Nevada Democrats Push to Join Popular Vote Compact
“Democrats in Nevada are again pushing to join an interstate compact to let the national popular vote determine the winner of the presidency,” the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.
“It’s the third time the proposal has gone before lawmakers in Nevada in the last decade, with the previous efforts falling short of making it to the governor’s desk.”
“But the proposal has gained traction recently in other states, including Colorado, where Gov. Jared Polis is set to sign the measure after it was approved by state lawmakers. And with Democrats in Nevada controlling both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s mansion for the first time in decades, Nevada could follow suit.”
Lloyd Omdahl: “In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a national movement to bypass the Electoral College in favor of direct election of the president.”
Biden Trying to Line Up Donors Before Entering Race
“Former Vice President Joe Biden is trying to get donors to commit to his presidential campaign before launching a much-anticipated bid in the coming weeks,” The Hill reports.
“Sources close to Biden expect him to enter the race, but they say he is trying to get his fundraising in line in an effort to start strong out of the gates.”
Democratic Fight for Nevada Is Wide Open
Politico: “While the lion’s share of media attention is focused on Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Democratic hopefuls from Elizabeth Warren to Kamala Harris to Michael Bloomberg are quietly making early, behind-the-scenes moves that underscore the state’s sway: Warren has moved quickest to establish state-level campaign infrastructure, while Harris dropped into Nevada this weekend and Bloomberg, as well as Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, have met with the influential Culinary Union in the past week.”
“The activity highlights the 2020 opportunity available in Nevada, which operatives described as wide-open and waiting for a candidate to stake a strong claim to the state.”
Texas GOP Moves to Shore Up the Suburbs
Politico: “Facing a rapidly changing voter base, anti-Trump fervor and a more motivated Democratic Party, the state GOP is moving earlier than ever to prepare after watching two House members lose in 2018 and another half-dozen win by fewer than 5 points.”
“The party has set new fundraising goals and placed field staffers in Dallas and Fort Worth nine months earlier than in the last election cycle to facilitate more engagement with voters, with plans to expand the early hiring to other major metro areas to stanch bleeding Republican support in the suburbs.”
How the North Korea Summit Fell Apart
New York Times: “But Mr. Trump’s offer was essentially the same deal that the United States has pushed — and the North has rejected — for a quarter century. Intelligence agencies had warned him, publicly, Mr. Kim would not be willing to give up the arsenal completely. North Korea itself had said repeatedly that it would only move gradually.”
“Several of Mr. Trump’s own aides, led by national security adviser John R. Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, thought the chances of a grand bargain for total nuclear disarmament were virtually zero. Some questioned whether the summit meeting should go forward.”
“Mr. Trump disagreed. He had taken to showing what he called Mr. Kim’s ‘beautiful letters’ to visitors to the Oval Office, as evidence he had built a rapport with one of the world’s most brutal dictators. While some in the White House worried Mr. Trump was being played, the president seemed entranced — even declaring ‘we fell in love.'”
SNL Takes On the Michael Cohen Hearings
Saturday Night Live opened on C-SPAN and the congressional testimony of Michael Cohen — played as always by special guest Ben Stiller.
California Seeks Relevance In Presidential Politics
Los Angeles Times: “The moving of California’s 2020 presidential primary to March 3 — nipping at the heels of the four traditional early nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — is the latest bid to play with the calendar in hopes of gaining more electoral relevance. This will be the fifth time since 1992 the state has moved its presidential primary. It’s bounced from June, March, February and back again.”
“The perpetual tinkering underscores how California just can’t seem to shake its political inferiority complex.”
Lawmakers Probe Possible Pardon Talks with Cohen
“Lawmakers are investigating whether President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was involved in any discussions about possible pardons — which they view as a potentially ripe area of inquiry into whether anyone sought to obstruct justice,” the Washington Post reports.
“Cohen has said publicly he never asked for — and would not accept — a pardon from Trump. But people familiar with the matter said his knowledge on the topic seems to extend beyond that statement.”
Imagine If Mueller Had Investigated Hillary Clinton
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This Week Was a Preview of the 2020 Election
John Cassidy: “In any Presidential race featuring an incumbent, the contest is ultimately a referendum on the performance of the sitting President, and that person typically wins… But, of course, Trump isn’t a typical incumbent, and the Democrats are optimistic that they can deny him a second term. One way to turf him out would be for the special counsel, Robert Mueller, to submit a report to the Justice Department that is so damaging and probative it convinces enough Republicans to abandon him for an impeachment trial in the Senate to succeed. But the smart money in Washington is betting this isn’t going to happen, and the Democrats’ Plan B appears to be to torment Trump all the way to Election Day with congressional hearings of the sort we saw this week. Already, the Senate Intelligence Committee has announced plans to question Cohen again, on Wednesday, and, eight days later, to question his sidekick on the Trump Tower Moscow deal, Felix Sater, a convicted felon who once took part in a stock-fraud scheme orchestrated by mobsters.”
“That will only be the start. The House Intelligence Committee is planning to call many of the Trump associates whom Cohen mentioned in his testimony, including Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. The House Democrats are also gearing up to look into all aspects of Trump’s record, including his other business dealings, his tax affairs, and his now defunct charitable foundation.”
Said House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings: “All you have to do is follow the transcript. If there were names that were mentioned, or records that were mentioned during the hearing, we want to take a look at all of that.”
Trump Just Might Have Won the 2020 Election Today
Nick Gillespie: “It’s way too early to be thinking this, much less saying it, but what the hell: If Donald Trump is able to deliver the sort of performance he gave today at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the annual meeting of right-wingers held near Washington, D.C., his reelection is a foregone conclusion.”
“There is simply no potential candidate in the Democratic Party who wouldn’t be absolutely blown off the stage by him. I say this as someone who is neither a Trump fanboy nor a Never Trumper. But he was not simply good, he was Prince-at-the-Super-Bowl great, deftly flinging juvenile taunts at everyone who has ever crossed him, tossing red meat to the Republican faithful, and going sotto voce serious to talk about justice being done for working-class Americans screwed over by global corporations.”
Warren Has No Regrets About Not Running In 2016
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told CNN that she has “no regrets, but plenty of unfinished business.”
Said Warren: “You can’t go back. Bernie and I have been friends for a long, long time. I’m sure far before I ever thought I was going to be in the electoral end of politics. I get out there every day; Bernie gets out there every day. And so do a lot of other good people.”
Who Is the Most Electable Democrat?
Los Angeles Times: “Parties always want to win, of course, but Democratic loathing of Trump has pushed finding a winner way up the priority scale this year, recent polls show. Democratic voters say they’d prefer a candidate who can beat Trump to one who agrees with their position on any particular issue.”
“Voters, however, have widely varying views about what electable means in 2020. To some, it is code for a safe, cautious choice — a centrist white male who presumably can speak to swing voters. To other Democrats, that’s a recipe for killing off excitement within the party’s young, diverse, progressive base, which needs to be mobilized to win in 2020.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“I should have saved the Pocahontas thing for another year. I’ve destroyed her political career and I won’t get a chance to run against her and I would have loved that.”
— President Trump, quoted by Politico, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Florida Speaker Calls Pregnant Woman a ‘Host Body’
House Speaker Jose Oliva (R) repeatedly described pregnant woman as a “host body” in an interview with CBS News.
Said Oliva: “As technology moves along, a human body can exist outside of its host body earlier and earlier. And so then one has to think, until what time does the host body have veto power over this other life? … The question is: What is the value of that life? And is it subordinate to the value of its host body?”
The Orlando Sentinel reports Olivia later apologized.
Russian General Pitches ‘Information’ Operations as War
“The chief of Russia’s armed forces endorsed on Saturday the kind of tactics used by his country to intervene abroad, repeating a philosophy of so-called hybrid war that has earned him notoriety in the West, especially among American officials who have accused Russia of election meddling in 2016,” the New York Times reports.
“The speech outlined what some Western analysts consider the signature strategy of Russia under President Vladimir Putin — and what other experts call a simple recognition of modern war and politics.”
Trump Promotes His Golf Course from White House
“President Trump sent out a predawn tweet Saturday boasting about Trump International Golf Links, constructed near Aberdeen, Scotland, among the high, wind-raked dunes along the North Sea,” the Washington Post reports.
Tweeted Trump: “Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!”
“The comment sparked immediate consternation from critics of the president, who suggested he was using his powerful office to advance his financial interests. The U.S. Constitution has two clauses designed to prevent a national leader from using power in such a manner.”
