TPMDC Senate Tea Party Caucus
Orrin Hatch
Utah's Tea Party Senator Not Ready To Endorse Orrin Hatch
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) spent more than a few minutes on stage together last night at a Tea Party Express town hall in Washington. But for some strange reason, Hatch's impending reelection fight -- which will pit him against frustrated home-state tea partiers and could cost him his party's nomination -- didn't come up. It's especially odd because Lee is intimately familiar with how important it is for an incumbent Utah Republican senator to reach out to the tea party these days. He got his current job largely because the man who held it before him, Sen. Bob Bennett (R), was on the wrong side of angry tea party conventioneers.
After the town hall, I caught up with Lee and found out why Hatch's 2012 prospects weren't a topic of discussion on stage: Lee is not interested in discussing them. Not only was he unwilling to call Hatch a tea party Republican, but he was also not interested in talking about endorsing the fellow Republican he represents Utah with.
"He is--uh--well, he was here tonight," Lee told TPM when asked if Hatch is a tea partier. "I look forward to welcoming him into the tea party caucus."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Mike Lee, Orrin Hatch, Senate Tea Party Caucus
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TPMDC Morning Roundup
Senate Democrats Likely To Take Lead On Bipartisan Initiatives
The Washington Post reports: "It is the narrowly divided Democratic-led Senate - not the Republican House - that is most likely to tackle the bipartisan initiatives Obama laid out Tuesday, including free-trade deals, border security and immigration reform, and an overhaul of the corporate tax code. Although many Senate Democrats say that liberal priorities such as climate-change legislation have fallen off Obama's agenda, they also see an opportunity to begin a political recovery by pursuing more moderate legislative goals with Republicans' help."
Obama's Day Ahead
President Obama and Vice President Biden will receive the presidential daily briefing at 9:45 a.m. ET, and meet at 10:15 a.m. ET with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Obama will meet at 11 a.m. ET with his national security team for his monthly meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama and Biden will meet for lunch at 12:45 p.m. ET. Obama will hold a 2:30 p.m. ET interview on YouTube with Steve Grove.
Topics: Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Budget, Defense Spending, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Michele Bachmann, Roundup, Senate Tea Party Caucus, Tea Party
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Obama: Tucson Shooting Reminds Us 'Who We Really Are'
In this weekend's YouTube address, President Obama reflected on the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, and the sense of community that members of both parties can derive from it.
"One of the places we saw that sense of community on display was on the floor of Congress, where Gabby Giffords, who inspires us with her recovery, is deeply missed by her colleagues," said Obama. "One by one, Representatives from all parts of the country and all points of view rose in common cause to honor Gabby and the other victims, and to reflect on our shared hopes for this country. As shrill and discordant as our politics can be at times, it was a moment that reminded us of who we really are - and how much we depend on one another."
PERMALINK | COMMENTS | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Barack Obama, Bobby Rush, Chicago Mayor, Cuba, Gabrielle Giffords, Jeb Bush, Jeff Flake, Jim DeMint, John McCain, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Roundup, Senate Tea Party Caucus
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