The possible frontrunner for president in 2016 has never tweeted — and the people around her are barely familiar with the medium. “Where in the world is Philippe?”

Via: @hillaryclinton

Hillary Clinton may be the most discussed political figure in the country, but she and her closest aides have long been absent from the online platform where much of today's political conversation takes place: Twitter.

If Clinton chooses to run for president again in 2016, she will again face the challenge of casting herself as a woman of the future, not the past. She and her team have made no effort to shape the conversation on social media about the former secretary of state. And at a moment when the Romney high command's dismissals of the power of the social web have come to be seen as pure folly, Clinton's unusual absence raises the question of how a political machine that reached its pinnacle when cable news was the newest in communications technology will compete to succeed President Obama.

Clinton's presence on Twitter currently amounts to no more than a locked and dormant account with no tweets, no followers, and an avatar that is the default egg. "Texts from Hillary," the viral internet meme inspired by a candid photo of Clinton checking her BlackBerry aboard a plane from Malta to Tripoli, still constitutes the possible candidate's largest internet presence. And the State Department aides who helped give her a reputation as a force for technological change are no longer with her.

Longtime spokesman Philippe Reines, who runs the former secretary of state's personal communications, has his own account, also private and largely inactive. Nick Merrill, a former State Department spokesperson who is still commenting on Clinton's behalf, has tweeted from his account four times in two years. Her longtime personal aide Huma Abedin doesn't post on the site. Another main Clinton family spokesman, Matt McKenna, does not appear to have a Twitter account.

The first step toward a contemporary communications apparatus came Tuesday in the recognition that it could become an image problem. An anonymous Clinton source told Politico this week that the account, @HillaryClinton, is "soon-to-be-activated." (This after former President Bill Clinton started his own account last month.)

Former staffers attribute the social media silence to a deep-rooted sense of privacy inside the Clinton inner circle, while acknowledging that her operation's aversion to the press was partly to blame for the 2008 campaign.

"There is a general sense that all these people are very private," said one former Hillary staffer. "Could they just be operating in some villa on a BlackBerry? Probably. That's how people see them — like, where in the world is Philippe?"

Unlike longtime advisors to President Obama like David Axelrod and David Plouffe, who have developed significant presences on Twitter, Clinton aides aren't well known outside the political media. Even the president's current staffers, including communications director Dan Pfeiffer, who often tweets back and forth with reporters to drive his messaging, are on social media, engaging with journalists and the stories of the day.

"They're not driven by social media," said the former staffer of Clinton's operation. "No one knows who Philippe is, but people know Plouffe and Axelrod."

Judd Legum, the research director for Clinton's 2008 campaign who now runs ThinkProgress.org, said Hillary's absence from Twitter does hurt her, but only until the moment she decides to jump into the fray.

"My sense is that they are behind, but if she decides to run, the interest around her candidacy will be so intense, it won't be difficult to her to catch up," he said.

"Social media would be a big asset to Hillary," Legum added. "It will allow her to go around the media, which is frequently more skeptical of her than the public."

Phil Singer, a strategist and former spokesperson for the Clinton campaign, said also that given the former secretary's current popularity, "she won't have any problems going from zero to 18 million followers when she decides to enter the Twitterverse."

Singer dismissed the idea that aides like Reines and Abedin should have their own presence on the platform, particularly now, when Clinton is still transitioning away from her role at State. "If her staff develops a huge following capable of distributing information in support of a brand like [Clinton's]," Singer said, "chances are it's because they made a mistake."

But Republican strategists, with their eyes already on the 2016 race, see an open weak point in the Clinton operation.

Tim Miller, a former Republican National Committee spokesman who recently founded a new GOP super PAC, America Rising, argued that the Clinton Twitter gap could be used as "just one more nail in the narrative that she would be a candidate from or for the past."

"We've seen a number of politicians in the last decade try to come back to politics after being out of the game, only to find it was too fast and had passed them by," said Miller. "Team Hillary is in danger of just that — and it's not as if they haven't been plagued by 'old guard versus new staff' issues before."

"Not being on Twitter in 2013 is akin to still faxing out press releases," he added.

Vincent Harris, a Republican strategist who ran the digital operations for Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich's 2012 campaigns, argued that when it comes to the web, "Hillary just ain't Obama."

"From a tactical perspective it seems the Clinton campaign would be running a more traditional media-centered one than Obama's campaign of innovation," he said.

But several Clinton loyalists pointed, though not for the record, to the former secretary's four years at the State Department, where she was barred from talking domestic politics — though many cabinet secretaries do have Twitter accounts. Although Clinton did not create a personal account to talk about the goings-on at State, her administration did make frequent use of the official State Department Twitter account and occasionally used the feed to host question-and-answer sessions with Clinton.

(Secretary John Kerry, the once-prolific tweeter, has abandoned his personal account since succeeding Clinton at State. During the 2012 campaign he memorably tweeted a picture of a robot with the caption, "was surprised to run into Mitt this afternoon.")

And as Chelsea Clinton, the former first daughter, has stepped into a more public role through her job at NBC News and at the Clinton Global Initiative, she has become increasingly active on her Twitter account. When her mother was hospitalized at the end of last year for a blood clot, it was Chelsea who tweeted three times during the incident, providing updates to her followers on the health scare. (Through the State Department, Reines also released several statements throughout Clinton's hospitalization.)

Clinton, though, may not decide to join her daughter, and now husband, on the site, at least until she makes up her mind about her next move.

“We were the first to endorse Anthony Weiner for Congress yet. We are not writing him off.”

Two local Queens newspapers that endorsed Anthony Weiner during his first run for mayor in 2005 will consider endorsing him again, despite the embarrassing sex scandal that forced Weiner out of Congress.

"We are considering" possibly endorsing Weiner, said Kevin Boyle, managing editor of The Wave, which is located in the Rockaway section of Queens. "We are waiting to meet all the candidates. "

The Wave's Twitter account was the first follow Anthony Weiner when he rejoined earlier this year. For a while, it was the former congressman's only follow.

"We were the first to endorse Anthony Weiner for Congress. We are not writing him off," Boyle continued. "He knows Rockaway better than the other candidates."

The publisher of the Queens Tribune, Michael Schenkler, said, "We haven't endorsed anyone" and "everyone will be coming in" to meet with the editorial board.

Asked if the publication would reconsider its 2005 endorsement of Weiner, Schenkler said, "We will give everyone a shot."

Democratic leaders handed this 78-page packet out to members of Congress heading home this summer to face questions about the health-care overhaul. Some advice: Target young people, seniors, and women; and work with Planned Parenthood.

The summer recess is traditionally when members of Congress answer their constituents' questions about matters of policy in Washington, and Democrats are preparing this summer to answer questions about the Affordable Care Act, whose key provisions start coming into place in September.

A document circulated to House Democrats by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — and obtained by BuzzFeed — offers some details of the timing of the health-care plan: Rates and details of plans will become public in September for the 34 states that haven't put together their own plans.

The goals, Pelosi writes in a "dear colleague" letter that begins the document, are "to educate our constituents about the new law, help to implement it, and strengthen the hands of those who have worked for this historic reform."

The document is also optimistic about the cost of these plans: "A significant majority of people in the new Marketplaces will pay the same or less than they do for their coverage right now," it says, citing tax credits available for health-care premiums.

The pamphlet focuses on detailed advice for how to sell the legislation to specific groups of people.

"Do an event on being a woman no longer being treated as a 'pre-existing condition,'" it advises.

The document also advises politicians to work with a series of groups, including the women's health group Planned Parenthood, which is loathed by anti-abortion advocates.

View Entire List ›

The comeback kid sucks the air out of the room at an education forum for Democratic candidates. A “distraction,” says candidate Sal Albanese.

Via: Ruby Cramer/Buzzfeed

Former congressman Anthony Weiner attended his first mayoral debate late Tuesday afternoon alongside other candidates for mayor of New York City, and managed at nearly every turn to play the leading role at the event, much to the displeasure of some of his colleagues on stage.

"It's a distraction actually, unfortunately," said one candidate, former city council member, Sal Albanese, when the event was over. "It becomes more of a mini-circus because of his escapades. He's very good at theatrics. I served with Tony on the City Council, so I'm not unaccustomed to his political antics — I've seen him in action."

Weiner, who resigned from Congress two summers ago for sending inappropriate tweets to women, appeared at the education forum, hosted by New Yorkers for Great Public Schools, with four Democratic rivals — city comptroller, John Liu; former board of education head, Bill Thompson; city public advocate, Bill de Blasio; and Albanese.

(The leading candidate in the race, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, did not attend, even after NYGPS rescheduled two times to accomodate her campaign, according to the event moderator, Zakiyah Ansari.)

The event was Weiner's first forum since announcing his bid for mayor late last Tuesday.

Even before the debate began, the former congressman was the focus of the event. As a bevy of television news reporters swarmed his seat at the debate table, Weiner pointed to Albanese, three seats down, and said, "Have you met Sal Albanese?"

Although the candidates were given equal speaking time by Ansari, Weiner was the dominant presence during the debate. While the other candidates sat while questioned — as they have during other forums this year — Weiner made a point of standing.

"I don't know if his legs were tired and he wanted to stretch them or what," Thompson told a group of reporters on his way out, adding that Weiner's seat at the debate, right next to the podium, could have blocked his view of half the room. "I thought that was what it was more about. He was trying to be seen on the other side of the room because his head was right up against the podium."

The former congressman jested with the moderator over answer time, cracked jokes, and used his "instant rebuttal" — an option given to each candidate during the last round of the debate — on himself, to the amusement of the audience. Thompson, meanwhile, could be seen smirking on stage, while Albanese tried to play along.

"Great to see my colleague, Mr. Weiner, back in action," he said at one point.

"Thank you," Weiner said.

Liu, though, said Weiner's appearance at the forum didn't change the dynamic among the candidates whatsoever.

"Didn't make any difference," he said.

The tea party star didn’t stay away from D.C. for long after losing re-election last year. “People believe that I’m a trusted agent,” he says.

Via: Robert Sullivan / Reuters

WASHINGTON — On the roof of his new North Capitol Street office building, Col. Allen West points over to his old office, the United States Capitol.

"I'm coming back here to keep an eye on Washington, D.C., and report back to people," West said in a recent interview with BuzzFeed. "There are people that want to know what's going on here, and I believe that folks still believe that I'm a trusted voice."

It has been five months since West left Congress. When the one-term former congressman and face of the 2010 tea party wave lost in a close and extraordinarily expensive contest last November to a young Democrat named Patrick Murphy, Democrats were gleeful. But he did not leave quietly. He fought with the courts and election officials for two weeks before conceding, and at the time, the congressional press corps joked that West might continue to show up for work in the Capitol even if he lost.

That's kind of what ended up happening.

Three weeks ago, West returned to D.C. full-time, moving into an apartment near Capitol Hill. He stays in D.C. Monday through Friday, returning to Florida on the weekends to spend time with his family. He's made multiple appearances on Capitol Hill, only this time he's there as the director and star of an online TV show, NextGeneration.Tv, a project of the conservative PJ Media company. The show is the latest attempt at drawing a younger conservative audience to political programming, and PJ Media hired young pundit Michelle Fields to work as a host and correspondent alongside West.

So does West, who paints himself as a consummate D.C. outsider, see any conflict with the fact that he's selected Washington to be his primary residence even now that he's out of office?

"No, absolutely not," he said. "When the big guy at PJ Media talked to me" — West will not say who exactly approached him — "about coming on with them, and he kind of laid out what he wanted me to do, I told him, you can't cover Washington D.C. and the political scene from [PJ Media headquarters in] Los Angeles. So they made the decision to invest here, and put the resources here, and as you can see we're in a beautiful building, we're in the shadow of the Capitol, so you can't have a better spot."

Like so many of his 2010 colleagues, West ran against the status quo of Washington, D.C. But he also had a no-holds-barred approach to the media and would wander through the Speaker's Lobby, where reporters would hang out, to say exactly what was on his mind. He'd answer any question, and say things that were reliably headline-worthy.

There was the time West famously said at a town hall he believed that 78 to 81 Democrats in Congress were also communists, and the time he wrote to Debbie Wasserman Schultz to tell her she was "not a lady."

His comments made him a hero among his conservative fan base and a boogeyman to Democrats, who often pointed to West as an example of everything they hated about the tea party.

"With Allen West, love him or hate him, there's not a lot of bullshit, there's not a lot of finger up in the wind. He's a guy who says what he believes, whether that's good or bad, whether that's electorally winning or not, he is going to be straight up," said Florida Republican strategist Rick Wilson. "He has a very devoted following."

Wilson sees the draw that West could have with a younger generation of Republicans.

"I've met a ton of Young Republican–type kids who absolutely would crawl over broken glass for this guy," he said. "There's not quite as large a demo as the Ron Paul kids used to be, but this is a guy that is unbelievably authentic. That's not always the politically smartest thing to do, but authenticity is a very big calling card in this world."

West's return to D.C. includes a contract with Fox News and book coming out soon.

There are few surprises in his work for PJ Media so far. In one recent video titled "Allen West on the Liberals' Benghazi Stupidity" he called The New York Times "a flagship leftist propaganda newspaper" for running an editorial that referred to the terrorist attack in Benghazi as a "Republican obsession." In another, he and Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, who voted for West for speaker of the House, sit down for an interview. They talk about welfare fraud, and how there needs to be a special prosecutor to investigate the Obama administration over the IRS scandal, Benghazi, and the Justice Department seizing the phone records of reporters and editors. The two are clearly pals and happy to see one another: West tells the audience Gohmert makes the best ribs he's ever had. Gohmert tells West he would have done an "awesome job" as Speaker of the House.

Though the platform and venue has changed, West has not. He still doesn't drink coffee or alcohol (he calls ginger ale his "fun drink"), and though he's more dressed down these days in cowboy boots and jeans, his blazer is adorned with military pins and an American flag.

When they were working to get their show off the ground, Fields and West spent every day, all day, together for weeks in Manhattan Beach. He refused to rent a car, opting to walk wherever he needed to go. He was unfailingly punctual, a habit he developed in the military.

"I mentioned that I wanted to get a car so I could go to the mall or whatever," Fields recalled. "His response was, 'Well, I have two feet.' It was very Allen; he never needs anything," Fields said.

West says he'll be critical of Republicans when he has to be. He's frustrated by the party's lack of engagement with the black community, and argues that conservatives can win African-American voters by spending more time making economic arguments in black neighborhoods.

"We need to show up. It's not about a bigger tent or whatever, just show up," he said.

He's not comfortable calling himself a reporter, or a pundit, or even a politician, although he's left the possibility of running for office again in the future very much open. He's is a regular on the GOP speaking circuit, giving speeches at both the Georgia and Virginia Republican conventions. West says he's also "doing some things to try and help" the House Republicans' campaign arm.

"I don't like labels. I'm a former soldier and I'm a former member of Congress. People believe that I'm a trusted agent," he said. "There are a lot of things we've been uncovering to people that the regular news cycle doesn't cover. I think it's important for people to really understand, what is the legislative process, what is really happening up here in Washington."

As far as his own political future goes, West says he's not concerned with it, although he told conservative radio talk show host Tammy Bruce that he'd "look into getting back into the political framework in 2016."

"I don't sit around trying to plan out what's going to happen day to day or year to year," he said. "You know, right now I have a platform and ability to commentate and analyze what's happening in the political scene. I'm very fortunate."

It’s a breeze!

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)

Source: foxnews.com

Rubio wears a feathered comb-over.

Source: vicepresidents.com

Which settles nicely during serious moments.

Source: washingtonpost.com

Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.)

Via: barrow.house.gov

View Entire List ›

The video that announced Larry King’s new show on cable news network RT was just begging to be gif’d.

View Entire List ›

POTUS joked around about having received an unusually warm reception.

Follow NowThis News on Facebook and Twitter.
The NowThis News app is live -- and it's FREE! Download it.

Forget the “birthers,” his Muslim background and training as a secret socialist spy. A set of more serious inquiries have hit the White House in force.

Via: Larry Downing / Reuters

WASHINGTON — The IRS, Benghazi, Marines holding umbrellas … it's gotten to the point that even seasoned political reporters are having trouble keeping track of the various scandals, allegations, and investigations dogging President Barack Obama's administration these days.

This isn't Obama's first term, when the biggest "scandals" emerged from the fringiest reaches of the political world and related to absurd questions about his birth certificate or whether he and the first lady were engaging in some sort of secret terrorist handshake.

Now, the administration is facing fundamental questions about it's treatment of political opponents and the press, whether it has engaged in inappropriate or even illegal killings of American citizens abroad.

IRS

Via: Susan Walsh, File / AP

Conservative activists on the talk radio circuit had complained for years of unfair scrutiny from the tax enforcement agency, but the IRS scandal exploded last month when a draft Inspector Generals report came out, revealing a concerted effort by officials to scrutinize organizations with words like "Tea Party" and "patriot" in their names.

The rules governing political activities by tax exempt organizations are, at best fuzzy, and the IRS has never had much of a hard and fast definition of when a group may cross the line.

The IRS has also never had a particularly great track record of enforcing the rules, which made the fact that the service targeted groups opposed to Obama and his progressive ideals in general all the more noteworthy.

The administration has thus far struggled to put the scandal to bed: they initially argued it was the work of a handful of over worked employees in the IRS' Cincinnati office; then, when it became clear more senior officials knew of the targeting, the White House sacked the IRS' acting director.

Over the last several days White House supporters have pointed out that a number of the groups targeted were, indeed, engaging in significant amounts of political activity — something that would reasonably trigger scrutiny.

Although that argument doesn't necessarily exonerate the IRS for targeting groups based on ideology, it at least gave backers of the administration a leg to stand on. Unfortunately on Wednesday NBC News reported that high level officials at the IRS had also requested information on Tea Party groups in particular.

On Wednesday, Tea Party activists filed suit against the IRS, while Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday called for a special prosecutor to be designated to launch an independent investigation.

Congress has already held several hearings into the scandal, and Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrel Issa will likely try to force Lois Lerner, director of Exempt Organizations, to testify before his committee next month. Lerner exercised her right to remain silent during a hearing earlier this month, but not before asserting her innocence, a decision that Issa and Republicans insist means she actually ceded her right to not incriminate herself.

There are few things people hate more than the IRS, and for Republicans the scandal has provided proof that Big Government is, in fact, out to get them. That's a potent cocktail in any situation, and plays perfectly into the over arching complaint that Obama has created an atmosphere in Washington in which opponents are harshly punished.

With Democrats aggressively piling on the IRS, the central questions remain exactly who directed the scrutiny of conservative groups, and why.

View Entire List ›

A blog post quotes a line from McAuliffe’s book but doesn’t doesn’t provide the context.

Virginia Democratic candidate gubernatorial Terry McAuliffe, former DNC chairman and Clinton moneyman, has had no shortage of past outspoken statements for Republicans looking to hammer him. But one hit from the Virginia Republican Party seems to be taking McAuliffe out of context.

A blog post on the Virginia Republican Party's website for a research document entitled "Virginians Can't Trust Terry McAuliffe on Energy Issues" says, "Notably, McAuliffe once said that if you lie about the little things, it makes it easier to lie about the big things," with a hyperlink to a video of McAuliffe on YouTube narrating his 2007 book What A Party, in which he speaks the line.

"The exercise reinforces what Virginians are coming to learn and believe: Terry McAuliffe's word has zero value. He will say and do anything to win office, and cannot be trusted," the Virginia Republicans blog post adds.

But the hit is taken out of context from the book. The text from the book, shown below, shows that McAuliffe said his parents told him he always remembered the line. McAuliffe was using it to attack former Vice President Dick Cheney for saying he had not met John Edwards before their 2004 debate, when, in fact, they had indeed met.

"The first time I ever met you was when you walked on the stage tonight," Cheney told Edwards during the debate.

Oh really? I was so proud of my team that night. Tracy Sefl was working on our D.C. war room and knew as soon as Cheney said that, he was lying. Phone calls and emails started coming in within seconds confirming that Cheney and Edwards had definitely met before. Tracy alerted some producers to Cheney's clear falsehood, and worked with the rest of the crew in our war room to get a idea of Cheney meeting Edwards. Once the video was out there minutes later, prodding Technicolor proof, the story got even bigger, reminding people that as my parents always warned me, if you lie about the little things, it makes it easier to lie about the big things.

Update The Cuccinelli campaign used the quote as well in a post.

The video the Virginia Republican Party linked to, uploaded by an "Evan Stein."

Source: youtube.com

And reporters almost fell over trying to chase them.

The Harlem Globe Trotters showed up in D.C. Wednedsay in support of the President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition.

And they wore extremely dank shoes.

The two members of the team to show up went by the names Too Tall...

And Cheese.

View Entire List ›

A disappointed party seeks a way to fight its favorite enemy after she leaves the political stage. “I think that some of that thrill is gone” said Adam Graves, the son and senior adviser to Bachmann’s would-be Democratic opponent.

Via: Carolyn Kaster / AP

Michele Bachmann isn't running for re-election but that doesn't mean Democrats won't run against her.

Her announcement was a little bittersweet for Democratic groups who have long used Bachmann's out-there comments to build up e-mail lists, aggressively fundraise, and denounce her House colleagues.

But it was especially tough on Adam Graves, the son of businessman Jim Graves — the Democratic candidate who was gearing up for a rematch with the Republican firebrand. A little bit of the wind went out of the younger Graves' sails early Wednesday morning when Bachmann's YouTube video appeared. Adam got his first taste of electoral politics when he served as his dad's 2012 campaign manager, and he helped lead his dad to a narrow defeat. Adam is convinced they would have won in 2012 if he had "a week or two more," and he was excited to take on Bachmann again, this time as an out-of-state senior advisor to his dad's second run for Congress.

Now he won't get the chance.

"Part of me certainly was [hoping for a rematch]," Adam told BuzzFeed from his new home in Denver. "I'm not the candidate, I'm the candidate's son and there's no question that some of the thrill that I personally had in, you know, jumping into political arena had something to do with the fact that we were challenging one of the most outspoken members of the Tea Party."

"And, you know, I think that some of that thrill is gone, no doubt," Graves sighed. "But I think that my father has a lot to contribute to the problems that the country and the people of this district are facing. And so I think, by and large, nothing really changes."

Graves said he spoke to his father after Bachmann's video dropped and said Jim Graves was "a bit relieved" Bachmann left the race, but added that Jim wasn't running to defeat Bachmann. Like other Democrats, Adam said that Bachmann's mark will be left on the race after she quit.

And national Democratic groups showed no signs of letting up Bachmann.

A Wednesday morning press release from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee indicated the play moving forward.

"Michele Bachmann's Tea Party brand of extremism and obstruction have infected the entire Republican Congress, and her influence shows no signs of waning," said Emily Bittner, spokeswoman for the DCCC. "This Republican Congress will continue to turn off Americans of all political stripes because they're using the Bachmann playbook: put politics before solutions. The American people will now watch Republicans in Congress compete over who can be the most extreme and most radical to take Bachmann's place pushing forward their extreme agenda."

The DCCC also posted an online "petition" asking supporters to enter an email address to say "Bye Bye to Bachmann."

"Michele Bachmann just announced she's quitting Congress. Good riddance! Tea Party conspiracy theories, shady ethics and ridiculous attacks on President Obama. We're not going to miss her one bit," the site read.

The House Majority PAC, a Democratic money group, put Bachmann squarely in its sights in 2012 and prepared to spend big a second time to defeat her next year. The PAC had already invested in the race and staff was in the midst of preparing their plan of attack against Bachmann when they heard the news she was bowing out. And there was some sadness as the group prepared to say goodbye to the Tea Party lightening rod.

Andy Stone, the PAC's spokesperson, told BuzzFeed he was "a little" disappointed that his group won't get a chance to take Bachmann on at the polls. "But it's still a satisfying outcome."

Stone said his group will still get to run against Bachmann next year even if she's not a candidate for office.

"The ghost of Michele Bachmann will continue to haunt the GOP field," he said. Stone said Bachmann helped drive her party "far to the right," and the legacy she left as one of the tea party's central figures will feature prominently in the Democrats 2014 plans. In its official statement on Bachmann's decision, the PAC said it was still committed to Democratic candidate Jim Graves, who Democrats hoped would be their champion against one of the party's favorite enemies.

Democratic strategist James Carville said on Morning Joe the retirement was "a sad day" for Democrats, who love to use Bachmann's quotes.

At the White House, a visibly amused Press Secretary Jay Carney bid Bachmann — who had accused the administration of harboring Muslim Brotherhood infiltrators among many other things — farewell.

"I came to the briefing room from the Oval Office, from a meeting and I can tell you that that subject did not come up," Carney said when asked about the president's reaction to Bachmann's retirement. "We all wish her well in her future endeavors."

Bachmann's retirement was surprising. Although she had been dogged by ethics investigations over her brief presidential campaign, and won her house seat by a razor thin margin in 2012, she was still aggressively fundraising. She had started to run ads in her district two weeks ago, a remarkably early start to the campaign cycle.

In a video announcing her retirement, Bachmann said that she did not make the decision because she was worried she would lose.

"I have every confidence that if I ran, I would again defeat the individual who I defeated last year, who recently announced he is once again running."

The IRS admission that they had targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny had also invigorated Bachmann, who drew out dozens of activists and high profile congressman for a press conference on the scandal. The Republican leadership used Bachmann's bill repeal Obamacare, giving her a symbolic legislative boost. Her Tea Party Caucus, long dormant in the House, was also showing signs of revival.

Bachmann maintained a large national following, but had trouble moving up in the House ranks. She had few real allies and was at times a headache to leadership. She was widely ostracized by Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, for pushing an letter with other Republicans suggesting that Huma Abedin, a top aide to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

But Republican leaders had begun to come back around to Bachmann. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell briefly appeared at her IRS press conference and Boehner tweeted farewell to Bachmann, calling her a "courageous voice for freedom."

A Democratic aide, referencing to an incident where CNN's Dana Bash chased Bachmann down a hallway, said they would miss her. Kind of.

"While we'll miss watching reporters chase down Michele Bachmann to account for her lies, we'll enjoy watching House Republicans compete for her donors, her audience and her outrageousness," the aide said.

Weiner’s wife, Hillary Clinton’s closest aide, is doing call-time for the campaign. “It’s not a secret that Huma is 100 percent committed.”

Via: Reuters

Huma Abedin, a longtime aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is reaching out to donors to raise money for her husband, Anthony Weiner's, comeback mayoral campaign, BuzzFeed has learned.

A donor close to the Weiner operation said that Abedin has been making calls to contacts she knows personally, asking for contributions to her husband's second bid for New York City mayor.

"It's not like she's cold-calling," said the donor, describing the people she has contacted as a "more selective" list. "But it's a big deal for her to be making calls. She doesn't do that."

Asked to confirm whether Abedin has been fundraising for Weiner, campaign communications director Barbara Morgan said, "It's not a secret that Huma is 100 percent committed to helping Anthony reach City Hall. As is Jordan."

That Abedin, long-known as the very private personal aide to Clinton, is doing campaign call-time is further proof that she is not only on board with the Weiner resurgence — but acting as a driving force. Last week, The New York Times reported that Abedin had been working her rolodex "to lay the groundwork for his return." She also appeared alongside Weiner in his campaign launch video.

Weiner resigned from Congress two years ago after sending illicit tweets and pictures to women. He announced his bid for New York City mayor late last Tuesday, and his support amongst voters has grown in the week since. A Marist poll released Wednesday has City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the leading candidate, with 24 percent of the Democratic vote. Weiner trails close behind at 19 percent.

Weiner told BuzzFeed at a campaign stop Monday that he expected Abedin to join him on the campaign trail soon.

"She's working full-time as well, but I anticipate it, yeah," he said.

Abedin, who is known to loathe the spotlight, gave an extensive interview with Weiner to The New York Times Magazine last month. But before that, she had only participated in one article — a 2007 profile in Vogue.

Not attending the meeting “[k]ind of forfeits your right [to] gripe,” the Democratic Party’s communications director said. “[T]he suggestion that news organizations somehow give up their right to object by not accepting the invitation is a problem,” an ACLU lawyer responds.

Via: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Leading civil liberties groups criticized comments made by the Democratic Party's communications director that media groups refusing to attend an off-the-record meeting with Attorney General Eric Holder are giving up their "right [to] gripe" about the Department of Justice's pursuit of journalists' records under Holder's leadership.

"I think that what the Department of Justice is doing in soliciting comments ... is in principle a good thing, but the suggestion that news organizations somehow give up their right to object by not accepting the invitation is a problem," said Gabe Rottman, legislative counsel and policy advisor at the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington legislative office.

After New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson announced the paper would not be attending a meeting with Holder to discuss the DOJ policies for dealing with reporters in leak investigations, Democratic Party communications director Brad Woodhouse tweeted:

Abramson had said in a statement, "We will not be attending the session at DOJ. It isn't appropriate for us to attend an off the record meeting with the attorney general." The Associated Press also will not be attending if the meeting remains off the record.

The ACLU's Rottman defended the news organizations' decisions.

"The notion that because news organizations have off-the-record rules which prevent them from going to a meeting like this in no way impacts the strength of their argument against the Associated Press subpoena," he said. "That's the biggest concern that I see here, that somehow they're giving up their right to complain or object — that's just wrong."

The bottom line, the head of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press told BuzzFeed, is that "real issues" remain, regardless of how or whether the meeting proceeds.

"Whether or not media organizations choose to send a bureau chief to an off-the-record meeting with the Attorney General, there are still real issues with DOJ practices that need to be addressed and which we hope will be addressed regardless of how the review process initially gets off the ground," RCFP executive director Bruce Brown told BuzzFeed Wednesday evening.

When a person told Woodhouse in response to his initial tweet that "public officials shouldn't request off the record meetins with reporters," Woodhouse replied:

View Entire List ›

“I just want to say for the record it’s something that I deeply support,” Obama said of the pending marriage equality bill there. The president raised the issue at a high-dollar dinner in Chicago on Wednesday, but not at an earlier, larger reception.

Via: Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/MCT

With two days left in the Illinois legislative session, President Obama reiterated his support for a marriage equality bill there, telling attendees at a fundraising dinner in Chicago Wednesday night that passage of the bill is "the right thing to do."

"Here in Illinois, we've got a vote on same-sex marriage that's going to be coming up in the state legislature. And I just want to say for the record it's something that I deeply support," Obama said at the event held to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The remarks came at a dinner held at the home of Bettylu and Paul Saltzman in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood, which the DCCC estimated would be attended by 70 people. Obama made no mention of the marriage measure in his earlier speech to a larger audience, which the DCCC estimated at 150 people, at the Hilton Chicago.

The Illinois Senate already passed a marriage equality bill, but the bill has not been brought to a vote yet in the Illinois House, where supporters have claimed they have the 60 needed votes for passage but confirmation of those numbers has been hard to come by.

Obama noted his own path on the issue in his mention of marriage equality at the dinner event, saying, "I wrestled with this for a long time and I am absolutely convinced it is the right thing to do. And we have to make sure that wherever we go, we are reminding people that the essence of America is that everybody is treated equally under the law without exception."

“Regrettable” if true, McCain spokesman says.

Via: Handout/Reuter / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain's office is pushing back against reports that while visiting Syria this week he posed in a photo with rebels who kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shi'ite pilgrims.

The photo, released by McCain's office, shows McCain with a group of rebels. Among them are two men identified in the Lebanese press as Mohamed Nour and Abu Ibrahim, two of the kidnappers of the group from Lebanon.

A McCain spokesman said that no one who met with McCain identified themselves by either of those names.

"In coordination with the Syrian Emergency Task Force, Senator John McCain traveled to and from Syria with General Salim Idris, the chief of staff of the Supreme Military Council of the Syrian opposition, to meet with two senior Free Syrian Army commanders," said McCain spokesman Brian Rogers on Wednesday in an email to BuzzFeed. "None of the individuals the senator planned to meet with was named Mohamad Nour or Abu Ibrahim. A number of other Syrian commanders joined the meeting, but none of them identified himself as Mohamad Nour or Abu Ibrahim."

"As the Syrian Emergency Task Force has said: 'Senator McCain did not go to Syria to meet with anyone named Mohamad Nour or Abu Ibrahim. Two members of our organization were present in the meeting, and no one called himself by either name.'"

Rogers said that if the man in the photo turns out to actually be Mohamed Nour, that is "regrettable."

"A number of the Syrians who greeted Senator McCain upon his arrival in Syria asked to take pictures with him, and as always, the Senator complied," Rogers said. "If the individual photographed with Senator McCain is in fact Mohamed Nour, that is regrettable. But it would be ludicrous to suggest that the senator in any way condones the kidnapping of Lebanese Shia pilgrims or has any communication with those responsible. Senator McCain condemns such heinous actions in the strongest possible terms," Rogers said.

Rogers also suggested that the story had been slanted by pro-Assad forces: "It's not surprising that the pro-Hezbollah forces supporting the Assad regime who originally promoted this distortion would seek to smear anything and anyone supporting the Syrian opposition."

Note: The headline has been clarified to reflect that there are conflicting claims over whether the men are kidnappers.

We can thank Joe Scarborough and MSNBC for this excellent moment in cable news history.

A Morning Joe discussion about Dennis Rodman's now legendary appearance on ABC's This Week prompted Joe Scarborough to recall the time he brought Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and Carl Bernstein together...

"George Stephanopoulos interviewing Rodman. That is like interviewing Triumph, in 2004. Carl [Bernstein] was debating the dog. T.J. [the producer] did a split screen. That actually happened!"

View Video ›

Now, close your eyes for a minute and think back to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. The event has climaxed with nominee John Kerry's speech to the delegates and Joe Scarborough is holding down the fort on MSNBC with post-convention analysis featuring an all-star panel....

SCARBOROUGH: Well, you know, it's After Hours on MSNBC. We're outside Faneuil Hall. Our panel's enjoying the crowd from the Salty Dog. And we're joined now—and you know what if you don't watch Conan, you won't understand, but this is the saltiest dog of them all. It's the reason why my boys for the first time are watching my show. It's "Triumph" the insult comic dog.

SCARBOROUGH: Now Mr. Triumph, I want to ask you...

TRIUMPH, THE INSULT COMIC DOG: OK

SCARBOROUGH: What did you think of John Kerry tonight?

TRIUMPH: What did I think of John Kerry? I thought it was very inspiring. I thought it was very inspiring. I think the only question is—and my only question after watching it, is—you know, I think—thank you very much. My only question...

(CROWD NOISES)

TRIUMPH: All right. Shut up, bitches. We're trying to have a serious political analysis here, and pump up the ratings for once.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to poop on.

TRIUMPH: Yeah, yeah, to poop on. Listen, John Kerry has all the qualifications of being a great president. The only question is—is America ready for a president who is half basset hound?

(LAUGHTER)

SCARBOROUGH: What about John Edwards?

TRIUMPH: He's a little—John Edwards is a sexy man.

SCARBOROUGH: What breed of dog is Edwards?

TRIUMPH: Electrifying. Yes?

SCARBOROUGH: What breed of dog would you say he is?

TRIUMPH: I don't know, he's a hot bitch. Let me tell you this. I tell you this—let's tell you this—you know, here's the thing. People give John Kerry some poop about Teresa Heinz Kerry, who I thought made a great speech, by the way. I thought her, and honestly, Ron junior here, I thought those were the two best speeches of the convention. I am not kidding, and by the way stem cell research—stem cell research is very important to me as well. I know it's not the most important cause, part of stem cell research, but I have a dream that someday with stem cell research, they'll develop the technology for me to grow my testicles back.

(LAUGHTER)

TRIUMPH: Ron junior, I want to give you some credit for walking into that convention. I mean, a Republican walking—Reagan walking into a Democratic convention, that's like me walking into a Korean restaurant. You know what I'm saying?

RON REAGAN: Well, thank you Triumph. Dee Dee, Carl, is there anything you would like to ask?

CARL BERNSTEIN: Feel like I am on Kukla, Fran and Ollie.

TRIUMPH: Hey, no jokes. This is—about Teresa Heinz Kerry, you know, I think—I have no problem with her. I was hoping to get cursed out by her this week. She's a very sexy woman. Don't you think?

REAGAN: Yes. European—that European kind of thing.

TRIUMPH: That European thing and all that Heinz, you know, that Heinz connection. You know?

REAGAN: That money.

TRIUMPH: I hear in the sack she knows all 57 varieties. Now, Dee Dee, you actually don't stay up late. You are a mother.

(LAUGHTER)

TRIUMPH: Hey, OK.

SCARBOROUGH: Now Dee Dee. You actually don't stay up late. You're a mother.

DEE DEE MYERS, FMR. CLINTON PRESS SECRETARY: No, you're right.

SCARBOROUGH: OK, but this is your first chance. You just don't understand, you are sitting next to a living legend, Triumph, the insult dog.

TRIUMPH: That's right.

SCARBOROUGH: Beloved—beloved by millions. Please, ask Triumph a question.

TRIUMPH: Go for it.

MYERS: Triumph, are you going to the Republican convention?

TRIUMPH: Excuse me?

MYERS: Are you going to the Republican convention?

TRIUMPH: I hope so. I was—as long as they don't disenfranchise me for being a black entertainer.

(LAUGHTER)

TRIUMPH: Joe, you know, tell me Joe, you're from Florida. How much of the Republicans going to win by this year? It's all fixed anyway.

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, yeah.

TRIUMPH: Come on, the state is more fixed than I am.

SCARBOROUGH: I think we are going to win by—what is it, 528 votes this year.

TRIUMPH: It's already set?

MYERS: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: Oh, it's already set. It's just like Tulane back in the 80's, they knew what their basketball record was going to be before the season.

TRIUMPH: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now you, you... Like clockwork over there.

SCARBOROUGH: Triumph, you've got to be excited, you are actually sitting next to, obviously, to a journalistic living legend.

TRIUMPH: Yeah.

SCARBOROUGH: Carl Bernstein, a man that revolutionized journalism, inspired thousands of young journalists throughout the '70s, '80s, '90s, and today. And now look where it's gotten him. Sitting next to...

BERNSTEIN: Kukla, Fran and Ollie.

(CROSSTALK)

TRIUMPH: Come on, this is the high point of your career.

BERNSTEIN: This is true.

TRIUMPH: This is true. You are a legend. No, I know this is the guy, this is the guy with the deep throat. I've heard all about it. I know all about it. No, seriously. Come on. You can tell a puppet who deep throat is.

BERNSTEIN: That's right. I will whisper it to him.

TRIUMPH: Oh, ho, ho, ho. Ouch. Richard Simmons.

(LAUGHTER)

TRIUMPH: That was a cheap joke. Don't go there, Carl.

SCARBOROUGH: Hey, have you had any conversations with the dog in the White House now, the Scottie, I can't remember his name right at the moment?

TRIUMPH: I wouldn't call it a conversation. Can you hear me?

SCARBOROUGH: I can hear you.

TRIUMPH: I wouldn't call it the conversation. I have a—I'm going to black my—let's just say, I am going to blackmail my way into the Republican Party. I have a sex tape with Scottie, that will make Paris Hilton's look like—it's me, Scottie, and, of course—what—George, he knows how to party, right? Dee Dee remembers. Dee Dee remembers.

MYERS: That's what they say.

SCARBOROUGH: Do you remember it, Dee Dee?

MYERS: Oh, I remember.

TRIUMPH: Oh, you remember. You were in the wildest administration.

MYERS: It was wild.

TRIUMPH: I am just happy—I'm just happy President Clinton left town, you know. Now there's some tail for the rest of us.

(LAUGHTER)

TRIUMPH: Right, Joe? Now Joe, I bet you didn't like Kerry's speech. Let me take a wild guess. Joe wasn't as big a fan of Kerry's.

SCARBOROUGH: Oh, I loved Kerry's speech, from the very beginning; I said it was mesmerizing, transcendent—transcendental, is that what he said? No, I thought he kind of rushed it, I though he went a little fast. Triumph, what do you think about that?

TRIUMPH: You have to find fault in it, don't you?

SCARBOROUGH: I have to, yeah.

MYERS: He is working pretty hard, Triumph, to find fault.

TRIUMPH: I know, that's what he likes. He's—yeah, come on, who kids—who's kidding who. This guy swings to the right more than Marmaduke's pink thing.

(LAUGHTER)

SCARBOROUGH: You know what, Triumph?

TRIUMPH: Yes?

SCARBOROUGH: I'm going to be hooked into this segue. We're now going to go to Frank Lutz. Triumph, the insult comic dog...

TRIUMPH: I was kicked out of the convention, I've already written a book about it. No truth allowed. Michael Moore, he betrayed me. It's all in the book. It's all in the movie. You'll see.

SCARBOROUGH: All right. We can't wait. Triumph. Big hand for Triumph the comic insult dog. Right now, ladies and gentlemen, Frank Lutz...

Source: nbcnews.com

“He just wasn’t going into a new year with a Democrat not being in the White House, Steve. He just couldn’t handle it.”

View Video ›

Via:

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, once blamed his father's death on President George W. Bush's election in 2000.

In a May 2001 interview with C-SPAN, titled the "Life and Career of Terry McAuliffe," the former Democratic National Committee chairman says one of the "reasons" his father, Jack, died was "he could not go into a new year knowing that a Republican was actually moving into the White House."

While his father was in the hospital, McAuliffe's mother "went and came back in five minutes later, and he had passed away. And I told the story, you know, I gave at the eulogy at his funeral, and there are many reasons why people thought Jack had died," McAuliffe told C-SPAN. "He was 83 years old. And I said the main reason is that he could not go into a new year knowing that a Republican was actually moving into the White House. I just don't think he could've handled that."

"He had eight great years," McAullife continued. "President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton were so nice to my mother and father, they'd come down all the time. So he had a great eight years when President Clinton and Vice President Gore were in office, and he just wasn't going into a new year with a Democrat not being in the White House Steve, he just couldn't handle it."

His father passed away shortly before President Bill Clinton left office in early 2001.

McAuliffe leads Republican Ken Cuccinelli by five points, according to recent polling. His second television advertisement, released Thursday morning, condemns the "divisive, ideological agenda" of his opponents.

Deputy White House Chief of Staff Mark Childress, the man with all the plans.

With the Obama administration coping with a whole new sort of challenge — a wave of scandals and allegations that threaten to disrupt the president's second-term agenda — the White House has turned not to a high-profile outside PR fixer, but to a well-connected Washington insider known for keeping himself out of the spotlight.

Mark Childress, a veteran of Tom Daschle's staff who took an unusual detour through Australian aboriginal politics, played a central role in cleaning up a signature mess of 2012: the White House's shifting message on requiring employers to offer contraception coverage. This year, he led the early attempts to contain the scandal over the IRS targeting conservative groups. And now aides say he is playing a central, behind-the-scenes role in shaping the White House's message on one key issue: selling Obamacare. Childress is part of a tight-knit ex-Daschle fraternity that includes chief of staff Denis McDonough, and is known among colleagues for being the guy who can find the solution no one else can.

Childress's current and former colleagues showered him with praise in a set of interviews with BuzzFeed this week, describing him as a colorful, forceful new figure in the tight White House culture.

"He has not lost his North Carolina accent, and yet, and I am not exaggerating, in every meeting I am with him in he will use a word I do not know the meaning of. And this not just me. This is Denis McDonough, this is [White House adviser Dan] Pfeiffer, this is everyone. He has quite an extensive and colorful vocabulary," White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri told BuzzFeed. "It's an SAT word that I don't know the meaning of. Everyone, including the president, makes fun of him for it. He speaks normally in a very folksy, earthy way but then every meeting will come out with something. At first you don't want to be the person who doesn't know what the meaning of the word is, but then I realized nobody had any idea ever what he was talking about."

Two people who told the same story couldn't think of one of the words Childress had stumped them with when put on the spot. But they all remembered running to the dictionary after talking to Childress at least once.

They also said the anecdote will probably embarrass Childress, but it's a good introduction to a man well known behind the scenes for impressing people with his smarts but little-known in the public despite his key role in making Obama's second term work.

The lawyer and Asheville, N.C. native, whose title is now Deputy Chief of Staff, stays off the public radar, rarely going on the record and working the levers of Washington behind the scenes. He's not much of a national figure: His Wikipedia page is barely more than his name and title. His name made a rare appearance in the national news earlier this month when it was revealed that he led the early messaging operation in advance of the IRS inspector general's report into targeting of conservative groups. The White House says Childress is no longer handling the IRS fallout and is focused once again on health care, his original brief. But it's not a surprise that Childress was part of the IRS response at the beginning: He always seems to get the tough stuff.

Childress's first task on the job as White House deputy chief of staff, for example, was a real doozy: sort out what the president (and many political observers) saw as a total mess surrounding the rollout of Obamacare's contraception coverage mandate.

He got the job done, whipping up a solution that helped flip the story from a politcal drag for Obama into a narrative the Democrats would use to define Republicans as anti-woman in 2012. The gist: Childress devised a middle path between White House staffers who wanted to exempt all religious institutions from the mandate and those that wanted to force universities, hospitals, and other organizations to buy contraception coverage for their staff. By tweaking here and there and using his decades of knowledge about the workings of Washington, Childress devised a solution that got employees the contraception coverage, but kept the outraged religious groups from paying for it. Colleagues say Childress often finds an unseen solution and manages to get everyone on board without ruffling feathers.

Though people who work with him hesitate to call him "a fixer" — a term that in Washington conjures the image of the bombastic outsider who swoops in, fires people, and generally drops a motherlode of f-bombs — Childress's name seems to keep popping up when the going gets tough. White House colleagues bristle at a comparison to Lanny Davis, for example, saying Childress is a wonky policy tweaker who doesn't go on camera like the very public former Clinton counsel did.

He was next tasked with navigating the administration through the sticky wicket of Obamacare implementation, but Childress has often detoured into other areas to assist in sticky situations.

As the White House prepared for the Supreme Court to rule on Obamacare, it was Childress who led the team creating a series of contingency plans to deal with possible rulings. As it happens, the plans weren't necessary, but those who worked with him during those tenuous days ahead of the ruling praised Childress's creative solutions and attention to detail.

Childress also helped lead White House efforts to put the ideals behind the DREAM Act into place through executive order long after Congress declined to act on the popular legislation, scoring, as he did with contraception, another huge political win for Obama with a key constituency ahead of the 2012 elections.

Complex problems like figuring out how to use the interagency process to push legislative goals past a reticent congress are exactly Childress's specialty, his colleagues say.

"You would have to be an idiot not to take Mark's advice," said Nick Papas, the former White House communications pointman on health care.

Everything related to Childress is private, a rarity in the age of social media oversharing. Searching the internet won't find you his age (53) and it won't reveal that he and his wife Katherine have no kids and live with their golden retriever named Riley.

In contrast to his almost nonexistent public persona, inside power circles Childress is well known and, more importantly for Obama, well respected. The former Daschle staff are a tight bunch (Papas is one) and they all seem to look to Childress with awe. But the White House respect for Childress goes beyond the Daschle alumni.

"As Deputy Chief of Staff, I'm sure he picks up some other inter-agency issues from time-to-time, but the ACA is of tremendous importance to the president and Mark is the go-to guy in the White House, working with HHS on major implementation milestones, benchmarks and key decisions around it," David Axelrod said. "That's a huge portfolio."

Childress is used to handling big portfolios and navigating the labyrinthine structure of the federal government to produce results. He's worked all over government, from a senior counsel to the late Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy to the Clinton White House where he served as an adviser in the nomination process, to Daschle's office as a top adviser while the South Dakotan led the Senate as Majority Leader, to the lobbying world where he was a partner at law firm Foley Hoag. He went from there to the Department of Health and Human Services, a move that was controversial given Obama's pledge not to bring lobbyists into his administration. Among his lobbying clients was the Susan G. Komen Foundation, who ironically would years later briefly become a part of the contraception debate after its president pledged to pull support from Planned Parenthood.

Before Childress became a lobbyist, and after Daschle lost to Republican John Thune in 2004, he took an unexpected leave from Washington and headed to Australia, where he was general counsel for the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation, an advocacy group for the Aboriginal population. As their lawyer, Childress helped negotiate oil royalty deals for the native population. His time out of the federal government didn't last long, however, and after his Australia and lobbying stint he came back to the land he knows best: behind the scenes Washington.

Jay Carson, a former Clinton spokesperson and deputy mayor of Los Angeles, recalled Childress mentoring him in the ways of Washington as a young member of Daschle's DC communications staff. He said that Childress, who he called "such a brilliant guy," took off across the world because of his curiosity and eagerness to solve new and ever more complex problems.

Carson said watching Childress on the Hill suggests Childress is a White House a pointperson willing to take risks, and able to build creative and implementable solutions from the ground up.

"The focus on the problem at hand and not himself is extraordinarily rare and it's an amazing skill that he has," he said. Carson added that "whenever I hear that Mark is in a situation, I sleep a little better at night."

"One, his ability to synthesize huge amounts of complex data and information and then make sense of it, so that a decision can be made," Carson said. "There are people who can synthesize huge datasets and complex pieces of information in their head but when they spit it back out, it sounds like gibberish. Mark is able to dig extraordinarily deep into a problem, synthesize a ton of information really quickly and then present two options, with a lot of backup for those."

But Childress doesn't just create options, Carson said, he sticks his neck out for the one he thinks is right.

"Mark has guts, he said, adding, "He'll synthesize that data and they say, 'there are two options here, Senator. I feel very strongly that option one is the way to go, but I want to lay out that there is another option.' As opposed to the sort of agnostic recommendations because the person making it doesn't have the guts to back up which way they think [the leader] should go."

As Axelrod suggests, Obama wouldn't pick just anyone for putting his signature healthcare law into place. Implementing the massive health care overhaul that defines the president's legacy isn't just a Herculean bureaucratic task, it's a political minefield that has even some of the Obama's strongest allies shaking in their boots. How it gets done, and how smoothly it gets done, will be a touchstone for the president's second term and could play a big role in the 2014 cycle.

It doesn't surprise anyone who has worked with Childress that he got the job. He is described as exactly the kind of operative Obama likes (and says defines his presidency): devoid of drama and skilled in the art of getting people on various sides of an issue to yes. Papas described working with Childress as something of a dream process.

"In one of Mark's meetings, you're probably going to laugh, probably going learn something and get something done," he said. Papas said in a world where there were "a lot of meetings that ended in stalemate," Childress was "fantastic at driving the ball forward."

That kind of effusive praise of Childress was universal, and it may roll the eyes of even the slightly cynical Washington observer. But whether or not he's one of the greatest living humans ever to work in government — a good summary of the way he was described to BuzzFeed over the past week — it's clear from the failure-is-not-an-option jobs he's been given that Childress's skills are well respected.

Those skills could be a legacy from his time with Daschle, who knew how to work the congressional levers as well as anyone. Childress was one of his top confidants and the man the Senate leader turned to during a time when Democrats went from the majority to the minority to the majority again and had to work with a Republican president.

Though Childress is not part of Obama's personal inner circle — he didn't really know the president until he came to work at the White House — his skill at manipulating the inner-working of government and the respect he engenders from those around him clearly caught the president's eye. Now, as the administration sets off on one of the toughest tasks of the second term, Childress will be the man working to find success behind the scenes.

If nothing else blows up first and requires his attention, that is.

Even Ronald Reagan had a soft spot for the King of Pop.

Jimmy Carter loves him some MJ.

Via: hungerintohealth.com

And Jimmy Carter says:

Via: fanpop.com

Ronald Reagan YOLO'd with Jackson at the White House in 1984.

Source: reagan.utexas.edu

Reagan cracked MJ up...

Via: youtube.com

View Entire List ›