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Can Democrats Take Advantage of a Wider Senate Map?

August 29, 2019 at 9:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “Here’s the good news Democrats received on Wednesday: Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., will retire from the Senate in December 2019, which means Georgia will now have two Senate seats up for grabs in 2020.”

“That’s an extra GOP seat Democrats can target — in a state that’s become more demographically friendly to them — as they try to net the three Senate seats needed to flip the chamber if they win the White House.”

“But here’s the bad news: They don’t have top-tier candidates running in Georgia right now — either against Republican Sen. David Perdue or for Isakson’s seat, especially after Stacey Abrams confirmed she wouldn’t run for either seat.”

Double-Barreled Senate Elections Rarely Split

August 29, 2019 at 9:06 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Inside Elections: “Over the last 70 years, there have been 29 times when both of a state’s Senate seats were up for election. In 26 of those instances (90 percent of the time), one party won both seats.”

Kyle Kondik: “The last time a state holding ‘double-barreled’ concurrent Senate elections rendered a split decision was South Carolina in 1966, when it reelected party-switching Sen. Strom Thurmond (R) while backing Ernest ‘Fritz’ Hollings (D) in the special.”

Ivanka Trump Has Discussed Replacing Pence

August 29, 2019 at 9:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Axios reporter Jonathan Swan told MSNBC that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have discussed the possibility of replacing Vice President Mike Pence with Nikki Haley on the 2020 Republican ticket.

Said Swan: “Certainly, there have been a number of people telling people in the White House, including the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump, that Nikki Haley would be a politically smart choice to replace Pence. So this is partly why a lot of these rumors have been circulating.”

Tom Steyer’s Mega-Millions Debate Gambit Flops

August 29, 2019 at 8:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Tom Steyer just lost a $16 million bet,” Politico reports.

“The Democratic hedge fund billionaire leapt into the presidential campaign late with a clear plan: use his mega-wealth to buy his way into the televised party debates, and then use that platform, and his unelected outsider persona, to challenge the front-runners. Steyer spent millions of dollars on TV ads to boost his poll numbers in early caucus and primary states and on digital ads to meet the donor requirements set by the Democratic National Committee.”

All These National Polls Are Just Not That Helpful

August 29, 2019 at 8:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Earlier this week, a new Monmouth University poll sent shock waves through the political world when it showed Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in a virtual three-way tie nationally for the Democratic nomination.

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EPA to Roll Back Regulations on Methane

August 29, 2019 at 6:46 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is set to announce on Thursday that it intends to sharply curtail the regulation of methane emissions, a major contributor to climate change, according to an industry official with knowledge of the plan,” the New York Times reports.

“The Environmental Protection Agency, in a proposed rule, will aim to eliminate federal government requirements that the oil and gas industry put in place technology to inspect for and repair methane leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities.”

“The proposed rollback is particularly notable because major oil and gas companies have, in fact, opposed it, just as some other industries have opposed the Trump administration’s other major moves to dismantle climate change and other environmental rules put in place by President Barack Obama.”

Quote of the Day

August 29, 2019 at 6:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“There is a period in which I owe my silence. It’s not eternal. It’s not going to be forever.”

— Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, in an interview with The Atlantic.

Republicans Grow Anxious About Trump Economy

August 29, 2019 at 6:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Republicans have sat patiently with President Donald Trump on his tariff roller coaster ride with China. Now they’re starting to feel queasy. Trump argues his escalating trade war will force China to the table for a deal. But his ever-rising tariffs — and his market-rattling tweets — are increasingly alarming the GOP.”

“Particularly as the global economy cools, key Republicans say new levies on almost all Chinese goods threaten to step on the president’s good news story: A growing economy, rising wages and low unemployment. And that could have outsize effects on Republicans’ tough task of defending the Senate and the White House in 2020.”

Woman Angry At Biden Buys Ads Against Him

August 28, 2019 at 10:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CBS News: “A wealthy private citizen named Shirley Shawe has purchased $500,000 in ad time in early-voting states to slam Joe Biden over a business dispute that negatively affected her son’s company years ago. The ad, which has little to do with 2020 issues, instead focuses on a bit of business arcana, the Delaware Chancery Court system, which was formed to adjudicate business disputes involving Delaware-based corporations.”

Omar Dismisses ‘Stupid’ Questions About Alleged Affair

August 28, 2019 at 8:41 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Ilhan Omar said that it was “stupid” for reporters to ask her about allegations that she misused campaign funds to pay the travel expenses of a man with whom she’s accused of having an affair, Fox 9 reports.

Omar’s campaign has paid at least $229,000 for a variety of purposes to E Street Group, a consulting firm operated by I’m Mynett… Mynett’s estranged wife, Beth, accused her husband and Omar of having an affair in a divorce filing made Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Superior Court.

Russians Targeted Maryland In 2016

August 28, 2019 at 6:32 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “The IRA, the Russian troll factory U.S. prosecutors blame for the massive disinformation campaign during the 2016 campaign, devoted enormous attention and preparation to its Maryland campaign, all in a likely effort, experts say, to widen racial divisions and demoralize African American voters.”

Gillibrand Drops Out of Presidential Race

August 28, 2019 at 5:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), “said that she was withdrawing from the Democratic primary after failing to qualify for a third debate next month — a development she described as fatal to her candidacy,” the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Gillibrand said in an interview that she would endorse another candidate in the primary but had not yet picked a favorite. Though she stopped short of saying she would endorse a woman, Ms. Gillibrand, who has made electing women to Congress a personal cause, said the next president had to be capable of uniting the country and suggested that a woman might be best suited for the job.”

But she added: “I will support whoever the nominee is, and I will do whatever it takes to beat Trump.”

Mnuchin Mulls 50- or 100-Year Treasury Bonds

August 28, 2019 at 5:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said issuing ultra-long U.S. bonds is “under very serious consideration” in the Trump administration, possibly setting up a move that would mark a historic revamp of the $16 trillion Treasuries market, Bloomberg News reports.

Jon Ossoff Mulls Senate Bid

August 28, 2019 at 5:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jon Ossoff (D), who ran an unsuccessful special election campaign in Georgia’s 6th congressional district, is now seriously considering a run at one of the two open Senate seats in Georgia, BuzzEeed News reports.

MSNBC Anchor Retracts Report

August 28, 2019 at 4:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

MSNBC anchor Lawrence O’Donnell issued an apology for running with a single-source claim about President Trump and Deutsche Bank.

Said O’Donnell: “Last night I made an error in judgment by reporting an item about the president’s finances that didn’t go through our rigorous verification and standards process. I shouldn’t have reported it and I was wrong to discuss it on the air.”

Trump Tells Aides ‘Take the Land’

August 28, 2019 at 3:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump’s signature campaign promise to build a wall along the southwestern border is far behind schedule. So he has told his aides to get the job done by whatever means necessary, including by seizing land on the Mexican frontier,” the New York Times reports.

“The president has repeatedly suggested during meetings on immigration policy that aides ‘take the land’ and ‘get it done,’ according to a person who has heard him say it.”

“The Washington Post first reported that Mr. Trump had brought up the land seizures, and had floated the idea of offering pardons to aides willing to break the law, a suggestion he has made before when exploring ways to fulfill his campaign promises.”

Boris Johnson Plans Extreme Measures In Coming Weeks

August 28, 2019 at 3:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Boris Johnson’s surprise move to ask the Queen to suspend Parliament for five weeks in the run-up to the Brexit deadline on Oct. 31 is just the opening salvo of a meticulously constructed Downing Street strategy to eat up time and head off attempts by rebel MPs to block a no-deal exit,” BuzzFeed News reports.

“The measures were devised by the prime minister’s senior aides who have spent the summer in their Downing Street bunker war-gaming how to respond to potential parliamentary manoeuvres by MPs determined to block no deal.”

New Government Takes Shape In Italy

August 28, 2019 at 2:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Italy’s warring political parties struck a deal on Wednesday night to form a new government that sidelines Matteo Salvini, the hard-right leader who dominated the country’s politics for more than a year and threatened to drastically reorient Italy’s place in Europe,” the New York Times reports.

“The sudden turnabout in Italy’s politics was a relief to the European establishment after 14 months of euroskeptic provocations, anti-migrant crackdowns and flouting of the bloc’s financial rules.”

Axios: “Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party and perhaps the most popular politician in Italy, withdrew his support on Aug. 8 from the unlikely coalition he had formed with Five Star after the 2018 election. Salvini hoped fresh elections might allow him to become prime minister. Instead, his gamble has expelled his party out of power.”