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Why Silicon Valley’s Big Bet on Matt Mahan Went Bust

May 26, 2026 at 4:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Silicon Valley’s effort to place Matt Mahan in the governor’s mansion is stalling out amid recriminations, donor frustration and second-guessing,” Politico reports. 

“The San Jose mayor entered California’s wide-open governor’s race as tech’s chosen champion: a centrist Democrat with founder credentials, elite backers and promises of tens of millions of dollars to catapult him through the June primary.”

“But his underwhelming campaign has become a cautionary tale about an untested candidate and inexperienced donors chasing a vision that has failed to materialize with a week left — a humbling experience for some of Mahan’s backers in tech, many of them relative newcomers to state politics who are working to build enduring political power in California.”

Iran Begins Lifting Monthslong Internet Blackout

May 26, 2026 at 4:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Iran began restoring internet access for tens of millions of Iranians, lifting a blackout imposed after the United States and Israel launched military strikes on the country on Feb. 28.”

Iran Seeks Economic Relief Without Handing Trump Victory

May 26, 2026 at 4:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Iran is pursuing two intertwining goals in its negotiating strategy with the U.S., say Iranian officials and Arab mediators: securing financial relief for an economy that is under severe strain without giving enough ground on its nuclear program to allow President Trump to claim victory,” the Wall Street Journal reports. 

Vance Calls Pope Leo’s AI Warnings ‘Profound’

May 26, 2026 at 4:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Vice President JD Vance praised Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday for issuing a new theological document rife with warnings about unbridled advancements in AI,” NBC News reports. 

“The text, Leo’s first encyclical since his installation as pope last year, urged a restraint that doesn’t stop progress but, rather, functions as the “exercise of responsible care for the human family.”

Said Vance: “What I read of it sounds very profound, and the sort of thing that you would expect and hope from a leader of the church. The thing about morality is that the principles never change, but the way you apply those principles does, because the world changes, right?”

South Carolina Republicans Defy Trump Again

May 26, 2026 at 4:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Guardian: “Republican lawmakers in South Carolina have defied Donald Trump and rejected a breakneck bid to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of November’s US midterm elections.”

“In a 26-18 vote, state senators rejected mid-decade redistricting in a special session of the legislature, ending hope in Washington to split up congressman Jim Clyburn’s district and add to the list of gerrymandered gains for Republicans.”

Iran Threatens to Renew Strikes Against U.S.

May 26, 2026 at 4:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said on Tuesday that it would launch a ‘decisive reciprocal response’ to any attack that violated the cease-fire, injecting more uncertainty into fragile diplomatic efforts a day after the U.S. military struck targets in southern Iran,” the New York Times reports. 

“Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, also suggested that the country could renew strikes on U.S. military installations in the Persian Gulf, which Tehran had repeatedly targeted after the United States and Israel started bombing Iran in late February.”

Statistic of the Day

May 26, 2026 at 2:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Telegraph: “All but three of the 6,069 refugees taken in by the United States since October are White South Africans.”

An Innovator in Corruption

May 26, 2026 at 1:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Last: “He saw that private lawsuits could be used as a way to legalize bribery and extortion—that’s what his defamation suits against CBS and ABC were.”

“Trump understood that while it might be illegal to go to CBS and ABC and demand that they pay him protection money, he could use a civil lawsuit as justification for creating a private legal contract that amounted to the same thing.”

“He further understood that if he filed a civil suit against the U.S. government and then became president, he could direct the government to settle with him on whatever terms he desired.”

“These are ideas which seem to have occurred to no one in American history prior to Trump. When it comes to corruption, the man knows how to think laterally.”

Democrats Feud Over Stock Trading

May 26, 2026 at 1:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “The bitter campaign is emblematic of broader debates within the Democratic Party over the role of money in politics. Long a refrain of strident progressives and good-government reformers, accusations that political rivals are self-dealing or bought by special interests have become a mainstay of Democratic primaries.”

“The heightened criticism of lawmakers’ personal wealth comes as the party looks to sharpen its anti-corruption message against Trump and to develop a platform for overhauling Washington if Democrats take power in the midterms.”

Trump Says Exam Went ‘Perfectly’ but Shares No Details

May 26, 2026 at 1:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Donald Trump said his physical at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center went “PERFECTLY,” but provided no details on the results of his examination, Bloomberg reports. 

Rolling Stone: Trump sure seems to be going to the hospital a lot.

Chris Cillizza: Trump is going to the doctor again. What’s going on?

Crisis of Common Good

May 26, 2026 at 12:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Out today: Crisis of the Common Good: The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America by Sen. Chris Murphy.

“Today, the United States is in a crisis—and it’s not just a political one: over fifty years, the pursuit of profit has undermined virtue and character, while too many of us have become convinced that happiness results from acting as good consumers, rather than as good citizens.”

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A Metastasizing Scandal

May 26, 2026 at 12:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Harry Litman: “The American people are being compelled to fund—and by funding to implicitly endorse—a bounty for the people who stormed the Capitol, beat police officers, and tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power.”

“All of us are, in effect, being conscripted into Trump’s campaign to rewrite the history of January 6th. The message the fund sends—that the rioters were victims, that their convictions were injustices, that the government owes them not accountability but a check—is sent in all of our names, with all of our money. We are being made, without our consent, co-signatories to the biggest lie of Trump’s presidency.”

Trump Gets to Decide What’s Released from His Physical

May 26, 2026 at 12:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Stat: “For decades, administrations have released selected results from presidential physicals, offering the public a glimpse at the commander-in-chief’s health.”

“But the results are filtered through the White House and must be approved by the president, raising questions about what the public does and doesn’t get to see.”

Ken Paxton Has a History of Winning Make-or-Break Races

May 26, 2026 at 12:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Ken Paxton, the Texas attorney general who received President Trump’s endorsement last week, has been accused of adultery by his wife of 38 years. He’s been indicted and had the charges dropped. And he’s been impeached and acquitted,” the New York Times reports. 

“But none of that has stopped him from shaking up the U.S. Senate race in Texas, where he could defeat Senator John Cornyn, the four-term incumbent, in today’s runoff.”

“Mr. Paxton, 63, has, in his quarter-century of public life, never lost an election. Despite his failures and faults, and in some ways because of them, he’s won crowded primaries and make-or-break runoffs.”

Kevin Williamson: “Imagine a rich, middle-aged car salesman who ditches his wife and starts dating a 21-year-old stripper with a meth problem, and then imagine that guy is a state—that’s Texas, Anno Domini 2026.”

UFC Unveils Plans for Fight on Trump’s Birthday

May 26, 2026 at 12:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released its latest rendering of the octagonal cage that officials are building at the White House for a fight scheduled on President Trump’s 80th birthday.”

“It depicts a star-spangled arch over the cage on the White House South Lawn along with seating for thousands.”

“Construction for the fight on June 14, which is one of several major events planned around the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, is already underway at the White House. Mr. Trump is also planning a temporary IndyCar street circuit racing past landmarks including the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol that will take place in August.”

The GOP Race for Texas Attorney General Got Expensive

May 26, 2026 at 12:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “An already bitter Republican race for Attorney General of Texas intensified in its final days, fueled by after an influx of last minute campaign spending.”

“For months, Chip Roy, a hard-line congressman who has at times broken with President Trump, had been outspent by State Senator Mayes Middleton, his self-funded opponent. But in the last week of the contest, Mr. Roy reported raising more than $8 million, providing a late boost to his campaign.”

“Mr. Roy used the cash to advertise on television and in mailers, rivaling an ad blitz from Mr. Middleton. Together they deluged Republican voters with negative messaging.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

May 26, 2026 at 11:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I didn’t expect the corruption to be quite as widespread as it has been. The self-dealing, the lining of his and his family’s pockets. It’s shocking… You look across the board at the Trump family, I’ve never seen a family get so rich off the presidency.”

— Megyn Kelly, on her podcast.

Trump Proposes Expansive NDAs for All Federal Workers

May 26, 2026 at 11:14 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is planning a government-wide nondisclosure agreement that bars federal workers from sharing a wide array of ‘confidential government information,'” the Washington Post reports.

“The draft notice, which will be published Wednesday and be open for a 30-day public comment period, uses an expansive definition of privileged information, beyond typical classified and unclassified designations.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

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