Former Missouri state treasurer Sarah Steelman announced her challenge to Senator Claire McCaskill on Wednesday. Jim Talent, who held the seat before McCaskill did, is reportedly close to joining the race himself. It’s the very beginning of what’s likely to be a long, crowded and wild 2012 primary season for Republicans nationwide. …
Tea Party
Morning Must Reads: Search
(Getty Images/Alex Wong)
–The final Bowles-Simpson deficit commission report is out. You can read it here. After a cursory glance, the tweaks from the draft proposal look minor. The panel’s vote isn’t until Friday, but it looks unlikely to get 14 of 18 votes for official recommendation.
–As Democrats and Republicans head into …
Palin Hauls in Nearly $500k In Just Over a Month
Sarah Palin raised $469,000 between Oct. 13 and Nov. 22 bringing her total for the year to over $3 million, Tim Crawford, SarahPAC’s treasurer, told TIME exclusively. Crawford attributed the surge of funds to energy surrounding the midterm elections, Palin’s endorsements and her TLC reality show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” Her …
Morning Must Reads: 2012 Checkup
(White House Photo by Pete Souza)
–Mike Huckabee tells the Iowa Family Policy Center the state supreme court ousters “may have been singularly the most important election that happened in America.” Back story here.
—New York Magazine‘s Jason Zengerle details how Chris Christie
Murkowski Wins Reelection
The Associated Press just called the last outstanding Senate race for GOP incumbent Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski, who lost her primary to Tea Party favorite Joe Miller, ran an historic write in campaign — the first successful one since Strom Thurmond in 1954.
As I’ve written before, Murkowski benefited from a sense of panic in the …
Congress’s Lame Lame Duck
Remember last summer when Republicans were warning about the scary lame duck? The ruling Democrats, warned GOP candidates and incumbents alike, are going to try and sneak through all manner of controversial bills against the will of the American people. House Republicans even introduced not one but two resolutions calling on Dems to not …
McConnell Smackdown?
The Senate Republican conference’s looming vote has been portrayed as the first test of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell versus Tea Party leader Jim DeMint. House GOP leadership last week announced an agreement to ban earmarks for at least two years. But McConnell held out in the Senate while DeMint pressed for a conference vote on the …
Morning Must Reads: Return
Senator-elect Mark Kirk meets with democratic rival Alexi Giannoulias at the Billy Goat Tavern November 3, in Chicago. (Photo by Frank Polich/Getty Images)
–The economy added 151,000 jobs in October, with private sector gains significantly outstripping government losses. The labor force shrank and the overall unemployment rate …
What the Tea Party Actually Does
Dave Weigel makes the point that the Tea Party’s success or failure should be judged not just on whom they get elected (or don’t), but to what degree they are able to influence sitting Senators with the specter of a primary challenge. John McCain is a test case in how to survive: plunge right and go for the jugular. The soft-spoken, …
The Rebirth of the New England GOP (Or Something Approximating It)
In 2006 and 2008 Democrats wiped out every New England House Republican and with the departure (from the Party and then the Senate) of Vermont’s Jim Jeffords, and John Sununu and Lincoln Chafee’s losses at the polls, GOP senators looked endangered as well. Pundits talked about how New England was turning permanently blue and how it …
Scene: The GOP’s Non-Party Victory Party
Heading into the elections, John Boehner didn’t want to have a victory party. “This is not a time for celebration. Not when one in 10 of our fellow citizens are out of work. Not when we have buried our children under a mountain of debt. Not when our Congress is held in such low esteem,” he told the crowd tonight. “We can …
The End of Civility?
In the 1940’s and 50’s when Sam Rayburn ruled the House his famous motto was: “You’ve got to go along to get along.” Rayburn governed during such a volatile period of war (World War 2, Korean, the beginning of Vietnam) and economic upheaval that the House flipped six times in 21 years. He got along so well with his GOP …
Morning Must Reads: Election Day
Delaware Republican Christine O’Donnell smiles after casting her ballot in Wilmington, Delaware on November 2. (REUTERS/Tim Shaffer)
–Walking up the big vote, our own Michael Duffy writes about the crucial yet fickle independents who are poised to deliver major gains to Republicans. A taste:
But in this pendulum-driven
…