Photograph by Steven Senne/AP Photo

Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Gabriel Gomez, right, points toward the audience as he takes the stage with his daughters Olivia, 13, left, Antonia, 10, second from left, and wife Sarah, behind, before addressing an audience with a victory speech at a watch party in Cohasset, Mass., on April 30, 2013.

The year was 1976, Gabriel Gomez remembers.

He was playing Little League.

Rep. Ed Markey was first running for Congress in Massachusetts.

Now Gomez, a former Navy SEAL and son of Colombian immigrants, will face Markey in a contest for the former Senate seat of Secretary of State John Kerry.

In a bilingual victory address last night, the Republican who defeated a former federal prosecutor with a good old Boston name of Sullivan and a state representative in their party’s primary spoke of the brief campaign ahead.

The special election is June 25. The Republicans already are on Markey’s case. And Markey is already on Gomez’s:

“In a sign of how seriously the Markey campaign views the upcoming challenge,” Bloomberg’s Annie Linskey reports,  his staff took just four minutes after Gomez was declared the victor to put out a statement accusing him of being “the first domino for the national GOP seeking to take control of the U.S. Senate and enact an extreme agenda.”

Gomez, 47, asked supporters last night to think back to 1976.

“Gerald Ford was president. The Internet did not yet exist,” he said. “Eight-track players were big. Boston’s first album had just come out. The first Rocky movie debuted in theaters.”

“The median price of new homes was$44,000. Our national debt, which today is over 16 Trillion, was not even 1 Trillion. Al Gore had not yet invented the Internet.”

“Einstein famously said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result,” he said of the 36-year House veteran he will face in June. “Congress has enough politicians. If we keep sending politicians to Washington we will keep getting the same results.”

“If you are looking for a rigid partisan, I’m not your guy,” Gomez said. “If you are looking for a person who will take orders from party leaders, I’m not your guy. If you are looking for someone who refuses to work with the other party, I’m not your guy. If you are looking for someone who will participate in driving our national debt higher, I’m not your guy. If you are looking for an experienced slick talking politician, I’m definitely not your guy.”

“But, if you are looking for a person that will reach across party lines…I’d be honored to have your support. If you are looking for a person who will put principle ahead of politics…join our campaign. If you are looking for a person who believes we can turn this country around and grow our economy…it’s go time.”

In the bluest of blue states, a Republican named Scott Brown succeeded the long-serving and late Ted Kennedy for a time. Brown, who lost last year to the first female senator from the Bay State, Elizabeth Warren, campaigned with a working man’s profile. Gomez will campaign with a service man’s profile (and, oh, a Harvard Business School degree). He supports gay marriage and a path to citizenship for the undocumented.

In 1976, Massachusetts was as Democratic as a state came.

Today, Republican activists like what they see:

congrats to a fresh new face in republican politics @gomezforma. b.globe.com/16kU2hY

— Alex Castellanos (@alexcast) May 1, 2013

Original post is Gabriel Gomez: The Year was 1976 by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Senator John Kerry in Washington, D.C.

Secretary of State John Kerry left the Senate in February for his current job, though his campaign committee was aiding his former Democratic colleagues as recently as last month.

John Kerry for Senate sent $100,000 in surplus campaign funds to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on March 15, according to a filing the DSCC made last week.

Kerry’s transfer was the single largest donation received last month by the DSCC, which outraised the National Republican Senatorial Committee by $5.2 million to $3.2 million during March.

Current and former members of Congress are permitted to transfer unlimited sums to national party committees, while individual donors are limited to giving $32,400 per calendar year.

The DSCC received that amount last month from some donors including lawyer David Boies; Bernard L. Schwartz, the chairman and chief executive officer of BLS Investments; and Daniel H. Stern, the co-chief executive officer of Reservoir Capital Group LLC and the president of the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

The NRSC received $32,400 each from former Nicholas F. Brady, a former Treasury Secretary, and Harold “Terry” McGraw III, chief executive officer of McGraw-Hill Cos. It got $30,800 from Jim C. Walton, the world’s 10^th-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Republican committee received $21,500 from billionaire Philip Anschutz and $15,000 from J. Willard Marriott Jr., chairman of Marriott International Inc.

Original post is Kerry’s Campaign Cash Helps Senate Democrats Outraise Republicans by Political Capital.

Photograph by Paul J. Richards/Pool

Secretary of State John Kerry, center, is welcomed and escorted by U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Sung Y. Kim, left, and deputy director general of South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, Moon Seoung-hyun, in front of a traditional honor guard at Seoul air base on April 12, 2013.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Definitely Maybe by Political Capital.

Photograph by Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives on stage to address the Vital Voices Global Awards ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington on April 2, 2013.

The unemployment rate dropped to 7.6 percent in March, the lowest since December 2008, according to the Labor Department. Workforce participation also fell, by 496,000 to 63.3% — the lowest since 1979.

Hillary Clinton will address the Women in the World Summit this morning, in her second speaking appearance this week. The Ready for Hillary Super-PAC will hold a rally outside New York’s Lincoln Center today, carrying signs of support for a potential presidential run in 2016, Bloomberg News reported.

The second day of the Export-Import Bank’s annual conference will include appearances from Citigroup Chairman Michael O’Neill, Xerox CEO Ursula Burns, Black and Veatch Chairman Len Rodman, Westinghouse Electric CEO Danny Roderick, Garten Rothkopf CEO David Rothkopf, Former Deputy National Security Advisor and former Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood. Vice President Joe Biden will deliver luncheon keynote remarks.

Bloomberg View columnist and former administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Cass Sunstein will discuss his book, “Simpler: The Future of Government,” at the Brookings Institution.

Society of American Business Editors and Writers will hold panel discussions today, at the second day of its Spring Conference, on student debt, finance, the tax reform debate, Wal-Mart bribery case and corporate corruption.

The Pentagon may send out furlough notices today to as many as 750,000 civilian employees, though they may not be required to take the unpaid time off until June.

Secretary of State John Kerry visits the Middle East in an effort to rebuild ties with Israel and Turkey, while a two-day meeting begins with U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Russia and China delegations and Iranian officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan where they will resume talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Boeing may fly a 787 carrying Federal Aviation Administration officials as soon as today as the agency assesses whether the battery system is safe for commercial duties again, Bloomberg reported.

Original post is Washington Daybook: Clinton Buzz by Political Capital.

Photograph by Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Senior White House Advisor David Plouffe, left, Sen. John Kerry, center, and White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew board Air Force One in this file photo.

Newly seated Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Secretary of State John Kerry are bound for China.

Lew, next week.

Kerry, in coming weeks.

President Barack Obama let Chinese President Xi Jinping know that today during a phone call “to congratulate him on his new position and to discuss the future of the U.S.-China relationship,” according to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

“The president underscored his firm commitment to increasing practical cooperation to address Asia’s and the world’s most pressing economic and security challenges,” Carney said in a statement issued after the call. “Both leaders agreed on the value of regular high-level engagement to expand cooperation and coordination. ”

Obama also “highlighted the threat to the United States, its allies, and the region from North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and stressed the need for close coordination with China to ensure North Korea meets its… commitments” to nuclear disarmament. Obama, too, “highlighted the importance of addressing cyber-security threats, which represent a shared challenge.”

The two also agreed to talk frequently and directly.

Original post is Lew, Kerry Head to China Soon by Political Capital.

Photograph by Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Elementary school kids pose for a picture in front of the White House on March 8, 2013. Their class had the last tour of the day.

In Washington, the time-honored threat of the impact of government budget cuts has centered on closing the Washington Monument.

The obelisk on the National Mall is already closed, however — thanks to repairs underway following the 2011 earthquake centered in Virginia. The 5.8 temblor loosened some stones.

So White House tours have taken the place of the monument closing.

When across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration started taking effect March 1, the White House announced it would have to suspend the popular tours of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They stopped March 9.

The tours are crowd-pleasers for the many visitors to the nation’s capital who obtain tickets through their congressmen and senators.

The Secret Service explained that it must furlough its forces — and overtime has been cut back for the people who guard the grounds and screen visitors.

“We have no White House tours right now, but they’ve got $250 million to give to Egypt?” Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky asked, alluding to Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent announcement of the latest U.S. aid package for Cairo.

Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas complained that, while the White House tours are suspended, the president’s golf tour goes on — the Republican proposed a budget amendment barring spending on the president’s golf outings.

Today, in an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos aired on “Good Morning America,” President Barack Obama said he’s looking for a solution.

Obama said he’s asked the Secret Service to find a way to let school groups tour the White House.

“What I’m asking them is, ‘Are there ways for us to accommodate school groups who may have traveled here?’” Obama said. “Can we make sure that kids potentially can still come to tour?”

The tours are big during Spring break.

Yet tours or no tours, the White House grounds will remain open for the Easter Egg Roll.

That’s on April 1. Really.

 Roger Runningen contributed to this report from the White House.

Original post is Obama Asks Secret Service to Let Schoolkids in for White House Tours by Political Capital.

Photograph by Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

President Barack Obama walks with Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, right, as they leave the Gridiron Dinner through a loading area at a hotel in Washington, on March 9, 2013.

President Barack Obama, wearing white tie and tails at Washington’s premiere show of political satire, made light of budget cuts consuming the capital.

“Because of sequester, they cut my tails,” Obama said at the head table of the Gridiron Club’s annual dinner last night, opening with an allusion to the budget sequestration he has ordered. “My joke writers have been placed on furlough.”

This didn’t stop the president from making fun of his new Treasury secretary, Jacob Lew, who replaced Timothy Geithner.

“Jack is so low-key, he makes Tim Geithner look like Tom Cruise,” the president said.

It didn’t stop him from making fun of Secretary of State John Kerry, who has replaced Hillary Clinton.

“Let’s face it, Hillary is a tough act to follow,” Obama said, adding of Kerry: “Frankly, though, I think it’s time for him to stop showing up for work in pant suits.”

And it certainly left no protection for Vice President Joe Biden in Obama’s comedic script for a room full of journalists and government leaders attending the annual Washington ritual.

“His age is an issue,” Obama said of Biden, a potential candidate for higher office. “I had to take Joe aside and say, `Joe, let’s face it, you are way too young to be the Pope.”’

Yet, judging from the laughter in the Renaissance Hotel ballroom, the night belonged to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican who was widely ridiculed for a lackluster televised response to Obama’s first State of the Union address to Congress and the nation as president in 2009.

Jindal thanked the Gridiron Club for offering him this opportunity “to try to be funny on purpose.”

“They say this is a place where you can come and tell jokes about the president, poke fun at yourself, set political ambition aside and just generally say anything you want,” Jindal, a supporter of Republican Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign for president, said in his stand-up routine — “kind of like the Romney campaign.”

“Now some people have asked me if I intend to run for president in 2016,” said Jindal, who went on to name the first of the presidential nominating contests. “I have no plans to run. I’ve made that clear over and over again,” he said — “in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.”

“I mean, come on, what chance does a skinny guy with a dark complexion and a funny name have?” asked Jindal, who was born of Indian immigrants and stood two seats from Obama, the nation’s first African-American president, as he delivered his monologue. “The truth is, I am too skinny to run. At least that’s what my friend, Chris Christie, keeps telling me,” Jindal said of the heavyset New Jersey governor.

“Speaking of brown, I was hoping to see my good friend, John Boehner, here tonight,” Jindal said of the U.S. House speaker from Ohio. “We actually go to the same tanning salon.”

Jindal paused to take a sip of water, explaining he was “getting really dry up here” — with a sight gag making fun of a pause for water that Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida took in this year’s response to the State of the Union.

Jindal even poked fun at the name of the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus: “At least I had the foresight at the age of four to change my name to Bobby.”

Obama, too, had some fun at Rubio’s expense, pausing only briefly for a water break and announcing; “That, Marco Rubio, is how you take a sip of water.”

Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, delivering the Democratic Party’s jokes, offered the audience an allusion to the inaugural ceremony for Obama’s second term in which the singer Beyonce mouthed the words to the national anthem.

“Did anyone else notice that Bobby Jindal lip-synched his entire remarks?” Klobuchar asked.

Klobuchar also joked about Obama’s first debate with Romney during the 2012 campaign, in which polls found viewers crediting Romney with an advantage over the president.

“I know one thing,” Klobuchar said. “I prepared more for this speech than the president did for his first debate.”

The Gridiron Club, marking its 128th year, is the oldest organization of journalists in Washington, with membership by in invitation. The private conclave roasts public officials at an annual white-tie dinner in Washington, with the songs of its satirical skits accompanied by U.S. Marine Band.

While every American president since 1885 except Grover Cleveland has attended the Gridiron, this was only the second appearance for Obama as president. He last appeared in 2011.

The night featured repeated jokes about journalist Bob Woodward’s telephone and e-mail encounter with an Obama aide who suggested Woodward would regret what he was reporting about the president. Woodward, of the Washington Post, was one of the reporters whose reporting about the Watergate scandal in the 1970′s led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon.

“Can anyone tell me when an administration has ever regretted picking a fight with Bob Woodward?” Obama asked. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

The first lady was not in attendance at the Gridiron dinner, though the audience could assume the president was speaking of her as he delivered one of his lines.

`I’m sure that you’ve noticed that there’s somebody very special in my life who is missing tonight, somebody who has always got my back, stands with me no matter what and gives me hope no matter how dark things seem,” said Obama, proceeding to name a New York Times columnist and statistical analyst who predicted the president’s re-election in November.

“So tonight, I want to publicly thank my rock, my foundation,” Obama said. “Thank you, Nate Silver.”

Original post is Obama’s Gridiron: Jindal’s Night by Political Capital.

From Russia with love comes this tweet of the foreign minister’s thoughts.

Our traveling correspondent, Nicole Gaouette, following Secretary of State John Kerry in a multination tour from the United Kingdom and Germany through Saudi  Arabia and Qatar reports this of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after his meeting with Kerry in Berlin:

Snarky much? #Russia‘s #Lavrov after meeting #SecKerry had the following to say… 1/2

— Nicole Gaouette (@nicolegaouette)
February 26, 2013

“It feels like the 2nd admin of Obama will aim to play a more constructive role when it comes to…foreign policy led by…#Kerry“#Lavrov

— Nicole Gaouette (@nicolegaouette) February 26, 2013

And Radio Voice of Russia weighs in with a welcome mat for the second-term President Barack Obama:

Barack #Obama has an invitation to visit #Russia, and we expect that he’s giving it consideration – #Lavrovenglish.ruvr.ru/2013_02_26/Lav… #news #US

— The Voice of Russia (@VoiceofRussia) February 26, 2013

Original post is From Russia With Love for Kerry — and an Invitation for Obama by Political Capital.

Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Travelers wait in line to go through security in the departure hall at San Francisco International Airport.

President Barack Obama will keep up the drumbeat of blaming Republicans for not acting to avert the sequestration cuts during an appearance before the National Governors Association today.

The delays budget cuts will cause in air travel will be highlighted at a press conference held by Democrats including Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar also will also discuss the impact of sequestration on the national parks during a conference call.

Republicans will make their case on the Senate floor as the chamber considers a Democratic proposal to avoid the cuts, which are to begin March 1.

The Bipartisan Policy Center releases proposals for scaling back the federal government’s role in mortgage finance. The Center for American Progress hosts a discussion on the need for a financial transactions tax, with European Commission for Taxation and Customs Union Algirdas Semeta.

John Kerry arrived in London this morning, kicking off his first trip abroad as Secretary of State. He’ll meet with U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron before flying to Germany. A levy imposed by EU on U.S. bioethanol to curb competition for German, French, U.K. producers, which threatens to raise trans-Atlantic tensions over renewable energy for cars, takes effect today.

And ITC Judge Charles Bullock scheduled to release findings in patent-infringement case Cypress Semiconductor Corp. filed against GSI Technology Inc. over memory chips that store data

 Cary O’Reilly, Chelsea Mes and Laura Curtis contributed to this report.

Original post is Washington Daybook: March 1 by Political Capital.

Almost 669,000 votes were cast in the Democratic race won by Martha Coakley. By contrast, Scott Brown snagged the Republican nod in a primary that attracted about 165,000 voters. Given that disparity in party affiliation, how could Brown even dream of winning the special election a month later? He did, of course, catching political lightning in a bottle and defeating Coakley, 52 percent to 47 percent.

With John Kerry leaving the Senate to become secretary of state, Massachusetts Democrats have vowed to avoid a repeat of three years ago. Yet their plans to hang onto Kerry’s seat may be complicated by an intra-party skirmish.

A new poll of the state’s Democrats shows that in less than a month, support for the frontrunner, Rep. Ed Markey, has dropped by 9 percentage points while backing for his main challenger, fellow House member Stephen Lynch, has risen by the same amount. With more than two months remaining until the April 30 primary, that’s not a trendline that Markey, who Kerry has endorsed, wants to continue.

Markey had 43 percent in the latest survey, compared with 28 percent for Lynch.

A tightening battle between the two could leave a disspirited losing side that undercuts enthusiasm for the winner. That could be a moot point. With Brown taking a pass on running in the latest race after losing to Elizabeth Warren last November, some Massachusetts political observers are skeptical that any other Republican can gather by next week’s deadline the 10,000 petition signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

State Rep. Dan Winslow, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and Gabriel Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, are trying to clear that bar. Assuming Republicans are able to field a candidate, the party’s nominee will start out with little statewide name identification and face long odds in the June 25 special election.

Massachusetts voters have seen that scenario before, and responded to it by surprising the nation.

Original post is As Massachusetts Senate Race Gears Up, Will History Repeat Itself? by Political Capital.