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Trump Sees Supreme Court as His Ally

April 29, 2019 at 12:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Trump’s confidence in the high court seems borne of the fact that he’s nominated two of the five conservative justices that make up the court’s majority — Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh. The president said this week he was pleased with Kavanaugh’s questioning in the census case, an adviser said. The president and the first lady are friendly with Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni Thomas, having shared dinner at the White House… Trump has referred to Supreme Court justices as Democrats and Republicans, current and former aides say, and has bragged that he thinks he may get one or two more chances to remake the court.

“Trump has told White House aides that he would take the battle over his tax returns to the high court, where he believes he would win.”

Filed Under: Judiciary

The President Committed Crimes

April 29, 2019 at 11:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Benjamin Wittes: “There is no way around it. Attorney General William Barr’s efforts to clear President Donald Trump, both in his original letter and in his press conference the morning of the report’s release, are wholly unconvincing when you actually spend time with the document itself.”

“Mueller does not accuse the president of crimes. He doesn’t have to. But the facts he recounts describe criminal behavior. They describe criminal behavior even if we allow the president’s—and the attorney general’s—argument that facially valid exercises of presidential authority cannot be obstructions of justice. They do this because they describe obstructive activity that does not involve facially valid exercises of presidential power at all.”

Filed Under: White House

Gingrich Sees Kamala Harris as Most Likely Nominee

April 29, 2019 at 11:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Newt Gingrich told CBS News that Sen. Kamala Harris is “most likely” to be nominated by Democrats to challenge President Trump in the 2020 presidential race.

Said Gingrich: “She’s very articulate and I think a likable person, and I think that she represents a new generation in a way that Biden and Sanders are going to work very hard to be able to match.”

But he said Pete Buttigieig may be the “most dangerous opponent” to Trump: “He’s from the Midwest, he’s a mayor of a small town, he has no particular public record, he can be like Jimmy Carter used to be, a Rorschach test of you paint on him what you want.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Kamala Harris


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Trump Goes After Biden Again

April 29, 2019 at 11:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump slammed Joe Biden on Twitter, ahead of the former vice president’s first campaign rally.

Said Trump: “The Media (Fake News) is pushing Sleepy Joe hard. Funny, I’m only here because of Biden & Obama. They didn’t do the job and now you have Trump, who is getting it done – big time!”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Joe Biden

Trump’s Tariffs End or His Trade Deal Dies

April 29, 2019 at 10:40 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) writes in the Wall Street Journal that Trump administration tariffs are a significant roadblock to approving the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico.

Writes Grassley: “These levies are a tax on Americans, and they jeopardize USMCA’s prospects of passage in the Mexican Congress, Canadian Parliament and U.S. Congress. Canadian and Mexican trade officials may be more delicate in their language, but they’re diplomats. I’m not. If these tariffs aren’t lifted, USMCA is dead. There is no appetite in Congress to debate USMCA with these tariffs in place.”

Filed Under: Economy, Foreign Affairs

Four Democrats Have Not Yet Qualified for the Debates

April 29, 2019 at 10:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The New York Times reports that just four official Democratic presidential candidates — Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), Mayor Wayne Messam and writer Marianne Williamson — have yet to meet the thresholds laid out by the DNC to qualify for the first presidential debates.

To be eligible, candidates must receive at least one percent support in three separate polls before the debate or receive campaign contributions from at least 65,000 unique donors.

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign

A Guide to the Mueller Report’s Findings on ‘Collusion’

April 29, 2019 at 10:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ryan Goodman offers an excellent guide to the Mueller Report’s findings on whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.

“The analysis discusses affirmative evidence and countervailing evidence in the Report, references the Special Counsel’s court filings and reliable news reports that help shed additional light on information in the Report, and identifies significant loose ends that the investigation was unable to answer.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign

Trump In Dead Heat In Texas

April 29, 2019 at 10:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Emerson College survey in Texas finds President Trump in a dead heat with potential Democratic challengers Joe Biden and Beto O’Rourke.

Biden leads Trump 50% to 49%, while O’Rourke is tied with Trump at 50% to 50%.

In the Democratic primary race, Biden edges O’Rourke 23% to 22%, with Bernie Sanders at 17%, Pete Buttigieg at 8% and Elizabeth Warren at 7%.

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Texas

Impeachment Could Be a Trap for Democrats

April 29, 2019 at 9:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Gerald Seib: “Everything about Mr. Trump’s history—before and since assuming the presidency—suggests he likes a clearly identifiable enemy, and he likes a fight. He is the famously self-proclaimed counter-puncher, defining himself by those with whom he is battling and distinguishing himself by the way he conducts the battle. In an impeachment fight, he could do exactly that.”

“Mr. Trump appears ready to portray himself as both a victim of his enemies, and the pursuer of them, in any impeachment battle.”

“In such a scenario, Mr. Trump would have the opportunity to offer to his base—and for the president, it’s all about that base—the ultimate proof of the ultimate conspiracy theory: That the whole investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections was, from the beginning, a pretense to bring him down.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives

O’Rourke Releases $5 Trillion Climate Plan

April 29, 2019 at 9:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Beto O’Rourke released a sweeping, $5 trillion plan to combat what he regularly refers to as the “greatest threat” our nation faces: climate change, NBC News reports.

“O’Rourke’s four-pillar framework, detailed in a campaign memo, combines proposed executive action with legislation he pledges to introduce within his first 100 days in office and outlines further steps to take in response to climate-related disasters in the future. It amounts to the first major policy rollout for a campaign which critics have targeted for being light on specifics.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign, Environment Tagged With: Beto O'Rourke

Majority Say They Won’t Vote for Trump

April 29, 2019 at 9:23 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 55% of respondents said they will not vote for President Trump next year, with just 39% approving of his job as president.

Just 28% said they definitely would vote for Trump, while another 14% said they would consider it.

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign

‘Impeachment Is Inevitable’

April 29, 2019 at 8:49 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

As House Democrats return to the Capitol this week after a two-week recess, they will face immediate questions on what to do about the Mueller Report. The New York Times suggests a private meeting of the House Democratic caucus on Tuesday “promises to be heated.”

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Filed Under: House of Representatives, Members

Some Democratic Women Worry About a Woman In 2020

April 29, 2019 at 8:47 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “Iowa voters sent a record number of women to the Legislature during last year’s midterms. Women won two of the state’s most competitive U.S. House races, and a woman was elected governor for the first time.”

“Yet across Iowa, there’s palpable anxiety among some Democratic women about nominating a female candidate to face off against President Donald Trump next year.”

“And it’s not just Iowa. Across Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, three of the first states to hold 2020 nominating contests, dozens of women told The Associated Press that they are worried about whether the country is ready to elect a woman as president. Their concerns are political and personal, rooted as much in fear of repeating Hillary Clinton’s 2016 loss to Trump as in their own experiences with sexism and gender discrimination.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign

America’s Majority Minority Future

April 29, 2019 at 8:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Axios: “Next year, the entire under 18 population will be majority non-white… In less than a decade, the population under 30 will be majority non-white.”

Filed Under: Trends

Betsy DeVos Is a Trump Cabinet Survivor

April 29, 2019 at 8:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Education Secretary Betsy DeVos remains so disliked in certain circles that her very name is a punchline. She mostly lands in the news for the wrong reasons, such as being forced last month to defend budget cuts for the Special Olympics before angry lawmakers. President Trump has privately complained about her, insulting her intelligence on several occasions,” the Washington Post reports.

“Yet the president shows no signs of asking her to resign, reflecting in part his lack of interest in the issue of education and the department responsible for it. And DeVos has no interest in departing.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Betsy DeVos

Why No One Votes In Local Elections

April 29, 2019 at 8:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Bernstein: “One is a lack of consolidated elections. If we held municipal polls in November on even-numbered years – that is, when we’re already voting for president, governor and other high-profile offices – most people would continue down the ballot and vote for mayor and other local offices. But many areas don’t do it this way; voters instead have to turn up for additional elections in off-cycle years. As usual when voting is difficult, the reason is because the people who schedule these things don’t want people to vote. In this case, most of the fault lies with Democrats, who have often opposed consolidation at the urging of unions that have disproportionate power in off-cycle elections. The party has done a good job of pushing to make voting easier in other contexts, but not in this one, and it’s important too.”

“The other reason is because many of these contests are, by law, nonpartisan. Parties aren’t popular in U.S. political culture. But they’re extremely helpful to voters, because they provide a lot of information in a very small package. Although that “R” or “D” after a candidate’s name may not tell us everything we want to know about a given contest, it’s enough for most people to make a reasonably informed decision. Those places that do hold partisan elections demonstrate that local parties can differ sharply from their cousins at the state and national levels.”

Filed Under: Election Administration

Kamala Harris Can’t Afford to Be Cagey

April 29, 2019 at 7:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

George Skelton: “Clarity, courage and candor. That’s what voters want from political candidates. Not circular claptrap. That’s especially true of candidates running in a crowded field of 20 for the Democratic nomination to take on President Trump next year. Voters are looking for differences. Everyone’s pounding on Trump. That’s no distinction.”

“California Sen. Kamala Harris, who’s considered among the top tier of contenders, isn’t always performing up to speed. It’s not enough just to feed the voter base with red meat and focus group-certified talking points. Harris has long been afflicted with too much caution, as I’ve previously written.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Kamala Harris

Trump Campaign Moves to Defend Arizona

April 29, 2019 at 7:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Republican Party is moving early to build a political firewall around Arizona’s critical Electoral College votes, a recognition that the perennial red state is threatening to turn against President Trump in 2020,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“The Trump campaign is hiring Brian Seitchik, a veteran Arizona operative, to run political operations in the state. He could take the helm as early as Wednesday, a full 18 months before Election Day, and would work in tandem with the Republican National Committee to build and oversee an extensive field program supported by paid staff and volunteers.”

The consensus electoral map currently shows Arizona a Toss Up.

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign Tagged With: Arizona

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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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