Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) “insists that he is not retiring from Congress, despite widespread speculation about the veteran lawmaker’s health and political future,” Politico reports.
“The 79-year-old Cochran appeared frail and at times disoriented during a brief hallway interview on Wednesday. He was unable to answer whether he would remain chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and at one point, needed a staffer to remind him where the Senate chamber is located.”
President Trump, ”in a personal phone call to a grieving military father, offered him $25,000 and said he would direct his staff to establish an online fundraiser for the family, but neither happened,” the Washington Post reports.
“Chris Baldridge, the father of Army Cpl. Dillon Baldridge, told The Washington Post that Trump called him at his home in Zebulon, N.C., a few weeks after his 22-year-old son and two fellow soldiers were gunned down by an Afghan police officer in a suspected insider attack June 10. Their phone conversation lasted about 15 minutes, Baldridge said, and centered for a time on the father’s struggle with the manner in which his son was killed.”
A new Quinnipiac poll in Virginia finds Ralph Northam (D) with a large lead over Ed Gillespie (R) in the race for governor, 53% to 39%.
Said pollster Peter Brown: “One number says it all. Northam’s 14-point lead among independent voters is all you need to know about the race to be Virginia’s next governor. The two major-party candidates do about the same among their respective party bases, but a candidate who carries independent voters by double-digits is almost always a winner.”
A new Fox News poll shows Northam leading by seven points, 49% to 42%.
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“Greg Pence, one of Mike Pence’s older brothers, has filed a tax document indicating he will seek the eastern Indiana congressional seat that the vice president and former governor represented for 12 years,” CBS News reports.
“As the vice president’s brother, he is likely the hands-down favorite to win in the overwhelmingly Republican district. He has a famous name, owns an antique business in the area and even bears a striking resemblance to his brother, with a close-cropped head of white hair.”
The New York Times reports that as recently as last week, fake news stories “were being promoted with prominent ads served by Google on PolitiFact and Snopes, fact-checking sites created precisely to dispel such falsehoods.”
“The fake news ads all worked the same way: They would display headlines at the top of the fact-checking sites that, once clicked, took readers to sites that mimicked the logos and page designs of legitimate publications. The fake stories began with headlines and large photos of the celebrities in question, but after a few sentences, they transitioned into an ad for an anti-aging skin cream.”
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“There will be no running for office of any kind for me.”
— Oprah Winfrey, on CBS This Morning.
Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) told Time that professional athletes who take a knee during the national anthem are breaking the law.
Said Moore: “It’s against the law, you know that? It was a act of Congress that every man stand and put their hand over their heart. That’s the law.”
For members: NFL Owners Choose Respect Over Trump’s Wishes
President Trump doubled down on his denial that he told the widow of a U.S. solider killed in Niger that her husband “knew what he signed up for,” The Hill reports.
“Speaking at the White House, Trump pushed back on details of his call with Army Sgt. La David Johnson’s widow that were provided by Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), who was in the car with the widow, Myeshia Johnson, during the conversation.”
Said Trump: “I didn’t say what that congresswoman said – didn’t say it at all — she knows it. I would like her to make the statement again because I did not say what she said.”
Speaker Paul Ryan’s press secretary told Axios that despite the bipartisan push behind the Alexander-Murray health bill, “The speaker does not see anything that changes his view that the Senate should keep its focus on repeal and replace of Obamacare.”
“This is a huge setback for the bill. Even if the measure can get 60 votes in the Senate, it still needs to pass the House. With Ryan against it, the odds of it passing aren’t looking good.”
“Russian senators have drawn up a list of five U.S.-based media outlets, including CNN, whose activities in Russia could be restricted in response to a requirement to have the American branch of Russia’s state-funded RT television channel register as a foreign agent,” the Moscow Times reports.
In a new campaign video, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “touts his record and makes clear he wants to run for a third term in 2018,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
Said Walker: “At the end of each day, after all of the miles and conversations, I can’t wait for the alarm to ring to see what opportunities tomorrow will bring. Are you with me?”
The mother of Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed in an ambush in Niger earlier this month, confirmed to the Washington Post that President Trump did disrespect her family, despite Trump’s insistence that remarks about a phone conversation he had with Johnson’s widow were “fabricated.”
Cowanda Jones-Johnson said that she was in the car during the call from the White House and that Trump “did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband.”
Her account is similar to that of Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), who was also in the car.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “is preparing to hold the chamber in session for more rigorous workweeks, including Fridays and possibly even weekends,” Politico reports.
“The Senate GOP discussed a more aggressive schedule at Tuesday’s party lunch and the majority of the conference agreed.”
“The Senate has come under criticisms from conservatives for its light workweeks, typically spanning from Monday evening to early Thursday afternoon. But without buy-in from his members, it’s been difficult to hold the chamber in open longer without facing the possibility of attendance problems and failed votes.”
A prominent exiled Russian oligarch told NBC News that he is “nearly certain” Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to collaborate with the Trump campaign, and that he believes a top Russian banker was not “acting on his own behalf” when he held a controversial meeting with Jared Kushner last December.
Longtime Putin rival Mikhail Khodorkovsky says he believes the likelihood that Putin “personally” tried to cooperate with the Trump campaign to affect the election is a “9 out of 10.”
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Two new polls from in New Jersey and Virginia show a significant segment of likely voters say President Trump is a factor in their choice for governor.
Many voters say they plan to send a message of disapproval to Trump and the Republican controlled Congress in their choice next month.
In New Jersey, Trump’s approval is just 31%. The survey found that 25% of voters say Trump is a factor in their vote for governor, and 18% say he is a “major factor.”
The polling average shows Phil Murphy (D) leading Kim Guadagno (R) by 17%.
In Virginia, Trump’s approval is just 33%. The survey found that 32% of likely voters say Trump is a factor in their vote for governor, and 20% say he is a “major factor.”
The polling average shows Ralph Northam (D) leading Ed Gillespie (R) by 4%.
An even more interesting question is whether a ‘Trump effect’ will be seen in local races around the country.
Several major corporations and trade groups secretly bankrolled a plush hideaway for lawmakers at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last year, according to records obtained by the Center for Public Integrity.
The groups funded a limited liability company called “Friends of the House 2016 LLC” which in turn, paid for the design and outfitting of an exclusive office, lounge and gathering space for Republican lawmakers and controlled access to the so-called “cloakroom.”
“The limited liability company effectively hid the corporations’ contributions from public view at a time when activist groups were pressuring companies to scale back giving to the Republican convention, and a few of the companies had publicly minimized their participation.”
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Reuters reports on the National Football League’s autumn meeting yesterday:
The NFL did not seek commitments from its players to stop kneeling during pregame renditions of the U.S. national anthem but rather focused on helping them in their political activism.
“We spent today talking about the issues that our players have been trying to bring attention to. About issues in our communities to make our communities better,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters.
Trump’s repeated denunciation of the players as unpatriotic for kneeling during the national anthem, which he reiterated as recently as Monday, has only made the practice more widespread.
What Trump doesn’t recognize is that kneeling is not disrespectful. It’s actually a sign of deep respect, as John Gruber notes, it’s seen every Sunday in church and in popular culture like “Game of Thrones.”
When Colin Kaepernick began his silent protests during the national anthem, he originally sat on the bench. Trump might have an argument if football players were sitting in protest. But when Kaepernick and his teammates switched to kneeling, it became a much more effective.
Eric Reid explained last year in the New York Times why he and Kaepernick began kneeling:
We chose to kneel because it’s a respectful gesture. I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy.
It baffles me that our protest is still being misconstrued as disrespectful to the country, flag and military personnel. We chose it because it’s exactly the opposite. It has always been my understanding that the brave men and women who fought and died for our country did so to ensure that we could live in a fair and free society, which includes the right to speak out in protest.
If Trump — or anyone else — objects to players kneeling during the national anthem, it’s because they are disturbed by something other than respect for the flag and patriotism.
“I quit worrying about his tweets — and I think some of the stuff he does is outrageous — but he has a larger vision of creativity. He intuits how he can polarize.”
— Newt Gingrich, quoted by the Washington Post, saying he has “come to see the value” of President Trump’s use of Twitter.
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.
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