Bloomberg Pays ‘Influencers’ to Tout His Candidacy
Daily Beast: “The Bloomberg campaign has quietly begun a campaign on Tribe, a ‘branded content marketplace’ that connects social media influencers with the brands who want to advertise to their followers, to pitch influencers on creating content highlighting why they love the former New York City mayor—for a price.”
“For a fixed $150 fee, the Bloomberg campaign is pitching micro-influencers—someone who has from 1,000 to 100,000 followers, in industry parlance—to create original content ‘that tells us why Mike Bloomberg is the electable candidate who can rise above the fray, work across the aisle so ALL Americans feel heard & respected.'”
How Never Trumpers Fell in Line
Steve Israel: “Pragmatism, compromise and even ideological agility have always been part of politics. But what is happening now is dangerous. The rationalizers aren’t just turning against their own principles; many are turning against fundamental norms of democracy. The constant rationalization has made them unrecognizable. Unlike the Republicans who were Trumpian even before Donald Trump, the rationalizers have forgotten that what they now believe they once made up.”
“So they will stick with Mr. Trump. No matter how damning the facts or clear the evidence, they will defend him.”
“For so many of them, the loyalty is, well, quite rational.”
Appeals Court Tosses Democrats’ Emoluments Lawsuit
“A federal appeals court threw out a lawsuit by more than 200 Democratic members of Congress that alleged President Trump was improperly profiting from his presidency,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that the lawmakers didn’t have legal standing to proceed with their claims. The lawmakers couldn’t assert the institutional interests of the House or Senate against the president because the group didn’t constitute a majority in the legislature and couldn’t represent Congress as a whole.”
Economy Is Everything Trump Could Hope For
New York Times: “There was never much doubt that President Trump would make boasts about the economy central to his re-election campaign; that is his style, after all. What is becoming more clear is that the data on the economy are giving him something genuinely worth boasting about.”
“The big headline out of the latest numbers was that employers added 225,000 jobs in January, comfortably more than analysts had expected. That alone suggests that economic growth is steady at a minimum, and maybe accelerating as the year begins.”
How Trump Rewired the Electoral Map
Politico: “Familiar presidential battlegrounds—not just Ohio and Virginia, but also Colorado, Iowa and more—are fading from the radar. States that haven’t experienced a top-of-the-ticket dogfight in decades—like Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota and maybe even Texas—are suddenly poised to play a pivotal role.”
“You can argue about whether Minnesota—a cradle of liberalism that produced Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Paul Wellstone—is a pipe dream for Trump in 2020. Or whether Texas—where Republicans hold all nine statewide elected offices, both Senate seats and both chambers of the Legislature—will truly be in play in November. But one thing seems increasingly inarguable: This presidential race will be fought on electoral terrain that would have been unthinkable four years ago, before Trump blew everything up.”
See the latest consensus electoral map, based on the most recent forecasts.
Joe Walsh Ends His Primary Challenge to Trump
Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) told CNN he is ending his uphill challenge against Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination, after suffering a crushing loss in the Iowa GOP caucuses in which he received only 1% of the vote.
Secret Service Pays for $650 Rooms at Trump Resorts
“President Trump’s company charges the Secret Service for the rooms agents use while protecting him at his luxury properties — billing U.S. taxpayers at rates as high as $650 per night,” the Washington Post reports.
“Those charges, compiled here for the first time, show that Trump has an unprecedented — and largely hidden — business relationship with his own government.”
Mulvaney’s Job In Doubt After Impeachment Fight
“With a five-month impeachment saga behind them, White House aides are bracing for the prospect of another staff shake-up in the West Wing as President Trump looks to enter a new chapter of his presidency,” CNN reports.
“Trump effectively lost confidence in his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, months ago, but was convinced not to act by close aides, who argued a leadership change in the White House during impeachment could cause unnecessary chaos.”
Cellphone Locations Used for Immigration Enforcement
The Trump administration has bought access to a commercial database that maps the movements of millions of cellphones in America and is using it for immigration and border enforcement, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Bloomberg Meets with Affluent Donors
New York Times: “Mr. Bloomberg told the group that he did not want their money and would not accept it if they offered it. What he wanted, he said, was their personal support.”
“It was the kind of appeal that only a self-funding billionaire could deliver. And indeed, Mr. Bloomberg went a step further: If they felt compelled to write a check, he told them to send it to the Democratic National Committee or the progressive group Swing Left.”
“Mr. Bloomberg has made versions of that pitch at several events in recent weeks, in major cities including Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York. It has unnerved — and sometimes intrigued — supporters of other Democratic candidates, who fear that Mr. Bloomberg’s charm offensive could discourage giving to other candidates who lack multibillion-dollar personal fortunes with which to fund their efforts.”
Trump Working on Second Term Plans
Wall Street Journal: “Senior aides — led by Chris Liddell, the White House’s deputy chief of staff for policy coordination — have been meeting since late last year to chart an agenda for the second term, according to administration officials. The discussions are in their initial stages.”
“The early outlines of the agenda are starting to emerge, but aides said Mr. Trump hasn’t yet signed off on the final details of the plan, though he is receiving regular briefings on the discussions. Among the issues under consideration: continuing the administration’s efforts to lower prescription drug prices, pushing for a broad infrastructure bill and taking another crack at reforming the country’s immigration system.”
Behind Romney’s Impeachment Decision
Politico: “In the weeks leading up to the Senate trial, Trump gave Romney space to make a decision. He did not court or pressure him, or phone him directly and frequently as he often does with Republican lawmakers. Both Romney allies on Capitol Hill and advisers close to the White House told the president they believed Romney would ultimately vote to acquit him. With less than 24 hours to go until the impeachment vote, Romney allies kept signaling to Republican lawmakers and the White House that Romney was leaning toward acquittal. All the while, Romney’s office avoided contact with the White House.”
“Then, on Tuesday afternoon, the chatter about Romney went silent, a fact White House aides reported to the president. Trump and White House officials later learned that Romney had given embargoed interviews to the Atlantic, The New York Times, and the Washington Post on his decision to convict Trump. Trump felt hoodwinked. And it showed.”
Bullock Meets with Obama as Senate Deadline Nears
Former President Barack Obama met privately with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock in Washington, as Democrats hold out hopes that the red-state governor makes a surprise, last-minute splash into the state’s Senate race, Politico reports.
Navy Secretary Fired by Trump Endorses Bloomberg
“The Navy secretary ousted by President Trump said Thursday that he would endorse Michael R. Bloomberg for president, a high-profile defection that Mr. Bloomberg’s allies hope will convince Democratic voters that their best chance of defeating Mr. Trump is the former mayor of New York,” the New York Times reports.
“Richard Spencer, who was ousted as Navy secretary in November after he publicly disagreed with Mr. Trump’s intervention in an extraordinary war crimes case involving a member of the Navy SEALs, is a lifelong Republican.”
Buttigieg Surges In New Hampshire
A new Boston Globe/WBZ-TV/Suffolk University poll in New Hampshire finds Bernie Sanders leading the Democratic primary with 24%, followed closely by Pete Buttigieg at 23%, Elizabeth Warren at 13% and Joe Biden at 11%.
Trump Mulls Retribution for Those Who Testified
Washington Post: “Trump and his allies are also considering doing more than just launching verbal fusillades at his perceived enemies over impeachment. Some of the president’s aides are discussing whether to remove or reassign administration officials who testified during the impeachment inquiry.”
“Trump has complained about Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman in private, mocking the way he spoke, wore his uniform and conducted himself during the impeachment inquiry…. He has discussed with aides removing other national security officials who testified or cooperated with House Democrats, with Trump calling them disloyal and asking whether he should further cull his national security staff after impeachment. He remains incensed that so many people in his administration testified last year.”
Perez Now Says He Didn’t Want Statewide Recanvass
Less than 10 hours after announcing that he was “calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass,” Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he had actually been calling only for isolated recanvassing of areas where irregularities had been reported in the caucus results, the New York Times reports.