More than 80 Republicans will send a brief to the justices hearing the case over the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8. Among the most prominent figures are Ken Mehlman, Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Richard Hanna, and several former governors and House members.

WASHINGTON — A group of prominent Republicans plan to file a brief with the Supreme Court this week urging that the court recognize the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marry.

The effort in the challenge to California's Proposition 8, first reported Monday night by The New York Times, has been organized by former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman.

According to a list released Tuesday by the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which brought the challenge to Proposition 8, the signatories — the list of which could still expand — will include:

Ken Mehlman, Chairman, Republican National Committee, 2005-2007
Tim Adams, Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, 2005-2007
David D. Aufhauser, General Counsel, Department of Treasury, 2001-2003
Cliff S. Asness, Businessman, Philanthropist, and Author
John B. Bellinger III, Legal Adviser to the Department of State, 2005-2009
Katie Biber, General Counsel, Romney for President, 2007-2008 and 2011-2012
Mary Bono Mack, Member of Congress, 1998-2013
William A. Burck, Deputy Staff Secretary, Special Counsel and Deputy Counsel to the President, 2005-2009
Alex Castellanos, Republican Media Advisor
Paul Cellucci, Governor of Massachusetts, 1997-2001, and Ambassador to Canada, 2001-2005
Mary Cheney, Director of Vice Presidential Operations, Bush-Cheney 2004
Jim Cicconi, Assistant to the President & Deputy to the Chief of Staff, 1989-1990
James B. Comey, United States Deputy Attorney General, 2003-2005
R. Clarke Cooper, U.S. Alternative Representative, United Nations Security Council, 2007-2009
Julie Cram, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director White House Office of Public Liaison, 2007-2009
Michele Davis, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Director of Policy Planning, Department of the Treasury, 2006-2009
Kenneth M. Duberstein, White House Chief of Staff and Assistant to the President, 1981-1984 and 1987-1989
Lew Eisenberg, Finance Chairman, Republican National Committee, 2002-2004
Elizabeth Noyer Feld, Public Affairs Specialist, White House Office of Management and Budget, 1984-1987
David Frum, Special Assistant to the President, 2001-2002
Richard Galen, Communications Director, Speaker's Political Office, 1996-1997
Mark Gerson, Chairman, Gerson Lehrman Group and Author of The Neoconservative Vision: From the Cold War to the Culture Wars and In the Classroom: Dispatches from an Inner-City School that Works
Benjamin Ginsberg, General Counsel, Bush-Cheney 2000 & 2004
Adrian Gray, Director of Strategy, Republican National Committee, 2005-2007
Richard Grenell, Spokesman, U.S. Ambassadors to the United Nations, 2001-2008
Patrick Guerriero, Mayor, Melrose Massachusetts and member of Massachusetts House of Representatives, 1993-2001
Carlos Gutierrez, Secretary of Commerce, 2005-2009
Stephen Hadley, Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor, 2005-2009
Richard Hanna, Member of Congress, 2011-Present
Israel Hernandez, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, 2005-2009
Margaret Hoover, Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, 2005-2006
Michael Huffington, Member of Congress, 1993-1995
Jon Huntsman, Governor of Utah, 2005-2009
David A. Javdan, General Counsel, United States Small Business Administration, 2002-2006
Reuben Jeffery, Undersecretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs, 2007-2009
Greg Jenkins, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Advance, 2003-2004
Coddy Johnson, National Field Director, Bush-Cheney 2004
Gary Johnson, Governor of New Mexico, 1995-2003
Robert Kabel, Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs, 1982-1985
Theodore W. Kassinger, Deputy Secretary of Commerce, 2004-2005
Jonathan Kislak, Deputy Undersecretary of Agriculture for Small Community and Rural Development, 1989-1991
David Kochel, Senior Advisor to Mitt Romney's Iowa Campaign, 2007-2008 and 2011-2012
James Kolbe, Member of Congress, 1985-2007
Jeffrey Kupfer, Acting Deputy Secretary of Energy, 2008-2009
Kathryn Lehman, Chief of Staff, House Republican Conference, 2003-2005
Daniel Loeb, Businessman and Philanthropist
Alex Lundry, Director of Data Science, Romney for President, 2012
Greg Mankiw, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, 2003-2005
Catherine Martin, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director for Policy & Planning, 2005-2007
Kevin Martin, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission, 2005-2009
David McCormick, Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, 2007-2009
Mark McKinnon, Republican Media Advisor
Bruce P. Mehlman, Assistant Secretary of Commerce, 2001-2003
Connie Morella, Member of Congress, 1987-2003 and U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2003-2007
Michael E. Murphy, Republican Political Consultant
Michael Napolitano, White House Office of Political Affairs, 2001-2003
Ana Navarro, National Hispanic Co-Chair for Senator John McCain's Presidential Campaign, 2008
Noam Neusner, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Speechwriting, 2002-2005
Nancy Pfotenhauer, Economist, Presidential Transition Team, 1988 and President's Council on Competitiveness, 1990
J. Stanley Pottinger, Assistant U.S. Attorney General (Civil Rights Division), 1973-1977
Michael Powell, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission, 2001-2005
Deborah Pryce, Member of Congress, 1993-2009
John Reagan, New Hampshire State Senator, 2012-Present
Kelley Robertson, Chief of Staff, Republican National Committee, 2005-2007
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Member of Congress, 1989-Present
Harvey S. Rosen, Member and Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers, 2003-2005
Lee Rudofsky, Deputy General Counsel, Romney for President, 2012
Patrick Ruffini, eCampaign Director, Republican National Committee, 2005-2007
Steve Schmidt, Deputy Assistant to the President and Counselor to the Vice President, 2004-2006
Ken Spain, Communications Director, National Republican Congressional Committee, 2009-2010
Robert Steel, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance, 2006-2008
David Stockman, Director, Office of Management and Budget, 1981-1985
Jane Swift, Governor of Massachusetts, 2001-2003
Michael E. Toner, Chairman and Commissioner, Federal Election Commission, 2002-2007
Michael Turk, eCampaign Director for Bush-Cheney 2004
Mark Wallace, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Representative for UN Management and Reform, 2006-2008
Nicolle Wallace, Assistant to the President and White House Communications Director, 2005-2008
William F. Weld, Governor of Massachusetts, 1991-1997, and Assistant U.S. Attorney General (Criminal Division), 1986-1988
Christine Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey, 1994-2001, and Administrator of the EPA, 2001-2003
Meg Whitman, Republican Nominee for Governor of California, 2010
Robert Wickers, Republican Political Consultant
Dan Zwonitzer, Wyoming State Representative, 2005-present

Meme-mania has taken over our lives.

Here are the categories:

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And here are the questions:

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An unexpected attack from Progress Kentucky. The 2014 race gets ugly fast.

Image by Scott Olson / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Kentucky liberals have accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of making policy decisions about trade with China based on the fact that his wife is Chinese, claiming she has undue influence over his positions.

The liberal organization Progress Kentucky has in at least two instances sought to make the Chinese heritage of McConnell's wife an issue in his relection campaign.

First, in a Feb. 14 tweet, the group wrote, "This woman has the ear of (Sen. McConnell)—she's his wife. May explain why your job moved to China!" and included a link to a conspiracy website alleging McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao, had discriminated against Americans during her time as Labor Secretary. The tweet was first reported by Louisville public radio station WFPL
.

Then in a second tweet on Feb. 26, the group wrote "China Premier grateful to McConnell father-in-law/@KYGOPcontributor-4 his role in developing China industry" and including a link to a China State Shipbuilding Corporation press release.

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Tweets by Bluegrass group have since been deleted.

Image by Alex Wong / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — A Kentucky progressive group accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of being gay in a pair of tweets.

In two tweets, both of which have since been deleted, Progress Kentucky accused McConnell of being gay, including calling the Senate's top Republican "a gay-bashing gay senator."

Both tweets link to a PRNewswire release from blogger Mike Rogers, who has long sought to try and out Republican members of Congress. While one of the tweets simply retweeted the release, a second tweet read "Is @McConnellPress a gay-bashing gay senator?"

Progress Kentucky has also inserted race into McConnell's Senate reelection, using twitter to accuse the Republican of favoring Chinese companies because his wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, is of Taiwanese decent.

A screen grab of the tweets is below:

And apparently he showed up! UPDATE: The photo was taken in 2010.

A tumblr user posted this on her blog with the caption: "My friend lives next door to Rick Perry and invited him over for a Guitar Hero battle."

Source: giantspacefetus

At the time Governor Perry was living at a temporary residence in West Austin and took a photo with his neighbor's daughter.

A CPAC source told National Review that Chris Christie was not invited to the gathering of conservatives because he has a “limited future” in the Republican Party. Here are five other people appearing.

Mitt Romney

Image by LM Otero, File / AP

Sarah Palin

Image by J. Scott Applewhite, File / AP

Newt Gingrich

Source: images.politico.com

Allen West

Image by John W. Adkisson / Getty Images

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Even Lindsey Graham doesn't sound that enthusiastic.

CIA Director nominee John Brennan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Image by Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP

WASHINGTON — As the fight over Chuck Hagel's Secretary of Defense nomination comes to an anti-climactic close Tuesday with his likely confirmation, Republicans are suggesting they will mount a similar opposition to CIA director nominee John Brennan — but their hearts just don't seem in it.

Two of the main players in the Hagel opposition, Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, voiced rote disapproval of Brennan on Tuesday but offered little comment about him. Asked if he expected there to be as much furor over Brennan's nomination as there was over Hagel's, Graham said, "Eventually."

"I don't know yet" about voting for Brennan, said Graham, who has been one of Hagel's most vociferous opponents from the start. On a Sunday show a couple weeks ago, Graham threatened to hold Brennan's nomination unless the administration provides more information about the Benghazi attack.

"We should have answers to the questions we've been asking for two weeks," said John McCain, almost as an afterthought, while boarding the train under the Capitol.

But McCain predicted that the drawn-out Hagel nomination wouldn't have an effect on how Republicans handle Brennan's nomination.

"Not that I know of. They're separate issues," he said.

"I think he's well qualified, but some of our members have a lot of questions," said Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. "We'll see. Did he have his hearing yet? I want to see a transcript of that."

The most passionate opposition is coming from Rand Paul, who has threatened to hold Brennan's nomination and said at the New York Meeting on Monday, "I know people are hot and heavy on the Hagel thing — I'm more hot and heavy on the Brennan thing."

But in the same appearance, Paul acknowledged that "the president has the prerogative to determine political appointees."

The other main well of anti-Brennan feeling is coming from Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, who, as Eli Lake wrote on Tuesday, has formed a kind of anti-drone odd couple in the Senate with Paul.

The opposition to Brennan centers on two issues: Benghazi for the Republicans, and the release of documents relating to drone killings for the Democrats, said Carl Levin, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, after the Hagel cloture vote.

"There's an issue on the Democratic side in terms of seeing documents," Levin said. "That really kind of faded away on Hagel because every document that could be provided was provided."

The Brennan confirmation process "could get a little more complicated," Levin said. "Some of the opposition to Hagel was really over the top and I think kind of answered itself at the end, it was sort of self-defeating. I don't know if there's any of that with Brennan."

In other words, the fight over Brennan will be at the same time much quieter and much more substantive than that over Hagel.

"People may disagree, the administration may disagree whether Congress has the right to documents for instance, but that's not viewed as kind of an over the top demand the way that it was with Hagel which led to it being counterproductive to those who made it," Levin said.

“You folks in Chicago want me to get castrated because your families are having too many kids,” says Illinois state Rep. Jim Sacia, R-Pecatonica.

First Rep. Jim Sacia said this:

Image by Benny Johnson/Buzzfeed

And then this:

Image by Benny Johnson/Buzzfeed

Watch the clip here:

Hat Tip to Michael Moroney from Franklin Center

And everyone on the internet said:

Via: raisedhervoice

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A new non-profit walks the line on Twitter. Will the President continue to sign tweets from the account?

President Obama's former campaign was recently reformed as Organizing For Action (OFA), a non-profit under section 501(c)4 of the tax code like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS which the President has condemned for its ability to receive unlimited and undisclosed donations from corporations and PACs.

OFA has said it "is not a partisan political organization and will not engage in electoral activity with any partisan political organization."

White House press secretary Jay Carney said in yesterday's press conference it "is an independent organization that, as reported in the press, will engage in advocacy and grassroots mobilization activities around public policy issues." He added "it will not be engaged in political campaign-related activities."

But this leaves open the question whether President Obama will still sign tweets from the @BarackObama account, operated by the organization.

OFA often keeps tweets from the @BarackObama account a tone less partisan, many times tweeting lines from the President's speech. Other times, however, the tweets stray into partisan attacks on Republicans, a contrast with the group's supposed statement as "not a partisan political organization."

"Worth a read and RT: President Obama's plan to prevent severe budget cuts vs. Republican inaction," a tweet Tuesday read.

"RT if you agree: It's time for Republicans in Congress to protect middle-class families—not tax loopholes for millionaires," said a similar tweet Monday.

A White House spokesman forwarded inquires to Organizing for Action whose spokeswoman did not return a request for comment about whether the President would continue to send personal tweets from the account in the future.

Via: @BarackObama

“The president gets to choose political appointees,” Paul says.

Image by Gary Cameron / Reuters

WASHINGTON — Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said his support for a filibuster against Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel never meant that he would vote against Hagel's confirmation.

"I voted no because I wanted more information and I think that part of what the Senate does is try to get information about the nominees," Paul told reporters in the basement of the Capitol after Hagel's confirmation Tuesday. "I've said all along that I give the president some prerogative in choosing his political appointees."

"There are many things I disagree with Chuck Hagel on, there are many things I disagree with John Kerry on, there are very few things I agree with the president on, but the president gets to choose political appointees," Paul said.

Asked if he ever got the information he wanted about Hagel, Paul said that he hadn't.

Paul implied that he might vote yes on final passage at Monday's New York Meeting.

After weeks of controversy, Hagel was confirmed by a vote of 58-41 on Tuesday.

“Well that’s your view, and God knows you’ve taken very good care of yourself.”

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On Fox News Tuesday, host Neil Cavuto conducted an unusually friendly interview with Miss New York Joanne Nosuchinsky.

The host asked her about Mayor Michael Bloomberg's health policies like limitations on the size of sodas. Nosuchinsky said she supported proactive steps the mayor has taken.

"Well that's your view, and God knows you've taken very good care of yourself," Cavuto said.

The two bantered about how Nosuchinsky likes chocolate, and Cavuto likes Italian sausage.

Cavuto ended the interview and by saying, "Keep an eye on her. Apparently everyone did here when she came in!"

Despite conservative opposition, the Senate-backed Violence Against Women Act could see movement.

Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Growing support for the Senate's Violence Against Women Act could upend conservative efforts to limit the bill's expansion to give tribes the authority to pursue rape charges against non-tribal members.

The House Rules Committee Tuesday night adopted a rule for considering the VAWA that would bring the Senate's measure to the floor and allow for a vote to replace its language with a weaker House version favored by some Republicans.

While there is strong conservative opposition, the vast majority of Democrats and many Republicans back the Senate's bill. The committee had originally planned to pass a version of the rule that would have only needed one vote on the House version, but that is now expected to fail, setting up a final passage vote of the Senate version.

Assuming the House does indeed pass the Senate's version, it would mean the bill would go directly to President Obama's desk for signing and would clear an issue from Republican plates that has politically dogged them for months.

“Passing these sort of things has never helped us in the press in the past,” a House Republican aide says. Efforts to maintain a fragile conference equilibrium.

Image by Win McNamee / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — As the date nears when a rash of automatic federal spending cuts known as "sequestration" will go into effect, House Republicans have continued to repeat a familiar message: The Senate must act first.

If it seems like House Republicans are avoiding the fray, it's because they are.

Having at least temporarily reached a state of superficial intraparty equilibrium, House Republican leaders have tried to avoid stirring conflict among the members of their conference — as a vote on a sequestration replacement measure almost surely would.

"Passing these sort of things has never helped us in the press in the past," one House Republican aide noted. The aide added, "I think they could have the votes for a replacement. But why do it? The last two didn't go anywhere."

Instead, House GOP leaders have repeatedly cited bills passed previously to adjust the cuts — and have stopped short of pitching anything new.

"You know, Republicans have voted twice to replace the sequester," House Speaker John Boehner noted during a press conference Tuesday morning, echoing what he has said for weeks.

However, those two sequestration replacement measures were approved during the last Congress — and died along with it. Neither the Senate nor the House has approved a measure to replace the sequester that could viably become law.

Democrats have picked up on that inconsistency and attacked Republicans for it.

"We have failed to see a single piece of legislation put forth by the majority," House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer told reporters later Tuesday. "Not a single piece of legislation. And when asked why, they say, 'Well, we passed something last year.' I think that's the case, frankly, because Republican leadership has decided the sequester is the policy their caucus supports."

House Republican leaders, Hoyer added, are "constrained by fear of the Tea Party."

Whenever they are asked about why they have not passed a bill, House GOP leaders and their staff demur.

"The focus needs to continue to be on the president and Senate Democrats – no one seriously thinks that House Republicans are the holdup here," said Michael Steel, a spokesperson for Boehner.

The Senate will consider two plans this week that would replace the sequester, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirmed Monday. Neither proposal is expected to make it to the president's desk.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Reid insisted House Republicans have refused to negotiate or pass their own bill because of their own fragile conference dynamics.

"The reason (Boehner)'s not bringing something up over there is, he can't pass it," Reid said. "He can't get his caucus to agree on anything."

Indeed, Boehner has been on tenuous footing since the House Republican retreat last month, when the conference leaders agreed not to allow any revenue as part of a deal to avert the sequester — upon which Democrats have insisted. Conservative members of the conference have pledged to hold Boehner to his word.

In an interview with Fox News this week, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson speculated that a wrong move could put Boehner in jeopardy. "I think he would lose his speakership," Johnson said.

Nevertheless, House Republican leaders are holding fast to their stance: That the bills approved in the last Congress are legitimate, if only for their role as symbols of House Republican opposition to sequestration.

"Why does the House have to pass a third bill before the Senate passes one?" Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, the fourth-ranking House Republican, told BuzzFeed. "The House acted nearly 300 days ago to show a better way."

Asked whether she thinks House Republicans would be able to approve another sequester replacement bill at this time, McMorris-Rodgers responded, "I think we'd have the votes."

NYC Mayor's ads back Robin Kelly, who wins Chicago-area primary largely defined by gun debate.

Robin Kelly, the Democrat supported by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg-funded PAC ads won a Chicago-area primary tonight with 56 percent of votes with 60 percent of precincts responding. Today's primary decided the candidates in the special IL-2 district election to fill Jesse Jackson Jr.'s seat in Congress.

Bloomberg hailed the victory in a statement. "This is an important victory for common sense leadership on gun violence, a problem that plagues the whole nation. And it's the latest sign that voters across the country are demanding change from their representatives in Washington -- not business as usual," Bloomberg said.

"As Congress considers the President's gun package, voters in Illinois have sent a clear message: we need common sense gun legislation now. Now it's up to Washington to act."

Bloomberg's success shows that small-town candidates can get big support from national PACs. The Bloomberg-attacked former Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson received 20 percent of the vote with 60 percent of precincts responding, according to the AP.

"Guns were far and away the dominant issue in the race and there's no doubt that Bloomberg has been a defining part of that," said Sean Tenner, a Chicago-based political consultant. "I guess the question now is, do Democrats around the country start fearing or being responsive to the Bloomberg PAC more so than the NRA?

"For the first time you saw a lot of money thrown into the race by someone other than the NRA," Tenner said. "That changes things."

A wintry weather mix dropped snow on Chicago and surrounding areas, which likely affected voter turnout in urban areas where many constituents don't have cars. In the afternoon, turnout was at 11 percent.

"The snow was pretty bad and I am positive it negatively impacted the turnout," said Sean Tenner of Chicago-area political consulting group Grainger Terry. "I predict the city turnout would be abysmally low."

Robin Kelly's campaign sent out about 300 people to knock on doors, remind them to vote, and offer them a ride if they couldn't make it through the snow. The campaign also set up a phone line for people needing rides.

Kelly's campaign said the success means a gun-control advocate could represent the Chicago area in Congress. The general election will be April 9.

"What it represents for Chicago and the area is finally we have an advocate who is willing to stand up and directly address the epidemic of gun violence," said Kelly campaign manager Jonathan Blair. "She will move this discussion forward as part of making this community better."

Democratic Fox News contributor Tamara Holder lamented “fat Republicans who drive through Wal-Mart in their buggies.” And then the producer of Don Imus lit up a cigarette!

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Ken Mehlman tells BuzzFeed he is pushing for same-sex couples' marriage rights “because we are conservatives, not in spite of it.” Here's how he got 80 prominent Republicans to join him in the fight.

Image by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — In one of the strongest shows of support for marriage equality ever demonstrated on the political right, more than 80 prominent Republicans have signed on to a Supreme Court brief laying out the conservative case for marriage equality — and elevating the longtime Bush aide behind the effort.

Ken Mehlman, who served as an adviser to President George W. Bush and chairman of the Republican National Committee, has become a leading Republican voice for marriage equality since coming out as a gay man in 2010. But after spending years building the coalition of lawmakers, former governors, and high-level GOP operatives who signed the brief to be filed this week, Mehlman now finds himself at the center of the national marriage debate.

Although the justices won't hear the case until March 26, and eyes are now focused on whether the Obama administration itself will file a brief in support of striking down California's Proposition 8, the Republicans' brief has made waves as a symbol of just how much the landscape has shifted in a few years.

For his part, Mehlman said the case comes down to a simple point of fairness.

"We believe the court should affirm the overturning of Proposition 8 and affirm the fundamental right of every American citizen to marry the person they love," Mehlman told BuzzFeed Tuesday via email. "It impacts such a fundamental right, the right to marry the person you love. What could be more basic and more important to people's happiness, security and freedom? And as the men and women on this brief thought about their own fundamental political and constitutional values, we concluded that the court should overturn proposition 8 and re-affirm the right to marriage for all Americans."

Recruiting the group of conservative signatories for the brief was no easy task, said Mehlman, but the years-long process illustrates a shifting consensus on the issue within the Republican Party.

"[We] discussed it with men and women we had worked with in politics around the country. Some of these conversations began a few years ago in my case, with thoughtful people I know trying to think about this issue and sometimes coming to different conclusions than they had before," he said.

The effort resulted in getting two members of Congress on board — Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Richard Hanna — along with several former governors and members of Congress, and dozens of former administration officials, campaign staffers, and political consultants.

"I knew there were a lot of Republicans that are supportive, but there's never really been an opportunity like this to get everyone on the same page," said Kathryn Lehman, a Republican lobbyist working with Freedom to Marry and Log Cabin Republicans.

"If we want to be a strong party, we've got to learn to be inclusive, not exclusive," said Ana Navarro, the National Hispanic co-chair for John McCain's presidential campaign and also a co-signer. "And we have got to learn to co-exist as Republicans, whether you are a believer in traditional marriage as only between a man and a woman or whether you are a supporter of marriage equality."

"I think it's important that we don't get caught on the wrong side of history and on the wrong side of love and commitment," Navarro added.

Ken Mehlman, fifth from left, with other supporters and staff of the American Foundation for Equal Rights in 2011.

Image by Jason Kempin / Getty Images

Mehlman has also received plaudits from the head of the nation's largest LGBT rights organization, Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin.

"Ken's work on this is incredible. We wouldn't have that brief were it not for [him]," said Griffin, who founded the American Foundation for Equal Rights in 2009 to advance the lawsuit against Proposition 8, and has long promoted adding a bipartisan image to the marriage equality cause.

Griffin called the brief "a dream come true."

"When ... we brought in Ted Olson to this case, it was really a first. A prominent Republican not only taking a position in support of marriage equality, but really helping to lead the charge with regard to the Proposition 8 case," Griffin said. "Shortly thereafter, Ken came into our effort and we asked him to join our board of directors. Ted and Ken helped open the doors, and this brief is really the realization of that work and Ken's time, energy, effort, relationships."

Mehlman's work on marriage equality in recent years came after he faced significant criticism for his work for President George W. Bush during the 2004 election, in which 11 states voted to amend their state constitutions to ban same-sex couples from marrying, and at the RNC during the time Bush supported a federal amendment to ban such marriages.

As Griffin noted, Mehlman has worked to advance marriage equality since coming out, both by supporting the Proposition 8 case and pushing same-sex marriage bills in several states. Of this week's brief, Andrew Sullivan wrote Tuesday, "I think this is a huge achievement for Ken, morally, and politically."

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This is a developing story. An ice cream rescue effort is under way.

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If you work on Capitol Hill, you are obsessed with House of Cards . Here is why:

Things can be very particular at times, working on Capitol Hill.

Via: davidfincher

This is the look you make after most constituent meetings:

Via: goodmanw

This is the daily attitude you bring to work.

Via: danieldaylewis

You know that favors in Washington come at a cost.

Via: anberlins

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As the former secretary of state begins work on her third book, editors brace for a seven- or eight-figure deal. “A historic bidding war,” predicts one industry insider.

At a "global townterview" in Washington, D.C., former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed that she would begin work on a new memoir.

Image by Gary Cameron / Reuters

When Hillary Clinton announced last month that she planned to write another memoir, she started the speculation mill churning in the New York publishing world about the book that members of the industry say could only be topped in anticipation and sales if, as one put it, "Steve Jobs came back from the dead."

During an online town hall interview last month where Clinton fielded questions from international viewers, she was asked if she'd write another memoir to follow her last two books, 1996's It Takes a Village and Living History in 2003.

"Yes, I will write a memoir," Clinton said. "I don't know what I'll say in it yet."

New York publishing types immediately began speculating about what topics might be covered in the book's pages, what publishing house would get the project — and, of course, what kind of monster advance she'd get for it.

Clinton's agent, Bob Barnett — the D.C. super lawyer whose client list includes Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Bob Woodward, and Bill Clinton — may give Simon & Schuster the right of first refusal, since it published Clinton's first two books. But if the memoir is optioned to a wider array of houses, there'd be a "historic bidding war," said Jason Boog, the editor of Mediabistro's publishing blog, GalleyCat.

Estimates for Clinton's advance — the amount of money an author is paid before the book goes on the shelves — ranged from $5 million to $14 million. Her husband got $15 million for his 2004 autobiography, My Life, but as the publishing industry adapts to the digital age, seven- and eight-figure advances are hard to come by.

"The '90s especially was a time of crazy-big advances," said Sarah Weinmann, an editor at Publishers Marketplace, a widely read publishing news site and job board. "But some of them still persist."

"Hillary is much more popular now than she ever was, and that will drive the advance up," said Jessica Case, senior editor at Pegasus Books. "If Lena Dunham got $3.7 million, then Hillary should expect at least that. With all the rumors flying around about her 2016 campaign, she can expect something like $5 million from one of the big corporate houses. People can still throw money around."

Boog guessed $6 million. "I don't think it would go much higher than that," he said, "but she's the kind of writer that publishers are looking for: a recognizable name and a track record of solid sales."

And some threw around even higher figures. Ryan Harbage, of the Fischer-Harbage Agency, said $14 million would be "a safe bet" if Clinton decides to "hold nothing back."

"It's definitely an eight-figure advance," said Harbage. "The more intimate she is willing to go, the higher the advance."

Of course, as several industry sources pointed out, no one tells Clinton what to write, and she may ultimately be more interested in using the book to cement her legacy and position her political career than in scoring a giant check.

But what editors would hope for is an account of her bitter primary race against Barack Obama in 2008; about her relationship with her husband; and about the State Department — particularly, her handling of last year's attack in Benghazi, which became the defining scandal of her last several months at Foggy Bottom.

"If you look at Living History," said Boog, "she talked about everything — about the Whitewater scandal, the impeachment campaign. She did not shy away from topics that were tough. I think Benghazi's gonna be big. I think Syria might be bigger."

"She will definitely look at 2008 and use it as a platform to talk about her relationship with Barack Obama. There is some score-settling to be done," he said.

"There's a big landscape there," said Philip Turner, a longtime book editor. "A publisher would probably want to know about life in Chappaqua, about how involved she's been in the Clinton Global Initiative, about Chelsea as a grown woman and her work at NBC — details like that."

What's in the book could give the public some clue about the seriousness with which Clinton is considering a bid for the presidency in three years' time.

"She'll talk about her relationship with Bill Clinton again," Boog said. "If she does have presidential aspirations, she'll have to address that and bring it back to the fore."

But whatever Clinton discusses in the pages of her memoir, it's likely to be the biggest get of the year for whatever editor takes it on.

The only way another book might top Hillary's, Weinmann said, is "if Steve Jobs came back from the dead."

It's more than likely, though, that Clinton hasn't even begun work on a proposal. She's been off the job at the State Department for just three weeks now. When asked the status of the project, Barnett said only, "No comment at this time."

Advisers outline calculated effort to bring down NRA-backed candidates. A blueprint for more Bloomberg-financed elections to come.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's only reason for investing in a Chicagoland congressional election was simple: make it about guns, and only guns, notch the win and prove the blueprint for winning the election is a winning strategy.

And according to his Super PAC, they did just that.

"We wanted guns to be the dominant issue in this race. So we stayed focused on it," said Bill Knapp, Managing Director of SKDKnickerbocker, national strategic communications firm.

"This was a concerted, focused campaign solely on the gun issue," said Doug Schoen, a pollster who worked with Independence USA. "This race became a referendum on guns. That was our purpose. That was our intent."

In a primary held yesterday, pro gun-control democrat Robin Kelly, the candidate backed by ads funded by Bloomberg, won (with 52 percent) the democratic seat for an April 9 election to fill Jesse Jackson Jr.'s IL-2 congressional seat.

Independence USA attacked two NRA-backed candidates by spending $2.2 million in advertisements and mailers distributed in the Chicago area. One of the attacked candidates, former congresswoman Debbie Halvorson received just 25 percent of the vote. The other attacked candidate, Toi Hutchinson, withdrew from the race after the ads ran.

The Independence USA advisers said they wanted this race to put Bloomberg's voice in a discussion frequently dominated by the NRA.

Bloomberg will look at future elections that involve gun control debates and continue to invest in advertisements that bring down NRA-backed candidates, the advisers said.

Here are the documents that outline the PAC's strategy and actions taken:

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