“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump. Now, I want to tell you the truth about the coronavirus… You think I’m wrong about this? You think I’m missing it by saying that’s… Yeah, I’m dead right on this. The coronavirus is the common cold, folks.”
— Rush Limbaugh, on his radio show.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in North Carolina finds Joe Biden leading the Democratic field with 23%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 20%, Mike Bloomberg at 17%, Elizabeth Warren at 11%, Pete Buttigieg at 9% and Amy Klobuchar at 4%.
“Rod Blagojevich’s release from federal prison last week culminated a nearly two-year campaign to put the once-prominent Democrat’s case on President Trump’s agenda, orchestrated by a volunteer adviser who once worked for the former Illinois governor’s political opponents,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Mr. Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 for trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat of president-elect Barack Obama, among other charges. But by enlisting the help of marquee political figures from across the spectrum, a now 38-year-old GOP consultant named Mark Vargas successfully reframed Mr. Blagojevich’s conviction for corruption into a case of prosecutorial overreach linked to former FBI Director Robert Mueller and others criticized by the president for looking into his 2016 campaign.”
President Trump acknowledged the existence of assembled lists of government officials that his administration plans to oust and replace with trusted pro-Trump people, Axios reports.
“House Democrats are warning of a down-ballot bloodbath and centrists are freaking out. But Bernie Sanders’ colleagues have a more placid take on the rise of democratic socialist: Bernie can beat Donald Trump,” Politico reports.
“After jumping out to an early delegate advantage, seizing the lead in national polls and racking up eye-popping fundraising numbers, Sanders is the clear frontrunner as the party heads into a potentially decisive March stretch for the Democratic primary. And that’s OK with many Senate Democrats, who have served alongside Sanders for 13 years.”
“It’s not just senators being courteous to a colleague known for being something of a loner in the upper chamber. Instead, Senate Democrats respect the durable political movement he’s built over the past five years that threatened to topple Hillary Clinton and a populist streak that could be wielded against Trump to win over some of his voters.”
President Trump said Democratic presidential front runner Bernie Sanders is advocating “totally unaffordable” policies that are “not going to work” during a meeting with business leaders at the U.S. embassy in New Delhi, Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “When we win re-election – I think we will – when we win, I think the market’s going to go up, it’s going to be like a rocket ship, like last time, but even more so. I think the fact that the Democrats are so radical, so out of control, they honestly don’t know what they’re doing.”
He went on to blame the election season for holding down the value of the stock market, saying that investors are worried Sanders had “a real chance” of winning the presidency.
Iran’s deputy health minister—who on Monday denied accusations that the government was hiding the true extent of the coronavirus outbreak in the country—has reportedly tested positive for the sickness, Reuters reports.
Politico: “Buttigieg’s campaign will start airing TV spots on Tuesday and Wednesday in 12 of the 14 March 3 primary states, part of a seven-figure ad buy on cable and broadcast stations… The campaign will also go up with a second, seven-figure digital ad program in those states.”
“Buttigieg’s late start in TV advertising is another sign that he’s feeling the financial pressure of his better-funded presidential rivals. Bernie Sanders, who raised $25 million in January, and Mike Bloomberg, who is self-funding his bid, have already poured millions into spending on TV ads in these states. Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren also started airing TV ads earlier this week. Joe Biden, notably, also hasn’t started airing TV ads in Super Tuesday states.”
“Bernie Sanders’ nomination could drag down vulnerable House Democrats trying to hold onto their competitive districts, according to a new poll conducted for Mike Bloomberg’s campaign that is circulating among members — providing fresh data for moderates warning about a wipeout if Sanders emerges to lead their ticket against President Trump,” Politico reports.
“The poll of voters in more than 40 battleground House districts currently held by Democrats — conducted by Global Strategy Group for the Bloomberg campaign and obtained from two sources — found that Sanders is less popular than Trump and loses significant support when hit for holding socialist positions.”
“President Trump attacked Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a pair of tweets late Monday night, days after Sotomayor issued a dissent critical of both the Trump administration’s legal strategy and the court’s majority for enabling it,” the Washington Post reports.
“Trump’s comments targeting Sotomayor and Ginsburg come as he has faced criticism for targeting sitting judges and injecting politics into the judiciary. It’s not unusual for a president to criticize decisions of the Supreme Court and the lower courts. Most have avoided singling out judges or justices by name, as Trump does, or challenging their fairness and integrity.”
Politico: “Hunkered down at the Four Seasons hotel in Florida’s Disney World, Mike Bloomberg prepared for a mission to salvage his half-billion dollar investment in the presidential race with a debate performance designed to quiet the critics and stall frontrunner Bernie Sanders’ momentum.”
“Sen. Mitch McConnell is about to plunge the Senate into the nation’s culture wars with votes on bills to sharply restrict access to late-term abortions and threaten some doctors who perform them with criminal penalties, signaling that Republicans plan to make curbing a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy a central theme of their re-election campaigns this year,” the New York Times reports.
“After months of shunning legislative activity in favor of confirming President Trump’s judicial nominees — and a brief detour for the president’s impeachment trial — Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, is expected to bring the bills up for votes on Tuesday. Both lack the necessary 60-vote supermajority to advance, and the Senate has voted previously to reject them.”
“But by putting them on the floor again, Mr. McConnell hopes to energize the social conservatives who helped elect Mr. Trump and whose enthusiasm will be needed to help Republicans hold on to the Senate this year, while forcing vulnerable Democrats to take uncomfortable votes on bills that frame abortion as infanticide.”
The Trump administration on Monday night is sending to Capitol Hill its $2.5 billion supplemental budget request for additional money to fight the coronavirus, Politico reports.
NBC News: “While other candidates are working to shore up support ahead of Super Tuesday on March 3 by making stops in bigger states like California and Texas with large delegate hauls, Klobuchar’s campaign has made a different calculation to try to stay viable — go small.”
“In the past 36 hours, Klobuchar held public events in her home state of Minnesota, where she’s leading in polls, North Dakota (which doesn’t caucus until March 10) and in the additional Super Tuesday states of Arkansas and Oklahoma.”
Jennifer Rubin: Klobuchar’s uncompelling argument to stay in the race.
Joe Biden’s campaign is airing a new digital ad in South Carolina accusing Bernie Sanders of trying to undermine Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection by threatening to primary him, Politico reports.
Mike Bloomberg said at a private event in 2016 that his presidential campaign platform would have been to “defend the banks” and also labeled Sen. Elizabeth Warren as “scary,” CNN reports.
Bloomberg also criticized President Barack Obama, saying that his 2012 endorsement of Obama was “backhanded” and that he thought Mitt Romney could have done a better job if he’d been elected.
Audio of his comments were anonymously sent to CNN by an email address called “CancelGoldman,” with the author claiming he worked at Goldman Sachs for 14 years.
A new NBC News/Marist poll in South Carolina find Joe Biden leading the Democratic primary field with 27%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 23%, Tom Steyer at 15%, Pete Buttigieg at 9%, Elizabeth Warren at 8% and Amy Klobuchar at 5%.
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.