“The country is witnessing one of only a handful of times in its history that Congress has gone through with public hearings on whether to impeach a president. And yet, the overwhelming majority of Americans across parties say nothing they hear in the inquiry will change their minds on impeachment,” according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll.
“Half of Americans said they approve of the impeachment inquiry — about the same as the poll found last month. Respondents are also split on whether they think Trump should be impeached and removed from office.”
“But 65% of Americans say they can’t imagine any information or circumstances during the impeachment inquiry where they might change their minds about their position on impeachment. Just 30% say, yes, it’s possible.”
In this race, I think there have been two instances where the debates moved the polls. First, during the summer, after Kamala Harris’s mic drop on Joe Biden on busing, she rocketed up to first or second place in many polls. The boomlet was shortlived though. Second, was after the most recent debate in October. Buttigieg’s performance, and Warren facing several attacks on her M4A plan, began Buttigieg’s surge and Warren’s plateau.
Gallup: “Six in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents would prefer to see the party nominate the candidate with the best chance of beating President Trump, even if that person does not share their views on key issues. By contrast, 36% say they would rather have the reverse: a candidate aligned with them on almost all the issues they care about, even if that person is not the most electable.”
“There are too few conservative Democrats in this survey to analyze, but liberal and moderate Democrats’ views on this question are similar: 67% of liberals and 57% of moderates say they prefer a candidate who can beat Trump, even if that person differs from them on almost all issues.”
White House senior adviser Stephen Miller had more editorial influence over the right-wing news website Breitbart during the 2016 presidential campaign than previously known and attempted to push articles attacking then-presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), according to a new batch of leaked emails shared with NBC News.
Sen. Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign announced on Tuesday that it has reached 4 million individual donors, The Hill reports.
President Trump’s re-election campaign is currently negotiating with Fox and has agreed on “broad terms” to air a campaign ad during Super Bowl LIV, the Sports Business Journal reports.
Yahoo Sports: “Standard 30-second ads are reportedly selling for as much as $5.6 million for the game, though it’s unknown if that price would change for the Trump campaign. What is known is that buying such an ad for the Super Bowl would be unprecedented in recent history.”
“Wealthy Republicans are funneling millions of dollars through a constellation of party-aligned groups to defend President Trump against impeachment by politically wounding his Democratic antagonists,” the Washington Examiner reports.
“Some of the biggest players in this coordinated effort are 501(c)4 organizations, issue advocacy nonprofit groups that do not have to disclose contributors. This option, which also permits unlimited donations, is allowing conservative groups to attack congressional Democrats and provide air cover to the president without tapping super PAC resources earmarked for the 2020 campaign.”
“An internal document for Rep. Dan Lipinski’s (D-IL) Democratic primary campaign, obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, proposed pitching Republicans by highlighting his vote against Obamacare while wooing independents by reminding them he opposed its repeal.”
“A drive to persuade Republicans to vote in the Democratic primary would include reaching out to GOP officeholders; getting letters from ‘GOP surrogates’; and through Facebook ‘ads targeting independents.’”
Washington Post: “Abrams’s Iowa appearance points to the delicate needle she has been threading since her 2018 loss — even as she has declined to run for Senate, saying she wants to focus on voting rights, she has remained a top-tier player in the Democratic Party, frequently mentioned as a potential vice president.”
“It’s speculation she herself has encouraged. Asked about it during a talk at a church in Washington in September, Abrams said it would be ‘disingenuous’ to say she wasn’t interested in the role.”
Said Abrahms: “I’m pretty good at campaigning.”
Politico: “A half-dozen Democratic senators running for president will be anchored in Washington at the climax of early state campaigning, further marrying Democratic primary politics to the effort to oust Trump. These senators will need to find ways to break through both nationally and in Iowa and New Hampshire, but rather than house parties and cattle calls, impeachment will now be the forum — not an easy task.”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) deadpanned: “Pete Buttigieg, is moving ahead! It would be horrible.”
She added: “Warren and Bernie Sanders will be here right before the Iowa caucuses. Iowans expect to reach out and shake their hands. And they will be here sitting at their desks. I feel so badly for them.”
Politico: “It’s not that they don’t have strong opinions on the matter. When asked, the candidates nearly unanimously offer full-throated support to the impeachment effort. Rather, the turn away from impeachment reflects a simple calculus. For all the politicization of the issue, it’s of limited utility as a battering ram in a primary where most everyone — including the grassroots, party leaders and the candidates — is in agreement on the impropriety of the president’s actions.”
Boston Globe: “Trump’s promise to restore US trade dominance won him deep support in farm country, which helped him secure his narrow victory in Wisconsin in 2016. As the trade skirmishes Trump has triggered have hurt farmers directly, the president’s message has been simple: Trust me, it will all pay off.”
“They are still waiting. But the wave of new and steeper tariffs has yet to fray many farmers’ faith in a president who promised to even the playing field.”
The DNC and Politico are locked in an argument over the ideological credentials of a proposed moderator for next month’s Democratic debate, NBC News reports.
“Politico’s decision to push for Tim Alberta has rankled officials at the DNC… The reason: Alberta previously wrote for National Review, a conservative magazine, and has spent the bulk of his recent career chronicling the Republican Party.”
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