“Doug Jones and Roy Moore both released new television ads on Monday. But many Alabama voters will only see one of them,” Politico reports.
“That’s because of the massive disparity in TV ad spending between the two candidates in Alabama’s Senate special election, where Jones, the Democratic candidate, is outspending Moore by roughly 7-to-1.”
“A Democratic tidal wave on Election Day in Virginia three weeks ago has left chaos in its wake, with control of the House of Delegates still undecided and no end in sight to the dispute,” the AP reports.
“Lawsuits, threats and recriminations are flying as the state wrestles with the tricky question of what to do about the 147 voters in and around a crucial district who were given the wrong ballots.”
“A woman who falsely claimed to The Washington Post that Roy Moore, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Alabama, impregnated her as a teenager appears to work with an organization that uses deceptive tactics to secretly record conversations in an effort to embarrass its targets,” the Washington Post reports.
“In a series of interviews over two weeks, the woman shared a dramatic story about an alleged sexual relationship with Moore in 1992 that led to an abortion when she was 15. During the interviews, she repeatedly pressed Post reporters to give their opinions on the effects that her claims could have on Moore’s candidacy if she went public.”
“The Post did not publish an article based on her unsubstantiated account. When Post reporters confronted her with inconsistencies in her story and an Internet posting that raised doubts about her motivations, she insisted that she was not working with any organization that targets journalists. But on Monday morning, Post reporters saw her walking into the New York offices of Project Veritas, an organization that targets the mainstream news media and left-leaning groups.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “is traveling to Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania this weekend to rally against the Republican tax bill, his office told NBC News, keeping up a brisk pace of political activity since leaving the presidential race last year and ahead of a potential second one in 2020.”
“Sanders, who held a similar series rallies across the country to oppose the repeal of the Affordable Care Act earlier this year, is using the ‘Protecting Working Families Tour’ to pressure on-the-fence GOP senators ahead a vote on President Donald Trump’s top legislative priority.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told WISC-TV that he still intends to vote against a tax reform measure in Congress unless changes are made.
Said Johnson: “We are working diligently to fix the problems. If we develop a fix prior to committee, I will vote yes. If not, I will vote no.”
“You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas.”
— President Trump, quoted by USA Today, referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) while hosting a Native American war heroes event.
“Last-minute changes to the Senate tax bill could personally benefit President Trump, who has investment stakes in roughly 500 entities that could be affected by the planned adjustments,” the Washington Post reports.
“Republicans are seriously considering expanding a new tax credit that these types of entities use to lower their taxable income in a way that benefits most people tied to these firms. Trump and other senior administration officials have been in personal contact with lawmakers about the changes.”
“The White House may ban its employees from using personal mobile phones while at work, raising concerns among staff including that they’ll be cut off from family and friends,” Bloomberg reports.
“President Trump has repeatedly complained about press leaks since taking office, but one official said the potential change isn’t connected to concerns about unauthorized disclosures to news organizations. The proposed ban is instead driven by cybersecurity concerns.”
“The lawyer for President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn met Monday morning with members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, the latest indication that both sides are discussing a possible plea deal,” ABC News reports.
“That process would typically include a series of off-the-record discussions in which prosecutors lay out in detail for Flynn and his lawyers the fruits of their investigation into his activities. Prosecutors would also provide Flynn an opportunity to offer what’s called a ‘proffer,’ detailing what information, if any, he has that could implicate others in wrongdoing.”
Lee Busby, a retired Marine colonel who once served as a top aide to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, “plans to launch a long-shot write-in campaign Monday afternoon to become Alabama’s next senator, with just 15 days left in the campaign,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Busby: “I think you can flip this thing. If this were a military operation, the left flank and the right flank are heavily guarded. I think that gives you an opportunity to run straight up the middle.”
New Hart Research polling finds the Republican tax bill is very unpopular in Sen. Bob Corker’s home state of Tennessee (30% approve), Sen. John McCain’s and Sen. Jeff Flake’s home state of Arizona (26% approve) and Sen. Susan Collins’ home state of Maine (22% approve).
For members: Lose These Three Senators and the Tax Bill Is Dead
“Facing allegations that he illegally spent nearly $70,000 funding a ringer candidate’s campaign against a Democratic opponent, former Miami congressman David Rivera (R-FL) asked a judge Wednesday to toss a federal elections lawsuit, saying that if anybody broke the law it was the guy who took the money,” the Miami Herald reports.
“Rivera, in a motion to dismiss, told Judge Robert Scola that even if he did secretly spend $69,426.20 backing the campaign of a political neophyte in a scheme to siphon votes away from a more threatening opponent, that wouldn’t have broken any federal election laws.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) took action earlier this year to make her family’s private plane untrackable by the public, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
“The company hired by McCaskill to operate the plane, a 2009 Pilatus PC-12/47E, wrote to the FAA earlier this year in April to ask that tracking information on the plane be blocked from the public, according to email records obtained by the Washington Free Beacon through a Freedom of Information Act request.”
President Trump will not campaign for Roy Moore (R) before the December 12 Senate election in Alabama, the AP reports.
Nonetheless, Trump has essentially given Moore his endorsement by urging Alabamians not to vote for Doug Jones (D).
“House Speaker Paul Ryan has spent much of his political career warning against the pitfalls of deficit spending and government debt,” Bloomberg reports.
“But that argument has been bent in service to another long-held priority, one that has political urgency for Republicans trying to hang on to their congressional majorities: tax cuts.”
“The tax overhaul legislation that Ryan shepherded through the House — the Senate takes up its version this week — would add at least $1 trillion to budget deficits over the next decade, even when accounting for economic growth, according to independent tax analysts. Ryan’s willingness to look past that, and his ability to successfully persuade his members that these analyses are flawed, shows how important the tax measure has become to Republicans.”
Charlie Sykes: Whatever happened to the party of fiscal responsibility?
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) wrote for Fox News that he will vote for the GOP tax bill:
I spoke out all year against the GOP leaders’ initial plan to make their tax reform “revenue neutral” — meaning not really a cut. I’m pleased to see my point of view has prevailed, and the current tax plan calls for a $1.5 trillion cut over the next ten years. I would have liked to see more — in fact, I offered an amendment to move it up to $2.5 trillion — but I’ve stated many times that as long as it is a real cut, I’ll vote for it, even if it isn’t as large as I would prefer.
Mick Mulvaney, President Trump’s pick to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, on Monday instructed agency staff to disregard directions from Leandra English, who was named acting director by the former head of the agency, Reuters reports.
Axios reports Mulvaney showed up to work with donuts for the staff.
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.