Political Wire

Political Wire Members get the complete experience: exclusive analysis, a 24/7 trending news, no advertising, the weekly news quiz and more.

Join today for instant access.



Trump Call Prompted Secret Service Scramble

By Leave a Comment

“Shortly before pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Secret Service agents scrambled to try to secure a motorcade route so then-President Donald Trump could accompany his supporters as they marched on Congress to demand he stay in power,” the Washington Post reports.

“The hectic events that day followed nearly two weeks of persistent pressure from Trump on the Secret Service to devise a plan for him to join his supporters on a march to the Capitol from the park near the White House where he was leading a massive rally that he predicted would be ‘wild.'”

New Jersey Republican Campaigns by Staying Silent

By Leave a Comment

“Tom Kean Jr., a New Jersey Republican locked in the state’s most competitive congressional race, has refused to debate his primary opponents,” the New York Times reports.

“He has avoided talking to most reporters. And he has dodged questions about whether he agrees with the Republican National Committee’s characterization of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol as ‘legitimate political discourse.'”

“Mr. Kean, the scion of a storied political family, has adopted what appears to be a core strategy as he tries to avoid alienating moderate swing voters while facing challengers from the right: to keep his mouth, basically, shut.”

The World’s Largest Four-Day Workweek Pilot

By Leave a Comment

“Thousands of workers in Britain had another reason to celebrate after returning from a long weekend to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee,” the Washington Post reports.

“They’re participating in the world’s biggest trial of the four-day workweek, as the global movement toward fewer workdays gathers momentum in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Wage Gap Grows Even Wider

By Leave a Comment

“The wage gap between chief executives and workers at some of the US companies with the lowest-paid staff grew even wider last year, with CEOs making an average of $10.6 million, while the median worker received $23,968,” The Guardian reports.

The Most Dangerous Country for Journalists

By Leave a Comment

“A record 11 journalists have been murdered in Mexico this year alone; 145 have been killed since 2000,” Axios reports.

“Journalists are often killed — with impunity — for their reporting on crime or corruption. Mexico is the most dangerous non-war zone country for journalists in the world.”

Two Separate Monkeypox Outbreaks Underway

By Leave a Comment

The CDC said that “new genetic sequencing data indicate there are at least two distinct monkeypox outbreaks underway outside Africa — a surprise finding that one official said suggests international spread is wider, and has been occurring for longer than has been previously realized,” Stat News reports.

Training Ukrainians to Use Weapons Is a Hurdle

By Leave a Comment

“Since Russia invaded, NATO nations have upgraded Ukraine’s arsenal with increasingly sophisticated tools, with more promised, like the advanced multiple-launch rocket systems pledged by the United States and Britain,” the New York Times reports.

“But training soldiers how to use the equipment has become a significant and growing obstacle.”

John Cornyn vs. Ted Cruz

By Leave a Comment

Punchbowl News: “One man has his eye on becoming the next Senate Republican leader, and the other has pined for the White House for roughly a decade.”

“And now, Texas GOP Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz – whose political bases are separated by a mere 160 miles – find themselves on opposite sides of the highest-stakes gun-control debate on Capitol Hill in years.”

“Rarely do two members of the same party from the same state take such diametrically opposite roles in a debate with such consequence back home.”

A Weakened Boris Johnson Scrapes Through

By Leave a Comment

The revolt against British Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday — resulting in a no confidence vote — “was more serious than Downing Street had expected and leaves his authority badly damaged,” the Financial Times reports.

“But previous Conservative prime ministers — including Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Theresa May — have won similar challenges to their leadership, only to lose office shortly afterwards.”

“The scale of Johnson’s victory by 59% to 41% on Monday night was less convincing than May’s 63% to 37% confidence vote win in 2018; six months later she was forced to resign.”

Robert Shrimsley: “If at the start of this no confidence vote in Boris Johnson you had asked Conservative MPs for the worst possible result for both the party and the country, this would be pretty close to their answer.”

Americans Have Little Trust in Their Government

By Leave a Comment

Pew Research: “Americans remain deeply distrustful of and dissatisfied with their government. Just 20% say they trust the government in Washington to do the right thing just about always or most of the time – a sentiment that has changed very little since former President George W. Bush’s second term in office.”

This is stunning: 65% say most political candidates run for office “to serve their own personal interests.”

Official Says Trump Was Trying to Impose Martial Law

By Leave a Comment

Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official in the Trump administration, tweeted that former President Donald Trump “was likely seeking to provoke an insurrection on January 6, 2021, so he could impose martial law and strengthen his grip on power,” Insider reports.

Said Taylor: “I believe Trump intended to incite an insurrection as a pretext for declaring some form of marshal law (sic). He mused about invoking the Insurrection Act YEARS before Jan 6 — calling it a ‘magic power’ — in convos I witnessed and was briefed on.”

About Political Wire

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.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.