Washington Post: “The RFP is used to solicit bids for the print job itself and includes the actual numbers of documents that will need to be prepared for distribution.”
“In total, it’s 1.53 billion distinct pieces of material. And that’s the finished product. Including the various pages of the questionnaires that need to be produced, we’re talking about more than 2 billion sheets of paper which need to be printed between now and the start of the Census.”
“Bernie Sanders may be falling behind some of his rivals in the crowded Democratic presidential field, dipping in early polls and seeing his campaign outraised by at least two rivals. But this week, he opened a new campaign office here and is already investing in states holding primaries eight months away,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The message from the Vermont senator: I’m not going anywhere.”
Joe Biden told Iowa Starting Line that he might renominate 66-year old Merrick Garland, the federal judge who never made it to a Senate hearing when President Obama nominated him to the Supreme Court.
Said Biden: “Sure, I would. By the way, he’s a first-rate person.”
He also said he doesn’t favor expanding the Supreme Court: “I’m not prepared to go on and try to pack the court, because we’ll live to rue that day.”
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“President Trump just explained why he thinks we need a citizenship question on the census. But in doing so, he seems to have said the quiet part out loud — and conceivably could have undercut the Justice Department’s legal case,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “No. 1, you need it for Congress — you need it for Congress for districting. You need it for appropriations — where are the funds going? How many people are there? Are they citizens? Are they not citizens? You need it for many reasons.”
“Take note of that first one. Not only was a redistricting rationale not mentioned by the administration in its failed legal defense of the question; it was actually something that the other side argued was the administration’s true motivation. The plaintiffs in the case — and many who oppose the citizenship question — have argued that this is a thinly veiled attempt by Republicans to gain a potential game-changing tool in redistricting.”
A New York Times analysis of donor and polling data shows that as of Wednesday, seven candidates seeking the Democratic nomination are actively fighting for six slots in the coming debate, which again will be split over two nights, July 30 and 31.
So far, 14 candidates have qualified both by getting campaign donations from 65,000 people and by garnering at least 1 percent support in at least three qualifying polls. These candidates are guaranteed one of 20 spots on the stage.
The seven remaining candidates: John Delaney, John Hickenlooper, Tim Ryan, Michael Bennet, Steve Bullock, Bill de Blasio, Eric Swalwell.
Sen. Kamala Harris raised nearly $12 million in the past three months, the New York Times reports.
“Ms. Harris’s total for the second quarter of the year, which ended on Sunday, was padded by a strong finish. She collected more than $2 million in online donations in the first 24 hours after the start of last Thursday’s Democratic debate, as well as an additional $1.2 million online last weekend, her team said.”
“Ms. Harris’s second-quarter number is far below what some other first-tier candidates reported this week.”
It’s probably not a mistake she announced it on the Friday of a holiday weekend.
President Trump — who used to mock predecessor Barack Obama for using the devices during speeches — said on Friday that technical problems with the teleprompter during his “Salute to America” led to his head-scratching remarks about the Continental Army securing not-yet existent “airports” during the Revolutionary War, NBC News reports.
McSweeney’s: The battle for John F. Kennedy International Airport, 1776.
“I don’t think I’m a bully.”
— President Trump, quoted by CBS News, responding to criticism by Joe Biden.
“I’m still way ahead.”
— Joe Biden, quoted by the New York Times, insisting he was satisfied with his performance in the first Democratic presidential debate.
Politico: “He got battered in his first presidential debate. His poll numbers have sunk to low single digits. Glowing press coverage has given way to questions about how long he can hang on. Beto O’Rourke’s candidacy today is almost an inversion of what it was at the start of his campaign less than four months ago.”
New on Chris Riback’s Conversations: Angela Stent talks about how Vladimir Putin came to power, refused to consider Russian weakness and instead redefined Russian power and pride.
New York Times: “While much of the country’s attention is focused on presidential politics, the gerrymandering ruling last week instantly raised the stakes for the nation’s state legislative races, which are often overlooked by voters, but can shape the course of policy from abortion rights to education.”
“Yet this cycle of legislative elections carries added significance: In most states, the political party that wins control of the legislature gains the power to draw once-a-decade maps setting district boundaries for state and congressional elections after a new census count. Acutely aware of that prize, which offers a chance to tilt political power further in one party’s favor, Republicans and Democrats are starting campaigns early, knocking on doors and rallying donors with the pitch that a tiny statehouse election in suburban Dallas or coastal Virginia could have national reverberations.”
Vox: Inside the battle to flip America’s state legislatures blue in 2020.
The U.S. added 224,000 jobs last month, topping expectations of 165,000 and rebounding sharply after a May slowdown, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Meanwhile, the unemployment rate inched up to 3.7% in June, climbing slightly from its lowest level in five decades and coming in slightly higher than the 3.6% projection.
The Cut: “On Monday, Vogue published a story about the significant number of Democratic women who have tossed their name in the hat to become the next U.S. president. Titled ‘Madam President? Five Candidates on What It Will Take to Shatter the Most Stubborn Glass Ceiling,’ the story was overall commendatory and largely met with praise.”
“There was, however, at least person who seemed deeply unsatisfied with the report: spiritual adviser to Oprah, former roommate of Laura Dern, and the sixth female presidential candidate, Marianne Williamson.”
The Daily Beast notes that President Trump has tweeted out 28 polls during his time in office. The average approval rating of those show him at about 49% approval.
A Los Angeles Times editorial calls for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) to resign from Congress “so he can spend more time with his lawyers. He’s really going to need it.”
“If it seems disloyal to snitch on your spouse in court, consider how she might feel about the allegations that Hunter tapped his campaign funds to help finance a string of extramarital affairs involving five women — two congressional staffers and three lobbyists.”
President Trump is considering an executive order to try to move forward with a citizenship question on the 2020 census, Axios reports.
But there is considerable skepticism within the administration that an executive order would succeed.
CNN: “In one of the least polarizing speeches of his presidency, Trump paid tribute to America’s armed forces at a July Fourth appearance before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington that unfolded amid stormy skies and criticism that he was politicizing the nation’s Independence Day celebrations.”
“As warplanes roared overhead and the jumbo jet used as Air Force One performed a rare flyover over the National Mall, Trump spoke as critics accused him of exploiting the nation’s birthday party for his own political ends in an event he had dubbed ‘A Salute to America.’ Trump’s speech lacked the partisan rhetoric of his rallies. But the event nevertheless bolstered the President’s narrative that he is a strong commander in chief and a decisive leader.”
Associated Press: “He largely stuck to his script, avoiding diversions into his agenda or re-election campaign.”
Daily Beast: Trump’s not-crazy speech just highlighted the norms he’s crushed.
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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