Bernie Sanders said he believes “he can win over supporters of Republican front-runner Donald Trump, explaining that Trump has been successful at channeling working-class anger,” Politico reports.
Said Sanders: “What Trump has done with some success is taken that anger, taken those fears, which are legitimate, and converted them into anger against Mexicans, anger against Muslims.”
Jeb Bush and his super PAC “are set to dominate the TV airwaves between now and the Granite State primary, reserving more than $14 million in commercials on both New Hampshire and Boston stations — including two Super Bowl spots,” the Boston Herald reports.
“It’s a clear sign that Bush operatives, despite criticism over already spending more than $35 million nationally on commercials for just 4 percent in the polls, are doubling down on a strategy of massive TV buys.”
Politico: “According to people in the White House, Obama doesn’t talk about Trump much. When he does, it’s with a combination of amusement and disgust at the rhetoric, occasionally mentioning his amazement at GOP leaders’ inability to understand Trump’s supporters and the long-term damage the president thinks Trump is doing to the party with the groups of voters who will decide future elections.”
“But it’s more than told-ya-so. It’s personal. The West Wing still burns over Trump leading the birth certificate charge in 2012, forcing an official rebuttal from the White House and the release of the president’s long-form birth certificate. Aides say Trump played into fears and racism and encouraged voter distrust of the president, as he’s doing now on the campaign trail.”
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.
New York Times: “In state after state, a gulf is opening between Republican governors willing to expand Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act and Republican members of Congress convinced the law is collapsing and determined to help it fail. In recent months, insurers have increased premiums and deductibles for many policies sold online, and a dozen nonprofit insurance co-ops are shutting down, forcing consumers to seek other coverage.”
“But in Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Nevada and Ohio, Republican governors have expanded Medicaid under the health care law or defended past expansions. In South Dakota, Tennessee and Utah, Republican governors are pressing for wider Medicaid coverage. And Republican governors in a few other states, including Alabama, have indicated that they are looking anew at their options after rejecting the idea in the past.”
Gov. John Kasich told the Columbus Dispatch that he will push to change the way Ohio draws congressional districts.
Said Kasich: “I support redistricting reform dramatically. This will be something I’m going to do whether I’m elected president or whether I’m here. We carve these safe districts, and then when you’re in a safe district you have to watch your extremes, and you keep moving to the extremes.”
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) is expected to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio for president when he campaigns with him in Iowa next week, Townhall.com reports.
The influential South Carolina lawmaker will attend town hall rallies on Tuesday and Wednesday during Rubio’s three-day tour through the important caucus state.
Donald Trump “is taking credit for the Obama administration’s reported plans to step up deportations of families early next year, and claimed Saturday that ‘criminal deportations’ are at their lowest number in years,” CNN reports.
The Washington Post reported “that the nationwide raids will focus on hundreds of families that have entered the United States since early last year. The plan is the first large-scale effort to deport families that have fled violence in Central America.”
New York Times: “A close examination of Mr. Christie’s record as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor from 2002 to 2008 shows that he did acquire greater counterterrorism experience than his current rivals. But it also shows that he has, at times, overstated the significance of the terrorism prosecutions he oversaw — he has called them ‘two of the biggest terrorism cases in the world’ — and appears to have exaggerated his personal role in obtaining court permission for surveillance of terrorism suspects.”
“So when I tell him things like, ‘You’re the governor now, grow up and act like it,’ I’m not being flippant. What I’m really saying is you really need to show your maturity … you can’t be flippant, because people don’t take it the right way. They expect out of the governor something more.”
— Karen Kasich, quoted by the Columbus Dispatch, on her husband, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
“The number of polls of Republican voters in the first three primary and caucus states — Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina — has skyrocketed nearly 90 percent compared with the 2012 GOP primary,”: according to a Boston Globe review of polls.
“The trend toward saturation polling shows little sign of abating, with online polls now cheaper than ever and polling firms and universities competing to satisfy an insatiable media appetite for the latest upticks and downturns, the trends in the minute-by-minute drama of the contest.”
Politico: “After five Republican debates, most Americans know about Donald Trump’s provocative beliefs, like his desires to end birthright citizenship, stop Muslim immigration and kill families of suspected terrorists. Much less attention has been paid to Carly Fiorina’s conclusion that the minimum wage is unconstitutional, Mike Huckabee’s pledge to defy Supreme Court rulings he deems incompatible with God’s law, Rick Santorum’s claim that Islam is not protected by the First Amendment or Chris Christie’s threat to shoot down Russian planes and launch cyberattacks on Chinese leaders.”
“Those provocative beliefs, believe it or not, were also expressed during the five Republican debates. They were just overshadowed by the furor over Trump.”
Peter Beinhart: “That doesn’t mean the Republicans won’t retain strength in the nation’s statehouses and in Congress. It doesn’t mean a Republican won’t sooner or later claim the White House. It means that on domestic policy—foreign policy is following a different trajectory, as it often does—the terms of the national debate will continue tilting to the left. The next Democratic president will be more liberal than Barack Obama. The next Republican president will be more liberal than George W. Bush.”
“In the late ’60s and ’70s, amid left-wing militancy and racial strife, a liberal era ended. Today, amid left-wing militancy and racial strife, a liberal era is only just beginning.”
Politico: “He has folded into Carson Enterprises his presidential campaign, which has excelled at fundraising, bringing in almost $32 million through the end of September — more than any other 2016 Republican candidate. That fundraising prowess continues, even as his poll numbers decline. His campaign manager Barry Bennett said Thursday they raised about $20 million since the beginning of October, matching their extraordinary summertime pace. Speaking fees over a nearly two-year period raked in $4.3 million. And his nonprofit continues to raise money.”
“It’s hard to see where one Carson stops and another begins… These blurred lines are significant. Since he declared his candidacy, Carson has traveled the country for his campaign, to promote his new book, to attend events for his charity and to give paid speeches.”
Los Angeles Times: “Indeed, New Hampshire, which traditionally holds the first presidential primary, has a history of unpredictability, resurrecting candidates given up for dead, spurning front-runners or elevating also-rans with late-developing shifts in sentiment. This time, the three contenders with the most to gain or lose are Bush, Kasich and Christie, who share the same essential political makeup. Each are pragmatically conservative problem-solvers running as the ‘serious’ answer to the combustible — and, they suggest, unelectable — Donald Trump.”
“Their strategies are also virtually the same: survive Iowa, which kicks off the nominating process with its Feb. 1 caucuses, then win New Hampshire eight days later — or at least run strongly enough to emerge as the alternative to Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or whoever else stamps himself the favorite of social conservatives who tend to rule the caucuses.”
Jack Shafer: “It would stand to reason that the documentation of Trump’s lies… would hobble his candidacy. Yet it appears to have had little to no effect. What to conclude from this? Perhaps … Trump supporters don’t know about the fact-checker’s findings, which seems wildly unlikely given the saturation coverage his lies have enjoyed. My guess is that Trump supporters don’t believe and just don’t care what the fact checkers say.”
Boston Globe: “But for all the precepts Trump has ignored during this campaign, his fellow Republicans are grappling with a traditional one: partisan loyalty. Few top Republicans — even those who denounce his comments and policies — appear ready to swear off supporting him in a general election.”
“While Trump continues to drive establishment Republicans to distraction, just a handful have declared they would not support him if he becomes the GOP nominee. Republicans may be uncomfortable or offended by Trump’s bombast, but they are clearly nervous about turning their backs on the elements of their party showing the most energy this campaign.”
The FEC “has quietly given the green light to federal candidates who want to solicit contributions for super PACs by meeting in small groups — so small that there can be just two other people in the room,” the Washington Post reports.
“In addition, the little-noticed advisory opinion gives permission to a candidate’s campaign consultant and other aides to solicit large donations for a super PAC, as long as they make clear that they are not making the request at the direction of the candidate.”
A new American Research Group survey in New Hampshire finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential field with 21%, followed by Marco Rubio at 15%, John Kasich at 13%, Chris Christ at 12%, Ted Cruz at 10%, Jeb Bush at 6%, Ben Carson at 6%, and Carly Fiorina at 5%.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton edges Bernie Sanders, 46% to 43%.
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.
“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.