Girl Power was a first-time topic for our Sunday trip around the “Inside Politics” table, along with some key things — and people — to watch for as we leave 2014 behind and brace for 2015 and 2016.
CNN’s John King and other top political reporters empty out their notebooks each Sunday on “Inside Politics” to reveal five things that will be in the headlines in the days, weeks and months ahead.
1. An Obama briefing room strategy that may be popular at home — and with Hillary Clinton
President Obama had a busy Friday — delaying his Hawaii vacation so he could hold his year-end news conference and sit down for a farewell interview with CNN’s Candy Crowley.
So might the wife and kids be a little peeved that their Christmas break got off to a later start? Not so fast, says Bloomberg’s Margaret Talev. At that press conference, the president called only on women reporters, and Talev suggests there might be a benefit — or benefits — for the commander in chief.
“Some may have just been goodwill to appease Michelle and the girls before he embarks on several rounds of golf in Hawaii, but there are a couple other things at play,” said Talev.
“Some of this is about his own legacy, but a lot is about gearing up for 2016. The women’s vote is going to be essential for Hillary Clinton (Republicans are trying to work on that as well). And you’re seeing him set up that fight going into the new year.”
2. Clintons are “going crazy” because they think Warren’s gearing up for a run
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren insists she is not not not not not going to run for president in 2016.
But that won’t stop liberal groups from pleading. And Jonathan Martin of The New York Times shared with us reporting on how Warren plans to be a constant source of pressure on front-runner Clinton even if she never comes close to being a candidate.
“I talked to a longtime friend of hers who said the Clintons don’t understand this — they think this is all some kind of a setup for her to run for president,” said Martin. “This friend of Warren said this is who she is. She really believes in this stuff. And she gets the fact that she has this moment, and she’s taking advantage of that.”
3. Jindal a 2016 GOP sleeper to watch in Iowa
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal fires out frequent press releases to national political reporters and aggressively makes the rounds to the states and events that raise a presidential profile.
Yet he has been largely ignored in 2016 speculation and barely registers in polls. But Robert Costa of The Washington Post says his recent visit to Iowa convinced him to keep an eye on Jindal and his early efforts.
“He may be a Catholic convert, he may be from a Southern state, but he spent a lot of time this week making connections with Iowa evangelicals,” said Costa. “I was with him in West Des Moines and he spent over three hours shaking hands, making a speech about his conversion and his roots and his family’s immigrant story.”
4. Should all eyes be on the House?
The spotlight will be on the new Republican Senate majority and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when the 114th Congress gavels in.
But maybe the other chamber is really the one to watch.
A lot of the new senators are expected to vote with the GOP leadership, but insiders on the Hill have been telling The Atlantic’s Molly Ball that there’s a lot more uncertainty about what’s going to happen in the House.
“It’s a real wild card in the House whether (Speaker John) Boehner is going to be empowered by this larger majority or whether they’re going to be a bigger thorn in his side in the way we’ve seen in the past,” said Ball. “So as we look to whether the relative harmony and lack of drama of this lame-duck period can continue in the new Congress, I think that’s going to be a major factor.”
5. February flashpoints will test McConnell’s new role and the tea party’s power
January will likely be a relatively peaceful month here in Washington. The new Congress will be organizing and the President will deliver his State of the Union address.
But February will hit some major Republican flashpoints. Congress first and foremost needs to revisit the immigration debate, because it has to fund the Department of Homeland Security. And it is in February when McConnell plans to have his promised vote to repeal Obamacare.
McConnell knows he doesn’t have the votes for an Obamacare repeal or to force any sweeping reversals of the new White House immigration policy. So what he’s hoping for is to put some votes on the record and then look for incremental steps on things that can inspire at least modest Democratic support.
He believes the vast majority of his Republican members are ready now to ignore the tea party complaints of surrender. McConnell’s take is that 2014 proved the tea party is loud, but not able to deliver on threats to Republican incumbents. February will test whether other Republicans buy that.
