REPUBLICAN PARTY STILL STRUGGLING TO LEARN LESSONS FROM 2012. Three months ago, with great fanfare, the RNC released the so-called “autopsy,” a multitude of recommendations for how the Republican party would soon become the hippest, smartest thing around. Republicans promised GOP donors they would handpick stronger candidates, implement all the coolest technologies, embrace Latinos and never ever talk about rape again. That was three months ago…
DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN: GOP BRINGS BACK WAR ON WOMEN. POLITICO reports this week that the Republican War on Women is back. In the last week alone, Saxby Chambliss blamed sexual assaults in the military on hormones and Erick Erickson suggested that women who are breadwinners challenge the very laws of nature.
IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID. As Republicans focus on “scandalmania” and trying to repeal Obamacare for the 38th time, a new Quinnipiac poll this week shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans, 73%, believe the economy and unemployment should be a higher priority than the “scandals” Republicans want them to believe are gripping Washington.
SO MUCH FOR REBRANDING, GOP THINKS “SCANDALMANIA” WILL HEAL ALL WOUNDS. The National Journal reports that the GOP appears to have abandoned plans to rebrand the party to appeal to moderates and independents, and have decided to focus exclusively on squeezing political gains from what they now boastfully refer to as “scandalmania.” The problem for Republicans is that Democrats have been thoughtful and outspoken in their condemnation of what took place at the IRS, and playing more politics with t
GOP OVERREACH: 2014 COULD LOOK A LOT LIKE 1998. Republicans are foaming at the mouth over Benghazi, AP, and the IRS. They are throwing out the ‘I’ word (impeachment) and gloating about months and months of hearings that will block progress on other issues people care about. The GOP excitement has many wondering if 2014 could look like a repeat of the 1998 midterms. A more moderate breed of Republicans came into power in 1994, stormed the Bastille with unpopular policies that led to electoral defeats in the presidential year.
GOMEZ IN “A POLITICAL PRISON” OVER $280K TAX SCAM – REFUSES TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. This week, Republican investor Gabe Gomez came under fire on the front page of the Boston Globe for using a seemingly fraudulent tax scheme involving a sham charity to fleece taxpayers out of thousands of dollars, despite warnings from the IRS and a
KARL ROVE SAYS GOP HAS CANDIDATE PROBLEM. This week GOP boss Karl Rove penned an op-ed spelling out that the only way Republicans can win the majority in 2014 is to avoid awful and “self-destruct[ing]” candidates that have plagued the Republican Party. The Atlantic notes that the GOP’s slate of candidates is already shaping up to look like a bunch of “Mini Todd Akins.”
DSCC BREAKS RECORD IN FIRST QUARTER. The Denver Post reported that the DSCC had the best first quarter in the committee’s history, raising $13.7 million in the first three months of 2013 and outraising the NRSC by nearly $7 million.
Our thoughts are with the people of Boston and West, Texas today, and we hope for much better news in the days and weeks to come. One final note on Senate races before this week comes to a close…
MITCH MCCONNELL COMPARES HIMSELF TO VICTIMS OF THE NAZIS: Kentucky voters already know the truth about Mitch McConnell: He sides with Washington special interests and against Kentuckians. He is the most unpopular senator in the nation. He used to sell himself as the pork barrel earmark king who could twist arms to deliver federal cash to Kentucky. Now he has absolutely nothing positive to say about himself. …So he plays the victim.
