MORNING MESSAGE
Bernie Takes West Virginia
West Virginia really likes Bernie Sanders. He swept the Democratic primary yesterday, winning 51.4 percent to Clinton’s 36 percent, even in the face of the mainstream media essentially declaring the race over ... Sanders won across the board. CNN exit polls show him winning men 53-35 and women 50-38. He won the young big again, and even edged Clinton among seniors ... he keeps drawing massive rallies and demonstrating the power of his message. And he’s clearly pushing Clinton to move to a bolder agenda.
TRUMP HIDES TAX RETURNS
Trump won’t release tax returns. AP:“… the billionaire businessman … does not expect to release his tax returns before the November election. ‘There’s nothing to learn from them,’ Trump told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday. He’s cited an ongoing audit of his finances as the main reason for withholding the information, and also has said he doesn’t believe voters are interested.”
Trump won’t change for the general election. NYT:“He said he had a ‘mandate’ from his supporters to run as a fiery populist outsider and to rely on his raucous rallies to build support through ‘word of mouth,’ rather than to embrace a traditional, mellower and more inclusive approach that congressional Republicans will advocate in meetings with him on Thursday.”
Trump taps conservative economists to rewrite tax plan. Politico:“Donald Trump’s campaign has enlisted influential conservative economists to revise his tax package and make it more politically palatable by slashing the $10 trillion sticker price. Their main targets: Lifting the top tax rate from Trump’s original plan and expanding the number of people who would have to pay taxes under it … [Larry] Kudlow said they had already resubmitted their revisions to the Tax Foundation, which he said was now preliminarily estimating that the package would expand the deficit by $3.8 trillion…”
Conservatives aim to shape GOP platform. Politico:“The group, spearheaded by Arizona Republican National Committeeman Bruce Ash and prominent GOP attorney Jim Bopp, will focus on ensuring that like-minded conservatives secure slots on the 112-member Platform Committee.”
Speaker Paul Ryan lowers expectations for Thursday meeting with Trump. The Hill quotes:“I don’t go into Thursday with huge expectations other than just to have the kind of conversations that we need to start having so that we are getting ourselves on the same page…”
Democratic focus group of swing voters sees mixed picture of Trump. W. Post:“While those swing voters are willing to see Trump as a risky, divisive figure, they are not yet prepared to believe the Dem argument that Trump’s policy proposals would benefit the rich … they revealed a divide in terms of how swing voters currently view Trump when it comes to temperament on the one hand, and policy on the other … This mirrors what happened in 2012 with Mitt Romney…”
SANDERS WINS WEST VIRGINIA, EYES OREGON
Sanders wins WV with wide margin. W. Post:“…because delegates will be awarded proportionally, Sanders’s West Virginia victory was not expected to make much of a dent in that lead. However, his enduring popularity, large rallies and insistence on staying in the race until the Democratic convention in July have highlighted some of Clinton’s weaknesses and prevented her from fully turning her attention to a general-election contest against Trump.”
Clinton backs public health insurance option. NYT:“…Clinton is moving to the left on health care and this week took a significant step in her opponent’s direction, suggesting she would like to give people the option to buy into Medicare. ‘I’m also in favor of what’s called the public option, so that people can buy into Medicare at a certain age,’ Mrs. Clinton said…”
Clinton eyes suburban women. CNN:“Clinton headlined a series of conversations in Virginia and Kentucky this week with a focus on kitchen table issues like backing universal pre-kindergarten, rolling out a plan for affordable childcare and touting her position on equal pay for women. The Clinton campaign hopes targeting suburban voters with small, tailored events, which harken back to small events and roundtables the candidate did when she kicked off her campaign in early 2015, will contrast well with Trump.”
Sanders rallies Oregon. Salem Statesmen Journal:“On Monday he drew an estimated 15,000 attendees to a rally in Sacramento … The high intensity continued on to the Salem Armory Auditorium, filled to the nosebleed seats with supporters and more supporters outside … Sanders said winning the Oregon primary is ‘imperative’ for his campaign because it has a large number of delegates compared with remaining states. A win here could lend his campaign momentum heading into the valuable California primary.”
Clinton targets Kentucky. Politico:“While it’s long been thought of as a likely Clinton win — in part because it is a closed primary where only Democrats can compete, not independents — her grip on the state seems increasingly tenuous.”
SENATE RACES TIGHT
Quinnipiac poll sees dead heats in FL, OH and PA. USA Today:“The poll found that 43 percent of Ohio voters support former Democratic Gov. Ted Stricklandand 42 percent support Republican Sen. Rob Portman … In Florida … Rep. Patrick Murphy does better than fellow Democrat Alan Grayson against several Republican challengers, but roughly a third of the electorate remains undecided … In Pennsylvania, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey has 45 percent, while Democratic challenger Katie McGinty has 44 percent.”
Progressive primary challenger to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz scores big fundraising haul. Politico:“Fueled by small-dollar donors who give to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, [Tim] Canova said that, by the weekend, he’ll be on pace to have raised $1 million … ‘We have more donations in the State of Florida than Debbie Wasserman Schultz. This is a reflection that our progressive message is spreading here in South Florida,’ Canova said.”
"FRACKING ON THE DEFENSIVE"
“Fracking on the defensive” reports The Hill:“In recent months, the industry has suffered a $4.2 million jury award over alleged groundwater contamination from fracking, seen the two Democrats running for president argue over who would be tougher against the drilling practice and been embroiled in a public fight over the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) comprehensive analysis of fracking’s impact on groundwater. Meanwhile, polls indicate there is growing public opposition to the process…”
Mother Jones investigates whether natural gas can safely wean us off coal:“It’s hard to make an apples-to-apples comparison because the two gases have different lifespans. CO2 can last in the atmosphere for thousands of years, whereas methane [from natural gas] lasts only for a couple decades … is fracking really worse than coal? That claim seems highly dubious … But at least from the climate change perspective, if natural gas is the end of the road, the transition may be a wash … the ‘bridge’ only makes sense if we have a way to get off of it—and so far, that road map is unclear.”
Progressive Breakfast is a daily morning email highlighting news stories of interest to activists. Progressive Breakfast is a project of the Campaign for America's Future.more »
No comments:
Post a Comment