Impeachment Talk Could Derail Democrats
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.”
Brazile Considered Replacing Clinton with Biden
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. “
Haunted by Hillary
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.”
Warren Says DNC Rigged Primary for Clinton
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.”
DNC Fires Its Top Fundraiser
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.”
Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC
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.”
Pelosi Moves to Muzzle Impeachment Talk
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.”
Quote of the 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.
Both Political Parties Think They’re Losing
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Why Aren’t Democrats Further Ahead?
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Democrats’ Early Money Haul Stuns Republicans
“Democratic candidates are reporting historic early fundraising totals, alarming GOP strategists and raising the prospect that 2018 could feature the most expansive House battlefield in years,” Politico reports.
“Animated by opposition to President Trump and the Republican congressional majorities, at least 162 Democratic candidates in 82 GOP-held districts have raised over $100,000 so far this year… That’s about four times as many candidates as House Democrats had at this point before the 2016 or 2014 elections, and it’s more than twice as many as Republicans had running at this point eight years ago, on the eve of capturing the House in the 2010 wave election.”
DNC Struggling to Raise Money
“The Democratic National Committee is reeling, facing a turnaround that’s proving a much bigger lift than anyone expected as it struggles to raise enough money to cover its basic promises,” Politico reports.
“Many donors are refusing to write checks. And on-the-ground operatives worry they won’t have the resources to build the infrastructure they need to compete effectively in next year’s midterms and in the run-up to 2020.”
Democrats Plan to Name Lobbyists as Superdelegates
“The Democratic Party this week plans to name 75 people including lobbyists and political operatives to leadership posts that come with superdelegate votes at its next presidential convention, potentially aggravating old intraparty tensions as it struggles to confront President Trump,” Bloomberg reports.
Shakeup at the DNC
“A shakeup is underway at the Democratic National Committee as several key longtime officials have lost their posts, exposing a still-raw rift in the party and igniting anger among those in its progressive wing who see retaliation for their opposition to DNC Chairman Tom Perez,” NBC News reports.
“The ousters come ahead of the DNC’s first meeting, in Las Vegas, Nevada, since Perez took over as chairman with a pledge earlier this year that he would unite the party that had become badly divided during the brutal Bernie Sanders-Hillary Clinton 2016 primary.”
‘The Resistance’ Upends Democratic Politics
New York Times: “It started as a scrappy grass-roots protest movement against President Trump, but now the so-called resistance is attracting six- and seven-figure checks from major liberal donors, posing an insurgent challenge to some of the left’s most venerable institutions — and the Democratic Party itself.”
“The jockeying between groups, donors and operatives for cash and turf is occurring mostly behind the scenes. But it has grown acrimonious at times, with upstarts complaining they are being boxed out by a liberal establishment that they say enables the sort of Democratic timidity that paved the way for the Trump presidency.”
“The tug of war — more than the lingering squabbles between supporters of Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont — foreshadows a once-in-a-generation reorganization of the American left that could dictate the tactics and ideology of the Democratic Party for years to come.”
Remarkably Fast Liberalization of the Democratic Party
Washington Post: “Democrats have actually shifted more over the past two decades on many key social and philosophical issues, trending relatively quickly toward liberal positions as Republicans have changed more slightly. And the totality of it shows that Democratic voters are actually more polarized than Republicans are.”
“Pew has been running this study for years, and it’s the gold standard when it comes to documenting the nation’s political polarization. This chart, in particular, demonstrates why we can’t all just get along:

“But look closely at that third graph, and you’ll notice that Democrats are actually more clustered toward the far left than Republicans are to the far right. The median Democrat is also closer to the extreme than the median Republican.”
Dan Balz: Shifting attitudes among Democrats have big implications for 2020.
Most Partisans Have Few Friends In Other Party
A new Pew Research survey shows a majority of both Republicans and Democrats say they have “just a few” or no friends in the opposing party.
About 64% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans say they have “just a few” or “none” close friends who are Republicans or Democrats, respectively.
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