A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds Americans are more likely to say they would reject a candidate older than 70 than a candidate who is gay.
The poll found that 48% of adults in the United States said they were “much” or “somewhat” less likely to support someone for the White House if the person was older than 70, while 34% were less likely to vote for someone who is gay.
“The tree planted by Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, at the White House as a symbol of their countries’ ties has died,” the Guardian reports.
“The oak was given as a gift to the US president during Macron’s visit in 2018.”
“A real estate company part-owned by Jared Kushner has received $90m in foreign funding from an opaque offshore vehicle since he entered the White House as a senior adviser to his father-in-law Donald Trump,” the Guardian reports.
“Investment has flowed from overseas to the company, Cadre, while Kushner works as an international envoy for the US… The money came through a vehicle run by Goldman Sachs in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven that guarantees corporate secrecy.”
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Jonathan Bernstein: “After the 2016 election, I’m not counting anyone out. That said: I think it’s starting to sink in that Senator Bernie Sanders is right at the fringes of plausibility. At best.”
“That’s what I’m seeing from the mainstream media, some liberal bloggers and sophisticated polling analysis. Recent Iowa polls show Sanders at about 15%, essentially in a three-person race for second place with Senator Elizabeth Warren and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. That’s for a candidate who won half the vote there in 2016.”
“And while Sanders is faring somewhat better nationally, that’s mainly because almost all the other candidates remain unknown to voters. As Nate Silver points out, only about 8% of Democrats say they’re definitely supporting Sanders. In other words, it’s entirely plausible that Sanders could fail to reach the delegate threshold in Iowa, Nevada, and South Carolina (and possibly New Hampshire).”
President Trump claimed in an early morning tweet that Mexico is doing more to stop illegal immigration than the Democrats.
Said Trump: “Now with our new deal, Mexico is doing more for the USA on Illegal Immigration than the Democrats. In fact, the Democrats are doing NOTHING, they want Open Borders, which means Illigal Immigration, Drugs and Crime.”
He also claimed that an “important part” of the deal “will be revealed in the not too distant future” and warned that tariffs would be reinstated if it is voted down by Mexico’s legislature.
“The presidential candidate speed dating here in the state that will start balloting for the nomination in less than eight months showcased the challenges of managing the vast Democratic field,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Iowa Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame fundraiser, which on Sunday attracted 19 of the 23 Democrats competing to challenge President Trump, offered a preview of the first candidate debates in Miami over two nights later this month. The challenges were clear: limited time to make pitches and the struggle to stand out in a crowd.”
Said Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH): “It’s been a pleasure speed dating with you tonight.”
Latino political operatives tell Politico that Democratic presidential candidates “are squandering a critical early opportunity to mobilize Latino voters ahead of 2020, potentially easing Donald Trump’s path to reelection.”
“Interviews with more than a dozen strategists and organizers revealed rising alarm at the lack of attention being paid to Latinos in swing states where they could decide the outcome of both the Democratic primary and the general election.”
Politico: “From his schedule to his messaging to his policy positions, the former vice president is carving a divergent path through the primaries based on a theory that few of his rivals appear to believe — that the Democratic base isn’t nearly as liberal or youthful as everyone thinks.”
“It’s a high-risk strategy at a time when the progressive wing is pulsing with energy. There is a danger of looking disconnected from the rising Obama coalition, or seeming to adhere to an outdated view of the party. But so far it’s working.”
Washington Post: “Biden has conducted his campaign so far as if he’s competing largely against the incumbent president, ignoring the team of opponents hoping to supplant him for his party’s nomination. That and Biden’s relatively limited footprint in Iowa have created an opening for an underdog in the first caucus state, local Democrats say.”
Washington Post: ““Six months after launching her candidacy amid blundering apologies for her longtime claims of Native American ancestry and nagging questions about whether she could compete on a national stage, Warren is experiencing something unusual in the crowded Democratic field: momentum.”
“It is not showing up in national polls, which have remained largely steady with Warren in the single digits, far behind former vice president Joe Biden. But energized crowds have been flocking to her events in early-voting states. Her nonstop stream of policy positions, which add up to what would be a restructuring of American capitalism, has helped shape the broader debate.”
“The Transportation Department under Secretary Elaine Chao designated a special liaison to help with grant applications and other priorities from her husband Mitch McConnell’s state of Kentucky, paving the way for grants totaling at least $78 million for favored projects as McConnell prepared to campaign for reelection,” Politico reports.
“The American South spent much of the past century trying to overcome its position as the country’s poorest and least-developed region, with considerable success: By the 2009 recession it had nearly caught up economically with its northern and western neighbors,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“That trend has now reversed. Since 2009, the South’s convergence has turned to divergence, as the region recorded the country’s slowest growth in output and wages, the lowest labor-force participation rate and the highest unemployment rate.”
“Behind the reversal: The policies that drove the region’s catch-up—relatively low taxes and low wages that attracted factories and blue-collar jobs—have proven inadequate in an expanding economy where the forces of globalization favor cities with concentrations of capital and educated workers.”
Wall Street Journal: “The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East said he may recommend a return to a larger U.S. military presence in the area after concluding that the deployment of this aircraft carrier and other capabilities helped curtail Iranian threats.”
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports Qatar’s foreign minister warned Iran and the U.S. are locked in “stalemate” and both parties need to compromise to avoid a “miscalculation” triggering a conflict.
“In the early state where field organization has traditionally mattered the most, Sen. Cory Booker and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have quietly and patiently concentrated their resources toward building grassroots machines designed to power them on caucus night,” Politico reports.
“It showed here on Sunday as 19 Democratic presidential candidates converged for the first time in one venue to make their five-minute pitch to the party faithful.”
The Des Moines Register has each candidate’s best moment.
“President Trump spent much of this weekend tweeting that Mexico will take ‘strong measures’ against northward migration as a result of Friday’s trade deal, and bewailing the ‘Corrupt Media’ for underplaying those measures’ significance, Politico reports.
“But Trump didn’t specify any Mexican concessions on immigration, referring vaguely to unnamed ‘things we had, or didn’t have.’ And the one concession the president did specify (in a Saturday tweet), concerning agricultural trade, did not appear in the joint statement issued Friday.”
“Neither the White House, nor the State Department, nor the Homeland Security Department volunteered any clarification to the president’s tweets Sunday.”
“As the special counsel’s investigators pursued the question of whether President Trump tried to impede their work, they uncovered compelling evidence — a voice mail recording and statements from a trusted witness — that might have led to him,” the New York Times reports.
“A lawyer for Mr. Trump, John Dowd, reached out to a lawyer for a key witness who had just decided to cooperate with the government, Michael Flynn. Mr. Dowd fished in his message for a heads-up if Mr. Flynn was telling investigators negative information about Mr. Trump — while also appearing to say that if Mr. Flynn was just cutting a deal without also flipping on the president, then he should know Mr. Trump still liked him.”
“But the president’s role, if any, remains a mystery.”
“President Trump ripped Democrats ahead of testimony from John Dean, a former White House counsel for President Nixon who proved pivotal during the Watergate scandal,” The Hill reports.
Tweeted Trump: “The Dems were devastated – after all this time and money spent ($40,000,000), the Mueller Report was a disaster for them. But they want a Redo, or Do Over. They are even bringing in @CNN sleazebag attorney John Dean. Sorry, no Do Overs – Go back to work!”
Axios: “At Mar-a-Lago, we’re seeing a whole new form of lobbying. People pay dues to the private club of the president of the United States, then try to influence him in person on government policy — all outside the normal watchdogs and strictures and surveillance of Washington. It’s a stunning situation.”
Trump is “in his happy place at his club or at the golf course. He is completely relaxed. And that’s when he’s most receptive to ideas. It’s this weird world where you’ve got him at the dining table people come up and talk to him and you get an invaluable piece of time with the most powerful person on earth.”
Jonathan Swan: “Trump’s blunt use of presidential leverage to force the Mexican government to harden its immigration enforcement appears to have caused an unintended side effect: U.S. business leaders have begun urgently discussing strategies to claw back the virtually unchecked trade powers that Congress has handed over to presidents during the past 80 years.”
“Even though the business community is now breathing a sigh of relief that Trump won’t be hitting Mexico with new tariffs, the last week of Trump’s threats may have a longer lasting effect.”
Taegan 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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