May 2009 - Posts
THE WEEK AHEAD: Obama meets with Saudi King, delivers major speech on relationship with Muslim world. Plus the New Jersey primary, 2012 politics, Sotomayor and your questions.
From NBC's Mark Murray President Obama strongly defended his Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor . But he also said that she could have "restated" her controversial sentence from 2001, in which she suggested that a Latina woman could reach a better conclusion than a white male.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: I'm sure she would have restated it. But if you look in the entire sweep of the essay that she wrote, what's clear is that she was simply saying that her life experiences will give her information about the struggles and hardships that people are going through -- that will make her a good judge.
And, you know, she was pointing out, in that same essay, that it was nine white males who passed down Brown vs. Board of Education, which is probably responsible for me sitting here. So that's hardly the kind of statement that would indicate that she subscribes to identity politics.
In fact, what she really subscribes to is the exact opposite -- which is the sense that all of us have life experiences and struggles. And part of the job of a justice on the Supreme Court, or any judge, is to be able to stand in somebody else's shoes, to be able to, you know, understand that-- the nature of the case, and how it has an impact on people's ordinary day to day lives.
And so her, as a Latino woman part of her job is gonna be to listen to the farmer in Iowa. And, you know, if he's upset about a farm regulation. And be able to understand how hard it is to farm. And what that means. And to be able to incorporate that into her decision making.
It means that she has an understanding of what a corporate CEO might be thinking. And she had those experience as well. Having worked as a corporate litigator. That breadth of experience, that knowledge of how the world works, is part of what we want for a justice who's gonna be effective. And I think that when she's appearing before the Senate committee, in her confirmation process, I think all this nonsense that is being spewed out will be revealed for what it is.
From NBC's Pete Williams Sonia Sotomayor's most recent appeals court decisions shows that nearly every time, she voted AGAINST people who were claiming illegal discrimination, according to a lawyer who appears frequently before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The analysis, done by DC lawyer Tom Goldstein for his legal website SCOTUSblog, looked at her court's 50 most recent cases involving the issue of race. He found that the three-judge panels on which she participated upheld claims of discrimination only three times. In 45 other cases, the discrimination claims were rejected. Each time, the judges -- including her -- were unanimous. And the three panels that upheld discrimination claims included at least one Republican-appointed judge.
Two other cases were decided on technical procedural grounds.
"It seems to me that these numbers decisively disprove the claim that she decides cases with any sort of racial bias," Goldstein says.
From NBC's Chuck Todd Sonia Sotomayor used a "poor" choice of words in 2001, when she suggested a Latina would reach a better conclusion than a white male.
Asked how he knew she would say she chose her words poorly, Gibbs simply said that he's talked to people who have talked to her. He would not elaborate.
But clearly, we should expect Sotomayor to -- at some point -- say this herself, perhaps to members of the Senate next week and later at her confirmation hearing.
From NBC's Mark Murray Newt Gingrich is continuing to criticize the Supreme Court nominee on the issues of race and gender.
According to Time.com , Gingrich has penned a fundraising email for the group Renewing American Leadership, in which he calls for Sotomayor to withdraw her nomination.
"Can you imagine if the President of the United States nominated a judge to the U.S. Supreme Court who said this: 'My experience as a white man will make me a better judge than a Latina woman would be,'" he asks in the email. "Or could you imagine if that same judge ruled from the bench to deny 18 African-American firefighters a promotion just because of their skin color?"
"That judge would be called a bigot -- and in my judgment, rightly so! Would there be any doubt that he would be FORCED to WITHDRAW his nomination for the Supreme Court?"
Gingrich continues, "Judge Sonia Sotomayor has proven, by her own admission, that she is such a judge. Knowing this, President Obama should withdraw her nomination to the Supreme Court. Consider what Judge Sotomayor said about how her being a Latina woman will affect her decisions as a judge: 'I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.'"
"You read that right -- Judge Sotomayor said that her experience as a person of a particular sex and ethnic background will make her a better judge than a person of another sex and a different ethnic background! When did that view become acceptable?"
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Alicia Jennings Sonia Sotomayor will go up to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for meetings with Sens. Harry Reid (D), Pat Leahy (D), and Jeff Sessions (R). He also said the White House hopes she will meet with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R), but are working through scheduling issues.
"We are hopeful other visits can be scheduled for that Tuesday and throughout the week," Gibbs said.
Her questionnaire will go up to the Senate "at some point next week."
From NBC's Pete Williams Sonia Sotomayor was in her final year at Yale law school, she pulled a gutsy move by filing a complaint against a law firm that was interviewing her for a job. She forfeited any chance of working at that firm, but ended up getting an apology.
After a Yale student-faculty hearing determined that one of the firm's lawyers asked her discriminatory questions, the firm said his actions were "insensitive and regrettable."
All of this arose after a dinner in October 1978 at which the lawyer met with Sotomayor and other Yale students. The tribunal concluded that he asked her, "Do law firms do a disservice by hiring minority students who the firms know do not have the necessary credentials and will then fire in three to four years?"
It also found that he asked if Sotomayor would have been admitted to the law school if she were not Puerto Rican, and whether she was "culturally deprived."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Savannah Guthrie Sonia Sotomayor . This morning, Wendy Long, counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network and a former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas , posted an item on National Review Online urging that the debate focus on her judicial philosophy.
Nevertheless, Long continues to believe Sotomayor's judicial philosophy is "very troubling" and that her comments in 2001, in which Sotomayor stated that a Latina woman may reach a wiser judicial decision than a white male, are fair ground for debate. Long also cites Sotomayor's 2005 comment that appellate courts "make policy" as cause for alarm.
Of course, Long herself was one of the early voices raising the race issue. On the day of the Sotomayor announcement, Long told NBC's Pete Williams, "Imagine if a white man said, 'I think a white man would make a better decision than a Latina or a black woman.' We would justifiably be completely outraged. And I think the outrage should be completely the same when it's coming from her side."
From NBC's Mark Murray Sonia Sotomayor .
By a 54%-24% margin, American voters approve of President Obama's Sotomayor pick, according to Quinnipiac University's survey; 22% say they're undecided.
Democratic voters approve of her, 81%-3%; independent voters approve of her, 50%-26%; and Republicans approve of her, 26%-46%.
Also, women approve of her, 59%-18%, while men approve of her, 48%-31%.
You can follow the tweets at http://twitter.com/InsideObamaWH and watch previous specials -- all the way back to NBC's 1952 special with President Truman on WhiteHouse.msnbc.com
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro Conservative vs. conservative: After Rush, Newt, and Tancredo called Sonia Sotomayor a racist, a bigot, and an “angry woman,” Charles Krauthammer today fires off this warning to his fellow conservatives: stop the personal attacks. “What should a principled conservative do? Use the upcoming hearings not to deny her the seat, but to illuminate her views. No magazine gossip from anonymous court clerks. No ‘temperament’ insinuations. Nothing ad hominem. The argument should be elevated, respectful and entirely about judicial philosophy.” In today’s Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan offers similar advice. Republicans, she says, should act like grown-ups . The Krauthammer/Noonan message to Republicans is this: fight Sotomayor respectfully and then confirm her. Of course, that advice is easier said than done. Just asking, but did Rush really hurt himself among Republicans and conservatives this week? John Cornyn -- nobody's liberal Republican in the Senate -- seemed to very coherently send a message to the unelected conservatives when he also chimed in and said the tone wasn't helpful. Could this week actually help the GOP if it means it gets the elected establishment to unite against the unelected leaders? Or will this week divide the party even further? It may be in Rush's court now.
*** A successful rollout so far: Given this conservative divide over Sotomayor, could this week have gone any better for the Obama White House? Yesterday, we couldn't find a single elected Republican serving in Washington issuing any press release on Sotomayor. (Sure, Pat Roberts went on the record against her, but he's not the household name that should fire up the troops.) Instead, all of their focus was on debating the Obama stimulus package. (That stimulus debate is one the White House wants, and yet we'd argue they were better off that it was overshadowed by Sotomayor. The reason: The economic numbers don't look good, and the White House doesn't easily have anything to point to -- yet -- when it comes to the stimulus package and whether it's definitely helped soften the economic blows many are still feeling. But we digress...) The Sotomayor pick has just devastated the Republicans, split them worse than anything so far the Obama White House has done.
*** Obama’s day: At 10:55 am ET from the White House, Obama delivers remarks on cyber security and announces the creation of a “cyber czar” to protect the nation’s computer networks. Then, at 2:30 pm, he attends a hurricane preparedness meeting at FEMA. But this relatively slow Friday appears to be the quiet before the storm that’s brewing for this summer. Indeed, consider all that will be happening in the coming weeks. Obama’s Cairo speech and Europe trip. The Sotomayor confirmation hearings. The battle over health care. The fight over the energy bill. And those are just the things we already know about…
*** Two questions on health care: Speaking of health care, Obama told his supporters over the phone yesterday that it’s now or never on the issue. “If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done,” he said. That is a HUGE drop of the gauntlet. There are two big policy debates about health care right now: Will the reform offer a public insurance option? And how will you pay for it? On the first question, liberal MoveOn is airing radio ads targeting Sens. Kent Conrad, Maria Cantwell, Bill Nelson, Tom Carper, Olympia Snowe, and Ron Wyden that urges them to support a public option. And on the second question, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page issues this reminder at Democrats who may be thinking about taxing employer-based health care benefits to finance reform: “Last year liberals mauled John McCain for daring to touch the employer-based exclusion to finance more coverage for the individually uninsured. He was proposing 'a multitrillion-dollar tax hike -- the largest middle-class tax hike in history,' said Barack Obama, whose TV ads were brutal.” Meanwhile, don't miss the leak of Sen. Ted Kennedy's health-care reform outline (apparently based a lot on the Massachusetts model, mandate everyone to have it etc.). Senate watchers will want to know, are Kennedy and Senate Finance Cmte Chair Max Baucus working together yet or not?
*** Gitmo politics: Here’s another issue that the Obama White House will have to be working on this summer: what to do about those Gitmo detainees. The Washington Post reports that European leaders are saying that if the U.S. won’t take Gitmo prisoners, then they won’t either. “Rising opposition in the U.S. Congress to allowing Guantanamo prisoners on American soil has not gone over well in Europe. Officials from countries that previously indicated they were willing to accept inmates now say it may be politically impossible for them to do so if the United States does not reciprocate… Interior ministers from the 27-member European Union are pressing the Obama administration to agree to a joint declaration that would commit the United States to accept some prisoners, something Congress has been highly reluctant to do.” Isn't this the argument some Republicans have been making on GITMO -- that no amount of kind words in Europe will help change their minds?
*** Bush speaks: The former president did an impromptu Q&A last night after a speech in Michigan, and he spoke about the interrogation debate. Despite some speculation to the contrary, Bush ended up, sort of, siding with Cheney. Then again, he couches things to a point that it seems as if he's defending his policy AT THAT MOMENT IN TIME, and then leaves himself some wiggle room for how he changed the policy later. "I made the decision within the law to keep the American people safe," the 43rd president told a large crowd in Benton Harbor, according to WSBT TV. "The information we gained saved lives. And, as for Saddam Hussein--the world is better without that man in power." But Bush also made clear, "Nothing I'm saying is meant to criticize my successor. I wish him all the best." Meanwhile, Bush and Bill Clinton today appear together in Canada.
*** Elsewhere today: Education Secretary Arne Duncan speaks at the National Press Club; HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan speaks to the National Association of Homebuilders; First Lady Michelle Obama visits an elementary school in DC; and Howard Dean announces the publication of his new book on health-care reform, “Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform.”
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 4 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails.
We know this sounds cynical, but we’re sure leads like this make the White House smile. The Washington Post : ”The White House scrambled yesterday to assuage worries from liberal groups about Judge Sonia Sotomayor's scant record on abortion rights, delivering strong but vague assurances that the Supreme Court nominee agrees with President Obama's belief in constitutional protections for a woman's right to the procedure. Facing concerns about the issue from supporters rather than detractors, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama did not ask Sotomayor specifically about abortion rights during their interview. But Gibbs indicated that the White House is nonetheless sure she agrees with the constitutional underpinnings of Roe v. Wade.”
“‘In their discussions, they talked about the theory of constitutional interpretation, generally, including her views on unenumerated rights in the Constitution and the theory of settled law,’ Gibbs said. ‘He left very comfortable with her interpretation of the Constitution being similar to that of his.’”
CBN’s David Brody translates: “[Gibbs] pretty much said that the President and Sotomayor see eye to eye on judicial philosophy and how they view the Constitution. Umm, ‘nuff said right? If you’re a liberal, you have to be feeling more confident after that answer. If you’re a pro-life conservative, you’re more worried.”
"Sotomayor on Wednesday began her outreach to the Senate, speaking by phone with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and that panel’s ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)," Roll Call says. "White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs noted that Sotomayor would do much of the preconfirmation Senate outreach herself. Gibbs also said the White House would not establish a 'war room' for the nomination, saying, 'I think to have a war room denotes that we think there’s some coming war, and we don’t believe that.'"
CONTINUED >>
“President Barack Obama will announce on Friday the creation of a ‘cyber czar’ position, stepping up his administration's efforts to better protect the nation's computer networks,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The cybersecurity chief will report to both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council, a compromise resulting from a fierce White House turf battle over the responsibilities and powers of the new office.” More: “Mr. Obama won't announce on Friday the person who will fill the new job. That isn't expected for at least a few more days.”
It’s now or never on health care, Obama said yesterday, per the AP . “President Barack Obama warned Thursday that if Congress doesn't deliver health care legislation by the end of the year the opportunity will be lost, a plea to political supporters to pressure lawmakers to act. ‘If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done,’ Obama told supporters by phone as he flew home on Air Force One from a West Coast fundraising trip.”
The Boston Globe front-pages , "Obama tells Israel to halt expansion." The paper adds , "But hours before the two men met, the Israeli government flatly rejected the demand. Spokesman Mark Regev said that "normal life in those communities must be allowed to continue," including some construction. The exchange has set the stage for one of Obama's toughest foreign policy challenges. As he prepares to fly to the Middle East next week to give a speech on his policy toward the region and US-Muslim relations, it seemed clear yesterday that his administration is willing to risk prickly relations with one of the closest US allies -- and possible anger from some Jewish voters -- to try to create a Palestinian state."
CONTINUED >>
CONGRESS: Kennedy vs. Baucus?
Meanwhile, "Senate Democrats have set forth an ambitious plan to begin marking up healthcare reform legislation by mid-June. A copy of a schedule for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee obtained by The Hill has the panel starting its markup of the healthcare reform bill on June 16. Six days are scheduled for the markup, which the committee hopes to complete on June 25."
In GQ, there's shirtless Levi Johnston saying "First Dude Todd Palin, the governor's husband, offered to buy Bristol a new car if she would dump him," the
New York Daily News writes.
CONNECTICUT: Chris Dodd is hitting the airwaves, Chris Cillizza reports. “Embattled Sen. Chris Dodd is on television with the first ad of his 2010 reelection race, a commercial featuring President Obama touting the work the Connecticut Democrat did to pass a measure placing strictures on credit card companies. An image of Obama signing the bill at the White House is shown (with Dodd standing in the background) as the president says: "I want to give a special shout-out to Chris Dodd who has been a relentless fighter to get this done." The ad seeks to remind Connecticut Democrats of two things: Dodd is one of them (hence the heavy featuring of the popular president) and that he gets things done for the state. Such early advertising by Dodd is a recognition that his image in the state has taken a number of serious hits and he is in a very tough fight for reelection next November.”
KENTUCKY: "Kentucky Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo (D) leads his main primary rival by double digits in an early poll conducted by the Democrat's Senate campaign," The Hill's Wilson reports. "Mongiardo, who came within a whisker of pulling off a stunning upset over Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) in 2004, leads Attorney General Jack Conway (D) by a 43 percent to 28 percent margin. Twenty-nine percent of registered Democrats remain undecided."
VIRGINIA: Ralph Nader returns! Per the Washington Post , “Former presidential candidate Ralph Nader went public Thursday with an allegation that Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe offered his campaign money to stay off the ballot in key states during the 2004 elections -- a disclosure timed to raise questions about McAuliffe's fitness for public office.”
Also: "Responding to a mailer sent out by McAuliffe’s campaign, Moran campaign manager Andrew Roos said in a statement that 'the last place we would go for a public service lesson is a Wall Street insider.' 'For decades, Mr. McAuliffe traded access for money, ensuring that big companies -- not people -- were in control, all the while pocketing millions through his proximity to power,' Roos said. 'Brian Moran will take no lectures on ethics from the booking agent of the Lincoln Bedroom and the architect of the Business Leadership Forum.'"
And the Washington Post profiles Creigh Deeds.
With Father's Day around the corner, MSNBC's Carlos Watson , writing at The Stimulist.com , breaks down what he sees as the top 10 most powerful political daughters -- five with the most promise and five with the most influence.
His lists: 5. Jenna Bush
Influence:
Discuss.
From NBC's Carl Sears Abraham Lincoln dated November 14, 1863 -- missing from public records for maybe 100 years -- has been donated today by a private collector to the National Archives.
The brief note on Executive Mansion letterhead in the President's handwriting signed "A.Lincoln" was sent to Treasury Secretary
Salmon Chase . It was written five days before Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, providing insight into the president's regard for a personal friend and his interest in West Coast politics even in the midst of the Civil War.
National Archivists discovered the Lincoln letter being sold online in 2006. It originally had been torn or fallen from an 1880 bound volume of government correspondence to the Treasury Department. There is no evidence that the letter was ever stolen, and how it went missing remains a mystery.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray and Harry Enten
Gallup appears to be the first polling outfit to survey Supreme Court nominee
Sonia Sotomayor , and it finds -- so far -- that her numbers compare favorably to the successful
Roberts and
Alito nominations.
According to the poll, 47% rate Sotomayor as an "excellent" or "good" pick, versus 33% who say she's "fair" or "poor."
By comparison, in November 2005, 43% rated Samuel Alito excellent or good, and 39% said he was fair or poor. For John Roberts, in July 2005, 51% said he was excellent/good, versus 34% who said he fair/poor.
As for Harriet Miers , who withdrew her nomination, Gallup had her at 44% excellent/good, and 41% fair/poor.
One other thing worth noting in the poll: Females have a much more positive opinion of Sotomayor than males do: 54% of females rate her excellent/good, versus 42% of males who said that.
From NBC's Mark Murray
During last year's presidential campaign,
Barack Obama's decision not to visit the military medical facility at Landstuhl in Germany became a point of controversy, with the
McCain campaign and Republicans arguing that Obama didn't want to visit the troops there. Indeed, the McCain camp aired a TV ad saying that Obama "made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops."
At the time, the Obama campaign responded that, because his European travel was a campaign trip, the Pentagon wouldn't permit him to visit the facility -- although the Pentagon said he could have visited the troops while in his capacity as a U.S. senator, but without his campaign military advisers. The campaign also pointed out that Obama visited troops while in Kuwait and Iraq.
Well, per the White House, President Obama is going to visit Landstuhl on June 5 when he goes abroad next week.
Here's the press release:
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro Three of
President Obama 's top fundraisers are getting plum jobs as United States ambassadors.
Among the 12 ambassadors named last night by the White House, three --
Charles Rivkin ,
Louis Susman and
John Roos -- were so-called "bundlers" for candidate Obama.
Rivkin (named ambassador to France) and Roos (named ambassador to Japan) both raised $500,000 or more for Obama, according to data compiled by the
Center for Responsive Politics .
Susman (named ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for Obama's campaign.
Top campaign fundraisers have long gotten these plum posts in past administrations -- Democratic and Republican alike. And then-President-elect Obama, in a
Jan. 9 press conference , said, "There probably will be some" ambassadors chosen who were top donors. “It would be disingenuous for me to suggest that there are not going to be some excellent public servants but who haven’t come through the ranks of the civil service,” Obama added.
Several administration officials, including
Valerie Jarrett ,
Greg Craig ,
Eric Holder and
Tina Tchen , for example, were also Obama bundlers.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro Much ado about nothing? Is it bad news for the Obama White House that abortion-rights groups are suddenly worried about Sonia Sotomayor’s record (or lack thereof) on abortion? Or it is it actually good news, given that it could deflect a lot of the conservative criticism against her nomination? Here’s the front-page headline in today’s New York Times : “On Sotomayor, Some Abortion Rights Backers Are Uneasy.” The L.A. Times has a similar headline: “Abortion Rights Groups Concerned About Sotomayor’s Stance.” Honestly, this news is a gift for Team Obama. Let’s get this straight: So the president didn’t impose a litmus test on abortion? Is that a problem? Also, would a constitutional scholar like Obama not be able to discern someone’s opinion on the ultimate contentious issue before the court? Of course, there’s always the potential that a Supreme Court pick, once on the court, could end up voting in unpredictable ways (see David Souter, the man Sotomayor would replace). But also do realize that this stated unease could actually be a potential straw-man argument to help pro-choice groups raise money. After all, interest groups on both the left and right use Supreme Court fights as a fundraising tool. And abortion-rights groups may have found a peg, even if it’s much ado about nothing.
Video: David Gregory, moderator of “Meet the Press,” and NBC’s Chuck Todd join the Morning Joe gang to discuss the battle to define federal judge Sonia Sotomayor and the looming confirmation process. *** How not to help your Latino and female outreach: After Senate Republicans took a measured wait-and-see approach to Sonia Sotomayor's nomination after it was announced, we're guessing that these same folks aren't enjoying seeing Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and Tom Tancredo leading the charge against her. In the past couple of days, these three men -- in one form or another -- called Sotomayor a racist, and Limbaugh added yesterday that she's an "angry woman." Just sayin’, but these statements probably aren’t what the doctor ordered as the GOP tries to improve its performance with Hispanic and female voters. There’s no doubt that some of Sotomayor’s opinions (like the one regarding the New Haven firefighters) and past speeches (on the “wise Latina woman”) are controversial and warrant scrutiny during the confirmation hearings. But with all signs pointing to the fact that she will be confirmed, is this kind of talk helpful to the GOP?
*** From Hollywood to the Middle East: Last night in Los Angeles, Obama raised some $3 to $4 million for the DNC. In attendance, per the L.A. Times , were some of the biggest names in Hollywood: Seth Rogin, Marisa Tomei, Kiefer Sutherland, Jamie Foxx, Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith, and Tyler Perry. At 10:35 am ET, Obama leaves the West Coast, arriving back at the White House at 3:15 pm. Forty-five minutes later, he meets in the Oval Office (closed press) with Palestinian President Abbas. And then, at 4:45 pm, he holds an expanded meeting (pool spray) with the Palestinian leader.
Video: Msnbc's Courtney Hazlett reports on President Obama's return to Hollywood to give thanks to the celebrities who opened their wallets and helped get him elected. ***
California’s woes: Speaking of Obama’s stop in Los Angeles yesterday, the White House has found itself on the defensive over whether his California visit showed enough compassion for the state's fiscal woes. In fact, the state’s financial problems are so bad that Treasury Secretary Geithner was asked at a recent congressional hearing whether he thought he could use the same money set aside to bail out the banks and car companies to bail out California. The White House knows there are no easy answers for California, and they fear that if they go out of their way to bail out -- or even show extra compassion for the nation's largest state -- 49 other states will be looking for their attention.
*** Sestak to challenge Specter? One other person who was in attendance at last night’s fundraiser with Obama was brand-new Democrat Arlen Specter. Yet on the very same day, fellow Pennsylvania Democrat Joe Sestak said on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” that he’s intending to primary Specter, “pending a final family decision” that could come in the “not too distant future.” A new Quinnipiac poll shows Specter ahead of Sestak, 50%-21%. The poll also shows Specter leading Pat Toomey (R) in a general election match-up by nine points (46%-37%), which is down from Specter’s 20-point lead (53%-33%) earlier this month.
Video: Rep. Joe Sestak joins "The Ed Show" to discuss whether he will run against Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., in the Pennsylvania primary. ***
Jersey boys: As we and others have observed, the Republican Party is undergoing an important debate that might not be resolved anytime soon: Does it aim for the political middle, or does it remain planted firmly on the right? Is being a moderate a virtue, or a curse? And what is more desirable, winning races or ideological purity? This GOP fight is occurring across the country -- in Florida, where Charlie Crist squares off against Marco Rubio; in Texas, where Kay Bailey Hutchison is running against Rick Perry; and in New Jersey, where the moderate Chris Christie faces off in a gubernatorial primary against the more conservative Steve Lonegan this coming Tuesday. Recent polls show Christie with a comfortable lead. But the Cook Political Report’s Jennifer Duffy says Lonegan still has a shot. “Lonegan is praying for rain,” she said. “The lower the turnout, the better he does. I still think it’s hard. But to his credit, he has made this more of a race than it ought to be.” The question for many observers: After Tuesday’s outcome, will Republicans find themselves in a stronger position to challenge the very vulnerable Jon Corzine? Or a weaker one? Then again, a recent Quinnipiac poll showed Corzine trailing both Christie and Lonegan. For what it’s worth, Mitt Romney this morning endorsed Christie.
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 5 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails.
The New York Times front-pages that “some abortion rights advocates are quietly expressing unease that Judge Sotomayor may not be a reliable vote to uphold Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion rights decision. In a letter, Nancy Keenan, president of Naral Pro-Choice America, urged supporters to press senators to demand that Judge Sotomayor reveal her views on privacy rights before any confirmation vote.”
Video: TODAY’s Matt Lauer talks to David Gregory, moderator of “Meet the Press,” about the confirmation process lying ahead for President Obama’s first Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayor, and what her views may be on abortion rights . “Because Judge Sotomayor is the choice of a president who supports abortion rights at a time when Democrats hold a substantial majority in the Senate, both sides in the debate have tended to assume she could be counted on to preserve the Roe decision… Presidents have miscalculated in their assumptions about the abortion views of Supreme Court nominees before. When the first President Bush nominated David H. Souter in 1990 to fill the seat that Judge Sotomayor would assume if confirmed, Mr. Souter was known as a ‘stealth nominee’ with no paper trail on abortion.”
The Washington Post also chimes in: “Several interest groups called on the Senate to try to discern Sotomayor's views on a woman's right to have an abortion vs. the government's right to restrict the procedure. ‘I don't know what her position is on the core constitutional protections of Roe v. Wade,’ said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, adding: ‘I will be nervous if the Senate doesn't get answers to the question.’”
CONTINUED >>
President Obama meets today with Palestinian Authority's Abbas. "The two leaders will talk one-on-one in the Oval Office before being joined by aides," the AP says. "After, the president will meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and then with senior advisers in the Oval Office."
"Top Palestinian officials traveling with President Mahmoud Abbas said he was working to repackage a 2002 Saudi Arabian plan that called for exchange of Arab land occupied by Israel in the 1967 war for normalized relations with Arab countries," the
AP adds. "Obama's meeting with Abbas is the third of four key sessions the administration had planned as the president tries to reinvigorate the push for Middle East peace, an accord that has eluded American leaders, the Israelis and their Arab neighbors for more than a half-century."
Obama's National Security Adviser James Jones
downplayed the North Korean threat in a speech yesterday. He said it WASN’T an "imminent threat." “Nothing that the North Koreans did surprised us,” Jones said, per The Hill. “We knew that they were going to do this, they said so, so no reason not to believe them.”
CONTINUED >>
The Boston Globe writes, "As the House Energy and Commerce Committee prepared to pass a landmark climate change bill earlier this month, committee leaders received a glowing letter from an unexpected source: the chairman of Dow Chemical Co., one of the firms that would be forced to limit the amount of pollutants it emits and pay new fees for the privilege of polluting."
The paper adds that "such accolades are increasingly common from business leaders to Democratic congressional leaders, who are ushering in a new era of regulations on the environment, healthcare, and finance. Confronted by Democratic majorities, a Democratic president, and a voting public furious over Wall Street lapses, the business community, which once adamantly opposed almost all forms of government regulation and mandates, has opted to join rather than fight." (Also, check out the centerpiece photo . Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was in Boston "to announce new tax credits aimed at creating jobs in low-income areas.")
The NRCC is running a TV ad hitting Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil for blocking an investigation into Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s back-and-forth with the CIA.
CONTINUED >>
FLORIDA: Mike Huckabee is reportedly set to endorse Marco Rubio over Charlie Crist in the Republican Senate primary.
ILLINOIS: The Burris story continues… The Chicago Tribune : “Beleaguered U.S. Sen. Roland Burris added another layer Wednesday to the evolving story of his appointment, saying he was only trying to ‘placate’ then- Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother to keep his Senate prospects alive knowing no campaign money would ever change hands. The latest detail came as Burris spent the opening of a two-day Downstate tour offering his explanation of what was on covert recordings made by federal agents investigating Blagojevich in November. Burris said the transcript shows that he was not involved in "pay to play" because he told Robert Blagojevich, the former governor's brother, that if he donated and got the Senate appointment, ‘that means I bought it.’”
Video: Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., joins “Hardball” on the phone to discuss FBI wiretaps that reveal Burris talked with Rod Blagojevich’s brother about the possibility of throwing a fundraiser for the former Illinois governor at the same time he was lobbying for the vacant Senate seat. “But the transcript also shows Burris discussing various ways that he might join in fundraising events hosted by others or contribute money through Burris' law partner and current lawyer, Timothy Wright. On Wednesday, Burris said those discussions were an attempt to deceive Robert Blagojevich to keep himself in the mix for a Senate appointment and that no donations were ever forthcoming.”
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray
According to
Hotline On Call , newly minted Democrat
Arlen Specter is going to join
President Obama at tonight's fundraiser in Los Angeles.
"Specter will join Pres. Obama at the Beverly Hilton in LA for a DNC fundraiser... It marks his first outing with Obama -- and with Jennifer Hudson, we should note. The Academy Award winner will sing at the event. As will Earth, Wind and Fire."
From NBC's Mark Murray and Carroll Ann Mears
On his radio program today,
Rush Limbaugh tried to dismiss GOP fears about alienating Latino voters if they oppose
Sonia Sotomayor .
When
Clarence Thomas was nominated, Limbaugh asked, did the Democrats worry about angering the black vote when the opposed him?
Well, it seems they did. Back in 1991, when Thomas was confirmed -- by a
52-48 vote -- Democrats controlled the Senate, and 10 of them voted for Thomas. And eight of those Dems hailed from the South, where there are plenty of African-American voters:
Boren (OK)
Breaux (LA)
Fowler (GA)
Nunn (GA)
Hollings (SC)
Johnston (LA)
Robb (VA)
Shelby (AL)
Without those southern Democratic votes, Thomas wouldn't have won confirmation.
From NBC's Harry Enten
Appointed Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) continues to be locked in a tight fight for re-election in 2010 -- and new polling shows she's have a difficult time with Republican former Gov.
George Pataki .
National Republicans are hoping that Pataki will run, but he has given no indication he will seek the seat.
According to a the latest
Siena College poll , Gillibrand and Pataki are tied 43%-43%, which is basically unchanged from last month's 41%-41%. More troubling for Gillibrand is that 39% of voters prefer to vote for somebody else, while only 27% say they would vote to re-elect her.
She continues to suffer from a lack of name recognition with 46% of New York voters having no opinion of the junior senator. Of the voters that do hold an opinion of her, 33% view her favorably, while 21% view her unfavorably.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray Sotomayor TV ad. Well, here comes an anti-Sotomayor ad, courtesy of the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network.
Per a source familiar with this ad, it is currently not airing on TV -- instead, it's running on Web sites and has been emailed to conservative activists across the nation. The source adds that the Judicial Confirmation Network is assessing whether to go with a national buy.
From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Longtime Sen.
Chris Dodd (D-CT) continues to trail former Republican Rep.
Rob Simmons , but he has made up some ground in the past two months, according to the latest
Quinnipiac poll on the likely 2010 Senate race match up.
Simmons leads 45%-39%, down from his 50%-34% lead April 2. Dodd's movement, though, is because of improvement among Democrats, which express support for him by a 67%-16% margin -- up from 58%-38% in April.
Dodd still, though, has a low ceiling, so far. And a majority of Connecticut voters disapprove of his job, 53%-38%, which is only a slight improvement from April when 58% disapproved and 33% approved.
"Sen. Christopher Dodd's numbers are getting better, but they are still lousy," Quinnipiac Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said in a release. "He still has high negatives: About half of the voters don't trust Dodd and disapprove of the job he is doing. And he is still behind Simmons in a general election matchup. But Dodd is an exceptionally skilled politician, and he has plenty of time. He is lucky to get this early warning more than a year before the election."
Even Joe Lieberman continues to have a higher -- albeit split (46%-44%) -- approval than the Banking Committee chairman.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro To fight or retreat? While Washington gears up for a Supreme Court fight, do remember this: Sonia Sotomayor wouldn't change the court's ideological make up. After all, swapping a reliably liberal vote in Souter for an apparently liberal vote in Sotomayor is a wash. Perhaps realizing that -- as well as looking at the polls and the selection’s historic nature -- Republican senators were very measured with their statements yesterday. Their response was essentially the same: Sotomayor deserves a fair hearing where they can scrutinize her record. In fact, Mitch McConnell's office this morning sent an email to reporters hitting President Obama on job creation, not Sotomayor. That may be the most telling response. But the reaction coming from the conservative base is MUCH different. The National Republican Trust PAC, for instance, called Sotomayor a “radical nominee,” adding: “Republican senators should strongly oppose her nomination. The NRT PAC and their constituents will hold them accountable if they do not.” Also, Rush said she was a “reverse racist,” and Mitt Romney called her nomination “troubling.” This divide between the base and the senatorial establishment presents a potential quandary for Republicans: The GOP base wants a fight, while their elected officials want to hold off -- for now.
Video: TODAY’s Natalie Morales talks to NBC’s Chuck Todd about how Republicans and Democrats are responding to President Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Sonia Sotomayor. A 2012 litmus test? Also remember that John Roberts and Samuel Alito became Democratic presidential primary litmus tests -- explaining why anyone with White House ambitions (Obama, Hillary Clinton) voted against them. The Sotomayor vote for Republicans thinking about 2012 might play out similarly. If you are wondering who is pondering a presidential run in 2012 among GOP senators, our guess is that the "no" vote roll call will be a good starting place.
*** Roll out the barrel, we’ll have a barrel of fun : For Supreme Court nominations, Rollout Day is always important. And -- to borrow a metaphor from Sotomayor’s favorite sport -- yesterday was a homerun for the Obama White House. In fact, it was as good as the Roberts rollout. A misty-eyed mom? Check. Multiple references to Sotomayor’s humble background? Check. Adding that she saved Major League Baseball? Check. The only thing that seemed to be missing was the apple pie. Also, the Democratic responses yesterday were measured, as were the GOP ones (it probably helped that Obama waited until Congress was on recess to unveil his pick). In short, with 60 Senate Democratic votes in reach, Sotomayor’s odds of being confirmed are extraordinarily high. Then again, as we learned with Tom Daschle’s HHS nomination, nothing is ever a sure thing in American politics.
Video: President Obama announces federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor as his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Avoiding the culture wars : Here’s another thing that caught our eye about Sotomayor, courtesy of the New York Times : “Judge Sotomayor ... has issued no major decisions concerning abortion, the death penalty, gay rights or national security.” So even with his SCOTUS pick, Obama has found a way to downplay or avoid direct debates on hot-button cultural issues – although race and affirmative action will certainly be topics surrounding the Sotomayor selection. Still, it’s striking that Sotomayor has avoided dealing with any cases on abortion or guns or gay marriage. And as we have pointed out before, the president has gone out of his way to avoid gun issues (see credit card bill), gay issues (see Prop. 8 in California) abortion (his flip-flop on that abortion legislation), and immigration (he simply wants to enforce the laws on the books first). Somewhere, Heath Shuler is thanking Rahm…
*** Let the TV ads begin! One day after Sotomayor’s nomination, the liberal-leaning Coalition for Constitutional Values (made up of the Alliance for Justice, People for the American Way, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights) announced that it will begin airing a six-figure TV ad on national network and cable news praising the Sotomayor pick. The spot highlights her qualifications and her personal story. Dems seem to be borrowing a page from the GOP playbook. Remember how quickly Republican legal groups had ads up praising Roberts and Alito?
Video: Karl Rove Tuesday questioned the intellect of Sonia Sotomayor. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? At 2:00 pm ET today, in Las Vegas, Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tour a solar photovoltaic array (translation: a solar farm) at Nellis Air Force. And then 40 minutes later, the president will deliver comments marking the 100th day since his stimulus package became law. By the way, the likely reason the White House changed today’s event from a town hall to just straight remarks is so Obama could avoid questions about his comment about Vegas in February, when he said that U.S. companies receiving bailout money shouldn’t be taking trips to Las Vegas on taxpayers’ dimes. Locals are still mad about that Vegas remark (though we believe that 99% of America agrees with it), and we bet he tries to fix that today.
*** Obama and Prop. 8 : Later this evening, Obama travels to Los Angeles, where he attends another fundraiser -- this time for the DNC. Just askin’, but with Obama in California, is he going to comment on yesterday’s Prop. 8 ruling?
Video: NBC's Pete Williams reports on the Calif. Supreme Court upholding Proposition 8. Another em-Burris-ing revelation : Remember Roland Burris? Well, last night, his office announced that he is embarking today on a two-day swing through downstate Illinois. But he’s got much bigger things to worry about. As the papers are reporting, he's ON TAPE saying that he'd be willing to throw a fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich, and discusses trying to do it at his law firm under someone else's name so that he's not implicated if the news ever gets out.
*** Elsewhere today : Vice President Biden delivers the commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy at 10:00 am ET… Secretary of State Clinton lunches with Egypt's foreign minister and intelligence chief… And National Security Adviser Jim Jones speaks at 5:30 pm ET before the Atlantic Council; it's his first speech on the administration's approach to national security.
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 6 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails .
The New York Times' analysis : "Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s judicial opinions are marked by diligence, depth and unflashy competence. If they are not always a pleasure to read, they are usually models of modern judicial craftsmanship, which prizes careful attention to the facts in the record and a methodical application of layers of legal principles. Judge Sotomayor ... has issued no major decisions concerning abortion, the death penalty, gay rights or national security. In cases involving criminal defendants, employment discrimination and free speech, her rulings are more liberal than not."
Video: Psycho Talk:Law professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University shares his view of Judge Sotomayor's past legal judgments with Countdown's Keith Olbermann.
The Wall Street Journal : “Judge Sonia Sotomayor has built a record on such issues as civil rights and employment law that puts her within the mainstream of Democratic judicial appointees.”
At his fundraiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid last night, Obama “touted his newly announced Supreme Court nominee … calling her a ‘brilliant individual’ with both sterling credentials and an admirable personal journey,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal writes. “The mention of Sotomayor drew a standing cheer. ‘I know that Harry Reid and others in the Senate will make sure that she is confirmed as the next Supreme Court justice,’ Obama said. ‘I know that because Harry has just as improbable a story, and so do I. That's what politics should be about: remembering that for a whole lot of folks, life isn't easy.’”
CONTINUED >>
Not surprisingly, the New York Times’ editorial page is a fan of the pick. “Based on what we know now, the Senate should confirm her so she can join the court when it begins its new term in October.”
And not surprisingly, the Wall Street Journal’s isn’t. “As the first nominee of a popular President and with 59 Democrats in the Senate, Judge Sotomayor is likely to be confirmed barring some major blunder. But Republicans can use the process as a teaching moment, not to tear down Ms. Sotomayor on personal issues the way the left tried with Justices Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito, but to educate Americans about the proper role of the judiciary and to explore whether Judge Sotomayor's Constitutional principles are as free-form as they seem from her record.”
The Washington Post’s editorial page : “Senators are right to closely scrutinize Judge Sotomayor's philosophy and qualifications. She has produced a rich record of opinions as an appeals court judge for the Judiciary Committee to discuss. Senators also should remember that Mr. Obama, like any president, is entitled to deference in choosing a justice.”
The New York Daily News' cover : "Pride of The Bronx" with an accompanying eight-page "special report." New York Post's cover : "Suprema" over a photo of Sotomayor.
CONTINUED >>
The Las Vegas Review-Journal previews Obama’s event today in Las Vegas. “The president is scheduled to hold an event touting the effects of the federal stimulus package this morning at Nellis Air Force Base, where he also will tour a solar energy installation.”
The Las Vegas Sun , meanwhile, notes that Obama didn’t mention the controversy surrounding his remarks back in February that companies receiving taxpayer help shouldn’t take trips to Vegas on the public’s dime. “President Barack Obama's speech at a Harry Reid fundraiser Tuesday night made no reference whatsoever to the remarks that sent Vegas boosters -- and Mayor Oscar Goodman in particular -- into a fury a few months ago… Local tourism officials and elected leaders, led by Goodman, said that the comments, regardless of context, created the perception among the public that the city was off limits. Notably, they have offered little to no evidence that declining business is related to the president's comments.”
They’re not the only ones who are unhappy… "Some California Democrats are upset with President Obama for skipping past the state’s Central Valley, devastated by foreclosures and high unemployment, as he heads to a $3 million Hollywood fundraiser Wednesday night," The Hill writes. "'He’s not showing us any empathy,' said Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), who endorsed Obama over then-Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the Democratic primary last May. 'He told us he would visit the heartland of California. He’s coming again and he’s not doing so.'"
"Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is pressing for new answers about funding for a counter-narcotics center that Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has supported for more than two decades,"
The Hill writes. "Coburn sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder late last week reiterating charges that the center in Johnstown, Pa., previously known as the National Defense Intelligence Center (NDIC) is a duplicative boondoggle and asking for the explanation behind a recently proposed name change."
We missed this yesterday, but it's worth reviving...
Norm Ornstein calls for a five-day work week for Congress: "Five sustained days would mean more time for debate and less opportunity to use endgames or time pressures to threaten filibusters or to use other delaying tactics successfully. It would also mean more predictability in scheduling, where now it is often unclear when evening votes will be held, or if sessions will be extended at the last minute. If I could wave a magic wand, I would also provide a much more generous housing allowance for lawmakers and even take over one of the House annex office buildings, convert it to apartments and/or condominiums, and rent them at cost to Members who bring their families to town. Right now, though, I would settle happily for the simple schedule change."
Ron Paul may try and play kingmaker of sorts in the 2010 elections. With his grassroots army ready to hit the ground, "Paul is expected to set up a campaign he’ll call 'Ten in ’10,'" Roll Call reports. "While he may personally endorse any number of candidates during the course of the cycle -- and in a few races, he already has -- he’ll invite candidates for all offices to seek special attention and assistance from his PAC."
ILLINOIS : Here's the transcript of the wiretap between Sen. Roland Burris and Rob Blagojevich, the ousted former Illinois governor's brother. Burris is on tape suggesting he might arrange a fundraiser for Blagojevich before the end of the year, discusses trying to do it through his law firm under someone else's name so that he's not implicated if it ever gets out and explicitly expresses interest in replacing Obama as senator.Roll Call writes.
NEVADA : The Las Vegas Review-Journal covers Obama’s Las Vegas fundraiser last night for Harry Reid. “At a sold-out fundraiser that was also a concert extravaganza, Obama was back in campaign mode as he had been in Nevada so many times before the election. The president told the crowd of about 4,000 at the Caesars Palace Colosseum that Reid will need the grass-roots energy Obama rode to victory for his re-election next year… Organizers said the star-studded fundraiser, which featured a lineup of entertainers including Bette Midler, Sheryl Crow, Rita Rudner and Clint Holmes, was expected to raise nearly $2 million for Reid and the Nevada Democratic Party.”
CONTINUED >>
From msnbc.com's Tom Curry
It’s easy to find examples on the Republican side, especially in the past few decades. During the Reagan and Bush presidencies, conservatives bemoaned the fact that many of the Republican presidents’ appointees to the high court turned out be liberals, at least on issues such as gay rights, the death penalty and abortion.
To find the last Democratic nominee to disappoint liberals you have to go back almost 50 years to Byron White, placed on the high court by his friend President John Kennedy in 1962. White turned out to be conservative, at least on abortion and gay rights.
Why the disparity between so many conservative Supreme Court letdowns but few liberal ones?
For that answer and more, continue reading.
From NBC's Harry Enten The other news this afternoon, "The California Supreme Court today upheld Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the election will continue to be married under state law," the
L.A. Times writes.
Gay rights activists have already signaled they might bring their own ballot initiative next year to overturn Prop 8. It passed with 52% last November, and recent polls suggest that a re-vote could be just as close.
Interestingly, the sole dissenter in the 6-1 decision was Carlos Moreno, who had been identified as being on Obama's Supreme Court short list.
From NBC's Athena Jones President Obama ended weeks of speculation today when he named Sonia Sotomayor , an Ivy League-educated judge currently serving on the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, as his pick for the Supreme Court.
Sotomayor, who would become the court's first Hispanic justice and only its third woman, would replace retiring Justice David Souter . Obama -- himself a historic first -- made the announcement before an audience that included Sotomayor's mother, brother, and other family members.
Calling the nomination of Supreme Court justices among the most serious and consequential responsibilities the Constitution grants a president, Obama said he had made his decision after consulting members of Congress from both parties, constitutional scholars, advocacy organizations, and bar associations.
He told the audience he wanted a judge with a "rigorous intellect" and mastery of the law who would not legislate from the bench, saying he wanted someone who understood that "a judge's job is to interpret, not make law, to approach decisions without any particular ideology or agenda rather a commitment to impartial justice, a respect for precedent and a determination to faithfully apply the law to the facts at hand."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray Obama bested McCain 2-1 among this group), we posed this question earlier today: Would Republicans dare vote against the first Hispanic Supreme Court nominee?
That question prompted one reader to criticize First Read for "threatening Republicans with the race card if they oppose Judge Sotomayor ."
On the other hand, conservative Jonah Goldberg argued on National Review Online that while opposing Sotomayor isn't anti-Hispanic, "one advantage for Obama in picking the most left-leaning Hispanic possible/confirmable is that it actually allows the Democrats to -- once again -- cast Republicans as anti-Hispanic."
One of our goals at First Read is to generate political discussions. So we have two questions: First, do Republicans walk a political tightrope in opposing Sotomayor? And two, is this a legitimate question to raise?
From NBC's Mark Murray Sotomayor pick, calling the selection "a very prudent and wise decision from a far left liberal like Obama ."
While I would have liked to see a more conservative libertarian type on the high court, President Obama's selection of New York federal appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayer, was a very prudent and wise decision from a far left liberal like Obama. Having initially been appointed to the bench by President George H. W. Bush , soon to be justice Sotomayer has previously pledged to follow the Constitution, and not legislate from the bench, and her career as a federal court judge suggests, as a whole, that this is the way she will administer to the law. It is also great to have a highly qualified Latina on the bench. The Latin culture, with its emphasis on family and family values, will be a welcome addition, as an understanding of real life relationships is important for any jurist. And, as the largest minority in the United States, its time that Latins can take pride that they too are now part of the legal system. On behalf of Freedom Watch and the American people, we wish Justice Sotomayer much success.
From NBC's Chris Donovan Jeff Sessions (who along with Judiciary chair Pat Leahy will be guests on Meet the Press this weekend ) on Sonia Sotomayor :
"The president's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court today is an important step in a constitutional process that includes the advice and consent of the Senate. I congratulate Ms. Sotomayor on her nomination. The Senate Judiciary Committee's role is to act on behalf of the American people to carefully scrutinize Ms. Sotomayor's qualifications, experience, and record. We will engage in a fair and thorough examination of Ms. Sotomayor's previous judicial opinions, speeches, and academic writings to determine if she has demonstrated the characteristics that great judges share: integrity, impartiality, legal expertise, and a deep and unwavering respect for the rule of law.
"Of primary importance, we must determine if Ms. Sotomayor understands that the proper role of a judge is to act as a neutral umpire of the law, calling balls and strikes fairly without regard to one's own personal preferences or political views. President Obama has stated his desire to have a full court seated at the start of its next term, a reasonable goal toward which the Judiciary Committee should responsibly and diligently move. But we must remember that a Supreme Court justice sits for a lifetime appointment, and the Senate hearing is the only opportunity for the American people to engage in the nomination process. Adequate preparation will take time. I will insist that, consistent with recent confirmation processes, every senator be accorded the opportunity to prepare, ask questions, and receive full and complete answers.
"I look forward to the coming months as we move forward with this process. As I told the president this morning, I will do all I can to ensure that Ms. Sotomayor receives a fair hearing before the Committee. I firmly believe that the American people deserve a full and thoughtful debate about the proper role of a judge in the American legal system, an issue that will be central to our review of Ms. Sotomayor's record."
From NBC’s Harry Enten and Mark Murray Sonia Sotomayor , have given her mixed reviews, according to anonymous comments from the Almanac of the Federal Judiciary:
Most lawyers interviewed said Sotomayor has good legal ability. CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Ken Strickland While it's unclear exactly when Sonia Sotomayor will have her Senate confirmation hearing, Senate Republicans are already sending the message that they will not be rushed through the process, opening the the possibility that she may not confirmed before the Supreme Court opens in October.
In his written statement today, Republican Judiciary Committee member
Jon Kyl stressed the need for Republicans to have plenty of time to review Sotomayor's record. Kyl cited examples from past Supreme Court confirmations under a Republican-controlled Senate where the then-Democratic minority was afforded "ample time" to review the nominee.
He says the entire process for each of the two most recent nominee took between two and three months to complete.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Chris Donovan and Mark Murray Sonia Sotomayor to sit on the 2nd Circuit back in 1998 , 29 Republicans voted AGAINST her -- including current Sens. Grassley , Hutchison , Kyl , McCain , McConnell , and Sessions (the latter of whom is the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee).
But 23 Republicans also voted FOR her -- including current Sens. Collins , Gregg , Hatch , Lugar , Snowe , and Specter (the latter of whom is now a Democrat).
From NBC's Pete Williams, Ken Strickland, and Mark Murray Sonia Sotomayor . Said Wendy Long of the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network: "Judge Sotomayor is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important that the law as written. She thinks that judges should dictate policy, and that one's sex, race, and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench."
Meanwhile, GOP senators aren't as aggressive, but they raise a common theme: that they'll scrutinize Sotomayor's record. Said Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell : "Senate Republicans will treat Judge Sotomayor fairly. But we will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law even-handedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences. Our Democratic colleagues have often remarked that the Senate is not a 'rubber stamp.' Accordingly, we trust they will ensure there is adequate time to prepare for this nomination, and a full and fair opportunity to question the nominee and debate her qualifications."
Added Senate Judiciary Committee member
John Cornyn : "Now that President Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice Souter on the United States Supreme Court, it is time for the Senate to perform its Constitutional duty of advice and consent. Because Judge Sotomayor would serve for life if she is confirmed, it is essential that the Senate conducts this process thoroughly and the President has assured me that we will have ample time to give Ms. Sotomayor's record a full and fair review."
And here's
Lamar Alexander : "It is the Senate's responsibility to give the president's Supreme Court nominee both respectful and rigorous scrutiny. The nominee should neither be pre-confirmed nor pre-judged."
From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell
Sources familiar with the process say
President Obama called
Sonia Sotomayor last night at 9:00 pm, and called the other potential picks after that.
Obama then called congressional leaders this morning.
Obama met with Sotomayor last Thursday -- she was at White House for seven hours and went undiscovered.
Aides say the president was "blown away by her -- her personal story, her sharp intellect and confidence, and her experience as prosecutor, trial judge, litigator and appellate judge."
Aides say she has more federal judicial experience than anyone on Supreme Court in 100 years.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro *** It’s Sotomayor: At 10:15 am ET from the White House’s East Room, President Obama will again make history by nominating the first Hispanic to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court: Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd Circuit. The big question: Will she survive the confirmation process? Some Senate Democrats worry she'll be a heavier lift than others he could have nominated (like Diane Wood or Elena Kagan). But consider these points: One, it's clear Sotomayor -- whom the president knew the least about when this process began -- blew Obama away when he interviewed her on Thursday. In fact, White House officials believe that once Senate Democrats get to know her, they'll be as blown away as the president was, and she'll be confirmed easily. Two, would Republicans dare vote against the first Hispanic, especially after their rhetoric during the immigration debate of 2006-2007 clearly hurt them with this important voting bloc? And three, don’t ignore the politics surrounding this pick. As we’ve mentioned before, Latino groups have been grumbling somewhat about their representation (or lack thereof) in the Obama administration, as well as the fact that immigration reform doesn’t appear to be on the White House’s front-burner. But this pick buys Obama A LOT of time with Hispanics -- a demographic he won last year, 67%-31% -- on immigration and other issues. Is it a coincidence that Obama this week heads out West to Nevada and California, two states with large Latino populations?
Video: President Obama announces federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor as his pick to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Sotomayor’s bio: Here’s the bio we ran on Sotomayor earlier this month : She currently serves on the Second Circuit in New York and was appointed to that position by Bill Clinton. BUT she was appointed to her first federal court appointment by President George H.W. Bush… She checks lots of boxes: Woman. Hispanic. Empathy… While working for the famed Robert Morgenthau in the New York District Attorney's office in the early 1980s, she described herself as a "liberal.”… Also has drawn criticism for saying in 2005: “All of the legal defense funds out there they're looking for people with court of appeals experience because it is-- court of appeals is where policy is made." She tried to backtrack, but conservatives are already rallying to defeat her based on this. Other bio information: Child of parents born in Puerto Rico... Grew up speaking mostly Spanish... Raised in a public housing project in The South Bronx in the shadow of Yankee Stadium... Father died when she was 9... A diehard Yankees fan, she's credited as the judge who saved baseball, issuing an injunction that led the eventual settlement of the 1990s-era Major League Baseball strike... Described by the New York Times in the early 1980s as an incessant smoker… Divorced from Kevin Edward Noonan in 1983 after seven-year marriage (no children). She left the NY District Attorney's office a year later and went into private practice... Graduated summa cum laude in 1976 from Princeton after winning a scholarship to the school... Earned her law degree from Yale in 1979, where she edited the Law Review.
*** Another crisis for Obama: In addition to Sotomayor, the other big political news has been North Korea’s nuclear test, as well as its firing of two short-range missiles. What do you do about a country whose leadership is so unstable it doesn’t respond to normal diplomatic overtures or threats? It’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle. The Washington Post’s editorial page says the time for reacting is gone. "It's time, at last, to break this pattern and call Mr. Kim's bluff. That doesn't mean threats of U.S military action or a blanket refusal to talk with the regime; those tactics have been tried and have failed as well. Instead, Mr. Obama should simply decline to treat North Korea as a crisis, or even as a matter of urgency." Of course, others like Council of Foreign Relations head Richard Haas believe it's time to ratchet things up more and get with Japan and South Korea and outline a "red line" for a military response. Key now is China and Russia, which have both amped up their rhetoric against North Korea more than they did during the Bush and Clinton years. But rhetoric is always the easy part…
*** Viva Las Vegas? After 4:00 pm ET today, Obama heads to Nevada, where he will attend a fundraiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who’s up for re-election next year, at Caesar’s Palace at 10:55 pm ET. Awaiting the president is a Republican governor who’s still angry at Obama’s months-old remark that TARP recipients shouldn’t be going on travel junkets to Las Vegas. “I am not interested in a handshake and a hello from President Obama,” Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) said, per Nevada political expert Jon Ralston. “I am interested in an apology and plan to undo the damage the President did. Working families are suffering because of the president's remarks. The president should retract his reckless statement about Las Vegas and make a public statement supporting business and tourist travel to Las Vegas and other destinations in the State of Nevada." Of course, note that Gibbons might be trying to create a distraction here, given his own political troubles in the state. Attention reporters: Be sure not to over-report Reid's political troubles -- they are minor compared with Gibbons’. However, the prospect of two Reids (Harry and son Rory) leading the Dem ticket should trouble some Dems. After all, dynasties on the same ballot in the same state can turn off voters. Just ask Mike Huckabee when he and his wife were on the statewide ticket together in 2002. Mike won fairly handily; Janet got clobbered.
*** Another political story to watch out West: The California Supreme Court is set to decide today whether Proposition 8, the state ballot measure banning gay marriage that passed last fall, is constitutional. “Today's ruling decides whether voters had the right, when 52% of them approved Proposition 8 … to amend the state Constitution to solidify the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman,” the San Francisco Chronicle writes. “If the justices uphold Prop. 8, they will also decide whether to dissolve the marriages of 18,000 same-sex couples who wed before the Nov. 4 election.” Per the L.A. Times , “most legal experts expect the court to uphold Proposition 8 but continue to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples wed before the November election.”
*** Report card time: Tomorrow is Day 100 since Obama’s signing of the $787 billion stimulus package. The president will be coming out with a 100-day report card of sorts, as will each impacted cabinet department. Of course, North Korea and the Sotomayor pick will loom over the president's trip out West…
*** Firing up the base: On Friday, former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe fired off a note to Obama’s email list, telling the 10 million-plus members that they’ll be kicking off the grassroots support for health care on June 6. “On June 6th, in thousands of homes across the country, we'll gather to launch our grassroots campaign for health care,” he said in the email. “We'll watch a special message from the President. We'll build the teams and draw up the plans for winning health care reform the same way we won the election: Building support one block, one neighbor, one conversation at a time. And we'll put those plans into action.” The question is whether this grassroots mobilization will be more effective than the previous ones for the stimulus and Obama’s budget, which didn’t seem to fire up the base. Then again, both the stimulus and budget did pass Congress.
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 7 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails.
“One day after a surprise nuclear test drew angry and widespread condemnation, North Korea continued its defiance of the international community on Tuesday by test-firing two more short-range missiles, a South Korean government official said,” the New York Times reports.
The Washington Post : “Although Monday's detonation did not appear to be a significant technical advance over Pyongyang's first underground test three years ago, it has triggered a faster and more negative response from other countries, including China and Russia, North Korea's historical allies. The missile firings are adding to the tension.”
The Washington Times wonders whether these latest tests are part of Kim Jong Il's attempts at building a legacy before he steps down.
The Boston Globe calls North Korea’s nuclear test "its most defiant move since President Obama took office" and that it "presents a direct challenge to the new US administration's more conciliatory approach to ending North Korea's nuclear program."
The Washington Post’s editorial : Don’t respond.
CONTINUED >>
Politico looks at how the tide has turned for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. "Although Obama never lost confidence in one of his earliest Cabinet picks, a turning point for Geithner came during a seven-hour marathon meeting at the White House on March 15. The president’s top aides could see that he had thought through all the options and had thoughtful, authoritative answers to all their questions. The scathing Feb. 10 reviews were partly a result of an exhausted, overextended staff. But Geithner has had to work through a presidency’s worth of problems in just a few months."
The Hill takes a look at the possibility of Obama making "recess appointments," which would allow "him to install a nominee who would otherwise need Senate confirmation."
“U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in the past one of China's sharpest critics, Tuesday promoted common ground with China in the fight to combat global warming,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “‘I think this climate crisis is game changing for the U.S.-China relationship. It is an opportunity we cannot miss,’ Ms. Pelosi told the U.S.-China Clean Energy Forum, which brings together experts and businesses from both sides to come up with recommendations on climate-change policy.”
"After a politically messy few weeks that forced them to play defense, Democratic leaders will return to work next week hoping to shift attention back on their top priorities -- namely, a universal health care package and a climate change overhaul," Roll Call writes. "Congress enters a two-month legislative sprint starting June 1. But a slew of intraparty squabbles and ongoing controversies over torture and terror threaten to bog down the meat of the Democrats’ summer agenda." The Hill reports. Immigration reform , meanwhile, could be on the agenda for the fall.
CNN: “As Colin Powell fires back against Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh in the latest skirmish in the battle over the future of the Republican Party, a new national poll indicates that Americans have a much more favorable opinion of Powell than Cheney or Limbaugh. The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey , released Monday, suggests that 70 percent have a favorable opinion of Powell, who was Secretary of State during President George W. Bush's first term, and who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Persian Gulf War.”
“Only 30 percent of those polled have a favorable view of Limbaugh, the popular conservative radio talk show host, with 53 percent saying they hold an unfavorable opinion. In poll numbers released Thursday, 37 percent say they have a favorable opinion of Dick Cheney.”
"Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) is heading to Iowa on June 1 to deliver a keynote political address, tour a biotechnology firm and participate in a meet-and-greet at a local ice cream parlor," Roll Call writes. "Feel free to draw your own conclusions." Roll Call writes. "But Gingrich said he would not even decide on a 2012 White House bid until 2011."
OKLAHOMA: Former Rep. J.C. Watts
won't run for Oklahoma governor. "With Watts out of the race, Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.) is considered the front-runner against state Sen. Randy Brogdon, the only other announced GOP candidate" in the open governor's race.
PENNSYLVANIA: Stu Rothenberg , writing in Roll Call, throws some cold water on claims that Pat Toomey won in a Democratic-leaning district and says flatly that "Toomey is not the front-runner in that race" -- despite a former Toomey chief of staff making the claim.
First Read will be on vacation this long Memorial Day weekend, although we will update the site if news warrants. Otherwise, we'll see you Tuesday morning.
Have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.
THE WEEK AHEAD: Supreme Court choice, Viva Las Vegas, Durbin vs. Gingrich on Meet the Press, and Par-tay!
From NBC's Mark Murray Sarah Palin , Mitt Romney , Mark Sanford , and Bobby Jindal . But not so much on Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty -- outside of that never-ending recount in his state.
But conservatives are praising what appears to be Pawlenty's victory in his budget standoff with the Dem-controlled Minnesota legislature. Opines Kimberley Strassel in today's Wall Street Journal : "If Republicans are looking to get back their conservative groove, they could do worse than study Minnesota's budget brawl. Mr. Pawlenty deftly (and amusingly) outmaneuvered his Democratic opposition, not only saving his state from huge tax increases but clearing the way to cut government spending. Call it a refreshing break from the financial-crisis norm."
Next up for Pawlenty, though: that contentious Minnesota recount.
From NBC's Mark Murray Michael Steele no longer guest-host Bill Bennett's radio's show?
Subbing for Bennett again, Steele seemed to suggest that
Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination and the presidential contest because he's black -- and because the media didn't vet him due to the color of his skin.
According to the folks at the liberal-leaning
Think Progress blog, Steele said this:
"The problem that we have with this president is we don’t know him. He was not vetted, folks... He was not vetted, because the press fell in love with the black man running for the office. 'Oh gee, wouldn’t it be neat to do that? Gee, wouldn’t it make all of our liberal guilt just go away? We can continue to ride around in our limousines and feel so lucky to be alive in an America with a black president.' Okay that’s wonderful, great scenario, nice backdrop. But what does he stand for? What does he believe?"
He then said Republicans made a mistake by not seizing on Obama's ties to the controversial Jeremiah Wright. "And that's why I keep going to back the point -- the missed opportunity was dissecting and understanding Rev. Wright," Steele said.
From NBC's Mark Murray
Liberty University, the school in Virginia founded by the late
Jerry Falwell , has expelled the Democratic Party club on the campus, saying that the national Democratic Party's views contradict the university's mission. (Hat tip:
Ben Smith .)
Said a school official in an email to the Democratic club, according to the
Lynchburg (VA) newspaper : "The Democratic Party platform is contrary to the mission of Liberty University and to Christian doctrine (supports abortion, federal funding of abortion, advocates repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, promotes the "LGBT" agenda, hate crimes, which include sexual orientation and gender identity, socialism, etc.)."
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe held a conference call with reporters in support of the Democrats at Liberty University.
Of course, one must ask: Just how many Dems attend Liberty?
From NBC's Scott Foster President Obama just congratulated the son of his 2008 Republican rival, John Sidney McCain IV, as the younger McCain today became the fourth McCain to graduate today from the U.S. Naval Academy.
As the two shook hands at
the academy's commencement ceremony , the applause from the crowd was slightly more pronounced compared with the other graduating midshipmen.
Father
John McCain was in the audience for the graduation.
While Obama didn't refer to the Arizona senator in his graduation speech, earlier today he acknowledged McCain's presence at the graduation during a bill signing ceremony on reforming the Pentagon's weapons acquisition program. "Sen. McCain couldn't be here today, because he's making sure he has a good seat to watch his son graduate from the Naval Academy in a few hours. And that's where I'm headed as soon as I catch my ride over here."
From NBC's Mark Murray Creigh Deeds -- the least well-known of the three Dems -- picked up the Washington Post's endorsement , a boost for the sole candidate who hails from outside the DC suburbs.
Second, a new
DailyKos/Research 2000 poll shows
Terry McAuliffe with a sizable lead (36%) over
Brian Moran (22%), and Deeds (13%). Caveat: This race is hard to poll, because we just don't know who will turn out.
Now comes
a new story about the race in National Journal by Jennifer Skalka, who fixes her spotlight on McAuliffe.
"McAuliffe's supporters say he will bowl over the competition by launching an air and ground war (he has more than 50 field workers) that won't be easily rivaled, and that will be built on a retooled Bill Clinton esque 'It's the economy, stupid' message emphasizing job creation. Detractors predict that McAuliffe's appeal will prove quite limited, that voters will reject him as an interloper."
More: In a turn of the screw not lost on local political observers, McAuliffe is playing down the work for which he is best known -- boosting the Clintons -- to cast himself as an independent voice for Virginians. That is a tricky maneuver, given that McAuliffe is simultaneously trying to cash in on Bill Clinton's star power by appearing with him in Richmond, Roanoke, and the state's Washington suburbs... Obama's landslide in [Virginia's primary] signaled the state's lack of interest in Clinton 2.0. So McAuliffe is refashioning himself in the model of, well, Obama -- a post-partisan figure devoted to job creation and renewable energy. But questions remain: Why does the salesman want to govern? And can he win?"
From NBC's Mark Murray cover story of the latest issue of National Journal , Ron Brownstein brings up a theme we've discussed here: the Republican Party's increasingly geographic isolation to the South -- and the potential political problem that poses for the party.
"Republican strength in the South has both compensated for and masked the extent of the GOP’s decline elsewhere. By several key measures, the party is now weaker outside the South than at any time since the Depression; in some ways, it is weaker than ever before," Brownstein writes. "Today the GOP holds a smaller share of non-Southern seats in the House and Senate than at any other point in its history except the apex of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s popularity during the early days of the New Deal. What is perhaps even more dramatic is that Republicans in the past five presidential elections have won a smaller share of the Electoral College votes available outside of the South than in any other five election sequence since the party’s formation in 1854."
In the story, former New Hampshire Rep. Charlie Bass (R) says this: “The current crisis of the Republican Party is whether it wants to be a regional party or whether it can try to expand ideologically and appeal to other regions.”
So far in the first four months of the Obama presidency -- with Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania switching parties, with Jon Huntsman of Utah going to work for Obama (and refused to speak to a Michigan GOP country because he wasn't conservative enough) -- we've gotten an early answer to Bass's question.
From Chuck Todd and Mark Murray The week that was : In the first four months of the Obama presidency, these past seven days might very well have been the toughest for the young administration and the Democratic Congress. The president received flak from the right and left over his national security positions; he suffered his biggest congressional setback when Congress stripped his desired funding to close the Gitmo prison; and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a rough week in her back-and-forth with the CIA (and tries to turn the page today with her weekly press conference at 10:15 am ET). But things this week were neither as bad for Democrats -- and good for Republicans -- as you might think. Although not in the spotlight, Congress passed two more pieces of legislation, on weapons acquisition reform and on credit cards, which President Obama signs into law today. (By the way, this is the umpteenth time the White House has broken its five-day review pledge.) Republicans can certainly say a lot of things about the Democrats in Congress and at the White House, but they can’t criticize them for being unproductive. This is no do-nothing Congress. In addition, while Republicans obviously are enjoying putting Obama and Pelosi on the defensive, you have to wonder whether highlighting Michael Steele, Dick Cheney, and a resolution equating Democrats as socialists was a positive development for them, at least in the long run.
Video: In dueling speeches delivered Thursday, President Barack Obama defended his plan to close Guantanamo, but former Vice President Dick Cheney made it clear that he viewed things very differently. NBC's Andrea Mitchell, Pete Williams, and David Gregory report.
***
Buying time : As for Obama’s speech yesterday, it was uncanny how similar it was to the one on race he gave a year ago in Philadelphia. It took place in a symbolic setting (the Constitution Center in Philly vs. the National Archives in DC); it touched on his own biography (“I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents” -- the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence, he said yesterday); and it came at a time when he found himself on the defensive (Jeremiah Wright vs. national security). Unlike his speech on race, however, yesterday’s wasn’t a homerun, though Obama’s singles and doubles still look pretty. Also, as expected, it was short on details about what he plans to do with those Gitmo detainees. Finally, Obama was more defensive than we've seen in a while, and the nuance that he preached just isn't as accepted by partisans on either side of these thorny national security issues. But what the speech did do was buy himself time with Congress and the American public before Gitmo closes in January. And in the meantime, the administration hopes stories like this
Washington Post piece sink in: “Thirty-three international terrorists, many with ties to al-Qaeda, reside in a single federal prison in Florence, Colo., with little public notice.” What say you, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, and Harry Reid?
***
Cheney’s turn : As for Cheney’s speech, the former vice president probably should have taken a few extra minutes to tweak his remarks. For instance, the part that hit Obama for not believing we're at war seemed odd, since the president spent a good chunk of his speech talking about just that -- we're at war. In fact, Obama’s war rhetoric was so striking that Jon Stewart found it rather easy to compare Obama's words to, ready for this, former President Bush. As for the rest of Cheney's speech, the play it's getting is probably what the White House was gambling on when it decided to elevate the ex-VP by giving his speech on the same day. Bottom line: Cheney's positions on national security are more popular than Cheney himself, and that may explain the motivation on the White House part to pick Cheney. Another thing: The style contrast between Obama and Cheney was more striking than the issue differences -- Obama's nuance and search for the middle ground, versus Cheney's assuredness and black-and-white rhetoric. And don’t miss this from
David Brooks : “When Cheney lambastes the change in security policy, he’s not really attacking the Obama administration. He’s attacking the Bush administration. In his speech on Thursday, he repeated in public a lot of the same arguments he had been making within the Bush White House as the policy decisions went more and more the other way.”
*** Changing the conversation : Back to Obama’s speech, one of his other goals was to get the national security conversation to the point that it goes back to page A4. Indeed, while we’re all fixated on the national security fight, check out all the other things Obama has accomplished this week:
-- May 18: Met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Middle East peace
-- May 19: Announced new national fuel efficiency standards
-- May 20: Signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act & the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act;
-- May 22: Signs the defense acquisition and credit card reforms into law. Also today, at 10:00 am ET, Obama gives his third and final commencement address this season -- to the Naval Academy’s graduating seniors. As Politico notes, one of those graduating seniors is John McCain’s son, Jack, and the whole McCain family will be in attendance.
*** Pure energy : Last night, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the long-awaited cap-and-trade bill. It’s amazing the attention a committee passage for a bill got yesterday. The fact that some environmental groups (like Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen) are against the legislation may be music to the White House’s ears; when they get attacked from the left, it gives them the opportunity to look like the pragmatic compromisers. Maybe this energy bill has a better shot at passage this year than the developing C.W. had indicated a few months ago.
*** Mr. Deeds : Creigh Deeds getting the Washington Post’s endorsement today might be the death knell for Brian Moran. Yet if Moran continues to launch negatives on McAuliffe, then watch out for Deeds. Everything is going exactly the way Deeds needs it to go in a three-way race: He gets the Post endorsement for Northern Virginia, and Moran and McAuliffe are butting heads.
***
Meet Leah Ward Sears : Today, we profile SCOTUS possibility Leah Ward Sears, 53, who currently serves as the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court; she was originally appointed to the court by Gov. Zell Miller in 1992… Is an African-American woman, and the conventional wisdom is that Obama will pick a woman, a minority, or both… She and her husband, Haskell Ward, both donated to Obama’s presidential campaign… Despite their opposing judicial philosophies, is friendly with Clarence Thomas; he reached out to her during her 1992 re-election bid when she was a target by some due to her race… In the widely reported case of 17-year-old Genarlow Wilson -- who was convicted of aggravated child molestation for having consensual oral sex with a 15 year-old girl -- wrote for the majority that Wilson’s punishment was "grossly disproportionate" to the crime, which "did not rise to the level of culpability of adults who prey on children."… Before joining the Georgia Supreme Court, served on the state’s Superior Court and on Atlanta’s city court… Received her law degree from Emory University (1979) and her undergraduate degree from Cornell (1976).
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 11 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails .
“In back-to-back speeches, President Obama and former vice president Dick Cheney faced off yesterday, both forcefully presenting their sharply different views on how to keep America safe from terrorism, the effectiveness of harsh interrogations, and whether the 240 Guantanamo Bay detainees pose an imminent danger if brought to American soil,” the Boston Globe writes.
Video: President Obama delivers his address on national security, terrorism and the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison. The
Wall Street Journal says, “Mr. Obama, speaking forcefully from the rotunda of the National Archives before the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, sought to regain the high ground in the debate, arguing that his changes were needed to restore ‘the power of our most fundamental values.’ He conceded that some key Bush-era policies would remain, from extralegal military commissions to indefinite detentions. But he said he had hoped that by banning interrogation techniques that others have called torture, and by vowing to close Guantanamo Bay in his first week as president, he would move beyond the divisive debates of the past few years, and pivot to his ambitious domestic agenda.”
Video: Former Vice President Dick Cheney delivers his speech on national security. The
Washington Post : “Presidential scholars could not recall another moment when consecutive administrations intersected so early and in such a public way.”
Politico adds, “The most popular politician in the country found himself pushed up against a wall by one of the least popular in Cheney – the leading voice in a budding Republican attack on Obama over national defense, one of the GOP’s oldest (and most successful) cudgels against Democrats.”
CONTINUED >>
Politico: "After a one-two punch from Newt Gingrich and Dick Cheney, House Minority Leader John Boehner and other Republican lawmakers worry that their party has overplayed its hand on Nancy Pelosi. The Republicans’ fear: Gingrich’s call for Pelosi’s ouster has set an unattainable goal, and Cheney’s jabs at her during a speech Thursday will allow Democrats to portray the controversy as a partisan attack by one of the GOP’s most polarizing figures. ‘If the story becomes about us and not her, it’s a problem for us,’ said a senior Republican lawmaker.”
“A bill to create the first national limit on greenhouse-gas emissions was approved by a House committee yesterday after a week of late-night debates that cemented the shift of climate change from rhetorical jousting to a subject of serious, if messy, Washington policymaking,” the
Washington Post reports. “The 33 to 25 vote was a major victory for House Democrats, who had softened and jury-rigged the bill to reassure manufacturers and utilities -- and members of their own party from the South and Midwest -- that they would not suffer greatly.”
More: “President Obama supports the bill, an aide said yesterday, though some provisions are weaker than what he advocated during the presidential campaign. In particular, Obama called for all pollution credits to be auctioned off by the government, but the House bill would give away about 85 percent of them. After that shift and a weakening of the bill's demands for new renewable electricity, the environmental group Greenpeace withdrew its support. But many environmental activists have accepted the changes.”
In a conference call with reporters, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger said she was optimistic about Congress's chances of passing the contentious Employee Free Choice Act, a.k.a "card check," NBC's Harry Enten reports. "There needs to be a vote on [the legislation]... I think there is going to be a vote one way or another. I think we are going to pass the Employee Free Choice Act."
The RNC has a new
Web video – drawing on that old LBJ “Daisy” ad -- that hits the Obama administration over Gitmo.
From NBC's Mark Murray National Review political blog , former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney weighed in on today's Obama vs. Cheney showdown on national security. And he vigorously sided with the former vice president.
"Two speeches, two very different men," Romney writes. "Former Vice President Cheney seeks no political future. He speaks from the vantage of one who witnessed the killing of our fellow citizens, who deliberated and defined the strategy that would successfully prevent further murders of our fellow Americans. His address today was direct, well-reasoned, and convincing."
Romney continues, "President Obama, on the other hand, continues to speak as a politician... He struggles to explain how he is keeping faith with the liberal advocates who promoted his campaign but in doing so, he breaks faith with the interests of the American people. When it comes to protecting the nation, we have a conflicted president. And his address today was more tortured than the enhanced interrogation techniques he decries."
From NBC's Athena Jones America's founding documents are a compass that must guide government decisions on national security, President Obama told the audience at the National Archives, defending steps he says will make the country safer and improve its image in the world.
In a wide-ranging, 50-minute speech, the president addressed critics on the right and left -- without mentioning any by name. He spoke about his decision to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and how his administration would seek handle detainees; about his move to release legal memos on enhanced interrogation techniques; about his plans to overhaul the military commissions system; and about his decision not to release photos depicting torture of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama said the Guantanamo Bay prison was a result of "a series of hasty decisions" that were "based on fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions." But he also acknowledged that cleaning up the "misguided experiment" would be complicated.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Luke Russert Steny Hoyer vigorously defended House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today. Hoyer stepped up to the press podium after GOP Rep. Rob Bishop introduced a resolution calling for a bipartisan investigation into Pelosi's claim that the CIA misled her about the use of waterboarding. The measure was later tabled by the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Defending Pelosi, Hoyer said: "I have been saying for some weeks now that Republicans are pursuing a policy of distraction -- a policy of trying to divert the view of the American public from the serious business that confronts this Congress and this country." He then repeated an old line from former Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt saying: "Republicans for the last few weeks have been focused on the politics of personal destruction." Hoyer, then quoting a line from Time magazine, added: "[I]n looking at the substance of the accusations, it increasingly looks like she [Pelosi] was right."
One of Hoyer's lines of defense was to repeat statements made by top Republican officials over the past five years that were highly critical of the intelligence community. Hoyer quoted Minority Leader John Boehner as saying on December 9th, 2007 in regards to the national intelligence estimate on Iran: "Either I don't have confidence in what the intelligence community told me several months ago, or I don't have confidence in what they are telling me today." Then Hoyer quoted Newt Gingrich on the same estimate in 2007 as saying: "It is so professionally unworthy intellectually indefensible and fundamentally misleading it is damaging to our national security."
Hoyer's tone was stern and serious, and it was clear he was fervently backing up the leader of his caucus. Hoyer rejected Boehner's call for a bipartisan commission to investigate Pelosi's charge that the CIA lied to her and instead called for an investigation into how the United States supposedly allowed torture to occur. *** UPDATE ***
From NBC's Luke Russert 411-0 vote , the House of Representatives passed the Weapons Acquisition System Reform Through Enhancing Technical Knowledge and Oversight Act of 2009. The legislation now heads to President Obama's desk, which he will surely sign.
The weapons bill aims to give the government more oversight regarding the specifics of the military's budget in order to curb wasteful spending. Among the reforms within the bill are the following:
The bill sailed through the Senate by a vote of 93-0. The Congressional Budget Office says the new reforms will cost about $55 million dollars and should be in place by the end of 2010. It is expected that the reforms will save millions if not billions of dollars over the next decade.
From NBC's Mark Murray
Reacting to
President Obama's speech, Senate Majority
Harry Reid told reporters today that he and other members of Congress are still awaiting details about the president's plan to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Reid has previously said that he opposes the transfer of Gitmo detainees to the United States. Asked today if Obama's speech had made him soften his opposition, Reid called the address "a broad vision," but said he is looking forward to the details when they come out. "We want and are willing to work with him to close Gitmo," the senator said.
Asked what else Congress and the American people need to hear from Obama on Gitmo, Reid answered, "I'm going to leave that to the president."
"He is better at speaking than I am."
From NBC's Luke Russert and Mark Murray
Responding to
President Obama's national security speech today, House Minority Leader
John Boehner criticized the president's stance on the closing of Guantanamo Bay. "Republicans oppose releasing these terrorists or importing them into our local communities," he said today at his weekly press conference.
Boehner also accused Obama of holding a "pre-9/11 mentality" in fighting terrorism -- which he argued has made America less safe. "Today, the president spoke a great deal about trust, but he declined to provide Americans with a clear plan for what to do with these terrorists," he added.
"What he did make clear, however, was that despite the overwhelming opposition from the American people and a bipartisan majority here in Congress, he's moving ahead importing terrorists into the United States for trial in our own civilian courts. I think this is a pre-9/11 mentality and I think it'll make our nation less safe. We cannot afford to learn the same lesson twice."
Also in his press conference, Boehner again went on the attack against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her back-and-forth with the CIA. He also noted that House Republicans were introducing a resolution to launch an investigation into Pelosi's allegations that the CIA misled her on the use of waterboarding. As expected, however, the Democratic-controlled House tabled the measure.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Ken Strickland
Republican Senate Leader
Mitch McConnell said Congress didn't need another speech from
President Obama , but instead needs a plan for closing Gitmo. "A big flowery campaign speech is fine," McConnell said at a news conference. "But what the Congress voted for yesterday is not for a speech, but for a plan."
He again criticized the president for setting an "arbitrary" deadline for closing the facility, adding that neither former
President Bush nor Sen.
John McCain set deadlines when they recommended closing Gitmo. "And the reason they didn't is because it's easier said than done," McConnell said.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray
President Obama makes wise decisions, as I believe he has done in some respects on Afghanistan, and in reversing his plan to release incendiary photos, he deserves our support. And when he faults or mischaracterizes the national security decisions we made in the Bush years, he deserves an answer.
Video: Former Vice President Dick Cheney delivers a speech on national security. On enhanced interrogation techniques:
I was and remain a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program. The interrogations were used on hardened terrorists after other efforts failed. They were legal, essential, justified, successful, and the right thing to do... [T]o call this a program of torture is to libel the dedicated professionals who have saved American lives, and to cast terrorists and murderers as innocent victims. What's more, to completely rule out enhanced interrogation methods in the future is unwise in the extreme. It is recklessness cloaked in righteousness, and would make the American people less safe.
Bush administration's record:
From NBC's Mark Murray President Obama's speech today on national security, on closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, and on transparency.
On the U.S. Constitution and American values
Video: President Obama delivers an address on national security, terrorism and the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison. On the
Bush administration
After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era -- that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law... Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. I believe that many of these decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that all too often our government made decisions based on fear rather than foresight.
From NBC's Amna Nawaz About a dozen cameras and a packed room await Cheney's speech. A big screen has been set up in the small room, where the Obama speech will be piped into the Cheney audience.
Cheney's speech will immediately follow Obama's.
From NBC's Mark Murray and Michael Viqueira
At some point today, a Republican member of Congress will
introduce a measure on the House floor , calling for a bipartisan investigation into the back-and-forth between House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and the CIA.
The resolution has absolutely no chance of passing, but this is yet another way House Republicans are trying to keep Pelosi in the news -- even on a day dominated by Obama's and Cheney's dueling speeches on national security.
"The Speaker has had a full week now to either produce the evidence or retract and apologize, and she's done neither," a senior GOP aide tells First Read. There is no choice now. A bipartisan investigation is needed to get to the facts."
From Chuck Todd and Mark Murray *** Showdown over security : Last year was the first presidential contest since 1952 when a sitting president or vice president wasn’t on the ballot. But what if Dick Cheney had run to succeed the term-limited Bush? That’s a question New York Times columnist Ross Douthat raised last month, arguing that Cheney as the GOP nominee would have been good for the Republican Party, in general, because he would have been a more down-the-line conservative -- giving the right a look at how the campaign would have turned out in that case. Douthat also said that Cheney as the nominee would have been good for the country, because it would have settled the debate once and for all over the Bush administration’s interrogation practices; McCain, of course, opposed them. Alas, we never got that Obama-Cheney presidential race. But we get the next-best thing today: a debate between the two over torture and security policies. Obama speaks at 10:10 am ET from the National Archives, home to the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. And then about 30 minutes later at the American Enterprise Institute, a neoconservative think tank, Cheney delivers a competing speech to defend the Bush administration’s interrogation practices and policies toward terrorist suspects in general.
Video: President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney are set to give competing speeches on national security and the president’s plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. NBC’s Chuck Todd reports. ***
Previewing Obama’s speech : According to an administration official,
Obama’s speech will stress that keeping Americans safe is his paramount responsibility (“That is what the president thinks about every morning when he wakes up and every night when he goes to sleep”); that the previous administration’s policies weren’t effective or sustainable and “failed to trust in our institutions, and … failed to use our values as a compass”; that enhanced interrogation techniques aren’t effective and undermine the rule of law; and that the prison at Guantanamo Bay has weakened U.S. security (“For over seven years, we have detained hundreds of people at Guantanamo. During that time, the system of Military Commissions at Guantanamo succeeded in convicting only three suspected terrorists,” the official says.) As for what Obama plans to do with the Gitmo detainees, the official explains: 1) when feasible, try those who have violated U.S. laws in federal courts, 2) when necessary, try those violate the rule of war through military commissions, and 3) when possible, transfer detainees who can be transferred to third countries. One issue you should NOT expect the president to mention: Nancy Pelosi.
***
Previewing Cheney’s speech : Meanwhile, Politico’s Mike Allen gets a heads-up of what Cheney will say. The gist: “When President Obama makes wise decisions, he deserves our support. And when he mischaracterizes the national security decisions we made in the Bush years, he deserves an answer. The point is not to look backward. But a truthful telling of history is necessary to inform our choices going forward.” Allen also notes that Cheney will defend the effectiveness of Gitmo and enhanced interrogation techniques. Finally, Cheney will “say the American people deserve to see the whole picture as they assess the policies of the past -- not just half the story.” We've also gotten a heads-up on what the former VP will say. It's our understanding that among the praise Cheney will dish out will be the administration's decision to rescind releasing those military prison abuse photos. For his part, Cheney believes his role is helping keep the Obama administration from capitulating to the left on these national security issues, which he believes is its natural instinct. Cheney also will continue to make the case that the prosecution of the war on terror should be kept out of the hands of law enforcement and should stay in the hands of the military.
*** Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear : The hoopla over today’s dueling speeches on national security, however, is a bit ironic. As Jack Goldsmith, who served as Bush’s assistant attorney general, writes in the New Republic , many of Obama’s recent decisions on national security are much closer to the late Bush practices than many expected. Goldsmith offers a few reasons why the practices are similar: 1) that the Bush policies “were woven into the fabric of the national security architecture” in ways that are difficult to unravel; 2) that Bush’s policies reflected longstanding decisions on some executive powers; and 3) that governing is much harder than campaigning, especially when it comes to protecting the country. All that said, Goldsmith explains that the biggest difference between the Bush and Obama as it relates to terrorism is packaging. “The Bush administration shot itself in the foot time and time again … by indifference to process and presentation. The Obama administration, by contrast, is intensely focused on these issues.” He adds that the biggest mistake Bush and Cheney made: going public with their belief that executive power should be expanded.
*** The context : Today’s Obama and Cheney speeches come amidst some new national security developments. First, per NBC’s Pete Williams, Obama administration officials say they’ve decided on the first Guantanamo Bay detainee, Ahmed Ghailani, who will be brought to the U.S. to stand trial on terrorism charges. Ghailani is under indictment for his role in the Africa embassy bombings in 1998, and federal prosecutors would put him on trial in New York. Williams says that makes sense, because other defendants in the embassy bombings were tried and convicted there. Second, NBC’s Williams also reports that federal and local authorities said last night they've defeated a plot to attack several targets in the New York City area, including synagogues. They say it was the plan of four men who have long been under investigation. Third, the New York Times gets its hands on an unreleased Pentagon report concluding that “one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity.”
Video: Under questioning on Capitol Hill, FBI Director Robert Mueller sides with Republican critics of the Obama administration concerned that terror detainees will end up on U.S. soil. NBC's Pete Williams reports. ***
Republicans making hay out of Gitmo : In recent days, the controversy over the prison at Guantanamo Bay has proven to be perhaps the most frustrating issue for the young Obama administration. And for that, the Obama folks can thank congressional Republicans, who have made considerable political hay out of this. As the
AP puts it, Republicans “have searched mightily for a good political issue this year as their traditional three Gs — gays, guns and God — have lost some steam. Now a fourth G — Guantanamo Bay — is handing them big boost, forcing President Barack Obama on the defensive.” Yet NBC’s Ken Strickland points out that the debate over where to put Gitmo detainees is a question that shows fractures inside both the Democratic and Republican caucuses. Some Republicans (like Mitch McConnell) don’t want to close Gitmo at all, arguing that it’s a safe and secure prison. But some Republicans (like John McCain) and most Democrats want to close Gitmo but see an Obama plan first. There are other Democrats (like Harry Reid) who want to close Gitmo but ensure that the detainees don’t come to the U.S. And then there are Democrats (like Dianne Feinstein) who want to close Gitmo and think detainees can be housed in U.S.-based prisons.
Video: MSNBC’s Ed Schultz joins the Morning Joe gang to discuss President Obama’s campaign promises, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's charge that she was misled about the use of waterboarding, and the future of the Guantanamo Bay prison. ***
Don’t miss this …: Very quietly yesterday, the Obama administration did something the previous Bush administration could never do: issue a memo to all federal agencies to be mindful of states rights. That's right -- Obama's administration issues a pro-states rights memo. Believe it or not, according to NBC's Pete Williams, the Bush 43 administration never put out a basic guiding memo to federal agencies on how to handle state regulations when they potentially conflict with federal regulations. Williams says that Reagan, Bush 41 and Clinton also issued a memo like this, but Bush 43 never did. The wording of this memo may seem contradictory to those on the right who want to believe that the Obama administration wants to concentrate MORE power with the federal government. And for those who love irony, keep reading...
*** Pot meet kettle : Yesterday afternoon, the Republican National Committee -- avoiding embarrassment -- watered down its resolution renaming the Democratic Party the “Democrat-Socialist Party,” and instead passed a resolution saying that the Democrats are “dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals.” RNC Chairman Michael Steele then released this statement: "The Republican Party strongly believes that a government which spends without restraint, incurs record amounts of debt, owns banks and makes cars is not the right kind of 'change' America needs.” But here’s the problem for Steele and the GOP, and here’s why Steele was a bit premature saying the party no longer needs to look back: Steele’s sentence -- sans the line about the cars -- could also apply to George W. Bush’s presidency.
*** Courting Wood : The buzz about Diane Wood for the open SCOTUS slot reached a bit of a fever pitch yesterday, as it's clear from multiple sources and reports she sat down with Obama in a one-on-one interview for the job. Perhaps the only thing keeping the president from having already named Wood: her age, 58. Many on the left would like to see the president nominate someone to the courts who’s a bit younger, a la John Roberts.
*** Meet Johnnie Rawlinson : Our latest profile of Obama’s potential SCOTUS picks is Johnnie Rawlinson, 56, who currently sits on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, nominated to the position by Bill Clinton in 2000…. As a black female, she checks the boxes of what Obama might be looking for (either a woman or a minority)… Was Harry Reid’s choice -- though second choice -- as a federal district judge in 1997, and has known Reid since he was on the Nevada Gaming Commission from 1977-1981… Has said this about race relations: “I can say truthfully, race relations have improved a thousand fold in the U.S. However, when I'm outside this building, people are taken aback that I'm a judge who's African-American. I think that's a testament to the fact that it has not become commonplace and evidence of the work we need to do, so that there is no surprise when there's an African-American judge, or a judge of any other ethnicity or a judge who's in a wheelchair."… Before being selected to the bench, worked in Clark County’s (NV) DA office… Earned law degree from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (1979)… Earned undergraduate degree from North Carolina A&T State University (1974).
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 12 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails .
Talk about the search for "green shoots.” Check out this
Washington Post lead: "The financial system, frozen solid for the past nine months, is in a spring thaw. And it's happening even though many of the Obama administration's major rescue programs have yet to get off the ground. The improvement reflects the combined impact of a wide range of actions, many of them taken with little public attention, according to government officials and private economists. But more important than any single program, the sources say, is a deepening confidence from financial markets that the government is prepared to take aggressive action -- a confidence that Obama officials have repeatedly worked to cultivate in speeches and public appearances."
“President Obama will attempt today to answer critics of his dismantling of Bush-era policies on detention and interrogation, in a speech reminding Americans that strong national security and adherence to laws and national values are not mutually exclusive,” the Washington Post reports. “Beyond this lofty reassurance, senior administration officials said, Obama will also repeat the case he made on his third day in office that the Bush administration's system of dealing with ‘enemy combatants’ -- resulting in three prosecutions in seven years and challenged by U.S. courts and allies -- was not sustainable.”
Obama’s speech comes as the New York Times front-pages this news: “An unreleased Pentagon report concludes that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has returned to terrorism or militant activity… The conclusion could strengthen the arguments of critics who have warned against the transfer or release of any more detainees as part of President Obama’s plan to shut down the prison by January. Past Pentagon reports on Guantánamo recidivism have been met with skepticism from civil liberties groups and criticized for their lack of detail.”
The Times also reports on a closed-door meeting that Obama had with human-rights groups yesterday. “The two participants, outsiders who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the session was intended to be off the record, said they left the meeting dismayed. They said Mr. Obama told them he was thinking about ‘the long game’ — how to establish a legal system that would endure for future presidents. He raised the issue of preventive detention himself, but made clear that he had not made a decision on it. Several senior White House officials did not respond to requests for comment on the outsiders’ accounts.”
CONTINUED >>
According to the Washington Post , the Supreme Court buzz has centered on two possibilities: Diane Wood of the 7th Circuit and Solicitor General Elena Kagan. And Obama met with Wood yesterday. “Wood arrived in Washington on Tuesday to attend a conference at the Georgetown University Law Center, but she met with Obama as well, according to an individual familiar with the vetting process. Wood is a 14-year veteran of the federal bench and has known Obama since both taught at the University of Chicago Law School.”
Wood was at the White House yesterday, though no one saw her meet with the president. But according to multiple sources, she did have some one-on-one time with the president. Of course, the elephant in the room with Wood is that she's in her late 50s, and there are a bunch of liberals who would like to see the president borrow a page from the Bush playbook and find the youngest qualified court folks as possible.
CALIFORNIA : George Will hails the voters in the state for rejecting those budget ballot measures and wonders if Obama ends up bailing out the state. "California's voters are complicit in their state's collapse. They elect and reelect the legislators off whom public employees unions batten. Also, voters have promiscuously used their state's plebiscitary devices to control and fatten the budget. In November, as the dark fiscal clouds lowered, they authorized $9.95 billion more in debt as a down payment on a perhaps $75 billion high-speed-rail project linking San Francisco and Los Angeles -- a delight California cannot afford.”
“In a surreal attempt to terrify voters into supporting the propositions, Schwarzenegger (job approval: 33 percent) threatened to do something sensible: sell such state assets as San Quentin prison, which sits on prime ocean-view real estate. But Californians should now pay a real price, in realism about ways and means, for Schwarzenegger's wasted years. His governance-by-attention-deficit-disorder has involved flitting from one trendy irrelevance (e.g., stem-cell research) to another (e.g., cooling the planet) while the state has sagged. Fittingly, he was in Washington as his shambolic legacy was being defined by Tuesday's defeat. "
NORTH CAROLINA : GOP Sen. Richard Burr, who, if he wins re-election in 2010, could end up becoming a rising national star, is taking the lead for the Senate GOP on the issue of health care. "The Republican plan would tax health- care benefits that workers receive. But it would then give tax credits to families to buy their own health insurance on the free market. The effect could be to reduce the employer-based health insurance system commonly in use now. Burr says families ought to have more choice in their health coverage.”
“Meanwhile, Obama and congressional Democrats are pushing to cover 50 million uninsured Americans through both government and private health insurance programs The GOP proposal, written with Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and two House members, draws from the proposal that Republican John McCain used last year in his failed presidential bid. McCain in turn borrowed health-care ideas that Burr and Coburn first introduced in 2007.
PENNSYLVANIA : Vice President Biden has penned a letter for new Democrat Arlen Specter, reports the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza. "Three weeks ago, my friend Senator Arlen Specter added one more feat to his long and impressive career -- he became a Democrat," Biden writes to the more than 500,000 Pennsylvanians on Obama’s email list. "Over the years, we've certainly had our disagreements. During that time, however, Arlen has been my friend, my confidant, and my partner in enacting many pieces of significant legislation." Biden adds, "I know that once you come to know him like I do, you'll be just as happy as I am to have him.”
From NBC's Joel Seidman and Mark Murray
The resolution stated "that the Democratic Party is dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals," and it urged President Obama , the Congress, and the Dem Party to "stop pushing our country towards socialism and governmental control."
RNC Chairman Michael Steele issued this statement after the resolution passed: "The Republican Party strongly believes that a government which spends without restraint, incurs record amounts of debt, owns banks and makes cars is not the right kind of 'change' America needs. Republicans are united in opposition to the destructive policies of the President and Congressional Democrats. I am pleased that the committee adopted a resolution that focuses on the Democrats' policies and their destructive effects on America's economic engine, rather than attempting to rename our opponents. The RNC and the entire Republican Party is moving forward with strength and unity."
From NBC's Pete Williams Eric Holder says that despite the pushback from Congress, he believes the administration will achieve its goal of closing down the Guantanamo Bay detention facility by next January.
"We will be working with Congress to ensure ways that we can reach that goal. I'm confident that we'll be able to do it," he said today at a news conference on health-care fraud.
Asked about FBI Director Robert Mueller's statement today that the Gitmo detainees could pose a threat, even if held in a high-security U.S. prison, Holder said: "I've made consistently clear is that we're not going to do anything that's going to put the American people at risk."
But he said Mueller's concerns will be "taken into account in formulating the plan that we will ultimately use."
From NBC's Abby Livingston Al Franken was unable to appear in person today at the America's Building Trades Union's 2009 Legislative Conference in Washington, he did show up on live video via satellite.
Despite his past life as a comedic celebrity -- and controversial political figure -- Franken has kept a decidedly low profile as the recount has dragged on.
But he was classic Franken today, with lots of pro-union rhetoric. And he was unyielding in his conviction that he won the Minnesota Senate race. For Franken, the word “if” doesn’t exist; it is “when” he will be seated.
"I owe all of you a huge thank you. When you win an election by 312 votes, you know that not one bit of effort went to waste. And it's safe to say that without all of your help, I wouldn't have won this election,” he said.
Franken continued, “Now speaking of this election, many of you have been wondering when it's finally going to be over. We're almost done here with the legal proceedings here in Minnesota. But to tell you the truth, I don't know exactly when I'll get to be seated in Washington, but here is what I do know: I do know that Minnesota had a fair election and a careful recount and I know that I won."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Luke Russert
By a bipartisan 367-61 vote, the House this afternoon passed the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights Act of 2009. It passed the Senate yesterday by a 90-5 margin.
Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner said in a briefing on Tuesday that the bill will provide "a more fair, transparent and simple consumer credit card market." The bill has been deemed consumer friendly by many leading consumer rights groups, and is aimed at cutting down the rising interest rates placed on credit card holders who are more than 30 days late. Here are a few highlights of what the new laws will do for Americans:
-- The bill would extend the grace period from 30 to 60 days before credit card companies could increase the interest rate on the consumer's balance. That effectively bans "universal default," which is the practice of raising interest rates after a customer is 30 days late. If the customer pays on time after the 60 days for six months, the credit card company must revert back to the old interest rate.
-- If the credit card company decides to increase the interest rate on its customers universally, it must give the customers 45 days notice before implementing the new rate.
-- The bill also calls for credit card companies to freeze the initial interest rate of the cardholder for the first year they have the card. And it prohibits credit card companies from charging cardholders a penalty fee when they exceed their credit limit, unless they specifically agree to the penalty in writing.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Harry Enten Artur Davis leads two potential rivals for the Democratic nomination, as well as one Republican rival in the general election, according to a new Anzalone-Liszt Research poll commissioned by the Davis campaign.
In head-to-head matchups, Davis leads Democratic Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobbs , 54%-25%, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Industry Ron Sparks , 56%-26%. He's also ahead of Republican Bradley Byrne , 43%-38%. Byrne is chancellor of Alabama's community college system and a former state senator.
*** UPDATE ***
From NBC's Mark Murray
In advance of
Dick Cheney's big speech on national security tomorrow,
Colin Powell fired back at the former vice president and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh for their recent comments criticizing Powell for endorsing
Obama last fall.
"Rush Limbaugh says, 'Get out of the Republican Party,'" Powell said at a event yesterday in Boston, according to the
Boston Globe . "Dick Cheney says, 'He's already out.' I may be out of their version of the Republican Party, but there's another version of the Republican Party waiting to emerge once again."
More from the Globe: "Powell, who was talked about as a presidential candidate himself over the year, called Obama 'a transformational figure' who 'brings a fresh set of eyes, a fresh set of ideas' at a time the nation urgently needs them. 'He has met the standard of being president,' he said."
From NBC's Ken Strickland 90-6 margin , the Senate today voted to strip the money to close the Guantanamo Bay prison from the war supplemental legislation.
Those voting no: Durbin , Harkin , Leahy , Levin , Reed , Whitehouse (all Democrats)
Not voting today: Byrd, Kennedy , and Rockefeller
*** UPDATE ***
The chief concern, and possibly the most pressing question, for President Obama to address in his GITMO speech tomorrow is where to put the detainees if Gitmo closes. (Some Republicans think it should stay open.) It's a question that shows fractures among both Democratic and Republican caucuses. Here's a quick look at the various views in the Senate.
DON'T CLOSE GITMO AT ALL (Repubs): Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (today on Senate floor): "In my view, these men are exactly where they belong: locked up in a safe and secure prison, and isolated many miles away from the American people. Guantanamo is a secure state-of-the-art facility. It's got courtrooms for military commissions. Everyone who visits is impressed with it. Even the administration acknowledges that Guantanamo is humane and well-run. Americans want these men kept out of their backyards and off the battlefield. Guantanamo guarantees it."
CLOSE GITMO, BUT GET A PLAN FIRST (many Repubs and most Dems): Republican John McCain (yesterday on the floor): "I continue to believe that it is in the interests of the United States of America to close Guantanamo. But all policy-makers must understand just how essential it is to gain the trust of the American people on this sensitive national security issue. We cannot simply proceed without explaining to the American people what the plan is for how these prisoners will be handled in a way that is consistent with American values and protective of our national security."
CLOSE GITMO, BUT DON'T BRING THE DETAINEES TO THE U.S. (Reid and some Dems who's been asked about detainees in their home state prisons):
CLOSE GITMO, THE U.S. CAN HOLD THEM IN SECURE FACILITIES (some Dems):
From NBC's Pete Williams
In a surprisingly candid statement, FBI Director
Robert Mueller said
he's concerned about bringing Gitmo detainees into the United States .
He told a House hearing today that they could radicalize others, even if held in U.S. high-security prisons. And he said if any detainees with terror training are ultimately ordered released, then it would present a challenge to the FBI to keep close tabs on them, either with physical surveillance or wiretaps.
*** UPDATE ***
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray Norm Coleman vs. Al Franken recount until June 1, there are two new developments to report.
First, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has committed $750,000 to help Coleman pay his legal bills. A Republican official insists that this money is to help pay past legal bills -- not future ones that might be incurred if Coleman decides to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's worth pointing out that this $750,000 isn't chump change.
Second, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D), chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has written a letter to Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty , asking him to urge Coleman to concede or sign the election certificate as soon as the Minnesota Supreme Court rules on the recount.
Below is the letter, which Kaine sent yesterday...
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray Earlier today in First Thoughts , we asked this question: "So is living near a prison with CONVICTED rapists or murderers safer than living next to a prison with SUSPECTED terrorists? Discuss."
Well, we've received some answers from Republicans. GOP pollster Glen Bolger emails us, "It's a lot more likely scenario that fellow terrorists would attack a prison to free terrorists than it is for fellow murderers or rapists to do the same."
And Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman to House Minority Leader John Boehner, adds: "Last I checked, most rapists and murderers are NOT part of a radical, world-wide terrorist network. And remember, if the folks remaining at Gitmo weren’t that dangerous, they would have already been released. These are the most dangerous. AND lastly, you put one of these guys in a prison you up the chances of an attack on that prison."
From NBC's Mark Murray
The official adds that the language is still be worked out, although CNN is reporting that the resolution will call to condemn the "Democrats' march to socialism" -- or something similar to that.
The vote on the resolution is supposed to begin around 5:15 pm ET, and there's supposed to be a media avail after that.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Abby Livingston
***
Obama vs. Cheney : In the past week, a series of thorny national security issues -- all dating back to the Bush era -- has clearly frustrated Team Obama. First, the president angered liberals and human-rights groups when it announced it was opposing the release of those detainee photos. Then his administration said it was keeping the controversial military tribunals, although with some revisions. And now congressional Democrats have rejected Obama’s funding request to help close Guantanamo Bay. These things all set up Obama’s big speech tomorrow on Gitmo and national security. But get ready for a fascinating national security showdown tomorrow, because Obama isn’t the only one speaking on Thursday. Dick Cheney gives a speech tomorrow -- about an hour or so before Obama’s -- at the American Enterprise Institute, a neoconservative think tank. No doubt Cheney will try and respond to the criticisms the Obama administration and other Democrats have been leveling at the former vice president and other Republicans. Of course, Obama's speech comes with a lot of expectations. Many in Washington are already expecting him to somehow calm the critics down on both the left and right with a speech that 1) makes a clearer case why his administration doesn't want to look backwards on interrogations; 2) why Gitmo has to be closed; and 3) and where the Gitmo detainees should be moved.
*** Just askin’ : By the way, we have this one question for the GOP straw-man argument on Gitmo: So is living near a prison with CONVICTED rapists or murderers safer than living next to a prison with SUSPECTED terrorists? Discuss.
*** How to win friends and influence enemies : One thing supporters of the White House are pointing out this week is that, despite the rhetoric from some opponents, the president has had a remarkable early track record at getting long-time opponents to negotiate with each other and with the White House. The examples: yesterday’s emissions announcement (where industry and labor groups stood besides the president), health care (industry folks pledging to reduce health-care costs), and even financial regulation. Obama supporters point out that leading business leaders have showed a willingness to work with the White House, and he's used that to his advantage by getting major compromises early on. Can he keep this up?
Video: Surrounded by leaders from the auto industry, President Barack Obama announces a national energy policy that is designed to boost car and truck mileage, while decreasing fuel consumption and emissions. ***
Steele’s combative speech : Talk to those close to the RNC chair, and they'll tell you the most important takeaway from his speech to GOP state chairs yesterday was the following: The party plans to more directly confront Obama. As inviting a target as other Democrats may be (see Pelosi), Steele made the case the party won't make progress without starting to inflict political damage on the actual leader of the Democratic -- er, “Democrat-Socialist” -- Party: Barack Obama. “We aren’t going to be silent,” he said. “We are going to speak up, and we are going to show that we have the courage of our convictions.” But for those looking for something substantial, issue-wise, Steele's speech was lacking. It had one too many clichés, and didn't seem to get into exactly what the Republican Party stands for. But remember who Steele’s audience was yesterday: members of the RNC. And the chairman is still trying to win over the trust of these folks. So he needed to throw them some red meat and didn't need to get into the weeds. Steele's goal yesterday was assert himself as leader of the party, and he probably took a step forward with these party insiders. Still, it raises an interesting question for all Republican leaders: Just what does the party stand for? It seemed to be a struggle for Steele yesterday.
*** Move along, folks, nothing to see here : Also in his speech yesterday, Steele boldly declared that the Republican Party has turned the corner. “The time for trying to fix or focus on the past has ended…The introspection is now over. The corner has been turned.” But when Steele and other Republicans cite spending and the ways of Washington as the only reasons why they find themselves out of power and at all-time lows in polls, we're not so sure they've learned the lessons from 2006 and 2008 -- which also included Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. attorneys scandal, Harriet Miers, and Terri Schiavo. What do those things have in common? Ideology and favoritism trumped competence and governance; confrontation was more important than compromise. And Republican leaders often stood by and didn’t raise objections. To win elections, you have to win the middle, and right now the middle is breaking Obama’s way, with Arlen Specter joining the Democrats and Jon Huntsman about to work for the administration. One other thing: As Adam Nagourney recently wrote, tone matters in politics. Are RNC members really going to pass a resolution today calling the Democratic Party the “Democrat-Socialist Party”? We’ll find out, although the meeting isn’t supposed to be begin until 5:00 pm ET.
Video: Speaking at a party meeting, RNC Chairman Michael Steele says "the two-party system is making a comeback'" and he intends to make Democrats live up to their "arrogance of power." ***
Pelosi’s job is safe for now : As we noted yesterday, Democrats began rallying around embattled House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. At yesterday’s White House event on his new fuel standards, Obama went out of his way to praise her. And in his pen and pad session, Pelosi’s No. 2, Steny Hoyer, said he believed her in her dispute with the CIA. Still, Republicans are smelling political blood, with former Speaker Newt Gingrich (who knows a thing or two about pushing speakers out of office -- see Jim Wright and himself) writing in
Human Events , “The person who is No. 2 in line to be commander in chief can't have contempt for the men and women who protect our nation. America can't afford it.” But let’s get one thing straight: Pelosi isn't in danger of losing her job -- yet. Gingrich stepped down after a poor GOP showing during the 1998 midterms, as well as receiving an ethics reprimand. And Trent Lott, after his remarks about Strom Thurmond, was expendable for a Bush White House that didn’t trust him. Pelosi doesn't have those problems. In fact, the White House likes her because she takes so many arrows for Obama. But has her margin of error with DC Democrats been slightly eroded? How much does she need to watch herself, for instance, on the John Murtha story and make sure she doesn't get dragged into that?
***
The Terminated : As expected, the budget ballot measures that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger championed went down to defeat yesterday. The only ballot proposition that voters passed was a measure freezing state officials’ salaries when California faces a budget deficit. Schwarzenegger -- who remains in DC and has a media avail with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today at 10:45 am ET -- released this statement last night: “We face a staggering $21.3 billion deficit and in order to prevent a fiscal disaster, Democrats and Republicans must collaborate and work together to address this shortfall. The longer we wait the worse the problem becomes and the more limited our choices will be. That is why tomorrow, we will come together to begin to develop a budget solution that gets our state back on track.” Everything the governor seriously campaigned for went down. With this election now behind him, it's now the second serious attempt at government reform Arnold's attempted that's failed. Is the Arnold experiment now essentially over? Does he have ANY political capital left to attempt anything for the remainder of his term, or is he a lame duck governor thanks to the startup already of the 2010 campaign in that state?
***
Meet Carlos Moreno : Our latest SCOTUS profile is for Carlos Moreno, who currently sits on the California Supreme Court… Pros for Obama: Moreno is Latino, and Latino groups are pressing Obama to select the first Latino Supreme Court justice… Cons: He’s male, and the court is stacked with men with Justice Ginsburg now the only sitting woman. He’s also 60 years old, which might concern some liberals about how long he would be able to serve on the court… The
New York Times today breaks down his ideology: “A moderate whose opinions deftly blend matters of the head and heart, he is admired on the political left and right — part of the reason Kenneth W. Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton and is now the dean of Pepperdine University School of Law, said ‘he is genuinely revered here in California.’ … Before joining the California Supreme Court, served as a federal district judge (appointed by Bill Clinton)… Also served on the Los Angeles Superior Court and the Compton Municipal Court… Received his law degree from Stanford (1975) and his undergraduate degree from Yale (1970).
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 13 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails .
The Washington Post front-pages, “Under pressure from Republicans and concerned about the politics of relocating terrorism suspects to U.S. soil, Senate Democrats rejected President Obama's request for funding to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and vowed to withhold federal dollars until the president decides the fate of the facility's 240 detainees. The decision represents a potentially serious setback for Obama, who as a candidate vowed to close Guantanamo and who signed an executive order beginning the process soon after he took office.”
The New York Daily News adds, “Party leaders said the President shouldn't ask for cash until he has announced his plan for turning out the lights in the U.S. terrorist prison camp in Cuba - and determined where the prisoners will go.”
The New York Times : “The move by Senate Democrats to strip the $80 million from a war-spending bill and the decision to bar, for now, transfer of detainees to the United States, raised the possibility that Mr. Obama’s order to close the camp by Jan. 22, 2010, might have to be changed or delayed… Senate Democrats said they still backed Mr. Obama’s decision to close the prison. But lawmakers have not exactly been eager to accept detainees in their home states. When the tiny town of Hardin, Mont., offered to put the terrorism suspects in its empty jail, Montana’s senators, both Democrats, and its representative, a Republican, quickly voiced opposition.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu is talking more peace. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel is ready for immediate peace talks with West Bank Palestinians even as Hamas in Gaza renewed rocket attacks,” The New York Daily News writes. “Netanyahu said he is working with President Obama ‘to reignite the peace process without waiting for action against Iran.”
“The Obama administration is actively discussing the creation of a regulatory commission that would have broad authority to protect consumers who use financial products as varied as mortgages, credit cards and mutual funds, according to several sources familiar with the matter,” the
Washington Post reports. “The proposed commission would be one of the administration's most significant steps yet to overhaul the financial regulatory system. It would also be one of its first proposals to address causes of the financial crisis such as predatory mortgage lending.”
The Washington Post on RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s speech yesterday: “Seeking to reassert himself as a party leader, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele yesterday implored GOP members to stop ‘navel gazing’ and sharply attack President Obama… It was Steele's most high-profile speech since a series of controversies left him apologizing to talk show host Rush Limbaugh and assuring Republicans he would reduce his number of mistakes as well as his number of television appearances.”
“But while encouraging stepped up party action, Steele has also warned against overreaching. His sharp criticism of Obama came as some members of the 168-person committee pushed for a resolution demanding the Democratic Party rename itself ‘the Democrat Socialist Party.’”
The New York Times’ Nagourney asks, “If Michael W. Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, declares that the Republican Party has turned a corner, does that make it so?”
The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank writes that Steele’s speech “was red meat for the party leaders … but they let many of the applause lines go without a murmur. When they did rouse themselves, about 60 percent applauded, 20 percent thumbed their BlackBerrys, and the rest were either eating dessert or daydreaming.”
Roll Call: “Democratic leaders tried Tuesday to muffle the ongoing flap over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) knowledge of Bush-era interrogation tactics, but the controversy continued to lumber forward on new questions about the accuracy of CIA record-keeping.”
Politico chronicles how Boehner has milked Pelosi’s CIA drip, drip. “But nearly a week after Pelosi said the CIA failed to tell her about waterboarding in 2002, Boehner is still pounding out a daily drumbeat of criticism. In TV interviews, press conferences and newspaper op-eds, he has argued that Pelosi should ‘put up or shut up’ — either prove that the CIA lied to her or apologize for claiming that it did. And while Boehner hasn’t raised the prospect of Pelosi’s ouster, he has walked right up to the line.”
The AP writes. "The House was expected to pass, possibly as early as Wednesday, a bill that would enact sweeping new restrictions on the industry, including a requirement that customers penalized by higher interest rates because they missed a payment are given a chance to reclaim their lower rate after six months. The Senate passed the bill Tuesday, 90-5."
But the credit card bill also includes this: “To the frustration and discouragement of many Democrats, House and Senate lawmakers and aides say it now appears likely that President Obama will this week sign into law a provision allowing visitors to national parks and refuges to carry loaded and concealed weapons,” the New York Times writes.
Roll Call reports that Sen. Max Baucus’ top aides held a closed door meeting with Democratic lobbyists on health care reform. “According to sources familiar with the closed-door session, Sullivan and Selib made clear that lobbyists who want to be involved in health care reform going forward need to keep their complaints to themselves. A Baucus Finance Committee spokeswoman described it as an opportunity to keep stakeholders informed and pre-empt a mutiny. One participant said Selib and Sullivan “made a very strong appeal for people to remain constructive.”
MINNESOTA : DNC Chairman Tim Kaine wrote to Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty, asking to bring an end to the endless Senate recount,
Politico writes. “‘To allow this to process to continue into the federal courts for no other reason than to deny for as long as possible the seating of another Democratic Senator would make what has been a bad situation for Minnesotans even worse,’ Kaine wrote. ‘I urge you to do everything within your power and influence to bring this process to an end.’”
CALIFORNIA : The San Francisco Chronicle writes, “California voters soundly rejected a package of ballot measures Tuesday that would have reduced the state's projected budget deficit of $21.3 billion to something slightly less overwhelming: $15.4 billion. The defeat of the measures means that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature will have to consider deeper cuts to education, public safety, and health and human services, officials have said.”
More: “Propositions 1A through 1E - which would have changed the state's budgeting system, ensured money to schools in future years and generated billions of dollars of revenue for the state's general fund - fell well behind in early returns and never recovered. The only measure that voters approved was Proposition 1F, which will freeze salaries of top state officials, including lawmakers and the governor, during tough budget years.”
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who supported the defeated measures, released this statement last night: "Tonight we have heard from the voters and I respect the will of the people who are frustrated with the dysfunction in our budget system. Now we must move forward from this point to begin to address our fiscal crisis with constructive solutions. We face a staggering $21.3 billion deficit and in order to prevent a fiscal disaster, Democrats and Republicans must collaborate and work together to address this shortfall. The longer we wait the worse the problem becomes and the more limited our choices will be. That is why tomorrow, we will come together to begin to develop a budget solution that gets our state back on track.”
FLORIDA : A new Florida poll shows Charlie Crist is the commanding front-runner for Senate, while Bill McCollum starts off with a slight lead over Alex Sink in the gubernatorial race. But a few warning signs for Crist: He ONLY has a 50% FAV rating among Republicans, and while he starts with a BIG lead over Marco Rubio in the primary, one can see the potential for vulnerability. As for McCollum, he's run statewide a number of times and yet is no more or less unknown as Sink. He'll need early money to redefine himself. Sink will have that money. Will McCollum?
NEW JERSEY : Yes, it's New Jersey. But an incumbent Democratic governor polling under 40% and trailing the GOP front-runner is something that strikes us as serious trouble for Corzine.
From NBC's Harry Enten CNN/Opinion Research poll, 69% of Americans do not want the Supreme Court to overrule Roe v. Wade. That result comes as other recent polls have suggested that more Americans are pro-life rather than pro-choice on the contentious issue of abortion.
A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll released yesterday found more respondents (49%) who consider themselves pro-life than those who see themselves as pro-choice (43%). It confirmed a Gallup poll released last week that found -- for the first time since the organization began asking Americans about abortion in 1995 -- a majority (51%) call themselves pro-life, with 42% calling themselves pro-choice.
Some in the polling community questioned that Gallup poll, due to an unusually high number of Republican respondents. Yet the Fox poll had a party identification breakdown closer to most other recent polls.
On top of these results, recent Pew and Quinnipiac polls also found a decline in the number of Americans who believe that abortion should be always or mostly (usually) legal. In the Pew poll, 46% said that abortion should be always or mostly legal, while 44% said it should be mostly or always illegal. In the Quinnipiac poll, 52% of Americans believed that abortion should be always or usually legal, while 41% of Americans believed that abortion should be always or usually illegal.
From NBC's Athena Jones President Obama announced new national auto fuel-efficiency and emissions standards that he said would help reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, cut pollution, and ultimately save people money.
Under the new rules -- which would replace a patchwork of different standards set by two government agencies and several states -- carmakers would have to produce vehicles with a fleet average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, four years earlier than the CAFE law requires. The program begins in model year 2012, and would increase fuel efficiency by an average of 5% a year between 2012 and 2016.
The chief executives of 10 auto companies joined the president on stage for the announcement, along with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson , Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood , and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger . Several of Obama's cabinet secretaries were also on hand for the event, along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Govs. Jennifer Granholm (MI), Arnold Schwarzenegger (CA), and Deval Patrick (MA).
"For the first time in history, we have set in motion a national policy aimed at both increasing gas mileage and decreasing greenhouse gas pollution for all new trucks and cars sold in the United States of America," Obama told the crowd assembled in the Rose Garden.
"Everyone wins: Consumers pay less for fuel, which means less money going overseas and more money to save or spend here at home," he continued. "The economy as a whole runs more efficiently by using less oil and producing less pollution, and companies like those here today have new incentives to create the technologies and the jobs that will provide smarter ways to power our vehicles."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mark Murray and Chuck Todd reported that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer went out of his way to stand by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in her back-and-forth with the CIA. "Let me be clear, so there is no misinterpretation of my view: I believe the speaker," Hoyer said.
President Obama also seemed to go out of his way to buck up the embattled speaker during his remarks today on the fuel-efficiency standards. "I want to make sure that I acknowledge some people who have been critical to this effort and critical to so many efforts at the state and federal levels," he said. "First of all, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has just been cracking the whip and, you know, making Congress so productive over these last several days. We are grateful for her."
From NBC's Doug Adams The bizarre Kentucky Senate race took another wild turn today as GOP Sen. Jim Bunning once again blasted his fellow Kentucky Republican -- Mitch McConnell , the Senate's top Republican.
In a conference call with reporters, Bunning called McConnell a "control freak" and said McConnell's animus is an asset. "If Mitch McConnell doesn't endorse me, that may be the best thing that could happen to me in Kentucky." It should be noted that McConnell is the most popular Republican in the state.
Bunning acknowledged that McConnell has told him he's "too old" and can't win re-election in 2010. Bunning continues to insist that he'll seek a third term next year. But his fundraising has been abysmal, and early polls show that he would be trounced by Democrats in 2010.
Bunning's comments follow his barbs from two weeks ago, when he criticized McConnell's leadership. "Do you realize that under the dynamic leadership of our leader, we have gone from 55 [seats] and probably to 40 in two election cycles? And if the tea leaves that I read are correct, we will wind up with about 36 after this election cycle."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Chuck Todd Pres. Obama gave shout-outs to three governors who attended today's Rose Garden announcement on the new national car emission standards. He called Governors Jennifer Granholm (D-Mich.), Deval Patrick (D-Mass.) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) some of the "finest governors" in the country. Interestingly, majorities of residents in all three states don't seem to agree with the president on this issue.
Check out the most recent job ratings each governor received from their own constituents:
-- Granholm, who is term-limited and rumored to be on the president's Supreme Court short list, netted a 36% positive job rating according to the most recent EPIC-MRA poll of that state's voters. (conducted in late March). For those wondering, the three governors have a COLLECTIVE job rating of 34%... but who's counting.
President Obama carried all three states rather easily and all three respective governors hope to nab SOME reflected glory from the more popular president. Perhaps the president deserves some credit for not using these governor's bad poll ratings as reasons to duck being seen with them. Still, wonder if voters in these three states would agree with the president's "finest governors" description.
From NBC's Luke Russert Benjamin Netanyahu made an appearance this morning with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader John Boehner outside of the speaker's chambers.
Both Pelosi and Boehner reaffirmed America's support of the Jewish state . Pelosi called Israel a "beacon of light" in the Middle East, while Boehner said, "We have no closer ally or friend in this world than Israel."
Regarding the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Pelosi said, "We must have a two-state solution -- and I emphasize the word solution." Both House leaders spoke of the importance of stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Pelosi said, "We must work together to make sure Iran does not get weapons of mass destruction." Boehner added, "We share a mutual concern about the development of nuclear weapons in Iran."
For his part, Netanyahu touched upon the special relationship between Israel and the United States, and also focused heavily on the issue of Iran. He said, "We face the challenge of the potential nuclear-arming of Iran, which is a great danger to all of us." On the Palestinian conflict, he added, "We want to see the advancement of peace between us and the Palestinians and like President Obama said with the broader Arab world."
From NBC's Ken Strickland sources say Senate Democratic leaders are planning to pull any remnants of money for closing Gitmo out of the supplemental war funding bill.
The emergency legislation, as it's currently written, would provide $50 million to the Defense Department to close Gitmo, but would release the money only after the administration puts forward a plan on how the funds will be used and where the detainees would be placed.
But according to Democratic sources, the Appropriations Committee chairman will offer an amendment to strip out the aforementioned language, which would in effect ignore any money for Gitmo altogether. This is the approach the House took when it passed its version of the supplemental.
Politically, this is a loss for the administration. President Obama had requested millions to close Gitmo with no strings attached. The House acted first as last week, when Democratic leaders passed its version and didn't give the administration a dime. Their attitude was essentially, "When you have a plan, we'll get you the money."
The Senate, at first, took a softer approach and decided to give the administration the money with significant strings attached. But today, the Senate appears ready to follow the House model and ignore the request all together.
From NBC's Mark Murray Nancy Pelosi .
Repeating his call from this past weekend, House Minority Leader
John Boehner has penned an
op-ed in U.S. News & World Report that asks Pelosi to either produce evidence that the CIA misled her about its use of waterboarding or other harsh interrogation techniques, or to apologize.
Accusing our intelligence professionals of lying to Congress is a very serious charge. If true, the speaker should produce evidence supporting her claim and turn it over to the Justice Department for potential prosecution. If she is unwilling to do so, then she should retract her statement and apologize to the men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting our nation. It is as simple as that, and as of this writing, the ball remains squarely in the speaker's court.
*** UPDATE *** NBC's Luke Russert has more on this Pelosi-vs.-CIA flap: "In his weekly pen and pad news conference this week, House Majority Leader
Steny Hoyer continued to deal with questions regarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the accusations she made against the CIA... On the issue, Hoyer said: 'Let me be clear, so there is no misinterpretation of my view: I believe the speaker.' Hoyer went on to say that the perpetuation of the controversy surrounding the speaker was a 'Republican tactic to distract the public from focusing on what was done what the justification for doing it was.'"
More from Russert: "When asked what she should do to put the CIA issue past her, Hoyer said: 'She's telling exactly what happened.' He then accused the media of overplaying the story. 'As long as you feed on it, the Republicans will continue to feed.' Hoyer called the controversy a 'distraction' and said to the dozens of reporters in the room: 'You guys want to hang on to this thing like a laser...that's unfortunate.'"
From NBC's Mike Viqueira and Mark Murray David Obey has fired off a letter to CIA Director Leon Panetta , pointing out that the CIA mistakenly listed that an Appropriations staffer sat in on a key CIA briefing in 2006.
Of course, the CIA listing House Speaker Pelosi sitting in on a similar 2002 briefing -- and suggesting that she learned of controversial interrogation techniques like waterboarding there -- is at the heart of the dispute over what Pelosi knew about the practices and when she knew it.
The full letter:
May 18, 2009
Dear Director Panetta:
Sincerely,
From NBC's Mark Murray released excerpts of RNC Chairman Michael Steele's speech today, in which Steele says it's time for the GOP to stop apologizing, that the party has "turned the corner," and that is looking to the future.
"While we welcome Chairman Steele's words that the GOP wants to turn the page on its past, we are disheartened by the party's actions that tell the opposite story. While the Chairman talks of moving forward, the very convention he's addressing will not focus on coming up with new ideas to create jobs and setting right what the party got wrong over the last eight years, but instead will revolve around name calling and the petty politics of the past. While the Chairman speaks of no longer looking in the rearview mirror, just this weekend he and other party leaders stumbled over one another to endorse the leadership of one of the most divisive figures in recent American history, Dick Cheney . The test of the sincerity of the Chairman's words will be if he and the other GOP leaders stand up to the fringe elements of their party and whether they tell the polarizing faces of the past - including Cheney, Gingrich and Limbaugh - to stand aside. Unfortunately, they have shown no willingness to do so, which is why fewer and fewer Americans have confidence in the Republican party to lead during these tough times."
From NBC's Mark Murray
Yet another seemingly bizarre
Sarah Palin story.
Politico's Martin reports that John Coale -- a wealthy Clinton donor, one-time Palin adviser, and husband to FOX's Greta Van Susteren -- urged Palin to use her PAC to help retire
Hillary Clinton's campaign debt.
Coale's "broader aim, say Palin camp insiders, was to help Palin develop a relationship with the former first family that he thought could bolster the polarizing governor’s standing with Democrats and independents."
But Palin's folks decided against it. "Palin was amenable to getting acquainted with the Clintons but was skeptical of using her PAC to help the former first lady. She expressed concern to aides about Coale’s request that weekend and a few days later directed Meg Stapleton, an Alaska-based campaign aide, to tell Coale that she would not help retire Clinton’s debt."
From NBC's Chuck Todd The Center for American Progress is being very aggressive in trying to defend the need for a comprehensive new energy policy this Congress. The tea leaves continue to tell me that the likelihood of an energy bill that includes cap-n-trade won't happen this year. Instead, smaller chunks on the energy front will be tackled as trying to get both health care and energy through this Congress is a lot to ask.
Still, this isn't stopping CAP and its leader, John Podesta, from trying to change this conventional wisdom. In fact, they are doing daily updates on what is normally a mundane markup process of the energy bill in the House.
In reading their take on Day 1 of the markup session yesterday, one thing jumped out at me in their release this morning. Check out this paragraph:
"Five moderate Democrats announced their support for ACES [American Clean Energy and Security Act), including John Dingell (MI), Gene Green (TX), Bobby Rush (IL), Bart Gordon (TN) and G.K. Butterfield (NC), as they recognized the many benefits this bill will bring to districts across the country. As the debate continues, more members are expected to announce their position on the bill." Did I read this right? Did CAP call John Dingell and former black panther Bobby Rush "moderates"? Take a look at their vote ratings from the National Journal (
Dingell and
Rush ), it's hard to call them moderates; Gordon, Green and Butterfield are probably definitional moderates, considering the states and districts they come from, but Dingell and Rush, come on. Maybe on the energy issue, as far as CAP's concerned, Dingell is a "moderate" since he's always been on the side of the auto industry on key emissions votes. But should CAP really call these two moderates? Stuff like this in official press releases can immediately cost folks credibility with readers of said releases.
Of course, this actually is a good reminder of how Democrats are still struggling with how to ideologically define themselves. There's a big movement to change the word "liberal" to "progressive" and of course, many a Democrat likes the idea of being called a "moderate" even if they won't utter the word themselves. But how to define Democrats, particularly Congressional Democrats: should they be in three boxes: liberal/progressive, moderate and conservative? Are they in two boxes: liberal/progressive and moderate? Actually, it's a good challenge to you folks in comment land.
From Chuck Todd and Mark Murray The Green Mile : In covering this young Obama administration, the news never seems to stop, does it? A day after President Obama discussed Iran and Middle East peace with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, he today will unveil new regulations on auto emissions and fuel-efficiency standards at 12:15 pm ET. Per NBC’s Anne Thompson, Obama will announce that car fleets must average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016; the current fleet average is 25 miles per gallon. Breaking that down, Thompson adds, that means a standard of 39 miles per gallon for cars, and 30 miles per gallon for trucks. Standing at Obama’s side today will be Michigan Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm (will the two also talk SCOTUS today?), California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and industry and union leaders. As the Washington Post writes, the proposed regulations represent “a compromise among the White House; the state of California; and the auto industry, which has long sought national mileage standards and has waged an expensive legal battle against the California waiver. The industry will get its national standard, but at the price of one that approximates California's targets. Industry officials said they would drop all related lawsuits.”
Video: The Obama administration pushed up the deadline for automakers to produce higher gas mileage and lower emissions by 2016, as California agreed to delay its plan to impose a separate state environmental standard for cars. NBC Chief Environmental Affairs correspondent Anne Thompson reports. ***
California Dreamin’? By inviting Schwarzenegger to the White House today and giving him a victory on fuel standards, it appears that Obama did a big favor for Arnold. Why? Because
in California today, voters today are expected to defeat Schwarzenegger-backed ballot measures written after the state's budget deal in February. Polls show that five measures -- 1) which would establish a rainy day fund and cap state spending; 2) which would fund schools; 3) which would allow the state to borrow from its lottery funds; 4) which would transfer child-development money to the state’s general fund; and 5) which would transfer mental-health money to the state’s general fund -- are likely to lose. (The one measure that’s expected to pass would freeze pay for state lawmakers if the state is running a deficit.) If that happens, Schwarzenegger’s allies say the state’s budget shortfall will be much larger. Ironically, the budget situation and the governor's approval rating (at about 33% or 34%, per recent polls) aren't much different than they were when Gray Davis was governor. Which raises this question: Is California ungovernable? It’s worth asking when you consider the state’s property-tax laws, its overloaded ballot-initiative process, its term limits for state lawmakers, and the fact that it takes a supermajority vote to pass budgets or tax increases. Meg Whitman, Steve Poizner, Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom -- you really want to be governor?
***
Hillary vs. Barack isn’t over : It’s exactly three weeks until Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, and the candidates are fighting over … Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama. That’s right, Brian Moran began running a
radio ad in African-American areas reminding these voters that McAuliffe campaigned for Hillary over Obama during the primaries. The McAuliffe camp responded with a
Web video detailing the Macker’s support for Obama after the primary season was over, as well as with a statement from Tom Daschle, who said that McAuliffe “worked tirelessly to unify our party around Barack Obama and get him elected president.” All of this is a reminder of just how much McAuliffe is desperately trying to straddle the fence between Obama and Clinton supporters (and remember that many in Virginia voted for Obama in that Feb. 12 primary. The other candidate -- Creigh Deeds, who hails from rural Virginia -- is probably scoring best with actual Clinton voters.
*** Democrat vs. Democrat : Speaking of Democrats going after their own… Labor unions AFSCME, NEA, and UFCW are airing a radio ad (at a buy of $60,000) in Oregon against Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D) effort to tax health-care benefits as a way to pay for health-care reform. “Finally, Congress is working to fix health care,” the narrator says in the ad. “They should start by making insurance affordable for families and businesses… The last thing we need is to pay more. But Sen. Ron Wyden would TAX the health care benefits we get at work, as if they were INCOME. Taxing health benefits? That doesn’t make sense. Tell Sen. Wyden that Oregon families want quality, affordable health care -- not taxes on their health care benefits.” This radio ad comes as the lead Washington Post editorial criticizes Obama for not embracing taxing health-care benefits as a way to pay for reform. Indeed, Obama seems caught between a rock and a hard place: Does he stick to his campaign promise (against taxing benefits) and risk turning away a huge revenue stream to pay for health care?
*** Turning the page? After a respectable performance on “Meet the Press,” RNC Chairman Michael Steele is once again the spotlight, as he delivers remarks at 1:00 pm ET to the party’s state chairmen meeting taking place today and tomorrow in the DC area. According to excerpts of his remarks, Steele will say that the GOP isn’t going to dwell anymore on past mistakes. “The era of apologizing for Republican mistakes of the past is now officially over. It is done… We have turned the page; we have turned the corner… From this point forward, we will focus all of our energies on winning the future.” He also will announce that Obama’s honeymoon is over. “Candidate Obama was very moderate in his views, but President Obama could not possibly be further to the far left… We are going to take this president on with class; we are going to take this president on with dignity. This will be a very sharp and marked contrast to the shabby and classless way that the Democrats and the far left spoke of the last president.”
Video: Meet the Press’ David Gregory asks RNC Chairman Michael Steele how the GOP intends to overcome the possibility that Democrats are consolidating power. ***
Name-calling is always productive! Speaking of class and dignity, the RNC tomorrow will consider a resolution tomorrow to call the Democratic Party the “Democrat Socialist Party.” Steele said on “Meet” that while he opposes the label, he can’t unilaterally stop party members from voting on that resolution. “You have legitimate activists in both parties who have very strong passions and feelings,” he
told NBC’s David Gregory . “And that's great, and we have a process in which that can be expressed.”
*** Meet Kim Wardlaw : In our latest profile, we take a look at Kim McLane Wardlaw, who currently serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco; Bill Clinton appointed her to that position in 1998… If selected and confirmed, would become the Supreme Court’s first Latino justice; her mother was a child of Mexican immigrants… Was a player in politics before her appointment to the bench: helped elect Richard Riordan as L.A. mayor; raised money for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate campaign in 1992; was a delegate to the ’92 presidential convention; and served on the Clinton administration’s Justice Department transition team… Her husband maxed out in contributions to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, but wrote a $2,300 check to Obama in August ’08… Has been described as having “empathy.” “She displays a deeply personal sensitivity to the problems of women and people of color,” Emma Coleman Jordan, who headed up Clinton’s transition team at Justice, told the Los Angeles Times… Despite her ties to Democratic politics, a legal publication described her rulings on the Ninth Circuit as “unpredictable.”
*** More Wardlaw bio : Before her job on the 9th Circuit, served as a federal district judge (nominated to that position by Clinton in 1995)… Worked in private practice at the firm O’Melveny & Myers from 1980-1995… Clerked for California federal judge William P. Gray… Received both her law (1979) and undergraduate degrees (1976) from UCLA… During Clinton’s presidency, she and her husband slept overnight in the White House’s Lincoln Bedroom. “Bill slept,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “I was so struck by the sense of history, I stayed awake all night.”… Her husband ran Richard Riordan’s mayoral campaign in 1993… Conducted a 2004 interview with a blog called “Underneath Their Robes.” The interview said Wardlaw was named “the #2 Superhottie of the Federal Judiciary.” Also in the interview, Wardlaw said “yes” when asked if she was a “judicial diva.”
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 14 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails .
“President Barack Obama plans to announce the first-ever national emissions limits for cars and trucks, as well as requiring a 35.5 mile-per-gallon standard,” the AP reports.
According to the Washington Post , “The administration is embracing standards stringent enough to satisfy the state of California, which has been fighting for a waiver from federal law so that it could set its own guidelines, sources said. Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) and Jennifer M. Granholm (D-Mich.) will be among a variety of state and industry officials who plan to attend an announcement today… The deal has been under negotiation since the first days of the administration. It represents a compromise among the White House; the state of California; and the auto industry, which has long sought national mileage standards and has waged an expensive legal battle against the California waiver. The industry will get its national standard, but at the price of one that approximates California's targets. Industry officials said they would drop all related lawsuits.”
The New York Times : “Environmental advocates and industry officials welcomed the new program, but for different reasons. Environmentalists called it a long-overdue tightening of emissions and fuel economy standards after decades of government delay and industry opposition. Auto industry officials said it would provide the single national efficiency standard they have long desired, a reasonable timetable to meet it and the certainty they need to proceed with product development plans.”
USA Today : “If a fragile compromise among often-warring factions — federal regulators, states and automakers — can last though the rulemaking process, the new regulations would be the first to blend emissions and fuel-economy standards, becoming perhaps the most dramatic suite of auto rules since the Clean Air Act of 1970. That law set auto-pollution standards for the first time and banned poisonous lead, which was used as a lubricant, from gasoline.”
“Auto executives plan to attend today's White House event,” the AP adds. “United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger also plans to attend, as do California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.”
The Wall Street Journal on yesterday’s Obama-Netanyahu meeting: “The leaders' one-on-one meeting at the White House lasted almost two hours, nearly twice as long as scheduled, which American and Israeli officials pointed to as a sign the talks went well. Still, the two remained divided on issues such as the future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Palestinians' right to statehood, and whether the Palestinian issue should take priority over concerns about Iran developing nuclear weapons.”
The Washington Post says Obama and Netanyahu “outlined the shared goals of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and of achieving a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. But within those broad areas of agreement were significant differences in tone and terminology that exposed their divergent approaches toward achieving peace in the Middle East.”
Obama said “that he expected to know by the end of the year whether Iran was making ‘a good-faith effort to resolve differences’ in talks aimed at ending its nuclear program, signaling to Israel as well as Iran that his willingness to engage in diplomacy over the issue has its limits,” the New York Times reports. “The exchange was the first time Mr. Obama had seemed willing to set even a general timetable for progress in talks with Iran, a country that has not had diplomatic relations with the United States in three decades.”
The New York Times profiles potential SCOTUS pick Janet Napolitano. “To some, the fact that she has never been a judge makes Ms. Napolitano a long shot for the high court. To others, her success in elected office — putting pragmatic compromise ahead of ideology or standard partisan lines — gives her just the kind of real-world experience setting policy and reaching consensus that Mr. Obama might seek to add to a court filled entirely by former federal appellate judges.”
Meanwhile… “Today's auto industry-related event may not be the only reason for [Michigan Gov. Jennifer] Granholm to be in Washington,” the AP says. “She's been mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed Justice David Souter, who's retiring from the Supreme Court. The White House won't say whether Granholm will meet with Obama about the upcoming court vacancy.”
Here are other excerpts of the remarks that RNC Chairman Michael Steele will give at 1:00 pm ET in the DC area. “Our comeback is well underway out in the states, I can assure you of that… The folks inside the beltway don’t know it yet, but the people are beginning to rally, the comeback has begun. Those of you who live outside of Washington know what I’m talking about. Those of you who actually attend Lincoln Day dinners, county party events, and tea parties …those of you who toil in the vineyards, spending time in communities, in diners, barber shops, and coffee shops where real every day people can be found…you know it is real.”
Also: “But the thing we need to remember is this: Ronald Reagan never lived in the past. Ronald Reagan was all about the future. If President Reagan were here today he would have no patience for Americans who looked backward. Ronald Reagan always insisted that our party must move aggressively to seize the moment, he insisted that our party recognize the truth of the times and establish our first principles in both word and deed. As conservatives we must stop acting like we don’t really believe in our principles. Too often we act as if we are scared to apply our timeless principles to today’s problems and challenges… For Reagan’s conservatism to take root in the next generation we must offer genuine solutions that are relevant to THIS age.”
Meanwhile, the RNC has a new Web video hitting Pelosi over her back-and-forth with the CIA.
CALIFORNIA : “The battle over six state budget propositions on today's ballot sputtered to a close Monday with a burst of low-profile campaigning that belied the gravity of California's fiscal crisis,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose legacy will be shaped in part by the election's results, made a final pitch to voters before leaving the state ahead of the results. The governor is scheduled to join President Obama at the White House today for an announcement on auto emission rules. His absence in the face of widely forecast defeat drew mockery from his foes.”
The Wall Street Journal asks the same question we do in First Thoughts Is California ungovernable? “California's hard-to-govern reputation is hard-won. The state has passed a tangle of voter-initiated spending mandates and voter-approved antitax rules. Lawmakers have little leeway to raise revenue or slash spending in deficit years.” More: “Perhaps the biggest strike against Mr. Schwarzenegger, however, is that these days, Californians don't like their politicians. The governor's approval rating is at an all-time low, at 33%, according to a May 1 poll by Field, a nonpartisan group. The legislature's approval rating is 14%. The only ballot measure that has overwhelming support is one that prohibits pay raises for elected state officials in years that the budget is in the red.”
From NBC's Ken Strickland
The Senate's war funding bill includes $50 million to facilitate the closure, but only to be released if the administration provides a plan for how the money is used and exactly where the detainees will be placed. (The Justice Department gets $30 million.) But even though Republicans were influential in attaching strings to the money, they plan to push Democrats further.
Republicans hope to get roll call votes on amendments that could put additional restrictions on the money, eliminate it altogether, and/or put the Democrats on the record as to whether they support detainees living, held, or being tried on U.S. soil. (Or to put it in GOP speak, "Do you want terrorists in your back yard?")
The Gitmo debate also could spill into Senate hearings this week as well. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen will address Af-Pak strategy before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday. And Secretary of State Clinton testifies before Appropriations and Foreign Relations about the State Department budget on Wednesday.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Pete Williams
Saying it wants to be prepared when
President Obama announces a nominee, a conservative group has prepared short
internet-only ads , attacking three of the women most often mentioned as potential Supreme Court choices.
The Judicial Confirmation Network, which pushed strongly for the nominations of
John Roberts and
Samuel Alito during the
Bush administration, says
Elena Kagan ,
Sonia Sotomayor , and
Diane Wood are not moderates or centrists. "They are hard-left activists who would decide cases based on their feelings and their personal political agendas," said Wendy Long, a former law clerk to Justice
Clarence Thomas .
The video on Elena Kagan criticizes her decision, as dean of Harvard's law school, to re-impose a ban on allowing military recruiters access to law school facilities. Kagan said Harvard's anti-discrimination policy required the action, because the military does not permit gay people to serve. The ad says she "kicked the military off campus, incredibly during a time of war."
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Harry Enten
McMahon's comments came in a conference call sponsored by several liberal groups. The Senate bill, introduced by vulnerable Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), will be voted upon tomorrow in Senate. The House has already passed a version of the bill, and McMahon believes that the two bills will be reconciled by the end of this week.
Video: A recent study found that college students with credit cards graduated with an average of $4,138 in card debt, but consumer advocates are hoping Congress will soon pass a law making it tougher to issue credit cards to anyone under 21. NBC's Lisa Myers reports. McMahon said that the bill was in response to the "unscrupulous tactics" of the credit card industry, such as "charging unfair and abusive credit card fees and interest rates."
The act protects consumers by "setting up fair, transparent set of rules of how and when credit card companies can raise interest rates." This includes a 45-day notification period before raising interest rates and prohibits companies from raising rates on existing balances.
If enacted into law, advocates hope it will specifically help out students. Pedro de la Torre, advocacy senior associate of Campus Progress from the Center of American Progress, wanted government to "make sure that youth don't get unsolicited credit card offers because of their age."
According to Christine Lindstrom, Higher Education Director for US PIRG, students "carry upwards of $3,000 of credit card debt upon graduation" mostly due to putting "textbooks,""transportation," and "other educational costs on their credit cards."
Part of the reason for this debt is that students are "targeted on campus" with cards that have "terrible terms and conditions."
From NBC's Pete Williams
The U.S.
Supreme Court today tossed out a lawsuit from a Pakistani Muslim , who sued former Attorney General John Ashcroft and the FBI director, Robert Mueller, for his harsh treatment during the roundup of potential terror suspects in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks. By a 5-4 vote, the court said when someone wants to sue high level government officials for mistreatment, the suit must be specific about what those officials did to cause harm. It isn't enough, the court said, simply to allege that the top level officials were in charge and are therefore responsible. Some more direct connection must be shown and this lawsuit, filed by Javad Iqbal, "comes up short." Had the court ruled the other way, it would have led to hundreds of similar suits.
Video: The Supreme Court says US officials cannot be sued for alleged post-9/11 abuses. NBC's Chief Justice correspondent Pete Williams reports. The court today also declined to find AT&T responsible for failing to give credit in calculating pensions to pregnant women who worked for the company during the 1960s and early 1970s. Back then, AT&T gave full credit for employees on disability, but it did not include pregnant women in that category. Today the court said -- by a 7-2 vote -- that based on earlier court rulings, such a practice would not have amounted to illegal discrimination. Congress changed the law in 1978. This case involved only women caught in the period between the earlier court decision and the time Congress changed the law to give women more protection. Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg , the court's only woman, was one of the two dissenters, along with
John Paul Stevens .
The court today also:William Jefferson (D-LA), who faces a corruption trial. He wanted the court to take up the legal dispute over what to do with evidence seized in the FBI's search of his congressional office.
From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Abby Livingston Quintessential Obama : Anyone who didn't think President Obama would give a speech that would aim to rise above the back-and-forth over his commencement speech yesterday at Notre Dame hasn't been paying attention over the last two years. It was quintessential Obama. He called for common ground to reduce unintended pregnancies, to make adoption easier, and to provide better health care for women who carry their children to term. But Obama also urged his audience for a more civil tone on thorny issues like abortion. “I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away… Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.” He added, “Open hearts. Open minds. Fair-minded words.” Of course, those words didn’t stop the protests. NBC’s Athena Jones, who was in the auditorium covering the speech, notes that four men -- none of them appearing to be students -- interrupted Obama’s speech and a handful of graduates decorated their mortarboards with images of baby's feet and a cross in bright yellow. Still, the crowd as a whole was overwhelmingly positive.
Video: Watch President Obama's full speech at the University of Notre Dame's commencement ceremony. ***
Fair-minded words for SCOTUS debate? In way, you could interpret Obama's remarks about “open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words” as the opening shot -- or better yet, a call for truce -- in the upcoming effort to replace David Souter on the Supreme Court, because it has the potential to be the latest salvo in the culture wars. On Sunday, the
New York Times front-paged how conservative groups are stockpiling political ammunition for Obama’s eventual pick to succeed Souter. And Sunday’s
Washington Post noted how conservatives are focusing on gay marriage, believing that the issue “could provide a road map to an Obama nominee's judicial philosophy.” Still, today’s
New York Times says that some Senate Republicans might not be as eager as conservative groups are in wanting to pick a Supreme Court fight. “Those Republicans, including senior staff aides and some senators, suggested in interviews that they believed Mr. Obama’s first nominee for the court would be confirmed without great difficulty no matter how they framed the issues during the confirmation process.”
*** A-Huntsman we will go : Obama's nomination of Utah Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman to be ambassador to China seems to benefit two people: Obama and Huntsman. For Obama, it was yet another signal to independents and moderates that he's reaching across the aisle (Ray LaHood, Arlen Specter, and even the failed nomination of Judd Gregg are the other examples); it all but removed a potential 2012 challenger and an important moderate voice inside the GOP; and it showed that Obama's serious about China (Huntsman has sterling credentials -- he speaks Mandarin, did his Mormon mission in Taiwan, and served as George W. Bush's deputy U.S. trade representative). For Huntsman, the nomination gives him a job he obviously desired; it gets him out of the country at a time when his party is undergoing internecine warfare; and it possibly preps him for a presidential bid in 2016, bolstering his foreign affairs credentials. By the way, the cynical side of us is very impressed with how Obama has so cleverly tied up two of his biggest potential rivals in the future. First, he offered Hillary the plum job at the State Department, removing her as a potential obstacle from the Senate. Now he's taken Huntsman off the table for 2012.
Video: President Obama introduces Gov. Jon Huntsman, R-Utah, as the new U.S. ambassador to China. ***
One other point about Huntsman : Whether it is Specter switching parties, Judd Gregg accepting the Commerce post (even for a few days), or this appointment -- it's going to be hard for Republicans to make the public case that somehow Obama hasn't attempted to reach across the aisle. Of course, the White House has been very strategic in its attempts at bipartisanship, which no doubt frustrates many Republicans because the president isn’t being bipartisan on everything. Moreover, there's plenty of evidence that things are sometimes just as toxic now as they were two or four years ago. One example: There's the Minnesota recount debacle. Seriously, why hasn't there been a compromise to seat Franken just temporarily, like Republicans did for Mary Landrieu in 1996? Isn't this getting a bit absurd? No doubt that Coleman has his right to keep fighting, but why not find some middle ground?
*** Barack and Bibi : Obama today turns his focus to the Middle East . He meets with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Oval Office at 10:30 am ET (closed press), and then again in an expanded Oval Office meeting an hour later (in which there will be a pool spray). And Obama and Netanyahu attend a working lunch at 12:20 pm. This is the start of three one-on-ones Obama will have in the next several days. Next up are Abbas of the Palestinians and Mubarak of Egypt.
*** The sprint to Memorial Day : This is the last week that Congress will be in session before its Memorial Day recess, and it may send the president a handful of bills (on credit cards, predatory mortgage lending, and Pentagon procurement). One thing you might expect from the White House this week is a bit of a look back -- a la what it did for the first 100 days. The first half of this congressional session was certainly busy, and the level of productivity is something the folks on the White House side of Pennsylvania Ave. would like folks to notice.
***
Tough times for Arnold? Tuesday will likely be another bad day in the political life of Arnold Schwarzenegger. If the polls are correct, he’s going to lose every ballot initiative he's pushing. It could be another blow for Arnold and his attempt at being bipartisan. The good news for him: He has united Republicans and Democrats. The bad news: They’re unified in disapproving of his job in office.
***
Meet Jennifer Granholm : The latest in our SCOTUS profiles is Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, 50… Has never been a judge or a law scholar, so there is no track record about her judicial philosophy… If selected and confirmed, would be the first non-judge to sit on the highest court in the land since William Rehnquist and Lewis Powell Jr. in 1972… Also would be the first Supreme Court justice to be born outside of the United States since Felix Frankfurter (who was born in Vienna, Austria)… Is pro-choice, but while governor signed a bill giving pregnant women considering abortion the option of viewing ultrasound pictures… Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the nation (at 12.6%), and critics might seize on that to evaluate her tenure as governor… A Granholm appointment to the Supreme Court would elevate Democratic Lt. Gov. John Cherry to the governor’s mansion… Endorsed Hillary Clinton over Obama during the Democratic presidential primary season.
*** More Granholm bio : Before becoming governor, was the first female to serve as Michigan attorney general… Also was Wayne County Corporation counsel (1994-1998) and federal prosecutor in Detroit (1990-1994)… Clerked for 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Damon Keith… Received her law degree from Harvard (1987) and her undergraduate degree in political science and French from the University of California, Berkeley (1984)… Won the Miss San Carlos (CA) beauty/talent contest… Tried to be an actress and was once a contestant on “The Dating Game”… Due to her beauty-pageant past, good looks, and considerable debating skills, played the part of Sarah Palin for Joe Biden’s VP debate practice… Her Facebook page says Paul Simon and James Taylor are among her favorite musicians; “Life is Beautiful,” Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth,” and “Patton” are her favorite movies; and “Profiles in Courage” and “Secret Life of Bees” are her favorite books.
Countdown to NJ GOP primary: 15 days
Click here to sign up for First Read emails .
“Amid a scattering of angry protests over his support for abortion rights, President Obama addressed the issue head-on Sunday at the University of Notre Dame, calling for ‘open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words’ in the pursuit of ‘common ground,’” the Washington Post says. More: “The vast majority of the 12,000 in attendance at the Joyce Center basketball arena gave the president several loud, sustained ovations, and the crowd rallied to his defense when people attempted to interrupt him at the start. One protester yelled ‘Abortion is murder!’ ‘Baby killer!’ and ‘You have blood on your hands.’ Another shouted, ‘Stop killing our children.’ The crowd responded with boos and then chants of ‘Yes, we can’ and ‘We are N.D.’”
Video: President Obama addresses the abortion issue during a commencement address at the University of Notre Dame, the country's most prominent Catholic university. NBC’s Savannah Guthrie reports. The
New York Times : “The encounter was a rare foray into one of the most volatile areas of public life for Mr. Obama… As recently as last week, aides said he would mention the controversy in his speech without dwelling on it. But ultimately, he decided to devote most of his address to bridging the chasm over abortion and other moral issues… In his address, Mr. Obama did not engage on the merits of the debate on abortion; he instead made an appeal to each side of the issue.”
The Los Angeles Times : “‘President Obama did exactly what he needed to do,’ said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. ‘He challenged the students to take on the problems of the day; he spoke beyond them to the wider audience of Catholic citizens and presented a demeanor that contrasted with those who tried to paint him as a demonic, anti-life fanatic.’”
”Michael McNaught, assistant director of Loyola Marymount University's Center for Religion and Spirituality in Los Angeles, said: ‘As a practicing Catholic, I found his speech inspiring and hopeful. . . . I suspect that one of his motivations is to kind of hit this issue head-on. He's not hiding from the controversy.’”
CONTINUED >>
The AP tees up Obama’s meeting today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The Obama administration is trying to promote dialogue with Iran and Syria, Israel's arch foes. Israel fears such efforts could lead to greater tolerance for Iran's nuclear ambitions. But Israel and the U.S. dismiss Iran's claims that its nuclear program is designed to produce energy rather than weapo
