President Obama's "near-complete absence from more than 25 percent of the states, from which he is politically estranged, is no surprise, in that it reflects routine cost-benefit calculations of the modern presidency. But in a country splintered by partisanship...
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Outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) told KPCC-FM that he's planning to run for California governor. Said Villaraigosa: "You mentioned governor. Look, I believe in public service. I want to run for governor. In fact, I fully expect that...
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Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) formally announced that he will challenge Sen. Mark Begich (D) next year, Roll Call reports. "His candidacy, which has been expected for some time, gives Republicans a top-tier opponent in one of the party's best pickup...
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A new Rasmussen survey in New Jersey finds Cory Booker (D) running way ahead of Steve Lonegan (R) in a potential special U.S. Senate election match up, 50% to 33%....
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John Sides: "First, it matters for the 2014 election. A simple model of House election outcomes constructed by political scientist Gary Jacobson shows that the share of seats controlled by the president's party depends in part on presidential approval.......
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A new Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut finds Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) beginning his reelection campaign as a slight underdog against Tom Foley (R), the man he beat three years ago. Foley edges Malloy by three points, 43% to 40%....
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Afghan President Karzai "suspended security talks with the U.S. to protest the American outreach to the Taliban -- jeopardizing plans to maintain a U.S. military presence beyond next year," the Wall Street Journal reports....
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Dozens of new listings just added over at Political Job Hunt.
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President Obama "is set to make the case for a new phase in nuclear-weapons reductions," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Despite mounting tensions with Cold War adversary Russia over the Syrian civil war and missile-defense, Mr. Obama is expected in...
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A new CBO report says the Senate immigration bill would reduce federal budget deficits by $175 billion over the next 10 years and by $700 billion over the following decade, the Wall Street Journal reports."The report could add momentum to the bipartisan...
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Charlie Rose has a great interview with President Obama at the White House in which they covered Syria, Iran, the NSA leaks controversy and more. The Week has five takeaways from the sit down....
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Former Weather Underground co-founder Bill Ayers told Real Clear Politics that President Obama should be tried for war crimes. Said Ayers: "Every president in this century should be put on trial. Every one of them goes into an office dripping with blood...
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Der Spiegel: "It is Obama's ninth European trip as president, but only his first state visit to Berlin. It took him four-and-a-half years to pay his official visit to Germany, the undisputed dominant power in Europe. The trip carries a great deal of...
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Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) was announced as a special representative for the United States to the Great Lakes region of Africa by Secretary of State John Kerry, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports. "Feingold brings an expertise in the region...
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U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the string of corruption arrests in New York State is far from over, noting that "more public corruption cases can be expected to emerge due to the "pervasive" nature of the problem in the state," Politicker reports....
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I joined Judd Legum and Craig Melvin on MSNBC to discuss today's hearing on the NSA surveillance programs and the politics around it.
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Think Progress: "Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) criticized the Obama administration in a letter Monday, accusing officials of undermining public distrust in government by using 'secret e-mail addresses.' But McCain himself uses a secret e-mail address -- as...
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Despite efforts to change the date of next year's primary election -- currently scheduled for April 1 -- key members of the Washington, D.C. city council apparently opposed the change, the Washington Post reports....
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) "starkly warned Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) not to eliminate the filibuster on presidential nominations, warning that he'll end the 60-vote threshold for everything, including bills, if becomes the...
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Toledo mayoral candidate Anita Lopez (D) requires staffers to fill out a form after questioning reporters about interview requests in order to be "as prepared as possible when the media comes looking for answers," the Toledo Blade reports. "Among the...
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Seeking to fend off a threatened rules change by renegade Republicans, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) privately told colleagues that the House will not vote on an immigration reform bill that doesn't have the support of a majority of Republicans,...
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Charlie Cook: ,Between the 'sorting out' that took place in the past four elections and a redistricting process that maximized the number of safe seats for both parties--but especially for Republicans--the bulk of the 2014 congressional election action...
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Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) told World Net Daily radio that Speaker John Boehner should be ousted if he rams through an immigration bill without majority Republican support. Said Rohrabacher: "If Speaker Boehner moves forward and permits this to come...
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New York State Rep. Steve McLaughlin (R) denounced Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) "as a 'schoolyard bully" and confirmed to the Albany Times Unon that he is 'considering' a run against him "fueled by his opposition to Cuomo's new gun control law."...
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"John Boehner wants immigration reform to pass. To get it done, the House speaker will have to capitalize on the widening gap among conservatives, and he's preparing the groundwork to do it," National Journal reports. "The rare split inside the conservative...
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The tombstone for former New York Mayor Ed Koch, "who died in February after meticulously planning the details of his burial for years, was mistakenly engraved with the wrong birth date," NBC 4 New York reports. "The marker, which stands more than 5...
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A new Quinnipiac poll finds Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) with a highest-ever approval rating of 43%, though 44% still disapprove. Scott continues to trail former Gov. Charlie Crist in a general election match-up, 47% to 37%, a slight improvement from...
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A new University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) starts as the Texas favorite in a fantasy 2016 Republican primary for president, swamping Gov. Rick Perry (R) and a number of other big-name candidates. "Cruz, virtually unknown...
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Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) "wants to serve his time first if he and wife Sandi are sent to prison," Lynn Sweet reports. In asking to go to prison first, lawyers said, "Mr. Jackson's health issues preclude him from working at this time. If he...
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President Obama rejected comparisons between himself and Vice President Dick Cheney, who strongly backed similar surveillance efforts in the Bush administration and has defended Obama's continuation of them, Politico reports. Said Obama: "Some people...
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Wall Street Journal: "Both political parties are encountering a surprising problem as they prepare for next year's battle to control the U.S. Senate: Some of their top choices are turning down invitations to run for seats in a body with a reputation...
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"The State Department investigator who accused colleagues last week of using drugs, soliciting prostitutes, and having sex with minors says that Foggy Bottom is now engaged in an 'intimidation' campaign to stop her," Foreign Policy reports....
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"After Republicans lost the presidential election and seats in both the House and the Senate last year, many in the party offered a stern admonishment: if we want to broaden our appeal, steer clear of divisive social and cultural issues," the New York...
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President-elect Hassan Rowhani of Iran, speaking for the first time since his election victory, said he wanted to reduce tensions with the United States but ruled out direct talks between the two estranged nations, the New York Times reports. Rowhani...
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Al Gore said capitalism "is coming under increased scrutiny and needs to change as short-term thinking has driven a wedge between investing and the creation of value for corporations," Bloomberg reports. Said Gore: "There is a continuing focus on short-term...
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A new Pew Research poll finds 70% of Americans oppose the U.S. sending arms and military supplies to rebels in Syria while 27% favor the move.The poll also found that 68% of Americans say the country is too overcommitted in other issues to get involved...
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Greg Sargent: "It's being privately discussed at the highest levels of the Democratic Party: The passing of Senator Frank Lautenberg has cast doubt on the ability of Senate Democrats to exercise the so-called 'nuclear option' and change the Senate rules...
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Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) "had a scary choking incident and was thankfully aided by a doctor-turned-GOP-aide, Nick Muzin, who may have saved his life," National Review reports.
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Ron Fournier: "There is a common element to the so-called Obama scandals--the IRS targeting of conservatives, the fatal attack in Benghazi, and widespread spying on U.S. journalists and ordinary Americans. It is a lack of credibility." "In each case,...
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Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and his wife, Maureen, "have used taxpayer money for a range of small personal items they should have paid for themselves under state policy," the Washington Post reports. "The McDonnells have billed the state for body...
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) isn't in a hurry to endorse former rival Steve Lonegan (R) for U.S. Senate, the Newark Star Ledger reports. Said Christie: "I've got my own campaign to run, first off. And so to the extent that I can be helpful to the...
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Former Mitt Romney economic adviser Greg Mankiw has a new paper that tries to "defend the 1 percent" and the current state of income equality in the United States. Writes Mankiw: "In the end, the left's arguments for increased redistribution are valid...
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Christine Quinn, "whose lead in the New York mayoral race appears to have narrowed after weeks of attacks from her rivals, plans to push back on Monday, arguing in what her campaign is billing as a major speech that she is more qualified and more gutsy...
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Alex Sink (D) "said she hasn't ruled out taking another shot" at Flordia Gov. Rick Scott (R) but "said one of the largest factors in her decision right now is whether she could see herself taking on the race without" her late husband Bill McBride (D),...
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The Supreme Court says states "cannot require would-be voters to prove they are U.S. citizens before using a federal registration system designed to make signing up easier," CBS News reports. "The justices voted 7-2 to throw out Arizona's voter-approved...
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In the mail: Christian Nation: A Novel by Frederic C. Rich. "When President McCain dies and Sarah Palin becomes president, the reader, along with the nation, stumbles down a terrifyingly credible path toward theocracy, realizing too late that the Christian...
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Roll Call: "When the Supreme Court takes on a key part of a voting rights law later this month, Texas Democrats will be watching more closely than anyone on Capitol Hill. The high court's ruling could affect whether, and how, the congressional boundaries...
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Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) "is laying the groundwork to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Max Baucus in Montana, and looks very much like a candidate," the Missoulian reports. Said one Democratic insider: "I would be shocked...
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Beth Reinhard: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker polls near the bottom of would-be presidential contenders. Unlike potential rivals, you won't find him on the cover of Time magazine or slow-jamming the news with comedian Jimmy Fallon. But he's a conservative...
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Hassan Rowhani, the most moderate candidate in Iran's presidential election, won with surprisingly large margins.New York Times: "But while the election of the new president, Hassan Rowhani, a former nuclear negotiator who is considered a moderate compared...
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