Political Wire

Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!

Inside Trump’s Plan to Win Florida Again

May 8, 2019 at 9:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

ABC News: “In 2016, with 100 days until Election Day, the Trump campaign’s ground game in Florida was virtually nonexistent: Zero offices were up and running in the key swing state and little to no strategy was in place to maximize voter turnout. Nevertheless, thanks in part to major last-minute shifts in approach, the president flipped the state red, for the first time since George W. Bush won it in 2004, with just 1.2% more votes than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.”

“This time, the reelection team is getting a head start to ensure Florida, the president’s second home, isn’t such a nail biter. The campaign has key staff already in place nearly a year and half before voters head to the polls in 2020 and thousands of volunteers ready to hit the pavement for the president.”

The consensus electoral map shows Florida is a Toss Up once again.

‘He’s Becoming Self-Impeachable’

May 8, 2019 at 9:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that President Trump is building his own case for impeachment by continuing to stonewall lawmakers in their demand for testimony and documents from the White House, Politico reports.

Said Pelosi: “He’s becoming self-impeachable in terms of some of the things he’s doing.”

She added: “Every single day, whether it’s obstruction, obstruction, obstruction, obstruction of having people come to the table with facts or ignoring subpoenas. Every single day, the president is making a case.”

Trade War Threatens to Roil 2020 Race

May 8, 2019 at 9:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump’s aggressive trade policies are running headlong into his campaign for reelection,” the Washington Post reports.

“As Trump prepares to run on the economy, his threat to increase tariffs on imports from China has sent the stock market diving and undercut a stretch of positive economic news. U.S. farmers and exporters, already bearing the brunt of China’s retaliatory tariffs, now face the prospect of an escalated trade war in which states that Trump needs to win reelection will be in the crosshairs.”

“The trade war has also exposed a rift inside the White House and among the president’s allies — with some officials pushing for a quick resolution to calm the markets ahead of 2020, and others warning the president that a weak deal with China could leave him politically vulnerable.”

Quote of the Day

May 8, 2019 at 9:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“What Leader McConnell did today on the floor was nothing short of despicable, to say it’s over, case closed, when we haven’t even begun to investigate the report.”

— Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in a MSNBC interview.

Biden Less Popular Among Women Sexually Harassed

May 8, 2019 at 8:32 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “In December 2018, the American National Election Studies conducted an online, representative survey of 2,500 U.S. voters. The survey included questions about how frequently they’d experienced unwanted sexual advances and their preferred 2020 presidential candidate.”

“At the time, 27% of Democrats named Biden as their top choice in the 2020 Democratic primary. This closely tracks with recent poll results.”

“Among Democratic women who said they’d never experienced unwanted sexual advances, 39% named Biden as their top choice in 2020. But only 19% of the Democratic women who endured unwanted sexual advances fairly or very often named Biden — a gap of 20 points.”

If You’re Seeing Ads…

May 8, 2019 at 8:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

If you’re a Political Wire member and see advertising on the site this morning, you may have been logged out.

Just log in and the ads will disappear again.

If you’re not yet a member, sign up for an annual or monthly plan and you’ll be amazed how clean and fast Political Wire is for members.

Thanks for supporting Political Wire!

Trump Responds to Report He Lost $1.2 Billion

May 8, 2019 at 8:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump said a New York Times report on his tax information and finances was based on “very old information,” tweeting that “almost all real estate developers” posted large losses in their tax returns, NBC News reports.

Said Trump: “You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes….almost all real estate developers did – and often re-negotiate with banks, it was sport. Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!”

How Biden Is Eating Into Sanders’ Coalition

May 8, 2019 at 8:15 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Harry Enten: “Perhaps surprisingly to some, much of Biden’s newfound supporters seem to have formerly backed fellow 2020 contender Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, even though Biden backers are more likely to be more moderate, nonwhite and older than Sanders.’ Obviously, some of this trend towards Biden and away from Sanders is because Biden is now receiving much of the news attention Sanders had been getting.”

“But something else is at play: Biden does well among whites without a college degree who, as a group, backed Sanders in 2016. This could help Biden given that other Democrats haven’t been able to break through among white Democrats without a college degree in the primary.”

House Oversight Threatens to Block Salaries

May 8, 2019 at 7:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House Oversight Committee on Tuesday threatened to withhold the salaries of officials at the departments of the Interior and Commerce if anyone ‘prohibits or prevents’ interviews involved in two ongoing investigations,” Axios reports.

Kelly Says Trump Family Must Be ‘Dealt With’

May 8, 2019 at 7:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former White House chief of staff John Kelly told Bloomberg that members of President Trump’s family serving on the White House staff needed to be ‘dealt with’ as he sought to implement a more orderly process in the West Wing.

Said Kelly: “They were an influence that has to be dealt with. By no means do I mean Mrs. Trump — the first lady’s a wonderful person.”

“Kelly’s remarks pointed to his long-running and low-simmering frustration with the role of the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, in the White House.”

Obama Memoir Is Delayed

May 8, 2019 at 7:13 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Barack Obama’s presidential memoir, which many people had thought was going to come out in 2019, won’t be published this year, according to a person familiar with the writing process,” The Atlantic reports.

Climate Change Rises to the Top for Democrats

May 8, 2019 at 7:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC News: “Climate change has recently shot to the top of polls of issues that Democratic voters care about in the presidential primary, rivaling for the first time longstanding bread-and-butter topics like health care — and a leading environmental group has plans to keep it that way.”

“That’s a big shift from the last presidential election in 2016, when climate change did not get a single question during the debates between Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump, and just 15 percent of Democratic primary voters named it as their top priority.”

Trump Pushes for Border Funding In Disaster Bill

May 8, 2019 at 7:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Negotiations on a multibillion-dollar disaster aid bill in the Senate have grown more complicated in recent days with a push by the Trump administration to add emergency spending for the U.S.-Mexico border to the bill,” the Washington Post reports.

“The talks over the disaster aid bill were already fraught because of a fight between President Trump and congressional Democrats over spending for Puerto Rico. Trump has yet to agree to a deal offering more than $600 million for the U.S. island territory’s food stamp program, while Democrats say much more is required for needs on many fronts as Puerto Rico recovers slowly from the devastations of Hurricane Maria. Senate Republicans have been prepared to offer more — though perhaps not enough to satisfy Democrats — but it has been unclear whether the White House would support their plans.”

Buttigieg Headlines Celebrity Fundraisers

May 8, 2019 at 7:04 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Pete Buttigieg will headline a series of top-dollar, celebrity laden fundraisers across California this week, the latest sign that his rise in the polls has opened the doors — and the wallets — of donors who had previously dismissed the South Bend, Indiana, mayor’s once-quixotic campaign,” CNN reports.

Democrats Head to Court Over Trump’s Tax Returns

May 8, 2019 at 6:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal indicated Tuesday that Democrats would go straight to federal court to try to force the administration to give up President Trump’s tax returns, skipping a subpoena or a contempt vote,” Politico reports.

Biden Is Acting Like the Frontrunner He Is

May 8, 2019 at 6:36 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Joe Biden was the subject of lots of criticism — including plenty in these pages — for taking his sweet time to get into the presidential race. We said the field was taking shape without him, and we couldn’t understand just what he was doing.”

“But now, it appears that Biden wasn’t as misguided as we thought. The buzz around Beto, Buttigieg and Harris has subsided a bit. The former VP is raising money at a clip many hadn’t expected. He has assembled a top-tier staff, and put together an impressive list of endorsements in early states like South Carolina, while other candidates are still trying to make inroads.”

Democrats Move Forward with Contempt Vote

May 8, 2019 at 6:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “The Justice Department is preparing to ask the White House to invoke executive privilege over special counsel Robert Mueller’s entire report and underlying evidence, a defensive move the night before Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are set to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt for refusing to make the report’s full contents available to Congress.”

“‘In the face of the committee’s threatened contempt vote, the attorney general will be compelled to request that the president invoke executive privilege with respect to the materials subject to the subpoena,’ Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd wrote in a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, asking the committee to hold off on its contempt proceedings.”

Mnuchin Addressed Top Trump Fundraisers

May 7, 2019 at 9:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin addressed a group of top donors backing President Trump’s reelection Tuesday evening, making an unusual political appearance at a gathering that included industry executives his agency is tasked with regulating,” the Washington Post reports.

“Mnuchin’s attendance at the kickoff event for the Trump Victory Committee came a day after he rejected a request from House Democrats for Trump’s tax returns and as the Dow Jones industrial average fell sharply amid a trade standoff between the United States and China.”