President Obama expected to nominate Elena Kagan to Supreme Court today - NBC News broke the story last night and AP followed with the Solicitor General being the choice to replace retiring Justice John Stevens. Elena Kagan was nominated by the President last year for Solicitor General and was confirmed by the Senate by a 61-31 vote. The President is expected to make the announcement at 10:00 AM ET. MSNBC.com has more here.
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Sestak up 46%-42% over Specter in Pennsyvania - as of yesterdayper a tracking poll by Muhlenberg College - wow! Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post also has this little nugget sure to be used by Sestak in the closing days prior to the primary - while a half dozen Republican Senators supported and voted to confirm Elena Kagan as Solicitor General last year, Arlen Specter, who was then a Republican, voted against the woman reported to be President Obama's pick for the Supreme Court. TheFix.com has more here.
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Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in D.C. this week - amid strained U.S.-Afghan relations, Karzai will meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, military and congressional leaders and President Obama, Corruption within the Afghan government continues to be a major problem in their ability to defend themselves. The U.S. insists it is sticking to it's July 2011 withdrawal time frame. TheHill.com has more here.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to loss Billions - the government controlled mortgage lenders each suffered heavy first quarter loses. Fannie Mae lost 13.1 billion and has requested 8.4 billion from the government and Freddie Mac lost 8 billion and has requested 10.6 billion - ouch! CNN.com has more here.
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to appear on CBS "60 Minutes" tonight. Below is a clip from the show where she talks about the increased cooperation between Pakistan and the U.S. on the war on terrorism.
DailyKos/Research 2000 Poll show Democrats behind in Illinois - not a good sign in a heavily Democratic registered state. The poll conducted May3-5 showed Alexi Giannoulias (D) is behind Mark Kirk (R) 41%-38% in the U.S. senate race and Pat Quinn (D) behind Bill Brady (R) 39%-36%. The failure of the Giannoulias family owned bank and the lack luster campaign by Quinn seem to have had an impact. DailyKos.com has morehere.
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Republican Senator Bob Bennett loses Utah state convention - as a result, he is off the ballot this November after serving three terms. The state of Utah Republican Party determine their Senate candidates by state convention where a few thousand delegates determine the nominee. The delegates went for even more conservative attorney Mark Lee and businessman Tim Bridgewater. However, neither of them were able to secure the required 60% of the vote after two rounds. A third round of voting will be held and if neither wins 60% of the vote, a primary will be scheduled for June 22. TheHill.com has more here.
Update - Bridgewater fell short of the required 60%, receiving 57% in the third round of voting. There will be a primary on June 22 between Bridgewater and Lee.
Pundits will have fun with this outcome, pointing to tea party activists. However, this is a unique method for selection of candidates involving very few of the registered voters, so it is hard to extrapolate these results with the entire voters across the state.
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President Obama may make Supreme Court nomination this week - interviews have been held with at least four under consideration. they are Solicitor General Elena Kagan along with Federal Appeals Court Judges Diane Wood, Merrick Garland and Sidney Thomas. Kagan and Garland are the two receiving the most buzz inside the beltway. Stay Tuned... MSNBC.com has more here.
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