Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Obama Approval Reaches 55% - the highest since September 2009.  Only 35% approve of Republican lawmakers performance.  Bloomberg.com has more here.

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Poll Shows Obama with Clear Advantage Over GOP on Major Issues -  President Obama starts his second term with a clear upper hand over GOP leaders on issues from guns to immigration that are likely to dominate the year, a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll finds. On the legislation rated most urgent — cutting the budget deficit — even a majority of Republican voters endorse Obama's approach of seeking tax hikes as well as spending cuts.

The survey underscores the quandary for the GOP as it debates the party's message in the wake of disappointing losses last November for the White House and in the Senate.

Now just 22% of Americans, nearly a record low, consider themselves Republicans.  You can read more here.

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Democrats Pressure Boehner To Call Congress Back to Deal with Sequester - House Democrats on Wednesday amplified their calls for Congress to return to Washington and work to prevent across-the-board sequester cuts poised to hit in nine days.

Echoing President Obama, the Democrats are warning of the dire effects those automatic cuts would have on jobs and the nascent economic recovery.

"Speaker [John] Boehner should call the Congress back into session [and] we should act to prevent this self-inflicted loss of three-quarters of a million jobs," Rep. Rob Andrews (D-N.J.) said in a phone call with reporters.

"Being on recess during this period is absolutely absurd," echoed Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.).  TheHill.com has more here.

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Florida Republican Governor Agrees To Key Health Care Provision - Florida Gov. Rick Scott reversed course on Wednesday and said his state would temporarily accept the provision expanding Medicaid coverage included in the new healthcare law spearheaded by President Barack Obama.
 
Scott becomes the seventh GOP governor to sign on to the plan, rejected by some high-profile state chief executives still at odds with the politically charged law considered by many Republicans as a government overreach and widely known as Obamacare.  CNN.com has more here.

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Caprara Named as Political Director of DSCC - Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee officials plan to name Anne Caprara as their political director for the 2014 cycle Thursday.

“Anne is a rising star in the Democratic Party and I’m pleased that she is returning as a member of our team for the 2014 cycle,” DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil said in a statement. “We know the challenges that we face this time around and it’s not going to be easy — but battle tested talent like Anne who knows what it takes to build strong campaigns will be one of the reasons we hold the Senate.”

Caprara served as the committee’s deputy political director during the 2012 cycle. She has also been a top aide to former Rep. Betty Sutton, D-Ohio, and has worked for EMILY’s List, an advocacy group promoting female Democratic candidates who support abortion rights.  RollCall.com has more here.

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