Since 2011

Gabe Fleisher, Editor-in-Chief

wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com wakeuptopolitics.com @WakeUp2Politics
THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL





Election Central

Results Edition Heres your
rundown of results from the
races that mattered in
Tuesdays Indiana, North
Carolina, and Ohio primaries:
I ndiana No Senate or
gubernatorial race this year,
and no House members with
serious primary challenges.
North Carolina SENATE: A big win for the GOP
establishment in the Tar Heel State, where state House Speaker Thom
Tillis took the partys nomination, sending the party closer to unseating Sen.
Kay Hagan (D) and taking back control of the U.S. Senate.
Tillis won 45.7% of the vote, in a contest where he needed 40% to avoid a
runoff, with tea party candidate Greg Brannon, endorsed by Sen. Rand Paul
(R-KY), taking 27%, and Charlotte pastor Mark Harris receiving 17% of
ballots cast. Following two cycles with many unelectable GOP nominees,
many Republicans are relieved with the nomination of Tillis, cast as the best
chance to beat Hagan. The race between the two is seen as a near-statistical
tie.




HOUSE: In the solidly Republican 2
nd
district, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R) is
probably going to be re-elected. But that doesnt mean the Democratic
primary wasnt one of the most watched races Tuesday night, simply
because of the battle between one-time American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken
and former state Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco. The race is still too
close to call, with Aiken beating Crisco by just 372 votes, and at 40.8%, just
barely above the number needed to stave off a runoff.
Two primaries were held in District 12 Tuesday, one in the special election
to replace Rep. Mel Watt (D) who was confirmed by the Senate in January
as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and for the regular
election for the seat. The winner of both Democratic nominations was State
Rep. Alma Adams, who is expected to beat former TV news anchor Vince
Coakley, the GOP nominee. While she is definitely the frontrunner in both
races, Adams will still not go to Washington until January.
Ohio GOVERNOR: With no Senate seat up this year in Ohio, the states
most high-profile primary would have been for governor, although no
surprises were offered Tuesday. Gov. John Kasich (R) was re-nominated,
and Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald is the Democratic pick to
run against him. Even in the presidential swing state of Ohio, Kasich is
heavily favored in most polls to stay in the State House.
HOUSE: In the 8
th
district, House Speaker John Boehner often the enemy
of the Republican Partys conservative wing easily and unsurprisingly
fended off three primary challenges to his right. Boehner nabbed an
overwhelming 69% of the vote; the challenger with the best finish was
teacher and tea party favorite J.D. Wintereg received 22% of ballots cast.
Finally, freshman Rep. David Joyce (R) faced his first primary campaign
Tuesday since he was placed on the 2012 general-election ballot following
Rep. Steven LaTourettes surprise post-primary decision to retire and it
included a tea party challenge. Like really all the other incumbents Tuesday
night, Joyce (and the establishment that backed them) emerged victorious,
beating state Rep. Matt Lynch largely because of money pumped into the
race on his behalf by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.


Supreme Court Spotlight

Supreme Court OKs
Prayer at Council
Meetings In a close
decision handed down
Monday, the Supreme Court
ruled that the First
Amendment was not
violated by prayer at the
beginning of legislative
meetings, for bodies such
as city councils, even if the
prayer favors a specific
religion.
The ruling came in the case Town of Greece v. Galloway, argued over a
lawsuit by two citizens of Greece, New York, a town just outside Rochester,
where the city council opens its meetings with a prayer from local clergy,
usually Christians who reguarlay invoke Jesus, the reserucction, and other
secular beliefs in their prayers for the meetings. Every meeting of the
council from 1999 to 2007 were opened by a Christian prayer.
Ceremonial prayer is but a recognition that, since this Nation was founded
and until the present day, many Americans deem that their own existence
must be understood by precepts far beyond the authority of government,
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority decision, for the courts
fellow four conservatives.
Justice Elena Kagan, in her dissent for the other three High Court liberals,
said the public forum need not become a religion-free zone, but [months]
of prayers steeped in only one faith, addressed toward members of the
public, commenced meetings to discuss local affairs and distribute
government benefits.
Kagan continued, ...That practice does not square with the First
Amendments promise that every citizen, irrespective of her religion, owns
an equal share in her government. The prayers betray no understanding that
the American community is today, as it long has been, a rich mosaic of
religious faiths.
This echoes the Supreme Courts 1983 decision in Marsh v. Chambers,
allowing state legislatures to begin sessions with prayer, as long as the
invocations were inclusive, nonsectarian prayers to a generic God,
according to the Washington Post. Kagans opinion also called upon the
American melting pot. A 2007 Pew Research Center survey of over
35,000 Americans found 78% of Americans identified with the Christian
faith, the majority (51%) of them being Protestant and 23% being Catholic.
Just 5% of American adults polled affiliated themselves with other religions,
with the largest of those being the 1.7% of Americans identifying as Jews.
In the town of Greece, New York, where the Supreme Court case was based,
Wake Up To Politics research unearthed Glenmary Research Center data
showing 66% of citizens as Christians the majority religion in America at
large, and the one Greece town meeting invocations were dominated by in
tone and clergy. Just 6% of Greece townspeople identified as Jewish, the
second largest religion in the town.
Justice Anthony Kennedy continued in his opinion, Absent a pattern of
prayers that over time denigrate, proselytize, or betray an impermissible
government purpose, a challenge based solely on the content of a particular
prayer will not likely establish a constitutional violation.
The courts Monday decision in the case was split 5-4, on ideological, but
also religious lines. Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., as well as Justices
Anthony Kennedy, Samuel Alito Jr., Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas
conservatives and Roman Catholics all made up the majority in the
decision. The liberal wing of the court joined in dissent made up of
Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, and Sonia
Sotomayor. Of the liberals, all except Sotomayor (a Catholic), are Jewish.

Capitol Hill News

House to Vote on Benghazi Select Committee The U.S. House will vote
today on formation of the select committee to investigate the September
2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, formally called the e
Meet Trey Gowdy. As chair of the soon-to-be
select committee, this two-term South Carolina
congressman and former federal prosecutor is
the new biggest player in the Benghazi scandal.
Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in
Benghazi.
The panel is set to have seven
Republicans and five Democrats, with
chair already announced as Rep. Trey
Gowdy (R-SC). House Democrats are
saying the Gowdy committee, as it is
already being informally called, is a
sideshow, and are expected to be united in
opposition to it at todays vote. But one
the committee is approved, as expected,
the question is whether House Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will go
ahead and appoint the five members of
her caucus allotted to the committee, or
boycott it altogether.
On this question there are two schools of thought among House Democrats.
Many news organizations have reported that Pelosi is leaning towards
boycotting the Gowdy committee, a view represented by Assistant
Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-SC), who said, Im not bringing a
noose to my hanging. Other Democrats, however, hold that it is important
members of their own be there to slow down proceedings, especially if top
Obama Administration officials are subpoenaed.
The select committee will have the power to subpoena executive branch
officials, and hearings could include now-National Security Advisor Susan
Rice, Secretary of State John Kerry, and former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton in office at the time of the attack that killed four Americans,
including the Ambassador to Libya.
Gowdys committee will be charged with unearthing new evidence and
testimony in a scandal that has already been the subject of 13 hearings from
eight different congressional committees, turning up 25,000 pages of
documents and 50 briefings and, of course, many GOP fundraising drives
and a potential issue in the midterms and 2016 presidential race.

Question of the Day

Todays Question In celebration of Harry Trumans would-be 130
th

birthday, when Truman emerged unharmed from a 1950 assassination
attempt, where was he at the time?
Mondays Question I havent had a chance to publish the answer yet
(because there was no Wake Up on Tuesday & Wednesday), but in the time
since I asked which child star was the first female U.S. Chief of Protocol, I
received 15 answers so thank you so much for answering everybody.
The answer was Shirley Temple Black, known for her childhood acting
days, who later pursued a career in public service. After running for
Congress in California as a Republican in 1967 (and losing), Temple began
her first of many diplomatic jobs in 1969, appointed as U.S. Representative
to the 24
th
UN General Assembly by Richard Nixon. By December 1974,
President Gerald Ford appointed her U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, and in
1976, she became the first female U.S. Chief of Protocol. In that post,
Temple was put in charge of arranging President Jimmy Carters
inauguration and surrounding activities. Finally, from 1989 to 1992, Temple
served as U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia under President George Bush.
GREAT JOB... Sharalyn Saks, Marlee Millman, Linda Skrainka, Marilyn
Schapiro, Brad Chotiner, Leslie Caplan, Terry Bloomberg, Janice Goodman,
Joe Bookman, Rick Isserman, Amy Fleisher, Norman Gordon, Rebecca
Hatlelid Boester, Rhyan Haynes, and @CamSullivan(via Twitter)!
I would just like to note that @CamSullivan responded to the trivia question
when I tweeted it, which I try to do every time there is a Question of the
Day. Mondays question tweet was actually favorited by @US_Protocol, the
Twitter account for the office of the Chief of Protocol at the State
Department! Check out my tweets @WakeUp2Politics!