Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) called for a federal moratorium on the death penalty in an NPR interview:
NPR: No one would be executed if you were president of the United States, for any crime.
HARRIS: Correct, correct.
Democratic Rules May Lead to Drawn Out Primary
David Wasserman: “An overlooked key to Mr. Trump’s 2016 upset was the Republican primary system, which winnowed the 17-candidate field quickly and gave Mr. Trump a head start at jackhammering away at Hillary Clinton.”
“By contrast, the Democratic Party’s egalitarian-minded rules allocate all pledged delegates to its convention on a proportional basis: A presidential candidate who receives at least 15 percent of the vote in any state or congressional district receives a corresponding share of delegates, making it difficult for a leading candidate to become a runaway train. In fact, had the 2016 Republican primary played out under Democrats’ rules, it would have almost assuredly resulted in an ugly, contested convention.”
O’Rourke Suggests Adding Supreme Court Justices
Beto O’Rourke floated an idea for restructuring the Supreme Court, NBC News reports.
Said O’Rourke: “What if there were five justices selected by Democrats, five Justices selected by Republicans, and those 10 then picked five more justices independent of those who chose the first 10? I think that’s an idea that we should explore.”
Trump Reshapes GOP Candidates Across the Country
New York Times: “Far from the power centers of Washington, the early 2020 primary states or the money-rich coastal cities that fund many national campaigns, a shift in the political winds is growing stronger.”
“The Republican Party and its candidates, particularly in state and local campaigns, are increasingly being reshaped in President Trump’s image, adopting his laundry list of political opponents and his willingness to go to great lengths to spite them.”
“But the most common reflection of Mr. Trump’s brand of grievance politics… was the pervasive belief that the country is being undermined by undeserving outsiders and the Democrats who represent them.”
Political Wire Straw Poll Results
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Views of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Skew Negative
A new Gallup poll finds that while half of U.S. adults were unfamiliar with or had no opinion of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in September “after her seismic primary win over the summer, that figure has shrunk to 29% today.”
“But the increased visibility has not improved her overall standing with Americans. Whereas the public had mixed views of Ocasio-Cortez in September, her image now tilts slightly negative, with 31% viewing her favorably and 41% unfavorably.”
Trump Tweets ‘Warmest Sympathy’ Over Mosque Massacre
President Trump tweeted his condolences Friday morning over the mass shootings that killed 49 people at two mosques in New Zealand.
Wrote Trump: “My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!”
Very Few Early Polls Identify the Eventual Nominee
An analysis of polling in party nominations between 1980 and 2016 by The Economist finds this early in a cycle just 17% of polls released have correctly identified the eventual party nominee.
Inside the Inaugural Dinner for Foreign Diplomats
Washington Post: “The gathering, which cost the inaugural committee roughly $8,000 a person, was the brainchild of billionaire Thomas J. Barrack Jr., Trump’s close friend and his inaugural committee chairman, and gave foreign guests an unparalleled chance to mingle with the incoming vice president, other members of the new administration and lawmakers.”
“The dinner was an extravagant symbol of Trump’s inaugural festivities, which involved record fundraising, lavish spending and a large concentration of foreign guests. Now, state, federal and congressional investigators are scrutinizing those issues as part of five inquiries of activities related to the inaugural committee.”
Few Americans See Savings from Trump’s Tax Reform
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds only 21% U.S. taxpayers expect to pay less income tax this year as a result of the tax reform law passed in 2017 by Republicans who promised big savings for everyday Americans.
Just prior to approval of the tax reform by Republicans, Trump said: “This is going to be one of the great gifts to the middle-income people of this country that they’ve ever gotten for Christmas.”
Aides Assure Trump that Biden Isn’t a Threat
Politico: “During a recent meeting involving Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and senior officials from the White House Office of Political Affairs, a discussion ensued about whether the president should be nervous about Biden entering the 2020 fray.”
“Several people in the room told Trump he shouldn’t be ‘overly nervous’ as long as Biden is ‘pulled to the left’ in the primary.”
Beto O’Rourke Storms Iowa
Politico: “In the first and earliest test of the Texas Democrat’s appeal outside of his home state, O’Rourke chewed through the news cycle, attracting crowds and a deluge of media attention that followed him from coffee shops to town halls to sidewalks in southeastern Iowa.”
“The scene delivered a sense of his potential, but also signaled the dangers ahead for his campaign. The celebrity splash that marked his first day as a presidential candidate — his visit was preceded the evening before by a Vanity Fair cover story — generated a backlash among some Democrats frustrated by the fanfare surrounding his launch, and by what they viewed as a double standard applied to O’Rourke in a field flush with women and candidates of color.”
New York Times: “On the first day of his quest for a mega-promotion, as he ferried his team in a rented minivan with Illinois plates, Mr. O’Rourke made plain his intention to transpose his Texas blueprint onto the national stage.”
Why Trump Couldn’t Stop a GOP Revolt on Border Emergency
Politico: “The Republican revolt on the Senate floor followed a haphazard and erratic persuasion effort from Trump that offers a vivid encapsulation of how this White House has struggled to influence Congress. In the days leading up to the vote, the president initially made few moves to try to stem GOP defections.”
Sanders Institute Shutting Down
Associated Press: “The Sanders Institute, a think tank founded by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ wife and son, is shutting down, at least for now, amid criticism that the nonprofit has blurred the lines between family, fundraising and campaigning. The Vermont-based institute has stopped accepting donations and plans to suspend all operations by the end of May ‘so there could not even be an appearance of impropriety.'”
North Korea Threatens to Scuttle Talks
New York Times: “Addressing diplomats and foreign correspondents at a news conference in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said that personal relations between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump were ‘still good and the chemistry is mysteriously wonderful.’”
“But she said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, Mr. Trump’s national security adviser, had created an ‘atmosphere of hostility and mistrust’ that thwarted the top leaders’ negotiations in Hanoi last month.”
Trump Made Border Fight About Him and Still Lost
“President Trump tried to marshal his most potent weapon — himself — to stave off what eventually became an embarrassing rejection from his own party over his declared national emergency on the border,” the Washington Post reports.
“In numerous calls with Republican senators in recent days, the president spoke of the battle almost exclusively in personal terms — telling them they would be voting against him while brushing aside constitutional concerns over his attempt to reroute billions of federal dollars for a border wall. He argued that a vote against the emergency would be seen by GOP supporters as being against border security and the wall and would hurt their own political fortunes.”
“But it wasn’t enough, as a dozen Republicans joined Democrats in dealing Trump a humiliating blow by voting Thursday to nullify the national emergency, setting up what is likely to be the first veto of his presidency.”
Newspaper Says Cory Gardner Endorsement Was Mistake
Denver Post: “We endorsed Sen. Cory Gardner in 2014 because we believed he’d be a statesman. We knew he’d be a conservative voice in Congress, to be certain, but we thought his voice would bring ‘fresh leadership, energy and ideas.'”
“We see now that was a mistake – consider this our resolution of disapproval.”
McConnell Tees Up Vote on Green New Deal
The Hill: “Senators are leaving Thursday and will return to Washington on March 25. The Senate will vote on whether or not to take up the Green New Deal resolution after they wrap up consideration of a circuit court nominee.”
“The Green New Deal will need 60 votes to get over the procedural hurdle, something it stands little chance of doing in a GOP-controlled Senate where most Democrats are expected to vote present and Republicans won’t support it.”
