Just weeks after lambasting Baltimore as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,” President Trump will visit the Maryland city to huddle with congressional Republicans — a gathering that could draw local protests and reignite an ugly feud between the White House and the black-majority locality, the Washington Post reports.
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Quote of the Day
“I come from the corporate state of the world, Delaware. Many of you are incorporated there.”
— Joe Biden, quoted by CNN, at a fundraiser in Massachusetts.
Manufacturers Invest Less as Trade War Continues
Wall Street Journal: “U.S. manufacturers are investing less in their factories and workforces as the trade dispute with China makes it more difficult for executives to anticipate costs and demand. The shifting contours of the tariffs that the U.S. and China have applied to each other’s goods are prompting some companies to put business plans on hold. Others are cutting back investments as trade volumes and economic growth slow around the world.”
“These companies are buying fewer machines for their factory floors and shortening shifts. The knock-on effect means lower sales for those suppliers and less pay for workers, contributing to slower U.S. economic growth.”
China’s Trade With U.S. Shrinks
Associated Press: “China’s trade with the United States is falling as the two sides prepare for negotiations with no signs of progress toward ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth. Imports of American goods tumbled 22% in August from a year earlier to $10.3 billion, customs data showed Sunday. Exports to the United States, China’s biggest market, sank 16% to $44.4 billion.”
How Trump Upended U.S.- Taliban Peace Talks
Associated Press: “With a series of tweets, President Trump has upended nearly a year of U.S.-Taliban negotiations on ending America’s longest war. He has ‘called off’ the talks and asserted that a planned secret meeting between him and Taliban leaders at Camp David, set for Sunday just days before the 9/11 anniversary, is now canceled. Some question whether it was a face-saving attempt after the deal his envoy said had been reached ‘in principle’ faced serious challenges.”
“The Taliban took half a day to respond, saying the abrupt decision hurt U.S. credibility after they had ‘finalized’ a deal, but said the U.S. likely would return to negotiations. The two sides had still been talking on Saturday, they said — two days after Trump said he had ‘immediately’ called off talks.”
New York Times: “Even as President Trump blamed a recent Taliban attack for his decision to call off nearly year-long negotiations with the insurgents, officials suggested on Sunday it had more to do with the Taliban’s resistance to the American terms for a peace deal. Talks that once seemed on the verge of a breakthrough had hit a wall over how the deal should be finalized and announced.”
Sanford Announces Primary Challenge to Trump
“Facing monumental longshot odds in a fractured Republican Party, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford this morning formally announced his bid to challenge President Trump for the White House,” the Charleston Post & Courier reports.
Three Leaders In the Early States
The latest CBS News/YouGov polls in the early voting states:
New Hampshire: Warren 26%, Biden 25%, Sanders 24%, Buttigieg 8%, Harris 7%
Iowa: Biden 29%, Sanders 26%, Warren 17%, Buttigieg 7%, Harris 6%
South Carolina: Biden 43%, Sanders 18%, Warren 14%, Harris 7%, Buttigieg 4%
Nevada: Sanders 29%, Biden 27%, Warren 18%, Harris 6%, Buttigieg 4%
Warren Surges In Massachusetts
A new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll of likely Massachusetts primary voters found a surging Elizabeth Warren closing in on Joe Biden’s lead as the number of undecided voters shrinks.
The poll Biden leading the field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates with 26% support, followed by Warren with 24%, within the margin of error. Sen. Bernie Sanders was in third place with 8%, while Pete Buttigieg came in fourth with 5%. No other Democratic candidate registered more than three percent in the poll.
The results represent a 14-point gain for Warren since a June Suffolk/Globe poll found her with the backing of 10% of likely voters.
Biden Keeps Leads Over Democratic Pack
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds Joe Biden leading the Democratic presidential race with29%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 19%, Elizabeth Warren at 18%.
Kamala Harris is next at 7%, followed by Pete Buttigieg at 4%, Beto O’Rourke at 3% and Andrew Yang at 3%.
Key takeaway: “Nearly 6 in 10 Democratic-leaning voters say they would consider switching to support another candidate for the party’s nomination or that they still don’t have a preference.”
Debate Offers a New Start for Second-Tier Candidates
New York Times: “As they prepare for Thursday’s debate in Houston, many of the second-tier candidates are pursuing a one-two punch strategy: planning and practicing what they hope are breakout moments, while deepening their on-the-ground and advertising campaigns to take advantage of a strong debate performance.”
“Faced with an ever-shrinking calendar before February’s Iowa caucuses and voters who are eager to narrow the choices, the 17 candidates lagging the front-runners are grasping for fresh ways to distinguish themselves and jolt a race that appeared to settle into two distinct divisions this summer.”
Boris Johnson Finds Less Party Loyalty Than Trump
“Britain and the United States have often seemed lashed together amid the populist storms of the last few years — Brexit and the Trump White House echoing and amplifying each other across the Atlantic. But in one respect they have radically diverged,” the New York Times reports.
“In London, rebels in the Conservative Party staged a dramatic insurrection in the past week against Prime Minister Boris Johnson, blocking his plan to withdraw Britain from the European Union even without a deal. In Washington, scarcely a handful of Republicans have stood up to President Trump, even when he has flouted party orthodoxy on issues like trade, immigration and the deficit.”
“The Tory party’s revolt against Mr. Johnson, and his ruthless purging of the rebels, are reverberating through British politics, threatening his hold on power. For dispirited Republicans, though, this British revolution has become an object lesson in how a center-right party can stand up to a wayward leader.”
Parscale Predicts Trump Family Dynasty
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale predicted that “the Trumps will be a dynasty that lasts for decades,” Politico reports.
Asked later if he believes the Trump children represent future candidates, Pascale said: “I just think they’re a dynasty. I think they’re all amazing people…with amazing capabilities. I think you see that from Don Jr. I think you see that from Ivanka. You see it from Jared. You see it from all.”
U.K. Cabinet Member Resigns Over Brexit
Embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a new blow Saturday when a Cabinet minister resigned, saying she did not believe Johnson was sincere about getting a Brexit deal with the European Union, CBS News reports.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said in a letter to the prime minister that she was resigning because “I no longer believe leaving with a deal is the government’s main objective.”
Trump Cancels Secret Meeting With Taliban
“President Trump announced Saturday he had canceled a planned secret meeting with leaders of the Taliban and Afghanistan’s president at Camp David,” The Hill reports.
“Trump also said he had called off negotiations with the insurgent group after Taliban leadership claimed credit for a deadly attack in Kabul.”
Kennedy Crushes Markey In New Poll
“Buoyed by youth and a dynastic name, Representative Joseph Kennedy would hold an immediate edge over Sen. Edward Markey should the 38-year-old congressman launch a primary challenge to the seasoned incumbent,” according to a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.
“Kennedy would lead a five-person field by 9 percentage points, 35% to Markey’s 26%.
“And in a head-to-head matchup, Kennedy’s advantage would grow even larger: 14 percentage points — 42% to 28%. He would best Markey in every age group and across wide geographic swaths of the state.”
Biden Says It’s Fine to Consider His Age
Joe Biden told the Laconia Daily Sun that it’s “totally appropriate” for people to consider his age when evaluating him as presidential candidate.
Said Biden: “Just like when I was 29, was I old enough? And now, am I fit enough? I’ll completely disclose everything about my health. I’m in good shape.”
Warren and Clinton Talk Behind the Scenes
“Elizabeth Warren’s team doesn’t want to talk about Hillary Clinton, but that doesn’t mean the 2020 presidential candidate isn’t talking with her party’s 2016 nominee,” NBC News reports.
“The two women have kept a line of communication open since the Massachusetts senator decided to run for president — though only a conversation around the time of Warren’s launch has been previously reported — according to several people familiar with their discussions who spoke to NBC on the condition of anonymity because of the political sensitivity of private interactions.”
“It’s hard to know exactly how many times they’ve reached out to each other — or precisely what they’ve discussed — in part because neither camp wants to reveal much of anything about their interaction and in part because they have each other’s phone numbers, and there are many ways for two high-powered politicians to communicate that don’t involve their staffs.”
How Trump Is Undermining GOP Incumbents
Jonathan Bernstein: “Members of Congress typically work hard to represent their districts. In particular, they try to secure benefits that they can bring home and brag about. Constituents wind up hearing good things about their representatives, and therefore tend to vote for them, all else equal. Thus the advantage of incumbency. In the era of partisan polarization, however, that ‘all else equal’ applies less and less because voters mostly support their party’s candidate, so much so that the incumbency advantage seems to be close to disappearing.”
“But what happens when incumbents actively support policies that take valuable projects away from their districts? That’s what’s going on with President Trump’s decision to transfer appropriated military funds to pay for his border wall (yes, the one that Mexico was supposed to pay for and that Congress has repeatedly failed to fund).”
“For now, these transfers appear to be getting plenty of press in the affected states– including some with potentially vulnerable Republican senators. If this was a normal failure to win funding for projects, I’d say it’s not a big deal; certainly not something that voters would hold against their representatives. But we can’t really say that here. This isn’t a missed opportunity – it’s a deliberate effort to take something away that had previously been secured.”
