A new University of Mary Washington poll in Virginia shows Sen. Tim Kaine (D) leading challenger Corey Stewart (R) by a wide margin, 49% to 30%.
Key finding: “Although 73% of Republican respondents said they’d vote for Stewart, 15% of Republicans favored Kaine — a reflection of the deep divisions among Virginia Republicans over Stewart.”
A new Goucher Poll in Maryland finds that likely voters favor Gov. Larry Hogan (R) over challenger Ben Jealous (D) by a margin of 54% to 32%.
Key finding: “In addition to Hogan securing his Republican base by large margins, the poll found he had the support of 38 percent of Maryland Democrats, who outnumber GOP voters in the state by more than 2 to 1.”
President Trump said that he regrets not firing FBI Director James Comey sooner, “asserting that he should have done so while still a candidate for president — an option that was not actually available to him,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Trump: “If I did one mistake with Comey, I should have fired him before I got here. I should have fired him right after the convention, say I don’t want that guy. Or at least fired him the first day on the job. … I would have been better off firing him or putting out a statement that I don’t want him there when I get there.”
NBC News: “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he plans to shut down his country’s nuclear complex, halt missile testing and cease hostile acts toward South Korea as part of a new agreement unveiled Wednesday. The pact unveiled during a joint news conference held at the end of a two-day meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang also includes plans for the countries to host the Summer Olympics in 2032.”
But the New York Times cautions: “The offers Mr. Kim made on Wednesday … indicated that he was willing to curtail his country’s ability to produce more nuclear warheads and ICBMs. But they say little about what he will do with his existing arsenal. Mr. Kim’s ultimate goal, analysts say, is to make the Trump administration complacent enough about the recent détente to ease sanctions in return for a mere freeze — not the dismantlement — of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs.”
President Trump launched one of his most ferocious broadsides to date against Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an interview with The Hill.
Said Trump: “I don’t have an Attorney General. It’s very sad.”
He added: “I’m so sad over Jeff Sessions because he came to me. He was the first Senator that endorsed me. And he wanted to be Attorney General, and I didn’t see it. And then he went through the nominating process and he did very poorly. I mean, he was mixed up and confused.”
However, Trump wouldn’t say if he might fire Sessions: “We’ll see what happens. A lot of people have asked me to do that. And I guess I study history, and I say I just want to leave things alone, but it was very unfair what he did. And my worst enemies, I mean, people that, you know, are on the other side of me, in a lot of ways including politically, have said that was a very unfair thing he did.”
He concluded: “We’ll see how it goes with Jeff. I’m very disappointed in Jeff. Very disappointed.”
“Voters elected political newcomer Pete Flores (R) to the Texas Senate on Tuesday, flipping a Democratic district red for the first time in 139 years and bolstering Republicans’ supermajority in the chamber ahead of the November elections,” the San Antonio Express-News reports.
Texas Tribune: “Flores’ victory grows the Senate GOP majority to 21 members, an important figure as the caucus enters the November elections looking to protect its supermajority with as many as three of its seats in play. Currently Republicans need a three-fifths majority — 19 members — to bring legislation to the floor without Democratic support.”
“The Supreme Court is one of the main reasons I got elected President. I hope Republican Voters, and others, are watching, and studying, the Democrats Playbook.”
— President Trump, on Twitter.
Playbook: “All of a sudden, out of seemingly nowhere, it seems like Republicans are gently steering Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination back on track.”
“Republicans and Democrats are at a stalemate. Senate Republicans offered Christine Blasey Ford the chance to testify publicly or privately, but her lawyer said that first the FBI should investigate the three-decade-old sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh.”
“Republicans will insist they were reasonable, and Kavanaugh’s fate will be in the hands of Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The more time that goes by without her testifying, the more likely it is that Kavanaugh will be confirmed.”
Hillary Clinton predicted Tuesday that President Trump will “wholesale fire people” in the White House and become increasingly unaccountable, if Democrats don’t check his power by winning a majority of seats in the House or Senate in the November midterm elections, NBC News reports.
“The congressional seat was supposed to be the easiest of Democratic pickups. Hillary Clinton carried the Miami-based 27th District by nearly 20 percentage points just two years ago. Donna Shalala, the Democratic nominee, was a well-known, former Cabinet secretary with a talent for raising money,” Politico reports.
“But now local Democrats are dismayed as Shalala is struggling to put away her Republican rival, a popular former Spanish-language television newswoman named Maria Elvira Salazar.”
”According to internal polls from both campaigns obtained by Politico, Salazar is either ahead — or just narrowly trailing — Shalala.”
“Eight races will help determine if the ‘blue wave’ will be strong enough to live up to the hype, allowing Democrats to wipe out the GOP in the House and possibly even win the Senate,” Axios reports.
“If it’s a truly strong wave, we’ll know not just from the high-profile races, but from lesser-known ones that would only be competitive if Democrats are winning everywhere.”
New York Times: The five battlefields for control of the House.
“All I can say is that we’re bringing this to a close. They’ve had tons of time to do this. This has been a drive-by shooting when it comes to Kavanaugh. I’ll listen to the lady, but we’re going to bring this to a close.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by the Washington Post, on the sexual assault allegations made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) “is pressing forward with a hearing scheduled for Monday after a woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault called for the FBI to investigate her claims before she testifies,” The Hill reports.
Grassley said there was “no reason” to delay the hearing.
Said Grassley: “Dr. Ford’s testimony would reflect her personal knowledge and memory of events. Nothing the FBI or any other investigator does would have any bearing on what Dr. Ford tells the committee, so there is no reason for any further delay.”
In a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA), lawyers for Christine Blasey Ford said that she was expected her to testify “at the same table as Judge Kavanaugh in front of two dozen U.S. Senators on national television to relive this traumatic and harrowing incident.”
However, a committee spokesman insisted that “was never the plan and that was certainly never conveyed.”
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao “flew on Federal Aviation Administration planes rather than commercial flights on seven occasions between January and August 2017, newly released records show — including one flight to and around Europe that cost taxpayers an estimated $68,892 for her and five staffers,” Politico reports.
“She appears to have halted the practice just as one of her fellow Cabinet members, then-Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, was facing increasing scrutiny over his use of private and military flights.”
Gabriel Sherman: “According to sources, several factors are at play. White House advisers are worried that more damaging information about Kavanaugh could come out. Two sources told me the White House has heard rumors that Ford’s account will be verified by women who say she told it to them contemporaneously. People worry, without apparent evidence, of another Ronan Farrow bomb dropping. One source says Ivanka Trump has told her father to ‘cut bait’ and drop Kavanaugh.”
”Another reason Trump hasn’t gone to the mat for Kavanaugh is that he’s said to be suspicious of Kavanaugh’s establishment pedigree. ‘He’s a Bush guy, why would I put myself out there defending him?’ Trump told people, according to a former White House official briefed on the conversations. Trump also has expressed frustration with White House counsel Don McGahn, who aggressively lobbied for him to choose Kavanaugh.”
“But the threat of losing the House and Senate seems to have helped convince Trump not to go scorched-earth on Ford. If Trump antagonizes women voters, it could increase the odds Republicans would lose both houses in Congress.”
Said one outside adviser: “Trump knows the Senate is not looking good. It’s all about the impeachment, he knows it’s coming.”
“The woman accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault says the FBI should investigate the incident before senators hold a hearing on the allegations,” CNN reports.
Christine Blasey Ford’s attorneys argue that “a full investigation by law enforcement officials will ensure that the crucial facts and witnesses in this matter are assessed in a non-partisan manner, and that the Committee is fully informed before conducting any hearing or making any decisions.”
The letter from Ford’s lawyers Ford has “been the target of vicious harassment and even death threats” and has been forced to leave her home.
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.