A new Axios/Survey Monkey poll finds a large majority of Americans have little to no faith that the Trump administration will stop foreign governments from interfering in the 2018 midterm elections.
GOP Panic Spreads to Pennsylvania Special Election
Josh Kraushaar: “Here’s how tricky things have gotten for Republicans: GOP outside groups have dramatically scaled back their ads promoting the party’s tax cut, with the messaging barely moving the needle in the district’s working-class confines. The latest round of advertisements focus on law-and-order issues, like immigration and crime. A new spot from the Paul Ryan-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC slams Lamb for supporting ‘amnesty to illegal immigrants’ because he ‘worked in the Obama administration.’ A National Republican Congressional Committee ad portrays Lamb as soft on crime because he negotiated a plea deal with a notorious drug kingpin during his tenure as a federal prosecutor. These culture-war ads are reminiscent of those run by Ed Gillespie in his failed Virginia gubernatorial campaign, and they carry the whiff of desperation.”
“Meanwhile, Republicans are sufficiently concerned about the energy from the Democratic base that CLF is distributing a mailer in suburban precincts of Allegheny County ‘thanking’ Lamb for supporting gun rights. It’s a cynical attempt to dampen Democratic enthusiasm for his campaign.”
‘Maybe We Just Take Everyone’s Guns Away?’
“I said I was going to run this country like a business. That business is a Waffle House at 2 a.m.”
Trump Pushes Abstinence for Family Planning
“The Trump administration has adopted a new strategy for how it issues tens of millions of dollars in federal family-planning grants, giving preference to groups that stress abstinence and making it harder for Planned Parenthood to do business,” the AP reports.
Quote of the Day
“I won’t rule out direct talks with Kim Jong Un, I just won’t. As far as the risk of dealing with a madman is concerned, that’s his problem not mine.”
— President Trump, quoted by Politico, in remarks to the annual Gridiron dinner.
What If Republicans Win the Midterms?
New York Times: “A sizable portion of the American population has been convulsing with outrage at President Trump for more than a year. Millions of people who previously took only mild interest in politics have participated in protests, fumed as they stayed riveted to news out of Washington and filled social media accounts once devoted to family updates and funny videos with furious political commentary.”
“Yet public life on the whole has remained surprisingly calm. A significant factor in keeping the peace has surely been anticipatory catharsis: The widespread expectations of a big Democratic wave in the coming midterm elections are containing and channeling that indignation, helping to maintain order.”
“What will happen if no such wave materializes and that pressure-relief valve jams shut?”
Graham Says War with North Korea Is ‘Worth It’
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told CNN that a war with North Korea would be “worth it” in the long term.
Said Graham: “All the damage that would come from a war would be worth it in terms of long-term stability and national security.”
Trump Has Spent 100 Days at a Trump Golf Club
“President Trump reached a presidential milestone at his Palm Beach County, Florida, golf club on Saturday: One hundred days in office at a golf club that bears his name,” CNN reports.
“Trump, once a critic of presidential golfing, has ignored his own advice and made a habit of visiting some of the many golf courses emblazoned in his moniker.”
Quote of the Day
“He’s now president for life. President for life. No, he’s great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot some day.”
— President Trump, quoted by CNN, in remarks to GOP donors about China’s President Xi Jinping.
Mueller Widens Focus to Adviser to United Arab Emirates
George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman and an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates is now a focus of the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, the New York Times reports.
“In recent weeks, Mr. Mueller’s investigators have questioned Mr. Nader and have pressed witnesses for information about any possible attempts by the Emiratis to buy political influence by directing money to support Mr. Trump during the presidential campaign. The investigators have also asked about Mr. Nader’s role in White House policymaking, those people said, suggesting that the special counsel investigation has broadened beyond Russian election meddling to include Emirati influence on the Trump administration.”
“Mr. Trump has closely allied himself with the Emiratis… Mr. Trump’s endorsement of an Emirati- and Saudi-led blockade against that country has put him openly at odds with his secretary of state — as well as with years of American policy.”
‘We Haven’t Bottomed Out’
“Inside the White House, aides over the past week have described an air of anxiety and volatility — with an uncontrollable commander in chief at its center,” the Washington Post reports.
“These are the darkest days in at least half a year, they say, and they worry just how much farther President Trump and his administration may plunge into unrest and malaise before they start to recover. As one official put it: ‘We haven’t bottomed out.’”
“Trump is now a president in transition, at times angry and increasingly isolated. He fumes in private that just about every time he looks up at a television screen, the cable news headlines are trumpeting yet another scandal. He voices frustration that son-in-law Jared Kushner has few on-air defenders. He revives old grudges. And he confides to friends that he is uncertain about whom to trust.”
“Trump’s friends are increasingly concerned about his well-being, worried that the president’s obsession with cable commentary and perceived slights is taking a toll on the 71-year-old. “Pure madness,” lamented one exasperated ally.”
Could Trump Handle a Crisis?
Politico: “Chaos here, backlash there, shock everywhere. And in Washington and around the globe another gasping chorus of WTF commentary: reckless, not normal, reality show run amok. And so on, et cetera, et cetera, for the one-hundredth-and-can’t-remember time of the Trump Era.”
“But there is something different about this week’s spasm of sudden policy lurches, graceless personal insults, oozing scandal news, and ceaseless West Wing knife fights. It is the starkest example to date of President Donald Trump’s executive style looking untenable not merely from the outside — from the perspective of establishment politicians and media analysts — but from the inside, too.”
Why Italy’s Elections Matter
New York Times: “The campaign before Italy’s national elections on Sunday has been self-obsessed and often petty and unedifying. But it has been instructive about one thing: The political forces that have torn at the global order and the European Union have settled into the mainstream.”
“Fascists rallied in large numbers in Italian piazzas. The country experienced its worst political violence in years. Formerly unthinkable suggestions, like the mass deportation of migrants, became virtually routine.”
“The reanimation of Italy’s political ghosts is a worrying harbinger for a European Union already weakened by Britain’s decision to leave the bloc, the electoral setbacks of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the long shadow of Russia and the rise of an illiberal bloc of nations in the eastern part of the Continent.”
Trump to Launch Major Donor Initiative
“Donald Trump is wrapping up the most chaotic week of his presidency by rolling out a major new donor push — one of his most serious steps yet to prepare for a 2020 reelection campaign,” Politico reports.
“Trump will appear before big GOP givers at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday for the launch of a fundraising initiative that mimics the famed George W. Bush ‘Pioneer’ program, according to three senior Republicans familiar with the plans. As with Bush, the president will reward donors who’ve bundled thousands of dollars in contributions, giving them an entree to exclusive dinners, political briefings, and future retreats.”
Democratic Early Turnout Has Doubled In Texas
“With one day of early voting to go, turnout in the Democratic primary had nearly doubled since the last midterm election in 2014,” the Dallas Morning News reports.
In contrast, early voting for the Republican primary is up just 18%.
“Political experts attribute much of Texas’ increased voter turnout as a reaction to the election of President Trump in 2016, as well as the state’s eight open congressional seats.”
For members: Something’s Going On In Texas
Pruitt Said Evolution Is Just a ‘Theory’
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt dismissed evolution as an unproven theory, lamented that “minority religions” were pushing Christianity out of “the public square” and advocated amending the Constitution to ban abortion, prohibit same-sex marriage and protect the Pledge of Allegiance and the Ten Commandments, according to a newly unearthed series of Oklahoma talk radio shows from 2005, Politico reports.
Pruitt also described the Second Amendment as divinely granted and condemned federal judges as a “judicial monarchy” that is “the most grievous threat that we have today.” And he did not object when the program’s host described Islam as “not so much a religion as it is a terrorist organization in many instances.”
Roy Moore Pleads for Money
Former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) “is pleading for money to pay for his legal bills as he fights a lawsuit against a woman who says he molested her when she was 14,” the AP reports.
Moore said that his “resources have been depleted” and had raised just $32,000 of a $250,000 fundraising goal.
”Leigh Corfman has accused Moore of touching her when she was 14 and he was in his 30s. She is suing Moore, saying Moore and his campaign defamed her as he denied the allegations.”
A Week of Surprises Leaves GOP Confused
New York Times: “For all of the attention to the process chaos in the White House, recent days have made clear that there is also a policy chaos at work. While Mr. Trump has governed from the hard right for most of his presidency, he has at times confused some of his aides with seemingly ad hoc, gut-driven proposals that conflict with Republican orthodoxy. Where other politicians strain for at least the appearance of consistency, Mr. Trump shows no reluctance to think out loud and change his mind.”
“The week of wild policymaking has left lawmakers on Capitol Hill, investors on Wall Street and leaders around the world trying to make sense of it all. Republicans in Congress are wondering if Mr. Trump really intends to defy one of the party’s most valued and powerful constituencies to push for gun restrictions that they say will never go anywhere in Congress. Corporate executives and foreign governments were guessing whether Mr. Trump will really follow through on his unscripted vow to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum and, if so, what that might mean.”