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King Likely to Announce He’s Caucusing With Dems

Maine Senate electee, Angus King, an independent former governor, looks likely to announce within weeks that he will caucus will Senate Democrats.
At a news conference Wednesday in Maine, King said he may make a decision on caucusing by the end of next week, when he will be in Washington for freshman orientation, or after Thanksgiving, according to King spokeswoman Crystal Canney.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in his own news conference Wednesday, said he had “several conversations in the last 24 hours” with King. Reid said he expected King would reach a decision soon.
Canney, who said she was aware only of one congratulatory call Reid made to King Tuesday night, said Reid suggested that King consult with fellow New England independent Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and and Joseph Lieberman, I.D.-Conn. , about how they have been treated in the Democratic Caucus.
 

via Homepage http://influencealley.nationaljournal.com/2012/11/king-likely-to-announce-hes-ca.php

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Clint Eastwood, Minus Chair, Cuts Ad Supporting Romney

  

A new ad supporting Mitt Romney from an independent conservative group features actor and director Clint Eastwood, this time in a more somber tone and minus any stage props.

via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/clint-eastwood-minus-chair-cuts-ad-supporting-romney-20121024

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Congress Tacks Toward Partial Fix of Fiscal Cliff

Lawmakers suggest a partial fix, not a sweeping deal, is likely to address expiring tax cuts and automatic budget cuts–the so-called fiscal cliff, National Journal Daily reports.

Billy House and Dan Friedman explain.
Leading lawmakers have no intention of letting the sequester happen or all of the tax cuts expire. Nor will Congress vote to punt those events entirely, even for a few months, congressional aides said. Instead, congressional leaders are discussing a plan to make a down payment of targeted cuts worth about half of the $110 billion in sequestration cuts set to hit in January, while establishing a framework for additional cuts.
Ideas of Congress taking bold legislative steps during the postelection lame-duck session have given way to talk of temporary fixes and handing over these longer-term policy implications to the next Congress.
“It will be very difficult to put together a comprehensive plan in just six weeks,” House Budget Committee ranking member Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., said in an interview. “Everyone’s going to have to scramble” to find resolution, Van Hollen said.

Subscribers can read more here.

via Homepage http://influencealley.nationaljournal.com/2012/10/lawmakers-suggest-a-partial-fi.php

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Adelson, Katzenberg Are Top Donors

As the 2012 election cycle looks to be the most expensive in history, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and movie producer Jeffrey Katzenberg are the top donors in the presidential race, the Associated Press reported.

Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino empire, and his family gave a whopping $34.2 million to support GOP nominee Mitt Romney and Katzenberg, the DreamWorks Animation CEO, has contributed about $2.6 million to the effort to re-elect the president.

Other top donors to Romney’s efforts include three Texas money moguls: Owner of Contran Corp, a Dallas-based conglomerate, Harold Simmons, who gave $16 million; Head of Houston real estate empire Bob J. Perry, who gave $15.3 million; and the head of Dallas-based RTR Holdings Robert Rowling, who contributed $4.1 million. Fifth on the list is William Koch, who owns a Florida-based energy and mining business and has donated $3 million. 

via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/adelson-katzenberg-are-top-donors-20121019

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It’s Down to Just 8 States for Obama and Romney

President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney will feel at home when they go to Florida for their final debate on Monday. That’s a state that has seen a lot of both candidates. But when their second debate concluded on Tuesday night, the two men sure left New York quickly. The president didn’t even spend the night and Romney was up at the crack of dawn to flee. After all, there was a campaign out there that demanded their return. And other than on a debate stage, it’s certainly not being waged in New York, the nation’s third most populous state. Or in California or Texas, the two biggest states. That’s 82.8 million Americans who are just bystanders in the most hotly contested presidential election in a decade.

Obama raced to Iowa and Ohio the day after the debate; Romney scurried off to Virginia. They were wooing voters in states totaling only 22.7 million residents, barely a quarter of the Big Three’s population. But their clout is bigger than their numbers; they — along with voters in Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, and North Carolina — are Campaign 2012.

Much has been written about the hardy band of “battleground states.” But little has been written about why the American electoral map has shrunk so dramatically, what it tells us about the nation and what it means for future elections.

via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/it-s-down-to-just-8-states-for-obama-and-romney-20121018

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Susan Rice: I Relied on Talking Points From Intelligence Officials

As the Obama administration comes under increasing scrutiny for its handling of the terrorist attack in Libya, Ambassador Susan Rice is defending her actions, saying that political considerations did not factor into her early statements on the attack.

In an interview with The Washington Post published on Tuesday, Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said, according to The Post’s characterization, that  “she relied on daily updates from intelligence agencies in the days before her television appearances and on a set of talking points prepared for senior members of the administration by intelligence officials.”

When asked whether there was an attempt to “pick and choose”  among explanations she replied, “Absolutely not,” adding that, “It was purely a function of what was provided to us” and, as The Post writes, “had been given to Congress the day before.”

via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/susan-rice-i-relied-on-talking-points-from-intelligence-officials-20121016

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Big Bird Featured in New Obama Ad

 

 

The Obama campaign is taking silly season in politics to a whole new level in a television ad released on Tuesday featuring the star of last Wednesday’s debate: Big Bird.

via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/big-bird-featured-in-new-obama-ad-20121009

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Joe Lockhart Leaving Facebook–Report

Joe Lockhart, Facebook‘s vice president for global communications, is leaving the social media company, AllThingsD reports.

Lockhart served as President Bill Clinton‘s spokesman and was a founding member of the Glover Park Group. Here’s AllThingsD’s Mike Isaac with more details:

His departure comes nearly 15 months after he first joined the company in July of last year, where he worked alongside of Marne Levine, another beltway insider who has served Facebook as VP of global public policy since 2010.

[snip]

The decision comes in part because of Lockhart’s desire not to move to California full-time and stay on the east coast, where he has continued to reside throughout his employment at Facebook, a source

via Homepage http://influencealley.nationaljournal.com/2012/10/joe-lockhart-leaving-facebookr.php

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Obama Poised To Nearly Double ’08 Ad Spending

President Obama’s campaign has spent more than $300 million on television advertising, according to new figures compiled by sources watching the ad market, an amount that puts him on track to nearly double his own record-breaking spending from the 2008 election cycle.

All told, Obama, Republican Mitt Romney and the various outside groups have poured $759 million into television and radio advertisements alone in an effort to communicate their messages with the tiny fraction of voters who remain undecided with just five weeks to go before Election Day. For the week of October 2 to October 8 alone, the two sides are spending a combined $59 million.

Obama’s spending continues to outpace Romney’s own campaign. This week, Obama will spend $20 million on television spots, including nearly $5 million alone in Florida, $4.3 million in Ohio and $3.9 million in Virginia. Obama spent about $230 million on television advertising during the 2008 cycle. If he continues to spend at this pace – about $20 million per week – Obama’s campaign will end the race at or above $400 million on television alone. 

via Homepage http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/obama-poised-to-nearly-double-08-ad-spending-20121005

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Congress Likely to Punt on Sequesration, Insiders Say

Congress will punt sequestration for a few months when lawmakers return after the election, say a large majority of National Journal Security Insiders.

Seventy-nine percent say they think Congress will come up with a short-term solution, while 13 percent say lawmakers will compromise and avoid the cuts. Eight percent think Congress will fail to compromise and sequestration will take effect.

Here’s Sara Sorcher with some analysis:

Several Insiders said the outcome of the presidential election could be decisive when it comes to compromise on Capitol Hill. Defense hawks pushing for a compromise that spares defense are sure to be shot down,

via Homepage http://influencealley.nationaljournal.com/2012/10/congress-likely-to-punt-on-seq.php