May 19, 2015 4 min read

Wake Up To Politics - May 19, 2015

To read today's edition of Wake Up To Politics in a PDF format, click here. Continue reading to find the text of the Wake Up in the body of the email!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015
539 Days Until Election Day 2016It's Tuesday, May 19, 2015, I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from WUTP world HQ in my bedroom - Good morning: THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!
To send me questions, comments, tips, new subscribers, and more: email me at wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com. To learn more about WUTP or subscribe, visit the site: wakeuptopolitics.com, or read my tweets and follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/Wakeup2Politics or read stories on Wake Up To Politics by clicking the media logos at the bottom.
White House Watch

The Rundown: Welcome to Twitter, Mr. President Obama joined Twitter Monday, with the account @POTUS. Here’s a rundown of what to know:
First Tweet “Hello, Twitter! It's Barack. Really! Six years in, they're finally giving me my own account.”
Twitter Bio Dad, husband, and 44th President of the United States. Tweets may be archived:http://wh.gov/privacy .
Following 65 accounts, including his alma maters, Chicago sports teams, Cabinet-level departments and secretaries, the former Presidents, as well as the First Lady, Vice President, and other White House accounts. Not @WakeUp2Politics (yet)
Followers 1.73 million at press time. The account amassed 1 million followers in 4½ hours. For comparison, the Guinness World Record for “Fastest time to reach one million followers on Twitter” was previously Robert Downey, Jr.’s 23 hours.
Who’s Pushing the Buttons As opposed to accounts like @WhiteHouse and @BarackObama, the White House says tweets from @POTUS are exclusively from President Obama. And to prove it, they released a video showing him sending his first tweet via his phone.
Who Gets It Next @BillClinton tweeted this question Monday: “Welcome to @Twitter, @POTUS! One question: Does that username stay with the office? #askingforafriend”
@POTUS responded: “Good question, @billclinton. The handle comes with the house. Know anyone interested in @FLOTUS?”
Hahaha. But, yes, according to the White House, @POTUS will be transferred to the next President. Obama’s joke notwithstanding: If that is Hillary Clinton, would @BillClinton become @FGOTUS (First Gentleman of the United States)???

Capitol Hill News

Calls for Guinta to Resign Amid Contributions from His Parents Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NH) accepted illegal campaign contributions from his parents, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) found last week, disputing his claim that the money was his.
Guinta must refund his parents for the full $355,000 contribution and pay a $15,000 fine; in wake of these punishments, calls for Guinta to resign are ramping up, even from fellow Republicans.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), the highest-ranking Republican in the state, told WMUR-TV Monday that, “This is a decision he needs to make, but if I were in his position, that’s what I would do [resign]. I told him that this what I believe was the right step to do. Obviously he needs to fully account to people in New Hampshire most of all.”
Guinta, who has apologized for his wrongdoing, responded with a statement making clear he would not resign: “I understand Senator Ayotte’s disappointment with this issue, I share in that frustration. I have been proactive in showing the documentation proving the assets in question were mine. I have apologized for the error on my part, made myself available for press inquiries and attended several events over the weekend. I will continue to meet with, listen to and serve Granite Staters of the First Congressional District.”
Ayotte’s bruising words come after a six-word editorial that ran in the New Hampshire Union Leader, an influential conservative newspaper, Friday: “Frank Guinta is a damned liar”.
That’s never good to hear.

2016 Central

Jindal Forms Presidential Exploratory Committee Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) announced Monday that he was forming an exploratory committee to look into the possibility of a 2016 White House run.
Although it has been bypassed by many candidates this cycle, an exploratory committee is seen as a big step towards a presidential bid; Jindal says he will not announce whether he’s running or not until the Louisiana legislative session ends on June 11.
Jindal was first elected as governor in 2008. A rising star at the time, he was 36 years old: then the youngest governor in the country and the first Indian-American governor in U.S. history. Then, in 2009, he was given a chance at fame: the GOP rebuttal to President Barack Obama’s first State of the Union address, which almost everyone agreed Jindal did horribly on.
Now, with his approval ratings at home below 30%, and polling very poorly in a 2016 presidential primary, Jindal has been suffering lately. To turn these numbers around, a group affiliated with Jindal will begin airing ads in Iowa today, some of the first of this campaign.
“If I run [for President],” Jindal said Monday. “My candidacy will be based on the idea that the American people are ready to try a dramatically different direction. Not a course correction, but a dramatically different path.”