Andrew Cuomo had a much better day today than Donald Verrilli
Briefing: Albany. Azi Paybarah
6:36 pm Mar. 27, 2012
There was little gratification to be had this afternoon, really, after the second day of oral arguments in the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the Obama health care legislation.
Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who argued the president’s side, had a torrid time. At one point, sympathetic justices actually had to step in and effectively argue his case for him.
But the math, as far as most people can tell, is unaltered. For the purposes of this case, there are four liberals, four conservatives, and Anthony Kennedy. Which is to say that anything can happen, still, “train wreck” or no.
Supreme Court
President Obama’s solicitor general did not have a great day in court today. [Zeke Miller]
Instant conventional wisdom, on Twitter, was that the oral arguments in the Supreme Court were incredibly bad for Obama. [Jeffrey Toobin]
But it’s kind of too soon to tell. [Steve Kornacki]
Bill Clinton's solicitor general actually believes there may be reason, amid the train-wreckage, for the Obama side to be optimistic. [Brian Beutler]
Either way, it still looks like Justice Kennedy’s vote will decide things. [Lyle Denniston]
Here’s an analysis of his comments from one of his former clerks. [Orin Kerr]
If the court strikes down the individual mandate, the result will look a lot like the plan Obama campaigned on. [Ezra Klein]
2012
Maybe as a follow-up to “arugula,” Republicans will attack Obama for endorsing a chili recipe that includes tumeric. [Ben Smith]
Restore Our Future is spending a lot of money attacking Rick Santorum. [Heidi Przybyla]
Albany, on time
“The Three Men in a Room have a budget agreement.” [Rick Karlin]
The deal “marks the second year in a row that Mr. Cuomo managed to persuade a notoriously unwieldy Legislature to accept a relatively austere spending plan.” [Thomas Kaplan]
Things were proceeding smoothly, so the agreement itself is not a surprise. [Nick Reisman]
NY-6
Emily’s List is backing Grace Meng for Congress. [Colin Campbell]
International affairs/Park Slope
Here’s a useful curtain-raiser on the Park Slope Food Coop’s Israel-boycott vote. [Jen Doll]
“anyone doing exit polling tonight?” [Stu Loeser]
