NBC’s Lisa Myers and Hannah Rappleye: “President Obama repeatedly assured Americans that after the Affordable Care Act became law, people who liked their health insurance would be able to keep it. But millions of Americans are getting or are about to get cancellation letters for their health insurance under Obamacare, say experts, and the Obama administration has known that for at least three years.”
USA Today: “Kathleen Sebelius is on the hot seat as the Obama administration battles to rebound from a problem-plagued rollout of the Affordable Care Act, but friends of the embattled Health and Human Services secretary say it’s a mistake to count her out.”
Los Angeles Times: ” When advocates for the president’s healthcare law strategized about how to reach the uninsured, they knew exactly whom to tap: mothers who could spread the word about the law’s benefits, sign up their younger children and nudge their twentysomethings to take part. But beyond the widely publicized problems with the federal website, low-tech challenges also are complicating that part of the drive to sell the program — even in California, where the state website is running more smoothly and officials are fully behind the push.”
Washington Post: “In the midst of the controversy over U.S. surveillance this summer, top intelligence officials held a briefing for President Obama at the White House — one that would provide him with a broad inventory of programs being carried out by the National Security Agency.Some of those programs, including the collection of e-mails and other communications from overseas, had already been disclosed because of leaks from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. But Obama was also informed of at least one program whose scope surprised him: ‘head of state collection.’”
Wall Street Journal: “Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), an ally of the Obama administration and one of the National Security Agency’s strongest defenders on Capitol Hill, harshly criticized the agency on Monday and said her committee will initiate a ‘major review into all intelligence-collection programs.’”
NBC’s Kasie Hunt & Andrew Rafferty: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday that the Senate will vote on a bill to expand gay rights in the workplace before the Thanksgiving holiday…..The bill is unlikely to gain much traction in the Republican controlled House, but could provide Democrats with another opportunity to paint the GOP as out of step with most Americans by obstructing a bill aimed at ending workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.”
MSNBC’s Benjy Johnson: “Senator Marco Rubio is bailing on his own immigration bill. Not only is the senator from Florida now telling House Republicans not to pass the Senate legislation he co-sponsored and championed for months – he’s urging them not to negotiate with the Senate at all.”
AP: “Former Democratic Rep. Ike Skelton, who built a reputation as a military expert and social conservative during 34 years representing western and central Missouri in the U.S. House, died Monday in Virginia. He was 81.”
Charlie Cook writes that the GOP can’t afford to have any weak candidate if they want to win back the Senate: “The reason next year is so make-or-break for Senate Republicans is because in 2016, when all of the seats they won in 2010 come up—they netted a six-seat net gain that year—there will be 24 GOP seats up, compared with only 10 for Democrats, leading to some serious Republican overexposure. Seven of the 24 GOP senators up are hailing from states that Obama carried in 2012. After having had plentiful Democratic targets in 2012 and 2014, it will be Republicans in 2016 who will have the most incumbents in the crosshairs.”
Politico: “The 2014 midterm just got a lot more interesting….he parties’ competing political narratives — the dangers of a tea party-controlled party versus the perils of President Barack Obama’s far-reaching health care law — have been thrown into sharp relief the past several weeks. Now each party has something tangible to point to — that touch voters’ lives in concrete ways — to argue that the other should be booted from office.”
LOUISIANA: Roll Call: “The Senate Conservatives Fund has endorsed retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness over Rep. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana’s GOP primary for Senate, throwing its support behind a conservative underdog in one of the cycle’s most competitive races.”
MISSISSIPPI: Joining Senate Conservatives Fund, Club for Growth and the Madison Project, FreedomWorks PAC announced Monday they were also endorsing state Sen. Chris McDaniel in the GOP primary over incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran, who hasn’t announced yet whether he’s running for a 7th term. FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe in a release: “The Senate needs new blood. IIt needs leaders who lean on principle, not on praise from the entrenched elite to make decisions, and Chris McDaniel is that kind of man. He led the fight for Mississippi’s lawsuit against ObamaCare and has amassed a strong record in the state Senate. His character as a conservative force is unquestionable. He will be a strong ally for conservatives in the U.S. Senate.”
NEW JERSEY: Newark Star Ledger: “One week before Election Day, Gov. Chris Christie leads his Democratic challenger, Barbara Buono, by a whopping 33 points, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Assuming Christie wins re-election, likely New Jersey voters want him to run for president by 48 percent to 41 percent, even though they’re evenly divided, 42 percent to 43 percent, on whether he would be good at the job.”
TEXAS: Texas Tribune: “After a nationwide search, State Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth will tap veteran Democratic strategist Karin Johanson to run her race for Texas governor, her campaign announced Sunday. Johanson managed Sen. Tammy Baldwin’s successful 2012 campaign in Wisconsin and was executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee when her party took control of the House of Representatives in the 2006 midterm elections. The $11.5 million effort was one of the largest congressional voter turnout operations ever, covering 36 congressional districts.”
VIRGINIA: Washington Post: “Democrat Terry McAuliffe has opened a double-digit lead over Republican Ken Cuccinelli II in the race for Virginia governor, in a new poll capturing increasing dissatisfaction among voters with Cuccinelli’s party and his conservative views. According to a new Washington Post/Abt SRBI poll, McAuliffe tops Cuccinelli 51 percent to 39 percent among likely voters in the Nov. 5 election. McAuliffe led by eight percentage points in a poll taken last month. Libertarian Robert Sarvis, who has capitalized on voter unrest with the two major-party candidates, is at 8 percent, according to the new poll.”
NBC’s Jessica Taylor & Ali Weinberg: “A week before election day, the two top candidates vying to become Virginia’s next governor sought to emphasize their supporters biggest fears. For Democrats, it’s the fear that their voters won’t turn out for a typically low turnout off-year election. Terry McAuliffe turned to his biggest supporter, former President Bill Clinton, to remind Democrats it was only their vote that could save them from an extreme GOP ticket. But on the other side of the vote-rich Fairfax County, where both men hail from, Republican Ken Cuccinelli’s last ditch effort ahead of the November 5 contest was to paint it as a referendum on Obamacare. The Cuccinelli campaign hoped Tea Party supported Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, could stop wary voters from choosing a Libertarian third party candidate.”
AP: “Tea party hero Rand Paul warned scientific advancements could lead to eugenics during a Monday visit at Liberty University, looking to boost the sinking political fortunes of fellow Republican Ken Cuccinelli’s bid for governor.”
Richmond Times Dispatch: “Democrat Terry McAuliffe has more than double the cash on hand of his opponent for the final week before Election Day, holding $1.6 million, compared with Republican Ken Cuccinelli’s $604,163. McAuliffe raised $8.1 million from Oct. 1 to 23, compared with $2.9 million for Cuccinelli, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics.”
Washington Post: “President Obama will campaign with Terry McAuliffe at a rally in Northern Virginia Sunday to benefit McAuliffe’s bid for Virginia governor, McAuliffe’s campaign announced Monday.”
Democratic opposition research group American Bridge announced a new paid digital campaign to help Virginia voters locate their polling places. The new site http://letvavote.com/ also highlights GOP records on voting rights.
Jessica Taylor