Senate Democratic leaders are quietly cheering Republican senators such as Texan Ted Cruz, Kentucky’s Rand Paul and Florida’s Marco Rubio to run for president in 2016. Their reason: Pulling just three Republicans out of the Senate to campaign essentially eliminates the new GOP majority in the chamber.
“Even with Republicans gaining so many seats, it’s not going to be such a big majority all of the time,” a key insider said. “Let’s say five of them run for president. They’ll be gone during critical votes.”
The Senate GOP won a 53-seat majority in this month’s election, with Louisiana still up for grabs. The Republican National Committee has suggested that up to seven might run for president. The others: Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Rob Portman of Ohio, Tim Scott of South Carolina and John Thune of South Dakota.
And even if they are in the chamber, another source explained, the candidates will be wary of weighing in on controversial issues and votes out of concern it would hurt their primary campaigns.
“Some of them will be worried about taking tough votes because of tight contests in 2016. So we’re hoping that it will be a lot closer to even than not,” said the Democratic source.
BILL GATES JOINS BID TO PROMOTE HOUSE PAGES
It’s been three years since House leaders killed the 200-year-old House Page Program, and now many of those pages are back to tell their story and build support for restoring the program.
In a new documentary, even Microsoft co-founder and former page Bill Gates got involved. “I learned a lot, it was a formative experience,” he said in a trailer for the documentary titled, “Democracy’s Messengers: The Untold Story of Young Americans on Capitol Hill.”
The documentary was part of a Indiegogo crowdfunding effort that met its $15,000 goal.
The page program was killed by House leaders who said it cost too much at $5 million a year. However, a similar Senate program still exists.
Some House lawmakers, and former members, are eager to bring the pages back, but are waiting to gauge the mood of the new Congress.
BUOYED EVANGELICALS MAKE DEMANDS FOR 2016
A campaign to get uninterested evangelical and other Christian voters to the polls worked so well on Election Day that leaders are warning presidential candidates to pay attention to their political demands.
“Potential Republican Party presidential candidates in 2016 will have to pass through evangelical and pro-life Catholic Christians and issues we are interested in,” said David Lane, who hosts popular “Pastors and Pews” meetings with leading GOP presidential candidates around the nation.
Lane spent much of the last two years working with pastors to convince their flocks to vote, and early indications are that they came out in droves for Republicans. His American Renewal Project spent $2 million in nine states distributing 2.1 million voter guides, building a huge social networking program, and sending supporters to knock on tens of thousands of doors.
Now they expect to be heard on issues such as gay marriage, abortion, crime, pornography and drugs. Lane told the Washington Examiner, “Evangelicals are beginning to stir. America will be transformed if they ever awake.”
ZUCKER’S CNN REVAMP STUMBLES
There are very few places where a new TV show can lose 60 percent of its audience in a month and survive. Fortunately for Mike Rowe, the former “Dirty Jobs” star, CNN is such a place.
His new show, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It,” is part of CNN boss Jeff Zucker’s effort to spice up prime time with original programs.
It debuted with more than half a million viewers in the key 25-to-54 age demographic advertisers crave. CNN heralded that. It has since dropped to 145,000 live viewers in the age group.
Other networks would pull the plug with such a low viewership, even for a new show still building its audience. But CNN just added another season. And the reason is simple, said an industry exec: Even with low ratings, Rowe is drawing more than twice the audience as the show he replaced, “Piers Morgan Tonight.”
ELECTION WAVE? YES, FOR INCUMBENTS
The midterm elections turned out to be a wave, but not the all-GOP story in the headlines. No, the wave was ridden by incumbents, who bested the already high historical percentage of victory.
Typically about 92 percent of House incumbents win re-election, but this year 96 percent won — 372 of 389 seats. In the Senate, 80 percent usually win, but it hit 85 percent this year — 23 of 27 senators were re-elected. And governors led the way with 89 percent winning re-election, besting the typical rate of 73 percent.
“Incumbents had another good year, outperforming their post-World War II batting averages in all three categories,” said election analysts Kyle Kondik and Geoffrey Skelley of the University of Virginia.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
