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Bad Ballot Design May Have Cost Bill Nelson Votes

November 19, 2018 at 8:09 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Florida Playbook: “A telltale sign of bad ballot design in Broward (where the Senate race was tucked below the instructions in the lower left-hand corner) was how Broward’s undervote rate in the Senate race was so much bigger than in any other Florida county. Unlike Miami-Dade to its north and Palm Beach to its south, Broward County had fewer votes for the top of the ticket Senate race than governor (as well as the three Florida Cabinet posts). Thousands of people just undervoted the race because they probably didn’t see it on the ballot.”

“If we assume the Senate race would have had as many total votes as the governor’s race in Broward and if Nelson’s and Gov. Scott’s vote-share remained the same, Nelson would have netted an additional 9,746 votes in the county. And that would have dropped Scott’s statewide lead of 10,033 to just 287 votes. Still, that’s a win for Scott.”

Rubio Goes All-In on Trumpism

November 19, 2018 at 8:07 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Just four years ago, Marco Rubio was gearing up to run for president with an inclusive and sunny message designed to capture the imagination of a modernizing Republican Party — and maybe even the country,” the Washington Post reports.

“Those days, and that candidate, are long gone.”

“Like many Republicans, the second-term Florida senator has sounded more and more like President Trump since the 2016 election — striking a notably darker and foreboding tone while adopting some of Trump’s slash-and-burn political tactics and controversial positions.”

Trump Has Still Not Visited Troops In a Combat Zone

November 19, 2018 at 7:14 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “It’s almost Thanksgiving: Which begs the question — will President Trump finally visit U.S. troops deployed to a combat zone? It’s been two years since Trump took office, and he has yet to make a trip to Afghanistan, Syria or Iraq.”

“Historically, presidential trips to visit U.S. troops in combat zones have been ‘a bipartisan practice going back to World War II.’ Bush 41 and Bush 43 both paid visits to troops overseas during the upcoming holiday.”

Trump Further Divides the Map for 2020

November 19, 2018 at 7:13 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “As the final votes from the midterm elections rolled in last week, it became clear that President Trump’s near-constant campaign presence helped transform the American political map — effectively erasing lighter shades of red and blue.”

“The Trump effect now sets the stage for an intensely tribal 2020 showdown over his reelection, with a smaller and heavily rural Republican Party facing off against a growing Democratic coalition of suburban and urban residents in higher-income states.”

White House Targets Acosta’s Press Pass Again

November 19, 2018 at 7:04 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Brian Stelter: “If you thought the Trump administration would seek to settle CNN and Jim Acosta’s lawsuit out of court… think again.”

“After CNN won a temporary restraining order on Friday, forcing the White House to restore his press pass for 14 days, White House officials sent Acosta a letter stating that his pass is set to be suspended again once the restraining order expires.”

Mike Allen: “This is a high-risk confrontation for both sides. It turns out that press access to the White House is grounded very much in tradition rather than in plain-letter law. So a court fight could result in a precedent that curtails freedom to cover the most powerful official in the world from the literal front row.”

Beto O’Rourke Freezes the 2020 Presidential Field

November 19, 2018 at 6:41 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Sparked by his narrow defeat in a Texas Senate race, Beto O’Rourke is scrambling the 2020 presidential primary field, freezing Democratic donors and potential campaign staffers in place as they await word of his plans.”

“Even prior to O’Rourke’s meteoric rise, many Democratic fundraisers had approached the large number of 2020 contenders with apprehension, fearful of committing early to one candidate. But the prospect of a presidential bid by O’Rourke, whose charismatic Senate candidacy captured the party’s imagination, has suddenly rewired the race.”

“O’Rourke — who raised a stunning $38 million in the third quarter of his race — is widely considered capable of raising millions of dollars quickly, according to interviews with multiple Democratic money bundlers and strategists, catapulting him into the upper echelons of the 2020 campaign.”

Brenda Snipes Quits as Broward Elections Chief

November 19, 2018 at 6:40 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “Just hours after finishing a tumultuous election recount, Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes submitted her resignation, ending a 15-year tenure full of botched elections, legal disputes and blistering criticism.”

Team of Vipers

November 19, 2018 at 6:37 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Coming in January: Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House by Cliff Sims.

New York Times: “As the title indicates, the book does not paint a rosy picture of the atmosphere in the White House. An author’s note describes a venomous den in which people are constantly at each other’s throats. But Mr. Sims’s goal, according to people familiar with the book, was not to damage Mr. Trump. And he is said to have at times painted an unflattering portrait of himself.”

A Breakthrough for Black Candidates

November 19, 2018 at 6:31 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Monkey Cage: “This year, Americans appear to have elected a record 53 African Americans to the House — assuming that Republicans William Hurd of Texas and Mia Love of Utah will win their tight races, which haven’t been called as of this writing. Hurd and Love would be the only two black Republicans in this wave; the 51 others are Democrats. Forty-four were reelected. Of those, four-fifths won reelection from majority-minority districts — defined here as districts where non-Hispanic whites form a minority of the voting-age population according to the 2010 Census. That’s what we’ve seen in the past: Historically, black representatives have been elected from majority-minority districts.”

“But here’s the big news: Eight of the nine newly elected African Americans won in districts dominated by non-Hispanic whites.”

Reid Machine Keeps Humming In Nevada

November 18, 2018 at 9:23 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Harry Reid may no longer lead Senate Democrats in Washington, but the political machine he built in Nevada has Republicans on the run,” the AP reports.

“Democrats romped up and down the state in the Nov. 6 midterm elections, ousting Republican Sen. Dean Heller, winning races for governor and lieutenant governor, and expanding their state legislative majorities.”

Admiral Says Trump Is a Threat to Democracy

November 18, 2018 at 9:21 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Retired Adm. William McRaven stood by his previous statement that President Trump’s attacks on the news media represent ‘the greatest threat to democracy’ after the President dismissed him as a ‘Hillary Clinton backer’ in an interview that aired on Fox News,” CNN reports.

Said McRaven: “I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else. I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked for. I admire all presidents, regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and who use that office to bring the nation together in challenging times.”

He added: “I stand by my comment that the President’s attack on the media is the greatest threat to our democracy in my lifetime.”

How the Democrats Took Back Michigan

November 18, 2018 at 9:16 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Atlantic: “Debate what counts as a blue wave in the rest of the country, but there was a tsunami off the Great Lakes. It was enormous and swept over everything: governor, Senate, attorney general, two flipped House seats with two female alumnae of the Obama administration, plus another that put a Palestinian American woman in John Conyers’s old spot, five flipped state Senate seats, five flipped state House seats, all the way down to the state supreme court and the state university boards. They legalized recreational pot, and the vote wasn’t close. They banned gerrymandering. They created automatic voter registration and an absentee-ballot process, essentially a backdoor way to institute early voting, which together will almost certainly lock in long-term the gains Democrats made.”

Quote of the Day

November 18, 2018 at 9:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Wow, Mr. President, that’s a good one. Was that like your answers to Mr. Mueller’s questions, or did you write this one yourself?”

— Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), on Twitter, responding to President Trump’s tweet calling him “little Adam Schitt.”

Pelosi Still Has No Challenger

November 18, 2018 at 6:03 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “What if House Democrats tried to stage a coup and nobody showed up?”

“That is the predicament facing Democrats as a quiet rebellion simmers in their ranks to block Representative Nancy Pelosi of California from being speaker. Inside the Capitol and at nearby watering holes and restaurants, there are hopeful whispers among a small band of Democrats that a fresh-faced new leader will come forward to challenge Ms. Pelosi, who has led House Democrats for 15 years.”

“But so far, no one has emerged to take her on.”

Trump Blasts ‘Little Adam Schitt’

November 18, 2018 at 1:44 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump attacked Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), labeling him as “little Adam Schitt” after the congressman suggested the appointment of Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker was unconstitutional, The Hill reports.

GOP Legislatures Try to Curb Democratic Governors

November 18, 2018 at 1:41 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“With their grip on power set to loosen come January, Republicans in several states are considering last-ditch laws that would weaken existing or incoming Democratic governors and advance their own conservative agendas,” PBS reports.

“In Michigan, where the GOP has held the levers of power for nearly eight years, Republican legislators want to water down a minimum wage law they approved before the election so that it would not go to voters and would now be easier to amend.”

“Republicans in neighboring Wisconsin are discussing ways to dilute Democrat Tony Evers’ power before he takes over for GOP Gov. Scott Walker. And in North Carolina, Republicans may try to hash out the requirements of a new voter ID constitutional amendment before they lose their legislative supermajorities and their ability to unilaterally override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.”

Finnish Leader Denies Discussion with Trump

November 18, 2018 at 1:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The leader of Finland denied that he’d ever told President Trump that the small Nordic nation relies upon “raking” its forests to prevent wildfires — even though Trump promoted the dubious conservation method during a visit to flame-ravaged California over the weekend, Politicoj reports.

Exchange of the Day

November 18, 2018 at 11:44 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump was interviewed by Chris Wallace on Fox News:

WALLACE: How, when you’re sitting at the desk, how do you make decisions? I mean do you agonize over them, do you second guess yourself?

TRUMP: I don’t think about it, I don’t think about, you know, how I make them. I make what I consider the right decision, I have great people working at the White House, they don’t get enough credit. I have some tremendously talented people and I will talk to them and sometimes I’ll have them go at each other, I do like that, you know let them go at each other. And they do. They’ve very competitive people and at the end I make a decision and it’s certainly – on the economy, a lot of things we’ve been – we’ve made a lot of good decisions and I want to keep it that way.