Editor's note: Gloria Borger is CNN's chief political analyst, appearing regularly on shows such as "AC360˚," "The Situation Room" and "State of the Union."
(CNN) - No matter how hard politicians try, party reinventions are never pretty - and hardly ever subtle. The trick is twofold: First, tell voters you weren't really wrong - your message just wasn't getting through. Next, shift positions, without admitting you had to change positions to survive.
Bill Clinton, both as a candidate and as president, was the master of reinvention. As a Southern governor, he saw a party that was too liberal, so he pushed it to the center. And when he took a shellacking in the 1994 midterm elections, with Democrats losing control of the House, he took advantage of it, forcing newly empowered Republicans to lead alongside him. Imagine that.
FULL STORYWashington (CNN) - Furloughed workers, reduced combat readiness, shrunken naval operations and cuts to Air Force flying hours and weapons maintenance.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta listed those consequences as he provided a stark warning Wednesday about the effects of impending budget cuts on the military. The result, he said, would be "the most serious readiness crisis" faced by the military in over a decade.
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(CNN) – Leave it to a U.S. senator to resurrect the East Coast-West Coast hip hop debate.
Republican Sen. Marco Rubio weighed in once again on his love for the deceased rapper Tupac, who often rapped about the violence and racial tensions that plagued Los Angeles in the 90s.
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New York (CNNMoney) - Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will join the Council on Foreign Relations later this month as a distinguished fellow, the New York-based think tank announced Thursday.
Geithner has a masters in international economics and much of his early career focused on that field. He had been under secretary of Treasury for international affairs during the Clinton administration, moving to CFR as a senior fellow in 2001, and then onto the International Monetary Fund later that year.
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(CNN) – She's not yet a candidate for any public office, but actress Ashley Judd already has an outside group creating an attack ad casting her as out of touch from her years in Hollywood.
The web spot, from American Crossroads, comes as Judd openly speculates about a 2014 run for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, where she'd potentially be pitted against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. American Crossroads is the pro-Republican super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove. They said they were spending $10,000 to place the ad online.
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(CNN) - Sally Jewell, the CEO of outdoor gear company REI, will be nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed Ken Salazar as secretary of the interior, a senior administration official tells CNN.
Salazar announced in mid-January that he was stepping down from his post. He did not intend to serve another term in Obama's Cabinet, he said.
The senior administration official said Jewell is "uniquely qualified" for the new post because of her management in the private sector and understanding of energy and conservation issues.
(CNN) – The new super PAC aimed at ensuring electable candidates emerge from Republican primaries isn't designed to further entrench establishment moderates, one of its founders said late Tuesday.
Karl Rove, the former top political adviser to President George W. Bush and co-founder of American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, said his new group wasn't meant to protect incumbents, but instead to shepherd candidates with a shot at winning a general election through tough primaries.
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Washington (CNNMoney) - The U.S. Postal Service plans to stop delivering letters and other first-class mail on Saturdays beginning Aug. 1, although packages will continue to be delivered.
Tired of waiting for Congress to help, the Postal Service later Wednesday is expected to unveil a series of more drastic cuts they plan to pursue that will save them billions of dollars, a spokesperson for the service confirmed.
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Washington (CNN) - It's something Al Cardenas hopes he never has to do: Choose between two good friends.
But that's the dilemma the chairman of the American Conservative Union could face if Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush both decide to run for the White House in 2016.
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Washington (CNN) - Secretary of State John Kerry will highlight the priority of protecting diplomats overseas during his ceremonial swearing-in on Wednesday.
The safety of America's diplomats has been scrutinized since Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in a terror attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, last September.
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