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Chief of Staff In Name Only

July 30, 2018 at 7:14 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “A year into the job, Kelly’s attempts to implement traditional processes in an untraditional White House have failed, according to a dozen people in and outside the administration — though virtually all concede the West Wing runs better than it used to. Kelly’s allies say he took the job out of a sense of duty, and he has suggested he doesn’t enjoy it much. … Early mornings in the office have been supplanted by sweat sessions at the gym.”

“Many of Trump’s friends and advisers have concluded the president doesn’t really want a chief of staff — and he has several confidants urging him to operate without one. But for this president, keeping Kelly around offers the best of both worlds: somebody to blame when things go awry but nobody fettering his freedom of action.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

July 29, 2018 at 11:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I’m now 85. My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five more years.”

— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, quoted by CNN.

Potential 2020 Candidates Jockey for Money

July 29, 2018 at 9:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Democrats preparing presidential runs in 2020 are waging aggressive fundraising campaigns this year, meeting with wealthy donors over private meals and spending millions of dollars to build up their online donor networks,” the Washington Post reports.

“The early jockeying reflects concern that the sheer number of interested candidates will create a fundraising bottleneck in early 2019, possibly narrowing the field before the first debate for those candidates who can’t raise enough money to continue.”

“More than two dozen people are in the process of exploring campaigns to take out President Trump, but only a handful have the relationships with wealthy donors, significant personal wealth or small-dollar fundraising apparatus to raise the early money needed to mount a traditional campaign.”


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GOP Candidates Are Not Touting the Economy

July 29, 2018 at 3:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “A Wesleyan Media Project analysis of national advertising data from Kantar Media/CMAG also shows Republicans are rarely bragging to voters about the economy’s strength.”

“Republicans have reason to doubt the efficacy of an economic message in hotly contested midterm campaigns, which have historically been referendums on the sitting president. The last time the economy grew 4 percent in a quarter was in the middle of 2014, under President Barack Obama, just before Senate Democrats lost nine seats — and their majority — that fall.”

“For their part, Democrats are weaponizing the tax law — which is mired in only middling popularity — against Republican opponents in some key races. Their critiques have been fed by government statistics showing that wages for typical American workers have not risen over the past year, after adjusting for inflation, even though Republicans promised the tax cuts would unleash rapid wage growth.”

Russia Liquidated Nearly All of Its U.S. Treasury Securities

July 29, 2018 at 2:56 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Russian government has sold off the vast majority of its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities for reasons that remain mysterious, in a dramatic move that experts are calling unprecedented,” the Daily Mail reports.

“A U.S. Treasury report released on July 18 shows that Russian holdings of Treasury securities declined by 84% between March and May, down to just $14.9 billion from March holdings of $96.1 billion.”

Complaint Says NRA Illegally Coordinated with Campaigns

July 29, 2018 at 1:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission alleges the National Rifle Association violated U.S. law by using a common vendor to illegally coordinate with Sen. Ron Johnson’s (R-WI) 2016 campaign as well as the campaigns of Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) in 2014, the Wisconsin Gazette reports.

The complaint says GOP consulting firm OnMessage “set up a shell corporation called Starboard. The corporation was located at the same site as OnMessage and was virtually indistinguishable from its parent firm. Starboard’s apparent purpose was to help the NRA evade FEC rules.”

“As a result, the NRA may have made millions in illegal and excessive in-kind contributions.”

Koch Network Says Trump Is Causing ‘Long-Term Damage’

July 29, 2018 at 1:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The influential conservative Koch network opened up their summer meeting with an emphasis on bipartisanship while also delivering sharp critiques of President Trump and his administration,” CNN reports.

Said network co-chair Brian Hooks: “The divisiveness of this White House is causing long-term damage.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

July 29, 2018 at 1:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I’m what they call a radical centrist.”

— Former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, in a CNN interview.

How Email Could Undo GOP Gerrymandering

July 29, 2018 at 1:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Slate: “The master Republican mapmaker Tom Hofeller is among the visionaries who understood how sophisticated new GIS software and powerful new data sets provided an opportunity for the GOP to gerrymander itself decadelong advantages in the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures nationwide. Hofeller trains state legislators and junior line-drawers, however, with a PowerPoint so old-school that it looks like it might have been designed on a Commodore 64. There are no special effects to clutter Hofeller’s most important laws of redistricting: Avoid recklessness. Always be discreet. Avoid email.”

Said Hoefeller: “Emails are the tools of the devil. Remember — A journey to legal hell starts with but a single misstatement or a stupid email!”

“Time and again, Hofeller’s political allies have failed to heed his advice. The most recent example: newly disclosed emails—part of a federal court challenge to the constitutionality of the Michigan map by the League of Women Voters—that reveal just how determined GOP operatives, mapmakers, and congressional staffers were to design maps that would provide Republicans with a full decade of dominance.”

Russia Probe Makes Half of GOP Want to Defend Trump

July 29, 2018 at 12:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new CBS News poll finds that 49% of Republicans say that hearing criticisms of President Trump on the Russia investigation only makes them want to defend him more. Another 42% say they want to wait to see what the facts show.

Seventy percent of Republicans call the Russia investigation a “witch hunt,” while 77% of Democrats call it a “critical” matter of national security.

Eric Holder Wants to Be President

July 29, 2018 at 11:20 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

CNN: “Holder’s travels have taken him to Arizona, Indiana and Ohio for state Democratic Party dinners, as well as Florida, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and Georgia for events and meetings with local activists. Holder’s meetings generally focus on combating gerrymandering, his cause célèbre since leaving the Obama administration, but his events are often peppered with politics and — invariably — comments about his future.”

Female Fundraisers Are Powering Women Candidates

July 29, 2018 at 11:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It’s one of the defining stories of the midterms: An explosion of Democratic women running for office in record numbers and outperforming male rivals in primaries, potentially reshaping the party for years to come,” NBC News reports.

“Behind the scenes, Democratic women are looking to fuel the trend by expanding their reach within another historically male-dominated field: Political fundraising.”

“Over several cycles, donors have helped lay the groundwork for a national network of women’s ‘giving circles,’ an informal organization in which mostly upscale members pledge a minimum amount of cash toward candidates for an election cycle. The model is adapted from the philanthropy world, where similar groups pool together charitable donations.”

A Warm-Up for 2020

July 29, 2018 at 11:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Atlanta Journal Constitution: “The race for governor between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp is a warm-up for the 2020 presidential election and a historic test of whether Georgia is a battleground state in President Trump’s bid for a second term.”

“The duel between the two longtime rivals is poised to attract tens of millions of additional dollars, visits from a constellation of political stars and even more attention from national media casting the race as a litmus test for the presidential contest over the next 100 days.”

“The candidates have little choice but to nationalize the race. Kemp won a landslide victory over Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle last week thanks to Trump’s endorsement, and the president and other leading GOP figures have a direct stake in making sure Kemp prevails in November.”

Trump Threatens to Shut Down Government

July 29, 2018 at 10:15 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump “threatened to shut down the federal government if Congress does not pass sweeping changes to immigration laws, including appropriating more public money to build his long-promised border wall,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump’s threat raises the stakes ahead of a Sept. 30 government funding deadline, a political showdown before the November midterms that Republican congressional leaders had hoped to avoid.”

Playbook: “Republican leaders have been telling us for months that they think they’ve convinced Trump a shutdown is a bad idea. Clearly they have not. In fact, Trump seems to be broadening his demands. He is signaling he’ll demand immigration changes as part of the government funding bill. Government funding runs out 37 days before Election Day.”

“Some in Trump’s universe believe a shutdown would be a good base-rallying tactic.”

Quote of the Day

July 29, 2018 at 10:14 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I think the whole thing has gotten confused, quite frankly. Americans turn on the TV every day and, regardless of what channel or where they go to look for news online or in print, it’s constantly something else seems to be the story.”

— Sen. James Landford (R-OK), talking to ABC News about the Mueller investigation.

Trump Golf Resort Destroyed Special Nature Site

July 29, 2018 at 10:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

One of President Trump’s Scottish golf resorts has “partially destroyed” the special nature site on which it was built, the Observer reports.

“Normally the site’s conservation status would have prevented any significant development. But Trump said that, if he was refused permission to develop… he would withdraw from the entire scheme. He also claimed that, when completed, the land there would be ‘environmentally enhanced and better than it was before.’ The Trump Organization said last year its environmental approach to the course had been ‘first class'”

Trump Claims Higher Poll Numbers Than Abraham Lincoln

July 29, 2018 at 9:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump falsely claimed that he has the “highest poll numbers in the history of the Republican Party.”

He added: “That includes Honest Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. There must be something wrong, please recheck that poll!”

Trump’s other tweets this morning included jabs at Michael Cohen and threats to shutdown down the government if Congress does not meet to his immigration demands.

DNC Acquires Voter Cell Phone Numbers

July 29, 2018 at 9:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

An internal memo says the DNC has reached out to 30 million voters so far and acquired 94 million cell phone numbers of registered voters ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Axios: “There are only 100 days until the election. Reaching voters where they are —on cell phones, not landlines — and connecting with new voters will be crucial to Democrats’ efforts in November and looking ahead to the 2020 presidential election.”

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

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