The NRA is opposing a law in Pennsylvania that would forbid people from eating dogs, -- finally the NRA and the president see eye-to-eye on something. Edward Snowden told The Nation that discussions of pop culture are "so ordinary," confirming your suspicion that Edward Snowden is that irritating philosophy major who always sat at your cafeteria table freshman year. And political reporters reacted with excitement to Hillary Clinton's latest gaffe, but remorse soon set in when they realized the gaffe could bend if kept in a tight jeans pocket too long. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, October 27th, 2014:
SENATE REPUBLICANS REALLY GETTING RANDIAN WITH THEIR CAMPAIGN HANDOUTS - They'll gladly pay you on Tuesday for some money today. The Hill: "Some Senate Republicans are sitting on well-stocked campaign war chests — and they appear to be keeping it that way. Several haven’t given any money to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, even though they could be on the cusp of capturing the majority. Now, their perceived stinginess is causing some grumbling among fellow Republicans who feel the pressure of Election Day looming a week and a half away. 'A lot of people are putting in a lot of effort to try to take this country in a different direction and to the extent that some members don’t seem want to pitch in, it’s very disappointing,' said a Senate GOP aide.The biggest cheapskate in the eyes of some Republicans is Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who has a huge campaign war chest totaling $17.9 million. He gave only $17,400 to the NRSC in January, even though he stands to become chairman of the powerful Banking Committee if Republicans retake the Senate." [The Hill]
YOU CAN THANK THE NRA FOR THAT DELICIOUS BRAISED LABRADOODLE - This one gets four out of four possible Robert "BARBARIC" Byrds on our patented animal cruelty rating system. ThinkProgress: "It is currently legal to slaughter and eat dogs or cats in Pennsylvania, and, thanks in large part to lobbying from the National Rifle Association, it will remain so. Although [an] animal cruelty bill passed the state senate by a 36-12 margin — and even though Gov. Tom Corbett (R) was expected to sign it — legislative leaders in the state house did not include this bill in the final list of legislation that would receive a vote before the end of the house’s 2013-2014 session. The NRA swiftly claimed victory for killing what it viewed as a 'misguided' bill. The NRA’s primary objection to the animal cruelty bill was a separate provision banning what are known as 'pigeon shoots' (although it is worth nothing that the NRA assembled a coalition of groups to oppose the bill that includes dog breeders opposed to additional regulation of kennels)" [ThinkProgress]
COONSMENTUM: DEMS MULLING NEXT DSCC CHAIR - Roll Call: Senate Majority Leader Harry "Reid will simply have a larger pool of applicants to choose from. And there should be several willing candidates among the numerous names currently being mentioned. Among those regularly included in chatter about next cycle are Sens. Chris Coons of Delaware, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Claire McCaskill of Missouri, though their respective levels of interest likely vary. Others who could be in the mix are Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Another is Montana Sen. Jon Tester, who one Democratic operative said is 'really, really angling for it.' A source close to Tester wouldn’t go that far, but confirmed he is interested in chairing the DSCC next cycle." [Roll Call]
HERE'S WHERE TO FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE - Pro tip: Vote twice. If anyone asks what you're doing, mutter something under your breath about Bill Ayers and Obamaphones. [HuffPost]
HILLARY CLINTON GAFFES AWESOMELY - Maggie Haberman: "Hillary Clinton on Monday mopped up her botched statement from a rally in Massachusetts last week, making it clear she’d misspoken and hadn’t intended to deliver a fresh economic policy message. Clinton’s cleanup came as she campaigned with Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney in Somers, about 90 minutes north of New York City, after two days in which Republicans bandied the likely White House candidate’s Friday comment, made in the context of talking about trickle-down economics, on social media and the single sentence began gaining traction. 'Don’t let anybody tell you that corporations and businesses create jobs,' Clinton had said at the rally in Boston, where she appeared on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley along with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a populist, anti-Big Banks crusader who has become the wished-for candidate from some progressives for 2016." [Politico]
DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Sue Shellenbarger: "Many people get the blues as winter sets in. They experience rolling back the clock to end daylight-saving time and commuting home in the dark as a downer. Not so for Travis Hare. 'I prefer colder temps and shorter days,' says Mr. Hare, co-principal of a Washington, D.C., marketing and public-relations firm. The 34-year-old hikes in the snow, vacations in Iceland and regards a day at the beach as a hot, sweaty bore. 'The only time I like things hot is when I’m having coffee—preferably when it’s cold outside,' he says." [WSJ]
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JEB FOR PRESIDENT SO GEORGE CAN PAINT THE CAMPAIGN SIGNS - Also, Barbara Bush is the Olenna Tyrell of American politics. Times: "[T]he extended Bush clan and its attendant network, albeit with one prominent exception, are largely rallying behind [a Jeb Bush presidential campaign]... 'No question,' Jeb Jr. said in an interview, 'people are getting fired up about it — donors and people who have been around the political process for a while, people he’s known in Tallahassee when he was governor.'...Most important, he added, his mother, Columba, the prospective candidate’s politics-averse wife, has given her assent. Within the family, the top cheerleaders have been George H. W. Bush andGeorge W. Bush, both of whom know something about running for president, and both of whom have an interest in perpetuating, if not redeeming, the family legacy. Barbara Bush, the former first lady and Jeb Bush’s mother, is unconvinced, according to people close to the family, but has been persuaded to stop saying it so publicly." [NYT]
DAVID PERDUE SHOULD BE A TOBACCO LOBBYIST - The value of being able to say anything with a straight face cannot be overstated. Laura Bassett: "David Perdue, Georgia's Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, defended himself Sunday night against charges that he paid female managers less than male ones when he was CEO of Dollar General.... 'There was no wrongdoing there,' Perdue said in a debate Sunday night against Democrat Michelle Nunn. 'That lawsuit or that claim or that complaint was settled five years after I was there. She knows that. And it was less than 2,000 people. We had upwards of 70,000 employees at that company.' Nunn jumped on Perdue's statement. 'You know, 2,000 women, that actually seems like quite a lot to me who say that they were discriminated against. And federal investigators -- public knowledge -- found that that was true. And it was during your tenure.'" [HuffPost]
No love lost: "Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski is telling her Alaska colleague, Democratic Sen. Mark Begich, that when it comes to using her likeness in his ads, 'no means no.' Begich, who is up for reelection in a closely-watched race against Republican Dan Sullivan, has used Murkowski’s picture in campaign ads to highlight his bipartisan bona fides and the fact both he and Murkowski are on the Appropriations Committee. Over the summer, representatives for the Republican sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Begich campaign, but he used a photo of the two of them at a joint press event as recently as a late September spot." [Politico]
Yahoo News' Meredith Shiner pointed out that Politico's very uncomfortable headline for the story, "Lisa Murkowski to Mark Begich: ‘No means no’," was the same used in an equally uncomfortable NRSC statement about the matter.
EXCELLENT CO-OPTING, FLORIDA GOP - Draw what conclusions you will about the undertones of "Charlie's War on Women." Samantha Lachman: "Republicans are using a Democratic motif to accuse former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist of perpetuating a 'war on women' by accepting campaign donations from companies that operate strip clubs. Crist, the former Republican governor who is now running as a Democrat in a close race against Gov. Rick Scott (R), is refusing to return some $90,000 in contributions from strip club owners and companies that manage them. The GOP is now using that refusal as fodder for a new television ad, called 'Charlie's War on Women.'" [HuffPost]
THE HANDS-DOWN DOUCHIEST MOMENT FROM EDWARD SNOWDEN'S 'NATION' INTERVIEW
The Nation: Do you watch television?
Snowden: I do everything on the computer. TV is obsolete technology for me.
The Nation: So you still have an active connection with the United States through the Internet? You follow popular culture?
Snowden: [chuckles] Yeah, but I hate these questions-I don't like talking about this stuff, because it's so... to me, it's so ordinary. [The Nation]
BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Here's a bull terrier losing its marbles.
JIMMY CARTER SUDDENLY NOT SO KEEN ON GAY MARRIAGE - There's no amount of money we wouldn't pay to see Jimmy Carter enter the 2016 Republican primary. Amber Ferguson: "Former President Jimmy Carter said in an interview published Sunday that decisions on same-sex marriage should be left up to the states... When asked if he saw same-sex marriage being established nationwide, Carter said, 'I'm kind of inclined to let the states decide individually.'"...His remarks are a departure from the comments he made last summer, when he said the Supreme Court should have established same-sex marriage across all states." [publication]
COMFORT FOOD
- What happens when you slap a GoPro camera on a whiskey bottle at a wedding.
- A fabulous collection of people screaming in 1970s horror films.
- "Taylor Swift Carries Her Cat Around The City -- So We Tried It"
- Someone drew a cat out of roads in Google Maps.
TWITTERAMA
- @ryangrim: I think the American people would feel a lot safer if we banned direct flights from New York.
- @pourmecoffee: Set your clocks back this Sunday. Then vote on Tuesday so you don't have to turn them back again.
@JimmyVielkind: Cuomo jokes that people on Ebola quarantine could read his book while under quarantine.
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