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Weeks of Talks Led Reluctant Mueller to Testify

June 27, 2019 at 6:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Mr. Mueller was so averse to being pulled into the political arena that he never spoke directly with lawmakers or their aides, according to a senior congressional official involved in the talks and others briefed on them.”

“Talks about his testimony had begun after Mr. Barr released a redacted version of Mr. Mueller’s report in April. They slowed after Mr. Mueller left his post as special counsel and no longer had easy access to a coterie of staff and official government channels for negotiating, people involved in the discussions said.

Democrats Lead With Their Left

June 27, 2019 at 6:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

John Harris: “There are people who argue that the Democratic Party’s steady leftward progression during the Trump years is largely an optical illusion—a distorted impression one gets from assigning too much significance to social media noise or flamboyant figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ten Democrats making their case to be president on a debate stage in Miami Wednesday night suggest a much different conclusion.”

“This is a party eager to go on the ideological offensive not just against Donald Trump (whose name did not dominate the evening even as he was invoked plenty) but against an economic and political power structure that candidates argued is deeply corrupt. Liberals must be empowered to bring bad actors to heel through robust intervention of government.”

Playbook: “This is not a good sign for Joe Biden, who has made running as a moderate Democrat who can work with Republicans a central plank of his candidacy.”

Castro Decks Beto

June 27, 2019 at 6:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Julián Castro has spent months in the shadow of fellow Texan Beto O’Rourke. But in the span of less than three minutes Wednesday, Castro seized on the inhumane treatment of migrants at detention centers to summon his party’s spiraling outrage over immigration, generating an elusive breakout moment at the expense of the once-high-flying O’Rourke.”

“In narrow political terms, Castro broke through punching up at a better-known rival, aggressively backing O’Rourke so far into a corner on his signature issue that he struggled in real-time to explain his position. But Castro’s righteous lashing also defined the tone of the first presidential debate of the 2020 contest, in which he and other low-polling men in need of momentum aimed their frustrations at O’Rourke, rather than the highest-polling candidate on stage, Sen. Elizabeth Warren.”

Appellate Court Raises New Threat to Obamacare

June 27, 2019 at 6:20 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “In a surprise move that legal experts said added an unexpected threat to the 2010 health care law, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asked both sides to file additional legal arguments about who — if anyone — has standing to appeal the December lower court ruling. The request suggests that the judges who will hear the case — the three-judge panel has not been made public — could toss out the appeal on procedural grounds. In that case, the lower court ruling would stand.”

“The implications of such a decision for the future of the Affordable Care Act are difficult to parse without more information, according to legal experts. But most suggested that it wouldn’t bode well for supporters of Obamacare.”

China to Insist Lifting of Huawei Ban In Trade Truce

June 27, 2019 at 6:17 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to present President Trump with a set of terms the U.S. should meet before Beijing is ready to settle a market-rattling trade confrontation, raising questions of whether the two leaders will agree to relaunch talks,” the Wall Street Journal reports..

“Among the preconditions, said Chinese officials with knowledge of the plan, Beijing is insisting that the U.S. remove its ban on the sale of U.S. technology to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Beijing also wants the U.S. to lift all punitive tariffs and drop efforts to get China to buy even more U.S. exports than Beijing said it would when the two leaders last met in December.”

My Reaction to Tonight’s Democratic Debate

June 26, 2019 at 11:23 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

For the most part, the polls are not wrong. The candidates that had the most support in the pre-debate polls — Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker — did very well in tonight’s Democratic debate. But they were also expected to do reasonably well and didn’t really surpass expectations.

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The First Democratic Debate – Night One

June 26, 2019 at 8:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The first of two Democratic presidential debates starts at 9 p.m. ET tonight. It will be broadcast on NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo and live-streamed via NBCNews.com.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren will be the only candidate polling in double digits on the first night of the debate. Her greatest competition for air time will be Sen. Cory Booker, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Beto O’Rourke, none of whom have gained much traction since entering the race.

Other candidates tonight include Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Gov. Jay Inslee, Julian Castro, Rep. Tim Ryan and John Delaney.

Leave your reactions in the comments.

DNC Chairman Says Debates Won’t Get Nasty

June 26, 2019 at 7:05 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

DNC Chairman Tom Perez said he’s not worried that the debate between the 2020 contenders will get nasty, The Hill reports.

Said Perez: “We’re going to talk about the issues. There will be nobody talking about hand size. There will be nobody talking about silly nicknames for their opponents, we’ll leave that to the Republicans.”

Sanders Won’t Commit to Supporting Nominee

June 26, 2019 at 6:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

When asked if he would commit to supporting the Democratic nominee if it’s clear it won’t be him, Sen. Bernie Sanders would not make any such commitment to NBC News.

Instead, he talked about his 2016 race: “Some people say that maybe if the system was not rigged against me, I would have won the nomination.”

Jonathan Chait: “While Sanders is coyly hiding behind the ‘some people say’ formulation, he is threatening to repeat the tactics he used in 2016, when he called the process ‘rigged’ and withheld his support long after the outcome was decided.”

The Knowns and Unknowns of the Debates

June 26, 2019 at 6:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Steve Israel: “First, the ‘unknowns’ must become known. For candidates polling in the neighborhood of 1 percent, such as Kirsten Gillibrand, Andrew Yang, Eric Swalwell, Tim Ryan, or Bill De Blasio, the debate stage will be a launchpad. They need to make the case to donors, activists, and primary voters that they are viable investments. If they leave the debate the way they came in, as mostly unknown, then they will have lost the debate and likely the race.”

“Second, the ‘knowns’ must remain unscathed. For candidates at the head of the pack, they run with targets on their backs. Joe Biden has the largest target and could find himself playing defense… But Elizabeth Warren has enjoyed a recent surge as a progressive, and there should be no surprise if you see some attempts to blunt her momentum.”

“Third, the ‘known unknowns’ must sink or swim. Candidates like Cory Booker and Beto O’Rourke who have polled somewhere between the top and bottom tiers of the pack will use their moment in the spotlight to offer the public some more compelling rationales for why they should be the Democratic Party nominee. These middle tier candidates will either gas up or sputter out under the pressure of standing out on the debate stage.”

Mueller Testimony Could Make or Break Impeachment

June 26, 2019 at 4:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Democrats advocating for impeachment say special counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony next month could be a game-changer to push both public opinion and reticent Democrats toward opening an impeachment inquiry into President Trump,” CNN reports.

“But Mueller’s appearance amounts to a make-or-break moment for the House impeachment caucus. If the special counsel’s testimony falls flat or doesn’t change minds, it could deflate the momentum for impeachment that’s swelled to nearly 80 House Democrats backing an inquiry just before a lengthy, month-long congressional recess.”

Trump Suggests Suing Google and Facebook

June 26, 2019 at 3:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump told Fox Business the federal government should sue tech giants like Google and Facebook and lambasted the platforms, including Twitter, for allegedly trying to rig the 2020 elections in favor of Democrats.

Said Trump: “They make it much harder for me to get out the message. These people are all Democrats, it’s totally biased toward Democrats. If I announced tomorrow that I’m going to become a nice liberal Democrat, I would pick up five times more followers.”

Beto O’Rourke Is the Polar Opposite of Trump

June 26, 2019 at 3:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Matthew Yglesias: “But while Beto’s campaign seemed almost painfully meta — he’s the guy who party professionals thought seemed like the kind of guy who voters would like — he’s running on a substantive agenda that in some ways comes the closest to representing the polar opposite of Trumpism.”

“He’s a NAFTA supporter and a longtime resident of a majority-Latinx border city who’s enthusiastic about immigration. His immigration platform commits him to going further than Trump or Obama in aggressively deploying executive power — protecting not only Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients but also their parents from deportation. He also calls for legislation that would dramatically expand a number of categories of immigration, from refugees to family unification to high-skilled workers.”

“But it’s really O’Rourke’s fulsome embrace of a politics of cosmopolitanism that makes him stand out from the rest of the field. While Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren try to out-protectionist Trump and Joe Biden casts himself as an electability champion ready to win back the Rust Belt, Beto is the candidate of a hypothetical future Democratic Party that wins elections in Texas, Georgia, and Arizona powered by voters in the fast-growing suburbs of Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

June 26, 2019 at 3:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I will have a very good conversation with him. What I say to him is none of your business.”

— President Trump, quoted by Politico, on what he and Russian President Vladimir Putin say to each other behind closed doors.

What Happened to America’s Political Center?

June 26, 2019 at 2:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sahil Chinoy: “The Republican Party leans much farther right than most traditional conservative parties in Western Europe and Canada, according to an analysis of their election manifestos. It is more extreme than Britain’s Independence Party and France’s National Rally (formerly the National Front), which some consider far-right populist parties.”

“The Democrats fall closer to mainstream left and center-left parties in other countries, like the Social Democratic Party in Germany and Britain’s Labour Party, according to their manifestos’ scores.”

“And the United States’ political center of gravity is to the right of other countries’, partly because of the lack of a serious left-wing party.”

A Day Off?

June 26, 2019 at 2:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This email from a Political Wire reader sums up politics today:

I swear, I remember a time when you could take a day off.

And this made my day:

I have been a multiple-times-per-day visitor to the site for as long as I can remember. I’m embarrassed it took me this long to become a member and to support your work. You and your great site are deeply appreciated.

This one too:

The mere thought that I would “cancel my subscription” is laughable. Political Wire is easily the best $50 I spend all year.

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Graham Moves to Lock Out Primary Challengers

June 26, 2019 at 1:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “does not yet have a viable primary challenger — and the South Carolina Republican intends to keep it that way,” McClatchy reports.

“On Wednesday, the incumbent U.S. senator’s campaign announced that every Republican in the state’s congressional delegation is endorsing Graham for re-election in 2020… This announcement follows Graham’s rollout last week of endorsements from every Republican statewide elected constitutional officer.”

“The endorsements signal that Graham’s support his strong inside his party, giving him a comfort with his base he has not typically enjoyed in previous election cycles.”

Trump Will Meet with Putin at G-20 Summit

June 26, 2019 at 1:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Trump plan to meet for at least an hour on the sidelines of this week’s Group of 20 summit in Japan, a Kremlin official said Wednesday, confirming plans for the first meeting between the leaders in almost a year,” the Washington Post reports.