The Golden Report

9 DAYS UNTIL SOUTH CAROLINA (25 delegates)
12 DAYS UNTIL THE STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
19 DAYS UNTIL FLORIDA (50 delegates)

ALL POLITICS EDITION

MINDMELD: Today was one of those days in the election when there wasn’t one action that happened, or moment that occurred, but rather there was an amalgamation of forces that revealed a shifting dynamic in the race.

We hinted at it at the end of last night’s Report. There began, yesterday, to be pushback from many establishment Republicans about the primary attacks against Mitt Romney and his record at Bain Capital.

Those attacks, from Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman, had threatened to consume the Republican primary for the next 9 days in South Carolina, and Florida at the end of the month and possibly even prolonging a contested primary season through the spring.

Today, that pushback continued and even as new polls showed a competitive race in South Carolina, there were clear signs that the Republican Party may be moving to clear the deck and ready to appoint their nominee to face President Obama from now until the fall. 

GOP DIVIDED OVER POTENTIAL IMPACT OF BAIN ATTACKS- The Washington Post- Amy Gardner in Greer, SC- 

“Republican voters at campaign events for Romney and other candidates Thursday said they were unmoved by the arguments against Romney’s time at Bain, a venture capital company that several of Romney’s rivals have blamed for bankrupting companies and laying off thousands of workers. Most damning has been an ad campaign paid for by a group backing Newt Gingrich, featuring interviews with workers claiming to have been laid off by Bain.

On Wednesday, Perry called Romney a “vulture capitalist” — a phrase that he did not repeat on Thursday.

Romney’s rivals seemed to vacillate between continuing to criticize Romney over Bain and easing up in the face of growing pressure to do so. Gingrich, whose critiques have been the harshest of any, rarely mentioned Romney by name Thursday, sticking instead to a more general “big guy vs. little guy” theme.

Huntsman aimed his attack Thursday on a line Romney uttered Monday about firing people, rather than directly hitting him over Bain. “When you have a candidate who talks about enjoyment of firing people, that makes you pretty much unelectable,” he said.

Several Republican strategists said the verdict is still not in on how damaging the Bain narrative will be for Romney, whose wins in New Hampshire and Iowa earlier this month have cemented his position as the front-runner of the Republican field.”

NEWT WEB AD COMPARES MITT TO DUKASIS & KERRY- includes clips of both Sen. Kerry and Gov. Romney speaking French. As you watch this ad, remind yourself that it is a Republican that produced it 

GINGRICH will be interviewed by NBC’s David Gregory this Sunday on Meet The Press

GINGRICH’S SUPER PAC, WINNING OUR FUTURE, IS UP WITH WWW.KINGOFBAIN.COM.Here’s some of the text. And it’s hard hitting.

“Mitt Romney.   

Was he a job creator or a corporate raider?

That’s the question this film answers.

And it’s not pretty.

Mitt Romney was not a capitalist during his reign at Bain. He was a predatory corporate raider.

His firm didn’t seek to create value. Instead, like a scavenger, Romney looked for businesses he could pick apart.

Indeed, he represented the worst possible kind of predator, operating within the law but well outside the bounds of what most real capitalists consider ethical.

He is exhibit number one the left wants to use in the coming election to give capitalism a bad name.

He and his friends at Bain were bad guys. Any real capitalists should disavow Romney’s ‘creative destruction’ model that made him wealthy at the expense of thousands of American jobs.”

TOP TALKER- John McCain rips into Mike Huckabee, reliving the end of the 2008 Republican Primary 

“I respect him, but that’s totally false. It’s totally, patently false. And for him to say something like that, maybe it makes him feel better. … All I can say to Gov. Huckabee is good luck on your programming on Fox, but you’re not telling the truth.”

TOP TALKER II- Laura Bush today to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune:

“Former first lady Laura Bush wishes there were one more candidate in the Republican presidential primary: Jeb Bush.

Speaking to a sold-out Sarasota audience on Wednesday, Bush said she had hoped that her brother-in-law and former Florida governor would have jumped into the race this year.

Husband George W. Bush “and I wish he would,” Laura Bush said when asked if Jeb Bush will run for president someday. “We wanted him to this time.”

TOP TALKER III- Rudy Giuliani on Fox & Friends this morning- calling out Gingrich and Perry for their attacks on Romney “What the hell are you doing, Newt?” he asked

THE LATEST SOUTH CAROLINA POLLING FROM INSIDER ADVANTAGE: ROMNEY +2

• Romney 23%
• Gingrich 21%
• Santorum 14%
• Paul 13%
• Huntsman 7%
• Perry 5%

LATEST GALLUP TRACKING POLL FOR GOP NOMINATION NATIONALLY: ROMNEY +19

• Romney 34%
• Santorum 15%
• Gingrich 14%
• Paul 13%
• Perry 5%
• Huntsman 2%

WALL STREET FROM CNBC- Stocks End Higher, Nasdaq Logs 6-Day Gain

• DOW up 22
• NASDAQ up 14
• S&P 500 up 3

FINALLY…TAKE THIS WITH A GRAIN OF SALT, BUT STEPHEN COLBERT WANTS TO RUN IN SOUTH CAROLINA

From POLITICO’s Mike Allen [a guest on this evening’s Colbert Report]

“I am proud to announce that I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for president of the United States of America of South Carolina,” Colbert said during the Thursday evening show, several hours before airtime on Comedy Central.

“This is a difficult decision. I’ve talked it over with my money. I’ve talked it over with my spiritual adviser.”

Trevor Potter, the former Federal Election Commission chairman, acts as Colbert’s lawyer and was a guest on the show. “

You cannot be a candidate and run a super PAC,” Potter said. “That would be coordinating with yourself.”
Colbert’s super PAC is Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow. His 501(c)4 is the Colbert Super PAC SHH [as in “shh”] Institute.

The stunt was part of Colbert’s continuing effort to expose what he considers absurdities in U.S. election law.

Telling quotes, via Mike Allen’s Playbook, from President Obama’s night of political fundraising in New York City:

“[I]n addition to preventing a financial meltdown and preventing a second Great Depression, we were able to pass a historic health care bill that’s going to make sure that 30 million people have coverage. We were able to pass a Wall Street reform package that, although some folks in New York are still grousing about it [laughter], is going to ensure that we do not have the same kinds of crisis … We were able to make sure that we ended the war in Iraq, as promised. And by the end of this year we’re going to have all of our troops out, which is going to be an extraordinary homecoming for families all across America. …

“[A]re we going to have the best schools in this country, are we going to have the best infrastructure, are we going to do what it takes, so these guys end up being part of an America where everybody can still make it if they try[?] … Our kids are going to be fine. And I always tell Malia and Sasha, ‘Look, you guys, I don’t worry about you’ — I mean, I worry the way parents worry. But they’re on a path that is going to be successful, even if the country as a whole is not successful. But that’s not our vision of America. I don’t want an America where my kids are living behind walls and gates, and can’t feel a part of a country that is giving everybody a shot. And that’s what we’re fighting for. That’s what 2012 is going to be all about.”

“We still have a lot of headwinds ahead of us. Europe is probably the biggest one. And I’m spending an awful lot of time making transatlantic calls — because when you look at what’s happening in Europe, both to the banks and for countries like Italy that need to refinance their debt, that can have a profound impact on what happens here. But I am cautiously hopeful that they end up recognizing that they need to do the right thing, and we’re providing them as much assistance as we can to make sure that the situation is stabilized, because it will have an impact all around the world.”

“I try not to pat myself too much on the back, but this administration has done more in terms of the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration.”

Tuesday November 01, 2011

TOP STORY: Bank of America today reversed its previous decision and said that it will not go forward with a planned $5 monthly fee on debit cards. After public outcry- extending to the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in New York and around the county- and an online petition that acquired over 300,000 signatories- the Bank bowed to criticism. Initially, Bank of America blamed the need for the bank fee on the Dodd Frank financial regulatory reform legislation, passed last year, and a signature achievement of President Obama’s first term. Today, the Bank said that a changing industry environment prompted it to reverse course.

STATEMENT FROM BANK OF AMERICA: “We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern with our proposed debit usage fee,” said David Darnell, co-chief operating officer. “Our customers’ voices are most important to us. As a result, we are not currently charging the fee and will not be moving forward with any additional plans to do so.”

GREECE: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou gave conflicting signs today on whether or not he will move forward with a referendum on the European Union’s bailout package that was initially brokered last week- and that will be the subject of EU and G-20 meetings later this week. Yesterday, the Prime Minister said that he would go forward with the planned national referendum- which is unlikely to succeed given large public resentment and ongoing protests in the streets of Athens. According to the BBC, Papandreou said that he “has a clear mandate” to hold the referendum. However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy today said that the announcement “surprised all of Europe.” As a result of the uncertainty, worldwide financial markets have been lower over the past two days.

UPDATE: The Associated Press reports tonight that Greece’s Cabinet has concluded a marathon meeting and decided to back the Prime Minister in his call for a national referendum on the European bailout package.

• DOW down 297
• NASDAQ down 77
• S&P 500 down 35

QUOTABLE: “This brings all of the concerns about Europe back to the front burner,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James. “If this ends up turning into a financial catastrophe in Europe, then no one will escape it,” in an article tonight published in the Washington Post

SUPERCOMMITTEE: The Joint Congressional Committee on Deficit Reduction today held its latest public hearing- potentially the last time the committee will open its doors to the public and the media before a November 23rd deadline to report back a proposal to reduce the national deficit by at least $1.2 trillion.

“We are now entering the critical final phase of this process,” said Committee co-chairwoman Patty Murray today. Today’s news were reports that the Supercommittee may be considering reforms of Social Security in its proposal- previously the “third rail” of politics was thought to be outside of the committee’s consideration. Media reports have gone back and forth in recent weeks as to how successful the Supercommittee might be, but today there are several reports, encouraged by a speech House Speaker John Boehner gave last night, that the Committee may still “go large”- maybe picking up where the President and the Speaker left off in their negotiations over the summer.

612,000 : that’s the number of residents in Connecticut who are without power tonight, three days after an unusual October snow storm dumped over two feet of snow in some places. Connecticut Light and Power, the primary utility company in the state, has still not given estimated restoration times for over half of the towns in the state and has only improved the number of outages by 200,000 in the past three days, prompting outrage by the State’s governor and other elected officials. Of the remaining power outages from the weekend storm, Connecticut has more than any other state. The utility says it still may be until Sunday night- a full week after the storm- until all customers have power restored. Many school districts have gone ahead and canceled all classes for the balance of the week- the second time they have had to do so this year (the first week of school was delayed from many jurisdictions because of power outages stemming from damage caused by Hurricane Irene).

MICHAEL JACKSON TRIAL: In the manslaughter trial of Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson’s personal physician who faces charges of giving the pop start a lethal dose of the anaesthetic drug propofol in his home before he died in 2009, the defense today called its final witness and announced that Murray will not take the stand in his own defense. The defense could rests its case by the end of the week.

MINIBUS: The Senate today passed a “minibus” bill that funds give cabinet agencies for the fiscal year that began on September 30th. The minibus procedure might be the way forward for the remaining annual appropriations bills- mandatory legislation that funds the government- as House Republicans (especially Tea Party members) object to a single large-scale appropriations bill, which in recent years has become a favored procedure for Congresses under both Republican and Democratic control. The vote on today’s bill, funding the Departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and NASA and the FBI, at a cost of $182 billion, was 69-30, a rare bi-partisan vote in the Senate.

FROM PLAYBOOK: Readers of the EVENING REPORT know that we find our inspiration from the daily newsletter produced by POLITICO Chief White House Correspondent Mike Allen. We like to think of ourselves as an early version of Playbook [indeed, in this morning’s edition, Allen used a quote from Alexander Burn’s story on Herman Cain that we also used in last evening’s REPORT]. But tonight, we give full credit to Allen and pull a fascinating segment from this morning’s PLAYBOOK. Today, the White House welcomed local news reporters from around the country to The White House- giving them extraordinary access for local network affiliates and brief interviews with President Obama. We found it interesting- and thought our readers would like it as well.

“LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE” TAKES LOCAL ANCHORS BEHIND SCENES: Anchors from nine local TV stations will spend today at the White House, meeting top officials and getting brief individual interviews with President Obama before broadcasting sweeps-month evening newscasts from the South Lawn. It’s a 21st-century update to the old “radio row,” which let talk-show hosts to broadcast from the White House, with West Wing officials going from microphone to microphone during drive-time shows. The White House is building risers on the South Lawn for the evening newscasts, which are being spread out by time zones - three from the East, two from Central, one from Mountain and two from Pacific. Each station will run cable from the riser to its network’s fiber line in the Rose Garden. Each anchor will get to ask Jay Carney a question during the briefing; have lunch with David Plouffe; interview a White House staffer from the station’s home market; get an on-camera tour with a White House curator; and tour the kitchen garden with Assistant Chef Sam Kass.

Participants are from Portland, Ore. (KGW, NBC, Tracy Barr); Phoenix (KSAZ, Fox, John Hook); Denver (KUSA, NBC, Adele Arakawa); Minneapolis (WCCO, CBS, Amelia Santaniello); Houston (KTRK, ABC, Dave Ward); Omaha (KETV, ABC, Rob McCartney); Tampa (WTVT, Fox, Mark Wilson); Hampton Roads (WAVY, NBC, Tom Schaad); and Philadelphia (WPVI, ABC, Brian Taff). A 10th participant will be Nikole Killion, representing Hearst stations, including WMUR in Manchester, N.H.

The ringmaster is Deputy White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest , who said the mission is “to increase interest and raise the profile of the president’s efforts to strengthen the economy and create jobs in local communities across the country, and explain to Americans how their communities will benefit from the president’s agenda. … The highlight of the day will be an opportunity to briefly interview the President from the Cabinet Room about the American Jobs Act … The anchors will also interview Cabinet secretaries … about how the bipartisan proposals included in the president’s American Jobs Act would create jobs in their community and put money in the pocket of every single American worker and small business owner.”

FINALLY: Google announced a redesigned look for GMail today, highlighting on its blog the new features, including: “streamlined conversation, elastic density, new customized themes in high definition, smarter navigation, and better search. As Erick Schonfeld reviews on TechCrunch today, “Messages aren’t as bunched up as before and easier to read. Adding a social element, Google is adding profile pictures beside each message, and the labels pop out more. The density of the text also adjusts depending on your screen size and resolution, making it easier on the eyes. The new design is in line with some of the changes Google just made to Google Reader in terms of spacing and overall feel.” Check it out!

JUST IN: POLITICO’s Mike Allen is reporting that WH Deputy Senior Advisor Stephanie Cutter will leave the West Wing at the end of the year to move to Chicago and become to Obama 2012 “deputy campaign manager overseeing communications, press, policy and research, with responsibility for managing the long-term message plan” 

Cutter was born 10/28/1968 in Taunton, Massachusetts. A graduate of Smith College and Georgetown Law, she has worked as Deputy Communications Director for President Clinton, Communications Director for Sen. Ted Kennedy and the Democratic National Committee and was Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama during the 2008 campaign. At the White House, she was chiefly in charge of messaging strategy for the year-long health care reform effort.

HEALTH REFORM: Today the Justice Department declined an opportunity to have the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals review a ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. In August, a 3-judge panel of the Court ruled the law’s individual mandate section to be unconstitutional. The Administration could have had the full Court issue a ruling, but this decision sets up a likely Supreme Court decision as early as this coming term. The 6th and 4th Circuit Courts of Appeals have ruled the law constitutional and a ruling is still pending in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia

SHUTDOWN AVERTED?: Tonight the Senate voted 79-12 on a stopgap budget resolution which would keep the government funded through the middle of November, provided for additional funding for FEMA and avert a government shutdown by allowing the House to approve the funding in two waves- through next Tuesday (which would happen via voice vote in a pro forma session) and then by recorded vote through November. The level of funding for FEMA- $2.65B- is less than Senate Democrats had wanted- but the bill does not include the additional cuts in domestic discretionary spending that some Republicans demanded. Earlier today, FEMA announced they had enough funding to last through the end of the week- enough cover for a deal that has the auspices of bi-partisanship to be reached.

NEW CNN/ORC POLL (with changes from last survey): 

• Perry 28% (-2)
• Romney 21% (+3)
• Gingrich 10%  (+5)
• Cain 7% (+2)
• Palin 7% (-8)
• Paul 7% (-5)
• Bachmann 4% (-)
• Santorum 3% (+1)
• Huntsman 1% (-1)

President Obama Job Approval Rating: Approve: 45% (+2), Disapprove: 52% (-3)

ON WALL STREET: News from Europe that discussions were underway to expand borrowing authority as a potential solution to the Euro Zone debt crisis (although nothing has been confirmed) was enough to reverse last Thursday’s losses. 

• Dow up 272
• NASDAQ up 33
• S&P 500 up 27

ALSO.. “A technical issue kept the Dow from accurately updating for 12 minutes at the beginning of trading in New York. The index opened flat as its component stocks and other indexes rose in the minutes after the opening bell” the New York Times reports

PRESIDENT OBAMA was in Mountain View, CA today for the LinkedIn Town Hall Meeting and is in Los Angeles and San Diego tonight for DNC fundraisers. Tomorrow, he’ll be in Denver. 

WATCH THIS VIDEO the National Park Service released today- showing tourists racing down the stairs inside the Washington Monument at the time of last month’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake- as debris from the Monument fall from the ceiling. The Park Service said today that they have been assessing the damage since the quake and that the Monument will remain closed for an indefinite period of time.

FINALLY.. FACEBOOK FORMS A POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE: From Spokesperson Andrew Noyes (an American University alum!) “FB PAC will give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” And- fun fact- Facebook’s COO Sharyl Standberg, who hosted last night’s fundraiser for President Obama attended by a who’s-who of Hollywood, including Lady Gaga, was mentioned four separate times in POLITICO’s Playbook this morning. For more on Standberg- see this New Yorker profile from earlier this year. 

Mike Allen is POLITICO’s Chief White House Correspondent and one of the most well sourced reporters in DC. His analysis below, from this morning’s Playbook, on why we are where we are (note this is all about politics & political positioning):

Why we’re stuck: President Obama and Speaker Boehner - one facing reelection, the other on the back nine of his legislative career — want to do a big deal, and would rightly get credit for a historic accomplishment. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (the #2 House GOP leader) and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (the #3) - on the front nine of their Capitol Hill careers — do not want a grand bargain, and are convinced their rank and file does not support even modest tax hikes. 

(Source: politico.com)