GOP Operative Turned Advocate and Political Observer
This week, the team caught up with J. Miles Coleman, the Associate Editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a comprehensive, nonpartisan political analysis and handicapping newsletter run by the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Miles chats with us about last week’s election results and what they mean for the impending ramp up of the presidential election.
Make sure to follow Miles and subscribe to the Crystal Ball newsletter if you like what you hear.
Listen to the full episode here:
I wrote a new piece about the ouroboros of cynicism that initially propelled and to this day protects President Trump from offenses that would have long since felled mere mortal politicians. I’ll send it over to Maggie for the pull quote:
“President Trump may have been sent to Washington to break up a rigged system, but three years into his administration it’s increasingly clear that nobody has benefited from — or perpetuated — the notion more.” @LPDonovan https://t.co/OV1UM1EOR2
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 7, 2019
Read the full piece here.
I spoke with CNBC‘s John Harwood about the dynamics of public opinion on impeachment, and what the polling might mean for Trump as it relates to the GOP.
A CBS News poll found 23% of Republicans backing an impeachment probe. In a USA Today survey, 30% of Republicans called it “an abuse of power” for Trump to ask Ukraine to investigate Biden.
Even if they haven’t broken with their party’s president, those Republicans pose a particular danger to Trump, who once bragged that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York without losing support.
“The willingness to hear this out is a sign that you’re not a Fifth Avenue Republican,” says GOP strategist Liam Donovan.
Read the full piece here.
For the record, and as I told John for this piece, I am wildly skeptical that you will see many–if any–Republican defections in either chamber. As I have said, there is zero near-term political incentive to remove your party’s President. Combustible primary dynamics aside, there is simply no reason to believe that a vote to remove Trump will earn you more support from the President’s critics than it will lose you among his most ardent fans. At best, ugly numbers could liberate some Senate Rs to vote on the underlying merits, along the lines of their outgoing colleagues. But ultimately there’s a strong argument for allowing the voters themselves to render this judgement, especially heading into an election year, and–for better or worse–I fully expect this to be the approach of even the most furrowed brows in the GOP conference.