The Fix: June 21, 2009 - June 27, 2009

Mouthpiece Theater: Obama's First Lei-Day

Obama's First Lei-Day Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content. var thisObj = "flashcontentmt-062609-1v";var so = new SWFObject("http://media10.washingtonpost.com/wp/swf/OmniPlayer.swf", thisObj, "400", "225", "8", "#ffffff");so.addParam("allowScriptAccess", "always");so.addParam("swfliveconnect", true);so.addParam("allowFullscreen", true);so.addVariable("thisObj", thisObj);so.addVariable("bcID","mt-062609-1v");so.addVariable("playads", true);so.addVariable("autoStart", false);so.addVariable("adsrv","");so.write("flashcontentmt-062609-1v");...

By Paul Volpe  |  June 26, 2009; 12:39 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (17)
Categories:  Mouthpiece Theater  
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Friday Line: Primary Colors

The Fix is off today but the Friday Line is very much on! Below are our ratings of the ten best primaries in the country in 2010. Agree or disagree with our picks? Offer your thoughts in the comments section.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 26, 2009; 12:06 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (118)
Categories:  The Line  
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(A Quick) Morning Fix!

The moving bug has caught the Fixes so we are taken the day off to help lug boxes, move furniture and sweat through several shirts. (Too much information?)

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 26, 2009; 5:25 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (17)
Categories:  Morning Fix  
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Sanford To Hold Cabinet Meeting Tomorrow

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) will hold a cabinet meeting tomorrow in an attempt to restore some semblance of order to the chaos created by his disappearance and subsequent acknowledgment of an extramarital affair.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 25, 2009; 6:33 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (24)
Categories:  Eye on 2012 , Governors  
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Portman's Insider Argument

In a political world where candidates are falling all over themselves to tout their "outside" credentials, Rob Portman is an exception to the rule.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 25, 2009; 3:23 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (22)
Categories:  The Rising  
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Sanford Adviser: Resignation Not An Option

Although some in South Carolina -- and nationally -- are calling for Gov. Mark Sanford to resign his office in the wake of his six-day hiatus from the state and his acknowledgment of an extramarital affair on Wednesday, a close adviser to the Republican governor told the Fix that Sanford is not considering such an option.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 25, 2009; 1:46 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (84)
Categories:  Eye on 2012 , Governors  
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Nominating Time for Fix Political Hall of Fame

The Fix Political Hall of Fame is up and running with our inaugural class of former Presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson inducted last week.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 25, 2009; 12:23 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (70)
Categories:  Hall of Fame  
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Morning Fix: Scoring the Sanford Saga

The decline and fall of Gov. Mark Sanford over the past 72 hours is one of the most painful -- yet strangely compelling -- events of in recent political history. Any time a politician who is a national figure with aspirations for the presidency falls, there are people beyond that individual who see their own fortunes rise and fall as a result.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 25, 2009; 5:45 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (148)
Categories:  Eye on 2012 , Governors , Republican Party  
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Chatting Sanford

In the event you haven't gotten enough of the Mark Sanford saga yet, the Fix did a live chat earlier today in which we answered reader question on this whole sordid affair.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 24, 2009; 7:28 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (13)
Categories:  Eye on 2012 , Governors  
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Sanford Admits Affair, First Thoughts

Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) admitted that he had conducted an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina who he had gone to visit over the last five days -- during which time a massive media story developed over where he was and why.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 24, 2009; 3:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (684)
Categories:  Governors  
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Twittering the Sanford Presser

The saga of Gov. Mark Sanford will reach a climax -- of sorts -- when he appears before the press today at 2 p.m. at the South Carolina state house to address the media maelstrom surrounding his six-day disappearance and the revelation this morning that he was not hiking the Appalachian Trail but in fact was in Argentina.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 24, 2009; 1:16 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (25)
Categories:  Twitter Time  
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S.C. Gov Candidate Pulls Down Sanford Pic

State Rep. Nikki Haley, who is widely seen as Gov. Mark Sanford's (R) choice to replace him as governor of South Carolina in 2010, has removed a picture of the governor and any mention of him from her campaign website.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 24, 2009; 12:15 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (23)
Categories:  Governors  
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Sanford: From Bad to Worse

The news -- first reported by the State newspaper -- that Gov. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) had spent the last six days in Argentina not, as his staff had previously said, hiking the Appalachian Trail turns what was a bad story for the governor's future political prospects into an out-and-out public relations disaster.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 24, 2009; 9:11 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (398)
Categories:  Eye on 2012 , Governors  
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Morning Fix: Sorting out Sanford

The whereabouts of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford over the past five days has stoked a bitter battle both within the Republican party and between the two parties about whether it is a serious problem with implications for his expected 2012 presidential bid or simply an overblown media story that amounts to much ado about nothing.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 24, 2009; 5:35 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (38)
Categories:  Morning Fix  
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More Nixon Tapes Released

Hundreds of hours of tapes of Richard M. Nixon's conversations with top aides during the early months of 1973 were released this afternoon by the former president's official library -- an embarrassment of riches for Nixonologists and political junkies everywhere.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 23, 2009; 4:45 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (52)
Categories:  Hall of Fame , Republican Party  
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Haley Huddles with Top GOP Strategists

Gov. Haley Barbour dined with a handful of senior Republican strategists Monday night in Washington, a gathering certain to stoke talk of the Mississippi Republican's interest in a 2012 race.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 23, 2009; 3:24 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (36)
Categories:  Eye on 2012  
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The Most Important Number in Politics

At President Barack Obama's press conference today, six of the 13 total questions he took -- including five of the first seven -- were focused on Iran and whether or not he had been forceful enough in condemning the crackdown on protesters in the wake of the country's election.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 23, 2009; 2:13 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (56)
Categories:  White House  
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Twittering the Obama Presser

President Barack Obama will convene his fourth domestic press conference today and the Fix will be ready!

Starting right around 12:30 p.m., we'll be live twittering the presser -- bringing Fixistas our observations and other oddballery from this made-for-tv event.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 23, 2009; 12:15 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (6)
Categories:  Twitter Time  
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Mouthpiece Theater: Men in Tights

Men in Tights Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content. var thisObj = "flashcontentmt-062209-1v"; var so = new SWFObject("http://media10.washingtonpost.com/wp/swf/OmniPlayer.swf", thisObj, "400", "225", "8", "#ffffff");so.addParam("allowScriptAccess", "always"); so.addParam("swfliveconnect", true); so.addParam("allowFullscreen", true);so.addVariable("thisObj", thisObj);so.addVariable("bcID","mt-062209-1v");so.addVariable("playads", false); so.addVariable("autoStart", false); so.addVariable("adsrv",""); so.write("flashcontentmt-062209-1v");...

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 23, 2009; 11:46 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
Categories:  Mouthpiece Theater  
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Sanford Returns!

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford will return to the state tomorrow after spending the last five days hiking the Appalachian Trail, according to a statement released by his office this morning.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 23, 2009; 10:40 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (114)
Categories:  Governors  
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Morning Fix: Press-ing the Reset Button

President Barack Obama will hold his fourth domestic press conference this afternoon as he seeks to re-focus the political debate amid criticism of his approach to the ongoing protests in Iran and lingering doubts about the state of he economy and the viability of his health care reform proposal.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 23, 2009; 5:36 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (138)
Categories:  Morning Fix  
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Villaraigosa's Out, Who Benefits?

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's decision not to run for governor in 2010 creates a fascinating two-way Democratic primary race between San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and California Attorney General Jerry Brown.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 22, 2009; 6:10 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (16)
Categories:  Governors  
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Where in the World is Mark Sanford? (The Appalachian Trail)

Most politicians don't usually go missing for days on end. Of course, most politicians aren't South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 22, 2009; 4:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (100)
Categories:  Governors  
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A Fight Obama Wants Picked

President Barack Obama pushed back hard againstDick Cheney's contention that his policies have made the country less safe during an interview that aired this morning, a move that provides further evidence that the White House relishes the idea of a back and forth with the former vice president.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 22, 2009; 2:10 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (71)
Categories:  White House  
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The Most Important Number in Politics Today

Thirty-four percent. That's the percentage of people who view Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) favorably in a new poll conducted for the Las Vegas Review-Journal by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 22, 2009; 12:32 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (18)
Categories:  Senate  
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Morning Fix: The Kennedy Legacy

Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy hasn't cast a vote in the Senate in nearly three months as he battles brain cancer but his influence over the chamber continues to be felt in a variety of ways.

By Chris Cillizza  |  June 22, 2009; 5:05 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (83)
Categories:  Morning Fix  
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