A new JMC Analytics poll in Alabama finds Roy Moore (R) leading Doug Jones (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 49% to 44%, with write-in candidates getting another 5%.
Key takeaway: “Allegations of sexual misconduct against Roy Moore have not materially impacted the race.”
A new NBC News/GenForward poll finds a strong majority of millennials — 71% — say the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job of representing the American people that a third major party is needed.
“Sixty-three percent of millennials disapprove of the way President Trump is handling his job as president. But millennials also hold a variety of political institutions in poor regard, and 65% think the country is on the wrong track overall.”
Amy Walter: “We are reportedly at a ‘watershed’ moment on the issue of sexual harassment. Women, emboldened by the Harvey Weinstein revelations, have come out of the shadows of shame and stigma to tell their own stories of harassment and assault. It’s also been a time of ‘reckoning’ for Democrats who once excused or defended President Bill Clinton over accusations of abuse and harassment. From an electoral standpoint, this new focus on empowering and energizing women voters should be an opportunity for Democrats.”
“In Alabama, Democrats have a chance to steal away a bright-red Senate seat thanks to assault accusations against Republican Roy Moore. It’s also an opportunity for them to prove to voters that the party demands the highest standards of conduct from its representatives in Congress. An opportunity to show that Democrats won’t put party over doing the right thing. Yet, I have been struck by the lack of ‘watershed-level’ response to Democrats’ handling of allegations against Sen. Al Franken and Rep. John Conyers, two members of their own party. Instead of meeting the moment, Democrats have missed it.”
Ground News lets you compare how stories are covered across the political spectrum and quickly spot coverage you might otherwise miss.
Try Ground News for yourself. Political Wire readers get 40% off Ground News Vantage at ground.news/politicalwire.
A new McKinsey study says massive government intervention “will be required to hold societies together against the ravages of labor disruption over the next 13 years. Up to 800 million people—including a third of the work force in the U.S. and Germany—will be made jobless by 2030,” Axios reports.
“NBC has fired its leading morning news anchor Matt Lauer over sexual harassment allegations,” the New York Times reports.
A memo said it was the first complaint lodged against Lauer, but that “we were also presented with reason to believe this my not have been an isolated” incident.
Lauer’s dismissal was seized upon by President Trump, who asked in a tweet when executives at NBC would “be fired for putting out so much fake news.”
Bloomberg: “Major companies including Cisco Systems Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. say they’ll turn over most gains from proposed corporate tax cuts to their shareholders, undercutting President Trump’s promise that his plan will create jobs and boost wages for the middle class.”
“The president has held fast to his pledge even as top executives’ comments have run counter to it for months. Instead of hiring more workers or raising their pay, many companies say they’ll first increase dividends or buy back their own shares.”
President Trump “isn’t planning to go to Alabama, but he still might use the weight of his office to help elect scandal-tarred Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore,” Politico reports.
“The White House is considering flooding the state with robo-calls, emails, and text messages in an offensive designed to activate the president’s supporters on Moore’s behalf, three people familiar with the discussions said. An administration-sanctioned super PAC, America First Action, is conducting polling in the state as it weighs a possible 11th-hour barrage.”
“The National Democratic Training Committee, which makes a free online candidate training program, plans to spend $4 million in 2018 in the hopes of getting 50,000 Dems to use their services to run for office,” Axios reports.
“The digital approach could help the party attract younger candidates — ultimately helping address the Democrats’ old-people problem.”
Stuart Rothenberg: “I’ve been watching evangelical voting behavior since I worked for Paul Weyrich’s Free Congress Foundation in the 1980s, and I’ve come to believe that, in most cases (though certainly not all), white evangelicals get their religion from their politics, not their politics from their religion.”
“That is, many evangelicals are first and foremost political conservatives drawn to a church (or a pastor) that confirms their worldviews and, in turn, their political views.”
“They gravitate to evangelical, fundamentalist and Pentecostal churches that are spread across the American landscape, particularly in rural and small-town America, because those churches hold views about the Bible and human behavior that are traditional rather than pragmatic. Not surprisingly, most of those church members are politically conservative, particularly on social/cultural issues but increasingly also on the role of government.”
New York Times: “As the issue of sexual harassment has swept through the news media, politics and entertainment industries, Mr. Trump has persisted in denying allegations that he, too, made unwanted advances on multiple women in past years. In recent days, he has continued to seed doubt about his appearance on the ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, stunning his advisers.”
“Mr. Trump’s falsehoods… are part of his lifelong habit of attempting to create and sell his own version of reality. Advisers say he continues to privately harbor a handful of conspiracy theories that have no grounding in fact.”
“Mr. Trump’s journeys into the realm of manufactured facts have been frequent enough that his own staff has sought to nudge friendly lawmakers to ask questions of Mr. Trump in meetings that will steer him toward safer terrain.”
“The political future of Congress’s longest-serving member, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), appeared precarious late Tuesday as leaders pressured him to resign over allegations he sexually harassed multiple female aides,” the Washington Post reports.
“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus are encouraging the veteran lawmaker to step down as soon as this week after a fourth accuser came forward Tuesday morning.”
Detroit News: Calls for Conyers to resign intensify.
Adding fuel to its growing feud with President Trump, CNN told Politico it will be boycotting the White House Christmas party for the media this year.
From a statement: “In light of the President’s continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN, we do not feel it is appropriate to celebrate with him as his invited guests. We will send a White House reporting team to the event and report on it if news warrants.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded: “Christmas comes early! Finally, good news from CNN.”
The Senate confirmed Trump legal adviser Gregory Katsas “to serve on what is often described as America’s second highest court,” ABC News reports.
The vote to confirm was 50 to 48, with all Democrats present and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) opposed.
“Katsas has worked on some of the president’s most contentious decisions, including his executive orders restricting travel for citizens of predominantly Muslim countries and his decision to end a program protecting some young immigrants from deportation.”
Jonathan Swan: “Katsas is the 9th judge Trump has placed on the federal bench. Barack Obama confirmed just three federal judges in his first year. Ronald Reagan had previously confirmed the most in recent history, with eight in his first year.”
“A federal judge refused to block President Trump’s choice of budget director Mick Mulvaney from serving as acting director of the prominent federal consumer watchdog agency, denying a request by Leandra English, the No. 2 official at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to serve in his stead,” the Washington Post reports.
Associated Press: “Bannon hasn’t yanked his support for Moore, but if he’s standing by him — it’s at a distance. Associates say he has no plans to campaign in the state before the Dec. 12 election. Meanwhile, his public statements have gone from glowing endorsements of Moore to broadsides against Democratic contender Doug Jones.”
“The shift reflects the high stakes for Bannon in the race. By backing the renegade Moore, Bannon transformed the sleepy special election into the first battle in what he calls his war on the establishment. But the accusations against Moore have turned what should have been an easy win for Republicans into a nail-biter, and raise the possibility that Bannon will emerge from his first effort bruised and blamed.”
President Trump tore into Democratic leaders for skipping a legislative strategy session at the White House, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “They have been all talk and no action. And now it’s even worse. Now it’s not even talk.”
He added that he would blame Democrats if the government shuts down: “If that happens, I would absolutely blame the Democrats.”
Two key Senate Republicans — Bob Corker (R-TN) and Susan Collins (R-ME) — told the Wall Street Journal that they felt more optimistic about supporting the GOP tax bill, increasing its chances of passing later this week after getting advanced by a committee Tuesday.
Axios: Where the tax bill stands.
“Private-sector backers of a controversial Middle East nuclear plan worked with former national security adviser Mike Flynn to promote it inside the White House, to the point of sending him a draft memo for the president to sign authorizing the project,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“At issue was a proposal to build dozens of nuclear reactors, billed by its backers as a ‘Marshall Plan for the Middle East.’ Before joining the White House, Mr. Flynn, a retired lieutenant general, had advised some of the U.S. companies involved in the plan.”
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.