Biden Braces for Debate Pile-On
“Joe Biden spent much of his career carving out an image as a tough-on-crime Democrat. But few who watch the second presidential debate are likely to get that impression from him,” Politico reports.
“The rapid evolution of the politics of racial justice have made what used to be a signature strength into a potential liability, forcing him to scuttle his positions and rhetoric from decades ago — or risk getting trampled by rivals questioning his civil rights record. The biggest test comes Wednesday night, when he’ll be flanked on stage by two of his sharpest critics on race, Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.”
New Fraud Charges for North Carolina GOP Operative
“The man at the center of an election fraud investigation in a 2018 North Carolina congressional race faced new indictments Tuesday along with multiple other individuals,” CNN reports.
“Leslie McCrae Dowless, a political operative in Bladen County who was connected to questionable absentee ballot activity, was indicted by a Wake County grand jury on two counts of felony obstruction of justice, perjury, solicitation to commit perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice and possession of absentee ballot.”
Zinke’s Use of Email Investigated
Politico: “The Justice Department is investigating whether former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke used personal email accounts for official business, a matter that has become part of a larger criminal probe into the departed official.”
Fed Expected to Cut Rates
Wall Street Journal: “The Federal Reserve is expected to say Wednesday it will reduce its benchmark interest rate by one quarter percentage point. That would mark just the fifth time in the past 25 years that the central bank switched from raising to lowering rates.”
Trump’s Spy Chief Pick Overstated His Biography
New York Times: “Aides to the congressman chosen by President Trump to lead the nation’s intelligence agencies were forced on Tuesday to clarify his claims that he had won terrorism convictions as a federal prosecutor, as his background came under new scrutiny.”
“Mr. Trump’s pick, Representative John Ratcliffe, Republican of Texas, had said on his House website and in campaign material that he had tried suspects accused of funneling money to the Hamas terrorist group. But instead, an aide said, Mr. Ratcliffe had investigated side issues related to an initial mistrial, and did not prosecute the case either in that proceeding or in a successful second trial.”
Sanders and Warren Team Up
New York Times: “On an evening that could have produced explosions in their own political rivalry, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren instead formed something of an ideological tag team to defend their shared agenda, above all on health care. Though each is seen as the other’s chief obstacle in the Democratic race, Mr. Sanders and Ms. Warren did not at any point clash directly.”
“Instead, they battled an array of comparatively obscure candidates who used the debate as an opportunity — and for some of them, likely a last chance — to express alarm about their party’s embrace of immense liberal policy goals, like the creation of a ‘Medicare for all’-style health care system, Mr. Sanders’s No. 1 issue, and a broad liberalization of the immigration system.”
Dan Balz: “Warren and Sanders more than stood their ground during two spirited hours of sharp and passionate exchanges.”
Biden Was Not Mentioned
Washington Post: “Ten more candidates, including former vice president Joe Biden, are scheduled to appear on the stage Wednesday, on the second night of this round of debates hosted by CNN. Yet Biden, whose lead in the polls has been one of the most enduring aspects of the Democratic primary contest, was not mentioned by name Tuesday night. Instead, other moderates were used as stand-ins for some of the ideas he espouses.”
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Another GOP Lawmaker Announces Retirement
Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) announced that he is retiring after 15 years in Congress, Politico reports.
This is the fifth GOP retirement in two weeks.
Second Democratic Debate – Night One
Ten Democratic presidential candidates will debate on CNN beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
The lineup: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Steve Bullock, Tim Ryan, John Hickenlooper, John Delaney and Marianne Williamson.
Dave Weigel: “Tonight’s 10-candidate Democratic debate in the Fox Theatre will be a major media event and a pivotal moment in the presidential primary. And it’s not expected to change much of anything.”
Please leave your reactions in the comments.
GOP Lawmaker Demands Info on UFO Sightings
Rep. Mark Walter (R-NC), a top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, is seeking more details from the Navy on recent reports of so-called “unidentified aerial phenomenon,” including what resources it is applying to investigate the mysterious sightings and whether it has “found physical evidence or otherwise” to substantiate them, Politico reports.
Trump Says He Wants to ‘Rein In’ Intelligence Agencies
President Trump defended his choice for the next U.S. spy chief as someone who could “rein in” intelligence agencies that “have run amok,” fueling concerns Trump seeks assessments that support his own views, Reuters reports.
Said Trump: “I think we need somebody like that in there. We need somebody strong that can rein it in. Because, as I think you’ve all learned, the intelligence agencies have run amok. They have run amok.”
Trump Says ‘Everybody Is Called a Racist Now’
President Trump told C-SPAN that he is not a racist and that the word is “overused” even as he continues to deploy it against his critics.
Said Trump: “I think the word has really gone down a long way because everybody’s called a racist now.”
He added: “The word is so overused. It’s such a disgrace. And I can tell you I’m the least racist person there is in the world, as far as I’m concerned.”
Eliot Engel Backs Impeachment Inquiry
“Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), who chairs the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, called for a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump on Tuesday, becoming one of the highest-ranking members of Congress to do so,” the New York Daily News reports.
“Engel, whose committee is one of six House panels probing Trump and his administration for various wrongdoing, said in a statement that former special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony last week made him jump on board the impeachment train.”
Reagan’s Long-Hidden Racist Conversation with Nixon
Tim Naftali: “The day after the United Nations voted to recognize the People’s Republic of China, then–California Governor Ronald Reagan phoned President Richard Nixon at the White House and vented his frustration at the delegates who had sided against the United States.”
Said Reagan to Nixon: “Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did. To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!”
“The exchange was taped by Nixon, and then later became the responsibility of the Nixon Presidential Library, which I directed from 2007 to 2011. When the National Archives originally released the tape of this conversation, in 2000, the racist portion was apparently withheld to protect Reagan’s privacy.”
Are Democrats Moving Too Far Left?
“So far, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds, the answer is no. Views of the Democratic Party, in fact, haven’t really budged in more than four years. The share of Americans calling the Democrats ‘too extreme,’ which stood at 41% in November 2014, now stands at an identical 41%, with only minimal fluctuation in the interim.”
McConnell Cranks Up Pressure on Budget Vote
“Senate Republican leaders and President Trump are working to whip up support for their bipartisan, $2.7 trillion budget deal, hoping to stave off embarrassing defections ahead of a vote that’s splitting the party,” Politico reports.
“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Majority Whip John Thune are trying to persuade undecided rank-and-file senators to avoid a replay of last week’s debacle in the House, when roughly two-thirds of House Republicans opposed the deal… Trump is ‘strategically’ making calls to on-the-fence members.”