Senate confirms Labor, EPA nominees, The Macker's out-of-state donors, Ryan heading to Iowa

National Journal

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WHAT'S NEWS

  • The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Gina McCarthy as EPA admin. after a delay of more than 130 days, a job that will make her a central figure in Pres. Obama's historic but controversial plan to fight global warming (National Journal). The Senate also confirmed Thomas Perez as the next Labor sec. (Washington Post).

  • VA GOV: $8.6M of the $11.6M ex-DNC chair Terry McAuliffe has raised, 74%, has come from out of state donors (National Journal). AG Ken Cuccinelli (R) "says he may have helped" businessman Jonnie Williams "in an effort to get grants from a state agency." But Williams "never did get any state grants" (Roanoke Times).

  • "You're very attractive, but I'm not talking about it" -- Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), to Real Clear Politics' Caitlin Huey-Burns, after she asked him about a paternity test that showed he wasn't the father of a woman he believed was his daughter. Cohen later apologized to Huey-Burns (Twitter via Washington Post).

  • House Majority PAC has launched new Spanish-language ads hitting Reps. Gary Miller (R-CA 31), Mike Coffman (R-CO 06) and Joe Heck (R-NV 03) on immigration. The 2-week, $175K buy will run on Spanish-language broadcast TV in L.A., Denver and Las Vegas (release).

  • IA GOV: According to a new Quinnipiac Univ. poll of RVs, conducted 7/15-17, 43% feel that Gov. Terry Branstad (R) deserves to be reelected, while 46% feel he does not. In the previous poll, conducted 5/15-21, 42% felt Branstad deserved reelection, and 43% did not (release).

  • MA GOV: Top GOPers, including many in Mitt Romney's inner circle, met last week to discuss reorganizing the state party in advance of next year's race, and whether to back businessman/'10 nom. Charlie Baker or ex-Sen. Scott Brown. Ex-Gov. Bill Weld: "I think Charlie Baker is an obvious candidate for governor and at the end of the day the best one" (Boston Globe).

  • Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will headline Branstad's birthday bash in Altoona on Nov. 16. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was the featured guest last year (Des Moines Register).

  • Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) won approval from the Senate Banking Cmte to serve as head of FHFA on a 12-10 party-line vote. Watt's nomination now advances to the full Senate (Charlotte Observer). Oh good, another nomination fight.

OUR CALL

Hotline editors weigh in on the stories that drive the day


• The Biden profile in GQ provided more than a few insights into the mind of a politician who doesn't really hide much to begin with. A recurring theme in Biden's career: He didn't go to an Ivy League school, and he thinks others look down on his intellect. To be certain, some people underestimate Biden; he knows it, and it bugs him.

• At what point does longevity become a burden? The Q poll shows 54% of Iowans think Terry Branstad has been in office long enough, while just 37% percent think he should serve another term. Even if Iowa voters are sick of him, they'll need a Dem challenger with even a shred of credibility before they can give Branstad the boot.

• Wow, Steve Cohen, way to stay classy. All that goodwill that's protected Cohen from Dem primary challengers in his Memphis-based district may have just gone sailing right out the window. Cohen's saving grace, so far, has been the fact that the African American political community in Memphis has never unified behind one single candidate.

HAIR OF THE DOG

FRESH BREWED BUZZ

  • "Detroit on Thursday became the largest American city to file for bankruptcy, a historic move sure to ignite complex battles in coming months with creditors, pensioners and unions who stand to lose significantly as the state tries to rescue a city whose failure" MI Gov. Rick Snyder (R) "said was 60 years in the making" (Detroit Free Press).

  • The night before ex-MT Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) announced he wouldn't run for SEN, "a small group of about five people were still hard at work preparing" for the launch of Schweitzer's campaign, which was supposed to come three days later. Those working on the rollout "found out" he wasn't running "just minutes before it happened," and some blame Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) for helping to torpedo Schweitzer's candidacy (Business Insider). Sources tell us ex-Schweitzer advisor Franklin Hall was going to manage the campaign.

  • "I am a Hip Hop Conservative, and that is not an oxymoron. It is the future of many others in my generation of 40 and below" -- Rep. Trey Radel (R-FL), on how Public Enemy and NWA helped shape his worldview (Buzzfeed).

  • A rat has been spotted in the group house in which Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) live, though it's unclear "whether the frat-like lifestyle" enjoyed at the house, owned by Rep. George Miller (D-CA), contributed to the situation (Roll Call).

  • "Don't identify him as my former colleague" -- House Min. Leader Nancy Pelosi, on San Diego Mayor/ex-Rep. Bob Filner (D) (Huffington Post).

  • A new "experimental" KFC opening in Louisville next month "will feature flat bread sandwiches, chicken rice bowls and boneless versions of the original recipe" -- but not Colonel Sanders, whose image won't appear (Louisville Courier-Journal).

  • NYC mayoral candidate/billionaire John Catsimitidis' (R) signature "looks like a series of undulating waves with barely any resemblance to a single letter in the English alphabet" (Wall Street Journal).

  • "By the time I got back, there were copies hung up all over the base. While some people may like to be named in People's 'Most Beautiful' list, I took a beating" -- NE SEN candidate/ex-NE Treas./ex-naval aviator Shane Osborn (R), who was one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People" in '01 (Roll Call).

  • A patron at last week's Taste of Chicago captured video of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D) dancing to "Blurred Lines." Emanuel "starts out with a little head bob but then begins to loosen up -- at one point taking off his necktie and stuffing it into his pocket" (WBBM-TV).

  • Congratulations to Capital Insight GM/ex-Washington Post polling dir. Jon Cohen, named Thursday as the new VP of research at the Pew Research Center (release).

SWIZZLE CHALLENGE

  • David Emanuel, who served as governor of Georgia for 8 months in 1801, was the first Jewish governor in U.S. history.

  • The winner is Todd Metcalf, but Todd didn't get back to us with a question. So here's a tossup in honor of a certain Hotliner getting married this weekend: "Among non-military educational institutions, at which college have sitting presidents given the commencement address most often?" The 2nd correct e-mailer gets to submit the next question.

NJ'S EARLY BIRD SPECIALS

SHOT...

"Members of Congress introduce bipartisan legislation as the 'Problem Solvers'" (Washington Post)

...CHASER

"Do you have a problem? Then call the Problem Solvers. Taxes got you down? Wasps in your crawl space?" -- Tracy Jordan
"Term paper blues? Migrating implants? Call the Problem Solvers." -- Jenna Maroney
"'Cause after all, what's a problem but an opportunity disguised as a stripper having a seizure on your boat? Mouse in your house?" -- Tracy Jordan
"Or need a cheap flight to Tucson? We are the Problem Solvers" -- Jenna Maroney ("30 Rock").

Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

Steven Shepard, Executive Editor