“We seem to be facing the destruction of the United States. I don’t see anyone articulating that this is an attack on what it means to be American, on the very idea of America, and it’s an emergency.”
— Yale professor Jason Stanley, an expert on fascism, quoted by the New York Times.
Cook Political Report: “The Virginia governor’s race is officially set, with both Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears avoiding a primary. This means that the commonwealth will elect its first female governor come November.”
“When we initially rated this contest in December, we put the race in Toss Up, given the absence of early polling and the uncertainty of the political climate before Donald Trump’s second term began. However, after talks with sources on both sides of the aisle — taking into consideration the political environment, Democratic enthusiasm and private polling — we are shifting the Virginia governor’s race from Toss Up to Lean Democrat.”
Elon Musk described his first 100 days as head of the Department of Government Efficiency as “very, very intense,” telling ABC News he was proud of his team’s work but blaming an “entrenched set of interests” for limiting their progress so far.
Said Musk: “I think we’ve been effective, not as effective as I’d like, I think we could be more effective, but we made progress.”
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“Senate and House Republicans are determined to stick by the president, even as his poll numbers dip and more Americans start to question his tariffs, deportations, executive orders, and DOGE downsizing,” Puck reports.
“Rep. Yadira Caraveo’s (D-CO) behavior last year while serving in Congress and running for reelection was so frightening and traumatizing to staff that aides proposed a safety plan requesting that sharp objects be removed from the Colorado Democrat’s offices,” the Colorado Sun reports.
“They also wanted assurances that subordinates not be responsible for talking her ‘through suicidal thoughts’ or ‘keeping her company during a crisis.'”
“Across the U.S., tens of thousands of people are expected to participate in protests against the Trump administration, its policies and the billionaires supporting them in what organizers are calling ‘a war on working people,'” USA Today reports.
“Over 1,000 demonstrations and rallies are scheduled in every state and abroad, with most being held Thursday, May 1 – historically known as May Day or International Workers’ Day.”
“House Democrats are making an aggressive play in their push for the majority, targeting key Pennsylvania seats with early investments and recruiting former members to help,” Punchbowl News reports.
“Democrats are hoping to flip four seats in the Keystone State now held by GOP Reps. Rob Bresnahan, Ryan Mackenzie, Scott Perry and Brian Fitzpatrick.”
“Democrats are only three seats away from the House majority and headed into a midterm cycle that historically favors the minority party. Winning big in Pennsylvania could put them back in power.”
Wall Street Journal: “A bipartisan bill expected to be introduced in the Senate on Thursday calls for the U.S. Mint to end production of the one-cent coin.”
“When Donald Trump agreed to attend a dinner with the largest investors in his own-brand cryptocurrency, he transformed the TRUMP coin into something else entirely: a means of access to the sitting president,” Wired reports.
“As a consequence, Trump could find himself at odds with constitutional prohibitions of bribery and corruption, experts claim.”
“Trump’s dinner announcement on April 23 instigated a trading frenzy that, on paper, added hundreds of millions of dollars to his net worth. Two subsidiaries of the Trump Organization, a conglomerate owned by the president, control 80 percent of the total supply of the coin, which shot up in price by almost 60 percent after the announcement. Those subsidiaries also profit from any surge in trading volume as rent-seeking intermediaries.”
“When President Trump swept back into office, his dejected opponents watched as his return was greeted not with mass resistance but with a sense of resignation,” the New York Times reports.
“But just over 100 days into his second term, seeds of dissent to Mr. Trump’s agenda, governing style and expansion of executive power have grown in fits and starts across the country. The opposition is sturdier than it once appeared.”
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball says Arizona and Michigan start as the only two Toss-ups in their initial 2025/2026 gubernatorial ratings.
However: “The high number of open seats makes us think that we could see an upset or two in a state we might not expect.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) said former Vice President Kamala Harris picked him as her running mate was to talk to white people and give them permission to vote for her, National Review reports.
Said Walz: “I could code talk to white guys — watching football, fixing their truck, doing that, that I could put them at ease. I was the permission structure to say ‘look you can do this and vote for this.’”
Daily Beast: “During a NewsNation town hall hosted by the network’s Chris Cuomo, former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, and ESPN host Stephen A. Smith, an audience member named Lee asked Trump what was the biggest mistake he thought he’d made in the first 100 days.”
Said Trump: “I’ll tell you that’s the toughest question I can have because I don’t really believe I’ve made any mistakes.”
“The audience—which was made of Democrats, Republicans and independents—burst out laughing.”
Washington Post: “Almost every Republican on Capitol Hill this week has tried to wish away fears of Trump’s trade wars starting a recession that could lead to the highly unusual pairing of job losses and spiked inflation…”
“In this regard, congressional Republicans have managed to talk themselves into the same sort of arguments that Democrats used four years ago, when the U.S. economy overheated coming out of the pandemic and spiked inflation to 40-year highs.”
“General Motors lowered its full-year profit outlook, just two days after suspending earnings guidance, citing exposure to as much as $5 billion in auto tariffs being levied by President Donald Trump,” Bloomberg reports.
The latest Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll shows just 35% of registered Georgia voters have a favorable view of the Democratic Party after Donald Trump swept the state and other political battlegrounds in his 2024 return to power.
That’s the lowest level of support in nine years of AJC polling.
Wall Street Journal: “Frustrated by delays on Boeing’s work to deliver a new Air Force One, Trump has commissioned a smaller defense contractor to ready an interim presidential plane by year’s end.”
“Boeing will continue plugging away on a pair of Air Force One replacement jets, which have fallen so far behind that Trump might not get to fly on them while in office.”
“The rush to get goods to the U.S. ahead of President Trump’s tariffs has already led to huge distortions in global trade patterns and economic data. It isn’t over yet,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
New York Times: As shipping loophole closes, small online sellers scramble.
Taegan 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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