Oct 29, 2014 7 min read

Wake Up To Politics - October 29, 2014

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!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014
6 Days Until Election Day 2014
741 Days Until Election Day 2016
Answering a question on presidential schedules, Obama makes statement on Ebola, Biden attends Bradlee funeral, Hillary in IA, Romney in NC, Ferguson police shakeup reported, Senate reality show, and trivia: It's Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 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.
Letter to the Editor

Steve Gitnik asks, “I read your Wake Up every day and enjoy it greatly!!!! I just have one question that has been bothering me for some time. When we see the president’s schedule, like for today…he has his daily briefing at 10:00 a.m. and his next event is at 3 p.m. Does he just goof off between or does he watch reruns of Judge Judy on cable TV?”
Steve, great question! The schedule I publish in Wake Up To Politics almost each and every morning is the President's public schedule - the one released to the press. Since I am not an (official) member of the White House press corps (or at least not yet), I actually don't get it directly, but piece it together from the few different news sites that publish parts of it.
I have published the President's schedule since Day 1 of my political newsletter - because I believe it is important for Americans to know what their leaders are doing and focusing on, and I think it is a shame that so few news organizations publish the schedule in its entirety (and that includes the Obama White House website itself, which despite priding itself on its transparency, never seems to have the schedule up). Anyways, this is the public schedule. But even when President Obama is not in public, he is still the President - a job that entails a number of duties separate from campaign rallies and important meetings and sports team visits, but also meetings with senior advisors throughout the day on a host of issues, three different briefings from different agencies, Situation Room meetings, interviews, telephone calls with leaders in the U.S. and around the world, and ceremonial duties such as bill signings, letters, and much, much more that last until the wee hours of the morning.
And yes: President Obama does find time to watch some ESPN, too. The jury's still out on his watching Judge Judy, though.
To give you a feel for the detail length of the actual minute-to--minute Presidential schedule, the White House Historical Association has links to see the "Presidential Daily Diaries" for Presidents Nixon through Clinton. Or check out the PDF version of today's Wake Up to see President George H.W. Bush's full schedule from October 24, 1989 - 25 years ago nearly to the day. His work day went from 5:50 AM to 9:00 PM.

White House Watch

The President’s Schedule At 10 AM, President Obama receives the Presidential Daily Briefing.
At 1:35 PM, the President will meet with members of his public health and national security team working on the Ebola response, before speaking on Ebola from the East Room at 3:40 PM.
Biden’s Day Vice President Joe Biden, and his wife Jill, will attend a funeral service for the late Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee. Speakers will include former WaPo CEO Don Graham; the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward; Carl Bernstein, a former Post reporter, who, with Woodward, helped break the Watergate story; and Quinn Bradlee, son of Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn. The service will be held at 11 AM at the Washington National Cathederal, and Post alumni and current reporters will be attending in the hundreds; the public is invited.

Election Central

Surrogate Watch: Hillary Clinton in Iowa Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton will be in the early presidential primary state of Iowa today, but her sights will not be on 2016.
Clinton is in the Hawkeye State to speak at two rallies for Democratic Senate nominee Bruce Braley. Clinton will headline a grassroots event at a Cedar Rapids labor hall, and a rally at the RiverCenter in Davenport.
This is the potential 2016 presidential candidate’s second visit to Iowa since losing the state’s 2008 caucuses six years ago. The first was last month, when Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, appeared at the 37^th annual Harkin Steak Fry, hosted by retiring Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin, to support Braley and other Democratic candidates.
Besides the Steak Fry, this is Hillary’s first campaign stop just for Braley (and the Steak Fry was arguably more for 2016 anyway), and Bill hasn’t even come to Iowa once for the Senate candidate (although he will Saturday). Why has this pair of super-surrogates stayed away from Iowa until so late in the election cycle, even as they made multiple stops in Arkansas, Kentucky, and many other states?
The Clinton machine is known for its premium on loyalty, and both Bill and Hillary are known for holding long-standing grudges, throwing their considerable political weight behind friends, and stopping anyone who once opposed them at all costs.
In the Iowa caucuses, the endorsements of top Iowa elected officials are always courted, and the Clinton, Obama, and Edwards campaigns all courted Braley’s in 2008, then a newly-elected congressman. Each of them attended a “Bruce, Blues, and BBQ” fundraising dinner for him, in hopes of receiving his backing. Braley eventually threw his support to John Edwards, and then to Barack Obama, once the former was implicated in a sex scandal.
In short, the Clintons are ruthless, and Hillary’s status as Braley’s ’08 third choice, is likely the reason behind the power couple’s late entry into the race.
A new poll released today from Quinnipiac University showed Rep. Bruce Braley trailing Republican Joni Ernst, 49% to 45%. Ernst, who had a five-point lead among likely voters, also led among independent voters, who support the Republican 50% to 41%. Just 5% of likely voters remain undecided.
Surrogate Watch: Mitt Romney in North Carolina 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney will be in Raleigh, North Carolina today, attending a rally with Thom Tillis, the North Carolina House Speaker and GOP nominee for U.S. Senate.
Romney, who won North Carolina in 2012, has surprisingly been a popular surrogate for Republicans this election cycle, despite losing the general election. Romney’s campaigning this year has caused speculation that he will run for the Presidency a third time in 2016, which he has denied at each campaign stop.
Tillis is locked in a tight race with Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan; the race is this election cycle’s most expensive, and the two are neck-in-neck, with polls showing a statistical tie. A loss in the Tar Heel State will deal a large blow to Democratic hopes of keeping the Senate majority, but is not a required win for Republicans in their path to the Senate majority.

Fury in Ferguson

Reports: Ferguson Police Chief to Resign CNN reported Tuesday that Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson would be resigning as early as next week, in a plan that would put the St. Louis County police chief in charge of the Ferguson police force.
Jackson, and the city he serves, drew national attention after a Ferguson police officer killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Protests broke out in the city after Brown’s death, and have continued in the following weeks; Jackson and his police force have been the center of controversy, both over the shooting of Brown, and the response to the protests. The U.S. Justice Department is currently overseeing an investigation into the Ferguson police department’s practices in reacting to demonstrations.
City officials deny Jackson is being pushed out, or even planning to step down. Mayor James Knowless III said, “He’s stayed strong with us to this point. Don’t see that changing.” Jackson himself responded to reports of his stepping down by saying, “It’s absolutely not true. Nobody has asked me to resign nor have I been fired. If I do resign, it will be my own choice.”
A plan where the St. Louis County police chief takes over after Jackson resigned could be a move by local officials to quell tensions, as the St. Louis County grand jury is about to decide whether or not to bring charges against Officer Darren Wilson for his shooting of Michael Brown.

Today's Tidbit

Congress can barely work together to name a post office. These two senators were stranded on an island, and they managed to share coconut water. Sounds like a nice daydream of congressional cooperation. Except it’s real, and its airing at 10 PM Eastern tonight.
That’s right: Sens. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) had to survive together for a week on the Eru island, and their adventures will be airing on the Disovery Channel’s “Rival Survival” reality TV show.
The Discovery Channel described the show, which airs tonight: “In ‘Rival Survival,’ our senatorial adversaries turned survival teammates are given a modest choice of items from which they can select only three. Using only these limited resources and their wits, the pair must work together as they attempt to spear fish, build shelter and find enough water to survive for one week. There is no natural source for fresh water on Eru, and what lives in the ocean will be their major food source. This unusual pairing will leave behind the daily life of congressional staff, senate hearings and committee meetings to navigate the rigors of surviving on an isolated island with no contact with the outside world to call upon for help.”

Question of the Day

Today’s Question Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston died on October 29, 1947. She was one of two presidential wives to remarry after their husband’s deaths: Who was the other?