Caucus

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is extending his surrogate role on behalf of his old boss, President Obama, by keynoting the Iowa Democratic Party's largest pre-caucus fundraiser of the year. Sue Dvorsky, the Iowa Democratic chairwoman, today announced Emanuel's appearance at the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. In a statement, she called Emanuel "one of the great advocates for Democratic values and middle class opportunity throughout his service in both the Clinton and Obama administrations, as a leader in Congress, and now at the helm of the great city of Chicago.

Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) endorsed Norwalk City Councilman Cecil N. Green on Tuesday to fill the state Senate seat vacated last week by Cypress Democrat Paul B. Carpenter. Within the next few days, Gov.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas abandoned his longshot bid to become Assembly speaker Monday, virtually assuring that the sole remaining candidate, Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg, will soon head the Legislature's lower house. Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks) would become the first San Fernando Valley legislator in a quarter-century to head the Assembly.

While admitting that his prospects for victory are slim, North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler says he's likely to follow through on a campaign pledge to challenge Nancy Pelosi for leadership of the Democratic House caucus, claiming the San Francisco congresswoman is too liberal. Shuler, first elected in 2006, survived a tough race in 2010 during which his Republican opponent, like Republican challengers nationwide, turned Pelosi into a political punching bag. The former quarterback of the Washington Redskins pledged that if reelected, he would consider challenging her if she sought a third term as speaker of the House.

Washington's top leaders insist they want to resolve this year’s budget crisis and want the federal government to stay open after Friday’s deadline. But that doesn’t mean they can easily negotiate the political minefield to reach compromise. Recent polls show most Americans want a compromise to avoid a government shutdown, but drilling down into the numbers shows that there are serious partisan divides that are fueling the tough stands being held by negotiators in their emergency meetings as the hours wind down to the deadline.

The White House declined Wednesday to weigh in on the scandal involving Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner, amid new pressure for him to step down. Tim Kaine, the former chair of the Democratic National Committee who is now running for a U.S. Senate seat in Virginia, told a local television station earlier that "lying publicly" about his behavior was "unforgivable and he should resign. " He was the first prominent Democrat to expressly call for him to do so. Asked for President Obama's position, press secretary Jay Carney said at his daily briefing that he had "no comment on that story.

The mail arrives, 100 pieces or more, bound in those plastic straps that pop when scissored. Let's see . . . Travel Agent magazine, Ukrainian Weekly, an invitation to a workshop from the American Solar Energy Society and Passive Solar Energy Council. A thoughtful letter from William Purves of San Diego with his views about gays in the military. And here's a postcard from John Reis, also of San Diego, with this blunt, commercially printed message: "Before you raise my taxes, cut spending first.

Forgiveness can be hard to come by in politics. As former Orange County legislator Doris Allen lay gravely ill with cancer in Colorado, some of her former Republican colleagues in Sacramento refused last week to extend an olive branch and commend her for her 13 years of service to the state. They were still fuming about the deal she cut with Democrats in 1995 to make her the first female speaker of the Assembly.

As the debt-ceiling doomsday countdown ticks toward zero, Republican leaders have turned to Hollywood to try to motivate their unruly caucus to get on board with House Speaker John Boehner's last-minute plan to avert a government default. House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, a Californian, on Tuesday evening showed a clip from the bank-heist film “ The Town ” to fire up the troops, wrote Times reporters Lisa Mascaro and Kathleen Hennessey. ( See video below. ) The choice of a bank-robbery film to help promote unity among the squabbling conservatives was met with puzzlement by some.

Angry Senate Democrats rejected a Reagan Administration-approved farm credit relief package Thursday night, saying that they would continue to block a vote on the nomination of Atty. Gen.-designate Edwin Meese III until farmers get more help. The unanimous action by the Democrats in closed caucus was taken only hours after a bipartisan group of senators had reached tentative agreement with reluctant Administration officials on the proposed relief measures.