A new Public Policy Polling survey finds that President Trump has a 40% to 55% approval spread and trails a generic Democratic opponent 52% to 41% for reelection.
“These numbers are about as bad as we’ve ever found for him, and indicate there’s no backlash coming from the movement of House Democrats toward impeachment in the last week.”
“The Treasury Department’s inspector general is investigating how Treasury handled a congressional request for President Trump’s tax returns, which Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has refused to turn over,” the New York Times reports.
“Former UN ambassador Samantha Power said Friday she would not rule out running for the US Senate seat held by Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, should Warren be elected president,” the Boston Globe reports.
“Then again, she also said she wouldn’t rule out the job of Sox general manager, a job that’s actually open right now.”
“President Trump denied that he had linked military aid to Ukraine with a commitment by Kyiv to investigate the 2016 presidential elections when pressed on the matter by a Republican senator in August, according to the lawmaker,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“In an interview, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said he learned of a potential quid pro quo from the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, who told him that aid to Ukraine was tied to the desire by Mr. Trump and his allies to have Kyiv undertake investigations related to the 2016 U.S. elections.”
“Mr. Johnson raised the issue with Mr. Trump in a phone call on Aug. 31, shortly before the senator was due to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the call, Mr. Trump flatly rejected the notion that he directed aides to make military aid to Ukraine contingent on a new investigation by Kyiv, Mr. Johnson said.”
Said Johnson: “He said—expletive deleted—‘No way. I would never do that. Who told you that?”
Aaron Blake: Johnson did Trump no favors on Ukraine.
“A campaign believed to be tied to the Iranian government attempted to identify, attack and breach email addresses belonging to a U.S. presidential candidate, government officials and journalists, according to new data unveiled by Microsoft, highlighting the continued global security threats that loom over the fast-approaching 2020 election,” the Washington Post reports.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) slammed President Trump for urging Ukraine and China to investigate former vice president Joe Biden and his son, calling the appeals “appalling,” NBC News reports.
Said Romney: “By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.”
BuzzFeed News obtained former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker’s opening remarks to a closed door session on Capitol Hill yesterday.
David Frum: “The political scientists can explain the structural reasons why the Republican Party has submitted to Trump, but structures are inhabited by people who make moral choices. The country needed Pence to keep himself clean, as Ford did, and instead—whether out of raw ambition or some weak personal impulse to subservience—Pence plunged into the deepest ooze of the mud. Maybe he struggled to keep his distance, maybe he obeyed only reluctantly, or maybe he eagerly volunteered to ingratiate himself with his crooked boss. That part of the story will all come out.”
“For now, all we need to say is that Pence betrayed his most important duty as vice president: Be ready to step into the nation’s highest office should the need arise. He’s as much a part of the problem as Trump is, and Pence’s personal choices ensure that the scandal of the century will continue to rip apart U.S. politics even if the impeachment process somehow succeeds.”
“President Trump denied he would seek to tie a potential investigation into the Biden family to any trade deal with China, however he again pressed Beijing to investigate unfounded claims against his political rival,” Politico reports.
Said Trump: “That has nothing to do with it. I want to do a trade deal with China, but only if it is good for our country.”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), facing an increasingly tough reelection as President Trump’s approval tanks in Iowa, defended the whistleblower from Trump’s rage, NBC News reports.
Said Ernst: “Whistleblowers should be protected. I stand with Chuck Grassley on this. We have laws in place.”
“It comes down to this. We’ve cut through the denials. The deflections. The nonsense. Donald Trump believes he can pressure a foreign nation to help him politically. It’s his ‘right.’ Every Republican in Congress has to decide: Is he right?”
— House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), on Twitter.
This is one of my favorite emails ever:
Political Wire has been a staple of my real-time news consumption since the 2008 presidential election — nearly every day, I wake up and check your site before any other. And since 2015, that early morning jolt is followed by about 15 minutes of whimpering — as well as gentle rocking — in the fetal position. But, that isn’t Political Wire‘s fault. When you relaunched with pay-walled, premium content, I was more than happy to join… In fact, the current administration’s assault on the free press provided the impetus to subscribe to the Washington Post and New York Times digital content as well.
The last year was very bad for me, from a financial standpoint. And as my wife and I cut more and more expenses, including my NYT subscription, I built a (virtual) wall around my Political Wire membership, dug a moat, and then filled it with snakes and alligators. I decided this was $5 we could spare — even when it’s the last $5 in the bank. This decision was not unanimous, but totally worth it.
So, whenever you feel a little pang of hunger gnawing at your tummy, think of this Taeganographer [pointing both thumbs at my idiot-self] and the hill he has decided to die on.
Thanks so much to this reader — and to everyone who supports Political Wire!
A side note: A very generous member sent this reader a gift membership.
If you’re not yet a member, sign up for an annual or monthly membership for instant access to many great features.
Walter Shapiro: “Four months before the Iowa caucuses, it is time to reckon with the reality that Buttigieg probably has a better chance to be the Democratic nominee than anyone aside from Biden and the surging Warren. With Sanders ailing and Kamala Harris sputtering, Buttigieg has enough money to go the distance (he has raised $44 million in the last six months) and enough polling support to guarantee his place on every debate stage. Whatever happens next, this youthful candidate with a long resume (Harvard, Rhodes Scholar, McKinsey analyst, failed statewide candidate, mayor, and intelligence officer in Afghanistan) has already emerged as the political surprise of 2019.”
“And that raises a new question: Is Buttigieg, who would be four years younger than JFK if he were inaugurated in 2021, ready for the White House? Not ready in the way that Donald Trump was ready (a random first-grader eating paste would undoubtedly do a better job), but ready to be a successful president who would lead America out of the wreckage of the Trump years?”
Politico has a nice interactive guide on where the 2020 presidential candidates stand on the various issues.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign raised $24.6 million in the third quarter, beating the $19 million Warren raised last quarter, Politico reports.
Los Angeles Times: “Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders greatly eclipsed former Vice President Joe Biden in fundraising over the past three months, placing progressive Democrats on strong footing in the crucial final stretch before primary voting begins.”
Washington Post-Schar School poll: “Many Virginians seem to have shrugged off the scandals that engulfed the state’s top Democrats earlier this year, when Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring admitted to blackface incidents in the 1980s and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax denied claims by two women that he sexually assaulted them in the early 2000s. Northam’s approval rating stands at 47%, with 29% disapproving. Almost a quarter of Virginians have no opinion on his job performance.”
Also interesting: “Trump’s approval rating among Virginia residents is at 39%, with 58% disapproving of his job performance.”
“This is basic stuff. Foreign donors — and certainly foreign governments — cannot participate in the American political process.”
— Mike Pence, in the 2016 vice presidential debate.
Out next week: Deep State: Trump, the FBI, and the Rule of Law by James B. Stewart.
“The stakes could not be higher: the rule of law itself, the foundation of the American constitution and Anglo-American democracy for centuries. In this epic battle, there is no room for compromise. There can only be winners and losers, to invoke a distinctly Trumpian view of the world. But there is plenty of room for collateral damage.”
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.