Border-Security Amendment Nears Senate Cloture Vote; Final Weekend of MA SEN Campaigning Ends

National Journal

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WHAT'S NEWS

  • Lawmakers appearing on the Sunday shows "blasted" Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin "for allowing NSA leaker Edward Snowden to land in Moscow while evading U.S. espionage charges" (CNN).

  • Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) "says he'll vote 'no' on the Senate's bipartisan immigration reform bill, since it doesn't include his amendment that would grant Congress power to determine whether the U.S. southern border is secure" (CNN). The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is launching new TV and radio ads Monday in support of immigration reform, part of a "seven-figure" buy (Hotline reporting). A cloture vote on the border-security amendment is set for Monday (National Journal Daily).

  • Pres. Obama "said Saturday that he would make a major speech on Tuesday to unveil his second-term plan to curb the causes and effects of climate change, a plan expected to include limits on carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants" (New York Times).

  • MA SEN Special: A new Western New England Univ. poll of LVs, conducted 6/16-20 for the Springfield Republican/WSHM-TV, shows Rep. Edward Markey (D) leading ex-Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez (R), 49-41%. In the previous poll, conducted 4/11-18, Markey led Gomez, 51-36% (release). VP Biden appeared at two Markey events on Saturday "aimed at exciting labor leaders and South Coast voters" (Boston Globe). Markey launched a new TV ad on Friday to remind voters "that the election is coming up Tuesday" (Boston Globe). The Gomez camp "is putting an additional" $300K "behind its latest television ad, the campaign said, claiming a new fund-raising surge in the campaign's closing days" (Boston Globe). Gomez "hinted that even if he loses Tuesday, he might consider launching another campaign for the seat" in Nov. '14. Gomez: "As a famous general once said back in World War II, 'I shall return'" (Fox News).

  • KY SEN: "Kentuckians for Strong Leadership, a super PAC set up to boost" Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell (R), "plans to spend" $260K on TV ads starting this week (Politico). The Senate Conservatives Fund "will launch an advertising campaign beginning Monday on television and radio directed at McConnell," urging him "not only to oppose" the Senate immigration bill, "but also to rally his entire caucus in opposition" (Politico).

  • MN SEN: According to a new Minneapolis Star-Tribune poll of adults, conducted 6/11-13 by Mason-Dixon, 41% have a favorable opinion of Sen. Al Franken (D), while 25% have an unfavorable opinion (Minneapolis Star-Tribune).

  • VA SEN: Ex-VA-10 GOP Chair Howie Lind (R) "intends to challenge" Sen. Mark Warner (D), Lind announced on Friday (Loudoun Times-Mirror).

  • AL-01: "A who's-who of inside-the-Beltway political players," including Rep. Tim Griffin (R-AR), ex-Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA) and ex-Dem Rep. Artur Davis, "will host a fundraiser on Wednesday" for conservative columnist/ex-Livingston spokesperson Quin Hillyer (R) (Mobile Press-Register).

  • AZ-09: Ex-Rep. Ben Quayle (R) "is joining a law firm" under GOP atty Charlie Spies and "doesn't plan to run" against Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) (Arizona Republic).

  • ME GOV: Gov. Paul LePage (R) "said Friday that he's sorry if anyone was offended by his crude sexual remark a day earlier" about state Sen. Troy Jackson (D), and he "also said he is considering abandoning" his reelection bid and "running instead for Congress" (Kennebec Journal).

  • MN GOV: State Rep. Kurt Zellers (R) "jumped into the growing field" of GOPers seeking to challenge Gov. Mark Dayton (D) on Sunday. State Sen. Dave Thompson (R) "plans to file as a candidate Monday and launch his campaign Wednesday" (St. Paul Pioneer Press).

  • SC GOV: "Though she has laid the ground work" for her reelection bid," Gov. Nikki Haley (R) "stopped short of committing to a run," with her "husband currently deployed in Afghanistan and two small children" at home (Florence Morning News).

OUR CALL

Hotline editors weigh in on the stories that drive the day

• Tea Party protests at town hall meetings in '09 killed any hope of a bipartisan health care reform bill. Immigration reform advocates are nervously watching the calendar and wondering, with only five legislative weeks to go until Aug., will conservative groups show up again? Tension-filled town hall meetings with potentially pro-reform House members could kill the chances of a bicameral agreement.

 

• With '14 shaping up to be a stroll to reelection for Gov. Jerry Brown, some in CA are already turning their attention to next GOV race. Outgoing L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is already discussing it openly, while LG Gavin Newsom is also clearly interested. A question to ponder as we look far ahead: Will Dems in the nation's second-most diverse state decide collectively to nominate someone other than a white male for the first time since '94?

• While many 2014 Senate races still haven't begun in earnest, a '16 race is already underway in PA. Sen. Pat Toomey (R) is getting fundraising help from a Democratic powerbroker, while former Rep. Joe Sestak (D), who has already announced he's exploring a '16 rematch with Toomey, has an op-ed on tax policy in Monday's Philadelphia Inquirer.

HAIR OF THE DOG

FRESH BREWED BUZZ

  • Federal authorities are asking VA Gov. Bob McDonnell's (R) associates "about previously undisclosed gifts given by a campaign donor to McDonnell's wife that total tens of thousands of dollars and include money and expensive designer clothing," a development that suggests "that authorities are exploring a more extensive relationship" between donor Johnnie Williams and the McDonnells "than previously revealed" (Washington Post).

  • "I said to some of my Republican friends in the aftermath of this, like well what did you expect me to do when the president showed up? Do you want me to wear my Romney sweatshirt when I was standing with him? What exactly did you expect me to do?" -- NJ Gov. Chris Christie (R), on appearing with Pres. Obama in the days following Hurricane Sandy (CNN).

  • Christie has ordered all flags in NJ to be flown at "half-staff" on Monday "to recognize the achievements and contributions" of late actor James Gandolfini, an NJ native (release).

  • NY first girlfriend/semi-homemade TV cook Sandra Lee "checked out of her Rome hotel room in a New York minute after finding out it was the same suite" where Gandolfini "suffered his fatal heart attack last week" (New York Post).

  • "The website for Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the anti-gun, pro-background check coalition of more than 950 mayors spearheaded by" NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) and Boston Mayor Tom Menino (D), "is hosted on" NYC gov't servers (Buzzfeed).

  • "I would pass by this place and see 'stripper wanted.' I went by the hardware store and got a ruler. I walked in there and the guy says, 'OK you want the job?' and I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'OK you have to audition.' 'What I got to do?' 'Pull it down, we gotta check it out.' I said, 'OK no problem'" -- NYC mayoral "longshot"/'10 NY GOV candidate Jimmy McMillan (Rent Is Too Damn High), on his past as a male stripper (Politicker).

  • WV "was last in the nation in voter turnout" in Nov. '12, "the only state where" fewer than half "of eligible voters voted, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau released in May" (Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail).

  • A Merrimack Co. (NH) judge "has thrown out a lawsuit" filed by the state AG's office against ex-Rep. Charlie Bass's (R-NH) '10 NH-02 camp, deciding that "candidates for federal office are exempt from the state's push-polling laws" (Concord Monitor).

SWIZZLE CHALLENGE

  • The Kansas City Royals qualified for the '81 (strike-shortened season) A.L. Division Series, despite having a losing record of 50-53..

  • The winner is Joe Luchok, and here's his Swizzle Challenge: "One of the most exciting plays in baseball is the triple. Who holds the major-league record for triples in a season, how many did he hit, which team did he play for, and what year did he set the record?" The 3rd (of course) correct e-mailer gets to submit the next question.

NJ'S EARLY BIRD SPECIALS

SHOT...

"You don't find enough people that can speak intelligently about World War One!" -- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), in a floor speech last week (National Journal).

...CHASER

"I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry" -- "Baldrick" ("Blackadder")

Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

Steven Shepard, Executive Editor