Roll Call: “The National Republican Senatorial Committee plans to expand its press operation to train campaigns earlier in the cycle on how to better handle the kind of candidate missteps that have plagued its party’s nominees.”
Obama Lets Cabinet Play Bigger Role
President Obama, “facing a limited window of time to enact an ambitious second-term agenda, is rounding out his Cabinet with relative outsiders and empowering them with more policymaking responsibility than secretaries had during his first term,” the Washington Post reports.
“The appointees and others named in recent weeks mark a departure for Obama, who stocked his first-term Cabinet with politicos but has recruited more business executives and other outsiders for his last four years. The new nominees are expected to play an expanded role in helping develop executive actions and other policy initiatives, according to officials who detailed the second-term plans.”
With his EPA and Energy nominees unveiled yesterday, the New York Times notes they “send an unmistakable signal that the president intends to mount a multifaceted campaign in his second term to tackle climate change by using all the executive branch tools at his disposal.”
GOP Still Sniping Over 2012
Politico: “Each week brings a new diagnosis of the party’s woes. Karl Rove says it’s candidate quality. Mitt Romney chief strategist Stuart Stevens argues Democrats have won over minority voters through government programs like Obamacare. Some Bush White House vets say it’s the GOP’s trouble understanding how to approach a changing electorate. Techy conservatives blame the party’s inferior social media presence and outdated voter targeting and data-mining.”
“With fault to go around for allowing a president mired in a weak economy to handily win reelection, the finger-pointing and blame-shifting from various corners are showing no sign of abating.”
Lawmaker Lived Rent-Free in Lobbyist’s Home
Tennessee state Rep. Curry Todd (R) “lived rent-free for an undisclosed amount of time in the expensive Nashville home of a prominent lobbyist in 2011,” the Tennessean reports.
“The lobbyist, Chuck Welch, regularly worked on legislative issues that passed through the House State and Local Government Committee, which Todd chaired until he was removed in late 2011. That came after Todd, who had sponsored legislation allowing guns in places that serve alcohol, was arrested on DUI and gun charges in October 2011.”
Legislation Would Create January Primary in Nevada
A new legislative proposal would move Nevada to a late January presidential primary instead of a caucus, the AP reports.
Josh Putnam: “This bill, if passed, would also be a violation of the national party rules. There are no Democratic Party rules for the 2016 cycle yet, but if the rules from the previous cycle carryover, then Nevada would lose half of its delegates. Things on the Republican side, where there are 2016 rules, would be more interesting. Nevada would be subject to the super penalty (a reduction to nine delegates plus the three RNC members from the state) in the RNC rules if it held the only January contest and (importantly) was not forced to that date by another state encroaching on the carve-out states’ calendar territory.”
Why Jeb Bush Will Never Be President
Marc Ambinder: “Bush is an ideal Republican presidential candidate. He has a national stature, an enviable record as governor, a solid temperament, and nothing significantly scandalous in his past. He is one of his party’s best voices on immigration.”
“But he is a Bush. That’s going to be a problem. It’s not going to be an insurmountable problem, but the Republican base is definitely wary of the Bush brand and will not embrace him, no matter how hard he tacks to the right.”
Escort Says Menendez Prostitution Claims Were Made Up
An escort who appeared on a video claiming Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) paid her for sex has told Dominican Republic police that she was instead paid to make up the claims and has never met the senator before, the Washington Post reports.
The woman identified a lawyer who approached her and a friend to make the videotape. That man has in turn identified another lawyer who gave him a script for the tape and paid him to find women to fabricate the claims.
Latest Cabinet Nominees May Face Confirmation Delays
President Obama “pushed for quick Senate confirmation of his new picks for budget director, EPA administrator and Energy secretary — although the nature of the positions themselves all but ensures plenty of partisan fireworks on the Hill,” Roll Call reports.
Bush Reverses Himself on Immigration Reform
In his new book, Immigration Wars, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) makes a notable reversal on immigration reform, “arguing that creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would only encourage future unauthorized immigration,” Huffington Post reports.
Writes Bush: “It is absolutely vital to the integrity of our immigration system that actions have consequences — in this case, that those who violated the law can remain but cannot obtain the cherished fruits of citizenship. To do otherwise would signal once again that people who circumvent the system can still obtain the full benefits of American citizenship.”
Digging for Dirt in Los Angeles
First Read has a great overview of the Los Angeles mayor’s race in a city “where scandal and celebrity sometimes go hand-in-hand with governance. So it should be no surprise that the candidates are hitting each other by digging deep for dirt.”
The election is on Tuesday.
Obamacare Is No Longer Radioactive
The Cloakroom: After years of deriding the law, even Republicans now see its benefits.
Obama Team Had Secret Meeting About Walker Recall
Out this month: More than They Bargained For: Scott Walker, Unions, and the Fight for Wisconsin by Jason Stein and Patrick Marley.
One interesting highlight from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: “The top two officials within Obama’s re-election campaign quietly met with key Wisconsin Democrats and union leaders in October 2011 and expressed skepticism about the looming effort to recall Walker and how it could affect the president’s own re-election chances.”
Gingrich Says GOP Suffers From an Echo Chamber
Newt Gingrich spoke to Steve Kornacki about why Republicans felt so confident they were going to win last year’s presidential election:
“I think conservatives in general got in the habit of talking to
themselves. I think that they in a sense got isolated into their own
little world. So our pollsters, many of whom were wrong about turnout.
No Republican pollster thought you could get 87 percent turnout in
Milwaukee. You just sort of have to say that to some extent the degree
to which we believed that the other side was kidding themselves, it
turned out in fact in the real world – this is a part of what makes
politics so fascinating – it turned out in the real world we were
kidding ourselves.”
Boustany Will Not Challenge Landrieu
Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-LA) told Roll Call he will not take on three-term Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) in 2014.
Perry Appears to Have Clear Shot at Another Bid
A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll finds Gov. Rick Perry (R) would defeat Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) by a nearly 3-to-1 margin if a Republican gubernatorial primary were held today, 49% to 17%.
“Such a contest might never come: Neither man has declared for that 2014 race, with each saying he will wait until June or later to make a public announcement of his political plans. Perry recently said they have talked and that Abbott wouldn’t run if the governor sought re-election.”
Organizing for Access
Karl Rove’s American Crossroads released an amusing video slamming President Obama’s outside advocacy arm seeking $500,000 for quarterly meetings with the president’s team.
“Or pay $1 million and you don’t have to meet with Biden–ever!”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I have a voice, I want to share my beliefs about how the conservative movement and the Republican party can regain its footing, because we’ve lost our way.”
— Jeb Bush (R), on the Today Show, adding that he wouldn’t rule out a presidential bid in 2016, “but I won’t declare today either.”
Graves Won’t Make Senate Bid in Georgia
Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that he will not run for Senate in 2014.
“The news… is not particularly shocking given the difficulties Graves would have faced against some of his more seasoned U.S. House colleagues, but Graves used the interview to make the point — unsolicited and repeatedly — that he still has statewide goals.”
Washington Post: “Reps. Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey are so far the only Republicans in the race for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss’s (R-GA) seat. Democrats are still in search of a standard-bearer, with Rep. John Barrow appearing to be their best hope if he runs.”
