“From her point of view, establishing positives is far more important to winning. Why spend so much energy attacking Trump, what difference does it make, when he’s over 57% negative and she has a lot of leadership qualities that have gone unsung? It’s like beating a dead horse.”
— 2008 Clinton campaign manager Mark Penn, quoted by Politico.
Politico: “If House conservatives press ahead with an impeachment of the embattled tax chief, they’d be voting to remove a relatively low-level executive-branch leader for one of the most minor offenses in American history, several impeachment experts told Politico. That decision could, effectively, lower the threshold for congressional punishment of an executive-branch authority from here on out — and ensure a wave of new proceedings against government officials who have tangled with Congress in the past.”
“Impeachment has typically been used to punish treason, bribery and other ‘high crimes’ in the top echelons of government. But Koskinen’s impeachment — based on an argument that he failed to comply with a congressional subpoena — would effectively expand that definition to include gross incompetence.”
A new survey of Fortune 500 CEOs finds that 58% said they would support Hillary Clinton for president while 42% prefer Donald Trump.
“Big company CEOs tend to lean heavily Republican. But most of the 500 operate on a global scale, and many disagree with Trump’s proposals for raising trade barriers. Some also have been rattled by his stance on immigration, or by his comments showing little understanding of public finance.”
“In blunt testimony revealed on Tuesday, former managers of Trump University, the for-profit school started by Donald Trump, portray it as an unscrupulous business that relied on high-pressure sales tactics, employed unqualified instructors, made deceptive claims and exploited vulnerable students willing to pay tens of thousands for Mr. Trump’s insights,” the New York Times reports.
NBC News: “Trump University salespeople were instructed to play to peoples’ emotions and suggest that potential customers rely heavily on credit card debt or retirement funds to pay for the classes.”
New York Magazine: ““Most charmingly, the playbooks suggest recruiters exploit the desperation of a single parent with hungry children in order to convince said parent to take on massive credit-card debt.”
Washington Post: “Trump was personally involved in devising the marketing strategy for Trump University, even vetting potential ads.”
“Close allies of Hillary Clinton are encouraging the Democratic front-runner to spend less time honing her attacks on Donald Trump — and more time focusing on a clear and positive message about her own campaign,” Politico reports.
“But the State Department inspector general’s report released last week has thrown an email-shaped road block into Clinton’s path as she attempts to whittle down her high negative ratings. And that has complicated the already difficult task of reshaping perceptions about a universally-known candidate.”
For members: Clinton Camp Is Still Worried About Her Email Problems
Washington Post: “Facing a 30-seat deficit, Democrats have dramatically improved their odds of retaking the House since Biden’s remarks. Republicans are on the verge of formally nominating Donald Trump, a presidential candidate who remains deeply unpopular among minorities, women and younger voters — just the kind of voters Democrats need to win House seats in swing districts.”
“Democrats have scrambled to convince enough credible, well-funded candidates to enter key races that could flip control of the chamber — and time is fast running out to recruit more.”
“Democratic consultants think that Trump’s rise has, broadly speaking, tilted the House battlefield in their favor by firming up candidates’ chances in battleground districts, allowing resources to be focused on more marginal seats. Trump, they say, has accelerated the party’s ‘demographic pivot’ into more affluent, better educated, suburban districts. But there are gaping holes that could cost them gains.”
Donald Trump was interviewed by Michael Wolff for the Hollywood Reporter:
“And Brexit? Your position?” I ask.
“Huh?”
“Brexit.”
“Hmm.”
“The Brits leaving the EU,” I prompt, realizing that his lack of familiarity with one of the most pressing issues in Europe is for him no concern nor liability at all.
“Oh yeah, I think they should leave.”
“Donald Trump has pitched himself as an insurgent who will upend Washington, but he is privately telling big donors that he’s committed to keeping the two most senior establishment Republicans in their congressional leadership posts,” Bloomberg reports.
“Trump’s pledge that he won’t try to oust House Speaker Paul Ryan or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was a key factor in the decision by coal industry executives Joe and Kelly Craft to raise money for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, they say.”
A new Quinnipiac poll finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump, 45% to 41%.
Said pollster Tim Malloy: “American voters don’t like either one of the front-runners. The question could be who we dislike the least.”
Hollywood Reporter: “That notion is what’s at the center of this improbable campaign, its own brilliant success. It’s its main subject — the one you can’t argue with. You can argue about issues, but you can’t argue with success. Hence, to Trump, you’re really foolish to argue with the Trump campaign… And this provides him the reason to talk endlessly and repetitively about the phenomenon of the campaign. That phenomenon is, of course, Trump himself, about whom Trump spends a lot of time talking in the third person.”
“You can try, but it’s hard to resist this admiration for himself. The certainty of it, the enthusiasm for it and the lack of not just doubt, but of any negativity. It’s all upbeat and positive. The dark, scary, virulent heart of American politics is having the best time anyone has ever had.”
U.S. Senate candidate and Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) got married over the Memorial Day weekend to his fiancee Dena Minning (D), the candidate who’s seeking to replace him in the race for Florida’s 9th Congressional District, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Hillary Clinton told New York magazine that she could beat Donald Trump in Texas and turn the red state blue for the first time in 40 years.
Said Clinton: “If black and Latino voters come out and vote, we could win Texas.”
“Two Republicans intimately familiar with Bill Kristol’s efforts to recruit an independent presidential candidate to challenge Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have told Bloomberg Politics that the person Kristol has in mind is David French — whose name the editor of the Weekly Standard floated in the current issue of the magazine,” Bloomberg reports.
“French is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to the website of National Review, where French is a staff writer, he is a constitutional lawyer, a recipient of the Bronze Star, and an author of several books who lives in Columbia, Tenn., with his wife Nancy and three children.”
“Sheldon Adelson’s advisers are in talks about setting up a new Donald Trump super PAC that could become the central outside entity supporting his candidacy,” Politico reports.
“I really admire you, I really like you, I just don’t know if I can vote for a woman to be president. I mean, they come to my events and then they say that to me.”
— Hillary Clinton, quoted by New York magazine.
A new Siena College poll in New York finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by 21 points in their home state, 51% to 31%.
At a press conference defending his donations to veteran’s groups, Donald Trump “demanded that journalists credit him for his act of charity and took umbrage at their scrutiny of his boasts and promises,” the New York Times reports.
“In a heated, 40-minute appearance in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, Mr. Trump dismissed a CNN reporter as ‘a real beauty’ and an ABC reporter as ‘a sleaze,’ and said that if he was elected president, the American public could expect a similar dynamic in the White House briefing room.”
Said Trump: “Yes, it is. It is going to be like this.”
Politico: “The major cable news networks — CNN, MSNBC and Fox News — broadcast nearly every single word of the billionaire’s news conference at Trump Tower, in which he was expected to disclose the details of the money he’s raised and distributed to veterans organizations but largely focused on attacking on the Fourth Estate.”
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.