Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Members
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
  • Trending
  • Resources
    • Politics Extra
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us

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


Wall Street Journal Editor Admonishes Reporters

August 23, 2017 at 5:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Gerard Baker, the editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, has faced unease and frustration in his newsroom over his stewardship of the newspaper’s coverage of President Trump, which some journalists there say has lacked toughness and verve,” the New York Times reports.

“Some staff members expressed similar concerns on Wednesday after Mr. Baker, in a series of blunt late-night emails, criticized his staff over their coverage of Mr. Trump’s Tuesday rally in Phoenix, describing their reporting as overly opinionated.”

Wrote Baker: “Sorry. This is commentary dressed up as news reporting… Could we please just stick to reporting what he said rather than packaging it in exegesis and selective criticism?”

McCaskill Accuses Rival of Violating Residency Law

August 23, 2017 at 4:12 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) “accused Missouri’s top law enforcement officer, who is weighing a campaign against her, of violating a state law that requires the attorney general to reside in Jefferson City,” the Kansas City Star reports.

Attorney General Josh Hawley (R) “has faced questions about his residency since taking office in January.”

Said McCaskill: “The law’s pretty clear. There’s never been an attorney general in the history of our state that hasn’t lived in Jefferson City because the law says ‘shall.’ Listen, I’m a Mizzou-educated lawyer, but I can keep up and I know what the word ‘shall’ means in the law. And I know he went to Yale, I think, or Harvard — one of those, one of those fancy ones — I think they taught him the same thing that shall means shall.”

Carson Broke the Law at Trump Rally

August 23, 2017 at 3:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Right before Ben Carson took the stage at President Trump’s rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night, the announcer introduced him. ‘The secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Dr. Ben Carson,’ the voice intoned, prompting cheers from the audience. And, as simply as that, a law was likely broken.”

“Among the prohibitions included in the Hatch Act is one prohibiting Cabinet secretaries from leveraging their positions for a political cause. That means that the head of, say, the Department of Housing and Urban Development can’t appear at a campaign rally in a way that implies he’s doing so in an official capacity. Say, by being introduced with his official title.”


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.

    Upgrade Now

  • ✔ Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, a trending news page, a private podcast, no advertising and more!
  • ✔ If you're already a member, log in for the full experience.



Two Government Shutdown Fights?

August 23, 2017 at 2:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Playbook: “Many in the Capitol believe that September will be the first of two government-shutdown fights. The theory goes like this: Congress will pass a clean debt ceiling and a short-term government funding bill that extends funding only until December, setting up a Christmas-season dustup. There simply isn’t time to solve everything in September. Of course, Trump clearly wants a fight on border wall funding, so it’s completely feasible that he stands firm next month. But many on the Hill think there will be a second legislative fight, as well.”

“Likely scenario: They screw up both September and December for Washington…. Of course, a prolonged government-shutdown fight would adversely affect the prospects of tax reform.”

Moore Holds Big Lead Over Strange

August 23, 2017 at 2:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Opinion Saavy poll in Alabama shows Roy Moore (R) leading Sen. Luther Strange (R) in the U.S. Senate primary runoff, 50% to 32%

Democrats Won’t Yield on Border Wall Funding

August 23, 2017 at 1:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) warned Democrats would hold fast to their pledge to oppose border wall funding, as President Trump threatened a government shutdown over the issue,” The Hill reports.

Said Pelosi: “President Trump’s multi-billion dollar border wall boondoggle is strongly opposed by Democrats and many Republicans. Democrats will stand fast against the immoral, ineffective border wall and the rest of Republicans’ unacceptable poison pill riders.”

“Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in a separate statement said Trump’s demands for wall funding in a government-funding bill would lead to a shutdown.”

Sanders Voters Tipped the Election to Trump

August 23, 2017 at 12:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

One of the more curious findings in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election is that a significant number of voters who supported Barack Obama also voted for Donald Trump.

Join now to continue reading.

Members get exclusive analysis, bonus features and no advertising. Learn more.

If you’re already a member, sign in to your account.

Most Say Trump Is Dividing the Country

August 23, 2017 at 12:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Quinnipiac poll finds that 63% of voters say that President Trump is doing more to divide the country, while 31% say he is doing more to unite the country, his worst score yet on this question.

Trump’s job approval also hits a new low of 35% to 59%.

Trump Voters See Discrimination Against White Christians

August 23, 2017 at 10:50 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Public Policy Polling: “Asked what racial group they think faces the most discrimination in America, 45% of Trump voters say it’s white people followed by 17% for Native Americans with 16% picking African Americans, and 5% picking Latinos. Asked what religious group they think faces the most discrimination in America, 54% of Trump voters says it’s Christians followed by 22% for Muslims and 12% for Jews.”

The Final 12 Days

August 23, 2017 at 8:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC News: “In the nine months since the election, political observers have pointed to various reasons why Hillary Clinton lost and Donald Trump won: FBI Director James Comey’s intervention; Russia and WikiLeaks; Clinton’s failure to campaign in Wisconsin; African-Americans who didn’t turn out as strongly as they did for Obama; and Trump’s strong performance among working-class white voters in the Rust Belt.”

“But the real tale of 2016 is how the final 12 days of the election turned a race that seemed out of reach on Oct. 27 into an upset decided by a total of 80,000 votes in three states.”

Clapper Worried Trump Has Access to Nuclear Codes

August 23, 2017 at 7:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former National Intelligence Director James Clapper questioned President Trump’s fitness for office following his freewheeling speech in Phoenix last night, which Clapper labeled “downright scary and disturbing,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Clapper: “I really question his ability to be — his fitness to be — in this office. I also am beginning to wonder about his motivation for it — maybe he is looking for a way out.”

He also noted he’s worried about the president’s access to nuclear codes: “The whole system is built to ensure rapid response if necessary. So there’s very little in the way of controls over exercising a nuclear option, which is pretty damn scary.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

August 23, 2017 at 7:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“He is clearly trying to ignite a civil war in this country… He certainly opened up the race wound from Charlottesville… A man backed into a corner, it seems, by circumstances beyond his control — and beyond his understanding.”

— CNN’s Don Lemon, on President Trump’s rally in Arizona last night.

Trump Goes Way Off Script Again

August 23, 2017 at 7:33 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rick Klein: “Raise your hand if you thought Afghanistan was the only war he was committing to this week. A day after President Trump called on the nation to ‘heal our divisions within,’ and where he sent thousands of additional Americans into combat, he spent 80-plus wild minutes picking at the nation’s freshest wounds.”

“The fact that he was eager to relitigate his response to Charlottesville – to suggest, falsely, that it was just a matter of the ‘dishonest media’ twisting his words – displays a stunning lack of understanding about the severity of the damage he did last week, to himself, his party, and maybe the nation. In understanding Trump’s strategy, tallying the deceptions, half-truths, non-truths, and selective recitation of nonfacts isn’t close to enough. Perhaps he can deceive himself, and even get many of what remain of his followers in the same frenzied place as he was in Phoenix Tuesday night. But President Trump is getting smaller even as he gets louder.”

Said Trump: “Most people think I’m crazy to have done this. And I think they’re right.”

James Hohmann: “The bigger picture is that the president is in denial. His tendency to gloss over mistakes and pass the buck by recasting history in terms most favorable to himself was on vivid display.”

New York Magazine: 23 outrageous moments from Trump’s rally in Phoenix.

Crowd Slowly Thinned As Trump Continued His Rant

August 23, 2017 at 7:26 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “But as the night dragged on, many in the crowd lost interest in what the president was saying.”

“Hundreds left early, while others plopped down on the ground, scrolled through their social media feeds or started up a conversation with their neighbors. After waiting for hours in 107-degree heat to get into the rally hall — where their water bottles were confiscated by security — people were tired and dehydrated and the president just wasn’t keeping their attention. Although Trump has long been the master of reading the mood of a room and quickly adjusting his message to satisfy as many of his fans as possible, his rage seemed to cloud his senses.”

‘My Skin Crawled’

August 23, 2017 at 7:21 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Morning Joe aired excerpts from Hillary Clinton’s forthcoming memoir, What Happened.

This is not OK, I thought. It was the second presidential debate, and Donald Trump was looming behind me. Two days before, the world heard him brag about groping women. Now we were on a small stage and no matter where I walked, he followed me closely, staring at me, making faces. It was incredibly uncomfortable he was literally breathing down my neck. My skin crawled.

It was one of those moments where you wish you could hit pause and ask everyone watching “well, what would you do?” Do you stay calm, keep smiling and carry-on as if he weren’t repeatedly invading your space? Or do you turn, look him in the eye, and say loudly and clearly “back up you creep, get away from me! I know you love to intimidate women, but you can’t intimidate me, so back up.”

I chose option A. I kept my cool, aided by a lifetime of dealing with difficult men trying to throw me off. I did, however, grip the microphone extra hard. I wondered though, whether I should’ve chosen option B. It certainly would’ve been better TV. Maybe I have overlearned the lesson of staying calm, biting my tongue, digging my fingernails into a clenched fist, smiling all the while determined to present a composed face to the world.

Trump Approval Hits New Low After Charlottesville

August 23, 2017 at 7:12 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Politico/Morning Consult poll finds just 39% of voters approve of the job President Trump is doing in this week’s poll — down from 44% just a week ago.

Much of the decline in Trump’s approval rating appears to have come from self-identified Republican voters — 73%, down from 81% last week.

Trump Threatens Shut Down Over Border Wall

August 23, 2017 at 7:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Trump has told senior White House officials and advisers he would be willing to go to whatever means necessary to get money for the wall, a contentious claim even among his advisers. He hasn’t given specific amounts of money that he wants, but ‘enough to really start building it,’ said one person who spoke to him this weekend. ‘He is animated about the wall,’ the person said. ‘He cares about that more than many other things. He knows his base cares and chants about it.’”

Said Trump at last night’s rally in Arizona: “Now the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it, but believe me, if we have to close down our government we’re building that wall.”

Quote of the Day

August 23, 2017 at 7:03 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Writing this wasn’t easy. Every day that I was a candidate for president, I knew that millions of people were counting on me, and I couldn’t bear the idea of letting them down, but I did. I couldn’t get the job done, and I’ll have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

— Hillary Clinton, in a leaked excerpt from her forthcoming book, What Happened.

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 6143
  • 6144
  • 6145
  • 6146
  • 6147
  • …
  • 8192
  • Next Page »

Get Smarter About Politics

Members get exclusive analysis, a trending news page, the Trial Balloon podcast, bonus newsletters and no advertising. Learn more.

Subscribe

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • Trump Gets Away With What Sank Clinton and Romney
  • A Shutdown With No Clear Exit Ramp
  • Shutdown Showdown
  • Republican Trust in the News Media Craters
  • This Isn’t Gridlock

Word of the Day

Nobody Drowned at Watergate: “Nobody drowned at Watergate” was a phrase used, especially by supporters of President Richard Nixon, to minimize the impact of the Watergate scandal and to ….

Read the full definition

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.

Copyright © 2025 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy | Corrections Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC