Wake Up To Politics - January 13, 2015
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Tuesday, January 13, 2015
668 Days Until Election Day 2016It's Friday, January 9, 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!!!
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White House Watch
WH Admits Mistake In Not Sending Obama to French Unity March Over a million people marched in unity for France in the face of terrorists attacks on Sunday, led by more than 40 world leaders walking arm-in-arm. These included a number of leaders setting aside their considerable differences: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Noticeably absent from the march, however, was U.S. President Barack Obama, or even Attorney General Eric Holder, who was in the country that day for meetings with French leaders. The only American representation came from Jane Hartley, the U.S. Ambassador to France.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest admitted the mistake Monday, saying the Administration “should have sent someone with a higher profile”.
In the past six days, 17 people in France have been killed in terrorist attacks, including eight employees of Charlie Hebdo magazine.
The President’s Schedule At 10 AM, President Obama will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing.
At 11 AM, the President will sit down with congressional leaders from both parties and both houses of Congress in the Cabinet Room.
At 12:40 PM, Obama will have lunch with Biden.
Finally, at 3:10 PM, President Obama continues his “State of the Union Spoilers,” announcing initiatives he will discuss at the State of the Union address next week. This week’s spoiler theme is cybersecurity. Obama will speak at the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center in Arlington, Virginia today.Capitol Hill News
Throwback to 2012: Romney-Ryan Make Moves on 2016 (In Opposite Directions) Both members of the 2012 Republican ticket, presidential candidate/former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and vice president candidate/Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, have made moves on the 2016 presidential race – in opposite directions.
Ryan, 44 years old and newly-installed chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, announced Monday that he would not run for President in 2016.
“After giving it a lot of thought, I’ve decided not to run for president,” the Wisconsin Republican said in a statement. “Our work at the House Ways and Means Committee over the next few years will be crucial to moving America forward, and my job as Chairman deserves undivided attention. It’s clear our country needs a change in direction. And our party has a responsibility to offer a real alternative. So I’m going to do what I can to lay out conservative solutions and to help our nominee lead us to victory.”
The announcement from Ryan came after a call from his former running mate Mitt Romney, according to the Washington Post, which reported “Romney phoned [Ryan] over the weekend to inform him personally of his plans to probably run.”
Romney has reportedly been calling and meeting with a number of donors, supporters, and rivals in recent days, the Post reports. This has included calls to Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH), Rep. Jason Chaffetz, and former (and potentially future) rivals Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota Governor; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown.
All of this comes since the “Romney 2016” buzz initiated after the former Massachusetts governor declared interest in a third presidential run to 30 donors in New York.
---Best of Twitter (I scrolled through hours of tweets so you don’t have to…here is the Best of Twitter on Romney/Ryan announcements)
Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (@PRyan) tweets, “.@GovChristie, do you need a hug now? #GoPackGo #WinninginWisco” with a photo of his family at the Packers-Cowboys game. Ryan’s home-state Packers beat the Cowboys, who New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie professed his support for by a hug with the team’s owners (referenced in the tweet).
See above to read about Ryan’s announcement that he will NOT run for President in 2016. Christie remains a likely candidate.
Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon tweets, “‘Boyhood’ won a Globe for best drama. It follows one guy through 12 yrs of life, or as Romney calls it, "running for president." #fallonmono”
Burn. See above for more on Romney’s moves towards a 2016 presidential campaign (which means he will have been running for President on-and-off for the past 8-10 years).
Reports: Harris to Run for Boxer Seat A number of news agencies have reported that state Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) will announce today her campaign for retiring California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer’s seat in 2016.
Boxer, who has served in the Senate since 1993, announced last week that she would step down. Since then, all eyes have been on Harris and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic Party’s two California rising stars.
However, it was unlikely the two would run against each other; Harris’ announcement comes a day after Newsom announced he will not run for the seat. The latter will likely make a run for governor in 2018 instead.
Other potential candidates for the Democratic primary to succeed Boxer include former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Viillariaigosa, Rep. Jackie Speier, and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer.
Read #TodaysWake Up here. <-----
President Obama meets with Speaker Boehner, announces new manufacturing institutes; John Dingell retiring, panel of African-American senators today; and trivia: It's Tuesday, February 25, 2014, I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from Brittany Woods Middle School in University City, MO - THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL.
Have a great day,
Gabe Fleisher
Editor-in-Chief
Wake Up To Politics