Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) told CNN that he is not “ready to be a candidate for 2020 yet.”
Said Patrick: “I’m trying to keep my focus … on these small number of races where I’ve been invited to help and where I think I can be helpful.”
“Voters in five states head to the polls Tuesday, and both parties are looking for signs of strength and unity in their ranks less than three months until the first major U.S. election since the inauguration of President Trump,” ABC News reports.
“Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Washington State all hold primaries Tuesday, but the special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District is taking on particular significance because it’s the last time Democrats and Republicans will face off directly until November.”
“President Trump is concerned about whether his son Donald Trump Jr. might have exposure in the special counsel’s Russia investigation, leading to his increasingly frenzied public agitation over Robert Mueller,” sources close to the White House tell CNN.
“Trump has been concerned for months now that the Mueller probe could reach his family, and potentially his son-in-law Jared Kushner, but his focus has turned to his namesake in recent weeks… This is one of several reasons Trump has upped his public attacks on Mueller, because he doesn’t want him touching his family.”
“Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro survived an apparent assassination attempt Saturday after several drones armed with explosives flew toward him during a speech at a military parade,” CNN reports.
“Live footage of the event showed him suddenly looking up startled mid-speech, while beside him his wife, Cilia Flores, winces after a loud bang.”
“First lady Melania Trump issued a statement Saturday in support of LeBron James, after President Trump posted a late-night tweet attacking the basketball star,” the Washington Post reports.
Neil Irwin: “The economic expansion in the United States celebrated its ninth birthday last month. If it survives another year, it will be the longest on record.”
“But eventually something will kill it. The question is what, and when.”
“While it’s impossible to predict the details or timing of the next recession with any confidence, we can identify some emerging threats to the expansion — and with a bit of imagination, picture how the recession of 2020 (or 2022, or whatever year it ends up being) may unfold.”
“In private, President Trump spent much of the past week brooding, like he often does. He has been anxious about the Russia investigation’s widening fallout, with his former campaign chairman now standing trial. And he has fretted that he is failing to accrue enough political credit for what he claims as triumphs,” the Washington Post reports.
“At rare moments of introspection for the famously self-centered president, Trump has also expressed to confidants lingering unease about how some in his orbit — including his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. — are ensnared in the Russia probe, in his assessment simply because of their connection to him.”
“Yet in public, Trump is a man roaring. The president, more than ever, is channeling his internal frustration and fear into a ravenous maw of grievance and invective. He is churning out false statements with greater frequency and attacking his perceived enemies with intensifying fury.”
This looks really great: Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents by Pete Souza.
“Shade is a portrait in Presidential contrasts, telling the tale of the Obama and Trump administrations through a series of visual juxtapositions. Here, more than one hundred of Souza’s unforgettable images of President Obama deliver new power and meaning when framed by the tweets, news headlines, and quotes that defined the first 500 days of the Trump White House.”
President Trump hurled insults at Lebron James in a Friday night tweet after the basketball star criticized him in an interview with CNN.
Said Trump: “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do.”
He concluded with an apparent reference to basketball legend Michael Jordan and the debate of who is the best basketball player of all time, saying: “I like Mike!”
“The most bizarre thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
— Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D), quoted by the Washington Post, on President Trump’s “voter fraud” panel.
The Newseum in Washington, D.C., which is “dedicated to the importance of a free press and the first amendment,” sells “You are very fake news” T-shirts on its website, the Washington Post reports.
“The museum also sells Make America Great Again hats and other items that could appeal to supporters of President Trump, who popularized the term ‘fake news’ and frequently battles with news outlets and reporters he says are unfair to him.”
Washington Post: “Veteran senators on both sides of the aisle are angry about the decision because it feeds the idea that they just want a long vacation and that Congress is a lazy institution that just needs to work harder.”
“For western state senators, such as Murkowski and Murray, it’s a major disruption to their routine and affects their interactions with constituents. This will make them, they say, worse off as senators, less understanding of their constituents’ needs.”
“Most lawmakers agree that the problems of this Congress will not be solved by more days in session and more time together. Instead, they say the institution needs to foster better relations so the two sides work better together — which would, most likely, lead to less time in the Capitol and a more productive body.”
A new United Nations report finds that North Korea “has not stopped its nuclear and missile programs and is violating U.N. sanctions including by ‘a massive increase in illicit ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products,'” the AP reports.
“A summary of the report by experts monitoring U.N. sanctions against North Korea, which was sent to the Security Council Friday night… said North Korea is also violating sanctions by transferring coal at sea and flouting an arms embargo and financial sanctions.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) delivered what she called “the hard truth about our criminal justice system: It’s racist… I mean front to back,” the AP reports.
“While speaking at a historically black college, the Massachusetts senator identified some of the system’s failures: disproportionate arrests of African-Americans for petty drug possession; an overloaded public defender system; and state laws that keep convicted felons from voting even after their sentences are complete.”
“The Democratic National Committee warned party candidates running in November elections not to use devices made by Chinese telecommunications companies ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies because they pose a security risk,” Reuters reports.
“President Trump’s strategy of becoming aggressively involved in the midterm elections is prompting concern among some Republicans who worry he’s complicating the political calculus for GOP candidates trying to outrun his popularity,” the AP reports.
“Those Republicans worry their statewide candidates may rise or fall based on Trump’s standing, muddling their path to maintain control of Congress.”
“But Trump has no plans to step out of the spotlight. He will hold a rally Saturday in Ohio and plans to host two fundraisers at the Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey, next week for House and Senate candidates.”
HuffPost: “Amid the headline-grabbing details about Manafort’s extravagant spending ― the $15,000 ostrich jacket, the thousands of dollars worth of suits, the red flowers in the shape of an ‘M’ ― prosecutors’ narrative about Manafort’s shady financial dealings is going to be difficult to refute.”
“Given the way the trial is unfolding ― and with yet another trial still on the agenda for Manafort in the District of Columbia ― hoping for a pardon or commutation from Trump might be Manafort’s best bet.”
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.