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Buttigieg Not Offering Staffers Health Care Insurance

May 9, 2019 at 7:13 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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?

May 9, 2019 at 7:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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

May 9, 2019 at 7:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“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.”


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North Korea Fires Another Missile

May 9, 2019 at 6:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“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

May 8, 2019 at 11:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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

May 8, 2019 at 10:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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.”

Flashback Quote of the Day

May 8, 2019 at 9:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“No one can be above the law, not even the Attorney General. I think an attorney general held in contempt of Congress is someone who should resign.”

— Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), quoted by the Tampa Bay Times, calling for Attorney General Eric Holder to resign after he was found in contempt of Congress in 2012.

Pool Attendant Denies Knowing About Falwell Photos

May 8, 2019 at 8:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Miami New Times: “Giancarlo Granda, the former Fontainebleau pool attendant whose business bizarrely received $1.8 million in loans from famous evangelist Jerry Falwell Jr., wants the world to stop calling him a ‘pool boy.’ He finds the term demeaning.”

“And, perhaps more notable, he officially denies knowing anything about alleged ‘racy’ photos referenced in a Reuters story published yesterday.”

Trump Campaign Divides Map Into Nine Regions

May 8, 2019 at 8:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump’s re-election team is building out its political infrastructure with a round of hires that underscores the importance the Midwest and Florida are expected to have in the 2020 election,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The campaign has carved the nation into nine regions… One of those regions is focused almost exclusively on Michigan and Pennsylvania, both states that hadn’t supported a Republican presidential candidate for 28 years until Mr. Trump. Wisconsin, which hadn’t supported a Republican for 32 years until 2016, is in a region that also includes Ohio, a traditional battleground.”

“One state is a region all its own: Florida, one of the nation’s longest standing presidential battlegrounds and among the country’s biggest electoral prizes, with 29 electoral votes.”

See the 2016 electoral map.

Trump Questions His Venezuela Strategy

May 8, 2019 at 8:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump is questioning his administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela following the failure of a U.S.-backed effort to oust President Nicolás Maduro, complaining he was misled about how easy it would be to replace the socialist strongman with a young opposition figure,” the Washington Post reports.

“The president’s dissatisfaction has crystallized around national security adviser John Bolton and what Trump has groused is an interventionist stance at odds with his view that the United States should stay out of foreign quagmires.”

Why China Decided to Play Hardball in Trade Talks

May 8, 2019 at 8:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The new hard line taken by China in trade talks—surprising the White House and threatening to derail negotiations—came after Beijing interpreted recent statements and actions by President Trump as a sign the U.S. was ready to make concessions, said people familiar with the thinking of the Chinese side,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“High-level negotiations are scheduled to resume Thursday in Washington, but the expectations and the stakes have changed significantly. A week ago, the assumption was that negotiators would be closing the deal. Now, they are trying to keep it from collapsing.”

Ghostwriter Says ‘Art of the Deal’ Should Be Fiction

May 8, 2019 at 7:06 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter for Donald Trump’s bestselling book, The Art of the Deal, tweeted that he would be fine if the book was “taken out of print” or “recategorized as fiction” after the New York Times detailed Trump’s $1.2 billion in business losses from 1985 to 1994.

Filmmaker Seeks to Disrupt Democratic Debates

May 8, 2019 at 5:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Conservative filmmaker Ami Horowitz announced that he is running for president as a Democrat in an attempt to disrupt the party’s nominating process.

He’s seeking 65,000 donors, even at $1 apiece, so that he can be onstage at next month’s first Democratic debate.

House Judiciary Votes to Hold Barr In Contempt

May 8, 2019 at 4:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend the House hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over Robert Mueller’s unredacted report, hours after President Trump asserted executive privilege to shield the full report and underlying evidence from public view,” the New York Times reports.

“The committee’s 24-16 contempt vote, taken after hours of debate that featured apocalyptic language about the future of American democracy, marked the first time that the House has taken official action to punish a government official or witness amid a standoff between the legislative and executive branch.”

Washington Post: “The White House’s use of the rare presidential secrecy prerogative stood in stark contrast to Trump and his allies’ frequent boast of’ ‘total exoneration’ for the president from the Mueller report.”

Wall Street Journal: “The fight is now expected to head to federal court and a legal battle with few precedents.”

McConnell Embraces ‘Cocaine Mitch’ Nickname

May 8, 2019 at 4:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is selling T-shirts branding him “Cocaine Mitch” as a fundraiser for his 2020 re-election campaign, Think Progress reports.

During his failed Senate campaign in West Virginia last year, Don Blankenship (R) attempted to tie McConnell — without any evidence — to a drug smuggling operation involving a company cargo ship owned by his wife’s family.

Senate Intelligence Subpoenas Donald Trump Jr.

May 8, 2019 at 4:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed Donald Trump Jr. to answer questions about his previous testimony before Senate investigators in relation to the Russia investigation,” Axios reports.

“It’s the first congressional subpoena — that we know about — of one of President Trump’s children. The subpoena sets up a fight that’s unprecedented in the Trump era: A Republican committee chair pit against the Republican president’s eldest son.”

Key detail: “The fact that they’re subpoenaing Trump Jr. is a strong signal that he declined a request to appear before the committee again.”

The Washington Post reports Trump Jr. is said to be “exasperated” with the summons.

CNN: “One option Trump Jr. is considering in response to the subpoena is to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights, and another is just to not appear at all, according to one source.”

GOP Lawmaker Accuses Vaccine Scientist of ‘Sorcery’

May 8, 2019 at 4:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Texas state Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R) responded to a top vaccine scientist’s tweets about vaccination exemptions by accusing him of ‘sorcery,'” The Hill reports.

Said Strickland: “Parental rights mean more to us than your self enriching ‘science.’”

He continued: “Make the case for your sorcery to consumers on your own dime. Like every other business. Quit using the heavy hand of government to make your business profitable through mandates and immunity. It’s disgusting.”

Florida Will Make It More Difficult for Ex-Felons to Vote

May 8, 2019 at 3:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “said he will sign a bill that would require ex-felons in the state, who were granted the right to vote in a referendum last fall, to pay all financial obligations before they can head to the polls,” CNN reports.

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

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