Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), despite campaigning against outside money, has such an affinity for outside money- he now wants to chair the DSCC. This, as Politico reports on the greens becoming an “electoral powerhouse.” And, the train-wreck continues as Republicans now hold an 11-point edge in polling, and Saturday Night Live mocks the Ebola czar. Plus, the true reason gas prices are falling. And, the sage grouse rule heads to OMB. Those stories and more give you the Weekend Wrapup.
Tester Campaigns Against Outside Money, But Loves it So Much He Wants to Chair DSCC, as Roll Call reports.
Another is Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who one Democratic operative said is “really, really angling for it.” A source close to Tester wouldn’t go that far, but confirmed he is interested in chairing the DSCC next cycle.
For example, Tester’s re-election bid last cycle was run by Preston Elliott, a Montana native who directed the coordinated campaign for Reid’s 2010 campaign, served as the DSCC’s deputy political director in 2008 and is currently winning accolades for his management of North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan’s campaign.
Tester chief of staff Tom Lopach could also be in the mix for that position if the Montana senator were chosen. Lopach, also from Montana, took over as Tester’s top aide in 2010 following Stephanie Schriock’s move to serve as President of EMILY’s List.
Politico: Greens grow into electoral powerhouse
Leading environmental organizations like the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club and Tom Steyer’s NextGen Climate Action Committee have hired well-known national and state political operatives to guide the effort, and they are digging into detailed polling and analysis produced by the same white-shoe firms that helped President Barack Obama get elected. More than ever, greens are collaborating with other progressive groups like unions, Planned Parenthood and EMILY’s List, sharing resources and divvying up responsibilities in key states.
Although polls show Republicans ahead in the contest to control the Senate, greens hope to re-create the model they used in the Montana Senate race in 2012, where LCV spent more than $1 million on an elaborate field campaign aimed at boosting turnout for Jon Tester. Analysts like Nate Silver had given Republican Denny Rehberg the edge in the tight race, but Tester pulled out a win thanks in part to greens’ get-out-the-vote efforts. LCV says it signed up more than 28,000 Tester supporters to vote by mail, and in the end, Tester beat Rehberg by about 18,000 votes.
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/10/26/franken-vs-mcfadden-debate-thoughts-on-affordable-care-act/
Minnesota CBS-TV-Franken Vs. McFadden Debate: Thoughts On Affordable Care Act
McFadden: We have a health care issue in this country. I mean, I know that as a business man. We’ve had it for a long time, but Obamacare is not the solution. ‘It’s a train wreck,’ to quote Max Baucus, who’s a democratic former senator.
The biggest lie of all was when the president and Al Franken said that this would make health care less expensive. That’s not true. It’s absolutely not true and I know that, because I’m out talking to people day in and day out.
Politico’s Playbook Sunday:
“[W]ith Montana, West Virginia and South Dakota in the GOP column, Republicans need to pick up just three seats in [6] states: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana and North Carolina. … Five of those states currently lean toward the GOP, poll averages show, while North Carolina is still a toss-up. They also are closing the gap in New Hampshire. But the party may need to pick up additional seats if it loses Georgia, Kansas (if the independent conferences with Democrats) or Kentucky.” http://politi.co/ZSdylf
The Wall Street Journal’s “Capital Journal:”
Republicans hold an 11-point lead among likely voters on the question of which party should control Congress, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Annenberg survey finds. Some 52% of likely voters in the survey said they wanted the election to produce a Republican-led Congress, while 41% favored Democratic control.
The Hill: Sunday show wrap-up: Ebola dominates
Former Dem senator: ‘Good night’ shaping up for GOP on Nov. 4 “This is very close,” Evan Bayh told “Fox News Sunday.” http://ow.ly/Dm1LN
Politico’s Morning Energy: SAGE-GROUSE RULE GOES TO OMB
The Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday sent its final ruling whether to declare the Gunnison sage-grouse a protected species under the Endangered Species Act to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review. A federal judge has ordered the administration to make a decision on listing the bird by Nov. 12. In January 2013, FWS proposed ESA protections for the bird, which has a population of about 5,000 breeding members in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. That includes about 1.7 million acres designated as critical habitat, including areas of active and planned oil and gas development. OMB’s website didn’t offer any details on the exact contents of the final rule.
The Daily Signal: The True Reason Gas Prices are Falling (Hint: It’s Not Because of Green Energy)
American workers and motorists got some badly-needed relief this week when the price of oil plunged to its lowest level in years. The oil price has fallen by about 20 to 25 percent since its peak back in June of $105 a barrel. This is translating to lower prices at the pump with many states now below $3 a gallon.
Already the lower oil and gas prices are the equivalent of a $70 to 200 billion cost saving to American consumers and businesses. That’s $70 to 200 billion a year we don’t have to send to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other foreign nations. Now that’s an economic stimulus par excellence.
Oil prices are falling because of changes in world supply and world demand. Demand has slowed because Europe is an economic wreck. But over the last five years since 2008 the U.S. has increased our domestic supply by a gigantic 50 percent.
Finally, here’s some of the highlight’s from Politico’s Playbook Monday:
DEEP DIVE – “Team of Bumblers? Are Susan Rice and Chuck Hagel equal to today’s new national-security challenges?” by Michael Hirsh in Politico Magazine: “When President Obama, after months of equivocation over how to respond to the takeover of parts of Iraq and Syria by radical militants, announced in September that the United States would ‘lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat,’ the White House swung quickly into action, sending proposed legislation to train and equip Syrian rebels to Capitol Hill that same day. Unfortunately, the White House failed to consult with the Pentagon-which would be doing most of the rolling back-on the timing or details of the announcement. … First, the Pentagon was surprised by the president’s timing, according to a senior defense official. …
MEDIAWATCH – “How Facebook Is Changing the Way Its Users Consume Journalism,” by NYT’s Ravi Somaiya: “Many of the people who read this article will do so because Greg Marra, 26, a Facebook engineer, calculated that it was the kind of thing they might enjoy. Mr. Marra’s team designs the code that drives Facebook’s News Feed – the stream of updates, photographs, videos and stories that users see. He is also fast becoming one of the most influential people in the news business. … About 30 percent of adults in the United States get their news on Facebook … Roughly once a week, he and his team of about 16 adjust the complex computer code that decides what to show a user when he or she first logs on to Facebook. The code is based on ‘thousands and thousands’ of metrics, Mr. Marra said, including what device a user is on, how many comments or likes a story has received and how long readers spend on an article.” http://nyti.ms/1tA5Zex
LATE NIGHT BEST – “‘SNL’ Mocks President Obama, Ebola Czar Ron Klain In Cold Open” – Via HuffPost: “Calling his handling of the Ebola crisis, ‘Probably one of my greatest accomplishments,’ when compared to his ISIS strategy and other aspects of his second term, Obama (Jay Pharoah) introduced Klain (Taran Killam) to take some heat from the White House press corps.” Video http://huff.to/1v2Su3H