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  • A clear health care message in Missouri?

    From msnbc.com's Vaughn Ververs:

    Voters on Tuesday had their first chance to directly weigh in on the health care reform law, and they overwhelmingly rejected one key component of the overhaul.

    Missouri's Proposition C, which calls for the state to be exempt from requiring health care insurance for individuals, passed by a whopping 71 percent. The large margin was a politically symbolic win for opponents of the law and is sure to give Republicans another talking point heading into the fall campaign.

    But the result doesn't necessarily mean that health care reform is growing more unpopular nationwide.

    For starters, the turnout for Missouri's primary Tuesday was about a third as large as the electorate that turned out in 2008, a presidential year. And more Republicans voted overall in the state, partly because the GOP featured more competitive primaries than Democrats. (Indeed, the Republican Senate primary drew over 260,000 more voters than the Democratic Senate primary did.)

    And while President Obama came with a few thousand votes of winning the state in 2008, he was still unable to prevail in a landslide electoral win that saw him take states like Indiana and Virginia, showing that Missouri remains a red state in presidential elections.

    Democratic pollster Celinda Lake did focus groups in Missouri on Prop C and said her work indicated that voters viewed the proposition as a protest vehicle.

    "Voters, first of all, did not believe it would overturn health care," she said. "They believed the courts would throw it out. It was a way of expressing frustration at a less-than-perfect bill and process. They do not like the mandate and being told what to buy with their money."

    Lake did focus groups for the Herndon Alliance, which describes itself as a "non-partisan coalition of more than 200 minority, faith, labor, advocacy, business, and healthcare provider organizations" – it includes AFL-CIO and other unions as well as the Mayo Clinic.

    In addition, there is some evidence that the health care law has grown more popular overall in recent months. A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found approval for the health care reform law at its highest point since passage. Fifty percent of respondents in the poll said they had a favorable view of the law, while 35 percent said they viewed it negatively. In April, the poll found 46 percent favoring the law and 40 percent opposing it.

    Still, it's far from a settled issue, and opponents of the law have plenty of vehicles to pursue in attempting to strip key elements -- all of which are destined to be settled in the courts.

    Two separate lawsuits have been filed by states challenging the constitutionality of the law. One, filed by Virginia, received a boost in court last week, when a federal judge ruled that the suit, which challenges the law's provision requiring all Americans to have health insurance, can proceed. While the judge did not rule on the specific merits of the suit, it was a procedural victory for the state's argument.

    Legislators in almost 40 states have proposed state laws or constitutional amendments that would negate parts of the health care law, although those efforts have either failed or stalled in the majority of statehouses nationwide. But at least two states – Virginia and Idaho – have signed state laws that expressly forbid individuals from being forced to purchase health insurance; the Virginia law is the subject of the state's federal suit. Twenty other states, led by Florida's attorney general, have signed on to a separate lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate.

    Those efforts will ensure that the law will be a fixture in the courts, and the campaign trail, for a long time to come.

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  • Nikki Haley repeatedly paid fines for late taxes

    AP reports:

    "South Carolina Republican gubernatorial nominee Nikki Haley has repeatedly paid fines for not paying her income taxes on time. Tax records released Wednesday by Haley's campaign show she and her husband have filed their taxes late since at least 2004. Haley is a fiscal conservative and tea party favorite who cites her experience as an accountant on the campaign trail. The state legislator and her husband have been fined nearly $4,500 over five years."

    But will it matter? Haley is favored in the fall against state Sen. Vincent Sheheen.

  • Colo. GOP candidate peddles U.N. bike theory

    A warning for bicyclists: After checking your brakes and securing your helmet, be sure to evaluate whether or not you’re a cog in the wheel of an international socialist agenda.

    Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is getting some attention today for tying Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s promotion of a community bike-sharing initiative to a United Nations plot that “could threaten our personal freedoms.”

    “This is all very well-disguised, but it will be exposed,” Maes told supporters at a campaign rally last week, per The Denver Post.

    Maes objects to Hickenlooper’s support for the city’s B-Cycle program, which provides about 400 red bicycles for rent around Denver to promote green transportation. In a followup interview with the Post, Maes said that the cycling plan is one of a number of “very specific strategies that are dictated to us by [a] United Nations program that mayors have signed on to.”

    Denver is one of over a thousand local governments around the world affiliated with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, a global association for environmental sustainability founded at a U.N. conference in 1990.

    Hickenlooper, who has enjoyed robust popularity ratings during his tenure as mayor, is running for governor as a Democrat.

    Republicans had high hopes for winning back the governor's mansion this year, but party infighting has left the GOP ticket damaged. Maes, a Tea Party favorite, is in a close race against former Rep. Scott McInnis – who’s been tarred by a plagiarism scandal – in the GOP gubernatorial primary to be held next Tuesday. A run by Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo, who jumped into the race as a Constitution Party candidate, threatens to split the Republican vote in the general election and propel Hickenlooper to an easy win.

  • Obama reaffirms commitment to unions

    From NBC's Ali Weinberg
    At an AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting this morning, President Obama linked passage of labor's chief legislative priorities to Democrats' retaining a majority in Congress past the midterm elections, saying that he remained committed to achieving one of labor's top goals: passing the Employee Free Choice Act, or "card check."

    "We are going to keep on fighting to pass the Employee Free Choice Act," Obama said of the legislation which has stalled in Congress due to heavily-funded opposition campaigns from pro-business groups like the Chamber of Commerce. Obama also reminded an audience of AFL-CIO leaders that Republicans are committed to obstructing his agenda, making a Democratic majority in Congress vital to labor's interests. He noted Republican's efforts to block an emergency measure that would provide $50 billion in emergency aid to prevent layoffs of firefighters, policemen and teachers as state and local governments make budget cuts.

    "As if that were not enough, now they're talking about repealing this and repealing that," Obama added, alluding to efforts by congressional Republicans and state attorneys general to repeal the health care law.

    Acting as a quasi-campaign adviser, Obama exhorted the union to remind members that their agenda has a better chance of being enacted under a Democratic Congress than a Republican one.

    "[Republicans] want to go backwards, we want to move America forward, and that's what the choice is going to be in this upcoming election, and all your members need to understand it," Obama said.

    He acknowledged that union members may be frustrated with the lack of progress so far on labor priorities. "They've got a right to be frustrated," he said, but he added that union interests are still important to his administration and Congressional Democrats.

    "They need to know that," Obama said, referring to union workers. "We're going to be working with you to make sure we're putting ourselves in a position where folks are working and working for a good wage and good benefits.

    "But you have to remind them for the next three months, this election is a choice," he said.

    UPDATE: The Chamber of Commerce responded to President Obama's support of the Employee Free Choice Act, or card check, legislation. Glenn Spencer, executive director of the Workforce Freedom Initiative at the Chamber, wrote in an email, "We welcome the President’s call to rebuild our economy, but taking away the private ballot and imposing government-dictated union contracts on employers won’t help. Misguided bills like Card Check, overbearing regulations from the Department of Labor, and a slanted NLRB will only discourage America’s job creators from putting people back to work.”

  • Just say yes -- to marijuana legalization

    AP

    Marijuana grown for medical purposes is shown inside a greenhouse at a farm in Potter Valley, CA. May 13, 2009 file photo.

    From NBC's Ellie Hall
    An unlikely coalition that includes student activists, police officers, and a former Reagan associate deputy attorney general has launched a national campaign to mobilize 2010 and 2012 voters in support of marijuana legalization.

    The "Just Say Now" campaign -- a joint effort between the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and the progressive blog Firedoglake -- aims to end what they describe as the federal government's failed war on marijuana.

    "It's a moral issue," Jane Hamsher, founder of Firedoglake, said in a conference call yesterday. "It's been a policy failure at every level."

    The "Just Say Now" organization plans to circulate a petition online and across college campuses asking President Obama to end the federal ban on marijuana. They will then use this petition to target and mobilize supporters in the five states with marijuana initiatives on the ballot this year-- Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, and South Dakota.

    "California is going to turn into a turnout election," Hamsher said, noting that the ballot initiative has tremendous support among young voters.

    Aaron Houston, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, mentioned that the campaign had received support from Tea Party activists, as well as liberal and libertarian groups. "On the right and left, it's a very popular issue, and it remains to be seen who will be smart enough to grab it... It's a win-win-win situation and probably the biggest sleeper issue out there right now."

    He cited nationwide surveys conducted by his grassroots organization and said that if "Just Say Now" can mobilize more young and first-time voters before November, the initiatives could pass in their respective states.

    Former Reagan associate deputy general Bruce Fein said that marijuana legalization is another "major initiative to bring our government back in line with the Constitution," and that states -- not the federal government -- should have the power to choose how to address this particular issue. Fein stated that the federal government should tax marijuana, but leave the regulation to the states.

    "Prohibition isn't going to end in November," Hamsher said, adding that they aim to make marijuana legalization an issue in 2012 battleground states. "Young people polled said they'd show up if legalization was on the ballot."

    Houston, who testified last summer before the House Appropriations Committee in support of clearer guidelines on the Department of Justice's medical marijuana policy, emphasized the importance of educating people about where candidates stand on the issue. "We're going to send a corps of students out [to follow campaigns] with Flip cameras," he added, in order to capture footage of congressional and presidential candidates speaking about legalization.

    Per NBC's Pete Williams, state legalization of marijuana would create legal tension with the federal government, as marijuana is a Class-I controlled substance.

  • Reid gets 60 votes for state aid

    From NBC's Ken Strickland
    In votes earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid secured the 60 votes needed to advance a bill that would send $26 billion to states to help with Medicaid and education funding.

    Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe joined with all members of the Democratic caucus to push to vote total to 61.

    Assuming the Senate passes the bill later this week, it would still have to be passed by the House -- which is already in its summer recess -- before it goes to the president for his signature.

    We still don't know when the Senate will take the final vote on Kagan. The working assumption is that it will be sometime Thursday afternoon/evening.

  • First thoughts: Last night's three headlines

    AP

    GOP gubernatorial primary victor Rick Snyder (left), signs in support of Missouri's referendum opposing the health-care law's mandate (right).

    The three headlines from last night's primaries in KS, MI, and MO… Moran defeats Tiahrt in Kansas' Senate GOP contest… Snyder wins the GOP gubernatorial primary in Michigan (and might become a rising star)… Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick becomes the latest incumbent to lose this cycle (and Pete Hoekstra, in the GOV race, became yet another sitting member to lose in a big for higher office)… Referendum against the health-care law passes easily in Missouri… Obama makes a call for Bennet (yesterday) and celebrates his 49th birthday (today)… Spend $$$ now or forever hold your peace… Reid and Angle exchange ads… The GOP push for changing the 14th Amendment… And profiling IN-9.

    From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
    *** Last night's three headlines: Here are the headlines from last night's Midwest primaries: 1) It was a victorious night for moderate and mainstream Republicans (translation: the Tea Party has a ceiling even in GOP primaries); 2) Another incumbent went down to defeat; and 3) Missouri voters approved a referendum opposing the health-care law's mandate. In Kansas' GOP Senate primary, Jerry Moran narrowly defeated Todd Tiahrt, and he's the overwhelming favorite to succeed Sen. Sam Brownback (R), who's running for governor. Meanwhile, in Michigan's GOP gubernatorial primary, former Gateway exec Rick Snyder -- the "one tough nerd" -- beat his more conservative opponents (like state AG Mike Cox and Congressman Pete Hoekstra), in part by winning crossover Democrats and independents. Snyder will face off against Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero in the fall to replace term-limited Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D).

    *** Keep an eye on Snyder: So in a midterm cycle where GOP primary voters largely have been choosing the most conservative candidate, the Moran and Snyder wins reverse that trend (and stay tuned for Tennessee tomorrow for this new-mini-trend to get a third example). Here's a couple of other things to consider about the Snyder win. One, given that he will be the overwhelming favorite against Bernero, will that possibly help Republicans in the state's competitive House races this fall, like MI-1, MI-7 and even MI-9? Two, Snyder -- with his moderate credentials in a Dem-leaning swing state – could become a rising political star. Get to know this guy; he could be a cross between Charlie Crist and Haley Barbour; meaning he's got a pragmatist streak that may lead him one day to be criticizing the Democratic administration on something and the next, standing next to him, endorsing a pilot program.

    *** Another one bites the dust: Also in Michigan last night, state Sen. Hansen Clarke knocked off Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D) -- mother of ousted Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick -- making her the sixth incumbent go down to defeat in a primary this cycle (joining GOP Sen. Bob Bennett, Dem Rep. Alan Mollohan, Dem Sen. Arlen Specter, GOP Rep. Parker Griffith, and GOP Rep. Bob Inglis). Yet here's something even more eyebrow-raising: Hoekstra's loss in the Republican gubernatorial primary makes him yet another sitting House or Senate member to lose a bid for higher office. The others: Kay Bailey Hutchison, Artur Davis, Gresham Barrett, and (likely) Nathan Deal. This isn't a good cycle to be a current member of Congress running for governor or senator (though Brownback, Moran, John Boozman, and Mary Fallin have had success).

    *** Referendum against health care passes easily: And in Missouri, Democrat Robin Carnahan won 84% of the vote and Republican Roy Blunt got 71% in their respective Senate primaries, the Kansas City Star writes. But the bigger result from the Show Me State was the passage of the referendum opposing the health-care law's mandates. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "With most of the vote counted, Proposition C was winning by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1." While the referendum is largely a symbolic one -- the mandates will ultimately be decided by the courts -- the outcome last night in this battleground state is probably not a good sign for Carnahan's campaign in the fall. Yes, it was a Republican-leaning electorate in Missouri yesterday, but this vote was OVERWHELMING. This result might even convince Republicans in OTHER states to run more on health care, even as poll numbers suggest a more favorable opinion about the law.

    *** Obama makes a call for Bennet: In advance of next week's VERY competitive Democratic Senate primary in Colorado, President Obama last night called into Sen. Michael Bennet's tele-town hall. Obama on Bennet: "He's been a breath of fresh air in a time with a lot of hot air… Michael has been as good a senator as I expected him to be when I first met him when he was still head of the public schools out in Denver." More: "We've accomplished an incredible amount over the last 18 months, but we've got a lot more work to do, and Michael's the person I want alongside me when we do it." Obama is now investing a lot of political capital in getting Bennet across the finish line in his primary against Andrew Romanoff. But will this turn out better for the White House than its other attempts to influence primaries and general elections? If Bennet comes up short, it's unfair to blame the White House; he's still very popular with the Democratic base (90% fav rating among those Dems in Colorado). But what's got to be frustrating to the DNC and to the White House political shop is that they don't have this sway with the Democratic electorate that they had when Obama himself was running.

    *** Happy birthday, Mr. President: On his 49th birthday today, Obama delivers remarks at the AFL-CIO executive meeting in DC at 11:05 am ET. Later in the day, he flies to Chicago for a birthday party and a fundraiser. But he'll be without his family -- Michelle Obama and younger daughter Sasha are on vacation in Spain, and older daughter Malia is away at summer camp.

    *** Spend now, or forever hold your peace: If you're Patty Murray and you've raised (as of June 30) $11.5 million and have $6.8 million in the bank, what do you do with that financial advantage? You spend it now, especially during these dog days of August, to define your opponent -- even before he's officially your opponent. (After all, a spending advantage only matters if you use it.) On Monday, the Murray campaign released a new TV ad highlighting Dino Rossi's desire to repeal Wall Street reform, after raising money from Wall Street. For his part, Rossi has responded with his own TV ad, in which he argues that the Senate is wasting taxpayer money and is running up the debt. August is when negatives can take hold, and candidates ignore the month at their own peril.

    *** The Reid-Angle ad war: Speaking of using your money advantage while you have it, Harry Reid (D) is hammering Sharron Angle (R) in a TV ad highlighting her past remark calling the $20 billion BP fund a "slush fund" (and note the Tony Hayward cameo in the ad). But Angle is now responding with her own ad, which notes that home values in Nevada have plummeted since Reid became majority leader. "Harry Reid -- the only thing he's delivered for Nevada is hardship," the ad says. Meanwhile, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll has the race at Reid 48%, Angle 44%.

    *** Out of touch? By now, you've probably heard about the GOP push -- embraced by Mitch McConnell, Jon Kyl, and even John McCain and Lindsey Graham -- to hold Senate hearings into whether the 14th Amendment should be amended. At issue: the 14th Amendment granting automatic citizenship rights to anyone born in the United States, even the offspring of illegal immigrants. Just askin, but do these Republicans want to be tied to wanting to change this historic, post-Civil War amendment, which made former slaves and their children full citizens in this country? At a time of 10% unemployment and two wars, do politicians really want to debate a Constitutional Amendment from the 19th century? For the GOP, does this help them with their problem at wooing non-white votes? This seems a tad tone deaf; it may be popular with folks who listen to talk radio or watch evening infotainment debate shows but really?

    *** 75 House races to watch: IN-9: The Democratic nominee is incumbent Baron Hill (first elected to Congress in '98, lost in '04, but was re-elected in '06). The GOP nominee is attorney/former Marine Corps officer Todd Young (who in the primary defeated Mike Sodrel, who beat Hill in '04, but lost to him in '06 and '08). McCain won 50% in this district in 2008, and Bush got 59% in 2004. Hill voted against the stimulus, but for cap-and-trade and health care. As of June 30, Hill had $1.1 million in the bank, versus $259,000 for Young. Both Cook and Rothenberg rate the race as a Toss Up.

    *** More midterm news: In Florida, a new poll "shows Gov. Charlie Crist (I) ahead of Marco Rubio (R) by some of the largest margins reported by any poll so far," Talking Points Memo reports. "With Democrat Jeff Greene in the race, Saturday's Florida Poll finds, Crist leads Rubio 37%-29%, while Greene takes third with 16%."… And in Illinois, "Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is about to take a hard hit from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as the powerful business lobby goes on the air with a commercial slamming the Democrat's 'record of failure' and linking him to the state's 10.5 percent unemployment rate," Politico writes.

    Countdown to TN primary: 1 day
    Countdown to CO, CT, and MN primaries, plus GA run-off: 6 days
    Countdown to WA and WY primaries: 13 days
    Countdown to AK, AZ, FL, and VT primaries: 20 days
    Countdown to Election Day 2010: 90 days

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  • Obama agenda: Home alone -- and then off to Chicago

    Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

    "Home alone, President Barack Obama turned 49 on Wednesday," the AP writes, adding, "Obama is heading home to Chicago Wednesday evening for a birthday celebration dinner with friends. He'll spend the night in his own house in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood. He'll tour a Chicago automobile plant and attend fundraisers Thursday."

    The AP: "Interviews with White House and Agriculture Department officials reveal a greater level of White House involvement in the incident than officials initially let on, with staff making calls to Capitol Hill and civil rights groups, and senior administration officials speaking to Vilsack. Most notably, White House staff expressed concerns early on that Sherrod's remarks about race in an edited video clip may have been taken out of context. Despite the concerns, a White House official said no one in the West Wing asked the Agriculture Department to hold off in seeking Sherrod's resignation until a full tape or transcript of her remarks could be found. The official said the White House didn't want to get involved in what it considered to be a USDA personnel matter. The official insisted on speaking anonymously in order to reconstruct what happened in the 36-hour period between Sherrod's resignation and the Agriculture Department's decision to reconsider and offer her a new job."

    Denied: "The author of the Rolling Stone article that ended the military career of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former top commander in Afghanistan, has been denied permission to join U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said Tuesday… The rejection came as the Pentagon ramped up an internal investigation into the circumstances behind some of the most salacious material Hastings used in his article in Rolling Stone. The Army inspector general is interviewing current and former McChrystal aides, The Associated Press has learned."

    "With the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop, an impassioned Mayor Bloomberg yesterday supported the development of a mosque near Ground Zero and chastised opponents for what he said was trampling on religious freedom. 'I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state -- as important a test as we may see in our lifetimes -- and it is critically important that we get it right,' the mayor said [per the New York Post] in remarks on Governors Island -- chosen by the mayor as a symbol of religious freedom in America. 'To cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that.'"

    "The Iranian president may have dodged an explosive assassination attempt. A homemade explosive device was thrown at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's convoy as he was making his way to a speech, Reuters reports" (via the New York Post). "The source told the news wire agency that Ahmadinejad's convoy was targeted as he was traveling from the airport in Hamadan to a local sports arena. The president was unharmed, but several others are believed injured."

  • Congress: Dueling over Kagan

    "Democrats and Republicans presented dueling portraits yesterday of Elena Kagan and the Supreme Court she’s seeking to join at the start of a politically charged debate over her fitness to be a justice, making what amounted to closing arguments before a near-certain confirmation vote by week’s end," the AP reports.

    Ohhhh... right.... it's the media's fault: "The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) on Tuesday blamed the media for overhyping the fallout over Rep. Maxine Waters's ethics trial. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said in a statement that people should not prejudge Waters (D-Calif.), a member of the CBC, until the ethics process plays out," The Hill writes. She said, "Although the alleged charges remain unclear, some in the media have sought to indict Congresswoman Waters in clear disregard of her right to a fair and due process."

    Congressional watcher Norm Ornstein weighs in on Charlie Rangel: "To watch a long and productive Congressional career take this kind of turn is truly unfortunate. But let’s judge Rangel by the standard he himself set back in 2008, when the story emerged that he had used his Congressional letterhead to raise funds for a Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York. At the time, Rangel said to reporters, 'I don’t get involved in some subjective stuff. I want to get involved in: Did I violate the spirit of the law and any ethical standards that we have in the House of Representatives?' Reading the bill of particulars from the House ethics investigative subcommittee, the answer is clearly yes."

    "Senate Democrats pushed back Tuesday against Republican demands to change a part of the 14th Amendment that grants U.S. citizenship by birthright to children of illegal immigrants… The arguing is over the Citizenship Clause to the 14th Amendment, which was adopted in 1868 during the Reconstruction era. The clause was intended to reverse the 1857 Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case that denied citizenship to African-Americans. The Supreme Court subsequently interpreted the clause to mean that children born in the United States have an inherent right to citizenship. Republicans maintained Tuesday that modern times present a much more difficult situation, with immigration stressing the country’s resources and dividing the country."

    "Democrats in Washington scrambled Tuesday to muster 60 Senate votes behind a nationwide state and local aid package that would funnel about $2 billion to New York to save 7,100 teacher jobs," the New York Daily News writes. "A Senate vote was expected Wednesday on the $26 billion package after last-minute tweaks to satisfy Congressional Budget Office complaints that the costs of the bill were not offset by cuts elsewhere in the budget."

  • The midterms: Breaking down the KS, MI and MO results

    CALIFORNIA: Per a press release, “Dominican University of California President Joseph R. Fink today announced that veteran NBC News journalist and author Tom Brokaw will serve as the moderator for the California Governor’s debate between Republican candidate Meg Whitman and Democratic candidate Jerry Brown on Tuesday, October 12.”

    COLORADO: President Obama "jumped onto a conference call on Tuesday night to tele-stump for his ally, Senator Michael Bennet, who faces a tough Democratic primary next week," the New York Times reports last night of a tele-town hall for the Democratic candidate which allowed Obama "to pitch in during these critical final days without having to leave the comforts of the White House."

    Obama "disputed the criticism from Romanoff, saying Bennet ‘stood up again and again’ to big corporations and was ‘one of the key people I needed’ in the Senate to shepherd through a financial regulation recently signed into law," the AP writes.

    FLORIDA: "A new survey of the Florida Senate race shows Gov. Charlie Crist (I) ahead of Marco Rubio (R) by some of the largest margins reported by any poll so far," Talking Points Memo reports. "With Democrat Jeff Greene in the race, Saturday's Florida Poll finds, Crist leads Rubio 37%-29%, while Greene takes third with 16%."

    GEORGIA: A Republican Landmark Communications poll of the governors’ runoff race found that "former secretary of state Karen Handel has a nine-point lead over former congressman Nathan Deal, 45.8 percent to 37.1 percent," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes.

    ILLINOIS: "Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is about to take a hard hit from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as the powerful business lobby goes on the air with a commercial slamming the Democrat’s ‘record of failure’ and linking him to the state’s 10.5 percent unemployment rate," Politico writes.

    KANSAS: "Kansas Republicans have chosen Congressman Jerry Moran as their nominee for an open U.S. Senate seat in a bitter primary race where both candidates actively courted GOP conservatives," the AP writes, adding that Democratic college administrator Lisa Johnston won her party’s nomination for the seat.

    Roll Call: "Rep. Jerry Moran just barely defeated Rep. Todd Tiahrt on Tuesday in the Kansas GOP Senate primary, making the seven-term lawmaker the heavy favorite to become the Sunflower State’s junior Senator next year."

    And the Republican nomination for governor was called in favor of Sen. Sam Brownback as he led his challenger 81% to 18%, The Hill writes.

    The RGA offered its congratulations early -- around 7 pm, the Topeka Capital Journal notes.

    MICHIGAN: "In a surprise primary outcome, political newcomer Rick Snyder dispatched Michigan's attorney general, a longtime congressman and two others Tuesday to win the Republican nomination in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm," the AP reports. "Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero grabbed the Democratic nod, but the GOP candidate automatically became the favorite in the economically ailing state." He won 36%-27% over Hoekstra. Mike Cox got 23% and Mike Bouchard 12%.

    The Detroit Free-Press on the governor's race: "The 'nerd' and the 'angry mayor' will battle to be Michigan's next governor in November."

    The AP: “Michigan Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick lost her bid for an eighth term on Tuesday, her son's legal woes dragging her down in a year when fickle voters seem eager to fire longtime lawmakers. She's the sixth -- and the fourth in the House -- to lose so far this year. And the frustrated electorate could deal others the same fate in primaries over the next two months, not to mention the general election in November, when nothing less than the balance of power in Washington will be at stake.”

    More: “State Sen. Hansen Clarke of Detroit beat Kilpatrick. Throughout the campaign, he stressed the legal problems of her son, Kwame Kilpatrick, who resigned as Detroit mayor in 2008 after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick tried to overcome her son's legal woes by emphasizing her membership on the House Appropriations Committee and what she called her record of providing for the metropolitan Detroit district.”

    By the way, Kilpatrick barely won her 2008 primary, when the news of her son's demise was making headlines, 39%-35%-25% over two different candidates. Her closest general election was with her winning 78% in this very Democratic district.

    Well, that didn't work... "Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) brought senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) to Detroit to help her stave off a tough primary challenge," The Hill reports. "In the final 72 hours before the vote, House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) campaigned for Kilpatrick. She was also joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), according to a spokesman for her campaign."

    A Detroit Free-Press columnist calls the result, "A lesson in humility."

    "In other results Tuesday, former Rep. Tim Walberg (R) will get a rematch with Rep. Mark Schauer (D) this November in the 7th district." That will be one of the races to watch this fall as the GOP tries to take back the House. Schauer defeated Walberg 49%-46% in 2008. In MI-1, Bart Stupak's seat, will also be a marquee race featuring a socially conservative Democrat in state Rep. Gary McDowell and Tea Party favorite Dan Punished, who appears to have won by just 12 votes over state Sen. Jason Allen out of more than 54,000 cast. (By the way, Former NFL player Jay Riemersma lost by 660 votes.)

    MISSOURI: As Democratic Senate nominee Robin Carnahan won 84% of the vote and Republican Roy Blunt made off with 71%, "there wasn’t much drama in Missouri’s U.S. Senate primaries, where the frontrunners were household names with campaigns already focused on November," the Kansas City Star writes.

    "Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a federal mandate to purchase health insurance, rebuking President Barack Obama's administration and giving Republicans their first political victory in a national campaign to overturn the controversial health care law passed by Congress in March," the St. Louis Dispatch reports. "With most of the vote counted, Proposition C was winning by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1."

  • GOP Rep. wants treason charge for document leaker

    A host of military and civilian officials have lamented the leaking of more than 75,000 classified documents about the Afghan war to Web site WikiLeaks, saying that the disclosure of the secret information could endanger U.S. troops. But a Republican congressman today went a step further, calling for treason charges – accompanied by the death penalty – against the 22-year old analyst charged with leaking the information.

    Asked during an interview with Michigan radio station WHMI if he supported capital charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst charged with illegally downloading and leaking the classified information, Rep. Mike Rogers said "I would support it 100 percent."

    "We know for a fact that people will likely be killed because of this information being disclosed," said Rogers, a Michigan Republican and a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

    "[Manning] put soldiers at risk who are out there fighting for their country," he added. "And he put people who are cooperating with the United States government clearly at risk."

    Manning will face a military hearing similar to a grand jury proceeding later this month, NBC reported Monday. He is currently being held at a Marine Corps facility in Quantico, Va.

    Treason charges in the modern era have been rare. In 2006, American Adam Gadahn was charged with treason after appearing as a spokesman in Al Qaeda propaganda videos. He was the first American charged with treason since 1952.

  • Obama talks development, extremism with young African leaders

    From NBC's Athena Jones
    Calling Africa a "fundamental part our interconnected world," President Obama urged young leaders to help spur economic development and fight corruption, disease and extremism on the continent during a town hall on Tuesday.

    Young people from nearly 50 nations -- including Ghana, Mali, Malawi, Somalia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Botswana and Liberia -- joined administration officials like Attorney General. Eric Holder, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, U.S. Trade Rep. Ron Kirk and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah at the East Room event.

    When the president delivered what his administration billed as a major foreign policy speech to the Ghanaian Parliament, he said that the 21st Century would be shaped by what happened not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Africa, adding, "Your prosperity can expand America's prosperity. Your health and security can contribute to the world's health and security." He also said that "Africa's future is up to Africans," a theme he struck again today.

    "We need young Africans who are standing up and making things happen not only in their own countries, but around the world and the United States wants to be your partner," Obama told the East Room audience. "We are rooting for your success; we want to work with you to achieve that success, but ultimately success is gonna be in your hands. Being a partner means that we can be there by your side, but we can't do it for you ."

    The Forum with Young African Leaders included meetings between the leaders and their American counterparts and U.S government officials, as well as an audience with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

    In brief remarks today before taking questions, the president touched on the fact that more than a dozen African countries were celebrating 50 years of independence this year -- an independence that had left them free to chart their own course. He quoted John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Gandhi as he argued for the need to the young leaders to demand greater transparency and accountability from their governments, to find non-violent ways to address conflict, to give women an equal voice in decision-making, to work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.

    "Good governance is at the center of development," the president said later, during the question and answer session, in response to a young Liberian who wondered how to fight brain drain.

    Obama confronted criticism that the United States was not investing enough on the continent to combat HIV/AIDS, saying that while he had not decreased the funding for PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), he had not increased it as much as people would like, which was not the same thing as cutting funding. He also shared the story of how he and his wife, Michelle, were publicly tests for HIV on a trip to Kenya, to spread the word about the need for people to know their status.

    In talking about areas where U.S. and African interests intersect, the president said that fast-growing countries there could serve as an important market for American products and that improving security and governance on the continent would be important for U.S. national security as well. He told the audience that conflict hampers development and in answering a question about how much support the U.S. would provide to the struggling nation of Somalia, which has become a haven for extremists, the president said America "desperately" wanted Somalia to succeed.

    "If you have extremist organizations taking root in Somalia, ultimately that could threaten the U.S.," as well as the entire region, the president said. "Certainly what we can do is create a situation where people-- young people are not carrying around rifles shooting each other on the streets and we want to be a partner with Somalia in that effort and will continue to do so."

  • Clapp-er off, Clap-per on

    NBC's Ken Strickland reports that after receiving a report he requested "nearly one year ago," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has released his hold on Lt. Gen. James Clapper's nomination for the Director of National Intelligence. The nomination cleared the Intelligence Committee last month and awaits action by the full Senate.

    "This report confirms Senator McCain's longstanding concerns about the poor oversight and cost overruns in intelligence technology programs," said the senator's spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan. "Senator McCain will continue to fight to ensure American taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and effectively to strengthen our national security."

  • GOP's Voinovich won't support Kagan

    Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, announced in a statement on the Senate floor Tuesday that he will not support Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan in her confirmation vote later this week.

    Voinovich, who is retiring, was one of nine Republicans who voted to support Obama nominee Sonia Sotomayor in 2009.

    "I have no idea what she'll do on the bench and whether she will be able to suppress her own values to apply the law," Voinovich said of Kagan, citing her lack of judicial experience and her "limited written record." (Sotomayor served on the federal appellate bench for over a decade before being nominated to the Supreme Court.)

    Five Republicans - Sens. Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, Judd Gregg, Dick Lugar, and Lindsey Graham - have said they will vote for Kagan's confirmation. One Democrat, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, has announced he will oppose her.

  • Civil rights groups sue over wanted terrorist

    From NBC's Pete Williams
    Two civil rights groups today sued the US government, seeking the legal authority to challenge the Obama administration's targeting of a radical cleric in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki -- who may now be America's most wanted terrorist.

    The government says al-Awlaki has become one of the dominant recruiters of Americans for violent attacks on the homeland. He's said to have communicated with Major Nidal Hasan before last year's shootings at Ft. Hood and with Faisal Shahzad, who planted a car bomb in Times Square earlier this year. In addition, the FBI says he played a key role in the Christmas Day airline bomb plot. Intelligence sources say he has been the target of several unmanned drone attacks.

    Now, the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights say they've been asked by al-Awlaki's father to challenge the government's targeting of al-Awlaki, who is a U.S. citizen, born in New Mexico. The groups say the government has improperly "asserted authority to use lethal force against U.S. citizens located far from any battlefield without charge, trial, or judicial process of any kind."

    In mid-July, al-Awlaki was formally placed on the global terrorist list, and federal law makes it a crime for any lawyer to represent someone on the list without getting a license from the government. The civil rights groups are suing over the government's refusal to grant them that permission.

    "President Obama is claiming the power to act as judge, jury, and executioner while suspending any semblance of due process," said Vince Warren of the Center for Constitutional Rights. His group and the ACLU claim that lethal force can be used, outside of armed conflict, only in response to an imminent threat of deadly attack.

  • Obama lends Bennet a helping hand

    This event was just added to President Obama's public schedule for later tonight: a tele-town hall hosted by appointed Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet (D).

    Bennet, of course, is engaged in a tough primary contest against Andrew Romanoff, the former state House speaker.

    But this is a sign of the White House trying to lend a helping hand to Bennet before the Aug. 10 primary. Bennet, in fact, has already used Obama prominently in one of his TV ads.

  • Virginia wades into illegal immigration battle

    From msnbc.com's Vaughn Ververs:

    Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is once again using his platform as his state's top lawyer to wade into the hottest legal issues of the day. On the same day a federal judge gave Cuccinelli a tactical victory in Virginia's suit challenging the health care reform law, the AG lent his voice to the issue of illegal immigration in the state.

    In a legal opinion issued Monday, Cuccinelli said Virginia law enforcement officers are authorized to ask about the immigration status of any one in the state who is stopped for another reason – provided it does not significantly add to the overall time of the stop.

    The opinion differs from parts of the Arizona law now stalled in courts in that it does not require officers to check on immigration status, only authorizes officers to do so. Cuccinelli issued the opinion in response to a request from a Virginia state delegate, according to the Washington Post.

    "We issued an opinion at the request of one of our legislators, addressing the ability of law enforcement officials in Virginia to make arrests for violations of federal immigration law," Cuccinelli said in an interview with Fox News. "And the distinction we drew was they clearly have arrest authority when there's a criminal violation of the federal immigration laws, but that it is not clear that they have arrest authority when there's a mere civil violation of the federal immigration laws."

  • First thoughts: The mainstream strikes back

    AP

    Mainstream GOP gubernatorial candidates Jerry Moran (left- Kansas) and Rick Snyder (right- Michigan).

    On Primary Day in Kansas, Michigan, and Missouri (as well as in Tennessee on Thursday), does the mainstream strike back?... Today's marquee match-ups: Moran vs. Tiahrt in Kansas's GOP Senate race… Bouchard vs. Cox vs. Hoekstra vs. Snyder in Michigan's GOP gov race… And Blunt vs. Purgason in Missouri's GOP Senate primary… Also in Missouri is the largely symbolic referendum on the health-care law… Cuccinelli is back in the spotlight in Virginia… USA Today/Gallup poll shows supports that Obama's handling of Afghanistan has plummeted… Senate debate on Kagan begins today… And Meg Whitman now has spent some $110 million in California, including $91 million of her own money.

    From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
    *** The mainstream strikes back? So far, this hasn't been a kind election season for mainstream --- yet still conservative -- Republicans. Sen. Bob Bennett lost his party's nomination Utah. Trey Grayson, who was handpicked by Mitch McConnell, lost to Rand Paul in Kentucky's Senate primary. And both Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian couldn't best Sharron Angle in Nevada's Senate primary. In these contests, primary voters (or convention-goers in Bennett's case) went with the most conservative candidate. But in this week's primaries in Kansas, Michigan, and Tennessee, we're watching to see if mainstream mounts a comeback.

    *** Moran vs. Tiahrt: In Kansas' GOP Senate primary today, Reps. Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt are battling to succeed Sen. Brownback, who's running for governor. Both Moran (endorsed by Jim DeMint) and Tiahrt (backed by Sarah Palin) are conservatives, but Moran might a tick or more in the Bennett model (he voted for SCHIP and PAYGO, and Moran's former campaign manager has accused his former boss of not being "instinctively conservative"). The Moran-Tiahrt winner would be the overwhelming favorite for Brownback's seat in November. Tiahrt has tried his best to tap into the Tea Party movement and has run the type of primary campaign that has been successful in Nevada and Kentucky, for instance. Most polls in Kansas close at 8:00 pm ET tonight, but a few counties in the western part of the state close at 9:00 pm ET.

    *** Bouchard vs. Cox vs. Hoekstra vs. Snyder: Also in Michigan today, Republicans Mike Bouchard (Oakland County sheriff), Mike Cox (the state's attorney general), Pete Hoekstra (congressman), and Rick Snyder (former Gateway executive) are competing for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Snyder -- who has attracted attention for his "One Tough Nerd" TV ads -- is viewed as the more moderate candidate in the field (he backs embryonic stem-cell research). And a recent EPIC-MRA poll had Snyder at 26%, Cox at 24%, Hoekstra at 23%, and Bouchard at 10%. Like in Kansas, the Bouchard-Cox-Hoekstra-Snyder winner would be the favorite in the fall to replace the term-limited Jennifer Granholm (D).

    *** If he wins, Snyder can thank Dems: Snyder's even running TV ads featuring Bill Ford touting Democratic Party credentials as a way to convince some disgruntled Democrats to pick a Republican primary ballot today and choose Snyder. If Snyder wins, he'll probably have Democrats to thank. The Democrats running for the party's nomination are Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and state House Speaker Andy Dillon; this is a primary that's been nearly forgotten by even most Michigan Democrats and the state party had a heckuva time even fielding these two candidates. Most polls in Michigan close at 8:00 pm ET, but the few counties in Central Time Zone close at 9:00 pm ET.

    *** Haslam vs. Ramsey vs. Wamp on Thursday: And in Tennessee on Thursday (yes a Thursday primary, go figure), three Republicans -- Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, and Rep. Zack Wamp -- are vying for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Bredesen (D). Ramsey drew national attention by describing Islam as a cult, while Wamp has a TV ad in which he says, "I believe God is the center of the universe. He made us to serve him and to serve others." By comparison, Haslam is the moderate in this race (think Bob Corker, circa 2006). So if a Ramsey or a Wamp don't win in state like Tennessee -- but Haslam does -- that might give mainstream conservatives something to cheer about, even if Ramsey and Wamp are splitting the conservative vote. The Wamp TV ads are head-scratching; they seem to be assuming a certain stereotype among the Republican primary electorate that, well, would be painted by say a Democrat trying to portray a Republican outside the mainstream. Even in a multi-candidate field, this seems to be a bit desperate.

    *** Blunt vs. Purgason and Prop. C: There's one other race today where the mainstream is likely to win -- in Missouri, where Republican Roy Blunt is the overwhelming favorite in his GOP Senate primary against Chuck Purgason. (What's the over/under here for Blunt? 65%?) But the real action in the Show Me State today is the Prop. C measure, which is a referendum on whether the state should opt-out of the health-care law's mandatory requirement that everyone purchase health insurance. Per Time, it's the nation's first referendum on the health-care law, but it's mostly symbolic. "Courts will eventually decide whether Missouri and other states can legally trump federal law and exempt citizens from the mandate to buy insurance." Polls in Missouri close at 8:00 pm ET.

    *** From town halls to the ballot box: A year ago, Republicans and conservatives tried to stop health care in those August town halls. They tried in Congress. Then they tried in court (and they got an early victory when a federal judge refused to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit against the mandates). And now they're trying at the ballot box. Assuming opponents of the law get their referendum victory today in the bellwether state of Missouri, don't be surprised if Republicans attempt to trumpet these results nationwide.

    *** Cuccinelli back in the spotlight: Speaking of the federal judge's decision on Virginia's lawsuit yesterday, the man who filed it -- Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) -- is once again in the political spotlight. One way to view Cuccinelli is as if Robert Bork was a state attorney general; he's using his post to make national political arguments from the conservative legal community's side -- all in a battleground state Barack Obama won by nearly seven percentage points.

    *** Don't miss this poll: "Public support for President Obama's Afghanistan war policy has plummeted amid a rising U.S. death toll and the unauthorized release of classified military documents, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows. Support for Obama's management of the war fell to 36%, down from 48% in a February poll. Now, a record 43% also say it was a mistake to go to war there after the terrorist attacks in 2001… Only 41% of those surveyed Tuesday through Sunday approved of the way Obama is handling his job, his lowest rating in the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll since he took office in January 2009. In Gallup's separate daily tracking poll, his approval was at 45% Monday."

    *** Debate on Kagan begins: Per NBC's Ken Strickland, Senate Majority Harry Reid said that debate on Elena Kagan's Supreme Court confirmation will begin this morning. The vote has not been scheduled yet, but it will occur sometime this week before the Senate leaves for its August recess.

    *** 75 House races to watch: IN-8: This is the congressional seat Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D) is vacating in his run for the Senate. Per the Almanac of American Politics, this district has become known as the "Bloody 8th" for its tight congressional races. The Democratic nominee is state Rep. Trent Van Haaften, and the GOP nominee is cardiologist Larry Bucshon (pronounced Boo-SHON). In 2008, McCain won 51% of the vote in this district, and Bush won 61% in 2004. Both Cook and Rothenberg rate the race as Lean Republican.

    *** More midterm news: In California, Meg Whitman "is expected to near or surpass a record-shattering $110 million in spending, including $91 million of her own money," the Fresno Bee writes. By comparison, Jerry Brown has spent only $380,000 this year (but has $23 million cash on hand)… And in Kentucky, Rand Paul has "said recently that Washington has no business formulating mine safety rules" when asked about April's deadly mine explosion in West Virginia at a campaign stop, The Hill writes.

    Countdown to TN primary: 2 days
    Countdown to CO, CT, and MN primaries, plus GA run-off: 7 days
    Countdown to WA and WY primaries: 14 days
    Countdown to AK, AZ, FL, and VT primaries: 21 days
    Countdown to Election Day 2010: 91 days

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  • Obama agenda: Welcome to the recovery

    AP

    Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

    Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner pens this New York Times op-ed: "The devastation wrought by the great recession is still all too real for millions of Americans who lost their jobs, businesses and homes. The scars of the crisis are fresh, and every new economic report brings another wave of anxiety. That uncertainty is understandable, but a review of recent data on the American economy shows that we are on a path back to growth."

    More: "While the economy has a long way to go before reaching its full potential, last week's data on economic growth show that large parts of the private sector continue to strengthen. Business investment and consumption - the two keys to private demand -- are getting stronger, better than last year and better than last quarter. Uncertainty is still inhibiting investment, but business capital spending increased at a solid annual rate of about 17 percent."

    Geithner concludes, "These are considerable challenges, but we are in a much stronger position to face them today than when President Obama took office. By taking aggressive action to fix the financial system, reduce growth in health care costs and improve education, we have put the American economy on a firmer foundation for future growth. And as the president said last week, no one should bet against the American worker, American business and American ingenuity. We suffered a terrible blow, but we are coming back."

    The Boston Globe on Obama and Iraq: "President Obama declared yesterday that his administration will keep its promise to bring combat operations in Iraq to a close by the end of this month, even as a political stalemate in Baghdad and a spate of suicide bombings threaten to erode gains that have been made."

    Obama's Day: The president signs the Fair Sentencing Act into law today, then meets with 115 young African leaders from 40 different countries.

    Ask and ye shall receive… "House Democrats who have secured the president's coveted endorsement in primaries this year say there is one vital step in attracting the formal backing of the White House," The Hill writes. "You must ask for it. Obama has staunchly supported his former Senate colleagues who faced primary challenges this cycle, but when it comes to the House, he's been more selective."

  • Congress: Swamp Thing

    "US Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts urged Representative Maxine Waters of California to avoid any dealings with Boston-based OneUnited Bank because her husband owned stock in it. But the Democratic congresswoman didn’t heed his warnings, according to a House ethics report released yesterday, and now faces a possible trial before her colleagues over a conflict of interest with the bank," the Boston Globe says.

    The AP: "Democratic leaders say they've emptied the swamp of congressional corruption. Never mind the ethics trials to come for two longtime party members.”

    "Behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, Democrats are in full spin mode as they try to minimize the political damage from the spectacle of two potential House ethics trials before the midterm elections," Roll Call writes under the headline: "Democrats Tout Corruption Cleanup as Trials Loom."

    "The Senate’s confirmation of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court later this week promises to be one thing: drama-free," Roll Call writes.

    The latest in the GOP attention on the 14th amendment… "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told The Hill on Monday that Congress 'ought to take a look at' changing the 14th Amendment, which gives the children of illegal immigrants a right to U.S. citizenship." He said, 'I think we ought to take a look at it -- hold hearings, listen to the experts on it,' McConnell said. 'I haven’t made a final decision about it, but that’s something that we clearly need to look at. Regardless of how you feel about the various aspects of immigration reform, I don’t think anybody thinks that’s something they’re comfortable with.'"

  • GOP watch: The Palin imprimatur

    http://twitter.com/sarahpalinusa

    A sample of some of Sarah Palin's Twitter endorsements.

    "Some Republican candidates work for months to get an endorsement from Sarah Palin," Politico writes. For others, it has come out of the blue. "In an age of tightly choreographed campaigns, the idea that such a potentially consequential endorsement might land out of the blue, without prior notice or behind-the-scenes discussion with the endorsee, seems preposterous. But that's how Palin rolls, according to some recipients of the former Alaska governor's imprimatur."

  • The midterms: Big Bucks, Big Bucks, no Whammies

    Roll Call's Miller previews the races in the three states that vote today (KS, MI, and MO), and leads with the Kansas Senate primary.

    One of us previewed the races on Friday.

    CALIFORNIA: "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown is continuing his low-budget ways four months before the election, with his campaign spending just $377,333 this year, a just-filed campaign finance statement shows. He had about $23.2 million in cash on hand," while Republican opponent Meg Whitman " is expected to near or surpass a record-shattering $110 million in spending, including $91 million of her own money," the Fresno Bee writes.

    GEORGIA: "In politics, it is a fine thing to be able to tell a voter that you prefer his company to that of the president of the United States," the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote of former Gov. Roy Barnes' campaign events with farmers and sheriffs yesterday while President Obama spoke at a fundraiser in Atlanta. "Though he and his staff portrayed the conflict as a mere clash of calendars, the disparity in location allowed Barnes to trumpet his independence to rural swing voters who will be crucial in November."

    By the way, Barnes' campaign headquarters in Marietta were only about a half hour's drive from Atlanta's Hyatt Regency hotel, the site of both presidential events yesterday. Barnes had a 10:15 a.m. campaign event receiving sheriffs' endorsements in Forsyth -- an hour away from where the president was speaking at 11:30 a.m. Then an afternoon campaign stop with more sheriffs took Barnes even farther from Obama, to Thomasville, GA -- four hours away from Atlanta. A campaign manager emailed First Read that the former governor had a "busy campaign schedule" and that his "priority is to continue traveling across the state, talking to voters about jobs, education, and transportation - his plan to make Georgia work."

    HAWAII: An internal poll for Republican Charles Djou has him up 50%-42% over Colleen Hanabusa in HI-1, a seat Democrats hope to pick up.

    KANSAS: CQ takes a look back at the “nasty” primary race between Republican Senate candidates Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt. “If the two men used to be friends, there is no evidence that they like one another now... The bickering came to a head in June when former White House political strategist Karl Rove, who is supporting Tiahrt, claimed that Moran tried to get a campaign fundraiser with a former Cabinet member in exchange for his vote on trade promotion authority in 2001.”

    KENTUCKY: Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul "said recently that Washington has no business formulating mine safety rules" when asked about April's deadly mine explosion in West Virginia at a campaign stop, The Hill writes. "The bottom line is: I'm not an expert, so don't give me the power in Washington to be making rules," Paul told Details magazine. "I want to be compassionate, and I'm sorry for what happened, but I wonder: Was it just an accident?"

    MICHIGAN: “Seven candidates seeking to become Michigan's next governor were rushing around the state Sunday in pursuit of the large share of voters who remained undecided mere days before Tuesday's primary election,” the Lansing State Journal reports. “Republicans seeking to become governor are Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, Attorney General Mike Cox, state Sen. Tom George, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra and Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder. Democrats in the race are Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and House Speaker Andy Dillon.”

    "I have no clue who will win the Republican nomination for governor," pollster Mark Grebner told the Grand Rapids Press. "’Each of the top three can claim a path to first place,’ he added. “Among a much smaller sample of respondents, considered likely Republican primary voters who may instead vote in the Democratic race, Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero holds a 2-to-1 lead over House Speaker Andy Dillon. The largest percentage, 43 percent, is undecided. Grebner said that fits with patterns his polling found elsewhere in the state last week.’”

    MISSOURI: “Members of two Missouri families with a century of combined time in public office were seeking the right Tuesday to finally square off against each another in one of the nation's more closely contested U.S. Senate races,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. “A November general election contest between [Rep. Roy] Blunt and [Secretary of State Robin] Carnahan would mark the first direct faceoff for the two political families that have become the Missouri version of the Kennedy political dynasty in Massachusetts. Members of the Blunt and Carnahan families have served at almost every level of government, from the local school board to the state Legislature to the governor's mansion and the U.S. House and Senate.”

    Also on the ballot today in Missouri: Proposition C, “the first-in-the-nation referendum on President Obama's health care plan,” Time writes. “Courts will eventually decide whether Missouri and other states can legally trump federal law and exempt citizens from the mandate to buy insurance. But sending a signal to Washington will be victory enough for the Republicans and Tea Party activists pushing Proposition C.

  • The debate over 'birthright citizenship'

    AP

    Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

    From Msnbc.com’s Carrie Dann and Tom Curry
    The phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” may sound about as dry as the Mojave desert, but its meaning is reemerging as a major part of the immigration debate and a key part of a burning question: Should the children of illegal immigrants be given citizenship if they are born in the United States?

    Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., made headlines over the weekend when he suggested to CBS’s Face the Nation that the Senate should hold hearings on the constitutionality of the Fourteenth Amendment, which has been interpreted to ensure that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen of this country.

    “The question is, if both parents are here illegally, should there be a reward for their illegal behavior?” he asked. Kyl proposed that constitutional experts should be consulted on the answer.

    The Arizona lawmaker's comments came on the heels of a call by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for the elimination of so-called “birthright citizenship” in order to eliminate what he said is a major incentive for non-citizens to enter the country illegally.

    “They come here to have babies. They come here to drop a child – it’s called drop and leave,” Graham said on FOX News. “To have a child in America, they cross the border, they go to the emergency room, have a child, and that child's automatically an American citizen. That shouldn't be the case. That attracts people here for all the wrong reasons.”

    The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868 during the Reconstruction era, decrees that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside.”

    The five words “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” were the basis of Supreme Court case in 1898 that guaranteed U.S. citizenship to children of foreign citizens born in the United States. Reversing that decision has been a popular idea among some conservatives for more than 20 years, although the nation as a whole appears to be split on the question.

    A recent NBC/WSJ poll found that 49 percent of Americans believe that children of illegal immigrants should continue to be granted automatic citizenship, compared to 46 percent who think that the policy should be changed. Hispanics in the same poll supported a continued policy of birthright citizenship by a 4-1 margin.

    (It’s worth noting that, as a practical matter, Kyl and the rest of the minority in the Senate cannot hold a hearing of the Judiciary Committee without the approval of the Democratic chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, who as the head of the committee is charged with scheduling all of the panel’s hearings. A House subcommittee held a hearing on the matter in 2005, when Republicans controlled the House.)

    In 2007, Rep. Ron Paul, R- Texas, introduced a proposed amendment to the Constitution that would deny citizenship to individuals born in the United States to parents who are neither citizens nor persons who owe permanent allegiance to the United States. Rep Elton Gallegly, R- Calif. has twice introduced a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit citizenship, merely by virtue of birth in the United States, to persons with citizen or legal resident mothers. Neither measure has made headway in the House.

  • Despite McCain hold, White House stands behind Clapper

    NBC's Cydney Weiner and Michelle Perry
    Despite Sen. John McCain’s (R) hold on Gen. James Clapper’s confirmation as Director of National Intelligence, National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough today said that the administration still believes Clapper is the right person for the job.

    “We are going to talk to McCain directly and work with the Hill as we have done for weeks now,” McDonough told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports."

    McDonough also said that his hope is to work through this last “speed bump” to make sure Clapper is confirmed by the end of the week.

    "Our hope is to work through this last speed bump here, to put the president's chief intelligence officer in place by the end of this week."

    “We recognize the numerous threats our country so we want to get him into that slot,” he added.

  • White House responds to ruling on health law

    From NBC's Ellie Hall
    In a blog posting on the White House's Web site, health spokeswoman/adviser Stephanie Cutter responded to today's federal court ruling that declined to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit against the health-care law.

    "Having failed in the legislative arena, opponents of reform are now turning to the courts in an attempt to overturn the work of the democratically elected branches of government," Cutter said. "This is nothing new. We saw this with the Social Security Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act -- constitutional challenges were brought to all three of these monumental pieces of legislation, and all of those challenges failed. So too will the challenge to health reform."

    Cutter stressed that the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the health-care law. "Today's decision merely said that the Virginia Attorney General has standing to challenge the lawsuit -- which means that the court has jurisdiction to hear further arguments. The federal government believes this procedural ruling is in error and conflicts with long-standing and well-established legal precedents -- the types of precedents that, in the words of Chief Justice Roberts, are designed to preserve the "judiciary's proper role in our system of government" and to ensure that our courts do not become forums for political debates."

    Cutter, a veteran Democrat communications strategist who helped guide Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court confirmation, was named assistant to the president for special projects in May 2010.

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