“The tea party, big-spending PACs and challenger Dan Liljenquist failed Tuesday to force 78-year-old Orrin Hatch into retirement,” the Salt Lake Tribune reports.
“The self-proclaimed ‘tough old bird’ flew easily through the GOP primary, so now only Democrat Scott Howell stands between him and a record-shattering seventh term.”
Surviving one of the toughest re-election fights of his career, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) “fended off four challengers on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination for a 22nd term in Congress,” the New York Times reports.
“Rangel’s victory capped a gripping campaign for a Congressional seat that for decades has been at the center of black political power — and preserved a career in Washington that had been threatened by ethics troubles and changing demographics.”
Rick Santorum “will return to Iowa next month to hold a pair of ‘thank you’ events in the state that vaulted his long-shot presidential campaign into national competition,” Politico reports.
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A new Gallup poll finds 81% of respondents think President Obama “is likable” while just 64% said the same of Mitt Romney.
Meanwhile, both candidates get their lowest scores for having a clear plan for solving the country’s problems — 40% say Obama does and 38% say Romney does.
A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds President Obama has managed to retain a narrow lead over Mitt Romney in his race for re-election despite a spate of bad economic news and surging GOP optimism, 47% to 44%.
“The poll highlights challenges facing both candidates. While Mr. Obama retains a durable base of support, his standing among white, working-class voters, which was low to start with, continues to erode. Interest in the campaign isn’t nearly as intense as it was four years ago among young people and Latinos, who were important to Mr. Obama’s victory in 2008.”
“At the same time, more people viewed Mr. Romney unfavorably than favorably by a 6-point margin, with nearly one-quarter of those polled viewing him ‘very negatively,’ twice the level found in December. Mr. Romney’s business background, which he has made a central element of his candidacy, is a draw for many, the poll found. But it is viewed negatively by even more people.”
“During their long campaign to loosen rules on campaign money, conservatives argued that there was a simpler way to prevent corruption: transparency. Get rid of limits on contributions and spending, they said, but make sure voters know where the money is coming from,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Today, with those fundraising restrictions largely removed, many conservatives have changed their tune. They now say disclosure could be an enemy of free speech.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney denied that President Obama was booed last night at a Boston fundraiser when he tweaked the crowd about the Red Sox trading Kevin Youkilis.
Said Carney: “And anyone who knows Boston, knows the Red Sox and anyone who was in that room last night knows that the preponderance of people shouting in response to what the President said about Kevin Youkilis were saying ‘Yoooook and not Booo’ for God’s sake.”
But a video of the moment seems pretty unambiguous.
The Daily Beast uncovers some hard-to-believe facts about the nation’s highest court.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Massachusetts finds the U.S. Senate race a dead heat with Elizabeth Warren (D) and Sen. Scott Brown (R) both at 46%.
Key findings: “Brown’s numbers have experienced a bit of a resurgence in the last few months. His approval rating is back over 50%, with 51% of voters approving of him to 38% who disapprove… Brown is conveying the sort of centrist, independent image he’ll need in order to win this fall. Only 34% of voters think he’s too conservative to 48% who say he’s ideologically ‘about right.'”
A new Rasmussen survey in North Carolina finds Mitt Romney continues to hold a small lead over President Obama in the key swing state, 47% to 44%.
Wonk Wire rounds up some interesting theories.
“I will be the first president in modern history to be outspent in his re-election campaign.”
— President Obama, quoted by USA Today, in his latest fundraising appeal.
Just out for the iPad: History of American Presidential Elections: From George Washington to Barack Obama.
The book includes over 500 photos and 20 videos and takes full advantage of the iPad’s capabilities. A more conventional paperback version is also available.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) insists the state’s voter rolls “must be scrubbed carefully to remove any non-U.S. citizens, but his administration is keeping secret a list of more than 180,000 voters whose citizenship may be in question,” the Tampa Bay Times reports.
“Scott’s elections agency is refusing numerous requests from voter advocacy groups and news outlets to release the list, months after the state released an initial list targeting 2,625 potential noncitizens. Many people on the first list turned out to be citizens.”
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index slid again last week and is now at the lowest point since late January.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Ohio shows President Obama continues to lead Mitt Romney, 47% to 44%, but it’s his weakest showing since last fall.
Key finding: “The big decline for Obama over the last couple months has been with white voters. He and Romney were basically tied with them earlier this year, but now Romney has opened up a 49-42 advantage with them. It’s actually white Democrats with whom Obama’s seen the biggest decline recently. In early May he had an 89-6 lead with them, but that’s now declined to 78-16.”
A new We Ask America poll in Colorado shows President Obama with a small lead over Mitt Romney in the presidential race, 47% to 43%.
A new We Ask America poll in Virginia finds Mitt Romney leading President Obama in the key battleground state, 48% to 43%.
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.