| A Note of Gratitude
Well, it's hard to believe because it feels like time has flown by, but today is RRH's 2nd birthday! When we started this site just after the 2010 elections, I don't think that any one of us could have imagined that two years later we would have over 5 million hits. Thanks so much for your loyal support--let's look forward to many more great years!
Senate
Guns: Hotline on Call has a great rundown of how each Senator up in 2014 has responded to President Obama's gun control initiative. Notable skeptics: Begich, Pryor, Baucus, Tom Udall, Johnson (given their states, only Udall is remotely surprising). Mary Landrieu was warmer to the plan than I would have expected.
Kentucky: AG Jack Conway and Rep. John Yarmuth are both out, leaving Alison Lundergan Grimes as the last, best hope for Dems in this race. Ashley Judd is apparently interested in running against Rand Paul in 2016.
Maine: Several in the chattering class are declaring Sen. Susan Collins "the safest Republican of the cycle." The only worry she may have is a primary challenger from the right, but the lone candidate in position to do so is Treasurer Bruce Poliquin, who hasn't expressed much interest in the race.
Massachusetts: They can't run Elizabeth Warren again, but they can at least invoke her. Mass Dems are attacking Scott Brown by claiming that returning him to the Senate would "cancel out Elizabeth's votes."
House
HI-01: Nugget of the day: The Manti Te'o scam extended all the way to the House floor, where Rep. Colleen Hanabusa offered her condolences after Te'o's "girlfriend" "died" last fall.
SC-01: The NRCC will not endorse Mark Sanford in the primary, a move certain to raise a few eyebrows. However, Greg Walden says the committee won't be endorsing in any primaries this cycle, and this shouldn't be interpreted as a slight of the Argentine Beau.
Governor
Arkansas: Despite some less-than-flattering revelations, Dustin McDaniel (D) still managed to raise $400K in Q4. Will that be enough to scare away a primary from netroots darling Bill Halter?
Minnesota: St. Sen. Julie Rosen (R) is thinking about a run against Gov. Mark Dayton. Rosen, best known for pushing the bill that kept the Vikings in Minnesota (albeit at a high cost to taxpayers), is from a rural southern district, which is generally a tough place for a Republican to emerge from.
Miscellaneous
NRCC: Walden promised increased minority outreach for the 2014 cycle, and tapped Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler as Vice Chair for Hispanic outreach. Tom Cole and Markwayne Mullin will be reaching out to Native Americans. Did anyone know Mullin was part Native?
DCCC: Politico reports that there are just 4 Republicans in D+ districts, although we count 6: Gary Miller, Valadao, LoBiondo, Gibson, Coffman, and Ros-Lehtinen. Either way, Dems have an uphill climb to 17, and it doesn't help them that 15 of their incumbents are in R+ seats.
2014-Guns: Sen. Ted Cruz, a vice chair of the NRSC, is predicting that the gun debate will lead to GOP victories in 2014, although it's hard to fathom that gun control will still be in the news in 21 months.
Cook: Charlie Cook's first look at the 2014 Senate map is up. His predictions are generally small-c conservative, with South Dakota and West Virginia (both Dem-held) as the only tossups. No Republican-held seat is worse than Likely R.
Cabinet: Obama won't be plucking his Chief of Staff from the House and triggering a special election this time. Denis McDonough, most recently Deputy National Security Advisor, will take over the position once held by Rahm.
NY St. Senate: The race in SD-46 may finally be approaching conclusion; the final 91 ballots will be counted today and George Amedore (R) needs to win about 30% of them for his 35-vote lead to hold up. The outcome isn't particularly important--either way, the GOP-IDC coalition will "control" the Senate. |
