A new Emerson poll finds Bernie Sanders leads the Democratic presidential race nationally with 29%, followed by Joe Biden at 24%, Pete Buttigieg at 9%, Kamala Harris at 8%, Beto O’Rourke at 8% and Elizabeth Warren at 7%.
Also interesting: “If Joe Biden decides not to run, Bernie Sanders looks to be the early beneficiary, picking up 31% of Bidens’ voters. Mayor Pete Buttigieg gets 17% of the Biden vote, followed by Beto O’Rourke at 13%.”
“Having lots of money at the beginning of a presidential race — or even at the end — matters much less than it did in the past,” Axios reports.
“In many ways, the money primary is not important because money is important, but rather because it helps determine which candidates are taken seriously by the media.”
“A bare minimum of money is necessary to staff a campaign, keep it on the road, and keep its vital functions on track — although Trump might have effectively disproved even that. Beyond that bare minimum, money tends to go in two directions: consultants and TV ads.”
NBC News: “Some of the more than one dozen current and former White House officials who cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller are worried that the version of his report expected to be made public on Thursday will expose them as the source of damaging information about President Donald Trump, according to multiple witnesses in the investigation.
“Some of the officials and their lawyers have sought clarity from the Justice Department on whether the names of those who cooperated with Mueller’s team will be redacted or if the public report will be written in a way that makes it obvious who shared certain details of Trump’s actions that were part of the obstruction of justice probe, people familiar with the discussions said. But, they said, the Justice Department has refused to elaborate.”
“Of particular concern is how Trump — and his allies — will react if it appears clear precisely what specific officials shared with Mueller.”
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Politico: “Bernie Sanders entered the Fox’s den on Monday night — and he not only survived the hour-long encounter, but often dominated.”
“Appearing at a Fox News-hosted town hall smack dab in the middle of Trump Country, the Democratic presidential front-runner played the part, swatting down tough questions from the hosts about health care, defense spending, and his newfound wealth. At one point, the Vermont senator even led the network’s audience in a call-and-response that found them cheering loudly for his policies.”
New York Times: “From canapé-filled fund-raisers on the coasts to the cloakrooms of Washington, mainstream Democrats are increasingly worried that their effort to defeat President Trump in 2020 could be complicated by Mr. Sanders, in a political scenario all too reminiscent of how Mr. Trump himself seized the Republican nomination in 2016.”
“How, some Democrats are beginning to ask, do they thwart a 70-something candidate from outside the party structure who is immune to intimidation or incentive and wields support from an unwavering base, without simply reinforcing his ‘the establishment is out to get me’ message — the same grievance Mr. Trump used to great effect?”
“But stopping Mr. Sanders, or at least preventing a contentious convention, could prove difficult for Democrats.”
Politico: “The Saturday film shoot was a hushed affair — paid local actors signed non-disclosure agreements promising not to discuss the job. But some posted images on social media of the Fort Lauderdale commercial anyway, prompting a flurry of emails warning of legal exposure and requesting that those involved delete any images of the shoot and not talk to the media about it.”
Wall Street Journal: “Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke and his wife, Amy, appear to have underpaid their 2013 and 2014 taxes by more than $4,000 combined because of an error in the way they reported their medical expenses.”
“They took deductions for those costs without regard to the limit that only allowed that break for medical and dental expenses above 10% of income for people their age. Had they not taken the nearly $16,000 in medical deductions, their taxable income would have been higher. In those years it would likely have been subject to the rates they were paying under the alternative minimum tax.”
Washington Post: “President Trump escalated his attacks on a Muslim member of Congress and ‘Radical Left Democrats’ on Monday ahead of a reelection campaign that is quickly taking shape around divisive messages centered on immigration and patriotism.”
Beto O’Rourke “released 10 years’ worth of tax returns Monday night, becoming the latest 2020 presidential contender to reveal information about his personal finances,” the Washington Post reports.
“Deutsche Bank received a subpoena Monday afternoon from the House Intelligence and Financial Services committees,” CNN reports.
“The full scope of the subpoena could not be determined. The subpoena is seeking information about loans Deutsche Bank gave to President Trump and the Trump Organization.”
“Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has made income inequality a hallmark of his presidential campaign, earned with his wife about $566,000 last year and $1.15 million in 2017, putting them in the nation’s highest income brackets, according to tax returns released by the presidential candidate on Monday,” the Washington Post reports.
“Much of Sanders’s income came from books he has written about his democratic socialist platform, which includes a call for higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans.”
President Trump’s pick to serve on the Federal Reserve Stephen Moore once criticized Trump’s positions on immigration, describing them as “extreme nativist” and calling them “crazy” and “dangerous,” CNN reports.
Moore made the comments in an August 2015 radio interview with Larry Kudlow, who now serves as the President’s top economic adviser.
In that interview, Kudlow compared Trump’s immigration plans to the worst parts of World War II — in an apparent reference to the Holocaust — and said Trump’s only real supporters came from “the nativist fringe.”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she intends to lock down the 2020 House election a year in advance, “stressing the importance of recruiting candidates who can unseat GOP incumbents in swing districts,” The Hill reports.
Said Pelosi: “I intend to have this election won by this November, because by a year in advance, that’s when people decide they’re going to run for office. We want the message to be clear, we will retain the majority, we will grow the majority and will do so because our candidates are doing their constituent work. We are, again, owning the ground, drilling down with our message, having the resources to win.”
She added: “So if you are Republican who might be thinking about running for Congress, you have to look at the strength of the person you want to unseat. And if you’re a member of Congress, and you’re a Republican, and you’re deciding that you might be ready for retirement, you may have to remember that it’s going to cost you a lot of money to win or to lose. But if you win, you will be serving in the minority.”
“The Interior Department’s internal watchdog has opened an investigation into ethics complaints against the agency’s newly installed secretary, David Bernhardt,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for the oil and agribusiness industries, was confirmed by the Senate last week to head the agency.”
Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld said he planned to challenge President Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination, Reuters reports.
Said Weld: “In these times of great political strife, when both major parties are entrenched in their ‘win at all cost’ battles, the voices of the American people are being ignored and our nation is suffering. It is time for patriotic men and women across our great nation to stand and plant a flag.”
“As the Notre Dame Cathedral went up in flames on Monday, YouTube flagged livestreams of the incident as fake news and then started showing people articles about the 9/11 attacks,” BuzzFeed News reports.
“The feature is part of a larger rollout of tools and disclaimers to prevent users from consuming misinformation on the platform.”
As the Notre Dame Cathedral tragically burned today in Paris, President Trump weighed in with own advice just as the church’s roof and spire collapsed:
Said Trump: “Perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out. Must act quickly!”
French authorities tweeted, in English: “All means are being used, except for water-bombing aircrafts which, if used, could lead to the collapse of the entire structure of the cathedral.”
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA) sent a joint request to the Department of Justice requesting that special counsel Robert Mueller brief their committee and provide “all materials, regardless of form and classification, obtained or produced” during his 2-year investigation, the Daily Beast reports.
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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