Marc Ambinder
Flickr user Philgarlic
Nov 23 2009, 12:39PM
Huckabee Wins Iowa...Poll
Iowa is where Mike Huckabee catapulted himself into the upper echelon of GOP figures, and Iowa Republicans still like him--more than they like his chief 2012 rivals.
Almost 11 months after he surprised the Republican presidential field with a win in the 2008 Iowa caucus, Huckabee collected the highest favorable rating of all major 2012 contenders in a Des Moines Register poll with 70 percent, beating out (in consecutive order) Sarah Palin (68), Newt Gingrich (66), and Mitt Romney (58).
Almost 11 months after he surprised the Republican presidential field with a win in the 2008 Iowa caucus, Huckabee collected the highest favorable rating of all major 2012 contenders in a Des Moines Register poll with 70 percent, beating out (in consecutive order) Sarah Palin (68), Newt Gingrich (66), and Mitt Romney (58).
Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images
Nov 23 2009, 11:24AM
Will The DeMint Revolution Amount To Much?
Politico chronicles the growing popularity of Sen. Jim DeMint among the legion of tea-party inspired challengers to Republican incumbents. One point is that the vacuum created by the NRSC's decision not to spend money in primaries has allowed DeMint's own Senate Conservatives Fund to fill the gap. Now -- it's true that the NRSC is staying out of the primaries -- but it has never spent money on open-seat non-incumbent primaries, so the status quo remains fairly unchanged here. And not only has the NRSC endorsed several DeMint-approved candidates, like Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania and Tom Coburn in Oklahoma, it remains a potent fundraising force that DeMint cannot hope to match. It's well and good that DeMint is helping Marco Rubio raise $100,000 in Florida, but Charlie Crist has raised twelve times as much as Rubio.
Wikimedia Commons
Nov 23 2009, 10:17AM
Rep. Dennis Moore Retires; A Chance For The GOP
The Republican Party had been after Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS)--a Blue Dog who represents a mostly conservative district, R+3 by the Cook Political Report's accounting--for some time. Now, it's being reported that Moore will retire after his term ends in 2010. In an election cycle that's generally expected to favor Republicans nationwide, Moore's retirement hands an added opportunity to the GOP--an open seat in a district that was considered winnable even with a Democratic incumbent.
President Clinton To Skip Arkansas Free Clinic, Blames Olbermann For Politicizing Event
Bill Clinton told FDL's Eve Gittelson that it would be problematic for him to attend a free medical clinic being held in Little Rock, Arkansas tomorrow because MSNBC's Keith Olbermann...
Palinism v. McDonnellism
First Read today mentioned the fight between Palinism and McDonellism. This will be a journalistic trope for a while, so it's worth noting what a false choice it should be....
Former Half-Term Governor Ditches Fans Waiting In Cold
As both Kevin K. and Dave Weigel noted earlier today, Sarah Palin angered and disappointed fans in Noblesville, Indiana yesterday when she abruptly left a book signing promotion even though...
Don't Get it
"I'm just worried he's going to win this argument for months before he gets executed."This is Chris Matthews from a few moments ago on Hardball, worrying about the propaganda victories...
Flickr user Stefan
Nov 23 2009, 8:11AM
Question Of The Day: Communion
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) says that Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has forbidden him from receiving communion because he supports abortion rights. Is this the right thing for bishops to do, given the church's views on abortion, or an unnecessary political statement?
Nov 22 2009, 11:21AM
The Sunday Shows In Five Bullet Points... And Glenn Beck!
1. A Senate of Four (Landrieu, Lieberman, Lincoln, Nelson): Well, there's Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). He says that the bill will change -- and significantly. Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) says that he'd vote to prevent the current health care bill from being taken off the floor -- and has presented a list of demands to Sen. Harry Reid. No "CLASS" Act -- this is the federal long-term insurance care provision, which Nelson thinks is a Ponzi scheme. No abortion coverage... and no public option. Still, on This Week, he said that he's confident that the bill can be improved on the floor.
Republicans are calling the machinations that resulted in Sen. Mary Landrieu voting yes the "Louisiana Purchase," because Harry Reid promised her state about $300 million for Medicare. On Face the Nation, Sen. Jon Kyl mocked Landrieu: ""You haven't heard the Republicans say 'here is my price. "The American people don't like that. It should be on the merits."
"Rather than drop an issue that is so important to Arkansas working families and small businesses, I intend to vote to open debate on a health care bill that will undergo several changes in the days and weeks ahead," Sen. Blanche Lincoln wrote to supporters. Lincoln's vote made the C-6 prime real estate in the Arkansas Democratic-Gazette. Lincoln won a 72-hour reading period to study the final bill before passage.
Republicans are calling the machinations that resulted in Sen. Mary Landrieu voting yes the "Louisiana Purchase," because Harry Reid promised her state about $300 million for Medicare. On Face the Nation, Sen. Jon Kyl mocked Landrieu: ""You haven't heard the Republicans say 'here is my price. "The American people don't like that. It should be on the merits."
"Rather than drop an issue that is so important to Arkansas working families and small businesses, I intend to vote to open debate on a health care bill that will undergo several changes in the days and weeks ahead," Sen. Blanche Lincoln wrote to supporters. Lincoln's vote made the C-6 prime real estate in the Arkansas Democratic-Gazette. Lincoln won a 72-hour reading period to study the final bill before passage.
Nov 21 2009, 7:40PM
The Quest For 60
A curated list of the 30 top #HCR Twitterers as the Senate debates health care reform legislation.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Nov 21 2009, 11:29AM
A Milestone In the Health Care Journey
When I reached Jonathan Gruber on Thursday, he was working his way, page by laborious page, through the mammoth health care bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had unveiled just a few hours earlier. Gruber is a leading health economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is consulted by politicians in both parties. He was one of almost two dozen top economists who sent President Obama a letter earlier this month insisting that reform won't succeed unless it "bends the curve" in the long-term growth of health care costs. And, on that front, Gruber likes what he sees in the Reid proposal. Actually he likes it a lot.
"I'm sort of a known skeptic on this stuff," Gruber told me. "My summary is it's really hard to figure out how to bend the cost curve, but I can't think of a thing to try that they didn't try. They really make the best effort anyone has ever made. Everything is in here....I can't think of anything I'd do that they are not doing in the bill. You couldn't have done better than they are doing."
"I'm sort of a known skeptic on this stuff," Gruber told me. "My summary is it's really hard to figure out how to bend the cost curve, but I can't think of a thing to try that they didn't try. They really make the best effort anyone has ever made. Everything is in here....I can't think of anything I'd do that they are not doing in the bill. You couldn't have done better than they are doing."
Flickr user Stefan
Nov 21 2009, 8:30AM
Question Of The Weekend: How Important Is The Vote?
How important is Saturday's Senate vote on health care reform, given that a "yes" would simply mean that debate starts nine days later, and that "no" would mean health care fails its first test and Reid is probably forced to change parts of his bill?
UPDATE: The procedural motion passed, 60-39.
UPDATE: The procedural motion passed, 60-39.
Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images
Nov 20 2009, 3:12PM
The Resetting of Afghan-U.S. Diplomacy
No one felt very good about Thursday's inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's second term. The White House, recognizing the necessity of a close ally in Kabul but the need for our complicated relationship with Karzai to change, is hitting reset. The Washington Post's Rajiv
Chandrasekaran explains our "softer approach" to be led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton:
Flickr user IowaPolitics.com
Nov 20 2009, 3:11PM
What Giuliani 2012 Would Look Like
The New York Daily News suggested Thursday that, according to one source, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani might use a run for Senate--if he wins--as a launching pad for taking another stab at the White House in 2012.
Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign went down in flames, more or less, but he remains a nationally recognized figure with a respectable support base. So, in light of this speculation, why not engage in some more, and ask what a Giuliani presidential campaign in 2012 would look like?
Giuliani's 2008 presidential campaign went down in flames, more or less, but he remains a nationally recognized figure with a respectable support base. So, in light of this speculation, why not engage in some more, and ask what a Giuliani presidential campaign in 2012 would look like?
