I spoke to The Guardian‘s Ben Jacobs for Lauren Gambino‘s article on the state of play in Nevada’s US Senate race.

Liam Donovan, a former operative at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said Tarkanian is less a threat to Heller in the primary as he is an urgent distraction from what promises to be a grueling general election race. Donovan noted that the Nevada Republican is “already among the only targets that Democrats have and is going to have a lot thrown at him”.

Read the full piece here.

Tarkanian’s entry into the race is hardly a good thing for Heller. Anything with the potential to drain resources and take your eye of the general election ball is counterproductive. That said, Tarkanian is a 5-time loser with a trail of personal baggage and debt, one who just happens to have a famous last name. And with Heller falling into line on health care after a shot across the bow from Trump political allies, even the predicate for Tark’s candidacy is underwhelming. Short of unanticipated White House involvement I suspect it will look a lot like the 2016 race where fellow retread Susan Angle tried a comeback and failed to get traction. In the end Senator Heller has more to fear from Trump-related political tension and the state’s dreaded “None of These Candidates” line than he does Danny Tarkanian.

I indulged GQ‘s Jason Zengerle for his look into a hypothetical Pence administration.

In fact, one can imagine many of the big G.O.P. agenda items—from health care to a massive tax-reform plan—would likely remain out of Pence’s grasp, just as they have for Trump. “There might be reasons to root for a President Pence,” says the G.O.P. strategist Liam Donovan, “but the idea that you’re going to pass tax cuts or anything else is incredibly naive. A Pence presidency won’t send things back to normal.”

Read the whole thing here.

I’ve touched on this before. Bottom line– Trump is not going anywhere, and even if he somehow did, things don’t magically go back to normal for his successor. There are no circumstances under which Trump leaves before his term is up and the legislative landscape somehow improves.

You'd also have to suspend disbelief to a) find the grounds, b) find the votes, and c) not rip the party into a bloody stump in the process.

— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) May 17, 2017

FWIW the legislative landscape of post-intraparty impeachment is downright apocalyptic. May not be worse, but it's not gonna get any better.

— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) May 17, 2017

I spoke with POLITICO‘s Colin Wilhelm about the Senate Dem tax reform letter and the meaning of the handful of holdouts.

Liam Donovan, a former National Republican Senatorial Committee staffer who now handles legislative and political affairs for the Associated Builders and Contractors, said estate tax repeal — which Republicans have promised to include in their effort — could be floated as a carrot in front of vulnerable Democrats like Manchin, Heitkamp and Donnelly to bring them to the table. Manchin was the lone Democrat to cross the aisle on a 2015 bill to repeal the estate tax.

But, “at the end of the day I don’t expect them to be there,” said Donovan.

Read the whole piece here.

I spoke to Elaina Plott of Washingtonian for her profile of erstwhile presidential hopeful Evan McMullin.

It’s understandable why McMullin may prefer Twitter and cable-news commentary to behind-the-scenes organizing: it’s much easier and cheaper to punch out a tweet from the makeup room before a TV hit than it is to travel and fundraise and lead town halls and connect with folks face to face. But many conservatives I spoke to suggested that McMullin’s prioritization of Twitter and political media also sheds light on his preferred audience. “I can’t quite figure out what his angle is…Unless you’re Trump, Twitter is not to the right scale,” says Republican operative Liam Donovan, who voted for McMullin. “It’s good for having a fervent following” among the Acela corridor-types, he says, “but it’s not great to parlay into anything else.”

McMullin admits that Twitter “is not the place where voters are. That’s Facebook. Or Instagram.” On Twitter, though, he emphasizes, “you reach influencers. That has serious value.”

You can read the full piece here.

I spoke to CNBC’s John Harwood about the impact of Senator John McCain’s diagnosis on the health care debate and the broader dynamic between Congress and the administration. Harwood draws a parallel to Ted Kennedy’s illness in 2009 that served as a rallying point for Senate Democrats in their winding path to passing the ACA. He further wonders whether McCain’s maverick ethos might rub off in the form of emboldening fellow Republicans to buck the administration. I expressed my doubts.

For the moment, Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller has more influence than anyone over how GOP lawmakers handle Trump. Until the ex-FBI director completes his investigation and announces conclusions, Mueller offers them a political shield.

“As long as the policy agenda lives, [Congress] will defer Russia stuff to Mueller and not offer much beyond furrowed brows and frustrated sound bites about unfortunate distractions,” said GOP strategist Liam Donovan.

Full article here.

The 1:20 version of this argument:

This segment could run tonight with a different chyron and it would hold up pretty well. tl;dr upshot of the linked piece. pic.twitter.com/2L59kA9wA1

— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) July 12, 2017