Obama Begins Full-Court Press on Syria; de Blasio Just Shy of 40% Mark in Final NYC Primary Polls

National Journal

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WHAT'S NEWS

  • The Senate "is expected to take up" a resolution to authorize U.S. military force in Syria on Monday, while Pres. Obama is doing "a round of interviews with the major broadcast and cable news outlets" to persuade the public ahead of Tuesday's prime-time address (CNN).

  • Ex-Sec/State Hillary Clinton (D) "will make her first public remarks about Syria on Monday" when she visits the WH "for an unrelated event" (Politico).

  • A new Quinnipiac Univ. poll of NYC Mayor Dem primary LVs, conducted 9/6-8, shows Public Advocate Bill de Blasio leading '09 nominee Bill Thompson, 39-25%, with City Council Speaker Christine Quinn at 18%, ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner at 6%, Comp. John Liu at 4% and ex-Councilor Sal Albanese at 1% (release). A new WNBC-TV/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll of NYC Mayor Dem primary LVs, conducted 9/3-6, shows de Blasio leading Thompson and Quinn, 36-20-20%, with Weiner at 7%, Liu at 5%, pastor Erick Salgado at 1% and Albanese at 1% (release).

  • In NJ SEN Special, Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) "said Friday that he would step down from the board of his controversial Internet start-up, Waywire, and donate his shares to charity, on the same day he provided 15 years of tax returns to reporters and challenged" ex-Bogota Mayor Steve Longegan (R) "to do so as well" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

  • In VA GOV, ex-DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe (D) launched a new TV ad Saturday, accusing AG Ken Cuccinelli's (R) camp of "[twisting] facts" in a recent attack ad (release). The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot endorsed McAuliffe on Sunday (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot).

  • NC state Senate Pres. Phil Berger (R), who has "kept his name afloat" as a possible NC SEN candidate, "will launch" a "statewide" TV ad this week that mentions Obama and Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), touting Berger's support for a voter-ID law (Washington Post).

  • "Supporters" of Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY) "have launched a super PAC to bolster" Enzi's reelection prospects "as he fends off a GOP primary challenge" from activist Liz Cheney (R) (Washington Examiner).

  • '06 NE SEN candidate Pete Ricketts (R) announced his NE GOV candidacy on Sunday, saying that "he is determined to make sure Nebraskans come to know and understand him better and more accurately than they did ... when he was painted as a distant, wealth-centered figure" in '06 (Lincoln Journal Star).

  • Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski (D) announced Sunday he will run for PA GOV (MSNBC).

  • The DCCC "announced nine new candidate recruits for its Jumpstart program Monday." They are Staci Appel (IA-03), Jerry Cannon (MI-01), Pam Byrnes (MI-07), John Lewis (MT-AL), Erin Bilbray-Kohn (NV-03), Roxanne Lara (NM-02), Martha Robertson (NY-23), Jennifer Garrison (OH-06) and Suzanne Patrick (VA-02) (Roll Call).

  • "A panel of federal judges ruled Friday" that TX will use its current cong. and state legislative maps for the '14 elections, even as litigation brought by minority groups and DoJ "drags on" (San Antonio Express-News).

NUMBER BRUNCHING

  • According to a new CNN/ORC poll of nat'l adults, conducted 9/6-8, 39% think Congress should pass a resolution "to authorize limited U.S. military action in Syria" that "only authorizes military action for 60 to 90 days and ... bars the use of U.S. troops in a combat role," while 59% think Congress should not pass this resolution (release).

OUR CALL

Hotline editors weigh in on the stories that drive the day

• Berger's ad is a sign that he may jump into the Senate race after all. Berger gets a little more credit for just how far right NC has turned over the last legislative session than Pat McCrory or House Speaker Thom Tillis, who has already entered the SEN contest. A primary that pits both leaders of the unpopular legislature together in a race-to-the-right could be great news for Hagan.

• Redistricting for '14 in TX Texas is now settled, but there could be more changes to keep track of later this decade as federal courts deliberate on whether the state's original, 2011-vintage redistricting maps were discriminatory, even though the state legislature enacted new maps this year to try to preempt that challenge. Ultimately, that could lead to the state again being subject to preclearance by federal authorities under the "bail-in" provision of Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act, though such a case would probably wind through the SCOTUS once again.

HAIR OF THE DOG

FRESH BREWED BUZZ

  • "I mean look, a week -- or a week and a half ago -- my office actually reached out to the White House and said, 'Hey we support the strike on Syria, we're going to help you round up support if you need it,' I haven't heard back from the White House yet" -- Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) (ABC News).

  • "It's dead. Completely dead. ... The House, for sure, it's not even going to be close" -- Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), on the Syria resolution (National Journal).

  • In a Cairo presser televised Sunday by Egyptian state media, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), appearing with Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Steve King (R-IA), said Egypt's ruling, military gov't "reminded him of Thomas Jefferson's declaration of 'eternal hostility to every form of tyranny over the minds of men'" (New York Times).

  • GOPers continue to turn out in outsized fashion in early voting in the recall of CO state Senate Pres. John Morse (D) (Denver Post). Dems outnumber GOPers thus far in state Sen. Angela Giron's (D) recall (Pueblo Chieftain).

  • "Class-warfare and racist. ... Well, no, no, I mean he's making an appeal using his family to gain support. I think it's pretty obvious to anyone watching what he's been doing. I do not think he himself is racist. It's comparable to me pointing out I'm Jewish in attracting the Jewish vote. You tailor messages to your audiences and address issues you think your audience cares about" -- NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), on de Blasio's campaign (New York magazine).

  • "I have a love factor with the minorities. ... I've been to every minority neighborhood, they all give me hugs" -- NYC mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis (R) (Politicker.com).

  • "A water taxi carrying" Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) "collided with a 20-foot recreational boat Saturday night in Portland Harbor." Though Pingree "escaped injury," three others were hurt, including Pingree's husband, financier/MaineToday Media owner Donald Sussman (Portland Press-Herald).

  • "Walt Disney was Mickey Mouse, so is that an ego trip, or was that Walt Disney being Mickey Mouse?" -- Glenn Beck (New York Times).

  • "Whatever it is, I eat it. ... Spinach goulash or something" -- Ex-FL GOP Chair Jim Greer, on prison food (Tampa Bay Times).

  • "As others questioned its vitality, we have been able to regrow the mightiest of all trees in the ecology of social justice" -- Retiring NAACP pres. Ben Jealous (Washington Post).

  • Politico owner Robert Allbritton "is expanding his digital empire with the purchase of online news site Capital New York" (Wall Street Journal).

SWIZZLE CHALLENGE

  • Then-Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin addressed a joint session Congress in '92.

  • The winner is Mark Siegel, but he did not submit a new question. Here's a bonus Swizzle Challenge: "Six former secretaries of State have gone on to become president. Name the most recent secretary of State to be elected to the Oval Office." The 6th correct e-mailer gets to submit the next question.

NJ'S EARLY BIRD SPECIALS

SHOT...

"I'm not the anti-kitten candidate" -- NYC mayoral candidate Joe Lhota (R) (New York Times).

...CHASER

This now-infamous photo.

Josh Kraushaar, Editor-in-Chief

Steven Shepard, Executive Editor