Political Wire

Archives for May 2017

Exchange of the Day

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From an interview on Sirius XM airing later today:

PRESIDENT TRUMP: His wife died. They destroyed his wife and she died. He was a swashbuckler, but when his wife died you know he visited her grave everyday? I visited her grave actually because I was in Tennessee.

SALENA ZITO: That’s right, you were in Tennessee.

TRUMP: And it was amazing. The people of Tennessee are amazing people. They love Andrew Jackson. They love Andrew Jackson in Tennessee…

ZITO: He’s a fascinating…

TRUMP: I mean had Andrew Jackson been a little later you wouldn’t have had the Civil War. He was a very tough person, but he had a big heart. He was really angry that he saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War, he said “There’s no reason for this.” People don’t realize, you know, the Civil War, if you think about it, why? People don’t ask that question, but why was there the Civil War? Why could that one not have been worked out?

Trump’s Speech Slammed as Most Divisive Ever

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Former White House adviser David Gergen said President Trump delivered “the most divisive speech I’ve ever heard from a sitting American president” at a campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, The Hill reports.

Said Gergen: “To bring your campaign speech into the presidency is something presidents rarely do. He played to his base and he treated his other listeners, the rest of the people who have been disturbed about him or oppose him, he treated them basically as ‘I don’t care, I don’t give a damn what you think, because you’re frankly like the enemy.'”

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Republicans Revive Pelosi as Boogeyman

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This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

In special elections in Georgia and Montana, Republicans are trying to tie their Democratic opponents to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in a coordinated assault:

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GOP Leaders Will Try Again on Obamacare Repeal

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House Republican leaders and White House officials “are increasingly confident about passing their long-stalled Obamacare replacement bill: More lawmakers than ever are committed to voting ‘yes,’ they say, and GOP insiders insist they’re within striking distance of a majority,” Politico reports.

“But the window of opportunity for Speaker Paul Ryan and his leadership team is closing fast. The House is scheduled to leave town for a one-week recess on Thursday, and some senior Republicans worry that failing to get it done by then would fritter away critical momentum.”

Jonathan Swan: “House leadership is desperate to just get healthcare out of the House. They want it to become the Senate’s problem for a while.”

David Nather: House Republicans have told Democrats that Wednesday is the likely day for the vote.

For members: Trump Doesn’t Know What’s In His Own Health Care Bill

Congress Reaches Deal to Keep Government Open

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“Lawmakers are expected to vote early this week on a bipartisan deal that does not include funding for a new wall along the U.S.-Mexico border but includes increased spending for technology investments and repairs to existing fencing and infrastructure along the border,” the Washington Post reports.

“The agreement follows weeks of tense negotiations between Democrats and GOP leaders after President Trump insisted on funding for a new wall.”

Playbook: “Trump got very little of what he wanted… This bill will likely fly through Congress this week, which will ratchet up pressure on Republicans to get an Obamacare repeal through.”

The Main Reason Hillary Clinton Lost

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“A select group of top Democratic Party strategists have used new data about last year’s presidential election to reach a startling conclusion about why Hillary Clinton lost. Now they just need to persuade the rest of the party they’re right,” McClatchy reports.

“Many Democrats have a shorthand explanation for Clinton’s defeat: Her base didn’t turn out, Donald Trump’s did and the difference was too much to overcome. But new information shows that Clinton had a much bigger problem with voters who had supported President Barack Obama in 2012 but backed Trump four years later.”

“Those Obama-Trump voters, in fact, effectively accounted for more than two-thirds of the reason Clinton lost, according to Matt Canter, a senior vice president of the Democratic political firm Global Strategy Group. In his group’s analysis, about 70 percent of Clinton’s failure to reach Obama’s vote total in 2012 was because she lost these voters.”

How Trump Could Get Fired

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Evan Osnos: “During the past few months, I interviewed several dozen people about the prospects of cutting short Trump’s Presidency. I spoke to his friends and advisers; to lawmakers and attorneys who have conducted impeachments; to physicians and historians; and to current members of the Senate, the House, and the intelligence services.”

“Although some of my sources maintained that laws and politics protect the President to a degree that his critics underestimate, others argued that he has already set in motion a process of his undoing. All agree that Trump is unlike his predecessors in ways that intensify his political, legal, and personal risks. He is the first President with no prior experience in government or the military, the first to retain ownership of a business empire, and the oldest person ever to assume the Presidency.”

One Part of Trump’s Immigration Strategy Is Working

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“In many ways, President Trump’s attempts to implement his hard-line immigration policies have not gone very well in his first three months. His travel ban aimed at some Muslim-majority countries has been blocked by the courts, his U.S.-Mexico border wall has gone nowhere in Congress, and he has retreated, at least for now, on his vow to target illegal immigrants brought here as children,” the Washington Post reports.

“But one strategy that seems to be working well is fear. The number of migrants, legal and illegal, crossing into the United States has dropped markedly since Trump took office, while recent declines in the number of deportations have been reversed.”

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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