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Kavanaugh’s Accuser Will Testify on Thursday

September 23, 2018 at 1:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Senate Judiciary Committee has committed to a public hearing Thursday to question Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford about her accusation that he sexually assaulted her when both were teenagers,” the Washington Post reports.

Ford’s attorneys said that their client “had agreed to appear despite the committee’s refusal to let her speak after Kavanaugh’s testimony or to interview other people she said were present at the party where she alleges Kavanaugh assaulted her during the early 1980s.”

“Ford’s attorneys said they had not been informed whether Republican staffers or senators would be asking questions of her, though it is customary during public hearings for the members to put questions to the witnesses.”

Democrats Have a Massive Turnout Lead

September 23, 2018 at 12:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC News: “Republican House primaries produced about 24% more votes than they did in 2014. But Democratic House primaries in 2018 produced 89% more votes than they did four years ago… That’s nearly a doubling in the number Democratic House votes this year and it’s enough to give Democrats a big lead over Republicans in votes this year. In total, 4.3 million more Democrats voted in House primaries this year than Republicans.”

“The edge was small in 1998, about 1.3 million more Democrats than Republicans voted, and in the general election, the Democrats gained five seats in the House. Democrats had a bigger 3-million vote edge in the primaries of 2006 and in the fall the party gained 30 seats in the House – plus six seats in the Senate – on their way to capturing both chambers of Congress.”

“Using the House primary vote as a metric reveals a similar correlation for Republicans. In 2010, when the Republicans rode a massive wave election to gain 63 seats in the House – as well as six Senate seats and numerous governorships – the party had an enormous 4.9-million vote edge in House primaries. And in 2014, the GOP had a smaller 2.2-million vote advantage in the House primary vote and gained 13 seats in the chamber.”

‘My Rapist Apologized’

September 23, 2018 at 12:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Deborah Copaken: “Let me tell you what life was like as a girl in Montgomery County, Maryland, in the early 1980s. I am a year older than Christine Blasey Ford and a year younger than Brett Kavanaugh. I grew up in Potomac, Maryland, a few miles from both Holton Arms, Ford’s school, and Georgetown Prep, which Kavanaugh attended, but I went to my local public high school, Churchill.”

“Never mind that any girl who was in high school in Potomac during that era knew, through the whisper network, not to go to a Georgetown Prep party alone. That was a given. What was also a given is that ‘date rape,’ as a term, was in its infancy. Most of us thought getting our bodies groped at a high-school party—or anywhere—was the unfortunate price we paid for having them, not something we would ever go to the police to report.”

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Democrats Take on the Gun Lobby

September 23, 2018 at 12:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Giffords PAC is going to spend nearly $1.5 million on a TV and digital ad targeting vulnerable Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO).

Playbook: “Democratic operatives tell us that they believe the midterms are going to be a turning point on gun control. Their reasoning: Students from the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida have ramped up their activism across the country in an effort to register young voters. And, the WSJ recently put out an analysis with Kantar Media/CMAG data that found there has been a 22% increase in ads promoting stricter gun regulations since four years ago.”

Gosar Mother Sides with the Congressman

September 23, 2018 at 11:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Reached at her home in Wyoming, Bernadette Gosar, the 85-year-old mother of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and his six siblings who appeared in a brutal ad supporting the Democratic challenger to their brother, said that she was unaware of the video until she was contacted by the New York Times.

Once they were described to her in detail, she said she was “shocked” and “crushed.”

She said she had a “wonderful family” but that the Gosar children in the ad did not relate politically to Paul Gosar or herself: “I share the same philosophy and policies that Paul does. He’s done a hell of a job for Arizona, and they love him.”

Kavanaugh Is Only Worsening the GOP’s Gender Problem

September 23, 2018 at 11:33 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Republican Party’s fight to save President Trump’s embattled Supreme Court nominee amid allegations of sexual assault has surfaced deep anxieties over the hypermasculine mind-set that has come to define the GOP in the nation’s roiling gender debate,” the Washington Post reports.

“The images are striking: The specter of Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee — all 11 of them men — questioning federal Judge Brett A. Kavanaugh’s female accuser. A senior GOP aide working on the confirmation resigning amid his own sexual harassment allegations. A viral photo of ‘women for Kavanaugh’ featuring more men than women. A South Carolina Republican congressman making a crude joke about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg being groped by former president Abraham Lincoln.”

“And then there is the party’s id, Trump, who as a candidate denied more than a dozen accusations of sexual assault and harassment and sought to silence and retaliate against his accusers — and who as president has defended one accused man after another.”

For members: Republicans Are Backed Into a Corner Over Kavanaugh

McConnell Warned Trump That His Tweets Don’t Help

September 23, 2018 at 11:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

After President Trump tweeted criticism of Christine Blasey Ford for accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the president on Friday to say his tweets did not help, CNN reports.

Trump has not tweeted criticism of Ford since that phone call.

Democrats Lead In the Most Competitive House Districts

September 23, 2018 at 11:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new CBS Battleground Poll in the 61 most competitive House districts, most of which are currently held by Republicans, Democrats hold a four-point lead in the generic congressional ballot, 45% to 41%.

Graham Won’t Change His Mind on Kavanaugh

September 23, 2018 at 10:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said the testimony of Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser won’t change his mind, no matter what she says, Politico reports.

Said Graham: “You can’t bring it in a criminal court, you would never sue civilly, you couldn’t even get a warrant. What am I supposed to do? Go ahead and ruin this guy’s life based on an accusation? I don’t know when it happened, I don’t know where it happened, and everybody named in regard to being there said it didn’t happen.”

Kavanaugh’s Support Collapses Among Voters

September 23, 2018 at 10:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Fox News poll finds that just 40% of voters would confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, while 50% oppose him.

More voters believe Christine Blasey Ford’s claims of sexual assault than Kavanaugh’s denials by a 6-point margin, 36% vs. 30%. However, 34% are unsure who is telling the truth.

However, women are more likely to believe Ford by 10 points, and among suburban women that jumps to 17. Men side with her by just 1 point.

Democrats Open Wide Lead for Congress

September 23, 2018 at 10:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds Democrats hold a 12-point lead in congressional preference among registered voters, 52% to 40%, with nearly six-in-10 saying they’d like to see significant change in the direction President Trump has been leading the country.

Said GOP pollster Bill McInturff: Americans are hitting the brake in a midterm, and trying to send the signal that they’re not satisfied.”

Key finding: And by a 42% to 31% margin, voters say their message in November will be for more Democrats to serve as a check and balance to Trump and the congressional Republicans, instead of Republicans who will help Trump and the GOP pass their agenda.”

A new Fox News poll shows Democrats leading 49% to 42%.

Kavanaugh No Longer a Midterm Boon for Republicans

September 23, 2018 at 8:23 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “With Judge Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, tentatively scheduled to testify this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and many women furious over President Trump’s attacks on Dr. Blasey, a Supreme Court nomination that was once seen as a political winner in many conservative-leaning states could, instead, rouse female voters and independents who otherwise may have cared little about the confirmation fight.”

“Suburban women are pivotal in this year’s campaign and many of them were already tilting toward Democrats because of their contempt for President Trump. If Republicans are too harsh in their questioning of Dr. Blasey, they risk inviting an even greater backlash at the ballot box in an election where their House majority is in peril and their one-vote Senate majority is teetering.”

Quote of the Day

September 23, 2018 at 8:22 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Trump has completely destroyed the Republican Party. It is a terrible thing because it doesn’t give Americans an opportunity to vote on the issues. It’s either you’re for Trump or against Trump.”

— Former Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), quoted by The Hill.

Republicans Boot Their Problems Until After Midterms

September 23, 2018 at 8:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Congressional Republicans have found a solution to all their internal problems that plague their party: Delay them until after the midterms,” Politico reports.

“As the GOP fights to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are seeking to make as few political errors as possible before November. But they are setting up a lame duck that will be characterized by a race to replace Ryan, a government shutdown fight and brutal divisions on several long-shot pieces of legislation that will quickly morph into a nightmare for the party no matter the results of the elections.”

Bad News for Minnesota Republicans

September 23, 2018 at 8:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Mason-Dixon poll in Minnesota finds President Trump’s approval rating has dropped from 45% to 39%, while 56% disapprove of his handling of the job.

“In other results, Democrats are safely ahead of Republicans in nearly every major statewide race. Rep. Tim Walz (D) leads Jeff Johnson (R) by 9 points in the governor’s race, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) is up big over Jim Newberger (R), and Sen. Tina Smith (D) leads state Sen. Karin Housley (R) by 7 points.”

“The only real bright spot for Republicans? Doug Wardlow (R) is within striking distance of Rep. Keith Ellison (D) in the attorney general contest, though still trailing by 5 percentage points, with 18 percent undecided. That’s after Ellison was accused by an ex-girlfriend of domestic abuse, which he denies.”

Tentative Deal Reached for Thursday Hearing

September 22, 2018 at 8:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Senate Judiciary Committee and lawyers for the woman who has accused Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers reached a tentative agreement on Saturday for her to publicly testify on Thursday, an apparent breakthrough in halting negotiations,” the New York Times reports.

“After a brief call late on Saturday, the lawyers and aides to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the Republican chairman of the Judiciary Committee, planned to talk again Sunday morning to continue negotiations over the conditions of the testimony.”

“Negotiations could still falter over those details, which include who will question the woman, Christine Blasey Ford. But in tentatively agreeing to a Thursday hearing, Republicans made a significant concession that suggested they were working to ensure that the session occurred after several days of uncertainty.”

Democrat Leads for Iowa Governor

September 22, 2018 at 8:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll shows Fred Hubbell (D) leading Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) in the race for Iowa governor, 43% to 41%, with Libertarian Jake Porter at 7% and another 9% undecided.

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

September 22, 2018 at 6:24 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“My siblings who chose to film ads against me are all liberal Democrats who hate President Trump. These disgruntled Hillary supporters are related by blood to me but like leftists everywhere, they put political ideology before family. Stalin would be proud.”

— Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), on Twitter, responding to his six siblings featured in an advertisement for his Democratic opponent.