New York Times: “Likability: It is nebulous, arbitrary and meaningless, yet inescapable — and female politicians seem to be particularly burdened with it even when they win and especially when they run for president.”

“The idea that we should like our politicians predates women’s suffrage, let alone women in politics. Pushed by Madison Avenue and preached by self-help gurus, likability is a standard that history shows us was created and sold by men. The bad news is that means it’s a tricky fit for women. The good news is that what was invented once can be reinvented.”

Pew Research: “During the last presidential election, nearly all campaign events were held in just 12 states… Nearly two-thirds of events were held in Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Only Virginia voted for Clinton.”

The consensus map for 2020 currently shows just seven states as Toss Ups.

“The country’s most powerful liberal donor club is reshaping its spending for the 2020 election, playing down longtime relationships with groups in Washington and instead preparing to pour $100 million into key states to help defeat President Trump,” Politico reports.

“The group, the Democracy Alliance, wants to fund everything from programs combating social media disinformation to candidate training sessions leading up to the election and the next round of redistricting.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders pushed back against former Vice President Joe Biden’s claim that he has “the most progressive record” of any candidate in the Democratic presidential field, citing Biden’s votes as a member of the U.S. Senate as evidence that his views were not always in line with the nation’s liberals, ABC News reports.

Said Sanders: “I think if you look at Joe’s record and you look at my record, I don’t think there’s much question about who’s more progressive.”

“California will send legislation to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk requiring presidential candidates to submit five years’ worth of tax returns in order to appear on the ballot, joining 18 other states in a jab at President Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns,” CNN reports.

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not believe President Trump can be removed through impeachment — the only way to do it, she said this week, is to defeat him in 2020 by a margin so big he cannot challenge the legitimacy of a Democratic victory,” the New York Times reports.

Said Pelosi: “We have to inoculate against that, we have to be prepared for that.”