Last week, Ben Smith noticed Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Cox had a TV ad bearing a striking resemblance to this commercial for a pickup truck. You might shrug it off as coincidence or an isolated appeal to the Motor City crowd. But now it’s cropping up again, this time in Nevada. Rory Reid, the Democratic candidate …
State Governments
Morning Must Reads: Bibi’s Back
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Obama is set to meet with Israeli PM Netanyahu today at the White House. Both countries’ press corps seem focused on the personal rift. The White House seems determined to reverse that impression. Bibi says getting to direct talks is the goal.
–Scott Brown flirts with an “aye” on …
Morning Must Reads: McChrystal
Official White House Photo
–You can read Rolling Stone‘s full piece on Stanley McChrystal here. The general and his inner circle were something beyond cavalier and insulted a lot of people, but probably the most troubling aspect to the White House is that the commander of American forces in Afghanistan brazenly impugned the …
Recall the Recall?
Politico has an interesting story about about Tea Party efforts in several states to recall politicians — when, you know, the electoral thing just isn’t working for you. Bob Menendez in New Jersey, Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu and Kent Conrad of North Dakota have all been targeted.
Yes, because the $66 million recall of California …
Morning Must Reads: Mulligans
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–BP CEO Tony Hayward is testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning. You can watch the brutal proceedings unfold here.
–If criminal charges come down the pike, BP is on the hook for a lot of money.
–Scott Brown throws cold water on cap-and-trade, which …
Bill Clinton to the Rescue?
On the heels of his successful campaigning for Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, helping her return from the dead to eke out a primary victory earlier this month, Bill Clinton has become very popular. The former president has over a hundred requests from congressional candidates on his desk. He’s especially in demand in the South and …
Morning Must Reads: Tough Sell
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
–Obama’s oval office address last night was not exactly a crowd pleaser. He pulled off the optics fairly well, but the jumble of military metaphors was awkward and the substance was torn between two competing visions. Those looking for detailed marching orders on how to Plug The Leak Now were thrown off by …
Morning Must Reads: Primetime
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Obama departs on a whirlwind tour of the Gulf Coast today with stops in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida before delivering his first Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday night. Reportedly included in the speech: a case for comprehensive energy and climate legislation, including some …
You Betcha, Moonbeam
In his first television ad of the general election, Jerry Brown makes it clear he’s running again Sarah Palin Meg Whitman.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDhyvwsOaPM&]
Morning Must Reads: Beck and Call
YURI GRIPAS / AFP / Getty Images
–With the scale of the crisis still coming into focus, Obama has summoned BP bigwigs for a meeting.
—Barney Frank says the so-called “Volcker Rule” that would restrict proprietary trading at big banks will definitely be included in final financial reform legislation and that Democrats are …
Morning Must Reads: In the Water
REUTERS/Lee Celano
–The Wall Street Journal reports Blanche Lincoln still has good leverage for her derivatives plan, but it will be tough for the spin-off measure opposed by the White House, the Fed, the FDIC, Volcker, Geithner, et al. to remain unchanged in conference.
–In his upcoming Times Sunday mag piece, Matt Bai finds …
Morning Must Reads: Nature of the Contest
Danny Johnston/Associated Press
–Jay has a nice break down of Tuesday’s results.
–A White House official gets a bit overexcited at Lincoln’s win and sticks a finger in labor’s eye.
—Marc Ambinder writes Arkansas’s lessons lie in the nature of the contest, not the outcome.
–Bill Clinton will be a much sought after …
Morning Must Reads: “Whose Ass to Kick”
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–It’s Super Duper Primary Tuesday with contests in 12 states coast to coast including run-offs in Arkansas and Georgia.
— A Washington Post/ABC News poll finds only 29% of Americans plan to support their representative in November. Maybe that’s why turnout is expected to be low today …