Kagan On Track To Be Confirmed For SCOTUS Today
The Senate is set to vote today to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court. Kagan is expected to be confirmed easily, as there are enough committed votes in her favor for both confirmation and to clear any hypothetical filibuster.
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will visit the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in Chicago at 10:55 a.m. ET, and will deliver remarks there at 11:15 a.m. ET. He will deliver remarks at a 1:45 p.m. ET event for Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, and will also speak at fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee at 6:15 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. ET. He will depart from Chicago at 8:50 p.m. ET, arriving at Andrews Air Force Base at 10:25 p.m. ET, and back at the White House at 10:40 p.m. ET.
Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden is in New York City today. He met at 8 a.m. ET this morning with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He does not have any further events scheduled.
Republicans Get Ready To Pounce On Prop 8 Decision
The Washington Post reports that Republicans feel optimistic about the political prospects from the federal court ruling on gay marriage in California: “One GOP pollster called it ‘the worst of both worlds’ for Democrats, because the decisions both rally the GOP base and divide the Democrats, who straddle the issues. ‘This makes it even more difficult for Democrats to control what’s being talked about over the next 90 or so days,’ the pollster said.”
Waxman Sees Bright Side To November: ‘Difficult’ Dems Won’t Be Back
The Hill reports: “Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) believes the November elections will likely weed out some of ‘most difficult Democrats’ that leadership lawmakers have dealt with this Congress. In an interview with The Hill, the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman expressed confidence that Democrats will retain the House, and suggested he won’t miss some of the Democrats who won’t be back next year. ‘I think a lot of the House seats we’re going to lose are those who have been the toughest for the Democrats to pull into line — the Democrats that have been the most difficult,’ Waxman said.”
Democrats Cringe Over Waters Battle
Roll Call reports that Democrats are worried that an ongoing ethics trial for Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) could damage the party in the November elections. “She’s always been about one person, and that’s Maxine Waters … and everybody else can kind of get out of the way,” said an unnamed Democratic leadership aide. “I’m not sure if she really gives a damn about the party, the president or the Speaker. She just does her own thing. … Unfortunately, it’s to the detriment, right now, of the party.”
Trackers Take Midterms By Storm
Politico looks at the increasing presence of campaigns sending video trackers to their opponents’ events. “One of the reasons tracking is essential from a local race for dogcatcher all the way up to a presidential campaign is that with the business challenges facing the traditional fourth estate, there is no longer the proverbial cop on the beat or reporter covering an event,” said Democratic strategist Chris Lehane, himself a former tracker. “As a result, campaigns use trackers to generate raw information that can be turned into ads — information selectively fed to targeted outlets and, more and more, deployed as the substance for content being created and disseminated as ‘news’ reports by the campaigns themselves.”
