Political Wire

Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!


The Public Shaming of Public Officials

By Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Anger and division in American politics are creating a rising phenomenon: the public shaming and shunning of political figures while they are going about their private lives.”

“Few laws expressly prohibit a business from refusing service to a customer because of political views. Civil rights lawyers said that while there have been many cases in recent history involving establishments barring black people, women or members of the LGBT community, shunning people for their political ideology or affiliation has been relatively uncommon.”

“Until now. And in a time of intense political division, social media is magnifying the confrontations.”

Stormy Daniels to Meet with Federal Prosecutors

By Leave a Comment

“Stormy Daniels is scheduled Monday to be interviewed by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, preparing for a potential grand jury appearance about a $130,000 payment from President Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump,” the Washington Post reports.

“Cohen is under federal investigation for possible campaign finance violations as well as bank and wire fraud. An FBI raid of his New York law office and home included a search for records related to the Daniels payment.”

Erdogan Claims Victory In Turkey

By Leave a Comment

“President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey claimed victory on Sunday in the country’s presidential election, sending tremors that will be felt not just in Turkey but in Western and regional capitals — if it holds up,” the New York Times reports.

“The official results showed him with just under 53 percent of the vote, enough to spare him from going to a second round against his nearest challenger, Muharrem Ince.”

BBC: “Under Turkey’s new constitution, due to come into force after the election, the president will hold considerable power.”


You're reading the free version of Political Wire

Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.




What Republicans Are Watching Ahead of the Midterms

By Leave a Comment

A source close to GOP leadership emails Jonathan Swan: “Only thing that matters now is a) how bad they get crushed on ACA premium increases; b) the final Mueller verdict; and c) how crazy Trump gets with the CR.”

“Republicans are worried about the potential for health insurance premiums to skyrocket in September, shortly before the midterms. Democrats are seizing on health care as their number one issue. Senior Democratic sources say their polling shows voters are now blaming their dissatisfaction with health care on the party that controls the House, Senate and White House rather than the party that implemented the Affordable Care Act.”

“The final Mueller verdict speaks for itself: it would take a new revelation of the most explosive kind to persuade any Republican senators to vote to impeach Trump.”

“And the CR — or continuing resolution — refers to the government spending bill that’s due to expire at the end of September. The unanswerable question is whether Trump decides to shut down the federal government if Congress doesn’t give him enough money to build his wall (spoiler: it won’t).”

Flake Says He’ll Hold Up Nominations Over Tariffs

By Leave a Comment

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) warned that he and a “number of senators,” are prepared to block President Trump’s judicial nominees if there is no action in the Senate on tariffs and other key issues, CNN reports.

Said Flake: “I do think that unless we can actually exercise something other than just approving the President’s executive calendar, his nominees, judges, that we have no reason to be there. So I think myself and a number of Senators, at least a few of us, will stand up and say let’s not move any more judges until we get a vote, for example, on tariffs.”

Obama Memoirs Flood Bookstores

By Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Nearly a year and a half after Mr. Obama left office, his team is back in the arena, or at least in the bookstores, with a blitz of roughly two dozen memoirs of their time in the White House, telling tales, settling scores, justifying mistakes, selling nostalgia, setting the record straight, attacking successors and spinning history.”

“Everyone who ever spent even a few minutes with Mr. Obama, it seems, has penned a volume of reminiscences, postcards from a less head-spinning era. The authors include his top foreign policy advisers, his communications gurus, his intelligence chief, his photographer and even the stenographer who recorded his every public utterance. All of that before the former president and first lady weigh in with their own well-compensated autobiographies.”

Pruitt Discussed Hiring Friend of Lobbyist Landlord

By Leave a Comment

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “discussed hiring a friend of a lobbyist family that owned a condominium he was renting for $50 a night, newly released emails suggest,” the New York Times reports.

“The files also show communications involving the lobbyist’s client interests that have not previously been disclosed, suggesting a closer relationship between the lobbyist, J. Steven Hart, and the agency than previously known.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

By Leave a Comment

“If you get me one more glass of wine, I’ll tell you stuff only Bob Mueller and I know. If you think you’ve seen wild stuff so far, buckle up. It’s going to be a wild couple of months.”

— Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), quoted by Politico, a dinner Friday night for more than 100 guests at his house on Martha’s Vineyard.

Trump Wants to Deprive Migrants of Due-Process Rights

By Leave a Comment

President Trump “explicitly advocated depriving undocumented immigrants of their due-process rights, arguing that people who cross the border into the United States illegally must immediately be deported without trial — and sowing more confusion among Republicans ahead of a planned immigration vote this week,” the Washington Post reports.

“In a pair of tweets sent during his drive to his Virginia golf course, Trump described immigrants as invaders and wrote that U.S. immigration laws are ‘a mockery’ and must be changed to take away trial rights from undocumented migrants.”

A Better Way to Fight Trump’s Tariffs?

By Leave a Comment

Business Insider: “Op-eds in The Houston Chronicle and the Canadian news magazine Maclean’s suggested the only way to quell the rising trade tensions is to strike at Trump’s businesses. While some countries, such as China, have appeared to try and sway the president through treating his family’s businesses more favorably, countries have not made moves to curtail the businesses’ activity within their borders.”

Quote of the Day

By Leave a Comment

“Unfortunately, yes … you can’t, as a Republican these days, stand in opposition to some of the president’s policies or not condone his behavior and expect to win a Republican primary.”

— Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), in an interview with ABC News, on whether President Trump has “redefined” the Republican party.

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.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.