* President Obama and Chris Christie reunited.
* The NDU explained how a heckler got in.
* One Senate candidate called his rival “pond scum.”
* Hillary Clinton’s book got a release date.
* And Victoria Nuland got some GOP support.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) says in a new op-ed that Republicans should focus their scandal response as much on President Obama’s role in growing government as on who in his administration knew what and when.
Jindal, a potential 2016 presidential candidate who has sought to become a steady hand in guiding his party through its recovery, says the latter is still a valid line of inquiry, but that the size of government is a winning issue for the GOP.
If Victoria Nuland is going to take heat from Republicans in her confirmation hearing, it won’t come from the party’s traditional leaders on national security.
President Obama plans to nominate Victoria Nuland as assistant secretary of state for Europe. In a statement Friday, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) praised the pick and did not mention Nuland’s role in crafting talking points after the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attack.
Hillary Clinton’s new memoir doesn’t have a title yet, but it does have a scheduled release date: June 1, 2014.
That’s according to the new Amazon.com entry for the book, which features a plain book jacket with the former secretary of state’s name and photo, but no title.
The Massachusetts Senate race has gotten quite heated, with Republican Gabriel Gomez calling Democratic Rep. Ed Markey “pond scum” for a web video that invokes Osama bin Laden.
“You know I’ve got four young kids, and they’ve got to sit there and they’ve got to see an ad with their dad, who’s a SEAL, who served honorably,” he told a reporter after speaking at the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce. “And for him to be as dirty and low, pond scum, to put me up there next to bin Laden, he’s just got to be called what he is.”
When New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo appeared to condemn mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner he was only joking, his office says.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (AP Photo/Tim Roske, File)
Cuomo told the Syracuse Post-Standard’s editorial board on Thursday that it would be “shame on us” if New Yorkers elect Anthony Weiner as mayor. He was the first high-profile Democrat to come out strongly against Weiner’s candidacy. But an administration official later told reporters that Cuomo’s comment was “made in jest.”
Madea Benjamin before she was escorted out of Obama’s speech. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
How did Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin, a well-known anti-war protester, get into President Obama’s speech Thursday at the National Defense University?
By listing herself as press. In a statement, the university explained that Benjamin “was given access via the list of media attendees expected.”
The chief of staff to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) will try to join his boss in the Senate, strategists familiar with his plans confirm. As first reported by the Iowa Republican Web site, David Young plans to quit his job in the Capitol and run for Senate in Iowa.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D) is retiring, and the field of Republicans aiming to replace him could get crowded.
President Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whose embrace in the wake of Hurricane Sandy was a memorable show of bipartisanship on the eve of last fall’s election, will reunite on the Jersey Shore next week.
Obama plans to travel to New Jersey on Tuesday to survey recovery efforts in coastal communities battered by last October’s hurricane, a White House official confirmed.
Christie, a Republican running for reelection in a state Obama won handily, will accompany the president on the visit.
* Lois Lerner got put on leave (with pay)
* Obama got heckled
* Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) got a new job
* Sri Srinivasan got a vote
* Anthony Weiner got a bunch of unhelpful headlines
