Politico writes, “House Speaker John Boehner has avoided taking firm positions on almost every major policy issue this year. Guns – talk to the Judiciary Committee. Immigration – let the Senate lead the way. Budget – Paul Ryan’s over there. But Boehner’s become obsessed with Benghazi. With Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) as the public face and the speaker’s office as the muscle, House Republicans are turning the story of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack in Libya that left four Americans dead from a mesh of confusing details into a defining political fight with President Barack Obama.” BENGHAZI? MOST AMERICANS STILL AREN’T PAYING ATTENTION The Fix writes, “New numbers from Pew Research Center provide evidence that even when Benghazi is on the front burner in official Washington it doesn’t move the needle with the general public. Despite the fact that Pew was in the field in the immediate aftermath of congressional hearings last week that featured several whistleblowers on Benghazi, just 44% of Americans said they were following the story “very” (23%) or “fairly” (2%) closely — a number consistent with those paying close attention throughout 2013 so far. That consistency suggests that in or out of the news, there is a certain percentage of the public who will pay attention to Benghazi — and the rest simply won’t.”
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May 2013