“Even people who don’t like him, when they are with him, are impressed with how easily he works a room. I think he likes people. He lives in the moment. He’s not thinking of the next day or even the next hour or the next person … he’s that kind of personality.”
— Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), quoted by CNN, on President Trump.
A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that a combined 68% of Americans are either enthusiastic (14%) or comfortable (54%) with a presidential candidate who is gay or lesbian.
As recently as 2006, more than half of Americans said they would be “very uncomfortable” (34%) or have “reservations” (19%) about a gay or lesbian person running for president.
Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) “announced today he is running for Senate in New Mexico, halting his rise through House leadership for a shot at a seat in the upper chamber,” Politico reports.
“The Democratic field could become crowded: Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and first-term Rep. Deb Haaland are both considering running. But Luján’s experience and the vast political and donor network established during his time as DCCC chairman gives him a significant edge in the Democratic primary.”
This is pretty cool: The Democratic presidential field, as seen through Google searches.
Page Six: “A wild rumor flying around the TV industry is that CNN chief Jeff Zucker is eyeing a run for mayor of New York City.”
“The prospect — however ridiculous or remote — of Zucker becoming mayor would not sit well with Rudy Giuliani, who demanded Zucker apologize for ‘torturing’ President Trump with CNN’s coverage on alleged collusion.”
New York Times: “Months after the legislation passed, and amid foreign policy blunders and a defeat on funding a wall along the southern border, Mr. Trump’s administration is putting the issue front and center.”
“But some activists who helped work on the legislation — which would expand job training and early-release programs, and modify sentencing laws, including mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders — have expressed concern that Mr. Trump is more attuned to the political opportunities the law offers him, rather than with ensuring it is enacted effectively.”
Washington Post: “Pete Buttigieg wants to abolish the electoral college. Sen. Elizabeth Warren hopes to ban gerrymandering. Sen. Cory Booker talks about limiting terms for Supreme Court justices. Beto O’Rourke is weighing an expansion of the high court.”
“The Democratic presidential hopefuls, prodded by a frustrated base, are pushing fundamental changes to the American political system. Aimed at changing how presidents are chosen and laws are passed, the proposals go beyond typical campaign issues such as health care and taxes to challenge the basic rules of American democracy.”
“Many of those ideas face long odds against enactment. But the conversation speaks volumes about the state of the Democratic Party in the age of Trump, reflecting a sentiment in the party that the system has stopped working fairly — a grievance once voiced more often by conservatives, including President Trump.”
Many of you had questions over New York’s statewide ban on plastic bags last week, so Sara Goddard took some time to answer them on her new site, Green That Life.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) “is set on Tuesday to unveil a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College and allow for the election of presidents by popular vote,” the Daily Beast reports.
“The amendment is supported by other Democrats in the chamber, an aide said, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee: Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).”
Related: The winner-take-all Electoral College isn’t in the U.S. Constitution.
“A White House whistleblower told lawmakers that more than two-dozen denials for security clearances have been overturned during the Trump administration, calling Congress her ‘last hope’ for addressing what she considers improper conduct that has left the nation’s secrets exposed,” the Washington Post reports.
“Tricia Newbold, a longtime White House security adviser, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that she and her colleagues issued ‘dozens’ of denials for security clearance applications that were later approved despite their concerns about blackmail, foreign influence, or other red flags.”
Said Newbold: “I feel that right now this is my last hope to really bring the integrity back into our office.”
Washington Post: “It was only 200 days ago, on his 601st day in office, that President Trump exceeded 5,000 false or misleading claims.”
“Now, on his 801st day, the count stands at 9,451, according to The Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement the president utters. That’s a pace of 22 fishy claims a day over the past 200 days, a steep climb from the average of nearly 5.9 false or misleading claims a day in Trump’s first year in office.”
Jonathan Chait: “Trump’s innovation of winning the election through adolescent-style bullying has carried over to his presidency. Presidents traditionally inculcate the virtues of decency, gentleness and generosity as part of their role as ceremonial head of state. One little-noticed feature of Trump’s presidency is how little time and attention he devotes to what used to be the banal presidential work of celebrating charitable good works and public service. Speeches and photo ops with volunteers, do-gooder business leaders, hospital visits and the like, once the barely-noticed daily bread of presidential messagings, has all but disappeared…”
“The message of any bully is that he is a winner — as are, to a pointedly lesser degree, his flunkies — and his targets are the losers. What is so remarkable about Trump is that he has no interest or need to conceal his cruelty. Trump is a highly familiar social type: the leader of a gang, taunting his targets while his flunkies guffaw. Before he came along, it was never possible to imagine such a person occupying the Presidency of the United States.”
“The House Judiciary Committee plans to vote Wednesday to authorize subpoenas to obtain the full report of special counsel Robert Mueller, escalating a feud with the Justice Department over a lengthy document detailing findings about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” the Washington Post reports.
“Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on Monday announced plans for the panel’s vote, which would take place a day after a deadline the committee set for Attorney General William Barr to share the report.”
First Read has some good observations from Beto O’Rourke’s campaign kickoff in El Paso over the weekend:
“A Syrian asylum seeker who presented himself to Virgin Islands Police was transferred to Miami by immigration agents in defiance of a judge’s order that he be released,” the Virgin Islands Daily News reports.
New York Times: “She was the first major candidate to announce; she has set the pace on policy, unveiling a series of far-reaching proposals on child care, taxes and the role of large technology companies; and she defied the pleas of her longtime finance director and declared that she would stop pursuing big donations altogether, leading to his resignation.”
“But as the first fund-raising deadline arrives at midnight on Sunday, Ms. Warren — who last year was widely considered a would-be front-runner — finds herself in a political vise. Her rivals on either ideological flank will raise substantially more money in the first quarter than she does, and her focus on policy has not yet translated in the polls.”
Bloomberg: “Saudi Arabia and Egypt are unlikely to throw their weight behind the proposal being drawn up by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, and White House Middle East peace negotiator Jason Greenblatt, according to interviews with key diplomats and analysts in Washington.”
“One diplomat described the initiative, which has yet to be made public, ‘hocus pocus’ and doubted whether Trump — who has raised questions about whether he supports a Palestinian state — cares about a negotiated settlement.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.