An Emerson Polling survey released Tuesday found both former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) leading President Trump by 10 points nationally, 55% to 45%.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren also led Trump in the survey, 53% to 47%, while Sen. Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigieg both led him 52% to 48%.
A new Associated Press-NORC Poll finds Democratic registered voters are yearning for experience in elected office. A whopping 73% cited that as a quality that would make them more excited about supporting a presidential candidate.
HARRIS TOLD TO GET MORE PERSONAL. Associated Press: “Although Harris was initially reluctant, she is now consciously trying to incorporate more personal details in her campaign trail speeches and answers to voters. While Harris’ campaign disputes the notion of a revamped strategy, advisers concede that they need to spend more time helping voters understand not only what Harris would do as president but also what motivates her and what has shaped her. Their goal: to leave voters with the impression of a candidate who is both strong and warm.”
STAGING A VIRAL MOMENT. Washington Post: “After Washington Gov. Jay Inslee released a $9 trillion climate plan last month, his staffers noticed the plan had been parodied twice in one week by the Onion, a popular satirical website. They began brainstorming a ‘clever and self-deprecating’ response in case it happened again.”
“Sure enough, a week later the Onion again poked fun at Inslee, parodying his youth-friendly message by saying he had decided to run for president only after five teenagers ‘pressed enchanted rings together to call him into existence.’ Inslee responded quickly with a deadpan tweet: ‘That was supposed to be off the record.’ It instantly became one of Inslee’s most popular Twitter posts; aides followed it up with a fundraising appeal, which helped push the candidate across the 65,000-donor threshold to qualify for the first Democratic debates.”
IS HOWARD SCHULTZ’S FAILURE THE DEATH KNELL FOR CENTRISM? Washington Post: “It’s hard to think of a less compelling thing to be right now than a centrist. Precisely because of the permanent crisis that afflicts Trump’s Washington, Schultz’s pox-on-both-houses sanctimony can feel not just inadequate but slightly nauseating.”
“But there was another, arguably more serious, problem with Schultz’s version of centrism: It does the opposite of what it claims to do. A politics intended to appeal to a wide middle of the country has, in the hands of someone like Schultz, come to mean an incredibly narrow thing: fiscally conservative, socially liberal, open borders on trade and immigration, restrictive on gun rights, hawkish on foreign policy, and not crazy about raising taxes.”
“‘Centrism,’ in other words, has become a byword for the politics of the business elite. Defined left to right, on an x-axis, it may approximate the center of the political spectrum. But on a y-axis that represents socioeconomic status, it sits at the very top.”
WARREN OUTFLANKS SANDERS. Washington Post: ““Doubling down on his ideological purity and socialist credentials carries risks for the senator… It’s enabled Warren to position herself as impassioned but reasonable, while Sanders holds down the leftward flank of the Democratic Party and serves as the ideological outlier in the race.”
“For Sanders, the threat from Warren is different from any he’s faced during his long political career, including in his 2016 presidential run, since Warren in many ways embraces the same brand of fiery liberalism.”
BIDEN DEBATE CAMP. Wall Street Journal: “The 76-year-old has participated in at least 16 debates as a presidential or vice-presidential candidate, but never before has he been the most susceptible to incoming attacks from multiple opponents.”
“Mr. Biden has been preparing in recent weeks with the help of an experienced debate team, led by Ron Klain, a longtime Biden adviser who has overseen debate prep for every Democratic presidential nominee since 2004
WARREN HAS A PLAN FOR ELECTIONS. Politico: “For federal elections, Warren wants to replace all old and paperless voting machines, standardize ballots, mandate a minimum of 15 days of early voting, make Election Day a holiday, restore the right to vote for those out of prison, create automatic voter registration and revamp election cybersecurity. She would also provide financial incentives for states to adopt those standards in their own elections.”
A Public Policy Polling survey in four battleground states — Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin — found that 52% of respondents said they trust Democrats more on health care than President Trump.
Key finding: “The poll also found that 72% of respondents would not vote for a candidate who supports health plans that would eliminate health care protections for people with pre-existing conditions, and 77% said they would not vote for a candidate who supported plans that would let insurance companies stop covering the costs of prescription drugs.”
“Sen. Kamala Harris has added a fourth Congressional Black Caucus member to her list of endorsements from its influential members: Rep. William Lacy Clay,” CNN reports.
“Former Vice President Joe Biden has five endorsements from the caucus, as the 2020 Democratic hopefuls jockey for its members’ support.”
Nate Silver: “Another one of these for Harris. A gradual shift in support among black leaders from Biden/undecided to Harris would be one of the most significant events of the primary.”
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