The Fix: June 14, 2009 - June 20, 2009

Friday Senate Line: Stability Reigns

The Senate playing field has remained remarkably stable of late. That's not to say, however, that both parties don't have opportunities left to turn currently non-competitive races into top 10 affairs over the next few weeks and months.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 19, 2009; 11:05 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (207)
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Mouthpiece Theater: Lord of the Flies

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By Chris Cillizza  |  June 19, 2009; 10:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (5)
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Morning Fix: Obama's Aggressive Recruiting

President Barack Obama was elected as a post-partisan figure of sorts but in his first six months in office, he and his political inner circle have taken an aggressive stance toward recruiting their preferred candidates in Senate races.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 19, 2009; 5:20 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (83)
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NYT vs RGA

The New York Times isn't happy about a satirical website run by the Republican Governors Association that used the Old Grey Lady's layout to mock New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D).

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 18, 2009; 3:11 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (37)
Categories:  Governors Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

The Most Important Number in Politics Today

72 percent. That's the number of people in the new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll who say that President Barack Obama inherited the "current economic conditions" gripping the country as compared to just 14 percent who said the situation was the result mostly of his policies.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 18, 2009; 2:06 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (24)
Categories:  Parsing the Polls Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

Bush Takes on Obama

After months of silence, former President George W. Bush launched a broad-scale critique of President Barack Obama's approach to economic policy, national security and health care during a speech in Pennsylvania.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 18, 2009; 11:12 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (327)
Categories:  White House Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

Morning Fix: Do Democrats Have a Fundraising Problem?

President Barack Obama will headline a fundraising dinner tonight to benefit Democrats' House and Senate campaign arms but the relatively modest haul expected -- $3 million -- is the latest piece of evidence that the party's expected fundraising advantage over Republicans has yet to materialize.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 18, 2009; 5:25 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (65)
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(Mis)Adventures in Twittering

Days after the Fix penned a piece advising politicians to under no circumstances start up an account with the microblogging service Twitter, there are two fresh examples making out point.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 17, 2009; 2:58 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (16)
Categories:  Twitter Time Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

Sestak Calls Specter "Flight Risk"

Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak (D) ramped up the rhetoric against Arlen Specter in an e-mail fundraising solicitation sent to donors today, calling the Democratic Senator a "flight risk" due to his party switch earlier this year.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 17, 2009; 2:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (32)
Categories:  Senate Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

Dodd's Opportunity

President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul financial institutions, which he will announce later today, will put Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) at the center of legislative action over the coming months -- affording him the opportunity to rehab a battered image in advance of his 2010 re-election race.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 17, 2009; 11:50 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (57)
Categories:  Senate Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

Morning Fix: Analyzing Ensign

Sen. John Ensign's bombshell announcement that he had engaged in an affair with a former campaign staffer was the latest in a series of difficult blows for an already-reeling party.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 17, 2009; 5:35 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (73)
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Ensign Acknowledges Extramarital Affair

Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign, a rising star in the Republican Party considering a 2012 presidential bid, is expected to hold a press conference later today in which he will acknowledge an extramarital affair, according to sources in Washington and Nevada.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 16, 2009; 5:31 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (317)
Categories:  Eye on 2012 , Senate Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

Wag the Blog Redux: Palin vs Letterman

A week after cracking a joke about the daughter of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez, late night comedian David Letterman formally apologized last night.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 16, 2009; 4:30 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (37)
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John Campbell and the Endorsement Hierarchy

California politicos were abuzz yesterday with the news that Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) had switched his endorsement in the governor's race from state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner to former eBay president Meg Whitman.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 16, 2009; 1:30 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (11)
Categories:  Governors Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

Twittering Gibbs

The Fix's twittering fingers have been getting a little creaky these days so we thought we would jump back into the game today when White House press secretary Robert Gibbs takes the podium at 12:30 pm.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 16, 2009; 11:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (7)
Categories:  Twitter Time Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

Mouthpiece Theater: Topless Women, Headless Prime Minister

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 16, 2009; 10:30 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
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Morning Fix: Six Senators To Watch On Health Care

For all of the attention President Barack Obama's speech to the American Medical Association on Monday received, the true battle ground over whether or not significant health care reform will become law this year is in the Senate.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 16, 2009; 5:26 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (43)
Categories:  Health Care , Morning Fix Share This:  E-Mail | Technorati | Del.icio.us | Digg | Stumble

The Fix Political Hall of Fame

The Fix loves two things almost as much as we love Mrs. Fix and Fix Jr.: politics and baseball. Our twin passions have much in common: scads of statistics, personalities galore and an unending number of past versus present comparisons...

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 15, 2009; 7:15 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (111)
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The Fix Breaks

After a weekend spent getting to and back from the west coast, the Fix is, in the fine tradition of Champ Kind, sitting the next couple of plays out.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 15, 2009; 6:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (15)
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Remembering Tim Russert

It was a year ago this weekend that Tim Russert, a journalist in every positive sense of the word, passed away. This is how we choose to remember him....

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 14, 2009; 12:01 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (21)
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