Gallup: “Forty-four percent of U.S. adults identify as Democrats or are independents who lean to the Democratic Party, while 37% are Republican identifiers or leaners.”
“Democrats have maintained an edge of between five and nine percentage points on this measure of party affiliation throughout 2017, after holding a narrow advantage in late 2016.”
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.”
“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.”
“Democrats running in a crowded primary race for Iowa governor are confronting an uncomfortable reality: Their party’s reputation is in tatters in rural Iowa,” the Des Moines Register reports.
“Democrats’ challenges in rural Iowa are plain to see in its electoral history over the last four election cycles. Since 2010, the party has lost six of seven races for president, governor or U.S. senator. Across those six losses, the party won just 15 of Iowa’s 99 counties; in five of those losses, the Democratic candidate carried fewer than 10 counties.”
“We had so much shit in our entire technology ecosystem that we couldn’t clean it up. Oh man, those Russians were on us like white on rice. I mean, they were, Joe, they were destroying data, critical data, Joe. I had a walking list for precinct 89 in Washington, D.C. I know precinct 89, right? And the Russians went in there and corrupted all of our critical data. All of our critical data. So, I no longer trusted this damn list that I’ve had for over 20 years of knowing every frequent voter, every Democratic voter.”
— Donna Brazile, in an interview on Sirius XM, on the extent of the Russian hacking of the DNC’s computer systems.
Politico: “De Blasio, whose unfulfilled national ambitions have never been far from the surface, will be in Des Moines in early December preaching the progressive message as the best means for Democrats to win control of statehouses nationwide and, the biggest prize, the U.S. House of Representatives. He will also be trying to define a new role for himself in the party.”
“More to the point, he’s diverging from the Clinton brand of Democratic politics from whence he came and fully embracing the Sen. Bernie Sanders wing of the party — a seemingly more natural fit for a man who won his first mayoral term on the message of income inequality.”
Tampa Bay Times: “Stephen Bittel’s rocky tenure as Florida Democratic Party chairman ended in disgrace Friday after he resigned following accusations from women that he leered at them, made suggestive comments and created an unprofessional work environment.”
“Bittel’s position became untenable after all four major Democratic candidates for Florida governor urged his ouster following a Politico Florida report late Thursday in which six women anonymously complained about Bittel’s behavior. They said he was ‘creepy’ and ‘demeaning.’ Bittel apologized, but it was not enough.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) is urging the DNC to end its tradition of using superdelegates, Politico reports.
Said Kaine: “I have long believed there should be no superdelegates. These positions are given undue influence in the popular nominating contest and make the process less democratic.”
“The plea from Kaine — himself a former DNC chairman, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate, and a superdelegate — puts him on the side of many backers of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s primary opponent in last year’s race for the White House.”
“I hope they spend $100 million trying to win the South.”
— Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), quoted by Politico, on Democrats seeing opportunity in the South.
James Hohmann: “Winning the House next year will require Democratic candidates, in many districts, to win over a considerable number of independents and even Republicans who voted for Trump in 2016. Floating impeachment may gin up the far left, but this is not an effective message to make inroads with new voters. Just ask the Republicans who went all-in on impeaching Bill Clinton how the 1998 midterms went.”
Former DNC head Donna Brazile “writes in a new book that she seriously contemplated replacing Hillary Clinton as the party’s 2016 presidential nominee with then-Vice President Biden in the aftermath of Clinton’s fainting spell, in part because Clinton’s campaign was ‘anemic’ and had taken on ‘the odor of failure,'” the Washington Post reports.
“In an explosive new memoir, Brazile details widespread dysfunction and dissension throughout the Democratic Party, including secret deliberations over using her powers as interim DNC chair to initiate the removal of Clinton and running mate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) from the ticket after Clinton’s Sept. 11, 2016, collapse in New York City.”
“Brazile writes that she considered a dozen combinations to replace the nominees and settled on Biden and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), the duo she felt most certain would win over enough working-class voters to defeat Republican Donald Trump. “
Mike Allen: “While many Democrats wish it weren’t so, Hillary Clinton just won’t go away. First it was her regret-and-resentment tour. Then the book. And now a rolling wave of 2016 recriminations.”
“As Democrats try to figure out 2020, it’s bad enough that they keep re-litigating the Clinton-Trump general election. But top Dems think it’s horrendous that the party is now re-litigating the Clinton-Sanders primary.”
“Clinton’s former high command says none of this breaks through in real America. But party insiders know that if they’re going to take back the House, Senate or White House, they need to look forward, not backward.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told CNN that she believes that the DNC was “rigged” in favor of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 primary.
Warren called that “a real problem.”
She added: “But what we’ve got to do as Democrats now, is we’ve got to hold this party accountable.”
The DNC dismissed its top fundraiser after just five months on the job, Politico reports.
“The committee’s slow fundraising has been a serious problem for the party since the 2016 election. Skeptical donors have stayed away from the DNC, while giving more to individual candidates and other committees. The party had just $7 million on hand heading into October, according to Federal Election Commission filings.”
Donna Brazile: “The agreement—signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook with a copy to Marc Elias—specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.”
“The funding arrangement with HFA and the victory fund agreement was not illegal, but it sure looked unethical. If the fight had been fair, one campaign would not have control of the party before the voters had decided which one they wanted to lead. This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party’s integrity.”
Politico: “Pelosi told lawmakers at a Democratic leadership meeting soon after that she had reached out to the Democratic megadonor to tell him that his $10 million ad campaign was a distraction.”
“Pelosi is eager to show her party can govern — in contrast to the chaos surrounding Trump — and believes that a reputation as the ‘No Drama Democrats’ is key to taking back the House in 2018 and whisking her backing into the speaker’s chair.”
“While not an official slogan, Pelosi has discussed the strategy broadly in recent leadership and caucus meetings, urging members to avoid talk of impeachment and resist taking Trump’s bait on whatever topic is dominating his Twitter feed that day.”
“There are two types of Democrats. There are killers, and there are whiners. Unfortunately, we have too many of the latter and not enough of the former.”
— David Krone, Harry Reid’s former chief of staff, quoted by the New York Times.
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.