“If the math doesn’t tally up… in the next three to four months… I will not run for President, because I will not do anything to re-elect President Trump.”

— Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, quoted at a CNN town hall.

Washington Post: “The ticketed crowd of several hundred seemed at times uncertain about whether it was witnessing an academic lecture or a political barnstorm, with only a few attempts at applause during his remarks. Twice Schultz found himself asking the audience to clap, first after he praised the university for its efforts to control tuition costs and later when he pledged to release his tax returns if he declared himself a candidate.”

The Guardian notes that when Howard Schultz asked by the New York Times whether he thought billionaires had become too powerful in American life, the coffee magnate complained that “the moniker billionaire now has become the catchphrase.”

Rather than using a word like billionaire to describe a person with billions of dollars, Schultz suggested it may be better to use expressions like “people of means” or “people of wealth.”

“The super PAC, which was founded by David Brock, a liberal commentator and leader of Media Matters for America, gave CNBC a first look at the research. It says Starbucks paid off $46 million in settlements to employees complaining about wage and compensation issues, much of the time while Howard Schultz was often at the helm.”

“While some of these settlements noted by the super PAC did not take place when Schultz was either CEO or chairman, the group is clearly trying to convince voters that under his leadership, Starbucks took advantage of employees.”

Internal polling from Howard Schultz shows him pulling about 17% of the vote in hypothetical presidential match ups between President Trump and either Kamala Harris (D) or Elizabeth Warren (D), NBC News reports.

Schulz wins about 17% in each of the two ballot tests, while Trump leads the Democrat by a margin of 33% to 32%.

Jonathan Chait: “In other words, Schultz’s own polling indicates he would lose badly, and would throw the race to Trump.”

“The intense nature of the criticism stunned Schultz,” Fox Business reports.

“While he expected some carping, he did not foresee the ferocity of some of the vitriol, particularly from the party’s top officials and operatives… What people who have spoken with Schultz agree on is that he is now readjusting his message about the likelihood of an independent presidential campaign.”

A senior adviser says “Schultz’s decision is far from final—and he won’t make up his mind until at least the summer.”

“Priorities USA, a progressive group and the largest Democratic super PAC, is sending FOIA requests to nearly 70 different national and state agencies that either Howard Schultz or his corporate entities may have interacted with at any point between August 1987 and June 2018,” Axios reports.

“The group is gathering as much potential opposition research as they can on Schultz and his business in anticipation of his decision to possibly run for president as an independent.”

Ben Smith: “Howard Schultz’s clumsy and damaging entry into the 2020 presidential race this week offers a lesson for billionaires who would like to replace Donald Trump: They should consider running against Donald Trump. And the place to do that is the wide-open Republican primary.”

“You can see why Schultz is tempted by an independent run. His politics don’t particularly fit either party: He favors LGBT rights and social rights, but he also wants to cut entitlements, keep taxes low, and considers deficits the ‘greatest threat’ to America.”

“That’s mainstream Republicanism, circa 2010. And guess what! This is the traditional kickoff of the Republican primary season. There are a couple of Trump challengers circling, but none with Schultz’s resources and access to the media. If he joined the primary, he could at least spend the next several months engaged with the central story of America, not looking like a rich guy on an ego trip.”

Danny Westneat in the Seattle Times: “State and county election records show that going back to 2005, Schultz has cast a ballot in just 11 of 38 elections. This isn’t the worst voting record I’ve seen in a political candidate. But neither does it suggest someone actively involved in ballot-box democracy over the years.”

“Schultz has at least voted in every election for the office he’s now seeking, the presidency. He also voted in the most recent midterms, in 2018. But he has skipped most of the state and local elections over the years, as well as some of the big midterms (like in 2014, when Republicans retook the U.S. Senate, and 2006, when Democrats ‘blue-waved’ the Bush administration).”

“He also passed up voting in Seattle municipal elections for mayor and city council most years, including in 2005 — right when he was petitioning City Hall for money to rebuild a basketball arena for the Sonics, which he co-owned.”

First Read: “Independent candidates like Schultz don’t face early nominating caucuses and primaries. (Maybe he’s going to where the political reporters are.)”

“In a four-day blitz of interviews across major broadcast networks, Schultz has been outspoken in his criticism of liberal Democratic leaders, saying their policies for expanding Medicare or taxing the wealthy are ‘not American,’ ‘misinformed’ and ‘ridiculous,'” the Washington Post reports.

“Schultz’s aggressive approach reflects a core strategy his advisers have developed in recent months through extensive polling and research. Schultz hopes to turn the 2020 campaign into a referendum not only on Trump, as is traditional when a president seeks reelection, but on the nation’s two-party political system, which could open up space for partisans to reconsider an independent campaign.”

Washington Post: “Before announcing his presidential ambitions this week, former Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz secretly undertook a months-long effort to prepare an independent presidential campaign against the nation’s two-party political system, deploying more than six national polls and laying the groundwork for paid advertising that could debut in the next two months.”

However, given the rocky start of his book tour, Schultz aides now say he may not make a decision on running until summer or fall.

“Furious Democrats hope to pound Starbucks chairman emeritus Howard Schultz into an early departure from his exploration of an independent 2020 bid,” Axios reports.

Said one Democratic operative: “I’ve talked to six dozen Democrats, and the overwhelming sentiment is that he will be pushed out by this incredible wave of disgust and disdain rolling his way.”

He added: “The flaw in Schultz’s logic is that we’re living in this massively abnormal moment. When you’re on the head of a pin, even 500 votes in the wrong place can be existential. The bottom line is: Nobody thinks this is sustainable.”

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz “may not decide on making a independent run for president until this summer or fall and will only be a candidate if he sees a plausible way to win the White House,” Bloomberg reports.

Said adviser Bill Burton: “He 100 percent will only run if he sees a viable path. There’s no chance he gets in this race if there isn’t a path.”

Burton added it may not be until “summer or fall” when Schultz makes a decision. By that point the frontrunners among the wide field of Democratic contenders may become clearer.

Meanwhile, the Washington Examiner reports that top Democratic groups threaten to unleash arsenal to torpedo Schultz’s third-party bid.

First Read: “We get the math why Democrats are worried… But are Democrats right now overreacting to someone who has almost zero name identification — unlike Ross Perot in 1992 or Trump in 2016? Someone who champions deficit reduction and entitlement reform — in this current political environment?”

“Are Democrats worried that their nominating process won’t produce a nominee that can win over both progressives and independents? Is it possible that the threat of Schultz running as an independent makes them nominate someone who’s, well, more pragmatic and able to win over independent voters?”

“Don’t get us wrong: We get the math. We get the ideological argument that Schultz should be running as a Democrat instead of as an independent… But what we don’t get is the panic attack — in January 2019 — about someone who has very little following, very little name ID, and no political experience whatsoever running as an independent.”