentences.”
Also interesting: “Prior to 2005, Republicans on average spoke at a slightly higher grade
level than Democrats. Since then, Democrats have spoken on average at a
slightly higher grade level than Republicans.”
Politico talked with four former politicians “to hear about their lives, jobs and families — and what lessons they’ve learned from their public downfalls. (Needless to say, none are planning to seek office again.)”
“Their stories reveal that even after a devastating scandal, it is possible to pick up the broken pieces and construct what some say is an even better life, often with the help of forgiveness from the public, family and God. But if there’s one thing from their old lives that some of these ex-politicians say they still miss, it’s the chauffeurs that used to drive them around — one of the many perks of being in office.”
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.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.