“I asked Kamala to be the last voice in the room. To always tell me the truth, which she will. Challenge my assumptions if she disagrees. Ask the hard questions. Because that’s the way we make the best decisions for the American people.”
— Joe Biden, quoted by McClatchy, on how he views Kamala Harris’s role as vice president.
A new attempt to restart economic relief negotiations between the White House and Democrats ended just minutes after it began on Wednesday, with President Trump appearing to cast doubt on the whole process by announcing a deal is “not going to happen,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “The bill’s not going to happen because they don’t even want to talk about it, because we can’t give them the kind of ridiculous things that they want that have nothing to do with the China virus.”
For members: Trump Thinks He Set a Trap for Democrats
Axios has rounded up information on early voting and mail-in ballots for every state.
Herman Cain’s Twitter account shared an attack on Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris despite the former Republican presidential candidate having died a few weeks ago, Newsweek reports.
CDC Director Robert Redfield said that if the American public does not follow recommended coronavirus mitigation measures, the country could have the worst fall for public health in U.S. history, CNN reports.
Said Redfield: “For your country right now and for the war that we’re in against Covid, I’m asking you to do four simple things: wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands and be smart about crowds.”
He added: “I’m not asking some of America to do it. We all gotta do it.”
Researchers at Imperial College estimate that 6% of England’s population — or 3.4 million people — have been infected by the coronavirus, a figure far higher than previous findings, the AP reports.
“The U.S. is cutting back on coronavirus testing. Nationally, the number of tests performed each day is about 17% lower than it was at the end of July, and testing is also declining in hard-hit states,” Axios reports.
“Even as states with particularly bad outbreaks pull back on their testing, the proportion of tests coming back positive is still high — which would normally be an indication that they need to be doing more tests.”
Nearly nine out of 10 Democrats approve of Sen. Kamala Harris as their party’s vice presidential nominee, and she is more popular than presidential candidate Joe Biden among women, young voters and some Republicans, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The survey also found that 60% of Americans, including 87% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans, considered the selection of Harris – the first Black woman and Asian American nominated for vice presidency – to be a “major milestone” for the United States.
A new Morning Consult poll finds Kanye West with 10% to 80% favorable rating among voters who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
With Donald Trump’s voters, West has a 25% to 54% favorable rating.
Out next month: Rage by Bob Woodward.
“Rage goes behind the scenes like never before, with stunning new details about early national security decisions and operations and Trump’s moves as he faces a global pandemic, economic disaster and racial unrest.”
New York Times: “In a hotly contested election year, the loss of college football seems almost certain to seep into politics as well. No conference covers as many presidential battleground states as does the Big Ten, the Midwestern behemoth with schools in seven states that are being fought for by both Joe Biden and Mr. Trump.”
“In crucial battleground states like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where college football serves as an autumn religion not just on campus but in the rural areas where Mr. Trump’s support runs deepest, losing football may be a political stain that the president is unable to blame on his enemies in the Democratic Party or on the media.”
Washington Post: “On Wednesday, the country reported its highest number of deaths in a single day since mid-May, at nearly 1,500. The country has now seen its seven-day average of newly reported deaths remain above 1,000 for 17 consecutive days.”
The Intercept: “The leadership of the University of Massachusetts Amherst College Democrats began discussing an operation they believed could sink the campaign of Alex Morse for Congress as far back as last October, a plan they then helped engineer and which came to fruition on Friday, after the College Democrats sent a letter regarding Morse to the Daily Collegian, the school’s student newspaper.”
“The letter, sent three weeks before his primary challenge to Rep. Richard Neal, informed Morse that he was no longer welcome at College Democratic events, alleging he used such opportunities to socialize with students and later connect with them on social media in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.”
“Leaders of the College Democrats group went beyond merely plans to leak. They also explicitly discussed how they could find Morse’s dating profiles and then lead him into saying something incriminating that would then damage his campaign.”
A new UMass Amherst poll in Massachusetts finds Sen. Ed Markey (D) leading Rep. Joe Kennedy (D) in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, 51% to 36%.
“Like everything else he inherited, he ran it straight into the ground.”
— Sen. Kamala Harris, quoted by the New York Times, on President Trump taking office after the longest economic expansion in U.S. history.
“The U.S. Energy Department proposed easing water efficiency requirements for shower heads Wednesday following multiple complaints from President Trump about how low water flow is impeding his ability to properly wash his hair,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “You can’t wash your beautiful hair properly.”
NBC News: “Despite having months to prepare for the probable outcome that Harris would be chosen, the Trump re-elect effort countered with a series of contradictory and at times confusing messaging on the California senator, on everything from her record as a California prosecutor to her positioning in the party.”
“Some allies of the president were stunned that the rejoinder appeared to be so flat-footed and incongruous, reiterating that Trump and his campaign have had trouble landing a punch on presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and this does not bode well for their same attempts with Harris.”
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.
