Political Wire

Members should sign in for the full experience.

America Tips Into Fascism

By Leave a Comment

Garrett Graff: “The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism. In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen here. The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed.”

“I think many Americans wrongly believe there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from ‘democracy’ to ‘authoritarianism.’ Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged. Then you wake up one morning and our country is different.”


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.




Electoral College Could Tilt Further From Democrats

By Leave a Comment

New York Times: “The year is 2032. Studying the Electoral College map, a Democratic presidential candidate can no longer plan to sweep New Hampshire, Minnesota and the ‘blue wall’ battlegrounds of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and win the White House. A victory in the swing state of Nevada would not help, either.”

“That is the nightmare scenario many Democratic Party insiders see playing out if current U.S. population projections hold.”

Trump Wants ABC and NBC to Lose Broadcast Licenses

By Leave a Comment

President Trump attacked ABC and NBC’s news coverage of his administration—claiming it was “97%” negative—and said he supports the idea of the two networks having their broadcast licenses revoked, Forbes reports.

In a follow-up post, the president reiterated the license revocation threat, before suggesting that “at a minimum,” they should be forced to “pay up BIG” for their licensed broadcast spectrum.

Government Will Take Stakes in More Companies

By Leave a Comment

“The U.S. government is likely to take ownership stakes in more companies — just as it did with Intel — toward the goal of building a sovereign wealth fund, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett said Monday,” Axios reports.

“It’s a new paradigm for the U.S. government’s relationship with the private sector, and raises fresh questions about how much authority the administration intends to exert over corporate America.”

CNBC: Trump says government will make deals like Intel stake “all day long.”

Pilot of Last Flight Out of Afghanistan Runs for Congress

By Leave a Comment

“Alex Pelbath, the Air Force pilot who flew the last U.S. aircraft out of Kabul when America ended its 20-year war in Afghanistan, is now running for Congress in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, calling himself a ‘Trump conservative’ and pledging to be the political reinforcement the president needs,” the Charleston Post & Courier reports.

Said Pelbath: “Combat leaders understand that mission is everything. My mission is clear. Provide President Trump the reinforcements he needs, deliver common sense leadership that will make the Lowcountry proud and bring an outsider’s perspective to Washington. I was the last one out. But the mission’s not over.”

Barrasso PAC Launches New Ads in Ohio and Florida

By Leave a Comment

“A PAC aligned with Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-WY) is going up with new ads Monday bolstering GOP senators in Ohio and Florida,” Axios reports.

“The group will spend half a million dollars between the two states. It’s another sign of Republican leaders moving early to try to sway voters ahead of next year’s midterm elections.”

Making a Federal Case Out of Low-Level Arrests

By Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “The stream of defendants who shuffled through a federal courtroom on Thursday afternoon illustrated the new ways in which laws are being enforced in the nation’s capital after the president’s takeover of the city’s police. They were appearing before a magistrate judge on charges that would typically be handled at the local court level, if they were filed at all.”

“One man had been arrested over an open container of alcohol. Another had been charged with threatening the president after delivering a drunken outburst following his arrest on vandalism. And one defendant’s gun case so alarmed prosecutors that they intend to drop the case.”

Freedom Caucus Exodus Could Reshape Congress 

By Leave a Comment

NOTUS: “The House Freedom Caucus, as Washington knows it, will look fundamentally different next year. Some staffers — particularly delighted Democrats — are speculating that with so many ideological leaders of the caucus looking for the exits, the group might functionally cease to exist, or, at least, cease to be a serious thorn in leadership’s side.”

Trump May Not Have the Votes for the Nobel Peace Prize

By Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump has long quested after a Nobel Peace Prize, a distinction that would put him in a vaunted and exclusive club. But unlike a U.S. presidential campaign, winning a Nobel Peace Prize depends on an electorate of five — and Trump may not have a majority,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump’s desire for a Nobel has been a through-current of both of his terms, but his effort has escalated in recent months. He has mused aloud that the peace deal in Ukraine that he worked on in recent weeks might be one key to the prize. But at least three of the five Norwegian deciders have criticized Trump publicly, making his path to winning their votes far from clear.”

Economic Elite Find Themselves in the Wilderness

By Leave a Comment

Axios: “Bedrock concepts that economists hold dear — of central bank independence, reliable data collection, and technocratic decision-making — are under threat in ways that have left the global central banking community discombobulated.”

“In formal proceedings at the Kansas City Fed’s annual economic symposium this weekend, there were only the subtlest of references to the Trump administration’s actions that throw Federal Reserve independence and government economic data into doubt.”

“But in whispered private conversations against the stunning backdrop of the Grand Tetons, there was melancholy — a fear that the war for empiricism and independence may already be lost.”

Historic Immigration Drop Is Changing the Job Market

By Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “A virtual halt to unauthorized border crossings, plus stepped-up deportations and a souring climate for foreigners means net immigration this year could be negative for the first time in decades, some experts predict.”

“That has a short-run benefit, as Powell alluded to. It means slumping labor demand won’t necessarily push up the unemployment rate, which at 4.2% is historically low. But in the long run it could limit the economy’s potential growth and generate larger budget deficits.”

Inside Intel’s Tricky Dance With Trump

By Leave a Comment

Wall Street Journal: “But the truce came with a cost: In return for Trump’s support, the administration proposed taking an equity stake in the company. It decided to convert nearly $9 billion in grants—promised to Intel as part of the 2022 Chips Act—into a 10% equity stake in the company, an unusual arrangement that makes the government Intel’s biggest shareholder.”

“The meeting was the pivot point in a frenzied period for Intel, once one of America’s most venerated technology companies, now stuck in a yearslong downward spiral. The company’s scramble to control the fallout from the president’s demand that Tan step down—triggered by a Fox Business Network segment—underscores the unpredictable environment major corporations face under Trump.”

CNBC: U.S. government takes 10% stake in Intel, as Trump expands control over private sector.

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.