“Elon Musk apologized and launched a poll asking whether he should step down as head of Twitter on Sunday night after the company launched a new policy that would suspend accounts linking to certain other platforms, a move that ignited massive backlash from individuals including some of Musk’s own supporters,” the Washington Post reports.
Musk apologized after putting the policy in place and wrote: “Going forward, there will be a vote for major policy changes. My apologies. Won’t happen again.”
A majority of voters think the economy will be in worse shape in 2023 than it is now and roughly two-thirds say the nation’s economic trajectory is headed in the wrong direction, the latest Wall Street Journal poll shows.
“El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser last night issued an emergency declaration to address the surge in migrants crossing the southern border, citing the dangerous winter conditions and shelters lacking the capacity to meet the demand next week,” the Texas Tribune reports.
“With the federal health order — known as Title 42, which was used during the COVID-19 pandemic to quickly expel migrants — set to expire on Wednesday, El Paso officials hope to leverage the emergency declaration to unlock additional resources and expand available shelters for migrants as evening temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing in the coming week.”
“The political crisis roiling Peru deepened Saturday, as President Dina Boluarte’s new government edged toward collapse and protesters across the country refused to back down despite the military enforcing a state of emergency,” the Washington Post reports.
“A total of 20 demonstrators are reported to have been killed in clashes with security forces, including eight allegedly shot Thursday by soldiers using live ammunition in the southern mountain region of Ayacucho.”
Forbes: “A little more than a year ago Bernie Sanders called out Joe Biden during a Democratic debate in Los Angeles. Biden, he told the audience, had gotten checks from more than 40 billionaire donors. In the leadup to Election Day, as Democrats of all classes coalesced around Biden, that figure more than quintupled.”
“Biden’s campaign ended up receiving money from 230 billionaires or spouses of billionaires, according to a review of records filed with the Federal Election Commission. Far more billionaires supported the current president than his predecessor.”
Twitter is now banning all links to other social media sites.
Elon Musk was toppled from the peak of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, meaning he’s no longer the richest person in the world, Bloomberg reports.
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is planning to consent to extradition to the U.S. to face criminal charges related to the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Wall Street Journal: “White House officials said previous efforts to make inroads were frequently ignored. The White House said it has extended thousands of invitations to House Republicans for events including bill-signing ceremonies at the White House, conferences and events in their home states and districts. Just over 200 such invitations have been accepted by fewer than 60 House Republicans.”
“A House GOP leadership aide said they didn’t view the invitations as meaningful. Of the GOP leadership, only Mr. McCarthy had been invited to meet with Mr. Biden.”
Dan Balz: “President Biden and former president Donald Trump are on a path that could lead to a rematch in 2024 of their 2020 election contest. Some past polls have suggested that such a face-off could be close.”
“In 2022, however, the competition between the two politicians was anything but close. It was Biden over Trump decisively.”
“President Biden’s political advisers are preparing a strategy for his likely 2024 reelection campaign that would dramatically expand efforts to organize content-sharing between supporters and their friends on digital platforms, including TikTok and WhatsApp, where political advertising is not allowed,“ the Washington Post reports.
“The new plans, which build upon lessons from the 2020 campaign, are just one part of an expansive research effort funded by the Democratic National Committee to prepare for Biden’s expected campaign launch next year. Top advisers have been testing ways to reactivate volunteers and donors, and they completed a review this summer of the shifts in how voters consumed political information over the last two years.”
“The review found phone-based apps and streaming television have grabbed an increasing share of attention from voters, which offer fewer opportunities for direct advertising.”
Wall Street Journal: Biden advisers craft re-election plans as President weighs final decision.
“Early in the pandemic, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis repeatedly praised President Donald Trump for the expedited development and rollout of a coronavirus vaccine. The governor’s office pushed for $480 million in pandemic resources, including media campaigns promoting the shots, according to state budget documents. And DeSantis, a Republican, even lauded the Biden administration for helping to expand access to vaccines,” the Washington Post reports.
“But this past week, DeSantis threw himself into misleadingly disparaging the vaccines, convening skeptics to buck guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and seeking to investigate vaccine makers for fraud.”
New York Times: “How could one of the world’s most powerful militaries, led by a celebrated tactician like Mr. Putin, have faltered so badly against its much smaller, weaker rival? To piece together the answer, we drew from hundreds of Russian government emails, documents, invasion plans, military ledgers and propaganda directives. We listened to Russian phone calls from the battlefield and spoke with dozens of soldiers, senior officials and Putin confidants who have known him for decades.”
“The Times investigation found a stunning cascade of mistakes that started with Mr. Putin — profoundly isolated in the pandemic, obsessed with his legacy, convinced of his own brilliance — and continued long after drafted soldiers like Mikhail were sent to the slaughter.”
“President Biden’s advisers are moving forward with planning for the president’s likely 2024 re-election campaign, with discussions focused less on whether Mr. Biden will seek a second term and more on how a campaign would operate alongside the White House next year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Biden’s team has begun to hold preliminary discussions about the structure of the campaign and who could fill key roles, though there is no timeline for hiring, as well as where headquarters would be located. Possibilities include Philadelphia, where the 2020 campaign was based before the Covid-19 pandemic, and the president’s hometown of Wilmington, Del., people close to the discussions said.”
NBC News: “The White House held a series of closed-door meetings Thursday, from which Democratic strategists and activists came out with an emphatic message: Go out and sell the president’s record.”
“In the latest sign that President Joe Biden is preparing to mount a re-election campaign, a battery of senior White House officials delivered presentations on Biden’s tenure and gave briefings on the economy, climate change and the way forward.”
Bloomberg: “The Biden administration is making good on a plan to replenish the nation’s emergency oil reserves, starting with a 3 million barrel purchase of crude. … In addition, the DOE is planning a roughly 2 million barrel crude oil exchange to meet emergency supply needs caused by the shutdown of TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone pipeline.”
Foreign Policy: “U.S. diplomats organized a plan to help smuggle Chad’s pro-democracy opposition leader out of the country as security forces from Chad’s transitional president hunted him down in a wave of deadly crackdowns against protesters in October.”
The kicker: “As U.S. officials in Chad were scrambling to find a way to help Masra escape and witnessing some pro-democracy protesters be slaughtered at the gates of the U.S. Embassy, other officials in Washington were preparing an invitation to fete the very man who orchestrated this bloody crackdown at a major summit.”
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.
