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Interesting Exit Poll Result

December 12, 2017 at 6:49 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump’s approval in the early Alabama exit polls is very interesting: 48% approve, 48% disapprove. Trump won Alabama in the 2016 presidential election with 62%.

But what’s even more interesting is the intensity: 32% strongly approve, 41% strongly disapprove.

Nate Silver: “From the tidbits the networks have released, it’s fair to characterize the exit polls — showing Trump’s approval rating only breakeven, a relatively high proportion of nonwhite voters, and a relatively narrow gap between Democratic and Republican turnout — as containing mostly favorable news for Jones. In general, these numbers are more consistent with the pre-election polls that had shown Jones tied or ahead, and not the ones that had Moore winning.”

McConnell Will Press Ethics Investigation If Moore Wins

December 12, 2017 at 4:49 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “is privately telling colleagues he will not back off of an ethics investigation if Roy Moore (R) is elected,” CNN reports.

“Senate Republicans plan to convene a meeting Wednesday morning to discuss their next steps if Moore wins the race.”

GOP Lawmaker Says Mueller Probe Is ‘Infected’

December 12, 2017 at 4:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who has said that the country is at risk of a “coup d’etat” by special counsel Robert Mueller. says he warned President Trump personally last week that Mueller’s Russia investigation is “infected with bias” against the president, Politico reports.

“Gaetz said he stopped short of encouraging Trump to fire Mueller, though he has recommended that step repeatedly in public statements.”

Lawmaker Won’t Resign Over Sexual Assault Allegations

December 12, 2017 at 3:07 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Although leaders from both political parties called on him to resign, Kentucky Rep. Dan Johnson (R) said that an allegation he sexually assaulted a teenage girl four years ago “absolutely has no merit,” WLKY reports.

Johnson is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at a New Year’s Eve party while he was acting as her preacher.

The alleged victim detailed her story to Louisiana Public Media.

Grassley Says Trump Should Reconsider Two Judicial Picks

December 12, 2017 at 2:53 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) issued a rare rebuke of two of President Trump’s most controversial judicial nominees, telling CNN the White House should rethink the picks.

Grassley said that he is advising the White House to “reconsider” the nomination of Jeff Mateer, who was selected to become a federal judge in Texas. He said the White House “should not proceed” on the nomination of Brett Talley, whom Trump picked to become a federal judge in Alabama.

Said Grassley: “I would advise the White House not to proceed.”

Alabama Can Destroy Digital Voting Records

December 12, 2017 at 2:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Alabama is allowed to destroy digital voting records created at the polls during today’s U.S. Senate election after all,” the Birmingham News reports.

“By granting the stay, the court effectively told the state that it does not in fact have to preserve the digital ballot images – essentially digitized versions of the paper ballots voters fill out at the voting booth – created today.”

Rick Hasen: “It is very disturbing because the AL Supreme Court’s order effectively decides the case. The ballot images will be destroyed, even if plaintiffs ultimately win on the merits weeks later. Goes against principles of preserving the status quo.”

How Democrats Are (Quietly) Getting Out the Vote

December 12, 2017 at 2:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “With only hours until the polls open on Tuesday in this unlikeliest of battleground states, Democrats are deploying a sprawling, multimillion-dollar get-out-the-vote operation in an effort to steal away a Senate seat and reduce the Republican majority to a single vote.”

“A constellation of liberal groups outside the state has showered money and manpower on turnout efforts aimed at helping Mr. Jones. But they are working discreetly, hoping to avoid the appearance of trying to dictate whom Alabamians should support.”

Ex-Facebook Exec Says Social Media Is Ripping Us Apart

December 12, 2017 at 2:33 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Chamath Palihapitiya, who joined Facebook in 2007 and became its vice president for user growth, said he feels “tremendous guilt” about the company he helped make, The Verge reports.

Said Palihapitiya: “I think we have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.”

He added: “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops we’ve created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation; misinformation, mistruth. And it’s not an American problem — this is not about Russians ads. This is a global problem.”

Voters Have Few Kind Words for Trump

December 12, 2017 at 1:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Quinnipiac poll finds President Trump’s approval rate is a dismal 37% to 57%.

In an open ended question asking for the right word for Trump, voters are overwhelmingly negative with the most popular word being “idiot,” followed by “liar” and “incompetent.”

Said pollster Tim Malloy: “President Trump is known for hurling insults and he’s getting slammed right back.”

Quote of the Day

December 12, 2017 at 1:21 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“It’s a much more poisonous atmosphere. I don’t know if there’s causality or correlation, I leave that for others to determine. But I could not honestly say to someone that I like and think is a halfway decent human being, ‘Yeah, you ought to run for office’.”

— Ed Gillespie, quoted by the Washington Post, in his first interview after losing the Virginia gubernatorial race.

Another Senator Calls on Trump to Resign

December 12, 2017 at 1:13 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) told NBC News that President Trump is a “misogynist,” “admitted sexual predator” and “liar” with a “narcissistic need for attention.”

She added: “The only thing that will stop him from attacking us — because nobody’s safe — is his resignation.”

Big Majority Think Moore Should Be Kicked Out of Senate

December 12, 2017 at 1:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds that 61% of voters — including a plurality of Republicans — think the U.S. Senate should expel the embattled Roy Moore (R) if he wins election today in Alabama.

That includes 77% of Democrats, 59% of independents and 45% of Republicans.

GOP Tax Bill Will Likely Explode Deficit Beyond Estimates

December 12, 2017 at 9:22 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Chait: “Why would the tax cuts lose even more revenue than forecast? Because the design is a sieve. Thirteen top tax lawyers studied the House and Senate versions of the tax cuts, and produced a 35-page analysis laying out the various loopholes and games the bill would open up. It is shot through with opportunities for individuals and businesses to make paper changes that would create opportunities for huge savings. Listing all the dodges they found would be as boring as — well, a list of financial maneuvers written by a bunch of tax lawyers. The upshot is that it’s a big list.”

Baker Backs Democrat In Alabama

December 12, 2017 at 9:18 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) told WBUR that he supports the Democrat running for U.S. Senate in Alabama against Roy Moore.

Said Baker: “I certainly don’t want to see Roy Moore win. That means, obviously, that I would be supporting the alternative.”

Alabama Turnout Could Be Much Higher Than Expected

December 12, 2017 at 8:46 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

First Read: “New data provided to NBC News puts the universe of registered voters at 3,326,812 ahead of a hotly contested special Senate election on Tuesday in Alabama. Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, has already increased his turnout prediction from 18 to 20 percent last month now to upwards of 25 percent, reflecting the degree to which interest in the contest between Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones locally is catching up with national attention.”

“But as local election officials prepared for polls to open Tuesday there were indications that turnout could be even higher still, approaching levels in some cases typically seen in midterm general elections. And neither party is willing to suggest what that says about the final outcome.”

Polling places in Alabama close at 8:00 pm ET.

Why Alabama Polls Aren’t Much Help

December 12, 2017 at 8:43 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Nate Cohn: “The Alabama special election is forcing pollsters to confront just about every major challenge in survey research. There’s more uncertainty than usual about who will turn out to vote, and a candidate whose unpopularity may make his committed voters unwilling to admit their support to a pollster. And looming over it all is a big chunk of voters torn between their party and their misgivings about their party’s nominee. No poll can really predict what they’ll do.”

‘He Is Displaying Signs of Degenerative Brain Disorder’

December 12, 2017 at 8:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ford Vox: “When President Trump slurred his words during a news conference this week, some Trump watchers speculated that he was having a stroke. I watched the clip and, as a physician who specializes in brain function and disability, I don’t think a stroke was behind the slurred words. But having evaluated the chief executive’s remarkable behavior through my clinical lens for almost a year, I do believe he is displaying signs that could indicate a degenerative brain disorder.”

“As the president’s demeanor and unusual decisions raise the potential for military conflict in two regions of the world, the questions surrounding his mental competence have become urgent and demand investigation.”

Inside Trump’s Legal Team

December 12, 2017 at 8:07 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “When Mueller requests documents, they provide them. When Trump reacts to new twists in the Russia saga, they seek to calm him down. When he has questions about the law, such as the Logan Act or Magnitsky Act, they explain it. And when the president frets that Mueller may be getting too close to him, they assure him he has done nothing wrong, urge him to resist attacking the special counsel and insist that the investigation is wrapping up — first, they said, by Thanksgiving, then by Christmas and now by early next year.”

“As counsel for the world’s highest-profile client, every move and utterance by Dowd and Cobb has been scrutinized — and the criticism has been unkind.”

“Many in the Washington legal community chide them as being indiscreet, error-prone and outmatched. They say public blunders — such as Dowd and Cobb casually chatting about their legal strategy on the patio of a downtown Washington steakhouse in September within earshot of a reporter — suggest a lack of discipline.”