Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof



State of The Union Preview - Politico.com has their "Top 5 Things To Watch".

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Hillary Clinton Hits 61% Approval - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may well be the most popular public official in the country, according to the latest findings from Quinnipiac University released Friday.
 
With 61 percent of registered voters nationwide saying they have a positive opinion of her and only 34 percent saying they have a negative impression, Clinton's favorability rating trumps the top figures in the administration she just left behind: President Barack Obama (51-46 percent), Vice President Joe Biden (46-41 percent) and her successor at the State Department John Kerry (43-33).

Her popularity also easily eclipses the GOP leader on Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), whose favorability rating of 20 percent is more than doubled by the 42 percent of voters who view him unfavorably.

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House Democrats Unveil Gun Proposals - The congressional group, spearheaded by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), endorsed the same core proposals as the administration: a universal background check system for gun purchases, a ban on high-capacity magazines and a renewal of the lapsed assault weapons ban.

In a press conference at their annual retreat in Virginia, Democratic leaders couched their proposals in the context of the Second Amendment, arguing that they would not infringe on anyone’s constitutional right to bear arms.

“We know we can do that while still reducing gun violence in our country,” Thompson said. “I’m a hunter and I’m a gun owner, and I believe that we should protect law-abiding citizens’ right to own firearms. I’m not interested in giving up my guns and I wouldn’t ask anyone else to give up their guns.”

“The proposals that the White House is making, the proposals that Congressman Thompson and his task force are making, are consistent and very close together in their intent, in their letter and in their effect,” Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said.  TheHill.com has more here.

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Texas Governor Rick Perry Woos California Business - Texas Gov. Rick Perry is stepping up efforts to woo the California business community, even as his earlier attempts were dismissed as “barely a fart” by the Golden State governor.
 
The GOP governor of the Lone Star State will leave on Sunday for a swing through San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Orange County, where he will meet with “business leaders in the high tech, biotechnology, financial, insurance and film industries.

The move follows Perry’s week-long ad buy on California airwaves, in which he praised his state’s business climate and slammed California’s.  You can read more here.

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