Less than 10 hours after announcing that he was “calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass,” Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he had actually been calling only for isolated recanvassing of areas where irregularities had been reported in the caucus results, the New York Times reports.
Biden Goes Missing In New Hampshire
Washington Post: “Biden spent Thursday gathered with his top advisers at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, seeking a reset and perhaps a last-ditch effort to save his candidacy, beginning with a debate Friday night. He held no public events.”
“Following dismal results in the Iowa caucuses that have rattled many in his orbit, his campaign is now simultaneously trying to lower expectations here — with some suggesting they would consider a finish as low as third place a victory — while also bracing for a second straight difficult Election Day.”
Iowa Ends In Virtual Tie Between Buttigieg and Sanders
“With 100% of precincts reported, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are in a near tie in state delegates in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses,” the Des Moines Register reports.
“The complete results show Buttigieg with 26.198% of delegate equivalents and Bernie Sanders with 26.128%.”
“The head of the national Democratic Party has already demanded the results be recanvassed. That demand, plus potential errors in the count, mean that the results may not be final and will likely be disputed.”
A Decision Looms for Those Who Don’t Want Bernie
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Bloomberg Plagiarized Parts of Policy Plans
The Intercept has found evidence that Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign plagiarized portions of its policy fact sheets for maternal health, LGBTQ equality, the economy, tax policy, infrastructure, and mental health from a variety of non-profit and media outlets.
Mikie Sherrill Backs Bloomberg for President
Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) endorsed Michael Bloomberg for the Democratic nomination for president, “giving the former New York City mayor the backing of a rising star in New Jersey politics,” the New Jersey Globe reports.
AP Unable to Declare Winner In Iowa
The Associated Press said that it is unable to declare a winner of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses.
From a statement: “The Associated Press calls a race when there is a clear indication of a winner. Because of a tight margin between former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Bernie Sanders and the irregularities in this year’s caucus process, it is not possible to determine a winner at this point.”
Vulnerable House Democrats Crushing GOP In Fundraising
“House Democrats are clobbering their Republican challengers in the fundraising race, dramatically reducing the GOP’s chances of winning back the majority,” Politico reports.
“The roughly four dozen most endangered House Democratic incumbents raised a collective $28.5 million in the last three months of 2019, a staggering total that is nearly twice the sum of all of their Republican challengers combined.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“When I go to meet God at the pearly gates I don’t think he’s going to ask me, ‘Why didn’t you convict Trump?’ I may be wrong, but I don’t think that’s gonna be at the top of the list.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), in an interview with Fox News.
Wake Up Democrats
Beto O’Rourke: “Perhaps the most alarming thing that came out of Iowa this week was not the incompetence of the party and the failed technology that leaves us still in the dark as to the final results of the caucus… what should most concern us is that turnout might have barely kept pace with 2016 levels, and fell well below the historic turnout of 2008. We’re in the middle of a national emergency, and people are staying home.”
“Discussing this with a friend, he reminded me of how despair spread across Germany in the 1930s — of all the people who were not Nazis, but neither were they simply passive observers of the Nazis of all that transpired… the countless thousands who were completely devastated by what they saw happening to their country, felt utterly powerless to stop it, and, over time, quietly retreated from the world into darkness and despair. And today? How many millions are so heartbroken by what has come to pass in America that they have already retreated from the world?”
Trump Hints at Compromise In Georgia Senate Race
President Trump suggested that he’s working on a compromise between Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), two Georgia Republicans who are clashing over the same seat in a November election, the Atlantic Journal Constitution reports.
Said Trump: “I know, Kelly, that you’re going to end up liking him a lot.. Something’s going to happen that’s going to be very good. I don’t know; I haven’t figured it out yet.”
What If It Comes Down to Bloomberg vs. Sanders?
Jonathan Chait: “To be sure, if Bloomberg is the last Democrat standing against Sanders, he may well attract substantial support from Democratic elected officials and put up a strong fight. Still, he would face enormous opposition from the left. This is, after all, a billionaire who endorsed George W. Bush in 2004. And while the left has previously whipped itself into an angry frenzy against, successively, O’Rourke, Biden, Harris, and Buttigieg, the rage against Bloomberg would reach a new level.”
“At that point, the victory scenario would involve a long, bloody struggle all the way to the convention, with the Sanders movement claiming at every step of the way that the party is rigging the race against them, culminating in a convention where his enraged supporters will again try to shout down the proceedings. This is probably the best-case scenario for liberals at this point. It seems more probable that Sanders crushes the field and brings his historically unique suite of liabilities to the ticket.”
Joe Biden Must Make a Decision
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Franklin Graham Dropped by Every U.K. Venue
“A planned UK tour by US evangelist Franklin Graham is in question after every venue booked by the preacher canceled planned appearances, following an outcry over his homophobic and Islamophobic comments,” CNN reports.
Private Emails Cloud Investigation Into Josh Hawley
“The Missouri Attorney General’s office under Josh Hawley (R) may have misused state resources to boost his successful campaign for the U.S. Senate,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Whether Hawley or his staff broke the the law is unclear, the report concludes, because they regularly conducted state business off government servers through use of private email and text messaging.”
The Inside Account of Impeaching Trump
Out soon: Endgame: Inside the Impeachment of Donald J. Trump by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
“Swalwell offers his personal account of his path to office and how he and his colleagues resisted, investigated, and impeached a corrupt president.”
Trump ‘Apoplectic’ In Call with Boris Johnson
“Donald Trump vented ‘apoplectic’ fury at Boris Johnson in a tense phone call over Britain’s decision to allow Huawei a role in its 5G mobile phone networks,” the Financial Times reports.
“A second official confirmed that the Trump-Johnson call was ‘very difficult.’ British officials with knowledge of the exchange said they were taken aback by the force of the president’s language towards Mr. Johnson.”
Yang Fires Dozens of Staffers
Andrew Yang’s campaign fired dozens of staffers this week after an abysmal finish in the Iowa caucuses, Politico reports.
