“The Anti-Defamation League is reporting a 57 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. last year, the highest tally that the Jewish civil rights group has counted in more than two decades,” the AP reports.
The Assault on Intelligence
Coming in May: The Assault on Intelligence: American National Security in an Age of Lies by Gen. Michael Hayden.
From the introduction: “There is no effort here to build a case for or against collusion. But whatever emerges from Robert Mueller’s investigation, it should not obscure the bigger story, which is still not adequately understood, and which is in a way this book’s climactic case study, namely that Russia has been actively seeking to damage the fabric of American democracy and that the Trump Administration’s glandular aversion to even looking at this squarely, much less mounting a concerted response to it, is an appalling national security lapse.”
“Indeed, there is clear evidence of what I would call convergence, the convergence of a mutually reinforcing swirl of Presidential tweets and statements, Russian influenced social media, alt right websites and talk radio, Russian ‘white’ press like RT and even mainstream U.S. media like Fox News—all of whom do things for their own purposes, but all of which fits nicely with Russian purposes to sharpen and sustain divisions here.”
How Republicans Can Win in November
Politico: “As dire as the situation seems for Republicans, the elements of a skin-of-their-teeth escape are coming into focus. Beginning in late December, both the generic congressional ballot and Trump’s approval ratings began ticking upward. These numbers, apparent across almost all polls, were enough to curtail growing talk of a Democratic wave election on the horizon.”
“The snapback in the polls may be short-lived. Over the past two weeks, the generic ballot numbers have moved slightly in a Democratic direction. The Republican uptick in the polls could represent a sign that the president and his party are beginning to get credit for the economy and tax cuts, or it could be simply a dead cat bounce. Either way, if the party can keep the generic ballot deficit under about 9 percentage points and the president’s approval ratings can remain in the mid-40s, the GOP is in the range of where it needs to be to have a fighting chance of holding its House majority.”
Housing Official Rejected Carson’s Office Redecoration
The Guardian: “A senior career official in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has alleged that she was demoted and replaced with a Donald Trump appointee after refusing to break the law by funding an expensive redecoration of Ben Carson’s office.”
“Helen Foster said she was told ‘$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair’ after informing her bosses this was the legal price limit for improvements to the HUD secretary’s suite at the department’s Washington headquarters.”
Democrats Plan to Challenge Trump on National Security
“Voters were undeterred by the 2016 cries of alarm from Democrats — and some Republicans — that Donald Trump was unqualified to be commander in chief, but a group of Democrats is betting Trump’s record in office will push national security issues to the fore in the 2018 midterms and the next presidential election,” the Washington Post reports.
“A group of mostly young veterans of the Barack Obama administration and the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign is launching a national security political strike force aimed at countering Trump and Republicans.”
GOP Worries Sexting Scandal Could Cost a House Seat
“Republicans are fretting that a front-runner for an Arizona congressional seat — a married minister involved in a sexting scandal — will pull a Roy Moore and hand the seat to Democrats if he wins Tuesday’s special-election primary,” Politico reports.
“The seat vacated by former GOP Rep. Trent Franks — who resigned last December over his own sex scandal — should be an easy hold for Republicans.”
“But a bombshell report of nude photos and text messages exchanged between the candidate, former state Sen. Steve Montenegro, and a legislative staffer — published just a week before the election — has left GOP operatives worried that ‘it could be Alabama all over again,’ said Shiree Verdone, who ran Arizona Sen. John McCain’s 2010 Senate race.”
Walker Sued for Not Calling Special Elections
“A group led by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder sued Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) over his refusal to call special elections to fill two open legislative seats,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
“Fresh off a victory in a Senate special election last month, Wisconsin Democrats have demanded that Walker call these two additional special elections and give their party an opportunity to notch more wins.”
“With Democrats seeing an opportunity — and Republicans seeing a threat — the controversy over the special election has taken on a strong political cast.”
Missouri Launches Impeachment Probe
“In a historic decision, the Missouri House formally launched an investigation Monday that could lead to the impeachment and ouster of Gov. Eric Greitens (R),” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
“House Speaker Todd Richardson (R) named seven members to a special committee that will lead the unprecedented probe of a Missouri chief executive.”
Coffman Trails In Colorado
A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Jason Crow (D) leading Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) in Colorado’s 6th congressional district, 44% to 39%.
Colorado Pols: “Coffman supporters are furiously trying to downplay these numbers based on polling metrics, sample size, yada yada yada. But any complaints about this particular poll should not overshadow one important note: This is the first public poll we can recall showing anyone leading Coffman since he was first elected in 2008.”
Millions Won’t Have Health Insurance Next Year
A new Urban Institute report finds that by 2019, 6.4 million fewer Americans are expected to have health insurance as a result of the GOP’s decision to get rid of the individual health care mandate and other policy changes made by President Trump.
Axios: “The report is the first serious study to analyze the combined effects of several major health policy changes made under the Trump administration. Note that the effect is far off from what we’d see under a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, but represents the real-world significance of the pieces they were able to kill.”
Wicker Gets a Primary Challenge
Chris McDaniel (R) is expected to announce later this week that he will wage a 2018 primary challenge against Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), Politico reports.
“McDaniel’s plans have been the subject of speculation for months. With the 80-year-old Sen. Thad Cochran’s (R-MS) health in decline, many believed that McDaniel would run for the seat should it become vacant.”
Most Say Media Treats Trump Fairly
A new Harvard CAPS-Harris survey finds that 54% believe that the mainstream media treats President Trump fairly.
However, there is a big split bust on political identification. Nearly 80% of Republicans say the media is unfair to Trump, while 84% of Democrats and 55% of independents believe the president gets a fair shake from the press.
On the flip side, 59% say Trump treats the mainstream media unfairly.
2018 Is Shaping Up as a Mirror Image to 2010
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Democrats Open Huge Lead In Generic Ballot
A new CNN/SRSS poll finds Democrats leading Republicans in the generic congressional ballot by a large margin, 54% to 38%.
Also important: “Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents remain more enthusiastic about voting this fall than Republicans and Republican-leaners. Overall, 51% of that Democratic base say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting in November compared with 41% of the Republican base.”
Washington Governor Challenges Trump at White House
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) confronted President Trump over his proposal to arm educators in order to prevent future school shootings, The Hill reports.
Inslee stood and objected when Trump raised the controversial idea: “We need a little less tweeting, a little more listening.”
Trump crossed his arms and changed the subject.
Trump Says He Would Have Confronted Shooter
President Trump claimed he would have run into a Florida high school to prevent a gunman from carrying out this month’s mass shooting, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.”
New Pennsylvania Map Better for Democrats than 500 Simulations
Nate Cohn: “The Republican-drawn map was an extreme outlier compared with the simulations made by Jowei Chen of the University of Michigan, who has provided expert testimony in many redistricting cases. None of the simulations favored Republicans by anywhere near as much as the congressional map enacted in 2011, which gave the Republicans a 13-to-5 advantage. And partly on that basis, the court ruled that the map violated the state’s constitution.”
“But what about the remedial map recently adopted by the court? It is not an outlier to the same extent as the Republican-drawn map. But if you look at what 2016 statewide results would have been with the new map, the overall Democratic performance arguably would have been better than in all 500 of Mr. Chen’s simulations.
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Trump Challenge on DACA
“The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a blow to the Trump administration by refusing to hear the government’s challenge to a lower court ruling that has temporarily blocked the administration from winding down the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,” The Hill reports.
Washington Post: “Federal district court judges in California and New York have issued nationwide injunctions against ending the program, siding with states and organizations challenging the administration’s rescission. The court orders effectively block the Trump administration from ending the program on March 5, as planned.”
Axios: “The decision essentially makes the March 5th deadline meaningless, and there will be much less incentive for lawmakers to reach an agreement soon. Until a final decision on the case, which experts say isn’t expected for another year, current DACA recipients will be able to continue to renew their DACA protections.”
