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Trump Is Really Unpopular In Key Battlegrounds

June 5, 2019 at 12:57 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New Morning Consult polling shows President Trump’s approval rates are not very good in some states he needs to win in 2020:

New Hampshire: 39% to 58%
Wisconsin: 42% to 55%
Michigan: 42% to 54%
Iowa: 42% to 54%
Arizona: 45% to 51%
Pennsylvania 45% to 52%
Ohio: 46% to 50%
North Carolina: 46% to 50%
Florida: 48% to 48%
Indiana: 49% to 46%

Dylan Scott: “It’s a grim picture. Wisconsin and Michigan were critical Midwestern pieces of Trump’s Electoral College puzzle and he is now deeply unpopular in both states. Pennsylvania was maybe his most surprising win in 2016, and now he is seven points underwater. Perhaps Trump can take solace in his even job approval rating in Florida, but that is the only swing state where the president looks as strong as he did on Election Day 2016. Everywhere else, his support has deteriorated.”

“Maybe the most striking finding is in Iowa, where Trump beat Hillary Clinton by nearly 10 points.”

Trump’s Approval Trends Back Down

June 5, 2019 at 12:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Gallup: “After rising to 46% in April, President Trump’s job approval rating skidded in May, first dipping to 42% and now to 40%. His latest rating is similar to the 39% he received in March and matches his average since taking office.”

Lincoln Chafee Switches Parties Again

June 5, 2019 at 12:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Lincoln Chafee, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat who served as Rhode Island’s governor and as a US senator, is now a member of the Libertarian Party,” the Boston Globe reports.

Said Chafee: “I bought property in Wyoming and registered to vote out there in my fourth party — I’m a Libertarian. It’s what I’ve always been — fiscally conservative and socially liberal.”

Quote of the Day

June 5, 2019 at 12:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Make no mistake, we know exactly what path we’re on. We know exactly what actions we need to take.”

— Speaker Nancy Pelosi, quoted by the Washington Post, on those who criticize her reluctance to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

Biden Has the Most to Lose in the Debates

June 5, 2019 at 11:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Atlantic: “Biden has told friends that part of the reason for sticking to an ultra-light schedule is to create more time for debate prep, which for him tends to be less about conducting mock sessions and role-playing than digging into briefing books. This will likely hold: Biden’s aides are not convinced that any kind of interaction he’d have at a town hall or other event is comparable to what’s awaiting him onstage. His campaign staffers expect the debates to either crystallize his top spot, or turn the primary into less of a marathon with Biden out ahead and more like two dozen Slinkies tumbling down a flight of stairs.”

Said one adviser: “This is not a debate. It’s not going to be structured as a debate. It is 10 candidates in a joint appearance with press moderators.”

Another Way Democrats Could Take Control of the Senate

June 5, 2019 at 11:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Geoffrey Skelley: “It’s been 60 years since a new state entered the union, but now Democrats and liberals are accelerating efforts to gain statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. One of their motivations is the future of the U.S. Senate, which is currently biased toward the Republican Party. The logic goes that if Democrats can get unified control of the federal government after the 2020 election, they could push through statehood for both, adding four more seats to the Senate, and all four would likely be Democratic leaning.”

“That might seem far-fetched, but the U.S. has a rich history of partisan state-making.”

Trump Administration Cancels Services for Child Migrants

June 5, 2019 at 11:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump administration is canceling English classes, recreational programs, and legal aid for unaccompanied minors staying in federal migrant shelters nationwide, saying the immigration influx at the southern border has created critical budget pressures,” the Washington Post reports.

The GOP’s New Dirty Tricksters

June 5, 2019 at 11:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Washington Post profiles GOP operatives Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, who see their mission as smearing critics of the president.

“As it turns out, the truth or falsity of a Burkman-Wohl-concocted story is merely an inconvenience. Let the media’s ‘puritanical’ fact-checkers puzzle it out: That’s the view of this twosome who fancy themselves as sub rosa players in the 2020 presidential contest and busy themselves trafficking in Internet rumors they hope will damage Democratic candidates. Like notorious dirty tricksters before them, they operate in a realm where it matters little whether their claims are proved — they hardly ever are — but only whether they somehow slip into a corpuscle or two of the national bloodstream.”

“But today it’s a more dangerous game: They operate in an era when notions about truth and fiction have been upended and in which many Americans get their information from self-affirming, partisan silos, making their brand of political cyberwarfare hyper-relevant.”

Trump In Denial About Poor Standing on World Stage

June 5, 2019 at 10:53 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Instead of recognizing the public’s expressions of anger, which included a 20-foot-tall, diaper-clad ‘Trump baby’ blimp flying above Parliament Square, the 45th president has adopted a different tactic — denial.”

Said Trump: “I heard there were protests. I said, ‘Where are the protests?’ I don’t see any protests. I did see a small protest today when I came — very small. So a lot of it is fake news, I hate to say.”

“Trump’s efforts to minimize opposition to his presidency on the first stop of a week-long tour of three European nations represented his latest attempt to misrepresent his public standing and rewrite perceptions about the popularity of his agenda.”

Low Income Families Suffer Brunt of Trump Tariffs

June 5, 2019 at 10:52 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “There are two major reasons why the poor face an outsized burden… First, poorer Americans tend to spend all of their income, while wealthier Americans have enough income left over to save and invest. That leaves the poor more exposed to higher prices from import taxes.”

“Second, the wealthy are more likely to splurge on services such as farm-to-table restaurant meals or gym memberships that are not subject to tariffs at all. But poorer Americans spend a higher percentage of their income on basics such as clothing and groceries that are more likely to be imported and subject to tariffs.”

Americans Say Fake News Bigger Problem Than Terrorism

June 5, 2019 at 10:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Pew Research poll finds Americans view made-up news and information as a bigger problem than other critical issues, including terrorism, immigration, climate change and racism.

An overwhelming majority of Americans (68%) believe made-up news and information has a big impact on their trust in government and more than half (54%) of Americans say it impacts their confidence in other Americans.

Trump Says He ‘Would Not Have Minded’ Being Drafted

June 5, 2019 at 9:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump has said he “would not have minded” at all serving in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, CBS News reports. Mr. Trump avoided the U.S. military draft in place during the war by getting a medical deferment for bone spurs.

Said Trump: “I would not have minded that at all. I would’ve been honored, but I think I make up for it right now. I think I’m making up for it rapidly because we’re rebuilding our military at a level that it’s never seen before.”

Democrats to Examine Trump’s Mental Health

June 5, 2019 at 9:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Democrats are planning to host a Capitol Hill event featuring psychiatrists who will warn that President Trump is unfit for office based on his mental health,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“The event will be led by Dr. Bandy Lee, a Yale School of Medicine psychiatrist and editor of The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, a book that argues psychiatrists have a responsibility to warn the public when a president is dangerous.”

More Democrats Prioritize Women’s Issues

June 5, 2019 at 9:20 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Morning Consult poll found that 14% of Democratic voters listed women’s issues as their top priority, compared to just 6% that did so around the start of May.

“Although most voters still rank the economy and health care as their top priorities, that uptick marks a major increase in focus on women’s issues, a policy area that encompasses reproductive rights, pay equity, workplace discrimination, and maternal mortality.”

“This spike comes in the wake of numerous states passing abortion laws that sharply restrict women’s reproductive rights, drawing renewed attention to the need to defend abortion protections.”

Trump Blames ‘Corrupt Media’ for His Poor Poll Numbers

June 5, 2019 at 9:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump is already planting the seeds to blame the media if he loses in 2020.

His latest tweet: “If the totally Corrupt Media was less corrupt, I would be up by 15 points in the polls based on our tremendous success with the economy, maybe Best Ever! If the Corrupt Media was actually fair, I would be up by 25 points. Nevertheless, despite the Fake News, we’re doing great!”

O’Rourke Unveils Voting Rights Plan

June 5, 2019 at 8:26 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke issued an ambitious plan to revamp the U.S. voting system by cracking down on voter suppression and getting an additional 35 million people to the ballot box by the 2024 elections,” Reuters reports.

“A key part of O’Rourke’s plan would be to set term limits for politicians, to give young people incentive to vote for new and fresher candidates. He proposes limiting membership of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate to 12 years, and requiring Supreme Court justices – currently appointed for life – to step down after 18 years.”

Trump Faces a Rocky Road to 270

June 5, 2019 at 7:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Josh Krashaar: “President Trump is stuck on 259 electoral votes, and his campaign is trying to scheme any way possible to get him back to a majority.”

“That’s the takeaway from a new Politico story outlining the Trump campaign’s intent to target three Democratic-leaning states—New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Nevada—as part of its battleground state strategy.”

“On paper, it looks like the campaign is going on offense in states that should be solidly in the Democratic corner. In reality, it’s a concession that the traditionally Democratic Rust Belt states that fell to Trump in 2016—Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan—are turning away from the polarizing president, and he may need to look elsewhere to make up that ground. If he fails to breach that ‘blue wall’ again but holds the other swing states, Trump will still need 11 additional electoral votes to prevail.”

Of Trump’s new targets, the consensus electoral map currently only shows New Hampshire as a Toss Up.

Russia’s Manipulation of Twitter Far Bigger Than Believed

June 5, 2019 at 7:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new study finds Russia’s infamous troll farm “conducted a campaign on Twitter before the 2016 elections that was larger, more coordinated and more effective than previously known,” Politico reports.

“The Internet Research Agency campaign may not only have had more sway — reaching large numbers of real users — than previously thought, it also demonstrated ample patience and might have generated income for some of the phony accounts.”

NBC News: “The IRA’s basic strategy was to use a small core of Twitter accounts to push out new content. And they harnessed a wider pool of automated accounts to amplify those messages. The operation was carefully planned, with accounts often registered months before they were used — well in advance of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”