SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

THIS POLITELY IS KNOWN AS A RACKET – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:  Don’t look now, but more homeless people are coming to a nice hotel near you.  The Post reported on Thursday that the city now pays to put up a mind-boggling 11,000 homeless people in hotels — nearly one in six of the roughly 61,000 previously in shelters — costing taxpayers an average $222 a night compared with $150 a night in shelters.  The Big Apple’s hotels are making less money than they were a few years ago, and owners are scrambling for bucks as they see the value of their properties tumble. The recent creation of tens of thousands of new rooms, as well as competition from Airbnb, has driven down room rates and the city’s hotel market is “performing like mushy apple sauce,” says industry journal Hotel Management.  Mayor de Blasio, ever eager to throw Band-Aids at serious crises, offered to fill empty rooms with homeless people, taking large bunches of rooms, or even entire hotels, off owners’ hands, sometimes for more than they’d make from regular guests. And hoteliers are more than willing to play along. Their business, after all, depends on it.  And I'd imagine that the mayor's political war chest is suddenly receiving large contributions from previously non-political hotel owners.

GOP ROMPS IN STATEHOUSES – FROM FOX:   The top 10 most popular governors in America are Republican and 12 GOP governors running for re-election in 2018 enjoy positive approval rankings, according to newly released data.  Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, is leading the poll as the most popular governor in the U.S. with 69 percent of surveyed people approving his job, while only 16 percent say he is a lousy governor, according to the latest Morning Consult quarterly poll.  Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Alabama’s Kay Ivey are the second and the third most popular governors in the country, with less than a fifth of the people opposing their leadership.  The rest of the top 10 most popular governors based on their approval rankings were: Phil Scott, R-Vt., 63 percent; Matt Mead, R-Wyo., 63 percent; Brian Sandoval, R-Nev., 61 percent; Gary Herbert, R-Utah, 60 percent; Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., 59 percent; Greg Abbott, R-Texas, 59 percent; and Dennis Daugaard, R-S.D., 59 percent.  Governorships are critical, even to the national party.  Governors oversee the political campaigns of their party in presidential election years.  They can make a major difference.

NEW CHANCE FOR ROMNEY – FROM THE ATLANTIC:  Mitt Romney hasn’t even officially announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, yet Republican leadership is already seeing stars.  According to a Republican donor with direct knowledge, Senate GOP leaders have expressed an early interest in having Romney succeed Colorado Senator Cory Gardner as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The role involves leading the Senate GOP’s fundraising arm and helping recruit and vet prospective GOP candidates for the upper chamber. A Republican source close to Romney confirmed that the idea of the Utah Republican taking over the NRSC has generated chatter in recent weeks.  On Thursday afternoon, Gardner placed a call to a GOP donor, and said that he and Senate leadership “liked Romney” for the NRSC post.   This will be fascinating.  Romney has been a cutting critic of President Trump.  And yet, as a U.S. senator from Utah and a high party functionary, he'll be expected to follow Trump's lead.  Will he?  I'm guessing he will, to a large degree.  Otherwise, his new rise in the party will be crushed.  His niece, Ronna Romney McDaniel, is chair of the Republican National Committee, and a fierce Trump loyalist.

February 3, 2018