Ballotpedia: “On November 6, 2018, elections were held for 6,073 state legislative seats across 87 of the nation’s 99 state legislative chambers. Five hundred and eight elections (8.3%) resulted in control of a seat changing to a new party. Of the 508 flips, 391 (77.0%) were Republican seats that flipped to Democrats and 93 (18.2%) were Democratic seats that flipped to Republicans.”
Quote of the Day
“I would love him regardless of what he did. He’s part of our family. That’s doesn’t affect our friendship at all.”
— Cindy McCain, in an interview with the Washington Post, on her relationship with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and his support of President Trump.
Secret U.S. Missile Aims to Kill Only Terrorists
“The U.S. government has developed a specially designed, secret missile for pinpoint airstrikes that kill terrorist leaders with no explosion, drastically reducing damage and minimizing the chances of civilian casualties,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A modified version of the well-known Hellfire missile, the weapon carries an inert warhead. Instead of exploding, it is designed to plunge more than 100 pounds of metal through the tops of cars and buildings to kill its target without harming individuals and property close by.”
Delays at Supreme Court Push Divisive Cases Into 2020
“In January the Supreme Court appeared poised to act on President Trump’s bid to end deportation protection for hundreds of thousands of young immigrants. Then the case disappeared,” Bloomberg reports.
“The case has become one of the many mysteries in a Supreme Court term that so far is defined less by the issues the justices have decided than by those they’ve deferred. The court has also put off taking action in cases involving abortion, same-sex wedding cakes and transgender bathroom access.”
“The delays have kept the court out of the some of the country’s most polarizing issues, at least during the nine-month term that ends in June. The court now faces the possibility of a massive 2019-20 term, issuing major decisions in the heat of the next presidential election campaign.”
Maryland Republicans Prefer Trump Over Hogan
A new Gonzales Research poll in Maryland finds Republicans overwhelmingly support President Trump in a hypothetical presidential primary match up with Gov. Larry Hogan (R), 68% to 24%.
This comes even as Hogan’s job approval rating among all Maryland voters is 76%, while Trump’s is 39%.
Trump Jokes About Shooting Migrants
“President Trump was tickled Wednesday when an audience member at a Florida rally suggested shooting migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border,” USA Today reports.
“Trump was bemoaning the legal protections afforded migrants and espousing the need for a border wall when he asked rhetorically, ‘How do you stop these people?'”
Someone shouted: “Shoot them!”
“The remark drew a chuckle from the president, who then shook his head, pointed in the audience member’s direction and said, ‘Only in the Panhandle you can get away with that statement. Only in the Panhandle.'”
Washington Post: “Though Trump didn’t explicitly endorse the suggestion to shoot migrants, his joking response raised concerns that he was tacitly encouraging extrajudicial killings and brutality against asylum seekers and undocumented immigrants.”
Democrats’ Generic Ballot Edge Endures
Kyle Kondik: “Let’s start here with a caveat: House generic ballot polling from a year and a half before a general election should not be treated as predictive. The 2020 House election depends on a lot of factors that remain unknowable, most importantly the tone-setting effect of the presidential race, which at this point appears to be something of a 50-50 proposition.”
“That said, if you’re looking for signs of a growing backlash against the new Democratic-majority U.S. House of Representatives, you won’t find it in national generic ballot polling so far.”
“Democrats led the House generic ballot the whole way in the 2017-2018 RealClearPolitics average. From Jan. 1, 2017 through April 30, 2017, there were 12 generic ballot polls included. The Democrats led every single one, and by an average of six points.”
“This year, from Jan. 1 through April 30, there are 11 polls in the average, and the Democrats lead in every one… by an average of six points.”
‘It’s Time to Break Up Facebook’
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes argues in the New York Times that the social media giant must be broken up.
“Mark’s influence is staggering, far beyond that of anyone else in the private sector or in government. He controls three core communications platforms — Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — that billions of people use every day. Facebook’s board works more like an advisory committee than an overseer, because Mark controls around 60 percent of voting shares. Mark alone can decide how to configure Facebook’s algorithms to determine what people see in their News Feeds, what privacy settings they can use and even which messages get delivered. He sets the rules for how to distinguish violent and incendiary speech from the merely offensive, and he can choose to shut down a competitor by acquiring, blocking or copying it.”
“Mark is a good, kind person. But I’m angry that his focus on growth led him to sacrifice security and civility for clicks. I’m disappointed in myself and the early Facebook team for not thinking more about how the News Feed algorithm could change our culture, influence elections and empower nationalist leaders. And I’m worried that Mark has surrounded himself with a team that reinforces his beliefs instead of challenging them.”
“Mark’s power is unprecedented and un-American. It is time to break up Facebook.”
House Democrats Aim Another Subpoena At Barr
“The House Intelligence Committee issued a subpoena on Wednesday to Attorney General William Barr over documents related to the special counsel investigation into the 2016 presidential election, the latest effort by congressional lawmakers to force the Justice Department to turn over special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report,” the HuffPost reports.
O’Rourke Hires ‘Unsung Hero’ Of Obama’s First Campaign
BuzzFeed News: “The low-profile Democratic lawyer who played a central role in Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s election campaigns, and who literally wrote the book on the obscure and crucial art of delegate selection, has gone to work for Beto O’Rourke.”
“There aren’t many presidential campaign staffers whose hires are worth a news article, but the lawyer, Jeff Berman, is one of them. Though he doesn’t work in the visible part of politics — admaking, messaging, communications, yelling at people on Twitter or cable news — Berman is America’s leading expert on the strange and at times undemocratic machine that is crucial to how parties select their candidates.”
“And his hire suggests that O’Rourke is trying to build a machine as well as a movement.”
Not All the Red Sox Will Visit the White House
Associated Press: “The Red Sox, who steamrolled to a World Series crown last October, are poised to visit the White House on Thursday. Team manager Alex Cora announced last week he would not attend, citing his frustration with the administration’s efforts to help his native Puerto Rico recover from a devastating hurricane. Nearly a dozen players, including American League MVP Mookie Betts, have said they will join him in skipping the ceremony.”
“All those bypassing the White House are players of color. Every white player on the team — as well as J.D. Martinez, who is of Cuban descent — was expected to attend.”
Meanwhile, CBS Boston notes the White House website welcomes ‘The Boston Red Socks.”
Mulvaney Didn’t Know About Trump Jr. Subpoena
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told CBS News that he was blindsided by the GOP-led Senate Intelligence Committee subpoena for Donald Trump Jr to appear.
Said Mulvaney: ‘To subpoena the President of the United States’ son and not at least get a heads up I thought was, let’s say, bad form.”
The Hill: Senate GOP grows frustrated with Trump chief of staff.
Buttigieg Not Offering Staffers Health Care Insurance
As he staffs up a national campaign, Mayor Pete Buttigieg isn’t providing health care coverage to any of his own campaign workers, an NBC News review of his campaign spending disclosures shows.
“Instead, Buttigieg is providing a monthly stipend to workers to buy insurance on their own through the Obamacare exchanges, his campaign said, with plans to offer health care in the future.”
“The practice stands in contrast to the other leading presidential candidates this year, as Democrats have made a point of aligning their internal practices with the policies and values they are emphasizing on the campaign trail.”
How Long Can Democrats Hold Off on Impeachment?
Playbook: “Some extreme action — like launching impeachment proceedings against President Trump — is getting likelier by the day. It’s not overwhelmingly likely, but the vibe on Capitol Hill is getting worse: Democrats are angry that they are getting stonewalled. Republicans are angry that Democrats do not seem willing to let this go.”
“House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has handled the politics of impeachment well. She’s kept her foot hovering above the brake pedal, cognizant of the risk of immediate acceleration. She has kept her chairmen in line, kept her members mostly calm and her leadership on the same page. She even went to the White House with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to talk infrastructure, which showed Trump she’s not singularly consumed with oversight, but also interested in governing.”
“But the White House is doing practically everything it can to taunt Pelosi. Most administrations slow-walk document production; this White House is flat-out saying, ‘No, your oversight is overzealous, and we won’t participate in it.’ This is going to force Democrats to file lawsuits to obtain documents — lawsuits that even top Republicans privately concede Pelosi will win.”
“Trump seems to be daring Democrats to take the impeachment road. Talk people in his administration, and you’ll hear that all of this Hill saber-rattling is good for them. Impeachment is unpopular, they believe, and will help Trump in 2020.”
Trump Super PACs Set Massive Fundraising Target
“President Trump’s outside political machine is setting a $300 million fundraising goal and is pitching major GOP donors on a plan to target six swing states that are likely to decide the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the group’s blueprint,” Politico reports.
“The pressure is high: America First Action super PAC and its allied non-profit, America First Policies, are part of a broader Trump political apparatus that Republican officials say will need to raise roughly $1 billion. Trump successfully raised money from small donors in 2016 but some major GOP givers remain wary of him.”
North Korea Fires Another Missile
“North Korea on Thursday fired at least one unidentified projectile from the country’s western area, South Korea’s military said, the North’s second weapons launch in the last five days and a possible warning that nuclear disarmament talks with Washington could be in danger,” the AP reports.
“The launch comes as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun visits South Korea, and hours after the North described its firing of rocket artillery and an apparent short-range ballistic missile on Saturday as a regular and defensive military exercise.”
Obama-to-Trump Voters Turn Against Trump
Eric Levitz: “In its latest report, the VSG illuminates one critical shift hiding beneath Trump’s sturdy support: He has lost significant ground with Obama-to-Trump voters. In the project’s 2016 survey, 85 percent of such voters held a ‘favorable view of the president.’ In its latest one, that figure fell to 66 percent. That may not sound like a lot, but, as we’ve observed, it won’t necessarily take a lot to change the course of history.”
From the report: “Even small movement among these voters — who represented 9 percent of voters in 2016 — may prove significant heading into the 2020 presidential election. Obama-Trump voters are also disproportionately white, non-college educated and, as a result, are likely to be well distributed geographically for the purpose of electoral impact.”
Biden Says Field Will Shrink Quickly
Joe Biden predicted that the field of Democratic presidential candidates would be “winnowed out pretty quickly” next year, dismissing concerns that a lengthy and contentious primary could weaken the party’s nominee, Politico reports.
Said Biden: “This field is going to be winnowed out pretty quickly.”
