Daily Democratic Wire 6-25-2009

George Wenschhof

Last night, President Barack Obama appeared in a ABC televised town hall meeting to discuss health care reform - he acknowledged compromise was necessary for passage of the bill but insisted on the option of publicly funded health care. ABCnews has more and a video clip here.

Tonight, the president will entertain members of Congress, staff, and their families at the White House - the plan is to hold a traditional luau -sounds like good eats! 2,500 are expected to attend. Politico.com has more here.

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Discussion on Immigration bill to begin today at the White House - the president has invited senior members of Congress to begin the discussions leading to a bill on Immigration. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is the chair of the Senate subcommittee on immigration and Senator John Cornyn (R-Tex.) is the leading Republican on the committee. Expect this to be a slow moving piece of legislation as it is a highly charged issue. The NY Times has more here.

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S.C. Republican Governor Mark Sanford was missing with the other woman - The Governor is now back - seems the Governor has been having an affair with a woman who lives in Argentina. The dalliances of politicians have always caught the attention of voters and this one promises to provide more fodder for water cooler talk and late night comedians.

While Democrats have had their share of indiscretions, this comes at a bad time for Republicans. Sanford, who had been considered a contender for the GOP nomination for president in 2012 has resigned as chair of the Republican Governor's Association and Governor Haley Barbour (R-Miss.) has replaced him. The next question is will he resign as Governor of South Carolina? The Washington Post has more here.

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Non-Partisan redistricting on the horizon? - don't count on it, but a bill has been introduced in the House to do just that. Representative John Tanner (D-Tenn.) has introduced a bill that would be similar to what Washington state does when it comes to redistricting. A five member board is appointed with two members each being appointed by the Republican and Democratic caucus. The fifth member must be approved by all of the 4 appointed members. This idea would certainly go a long way toward ending the crazy and sometimes ridiculous gerrymandering that has been proposed by political parties in power across many states in the country. Great idea, but I don't look to see it pass. TheHill.com has more here.

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Senator Arlen Specter looks very vulnerable in 2010 reelection bid - after falling from grace with the republican party, Specter switched to the Democratic party. He received assurances from Democratic leaders, including the president, he would not face a primary challenge. Only problem was Representative Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) wasn't listening to the party leaders and made it known he intended to run for the seat. Sestak may be on the right track as a recent poll showed only 28% of Pennsylvania voters supporting Specter. Politico.com has more here.

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