“Come on in, the water’s warm.”
— Rep. Nancy Pelosi, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, encouraging other members to challenge her for speaker.
Sinema Projected as Winner in Arizona
The Cook Political Report projects that Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) has defeated Rep. Martha McSally (R) in the U.S. Senate race in Arizona.
“This thing has been over for a while.”
Richard Ojeda Says He’s Running for President
Richard Ojeda (D), a West Virginia state senator and retired U.S. Army major who lost his congressional bid last week, told The Intercept that he’s running for president in 2020.
“Ojeda’s case for his candidacy is straightforward: The Democratic Party has gotten away from its roots, and he has a unique ability to win over a white, black, and brown working-class coalition by arguing from a place of authority that Trump is a populist fraud. He’s launching his campaign with an anti-corruption focus that draws a contrast with Trump’s inability to ‘drain the swamp.'”
“His authority — and one of his greatest liabilities — would come, in part, from his own previous support of Trump in the 2016 general election.”
Hogan’s Win In Maryland Did Not Improve GOP Prospects
Washington Post: “Party leaders have largely rationalized Larry Hogan’s (R) resounding victory over former NAACP chief Ben Jealous as an anomaly.”
“Hogan sought to flip enough legislative seats to break the supermajority Democrats have held in both chambers for nearly 50 years. Instead, he faces a Senate with more left-of-center Democrats and a House of Delegates with an even larger supermajority — Democrats picked up at least five seats in that chamber.”
Colorado Republicans Worried About Corey Gardner
Denver Post: “Before the election, Colorado Republicans controlled the state Senate, occupied three of the state’s five statewide offices and held five of the state’s nine seats in Congress. Then nearly 900,000 unaffiliated voters cast their ballots and handed decisive victories to Democrats.”
Colorado GOP strategists say Sen. Corey Gardner’s (R-CO) “re-election prospects are grim unless the party can develop a new message that appeals to both the Trump loyalists and the independent voters who dislike the president.”
Sherrod Brown Thinking About Presidential Bid
After comfortably winning re-election to his U.S. Senate seat last week in a state that President Trump won comfortably two years ago, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that he is weighing a run for president.
Said Brown: “My message clearly appeals to Democrats, Republicans and independents. We showed you can get votes by being authentic and standing up for workers. People in Washington don’t understand the dignity of work.”
Deval Patrick Mulls a White House Run
Jeffrey Toobin profiles former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), another potential 2020 contender:
“Patrick has no illusions about the difficulty he will have distinguishing himself from the crowd… Still, Patrick would enter the race with one significant distinction: he is a kind of political heir to Barack Obama, and enjoys broad support from people close to the former President.”
French Requested Trump Not Meet with Putin
Daily Beast: “Putin told reporters he’d managed to have some interaction with Trump, but it appeared limited to a brief exchange of pleasantries. Putin was spotted grinning and giving Trump a thumbs up upon his arrival at the Arc de Triomphe, and Trump was captured in photographs beaming right back at the Russian leader even as other world leaders met Putin with grave expressions. But the two decided not to hold a meeting so as not to ‘disrupt the schedule’ of events set by the French, Putin said. ‘At their request we’re not holding any meetings here.'”
Gillum to Trump: ‘You Sound Nervous’
Andrew Gillum (D) tweeted “you sound nervous” at President Trump after the president called for an end to the recounts in Florida.
Defeated GOP Lawmaker Blames McCain for Loss of House
Rep. Jason Lewis (R-MN), who was unseated in last week’s election, writes in the Wall Street Journal that former Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is to blame for the GOP’s loss of the House majority since it was McCain’s decisive vote against legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare that led to so many Democratic midterm victories.
Lewis writes that the failed Senate vote allowed Democrats to campaign against Republicans with the claim that the GOP wanted to remove protections for those with pre-existing conditions.
Quote of the Day
“Trump’s European Vacation was as bad as the movie. He wimped out of honoring our fallen troops because of a misting. He moped around in his hotel room and insulted fire victims. And he was scorched by the French President. This is not winning. This is a national embarrassment.”
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), on Twitter.
North Korea Missile Bases Suggest a Great Deception
“North Korea is moving ahead with its ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases that have been identified in new commercial satellite images, a network long known to American intelligence agencies but left undiscussed as President Trump claims to have neutralized the North’s nuclear threat,” the New York Times reports.
“The satellite images suggest that the North has been engaged in a great deception: It has offered to dismantle a major launching site — a step it began, then halted — while continuing to make improvements at more than a dozen others that would bolster launches of conventional and nuclear warheads.”
Said Trump, just last week: “We are in no rush. The sanctions are on. The missiles have stopped. The rockets have stopped. The hostages are home.”
The Danger In Drawing Conclusions Too Early
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Trump Calls for Halting Florida Recount
President Trump “called for halting the just-launched recounts in the Florida races for Senate and governor, alleging without evidence that many ballots were missing and forged and that a valid tally was no longer possible,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!”
Democrats Prepare Their ‘Subpoena Cannon’
“House Democrats plan to probe every aspect of President Trump’s life and work, from family business dealings to the Space Force to his tax returns to possible ‘leverage’ by Russia,” top Democrats tell Mike Allen.
“One senior Democratic source said the new majority, which takes power in January, is preparing a ‘subpoena cannon,’ like an arena T-shirt cannon.”
Axios has assembled a list of at least 85 potential Trump-related investigation and subpoena targets for the new majority.
House Will Probe Trump’s Hush Money Payments
“The House Oversight Committee plans to investigate Donald Trump’s involvement in hush payments made to women during the 2016 presidential campaign,” ABC News reports.
“When the Democrats take control of the House in January and gain subpoena power, they plan to probe the president’s role in payments to two women who alleged during the 2016 campaign that they had affairs with Trump, according to the aide.”
House Democrats Will Move First on Health Care
New York Times: “House Democrats plan to hold early votes on proposals to protect people with pre-existing medical conditions, an issue they continually emphasized in midterm races. The votes will test campaign promises by Republicans who declared their support for such protections.”
“Democrats will push for the House to intervene in a lawsuit in which 20 states, with support from the Trump administration, are challenging provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including the protections for people with pre-existing conditions.”
“If the states’ lawsuit succeeds, legislation to shore up the health care law and coverage for people with pre-existing conditions could become a priority for Congress.”
Democrats Face Shortage of Operatives for 2020
Politico: “With a sprawling field of expected candidates and a limited pool of high-caliber operatives, a sprint is on among 2020 Democratic hopefuls for campaign managers, strategists, finance directors and field directors who can run a presidential campaign.”
