An internal poll for former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens (R) shows him leading the GOP Senate field with 26%, followed by Vicky Hartzler (R) at 19%, Eric Schmitt (R) at 14%, Billy Long (R) at 7% and Mark McCloskey (R) at 5%.
GOP Candidate Wants to Abolish Early Education
Minnesota state Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R) argued for abolishing early childhood education, WCPT reports.
Said Drazkowski: “We should let parents raise their kids until they’re 5 at least before government comes with a school bus, backs it up to the maternity ward room door and takes them to the government school.”
Gavin Newsom Insists He’s Not Running for President
“Gavin Newsom sounds like a man ready to jump on the next flight to Iowa or New Hampshire or wherever Democrats start their 2024 presidential campaign,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Those around Newsom say he has never openly hankered after the White House, and he has apparently never had any sort of in-depth discussion with his political team about running for president. Publicly, he insists nothing could be further from his mind.”
Said Newsom: “Literally 100% never been on my radar.”
Flashback Quote of the Day
“Bill O’Reilly’s really talented. He’s more talented than I am… But I think there’s a deep phoniness at the center of his shtick… built on perception that he is the character he plays… The moment that it’s revealed not to be true it’s over.”
— Tucker Carlson, on C-SPAN on September 13, 2003.
Mastriano Holds Big Lead In Pennsylvania Primary
A new Trafalgar Group poll in Pennsylvania finds Doug Mastriano (R) leading the GOP gubernatorial primary field with 28%, followed by Lou Barletta (R) at 18%, Dave White (R) at 15% and William McSwain (R) at 14%.
Son of Philippines Dictator Leading In Landslide
“Ferdinand Marcos Jr looked on course for a huge victory in the Philippines presidential election on Monday, after an unofficial tally of two thirds of the votes showed the son of the notorious late dictator surging ahead of his nearest rival,” Reuters reports.
“The massive lead bolsters the chances of a once unthinkable return to rule of the Marcos family, 36 years after its patriarch’s overthrow in a ‘people power’ revolution and his family’s humiliating retreat into exile.”
Bartiromo Says Democrats Are Inventing New Variant
Fox News host Maria Bartiromo suggested that Democrats are trying to create a new Covid-19 variant to help them win the midterm elections.
Said Bartiromo: “What a surprise… right on schedule… here comes the ‘midterms variant.'”
Russian Oligarch Warns Putin Is Not Stable
An oligarch close to Vladimir Putin has warned friends that his “psychiatric health is bad” and there is a “very real” threat he could use nuclear weapons, the Daily Mail reports.
The prominent billionaire has told associates that the Kremlin leader’s “psychiatric health is bad indeed,” and “stories about him going bonkers are not a joke.”
Colorado Election Officials Adopt Safety Measures
“When Josh Zygielbaum left the Marine Corps more than ten years ago, he thought he would never have to wear body armor again,” ABC News reports.
“But now Zygielbaum is back to wearing a bulletproof vest as a Colorado county clerk — one of the many extreme measures he says he’s been forced to take as the state has emerged as a battleground in the shadowy world of election conspiracies.”
GOP Candidate Shared QAnon Material
“J.R. Majewski, the Air Force veteran who won the GOP primary for Ohio’s new 9th Congressional District, was a January 6 rally participant and has repeatedly shared pro-QAnon material — including a video showing him painting his lawn to say Trump 2020 with ‘Q’ replacing the zeros,” CNN reports.
The 2024 Presidential Election Is Already Strange
Jonathan Bernstein: “The Cook Report’s Amy Walter points out that whether former President Donald Trump takes another run at the Oval Office or not, the 2024 presidential election will have at least one unusual feature. If President Joe Biden runs for re-election and wins the Democratic nomination, he’ll extend his own record for oldest major-party nominee. If he doesn’t run? Walter calculates that the last person who originally achieved the presidency though election and then chose not to run again was James Buchanan in 1860.”
“That’s a bit tricky; before the two-term limitation kicked in in 1951, the presidents who opted against running for a third term would count, which would make choosing not to run a bit more common. But it’s tricky for another reason, too.”
“Some of those who didn’t run were interested in remaining in the White House — but their parties did not share that interest.”
GOP Candidate Seeks Demolition of ‘Satanic’ Tablets
“Georgia’s Republican primary for governor has revolved around Donald Trump’s attempts to oust Gov. Brian Kemp (R) over Kemp’s refusal to break election laws in the aftermath of the 2020 election,” the Daily Beast reports.
“But last week, third-place candidate Kandiss Taylor (R) tried to inject an issue of her own into the race, introducing a plan to blow up four giant granite tablets in northeast Georgia she sees as symbols of Satan worship.”
GOP Candidate Fined for Having Loaded Gun at Airport
Wisconsin congressional candidate Derrick Van Orden (R) “was found with a gun in his carry-on bag at an Iowa airport last year, netting him two fines for what he called a mistake,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
Idaho Lawmakers Consider Restricting Some Contraception
“As Idahoans plan for a future without abortion rights, a leading Republican in the Idaho House would support holding hearings on legislation banning abortion pills and morning-after pills,” the Idaho Statesman reports.
“House State Affairs Committee Chairman Brent Crane (R) said he would hold hearings on legislation banning emergency contraception and abortion pills during a Friday interview with Idaho Public Television.”
Quote of the Day
“We are now living in a totally new era.”
— Henry Kissinger, in an interview with the Financial Times, on modern weapons which can produce “levels of catastrophe that were not even imaginable.”
Democrats Like Their House Candidates
Politico: “Daunting national headwinds have stifled Democratic recruitment in many places, and some potential contenders opted to wait for a more promising year. But party operatives have landed top-tier Democratic candidates in many Biden-won districts, in part thanks to new favorable district lines. Their biographies range from state legislators to Navy veterans to lifelong public school educators.”
How the Select Committee Pierced Trump’s Inner Circle
Politico: “Time and again, the panel has managed to pierce the secrecy of Trump’s inner circle by turning to the aides entrusted with carrying out logistics for their bosses.”
“It’s a classic investigative strategy that’s paid dividends for select committee investigators.”
Filipinos Choose a New President
“Filipinos headed to the polls today in a hotly contested election that has been described as the most consequential in decades, one that will shape the direction of the country’s fragile democracy and transform alliances with the United States and China,” the New York Times reports.
“Although there are 10 presidential candidates on the ballot, the competition is seen as a two-way race between Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the former dictator, and Leni Robredo, the country’s vice president.”
