John Cassidy: “Will the White House and Republican leaders actually allow a potentially sensational set of hearings, with all the political risks that would entail, just weeks before the midterm elections in which they are already struggling mightily to attract women’s votes in key suburban districts? Or will they decide to cut their losses and withdraw the Kavanaugh nomination? We’ll find out soon.”
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Trump Doesn’t Want FBI Investigating Kavanaugh
President Trump said that he “does not believe the FBI should delve any further into the decades-old sexual assault allegation leveled against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, claiming the FBI does not want to be involved,” CNN reports.
Said Trump: “I don’t think the FBI really should be involved because they don’t want to be involved. If they wanted to be, I would certainly do that. But as you know, they say this is not really their thing.”
Collins Wants Accuser’s Lawyer to Question Kavanaugh
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) announced that she wants the attorney for Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, to question the judge, The Hill reports.
She added that she would ask Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the panel’s ranking member, to allow the questioning. She also said Kavanaugh’s attorney should question Ford.
Evers Opens Lead Over Walker In Wisconsin
A new Marquette University Law School Poll in Wisconsin finds Tony Evers (D) has opened a lead over Gov. Scott Walker (R) among likely voters in the race for governor, 49% to 44%, with Libertarian Phil Anderson at 6%.
Evers and Walker were tied at 46 percent each in the August poll.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) opened a huge lead over challenger Leah Vukmir, 53% to 42%.
Senate Passes Spending Bill Without Funds for Border Wall
“The Senate on Tuesday passed a short-term spending bill that would keep the government running through Dec. 7, aiming to put off a fight over funding for President Trump’s border wall until after the midterm elections,” the Washington Post reports.
“GOP leaders designed the package to combine key Republican and Democratic priorities in an attempt to garner overwhelming bipartisan support — and give Trump a win on military spending, even as Congress delays a fight over the money he wants for his wall.”
“The legislation still must pass the House, which is expected to take it up next week. But it remains uncertain whether Trump will sign it. The president has toyed repeatedly with shutting down the government to try to get more money for the border wall.”
Trolling Trump on Leadership
Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Leadership in Turbulent Times, joins Chris Riback for a discussion of presidential leadership in the age of Donald Trump.
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Thanks, as always, to the Cook Political Report for sponsoring this episode. Use the code “politicalwire” and you’ll get 18% off of a subscription.
Cruz Holds Nine Point Lead In Texas
A new Quinnipiac poll in Texas finds Sen. Ted Cruz (R) leading Beto O’Rourke (D) by nine points among likely voters, 54% to 45%.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “The Texas U.S. Senate race between Cruz and O’Rourke, and Democratic hopes for an upset win there, have boosted talk of a Senate takeover. These numbers may calm that talk.”
Nancy Kassebaum Backs Democrat for Kansas Governor
“A titan of Kansas Republican politics is shunning Kris Kobach (R), her party’s nominee, in his run for governor,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Nancy Kassebaum, who represented Kansas for three terms in the U.S. Senate, said she will support Laura Kelly’s (D) campaign.”
Graham Wants to Know Who Paid for Accuser’s Polygraph
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Fox News that he wants to know who paid for a polygraph test taken by the woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault.
Said Graham: “Here’s what I want your audience to know: If Ms. Ford really did not want to come forward, never intended to come forward, never planned to come forward, why did she pay for a polygraph in August and why did she hire a lawyer in August if she never intended to do what she is doing? And who paid for it?”
GOP Memo Admits Voters Don’t Like Party’s Agenda
Jonathan Chait: “Of course, if voters like the Republican policy agenda, there is nothing stopping candidates from trying to remind them of all their good works. If you recall, during the debate over the tax cut, Republican leaders continually insisted the tax cuts would be popular, and if enacted into law would provide the basis for their candidates to campaign. But the tax cuts remain unpopular, and Republicans have stopped talking about them.”
“In fact, the Republicans’ own polling confirms this. Josh Green has obtained internal Republican survey data, which includes the hilarious finding that Republicans voters refuse to believe Democrats might win Congress. More pertinently, it reveals that voters are not actually onboard with the party agenda. The survey found ‘increasing funding for veterans’ mental health services, strengthening and preserving Medicare and Social Security, and reforming the student loan system all scored higher than Trump’s favored subjects of tax cuts, border security, and preserving the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.'”
Quote of the Day
“Like a toadstool… I lay there, annoyed that I was getting fucked by a guy with Yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart… It may have been the least impressive sex I’d ever had, but clearly, he didn’t share that opinion.”
— Stormy Daniels, quoted by The Guardian, describing her affair with Donald Trump in her new tell-all book, Full Disclosure.
Why College Students Don’t Return Absentee Ballots
“A Fairfax County focus group this summer found many college students who have gotten an absentee ballot simply fail to send it back because a U.S. Postal Service stamp seems to be a foreign concept to them,” WTOP reports.
Said Fairfax County official Lisa Connors: “One thing that came up, which I had heard from my own kids but I thought they were just nerdy, was that the students will go through the process of applying for a mail-in absentee ballot, they will fill out the ballot, and then, they don’t know where to get stamps.”
Kavanaugh’s Accuser Has Not Confirmed She’ll Attend
Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) said that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has agreed to participate in Monday’s committee hearing but that his staff has not heard from Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who has accused the judge of sexual assault while they were in high school, the Washington Post reports.
Said Grassley: “It kind of raises the question do they want to come to the public hearing or not. We still haven’t heard from Dr. Ford, so do they want to have the hearing or not?”
Grassley suggested the hearing could be called off if Ford declines to appear.
Not Much Has Changed on the Senate Judiciary Committee
Anita Hill: “Today, the public expects better from our government than we got in 1991, when our representatives performed in ways that gave employers permission to mishandle workplace harassment complaints throughout the following decades. That the Senate Judiciary Committee still lacks a protocol for vetting sexual harassment and assault claims that surface during a confirmation hearing suggests that the committee has learned little from the Thomas hearing, much less the more recent #MeToo movement.”
High Stakes In New Kavanaugh Hearing
First Read: “The danger for Republicans is that, in what’s already billed as another ‘Year of the Woman’ (with fired-up female voters and a record number of female candidates), there is not a single Republican woman who serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee, compared with four female Democrats. Another danger for the GOP was Kavanaugh’s shaky original performance before the committee (compare and contrast his testimony versus Neil Gorsuch’s a year ago). And then there’s President Trump, who could pour gasoline on this fire at any time (though he was remarkably restrained yesterday).”
“The peril for Democrats is that brass-knuckled fights over the culture wars have traditionally benefited the Republican Party, and that few issues fire up conservatives more than the courts. What’s more, a Kavanaugh vs. Christine Blasey Ford spectacle presents a level of unpredictability in an election season where Democrats currently have the advantage.”
“Given this danger for both parties, we wouldn’t be surprised if this hearing never happens — because Kavanaugh ultimately withdraws his nomination. He survived yesterday. But does he survive today? Or tomorrow? Or Thursday? Or Friday?”
Kavanaugh’s Accuser Told Friend About Assault Last Year
Rebecca White told the San Jose Mercury News that Christine Blasey Ford had told her about the alleged sexual assault by Brett Kavanaugh — without naming him — in late 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement and long before Kavanaugh was a Supreme Court nominee.
Last year, White had added her own #MeToo story about being raped as a teenager to a Facebook post.
Said White: “She reached out to me afterward, supporting me and my story and that she had something happen to her when she was really young and that the guy was a federal judge. She said she had been assaulted. She said hers had been violent as well, physically scary, fighting for her life.”
Democrats Press Their Advantage on Health Care
Sam Baker: “Democrats are serious about making health care the centerpiece of their midterm election strategy. Every day brings new ads, press statements and other election-season positioning — from moderates and progressives alike — that slams Republicans over threats to the Affordable Care Act.”
“Democrats’ health care strategy is well-established, so every new example of it isn’t newsworthy. But it’s still worth stepping back to appreciate just how quickly Democrats have gone back on offense on health care, after so many years of seeing mainly Republican ads about the issue.”
Flake Seen as Key Vote on Kavanaugh Nomination
Jonathan Swan: “Folks involved in the process seem to be most worried about Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) — even more so than Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), whom they’re quite worried about.”
