Cory Booker Jokes Mayor Job Drove Him to Drink - Coffee That Is

Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker answered viewer questions from Facebook and Twitter for an ABC News' web exclusive before joining the This Week roundtable on Sunday. After Booker discussed his future Senate plans, his time as Newark mayor, and his Twitter routine, he admitted to a few other personal habits. He's a self-proclaimed 'Trekkie,' loves Ben & Jerry's ice cream, late night television, and believes that his job "drove him to drink" - but coffee is the vice in question.

"I did not drink coffee before this job. I always say this job drove me to drink," Booker joked.

How many hours a day do you spend on Twitter?

"I guess it's so seamless that I don't really think about it that way. So it's like going from meeting to meeting, or waiting for people to come into the office. A lot of it happens in the early morning when I wake up or late at night, which gives a lot of my followers this idea that I don't sleep. But if I wake up… like this morning around four o'clock, I'll start checking my Twitter and responding to people."

Do you feel you can take a day off from tweeting?

"You know, it's so integrated. It's like saying 'do I want to take a day off from talking or do I want to take a day off from connecting to people.' And I've looked at the averages, maybe sometimes 15, 20 tweets a day. Sometimes it goes down, sometimes it goes up depending on what's going on. But… this is the democratization of our democracy in a weird way. Because so many forces are pulling people away, leaders away from the people, special interest groups, money in politics, creating more of an elite environment. But I think that social media has a chance to pull people back and have politicians far more accessible, far more transparent, far more connected, and ultimately move from a hierarchical society to a level playing field."

What are your thoughts on 'Clinton/Booker 2016'?

"Unless Clinton/Booker 2016 is some kind of new rock band that might be coming out… look, at the end of the day in life, purpose is far more important than position. And so many of us lose sight of where we are by looking at where we're going to go. So right now I'm mayor of the city of Newark and I love what I'm doing. In many ways, this is my highest aspiration in terms of having a job where I can really help people. The next thing I'm thinking about doing next year is possibly running for the United States Senate. But I think when you start going further… from that, it starts to get a little absurd."

What do you believe is your best policy achievement as mayor?

"I think the best thing you can say, and it's less policy and more spirit, is that we've taken a city that used to be disregarded, disrespected, and just plain dissed, that was losing population, losing tax base, losing business, and now we've reversed those trends. Now people really have a lot of respect for Newark. First time in 60 years our population is growing. Our tax base is growing. The first new hotels in our downtown in 40 years. First new office towers in decades. So creating jobs at a pretty dramatic clip for our residents."

Lightning Round:

Favorite TV show?

"Wow. Star Trek, unequivocally so. I'm a Trekkie. So of all the Star Trek universe, I would say 'The Next Generation' was my favorite."

Favorite character?

"Jean-Luc Picard, of course. He's got the greatest haircut."

First concert?

"I went to a Lionel Richie concert, was my first concert. Thank you very much, I like Lionel Richie."

Pet peeve?

"I have lots of pet peeves. But I think the biggest one I have is just meanness. Rudeness. For me, it's like the deal breaker. I'm on a date, and the person is like rude to the waiter, to the bus boy, something like that, to me, I think it's just…you know, life's too short, every moment we have a chance to show kindness, and that to me is the thing I like the most about a human. When people don't even think that you're being watched, and then you see somebody bend over and pick up some trash, or help somebody, that to me lifts me the most to witness that. And the opposite of that is what makes me frustrated the most."

Guilty pleasure?

"So many. Look, I think that two things I indulge in the most… one is food, so I have an illicit relationship with two guys named Ben and Jerry. That is enjoyable. And then you know it's just bad TV. So late, late at night if I come home particularly discouraged from the day, I can see myself sitting with ice cream and watching something on TV - John Stewart, Stephen Colbert - hoping that they'll make me laugh at the end of the day before I hit the sack."

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Business, labor close on deal for immigration bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Big business and major labor unions appeared ready Friday to end a fight over a new low-skilled worker program that had threatened to upend negotiations on a sweeping immigration bill in the Senate providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants already in the U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who's been brokering talks between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that negotiators are "very close, closer than we have ever been, and we are very optimistic." He said there were still a few issues remaining. The talks stalled late last week amid a dispute over wages for workers in the new program, and senators left town for a two-week recess with the issue in limbo. Finger-pointing erupted between the AFL-CIO and the chamber, with each side accusing the other of trying to sink immigration reform, leaving prospects for a resolution unclear. But talks resumed this week, and now officials from both sides indicate the wage issue has been largely resolved. An agreement would likely clear the way for a bipartisan group of senators to unveil legislation the week of April 8 to dramatically overhaul the U.S. immigration system, strengthening the border and cracking down on employers as well as remaking the legal immigration system while providing eventual citizenship to millions. "We're feeling very optimistic on immigration: Aspiring Americans will receive the road map to citizenship they deserve and we can modernize 'future flow' without reducing wages for any local workers, regardless of what papers they carry," AFL-CIO spokesman Jeff Hauser said in a statement. "Future flow" refers to future arrivals of legal immigrants. Under the emerging agreement, a new "W'' visa program would bring tens of thousands lower-skilled workers a year to the country. The program would be capped at 200,000 a year, but the number of visas would fluctuate, depending on unemployment rates, job openings, employer demand and data collected by a new federal bureau pushed by the labor movement as an objective monitor of the market. The workers would be able to change jobs and could seek permanent residency. Under current temporary worker programs, workers can't move from employer to employer and have no path to permanent U.S. residence and citizenship. The new visas would cover dozens of professions such as long-term care workers and hotel and hospitality employees. Currently there's no good way for employers to bring many such workers to the U.S.; an existing visa program for low-wage nonagricultural workers is capped at 66,000 per year and is supposed to apply only to seasonal or temporary jobs. The Chamber of Commerce said workers would get paid actual wages paid to American workers or the prevailing wages for the industry they're working in, whichever is higher. The Labor Department determines prevailing wage based on rates prevailing in specific localities, so that it would vary from city to city. The labor organization had accused the chamber of trying to pay workers in the new program poverty-level wages, something the chamber disputed. There was also disagreement about how to deal with certain higher-skilled construction jobs, such as electricians and welders, and it appears those will be excluded from the deal, said Geoff Burr, vice president of federal affairs at Associated Builders and Contractors. Burr said his group opposes such an exclusion because, even though unemployment in the construction industry is high right now, at times when it is low there can be labor shortages in high-skilled trades and contractors want to be able to bring in foreign workers. But unions pressed for the exclusion, Burr said. The low-skilled worker issue had loomed for weeks as perhaps the toughest matter to settle in monthslong closed-door talks on immigration among Schumer and seven other senators, including Republicans John McCain of Arizona and Marco Rubio of Florida. The issue helped sink the last major attempt at immigration reform in 2007, when the legislation foundered on the Senate floor after an amendment was added to end a temporary worker program after five years, threatening a key priority of the business community. The amendment passed by just one vote, 49-48. President Barack Obama, a senator at the time, joined in the narrow majority voting to end the program after five years.

 

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Freeway chase led to ex-Nev. lawmaker's arrest

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Hours after he became the first person in Nevada history to be kicked out of the state Legislature, an embattled former lawmaker led police on a chase on a freeway between Las Vegas and Los Angeles that ended with a violent struggle with uniformed officers. Steven Brooks was subdued with punches and a Taser, arrested at gunpoint and jailed in California's San Bernardino County after police say he attacked a police dog with a wrench. "It's hard to know where he was going, what he thought he was doing and why he would be involved in a high-speed chase," Brooks' attorney, Mitchell Posin, told The Associated Press on Friday. "I think he feels the world is against him. But I'm just piecing together bits of information." Brooks' arrest Thursday near the California city of Victorville was his third since January, and came just hours after colleagues in the Legislature deemed the Democrat from North Las Vegas too dangerous and unpredictable to serve his elected term. Lawmakers wept Thursday as they cited concerns about their own safety and evidence collected about an increasingly bizarre series of public incidents. Police allege that Brooks threatened a Democratic party Assembly leader before one arrest and threw punches and grabbed for the gun of a police officer in his second arrest about three weeks later. He also was hospitalized for five days for a mental evaluation following another police encounter that didn't result in an arrest. He was sworn in and then banished from the Legislature building as a possible security risk days after arriving in a hooded sweatshirt and ducking into an office to avoid reporters. He posed shirtless for a newspaper photograph to show injuries that he said he suffered during his first arrest, but that weren't apparent. He tried unsuccessfully to buy a rifle at a sporting goods store in Sparks. He bought body armor from a radio show host in Las Vegas. He lost his job as a Las Vegas city management analyst. And he reported his car stolen. Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, D-Las Vegas, who called Brooks "potentially dangerous" and issued an order banning him from the Legislature building in Carson City, said Friday he was saddened by Brooks' arrest. "I hope they get Steven the help he clearly needs before he or someone else is hurt or worse," Horne said. During Thursday's arrest Brooks appeared to be punched by one uniformed officer before he was shackled by the wrists and ankles and taken away on an ambulance gurney. Police said the chase followed a call from a tow truck operator who argued with a motorist about the cost of fixing a flat tire on the freeway shoulder in Barstow. "We just know the tow truck driver was uncomfortable enough to call us for assistance," California Highway Patrol Officer Don Spiker said. "He said the subject was acting strange." The tow operator didn't immediately respond Friday to messages from The Associated Press. Barstow police allege Brooks, 41, sped away with the tire still flat and tossed objects from the vehicle before a spike strip was deployed to disable the SUV and he tangled with uniformed officers and the police dog at the side of the freeway. The objects were not described, and police didn't respond to questions about whether Brooks was armed. Witness Jennifer Simpson said she was alerted to the chase by police helicopters overhead and saw a man get out of a red four-door SUV after it veered to the side of the road near Victorville, about 180 miles southwest of Las Vegas. Simpson, a mother of two who lives in an apartment near the interstate, said the man didn't follow officers' commands to turn around and put his hands in the air. He instead ran back to the SUV, chased by a police dog. Simpson said the driver shut himself in the vehicle before several officers with guns drawn pulled him out. She said she saw at least one officer punch the man several times. Simpson's husband videotaped four minutes of the struggle, in which uniformed officers wrestle the driver to the ground in front of the SUV and an officer in a tan uniform raises his arms three times in apparent punching motions. The driver cannot be seen on the ground. Kris Reilly, city editor of The Daily Press in Victorville, said he arrived to see the motorist a few minutes later, struggling against wrist and ankle restraints as he was loaded on a gurney into an ambulance. "He was yelling something to the effect that, 'These cops are going down!'" Reilly said. "He was yelling quite a bit." Barstow Police Chief Albert Ramirez released a statement alleging that when the police dog was sent into the SUV, Brooks choked and hit the dog with a socket wrench. The dog, named Buck, was treated by a veterinarian head and leg cuts. "Brooks continued to resist the officers and not comply with their orders," the Barstow police statement said. "A Taser was utilized on Brooks and after this, handcuffs were applied." The police report does not describe any police officers being injured and doesn't address whether officers punched Brooks. Telephone and email messages for Ramirez and other Barstow police supervisors weren't returned. Brooks was examined at Barstow Community Hospital before he was taken to a San Bernardino County jail in Rancho Cucamonga, police said. Jail records showed Brooks was being held on $100,000 bail on four felony charges including resisting a police officer with force, willful harm to a police service dog, felony evading arrest and throwing objects from a vehicle with intent to harm. San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman said Brooks was due for arraignment Tuesday in Barstow. Brooks' expulsion from the state Assembly came by voice vote following a recommendation from a bipartisan panel that met largely behind closed doors. The seven panel members voted 6-1 for expulsion after considering a more than 900-page investigative report produced by a Las Vegas lawyer hired as a special counsel. A coalition of Nevada media outlets is seeking to have the investigative report made public. Brooks' first arrest was Jan. 19, after he was accused of making threats toward legislative colleagues including Assembly Democratic Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick. North Las Vegas police said Brooks had a gun and ammunition in his car when he was arrested. The state attorney general's office hasn't filed criminal charges in the case. Brooks was sworn in at the Legislature on Feb. 4, but was arrested again Feb. 10 at his estranged wife's home in Las Vegas after police alleged he tried to punch and grabbed for the gun of an officer who responded to a domestic dispute. Brooks faces a court hearing in May in Las Vegas on one felony and three lesser charges.

 

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EPA taking aim at auto emissions, sulfur in gas

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reducing sulfur in gasoline and tightening emissions standards on cars beginning in 2017, as the Obama administration is proposing, would come with costs as well as rewards. The cost at the pump for cleaner air across the country could be less than a penny or as high as 9 cents a gallon, depending on who is providing the estimate. An oil industry study says the proposed rule being unveiled Friday by the administration could increase gasoline prices by 6 cents to 9 cents a gallon. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates an increase of less than a penny and an additional $130 to the cost of a vehicle in 2025. The EPA is quick to add that the change aimed at cleaning up gasoline and automobile emissions would yield billions of dollars in health benefits by 2030 by slashing smog- and soot-forming pollution. Still, the oil industry, Republicans and some Democrats have pressed the EPA to delay the rule, citing higher costs. Environmentalists hailed the proposal as potentially the most significant in President Barack Obama's second term. The so-called Tier 3 standards would reduce sulfur in gasoline by more than 60 percent and reduce nitrogen oxides by 80 percent, by expanding across the country a standard already in place in California. For states, the regulation would make it easier to comply with health-based standards for the main ingredient in smog and soot. For automakers, the regulation allows them to sell the same autos in all 50 states. The Obama administration already has moved to clean up motor vehicles by adopting rules that will double fuel efficiency and putting in place the first standards to reduce the pollution from cars and trucks blamed for global warming. "We know of no other air pollution control strategy that can achieve such substantial, cost-effective and immediate emission reductions," said Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. Becker said the rule would reduce pollution equal to taking 33 million cars off the road. But the head of American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, Charles Drevna, said in an interview Thursday that the refiners' group was still unclear on the motives behind the agency's regulation, since refining companies already have spent $10 billion to reduce sulfur by 90 percent. The additional cuts, while smaller, will cost just as much, Drevna said, and the energy needed for the additional refining actually could increase carbon pollution by 1 percent to 2 percent. "I haven't seen an EPA rule on fuels that has come out since 1995 that hasn't said it would cost only a penny or two more," Drevna said. A study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute estimated that lowering the sulfur in gasoline would add 6 cents to 9 cents a gallon to refiners' manufacturing costs, an increase that likely would be passed on to consumers at the pump. The EPA estimate of less than 1 cent is also an additional manufacturing cost and likely to be passed on. A senior administration official said Thursday that only 16 of 111 refineries would need to invest in major equipment to meet the new standards, which could be final by the end of this year. Of the remaining refineries, 29 already are meeting the standards because they are selling cleaner fuel in California or other countries, and 66 would have to make modifications. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the rule was still undergoing White House budget office review.

 

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Mich. RNC member: I won't resign for Facebook post

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan member of the Republican National Committee said Thursday he will not resign after posting an article critical of gay people on his Facebook page, despite calls from members of his own party that he step down. Dave Agema, who served as a state representative from 2007 until December posted an excerpt from an article titled "Everyone Should Know These Statistics On Homosexuals" on his Facebook page Wednesday. A group of 21 Michigan Republicans has called it "deplorable." But Agema told The Associated Press he maintains his belief that marriage is between a man and a woman, and said he will "absolutely not" resign. Agema said he posted the excerpt in light of the arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this week on California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Among the claims in the article by Dr. Frank Joseph is that gay people "account for half the murders in large cities." The article, which cites studies from the 1980s for many of its claims, also attributes high medical insurance rates to caring for AIDS patients. Grand Traverse County precinct delegate and former Cheboygan County drain commissioner Dennis Lennox, who is among those calling on Agema to step down, said he and other Michigan Republicans no longer have confidence in Agema's ability to perform his duties as committeeman. He also said Agema's actions will only further distance voters from the GOP. "You can't expect to get undecided voters to vote for you if you spit in their face and that's exactly what he's done," Lennox said. "He has spit in the face of millions of American who would otherwise be inclined to support the party." Last month, more than 75 prominent Republicans, including former advisers to former President George W. Bush, signed a legal brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down California's ban on same-sex marriage. Agema defended himself, saying the post was not his own words, but the author's determination of "facts about the lifestyle." "It's something that we need to be aware of when we are looking at this," he said. "It affects people's lives." Michigan Republican Party Chairman Bobby Schostak said in a statement that the Republican Party "remains in support of traditional marriage but that never should be allowed nor confused with any form of hate or discrimination toward anyone." Any statement in the contrast undermines the party's platform and "common sense conservative message," he said. But when asked if Agema should resign, Schostak told reporters that is "between Dave and his family and himself." "I have no point of view on that at all," he said.

 

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Supreme Court energizes gay rights even as it resists

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After two days of Supreme Court arguments over same-sex marriage, the United States may be left with this irony: While the high court is not likely to alter the constitutional landscape for gays, the justices nevertheless have provided a rallying point for the gay-rights cause. Three major legal outcomes appeared likely as the justices on Wednesday ended the second dramatic day of arguments in the most closely watched dispute of their current term: * The court would not rule that gay people need special constitutional protection from discrimination. * The court would not declare a nationwide right to same-sex marriage. * At the same time, a majority would rule narrowly that the federal government must provide married same-sex couples the same benefits it gives their heterosexual counterparts. Yet just as the nine black-robed justices made clear that they did not wish to play a leading role in the national conversation about same-sex marriage, they showed they could nonetheless raise its volume. Simply by agreeing to hear the two disputes - one over California's ban on same-sex marriage, the other over the federal law denying benefits to same-sex couples - the justices energized the debate. Numerous public figures including former President Bill Clinton, who in 1996 signed the law forbidding same-sex couples from obtaining federal benefits, and prominent groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics in recent weeks came out vigorously in support of same-sex marriage and gay civil rights. Individual members of Congress - Democrats and Republicans - suddenly voiced new support for gay marriage. Perhaps most dramatically, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, considered a possible future Republican presidential contender, earlier this month announced he was reversing his opposition to such same-sex marriage, citing the fact that his son two years earlier had told him he was gay. Opponents of gay marriage have not witnessed any similar high-profile testimonials from people who were switching to their side. Recent opinion polls, taken in association with the Supreme Court's decision to take up the gay-marriage cases, have documented a surge in public support for same-sex unions. The new cases also pushed the Obama administration to break new legal ground. President Barack Obama had personally endorsed gay marriage but he had long asserted that same-sex marriage was a matter for the states to handle. At the last minute, however, his administration decided to enter the California dispute and argue that federal guarantees of constitutional equality forbid states from limiting marriage to heterosexuals. The administration also contended that gays deserve extra constitutional protection from bias, as the Supreme Court has afforded women fighting sex discrimination. Yet as much as the justices effectively propelled others to take a stand, they showed by their own comments and questions from the bench this week that they do not intend to be at the vanguard. The lawyers who appeared on Tuesday and Wednesday were passionate in their presentations, yet none seemed to seize the justices and generate equal fervor. To be sure, there were moments of excitement, including some sharp exchanges between lawyers and individual justices such as when Justice Elena Kagan challenged an attorney's assertion that government's overriding interest in marriage relates to procreation and childbearing. 'UNCHARTED WATERS' There was also the suspense of what swing-vote Justice Anthony Kennedy might say. Kennedy sent conflicting messages at times, expressing concern about the children of gay parents who cannot marry but then suggesting the justices should be wise to stay out of "uncharted waters" on the issue. There were moments of tedium, too, as the justices wrestled with procedural issues that could prevent them from deciding the merits of either case. Such hurdles would likely prevent any decision on California's Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. A majority of the justices signaled they might not reach the merits, most likely because California state officials have declined to defend the law and Proposition 8 backers may lack "legal standing" in the case. A court majority most certainly would not conclude - as the challengers to Proposition 8 argued on Tuesday - that all 50 U.S. states must allow same-sex marriage. Currently nine states permit such marriages, along with Washington, D.C. Nothing that emerged in oral arguments on Wednesday over a provision of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) would suggest that the justices had any second thoughts about delving into the larger issues of gay marriage. In fact, their comments reinforced the notion that a majority on the generally conservative court is not ready to carve out new rights for gays. The Obama administration and other challengers to DOMA had urged the court to declare that government rules tied to sexual orientation deserve "heightened" scrutiny, meaning that the government needs an exceedingly persuasive justification for the regulation. If the court were to adopt such a level of constitutional protection for gays, as it has in the gender-discrimination context, bans on same-sex marriage would be legally undermined. But that proposition for tougher judicial scrutiny in gay-bias cases gained no traction at the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that the national activity surrounding this week's cases might have demonstrated that gays are, in fact, a political force in no need of special protection. "As far as I can tell, political figures are falling over themselves to endorse your side of the case," Roberts told lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who was representing a New York woman denied a federal estate-tax exemption because her spouse was another woman, not a man. Roberts may have been referring to national figures including Portman whose endorsement of gay marriage coincided with the court's consideration of the matter. In the same vein, a record number of "friend of the court" briefs were submitted in the paired cases, most favoring gay rights. In yet another unusual move, marking one of corporate America's most high-profile efforts on same-sex marriage, close to 300 businesses urged the court to strike down the DOMA restriction. (Thomson Reuters Corp, which owns Reuters, was among them.) Outside the marble-columned Supreme Court building, demonstrators rallying for gay marriage dominated the scene. So no matter how this court ultimately rules - a decision is expected by late June - it seems clear that the justices' mere involvement was a boost to the gay-rights cause, at least in the court of public opinion.

 

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GOP moves to plug technology gap with Democrats

WASHINGTON (AP) — Embarrassed by how the last presidential election exposed their yesteryear technology, Republicans are turning to a younger generation of tech-savvy social media experts and software designers to improve communications with voters, predict their behavior and track opponents more vigorously. After watching President Barack Obama win re-election with help from a technology operation unprecedented in its sophistication, GOP officials concede an urgent need for catch up. "I think everybody realized that the party is really far behind at the moment and they're doing everything within their realistic sphere of influence to catch up," said Bret Jacobson, a partner with Red Edge, a Virginia-based digital advocacy firm that represents the Republican Governors Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Heritage Foundation. Democrats began using related technology years ago, giving Obama a significant advantage last fall in customizing personalized fundraising and get-out-the-vote appeals to prospective supporters. With the blessing of party leaders, a new crop of Republican-backed outside groups is developing tools to do the same in 2014 and 2016. Alex Skatell, former digital director for the GOP's gubernatorial and Senate campaign operations, leads one new group that has been quietly testing a system that would allow Republicans to share details about millions of voters — their personal interests, group affiliations and even where they went to school. With no primary opponent last year, Obama's re-election team used the extra time to build a large campaign operation melding a grass-roots army of 2.2 million volunteers with groundbreaking technology to target voters. They tapped about 17 million email subscribers to raise nearly $700 million online. Data-driven analytics enabled the campaign to run daily simulations to handicap battleground states, analyze demographic trends and test alternatives for reaching voters online. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, in contrast, had only a few months after a lengthy primary fight to try to match Obama's tech advantage. He couldn't make up the difference. Romney's technology operation was overwhelmed by the intense flow of data and temporarily crashed on Election Day. A 100-page report on how to rebound from the 2012 election, released last week by Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus, includes several technology recommendations. "The president's campaign significantly changed the makeup of the national electorate and identified, persuaded and turned out low-propensity voters by unleashing a barrage of human and technological resources previously unseen in a presidential contest," the report said. "Marrying grass-roots politics with technology and analytics, they successfully contacted, persuaded and turned out their margin of victory. There are many lessons to be learned from their efforts, particularly with respect to voter contact." Skatell, 26, is leading one new effort by Republican allies to fill the void. His team of designers, software developers and veteran Republican strategists is now testing what he calls an "almost an eHarmony for matching volunteers with persuadable voters" that would let campaigns across the country share details in real time on voter preferences, harnessing social media like Facebook and Twitter. Other groups are working to improve the GOP's data and digital performance. The major Republican ally, American Crossroads, which spent a combined $175 million on the last election with its sister organization, hosted private meetings last month focused on data and technology. Drawing from technology experts in Silicon Valley, the organization helped craft a series of recommendations expected to be rolled out later this year. "A good action plan that fixes our deficiencies and identifies new opportunities can help us regain our advantage within a cycle or two," said Crossroads spokesman Jonathan Collegio. A prominent group of Republican aides has also formed America Rising, a company that will have a companion "super" political action committee that can raise unlimited contributions without having to disclose its donors. Its purpose is to counter Democratic opposition research groups, which generated negative coverage of Romney and GOP candidates last year. America Rising will provide video tracking, opposition research and rapid response for campaign committees, super PACs and individual candidates' campaigns but does not plan to get involved in GOP primaries. It will be led by Matt Rhoades, who served as Romney's campaign manager, and Joe Pounder, the research director for the Republican National Committee. Running its super PAC will be Tim Miller, a former RNC aide and spokesman for former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. Romney and several Republican candidates were monitored closely by camera-toting Democratic aides during the campaign, a gap that Miller said American Rising hopes to fill on behalf of Republicans. Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said his party has "a several years' lead on data and analytics infrastructure and we're not standing still." Of the GOP effort, Woodhouse said, "We don't see them closing the gap anytime soon."

 

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Boston mayor announces he won't seek re-election

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has announced he won't seek re-election to an unprecedented sixth term after nearly two decades in office.

Menino told well-wishers gathered at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall Thursday afternoon that "I will leave the job that I love."

Menino's announcement came in the wake of persistent health problems including a six-week hospital state last year to treat a respiratory infection and a compression fracture in his spine. He says, "I'm back to a mayor's schedule, but not a Menino schedule"

His decision not to run is expected to spark a political stampede to fill the coveted seat.

Menino wasn't always the smoothest of political figures, but he earned a reputation as one of the hardest working, from filling potholes to shaping the city's skyline.

He also became a prominent voice nationally in favor of stricter gun control measures.

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Kentucky Derby: Who Will Race Mitch McConnell?

BREAKING - DEMOCRATS TAKE TO THE AIRWAVES AGAINST MCCONNELL: ABC's JEFF ZELENY reports that Democrats are without a Senate candidate in Kentucky following Ashley Judd's decision to take a pass on challenging Sen. Mitch McConnell, so they are turning to one of the state's favorite pastimes to draw attention to the race: the Sweet 16 of the NCAA basketball tournament. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is opening its first statewide advertisement today against McConnell, ABC News has learned, by airing a radio spot that sounds like a play-by-play announcer calling a big game. "It's tournament time and Sen. McConnell's playing for the Washington special interests - against Kentucky," the ad says, with an announcer's voice speaking over the crowd. "Kentucky is trying to move up, trying to provide assistance for workers who lost their jobs and they're blocked by McConnell, who scored big for himself for nearly 30 years."   THE $40 MILLION RACE?: There may be more realistic opportunities for Democrats to pick up seats next year, but there are fewer targets bigger than McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, as he seeks re-election to a sixth term, Zeleny notes. "Kentuckians know that Mitch McConnell is playing for 'Team Washington' and not for Kentucky," said Guy Cecil, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Committee. The radio commercial is the latest escalation in the Kentucky race, which has already drawn more advertising than any other race at this early stage of the campaign. McConnell has already raised $7 million in a contest that party strategists believe could cost both sides at least $20 million. ASHLEY'S ANSWER: After months of flirtation, actress Ashley Judd used a series of tweets on Wednesday to announce she would not pursue a Senate bid against McConnell: "After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family. Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate. I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months who expressed their desire for a fighter for the people & new leader. While that won't be me at this time, I will continue to work as hard as I can to ensure the needs of Kentucky families are met by returning this Senate seat to whom it rightfully belongs: the people & their needs, dreams, and great potential." THE ROUNDTABLE ABC's RICK KLEIN: The Supreme Court may be remembered as a sideshow. That might be just as well, for those on both sides of the gay marriage debate. This extraordinary week served to highlight the extent to which that debate has largely moved on; politicians are racing the public to keep up, in a society that's growing more accepting of gay marriage by the day. In this equation, short of a high-court ruling that shocks in its sweep, we're going to be back we started, with states wrestling on their own. The challenge for the gay-rights movement is to not let the moment lapse - using the court not for a hoped-for victory so much as for a moment to expand their argument. ABC's MICHAEL FALCONE: If not Ashley Judd, then who? Speculation about which candidate Democrats will tap to take on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell - and his multi-million-dollar campaign juggernaut - has largely landed on the shoulders of Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. As the National Journal notes, the 34-year-old Kentucky Democrat is a "proven fundraiser who is well-known statewide." Grimes has yet to make her intentions public, but the spin from Democrats on Wednesday that Grimes' interest in the race gave Judd "the space to really make a decision and decide what was best for her" is an indication that we will be hearing from the potential McConnell challenger soon. The Cook Political Report's Jennifer Duffy said in an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal, "There's a lot about her Democrats like - not the least of which is a major contrast in generations, not to mention gender." But, don't forget, if Grimes runs, she'll face what Politico's Manu Raju describes this morning as a "ruthless campaign" in which McConnell will "use 'every penny'" of his campaign war chest to hold onto his seat. ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: Could non-Senate candidate Ashley Judd be biding her time for a better race opportunity? One Kentucky Democratic source who is close to Judd says yes. "I do think there have been a number of people who have said to Ashley this was not the race and the Rand Paul race [would be] the right race," this source says. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is up for re-election in 2016 and per Kentucky law (unlike other states) a candidate cannot run for both Senate and president of the United States simultaneously. Paul is widely believed to be considering a 2016 presidential bid, but even if he does not, this same source says Judd has been counseled by both Washington, D.C., and Kentucky advisers that this is the better race for her to enter "in order to give her time to establish residency, secure the grassroots, and that is impossible with the current timetable." ABC's SERENA MARSHALL: You don't always get what you want - at least that's what both Sens. John McCain and Chuck Schumer said yesterday on U.S.-Mexico border. But they also said compromise is key to their success in meeting a new deadline for an immigration bill: immediately following the end of lawmakers' spring recess on April 8. Lessons learned were a key feature of the senators' border tour yesterday. Schumer left saying, "A fence wouldn't be practical, it would be hugely expensive to build and not practical. … There is not one size that fits all. Some people say 'just do this or just do that,' we need a comprehensive approach that as John McCain says is both effective, but also cost effective, because we do have to watch our dollars here too." And McCain expressed hope for a deal, "As Chuck said, nobody is going to be totally happy with this legislation, no one will be because we are having to make compromises, and that's what makes for good legislation, is compromise that brings everybody together." ABC'S MATTHEW DOWD: Biden, Clinton, Cuomo are considered the leading candidates to seek the Democratic nomination for president in the coming open election. Are we talking about 2016 or 1988? Yes, this headline could apply to 2016. But the funny thing is, this could have also been written more than 25 years ago in advance of the 1988 presidential elections. While we are talking about a different Clinton (this time Hillary and not Bill) and Cuomo (and the son Andrew and not the father Mario), it is amazing how the bench of the Democratic Party seems trapped in years gone by. A few days ago on "This Week" on ABC I referred to a meeting of CPAC as something that could take place in the Mesozoic era. But Democrats shouldn't bask in the idea that they don't have a dinosaur problem too. Where are the new names? Where is the bench that isn't named Clinton, Biden or Cuomo? I understand two of these folks are relatives of the names from the 1980s, but come on, isn't there a future for Democrats that isn't a dinosaur name from the past? WHAT WE'RE READING "THE SECRET REPUBLICAN PLAN TO REPEAL 'OBAMACARE,'" by the National Journal's Chris Frates. "By Election Day, Senate Republicans were ready to, as [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell put it, 'take this monstrosity down.' 'We were prepared to do that had we had the votes to do it after the election. Well, the election didn't turn out the way we wanted it to,' McConnell told National Journal in an interview. 'The monstrosity has … begun to be implemented and we're not giving up the fight.' … During the legislative debate over the law, Democrats promised Obamacare would create jobs, lower health care costs, and allow people to keep their current plans if they chose to. Those vows, Republicans argue, are already being broken. The Congressional Budget Office, the Hill's nonpartisan scorekeeper, estimated that the health care law would reduce employment by about 800,000 workers and result in about 7 million people losing their employer-sponsored health care over a decade. The CBO also estimated that Obamacare during that period would raise health care spending by roughly $580 billion. … If Republicans hope to completely repeal the health care law, they have to start by taking back the Senate in 2014 and would likely need to win the White House two years later. Still, some Republicans think the politics are on their side. 'I'm not one of those folks who … because I didn't support something, I want it to be bad. I want good things for Americans. But I do think this is going to create a lot of issues and … affect things throughout 2014 as it relates to politics,' Republican Sen. Bob Corker said. 'The outcome likely will create a better atmosphere for us.'"   HILLARY WATCH: "Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state to President Barack Obama, will attend the Economic Club of Grand Rapids' 26th Annual Dinner this summer," reports Michigan Live's Zane McMillin. "The Club announced Wednesday that Clinton, a former U.S. senator for New York, will be guest of honor at the Monday, June 17, event in the Steelcase Ballroom of DeVos Place. Only Economic Club members are able to attend."   BUZZ BACKSTORY: WHY JUDD SAID 'NO.' Jonathan Miller, one of Ashley Judd's advisers in Kentucky as well as the former state treasurer, told ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE that Judd made the decision not to launch a Kentucky Senate bid very recently. "She called me in the last couple of days to let me know, she called her early supporters," Miller said. "As little as a week ago we were talking strategy and big plans. It's quite a recent decision to pull out, but from the beginning she has always harbored doubts … she's been carefully deliberating and during the deliberation process she came to realize it would be a gruesome couple of years, and she didn't want to put herself and her family through that. One thing she did say is, she was energized by the whole process, energized in a much greater way." Miller expects her to get involved in Kentucky public service and to campaign "quite vigorously" for whoever enters the race against McConnell. Miller said a group of "really close friends, family advisers, guardians of Ashley's interests, D.C. professionals, and Kentucky activists like myself" helped her make the decision and gave her "a lot of feedback about what a difficult personal race it would be as well." Miller says it truly came down to Judd's realizing what a "difficult and grueling campaign against McConnell" it would be and that "weighed against her the most."   NEWTOWN FAMILIES IN BLOOMBERG ANTI-GUN ADS. The families of four victims from the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary appear in two new anti-gun TV ads out this morning, part of an effort to reinvigorate a lagging campaign for new gun controls, notes ABC's DEVIN DWYER. "Don't let the memory of Newtown fade without doing something real," Terri Rousseau, the mother of slain teacher Lauren Rousseau, says in an emotionally charged appeal. The ads also feature personal testimonials from Neil Heslin, father of 6-year-old Jesse Lewis; Chris and Lynn McDonnell, parents of 7-year-old Grace McDonnell; and Jillian Soto, sister of teacher Vicki Soto, 27. All talk about their loved ones and what it was like to learn the tragic news on Dec. 14, 2012. The ads, which will run only in Connecticut, come as that state's legislature considers state-level gun control measures.   GAY MARRIAGE, ROUND 2: SUPREME COURT SKEPTICAL OF DOMA. A majority of the Supreme Court's justices expressed skepticism yesterday about the federal law defining marriage as between one man and one woman, reports ABC's CHRIS GOOD, ARIANE DE VOGUE and MATTHEW LAROTONDA. Yesterday's arguments on DOMA marked the second straight day that the nation's highest court considered a high-profile case on gay marriage. Justice Anthony Kennedy, viewed as a key swing vote, appeared critical of the federal government's declining to recognize marriages that states have made legal. Kennedy cited concerns about federalism, saying there was a "real risk" of the federal law running into conflict with a state's power. The four liberal justices expressed similar concerns over federal power, as well as other concerns about equal protection of gay Americans under the law. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked about a marriage that is recognized by the state but not the federal government. She pointed out that a couple that is legally married in a state might be denied marital deductions and Social Security benefits. "Your spouse is very sick, but you can't get leave," she said. "One might well ask, what kind of marriage is this?" 'GANG OF 8' SENATORS SEE BORDER PATROL IN ACTION. Four of the U.S. senators leading the charge on immigration reform got more than they expected yesterday when they came to Nogales, Ariz., to check on border security. ABC's JIM AVILA AND SERENA MARSHALL report that just a few steps away from where they stood with Customs and Border Patrol officials, the problem facing the nation unfolded before their eyes: A young woman was sprinting her way out of Mexico, then climbing a security fence, only to be caught by the border patrol within seconds. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., soon tweeted about the event, saying: "Just witnessed a woman successfully climb an 18-ft bollard fence a few yards from us in Nogales. And Border Patrol successfully apprehended her, but incident is another reminder that threats to our border security are real." The Border Patrol has more agents than ever, nearly 22,000, with 651 miles of fence along the 1,969-mile-long border. Technology assists the boots on the ground, with 125 airplanes and six drones patrolling the Mexican frontier all working together to make crossing the border illegally more difficult than ever. In fact, apprehensions like the ones the senators saw yesterday are down 78 percent from their peak in 2000.   SENATORS REACT: Arizona's Senate delegation, McCain and Sen. Jeff Flake, both Republicans, hosted Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., for Wednesday's tour along the border. All four senators are members of the so-called "Gang of Eight" that is working on a solution to the nation's immigration issues. "Well, I'd have to know all the details there to give you a judgment," Schumer said. "One of the things we learned is that a lot of people cross the border are doing it for drug purposes, too. But I don't know what happened in this situation." The incident was "surprising" to Bennet. "I just have never seen it before," he said. For McCain, the incident was all-too-normal. "One of the sad things about all of this is that most of those people who jump over the fence are doing that because they want a better life," he said at the news conference following the tour. "And I understand that. So we separate the drug cartels from individuals or somebody trying to cross over so they improve their lives." OBAMA EXPECTS IMMIGRATION BILL IN APRIL. President Obama expects an immigration bill to come before the Senate next month and voiced optimism that a final bill could pass through Congress this summer, notes Fusion's JORDAN FABIAN. "I'm actually optimistic that when they get back they will introduce a bill," Obama said during an interview with Univision. "My sense is that they have come close and my expectation is that we'll actually see a bill on the floor of the Senate next month." The president has repeatedly said that he would propose his own immigration bill should negotiations in Congress grind to a halt. But Obama refused to say that he would take such action even if the lawmakers fail to introduce a bill in April. "I'm not going to presuppose that they don't [reach an agreement]," he said. When Obama was asked if immigration reform could still get done by summer, a goal he set out earlier this year, the president replied, "I believe so."   NOTED: The White House on Wednesday announced that Obama would visit Mexico and Costa Rica in May. The president said he would discuss ways to boost trade and economic cooperation with Mexican and Central American leaders. "A lot of what drives both illegal immigration to the United States, but also what drives a lot of the violence in these countries, is a lack of opportunity," Obama said "If we can help them to grow, that could be good for the United States, that could be good for those countries as well." BIDEN: SENATE GUN VOTES ARE 'JUST THE BEGINNING.' Vice President Joe Biden told gun control supporters Wednesday that the upcoming votes on gun legislation in the Senate are only "the beginning" in the country's push toward alleviating gun violence, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ reports. "That doesn't mean this is the end of the process. This is the beginning of the process," Biden said in a conference call hosted by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. "The American people are way ahead of their political leaders, and we, the president and I, intend, and the mayors intend, to stay current with the American people." Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Senate will consider a comprehensive gun package, including universal background checks, next month. The vice president voiced his belief that the country is "on the verge" of requiring universal background checks, a measure that has drawn opposition from Republicans and moderate Democrats. The assault weapons ban will not be included in the comprehensive gun package considered next month, but will be considered as an amendment. "This is just the beginning. We believe that weapons of war have no place on our streets," Biden said. SECOND DATE: ANOTHER DINNER FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA AND SENATE REPUBLICANS. Look who's coming for dinner again: Senate Republicans. ABC's SUNLEN MILLER notes that on Wednesday, April 10, President Obama will dine with a new group of 12 Republican senators. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., was tasked with organizing the second guest list for dinner, which is still being assembled, Republican aides on Capitol Hill confirm. The location of the dinner is still to be announced. This second dinner party follows one earlier this month, on March 6, in which President Obama hosted 12 Republican senators at the Jefferson Hotel to break bread.   HOW'S OBAMA'S NCAA BRACKET? Asked how his March Madness bracket is doing, President Obama yesterday responded with one word: "busted." ABC's MARY BRUCE points out that 11 of the president's picks are among the Sweet 16 and his Final Four are still in the men's NCAA tournament, but his teams in the Western division did not do as well. "But Delaware won last night!" Vice President Biden was eager to point out of the women's tournament. Biden reportedly attended last night's game and watched his home-state University of Delaware Blue Hens take down North Carolina. Obama still has high hopes for the women's teams he picked. "I think my women's bracket is doing much better than my men's bracket," he admitted. The president's comments came after a swearing-in ceremony for his new Secret Service director, Julia Pierson, in the Oval Office.   IN THE NOTE'S INBOX NANCY PELOSI SPOTLIGHTS CHILD CARE CRISIS. An announcement from the Service Employees International Union: "House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), working moms and child care providers will hold a news conference Thursday to call attention to the impact a severe shortage of child care options has on California women, their children, and the California economy. … Led by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a coalition of providers, parents and forward-thinking employers has come together to press for state and national policy solutions to improve childcare choices and availability so women on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder can participate in the workforce and bring their families into the middle-class." The news conference with Pelosi and representatives from the SEIU and other organizations takes place today at 11:30am PT at the South of Market Child Care in San Francisco.

 

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Michigan official wants progress in Detroit before funds released

The newly appointed emergency manager for the City of Detroit has an impressive resume, sweeping powers and at least a temporary reservoir of good will as he seeks a financial turnaround of Michigan's biggest and nearly bankrupt city. But a powerful state legislative leader told Reuters that before any funds come from Lansing, bankruptcy lawyer Kevyn Orr is going to have to show progress with realistic financial estimates and measures to help the city's finances. Republican Governor Rick Snyder, who selected the 54-year-old Democrat to serve as Detroit's manager, has spoken in general about the likelihood a turnaround plan will require new financial resources. But Snyder has carefully avoided making any specific pledges or proposals. State House Speaker Jase Bolger, also a Republican, said he wants to see results before committing major new resources to Detroit. "We're not the slightest bit interested in providing more money for business as usual," he said. Snyder and other Republican leaders in the state capital have spoken repeatedly about the need for Detroit to overhaul its financial practices. Orr has said he intends to seek improved city services such as street lighting, law enforcement and firefighting, but has not said whether the improvements will cost the city more money. Orr's March 14 appointment was a watershed moment for Detroit, a city in a long economic decline. Once the fifth largest American city at 1.8 million people, it now ranks 18th with just over 700,000. In addition to the population decline - the city's population stood at 713,777 after the 2010 census, a 100-year low - Detroit suffers from high unemployment, high crime rates, a flood of home foreclosures and a cut in state funding. The state might provide one-time assistance to help Orr launch his reform efforts, Bolger said. Orr's appointment could provide an opening for the state to help him launch an effort to right-size city government and provide services, but additional support would depend on the scope of Orr's plans. "Right now, the question is premature because we don't have a proposal," Bolger said. The reluctance of state officials to step in with additional help comes after years of city over-spending. Detroit's accumulated annual operating deficits approach $1 billion, and its long term liabilities top $14 billion. Although State of Michigan finances are on sounder footing today than they were five years ago, there are no obvious sources of state revenue to fill Detroit's needs. Former State House Fiscal Agency Director Mitch Bean said this week that Michigan's financial condition remains tenuous, and a looming sequester of federal government funding adds to uncertainty about the state's fiscal outlook. "It's very difficult for me to see (the governor and Legislature) coming up with a bunch of money," Bean said. "There's just not a lot of surplus money out there." Detroit has found itself on the verge of losing special status that helps boost its revenues because of its population loss. An elevated income tax and a city utility tax both are contingent on the city maintaining its population above a threshold level. But the legislature was forced to reduce the minimum last year as the population dropped below the then-mandated threshold of 750,000 people. The new floor was set at 600,000. The governor's office noted Detroit is already the recipient of multiple special state programs and tax provisions that generate an extra $164 million in revenues annually. The state also is picking up the tab for a significant portion of the costs stemming from city turnaround efforts. The state is covering 50 percent of consulting contracts totaling nearly $5 million, and is covering all of Orr's $275,000 salary, Treasury Department spokesman Terry Stanton said. Speaker Bolger said he sees reasons to be hopeful for progress, even if no significant state funding becomes available. "I don't think there will be a direct (state) appropriation" to facilitate a Detroit turnaround, he said. "But if there's a partnership, that's good for everybody."

 

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Democrats Have a Dinosaur Problem Too

Biden, Clinton, Cuomo are considered the leading candidates to seek the Democratic nomination for president in the coming open election. Are we talking about 2016 or 1988?

Yes, this headline could apply to 2016. But the funny thing is, this could have also been written more than 25 years ago in advance of the 1988 presidential elections. While we are talking about a different Clinton (this time Hillary and not Bill) and Cuomo (and the son Andrew and not the father Mario), it is amazing how the bench of the Democratic Party seems trapped in years gone by.

Biden, Clinton, Cuomo are considered the leading candidates to seek the Democratic nomination for president in the coming open election. Are we talking about 2016 or 1988? A few days ago on "This Week" on ABC I referred to a meeting of CPAC as something that could take place in the Mesozoic era. The interesting thing is both parties in different ways seem trapped in the past. For many, Republicans seem to be annunciating policies and programs and a vision that seems outdated and out of step with modern America. Their stands on many social issues (though there does seem to be some evolving going on related to gay marriage) and tax policies and view of government do not seem to fit society in the 21 st century. As I've said, a conservative message could be very successful; it just needs to be one that fits today's economic, social and political environment. But Democrats shouldn't bask in the idea that they don't have a dinosaur problem too. Look at that list of names at the top of this column; it is a list from a time gone by. Where are the new names? Where is the bench that isn't named Clinton, Biden or Cuomo? I understand two of these folks are relatives of the names from the 1980s, but come on, isn't there a future for Democrats that isn't a dinosaur name from the past? And while Republicans have a message that could be described as drawn up in a time of dinosaurs, Democrats must solve a personnel problem to move successfully into the future. Right now the personality and persuasion of President Obama ties the Democrats together in a loose coalition of a diverse variety of demographic groups. He is the leader that looks much more like the 21 st century, but after President Obama leaves office in 2016, whom do they have that isn't a name drawn from 25 years ago? Republicans actually have a new group of leaders emerging. Sure, a Bush seems to be circling the field, but the names that have gotten more buzz today among conservatives are Rubio, Christie and Walker. None of these names were on the political scene 10 years ago, let alone 25 years ago. And if one of these candidates (or another new Republican out there) catches fire, and has the courage to create a conservative policy model for the next generation, the Democrats are in serious trouble in 2016. Both parties are an imperfect fit for this next presidential election, as well as to appeal to the new generation of voters emerging in America, but for totally different reasons. One has a policy problem; the other has a personnel problem. But in many ways, the Republicans' situation is an easier fix. You can't create a brand new candidate that is ready for prime time out of thin air. But a new candidate can create a new set of messages and policies if they are willing to lead and have the strength and capacity to put together a viable electoral coalition. In politics, you nearly always need a candidate first, and then messages usually flow from that person's leadership ability. In 1992, it wasn't some think tanks or party regulars or the Democratic Leadership Council that created Bill Clinton. It was his emergence and ability as a politician that gave all of them credibility and brought them into the limelight. His message and persona fit the time exceedingly well. And this is what some new Republican is going to need to do if they are going to win. For the Republicans to emerge from their antiquated messages, they should look not to some Super Pac, or discussions among think tanks or conservagentzia, but to one of the new leaders who is ready to drag the party along. Whether those leaders have the courage to embrace a new generation is an open question. And Democrats should just be careful about jumping up and down on the basketball court before the buzzer sounds and celebrating too much about the Republican disarray. They are about to see their premiere point guard retire, and as President Obama prepares to walk off the court, do they really want to go to a player whose last name seems to be written on a faded jersey from long ago?

 

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The Note's Must-Reads for Thursday, March 28, 2013

SUPREME COURT: The Hill's Sam Baker: " Supreme Court appears reluctant to issue broad marriage ruling" The Supreme Court seemed to make clear this week that it is in no rush to expand the rights of same-sex couples to marry. The court made history simply by taking up the first cases it has ever heard on the issue of marriage equality. And in both cases, the justices seemed concerned with minimizing the footprint their decisions will leave.

The New York Times' Adam Liptak and Peter Baker: " Justices Cast Doubt on U.S. Law Defining Marriage" The Supreme Court appeared ready on Wednesday to strike down a central part of a federal law that defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman, as a majority of the justices expressed reservations about the Defense of Marriage Act.

BORDER SECURITY: The Washington Times' Seth McLaughlin: " Senators touring border witness woman scaling 18-foot fence" Sen. John McCain and members of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight" tasked with carving out a comprehensive immigration package got a firsthand look at the difficulty involved in securing the U.S.-Mexican border when a woman literally climbed over a border fence right in front of them. "Just witnessed a woman successfully climb an 18-ft bollard fence a few yards from us in #Nogales," the Arizona Republican tweeted.

JULIA PIERSON: ABC News' Mary Bruce: " Julia Pierson Sworn In as First Female Secret Service Director" President Obama today praised the qualifications of his pick to lead the U.S. Secret Service, as Julia Pierson was sworn in as the agency's first female director. "I have to say that Julia's reputation within the service is extraordinary," Obama told reporters. "She's come up through the ranks, she's done just about every job there is to do at the Secret Service."

IMMIGRATION REFORM : USA Today's Aamer Madhani: " Obama: Immigration bill could pass by summer" President Obama expressed optimism on Wednesday that Congress will have a bill that overhauls the nation's immigration laws ready next month and that passage of the legislation can be completed by summer's end. "If we have a bill introduced at the beginning of next month as these senators indicate it will be, then I'm confident that we can get it done certainly before the end of the summer," Obama said in an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo.

Politico's Anna Palmer: " Immigration talks hit the border" Overlooking a hillside dotted with big box stores, mobile homes and fast food chains just a few miles from Mexico, key Senate immigration reform negotiators gathered for a press conference to show they've found common ground on at least one issue - border security. The only problem: disagreement on the border wasn't the reason senators couldn't come up with a plan before leaving Washington last week for a two-week recess.

GAY MARRIAGE: The Wall Street Journal's Brent Kendall: " Obama's Actions Over Law Questioned" President Barack Obama believes the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, but continues to enforce it. That stance came in for serious criticism Wednesday from conservative members of the Supreme Court, and led the justices to tackle some thorny procedural questions.

OTHER: The Los Angeles Times' Michael Memoli: " Ashley Judd says no to Kentucky Senate bid" Ashley Judd put an end to speculation about a potential turn from acting to politics Wednesday, announcing that she would not challenge Mitch McConnell for his Senate seat in 2014. In a series of Twitter messages, Judd thanked her would-be supporters for their encouragement but said she needed to focus her energy on her family. "I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months who expressed their desire for a fighter for the people & new leader," Judd wrote

 

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Ailing Boston Mayor Menino won't seek re-election

Boston's longest-serving mayor, Thomas Menino, won't seek re-election for a sixth term amid ongoing health problems.

A person with direct knowledge of his decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Menino planned to announce he wouldn't be seeking re-election in November. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly.

Menino's spokeswoman would say only that the mayor planned an announcement for Thursday. The announcement is expected to be made at an afternoon event at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall.

The 70-year-old Democrat was re-elected to a fifth four-year term in 2009. He has recently faced a series of health problems but has remained popular with voters.

Menino was hospitalized for eight weeks in the fall after a respiratory infection and a blood clot that was complicated by a spinal fracture and diabetes.

He told reporters in November that he had no plans to retire but deflected questions about whether he would seek another term.

Menino's decision is expected to trigger a political scramble to replace him as a new generation of political figures eye the mayor's office.

City Councilor John Connolly announced his mayoral intentions last month, regardless of Menino's decision. But Menino had been considered a heavy favorite had he opted to run.

As recently as January, Menino delivered an upbeat assessment of the city during his annual state of the city address.

Menino used a cane to walk to the podium and spoke vigorously about his plans for Boston. At the time, Menino gave no indication on whether he'd decided to seek a sixth term this year.

"Our progress is real. Our future is bright. The state of our city is striking, sound and strong," he said in prepared remarks that cited progress on economic development and crime reduction.

On Tuesday, Menino appeared at a rally at Boston City Hall plaza to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act. The previous day, he delivered a speech to the Boston Municipal Research Bureau in which he said he had never been more confident about the city and announced several new development projects and initiatives.

Menino became acting mayor after his predecessor, Raymond Flynn, left office in 1993 after being named ambassador to the Vatican. Menino, then president of the City Council, was automatically elevated to the mayor's job.

The circumstances prompted some critics to label him the "accidental mayor," a charge the sometimes-thin-skinned Menino was quick to reject. But he was elected mayor in his own right in November 1993 and won re-election by wide margins in 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2009.

The city's previous longest serving mayor, the late Kevin White, was in office for four terms, from 1968 to 1984.

Menino's longevity also exceeded the legendary Mayor James Michael Curley, who also served four terms, but not consecutively.

Menino built his reputation by focusing on the unglamorous nuts and bolts of running a major metropolitan city — fixing potholes, cleaning streets, even curbing the practice of saving a shoveled-out parking space by putting folding chairs or trash cans along the curb.

It's everyday commitments like those that earned him the nickname of the "Urban Mechanic."

The 2004 Democratic National Convention put Menino's political and negotiating skills to the test when the city's main police union threatened to picket over an unresolved contract.

It was only with the last minute help of other politicians, including Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, that a contract was reached in the early morning hours the day before the convention opened.

During his years in office, Menino also became a vigorous national voice in favor of stricter gun control measures.

He co-founded Mayors Against Illegal Guns with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and criticized the National Rifle Association's call for more armed guards at schools after the Connecticut school shooting in December.

"That is crazy," Menino said. "Every victim of gun violence and their families knows that's crazy."

Menino also built a reputation for creating an impressive political machine that handily defeated challengers.

Last year, Menino also played a crucial role in helping elect U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, campaigning with her at stops across the city.

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