Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) will name former Sen. Jon Kyl (R) to fill the seat of Sen. John McCain, after notifying McCain’s wife, Cindy, and other key political figures of his decision, the Arizona Republic reports.
“Kyl has agreed to serve at least through the end of the year… If he opts to step down after the end of the session, the Republican governor would be required to appoint another replacement.”
Politico: “With Kavanaugh considered likely to win confirmation absent a major misstep, Democrats must keep pushing against long odds while carving out an upside to potential defeat. They’re readying an intense volley of questions for the 53-year-old appellate court judge on hot-button liberal issues from abortion to the Russia probe and aiming to create viral social media moments from particularly controversial exchanges in the hopes of chipping away at Kavanaugh’s credibility.”
“Even if Democrats can’t quash Kavanaugh’s confirmation, though, they know they’ll have to walk away from the fight with the minor victory of weakening Kavanaugh’s public persona and forcing Republicans to come up with the votes to approve him before a single one of their members comes off the fence.”
For members: Democrats Should Set a Trap for Kavanaugh
President Trump called Bob Woodward in early August, after the manuscript for Fear: Trump in the White House had been completed, to say he wanted to be interviewed.
The Washington Post has a transcript and audio of that phone call which essentially proves Woodward’s thesis of a dysfunctional White House and president. It’s worth reading.
Republicans in Kansas further splintered as former Gov. Bill Graves (R) endorsed Laura Kelly (D) for governor over Kris Kobach (R), his party’s nominee, the Kansas City Star reports.
Said Graves: “Laura Kelly is the only Democrat I have ever endorsed for public office. And the reason I’m doing that now is because I believe so much is at stake in the state of Kansas.”
“In a stunning decision, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday morning that he will no longer seek a third term in office, signaling the end to what has been a tumultuous – and at times transformative – eight years in office,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
Said Emanuel: “I’ve decided not to seek re-election. This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime.”
“He’s an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown. I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.”
— White House chief of staff John Kelly, quoted in Fear: Trump in the White House, about President Trump.
Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book, Fear: Trump in the White House, describes how John Dowd “was convinced that President Trump would commit perjury if he talked to special counsel Robert Mueller. So, on Jan. 27, the president’s then-personal attorney staged a practice session to try to make his point,” the Washington Post reports.
“In the White House residence, Dowd peppered Trump with questions about the Russia investigation, provoking stumbles, contradictions and lies until the president eventually lost his cool.”
Trump eventually erupted: “This thing’s a goddamn hoax. I don’t really want to testify.”
A central theme of Bob Woodward’s new book, Fear: Trump in the White House, “is the stealthy machinations used by those in Trump’s inner sanctum to try to control his impulses and prevent disasters, both for the president personally and for the nation he was elected to lead,” the Washington Post reports.
“Woodward describes ‘an administrative coup d’etat’ and a ‘nervous breakdown’ of the executive branch, with senior aides conspiring to pluck official papers from the president’s desk so he couldn’t see or sign them.”
“Again and again, Woodward recounts at length how Trump’s national security team was shaken by his lack of curiosity and knowledge about world affairs and his contempt for the mainstream perspectives of military and intelligence leaders.”
CNN: “Many of the feuds and daily clashes have been well documented, but the picture painted by Trump’s confidants, senior staff and Cabinet officials reveal that many of them see an even more alarming situation — worse than previously known or understood. Woodward offers a devastating portrait of a dysfunctional Trump White House, detailing how senior aides grew exasperated with the President and increasingly worried about his erratic behavior, ignorance and penchant for lying.”
Playbook: “Republicans don’t want to be in Washington this month — especially House Republicans. All they need to do is fund the government, and prevent PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP from making this showdown about immigration policy — because the GOP leadership believes the specter of a shutdown and a prolonged discussion about migration policy are losers for the folks trying to hold onto the House. Get government funded, do no harm and get out of town — that’s the GOP’s mantra for the month.”
“We expect the house will cancel a whole chunk of time in session if they can get the government funding situation worked out.”
Chuck Todd: “Instead of attacking rivals, or assailing critics—going negative,in the parlance of political campaigns—reporters need to showcase and defend our reporting. Every day, we need to do our job, check our facts, strive to be transparent, and say what we’re seeing. That’s what I’ve tried to do here. I’ve seen a nearly 50-year campaign to delegitimize the press, and I’m saying so. For years, I didn’t say a word about this publicly, and at times I even caught myself drawing false equivalencies because I was afraid of being labeled as biased. I know that stating the obvious will draw attacks, but I’ve also learned that the louder critics bark, the more they care about what’s being reported.”
“I’m not advocating for a more activist press in the political sense, but for a more aggressive one. That means having a lower tolerance for talking points, and a greater willingness to speak plain truths. It means not allowing ourselves to be spun, and not giving guests or sources a platform to spin our readers and viewers, even if that angers them. Access isn’t journalism’s holy grail—facts are.”
Women dressed as handmaids stood lining the halls outside the hearing room where senators will question President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, The Hill reports.
President Trump “has become increasingly exasperated in recent weeks that he wasn’t interviewed by Bob Woodward ahead of the publication of his upcoming book,” CNN reports.
“Trump’s irritation reflects a heightened sense of unease in the West Wing about next week’s release of the veteran reporter’s book Fear: Trump in the White House, which details life in the Trump administration.”
“Woodward made several attempts to interview Trump, CNN is told, and there were serious discussions between high-ranking officials about whether the President should sit down with him. But the interview never panned out, and in recent weeks, Trump has complained to confidants that he didn’t have the chance to speak with Woodward before the book went to print.”
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said that President Trump’s weekend attacks against Attorney General Jeff Sessions over bring charges against two Republican lawmakers may be grounds for impeachment.
Said Toobin: “This tweet alone may be an impeachable offense. This is such a disgrace. This is so contrary to the traditions of the Department of Justice.”
Monica Lewinsky cut a live interview short during a conference in Jerusalem after being asked an “off limits” question about former President Bill Clinton, saying later that the interviewer disregarded “clear parameters” for their discussion, CNN reports.
Wall Street Journal: “The U.S. economy is roaring like it hasn’t in many years, which ought to be good news for the Republican Party in the run-up to the midterm elections. A deeper look at the economic data by congressional district reveals a less even picture. Data assembled for The Wall Street Journal by the Institute of International Finance shows that the economy is booming in some GOP-held battleground districts.”
“At the same time, a sizable number of competitive districts — almost all currently Republican—are vulnerable to new tariffs, a new cap on deductions for state and local income taxes, or a jobs picture worse than the national average.”
“The result is a midterm election that reflects not a single nationwide picture, but a disparate series of miniatures. The upshot: The same accelerating national economy that could save a vulnerable Republican in the Virginia suburbs might hurt an at-risk GOP candidate in Kansas or Kentucky.”
“Hours before the start of hearings on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the lawyer for former president George W. Bush turned over 42,000 pages of documents from the nominee’s service in the Bush White House, angering Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, who issued what is certain to be a futile call to delay the proceedings,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Schumer: “Not a single senator will be able to review these records before tomorrow.”
Washington Post: “In the 592 days since he took the oath of office, President Trump has made 4,713 false or misleading claims, according to The Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president.”
“That’s an average of about eight claims a day.”
”When we first started this project for the president’s first 100 days, he averaged 4.9 claims a day. But the average number of claims per day keeps climbing as the president nears the 600-day mark of his presidency.”
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.