Розділ: Політика
Top Democratic Presidential Challengers Spar A Day Ahead of New Hampshire Primary
Democratic presidential contenders are making a furious last minute push for votes ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. Polls show Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders leading the field in New Hampshire followed by former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Battling for third place are Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and former vice president Joe Biden. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has a preview from Washington.
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By Polityk | 02/11/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Again Proposes Big Cut to Foreign Aid
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is proposing a 21% cut in aid the United States provides to foreign countries, with a budget request of $44.1 billion for such programs, compared with $55.7 billion enacted in fiscal 2020.Lawmakers and others predict Trump’s plan to cut one-fifth of foreign aid from the current level will not survive scrutiny on Capitol Hill, especially in an election year.”…the White House should save some trees rather than sending us a budget that’s headed straight here,” tweeted House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, attaching a photo of a blue plastic “House of Representatives” trash receptacle.Response to the Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russ Vought pauses as he speaks during a television interview at the White House, Feb.10, 2020, in Washington.The House, controlled by the opposition Democrats, last year also rejected Trump’s proposal to slash foreign aid.”It is likely that Congress will restore much, if not all, of the cut and, of course, the amounts in question are infinitesimal relative to the government’s annual deficit and overall debt situation,” Giselle Donnelly, said resident fellow in defense and national security at the American Enterprise Institute. “But the cuts are also of secondary importance compared to the way in which this administration has decimated the Foreign Service, and, as we have seen with the firing and denigration of NSC and ambassadorial officials, deprecated the ‘quiet professionals’ who serve on the front lines of U.S. foreign policy. One cannot put a price tag on the loss of talent and the lowering of morale.” Retired U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007 to 2011, in a letter to Congress, is warning of the danger of such cuts.”The more we cut the international affairs budget, the higher the risk for longer and deadlier military operations,” wrote Mullen.FILE – A man walks past boxes of USAID humanitarian aid at a warehouse at the Tienditas International Bridge on the outskirts of Cucuta, Colombia, Feb. 21, 2019, on the border with Venezuela.The assessment is shared by Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Brian Katulis, who notes that the United States has traditionally used foreign aid to help stabilize other countries, thus Trump should not “unilaterally disarm” by decreasing this tool.”If we are not doing that, other places are going to see more violence, poor governance, and the sorts of problems that he [President Trump] tries to address by building a wall on the southern border-migrants and refugees – these are the sorts of things addressed by foreign aid,” said Katulis, who worked at the National Security Council, State Department and Defense Department during the Clinton administration.Combined with increased military spending, “the proposed foreign aid spending cuts underline the president’s commitment to emphasize force over diplomacy and working with others in global affairs,” said a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder.”As in previous years, a bipartisan majority in Congress is sure to reject these cuts to help ensure the United States continues to engage the world with all of the tools needed for success,” said Daalder, president of the Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs.FILE – Ukrainian servicemen are seen after a welcoming ceremony for a plane from the United States with aid, including ten Humvee vehicles, at Borispil airport near Kyiv, March 25, 2015.“It’s become an annual event. The president’s budget proposes massive cuts in humanitarian aid and international relief to the most vulnerable around the world, and the bipartisan majorities in the Congress reject these proposals and the flight from U.S. leadership that they represent,” said Refugees International President Eric Schwartz. “The irony is that President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and others in the Trump administration continually boast about the generosity of the United States. It’s high time that their actions match their words.”The White House, while cutting other types of foreign aid, proposes a big boost in funding for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, a new and independent agency that provides funds for private development projects.Aid to Ukraine would remain at the same level.Trump last week was acquitted by the U.S. Senate of impeachment charges that he withheld aid to Kyiv to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, now a Democratic Party presidential candidate.
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Presents Election-Year Budget Based on Lofty Growth Assumptions
With months left before U.S. elections, President Donald Trump unveiled a Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought speaks during a television interview at the White House, Feb.10, 2020 in Washington.Cutting critical lifelines Russell Vought, Trump’s acting budget director, said Monday the proposal will include over $740 billion for defense spending, including a 20% increase for nuclear modernization.And the massive $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, mostly benefitting the wealthiest, will be extended beyond 2025.Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lambasted the proposal.”The budget is a statement of values and once again the president is showing just how little he values the good health, financial security and wellbeing of hardworking American families,” she said in a statement.”Year after year, President Trump’s budgets have sought to inflict devastating cuts to critical lifelines that millions of Americans rely on.”But Vought defended the plan and called on Democrats to approve the required spending cuts.”This is a budget reflection built upon the pro growth economic policies of this president, which have unleashed one of the most powerful economies in American history,” he told reporters as he presented the spending and revenue plan.But he said it is necessary to restrain non-defense spending and “time to rethink” aid, which is why Trump calls for a 21% reduction for foreign aid.He also defended the 3.0% growth targets saying in an interview with CNBC that the estimates are “entirely possible to be able to hit in the next 10 years.”Trump’s plan calls for $2 billion in homeland security spending for the U.S.-Mexico border wall, boosts spending for NASA by 12% while slashing the Environmental Protection Agency by more than 26%.Budget expert MacGuineas said the proposal includes some important policy reforms to put deficits on a downward path.”But when you peel away the rosy growth assumptions, the assumed reversal of spending increases the President has already signed into law, and the exaggerated and unspecified savings, we are still left with a mountain of debt.”
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democratic Presidential Contenders Differ on Key Policies
Democrats vying for their party’s nomination to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 U.S. election in November agree — and disagree — on many critical issues and topics of importance to Americans. VOA has compiled a rundown of five candidates’ positions on immigration, trade policy and America’s future in Afghanistan. ImmigrationJoe BidenOpposes eliminating criminal border crossing penalties.Vows to direct federal resources to “smart” border enforcement efforts to improve screening infrastructure at ports of entry.Favors providing health care coverage to immigrants.Supports path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers, brought to the U.S. as children.Supports accepting at least 110,000 refugees a year.Favors a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living in the country.Pete ButtigiegFavors providing options for undocumented immigrants to buy health coverage.Opposes eliminating criminal border crossing penalties.Supports a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.Favors the reinstatement of immigration enforcement priorities with an emphasis on removing people who pose a danger to the community.Supports limited border barriers but prefers deploying technology to enhance border security.Supports a comprehensive review of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).Amy KlobucharWants to prioritize comprehensive immigration reform and pass it in the first year.Will undo any guideline by the Trump administration that aimed to deport Dreamers and immigrants who are living under any Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforcement Departure.Reopen international USCIS offices to deal with international adoptions, family visa petitions, among others.Against decriminalizing unauthorized migrant crossings.Favors border barrier construction if paired with a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants.Bernie SandersRepeal criminal penalties for those apprehended trying to cross the border. Sanders would reserve criminal prosecution for those who pose security threats.Vows to tear down the U.S.-Mexico border wall. Wants to invest in technology to fight drug and human trafficking.Reform immigration enforcement system, including breaking up ICE and CBP and redistributing their functions.Halt most deportations, which Sanders call cruel and inhumane.Reunite families that have been separated.Supports a family-based immigration system grounded in civil and human rights.Elizabeth WarrenFavors a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. Those already enrolled in a program crafted by the Obama administration to shield Dreamers from deportation would also be covered.”Reshape” CBP and ICE and reduce immigration detention.Favors providing health care to immigrants under a proposed program to provide universal, government-funded coverage.Allow more refugees into the United States and create an office of New Americans.Vows to tear down physical barriers erected along the U.S.-Mexico border under President Trump.Would decriminalize unauthorized border crossings.TradeJoe BidenSupports the revised NAFTA/USMCA deal.Opposes most tariffs.Supports joining Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.Wants to confront China’s trade practices without inviting trade wars.Wants to enforce existing trade laws and invest in American workers and communities.Pete ButtigiegDoes not support the use of tariffs to pressure countries.Supports the Trump administration’s confrontation of China’s trade practices but also hopes to work with China.Supports the revised NAFTA/USMCA deal.Opposes rejoining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.Amy KlobucharFavors tariffs to pressure certain countries with unfair trade practices.Supports the revised NAFTA/USMCA deal.Favors working with allies like Japan and the European Union to confront China’s trading practices.Wants to restore travel to and trade with Cuba.Supports the federal government “aggressively” combating Chinese steel dumping.Favors tougher enforcement of trade laws, including increased inspections of steel imports at ports of entry.Bernie SandersSupports a full review of tariffs against China.Wants to rewrite all trade deals.In favor of an executive order to end federal contracts to corporations that outsource American jobs.Says U.S. tariffs can be an effective tool to protect American workers and incentivize nations to adopt better labor and environmental practices.Wants to expand Buy American, Buy Local and other government policies to increase jobs in the U.S.Elizabeth WarrenEnd closed-door trade negotiations heavily influenced by corporate interests.Wants environmental, consumer and labor representatives to outnumber corporate interests on trade advisory committees.Plans to overhaul U.S. trade policy toward China.Creation of a “non-sustainable economy” designation to allow the U.S. to impose tougher penalties on countries with poor labor and environmental practices.Supports the Paris Climate Agreement and wants countries to eliminate domestic fuel subsidies as a precondition for entering trade negotiations with the United States.AfghanistanJoe BidenFavors maintaining a U.S. troop presence in AfghanistanPete ButtigiegFavors bringing U.S. troops home without delay.Amy KlobucharVows to bring most U.S. troops home by the end of her first term but is open to keeping a limited troop presence in Afghanistan.Bernie SandersSupports withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan.Elizabeth WarrenVows to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan in her first term.
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
New England State Looks Ahead to First-In-Nation Primary
The Northeastern state of New Hampshire votes on a Democratic Party nominee for President Tuesday. The vote is the nation’s second contest for the Democratic nomination, since Iowa conducted its caucuses last week, but the first primary of the year. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti is in New Hampshire, where she spent the week talking to numerous voters who explained why they are waiting make up their minds.
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Schumer Wants to Protect Whistleblowers Amid Trump Payback
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is calling on the nation’s 74 inspectors general to protect government whistleblowers amid President Donald Trump’s ouster of key government officials in the impeachment probe.
In a letter Monday to the Defense Department inspector general, Schumer said Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman has been “viciously attacked” by the Republican president after “bravely stepping forward to tell the truth.”FILE – Jennifer Williams, special adviser to Vice President Mike Pence and Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman, director for European Affairs at the National Security Council, prepare to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, Nov. 19, 2019.Vindman, a White House national security council official when he testified before the House impeachment inquiry, was removed Friday and reassigned.
Vindman’s twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, also was asked to leave his job as a White House lawyer.
Also out Friday was Gordon Sondland, who had been Trump’s ambassador to the European Union. Sondland was among 17 people who provided public and private testimony in the impeachment proceedings.
The firings, alongside efforts to name the still anonymous government whistleblower whose complaint about Trump’s call with Ukraine sparked the impeachment probe, demand attention, Schumer said.
Similar letters are being sent to all 74 IGs calling on them to take immediate steps to investigate any “instances of retaliation against anyone who has made, or in the future makes, protected disclosures of presidential misconduct to Congress or Inspectors General.”
Federal employees have rights, including under the whistleblower law, that ensure they are protected through the inspector general offices and are able to provide information to Congress, as part of the legislative branch’s oversight role.
The White House has stood by the dismissals.
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
New Hampshire Protective of Its First Primary Status
Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary election will have a major impact on whom the Democrats nominate to run against Donald Trump. VOA’s Steve Redisch explains why the relatively tiny state has a huge role in electing a President of the United States.
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump to Propose Cuts in Foreign Aid, Social Safety Nets in Budget, Officials Say
U.S. President Donald Trump will propose on Monday a 21% cut in foreign aid and slashes to social safety net programs in his $4.8 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2021, according to senior administration officials.The budget will seek an increase in funds to counter developing economic threats from China and Russia, but will also raise funds by targeting $2 trillion in savings from mandatory spending programs in the United States. The budget assumes revenues of $3.8 trillion.Trump, a Republican, sought in his budget proposal last year to slash foreign aid but faced steep resistance from Congress and did not prevail.The president’s latest blueprint for administration spending proposals is unlikely to be passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives, particularly in an election year.Trump, who campaigned for the presidency in 2016 on a promise to build a wall along the U.S. Border with Mexico, will seek $2 billion in funding for further construction on that project, substantially less than the $8.6 billion he requested a year ago. The administration shifted resources to the project from the military last year after Congress refused Trump’s request. The White House will not seek further funds from the military for the wall, a senior administration said.The budget seeks $1 trillion to fund an infrastructure spending bill that both Democrats and Republicans have said is a priority. The two sides are unlikely to agree on any major legislation this year, though, as the two sides fight for control of the White House and Congress in the November elections.The budget would raise military spending by 0.3% to $740.5 billion for the fiscal year 2021, starting Oct. 1 and propose higher outlays for defense and veterans, administration officials confirmed. But former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen raised concerns about how the foreign aid cuts would affect the U.S. civilian footprint around the world that helps reduce the need for military intervention.”This is a moment when more investment in diplomacy and development is needed not less,” he wrote in a letter to top congressional leaders.Trump’s foreign aid proposal seeks $44.1 billion in the upcoming fiscal year compared with $55.7 billion enacted in fiscal year 2020, an administration official said.Spending cutsThe White House proposes to slash spending by $4.4 trillion over 10 years.That includes $130 billion from changes to Medicare prescription-drug pricing, $292 billion from cuts in safety net programs – such as work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps – and $70 billion from clamping down on eligibility rules for federal disability benefits. Those changes are likely to spur Democrats’ ire.The U.S. government ended fiscal year 2019 with the largest budget deficit in seven years as gains in tax receipts were offset by higher spending and growing debt service payments, the Treasury department said on Friday.The budget forecasts $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years and assumes economic growth will continue at annual rate of roughly 3 percent for years to come, officials said.Trump has taken credit for the strength of the U.S. economy thanks in part to tax cuts he championed and Congress passed earlier in his term. The budget funds an extension of those cuts over a 10-year period with $1.4 trillion.Aid to Ukraine would remain at its 2020 levels under the new foreign aid proposal. Trump was acquitted last week of impeachment charges that he withheld aid to Ukraine to spur Kiev to investigate political rival Joe Biden, a Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. vice president.Administration officials told Reuters that Trump would request an increase in funding for the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to $700 million from $150 million the previous year.
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Next Stop in Democratic Primary Contest: New Hampshire
Democratic presidential contenders took jabs at each Sunday two days ahead of the crucial New Hampshire party primary, attempting to undercut each others’ credentials to take on Republican President Donald Trump in the November national election. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi looks ahead to the second phase of the 2020 election cycle.
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democratic Presidential Contenders Spar Just Ahead of New Hampshire Vote
Democratic presidential contenders jabbed at each Sunday two days ahead of the crucial New Hampshire party primary, attempting to undercut each others’ credentials to take on Republican President Donald Trump in the November national election.Both former Vice President Joe Biden, now in a fight for his political life, and ex-South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg claimed on ABC News’ “This Week” show that the race against Trump will be more difficult to win if Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, one of the leading Democratic contenders, is the Democratic nominee because he is a self-declared democratic socialist.New day-to-day tracking polling in the rural northeastern state showed Sanders leading Buttigieg in a top pairing, with Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts in a clear second tier standing and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota trailing further in fifth.Tuesday’s vote comes a week after Buttigieg edged Sanders in the farm state of Iowa at Democratic caucuses in the race for eventual delegates to the party’s July national presidential nominating convention, with the other three candidates trailing well behind.Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Feb. 7, 2020.Buttigieg claimed that “it’ll be a lot harder” for Democrats to oust Trump from the White House after a single term with Sanders heading the ticket if they are forced to democratic socialism to voters.Still, Buttigieg said, “I’d be the most progressive president we’ve had in a half century.”Biden said that a Sanders-led ticket would be “a bigger uphill climb” to defeat Trump.With the Democrats continuing their fight among themselves for the right to take on Trump, the president on Sunday basked again in his acquittal last week on two impeachment charges, retweeting praise from supporters and criticizing Democrats.”The Dems are crazed, they will do anything. Honesty & truth don’t matter to them. They are badly wounded. Iowa vote count was a disaster for them!,” Trump said.Biden, Sanders and Warren all attacked Buttigieg, who a year ago was an unknown political figure throughout the country. Until recently he was the mayor of a city of 100,000 people, the fourth largest in the Midwest state of Indiana. With his Iowa win, he will be the first openly gay presidential candidate to win delegates for the national party nomination.Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Feb. 7, 2020.Biden, citing his long experience in Washington as his calling card to take on Trump, belittled Buttigieg’s South Bend mayoral experience and said he “hasn’t been able to unify the black community” in the city. In the U.S., African-Americans overwhelmingly vote for Democratic presidential candidates, but in 2016 a lower than expected black turnout hurt Hillary Clinton’s chances against Trump.Buttigieg said that on his first day in the White House if he is elected, he would initiate “a systemic plan” to curb racism in the country.Buttigieg has collected campaign funds from billionaires, saying he needed the donations in order to build a national political operation, but both Warren and Sanders, who have relied on smaller donations, attacked Buttigieg for the practice.“The coalition of billionaires is not exactly what’s going to carry us over the top,” Warren said on ABC. “The way I see it now right now is that we have a government that works great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top. That’s been true for decades and it’s gotten worse and worse and worse.”Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Feb. 7, 2020.She said that the national government is run by billionaires “that make big campaign contributions or reach in their own pockets like Michael Bloomberg does. If it’s going taking sucking up to billionaires or being a billionaire to get the Democratic nomination to run for president, then all I can say is, ‘Buckle up America,’ because our government is going to work even better for billionaires and even worse for everyone else.”Her reference to Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York, comes as he has spent a reported $250 million of his own money to campaign first for the Democratic nomination in the 14 states that are voting in party contests on March 3, while skipping the four Democratic elections in February, including New Hampshire.Sanders assailed Buttigieg’s fundraising on the “Fox News Sunday” show, saying, “Here’s the problem, everybody knows this, whether you’re a conservative or progressive: It is the billionaires and the big money interests that control what goes on what goes on politically, what goes on legislatively in this country.”Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, Feb. 7, 2020.”And if you do as Mayor Buttigieg does, take huge amounts of contributions from the CEOs of the pharmaceutical industry, from financiers in fossil fuel industry, from the insurance companies, from Wall Street, does anybody seriously believe you’re going to stand up to the powerful interests and represent working people?” Sanders said.He said he is “enormously proud of the fact that my campaign today, as of today, has received more campaign contributions from more people, averaging all of $18.50 than any candidate in the history of the United States of America. We are a campaign of the working class, by the working class, and for the working class.”Sanders asked rhetorically, “Do you think when the CEOs of major pharmaceutical companies contribute to your campaign that you are really going to take them on? I think common sense suggests that when you take money and you are dependent on billionaires, you’re not going to stand up to them and you’re not going to effectively represent working families.”WATCH: Related video by VOA’s Esha Sarai:Sorry, but your player cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
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By Polityk | 02/10/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Presidential Debates, a Learning Experience for College Students
For decades, presidential debates have been taking place on college campuses, including Friday night’s Democratic debate in New Hampshire. The reasons are mostly practical—universities are typically equipped with spacious auditoriums, parking lots, and media centers. But they also provide students an opportunity to be directly involved in the national political conversation. VOA’s Esha Sarai traveled to St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, to find out more about the student experience just ahead of a key primary for the 2020 presidential election.
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By Polityk | 02/09/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democrats’ Debate in New Hampshire: Key Takeaways
Three days before the critical New Hampshire primary, seven Democratic presidential candidates debated, with many of them fighting to survive in the race to challenge President Donald Trump.Here are some key takeaways.Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Feb. 7, 2020, at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.Mayor Pete makes his casePete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor of South Bend., Ind., was the candidate of the moment Friday. All eyes were on him Friday night to see if he could make his case.And he did — with one significant stumble.Attacked for his thin resume, Buttigieg shot back, “If you’re looking for the person with the most years of Washington, D.C., experience under their belt, that candidate is not me.” He promoted his youth compared with the lawmakers onstage talking their achievements from decades ago.“We cannot solve the problems before us by looking back,” Buttigieg said. “We have to be ready to turn the page.”A former military intelligence officer, Buttigieg seemed comfortable discussing foreign affairs, such as the Trump administration’s killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. “There is no evidence that that made our country safer,” he said, adding later, “This is not an episode of ‘24.’”But Buttigieg’s trouble spot has long been race. Asked about a spike in arrests of black people for marijuana possession in his city after he became mayor, Buttigieg began to decry systemic racism but seemed to acknowledge he couldn’t escape it in the city that he ran.Former Vice President Joe Biden, left, embraces Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Feb. 7, 2020, hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.Sanders under attackIt didn’t take long for the candidates to make clear whom they saw as the front-runner. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was piled on by competitors fighting to become the moderate alternative to the self-declared democratic socialist.There were two lines of attack: Sanders’ uncompromising liberal positions and, specifically, his proposal to immediately have the federal government take over the entire health care system.The most notable punch was thrown by Buttigieg, who said Democrats will have a problem working to “unite this country at a moment when we need unification when our nominee is dividing people.” Asked if he meant Sanders, he said yes.Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar scoffed at Sanders’ health care proposal. Former Vice President Joe Biden noted that Sanders says he has no idea how much his proposal could cost, though experts have put it at least $30 trillion.But he showed a characteristic durability. In the deeply divided field, Sanders is now leading in many polls by virtue of that following.Democratic presidential candidates from left, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., stand on stage, Feb. 7, 2020, before the start of a Democratic presidential primary debate.Biden bounced back?After his disappointing showing in Iowa, Biden was fighting to survive. Sometimes it didn’t seem like it, but Biden also displayed flashes of the fire and emotion that have traditionally endeared him to Democratic voters.Offered a chance early to swing at his two main rivals — Sanders and Buttigieg — Biden opened by basically admitting he was going to lose New Hampshire.“Bernie won by 20 points last time,” Biden said softly. His criticisms of Sanders and Buttigieg weren’t nearly as sharp as those offered by other candidates. Biden’s had difficulty talking about the GOP investigation into his own son that triggered Trump’s impeachment and that has coincided with the former vice president’s slide in the polls.The former vice president was left asking the crowd to give a standing ovation to Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was led out of the White House hours earlier. Vindman had testified in December before Democrats investigating Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.Biden, 77, was more energized in the later hours of the debate. He was visibly enraged at Trump’s dismissive comments on U.S. casualties during the Iranian retaliation for the U.S. killing of an Iranian general. He sharply attacked Sanders over the Vermont senator’s earlier support for gun rights, defended his long record on the Supreme Court and promoted his historic support from African-Americans.But it’s not clear whether his performance will quell worries.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., interviewed, Feb. 7, 2020, after participating in the Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV in Manchester, N.H.No Warren plan for breaking throughMassachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren invested deeply in neighboring New Hampshire as a key part of her 2020 run, but she struggled to find a standout moment as she begins to make her final case to the state’s voters.Warren skipped a chance to differentiate herself more from Sanders, a fellow progressive whom she calls a longtime friend. Given the chance to create some distance, Warren said, “We have a lot of things in common, we have a lot of things that we differ on.”She quickly shifted to making a party unity plea and echoing her stump speech lines about big money in politics and corruption.“We bring our party together, it’s an issue we can all agree on and fight to end the corruption,” Warren said. “We’re the Democrats. We should be the party on the side of hardworking people and we can bring in independents and Republicans on that. They hate the corruption as well.”Warren also did little to explicitly come to Sanders defense as her Vermont rival was attacked by the more moderate candidates over his prized Medicare for All policy goal, an idea Warren supports.Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., waves on stage, Feb. 7, 2020, before the start of a Democratic presidential primary debate hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.Klobuchar made a markKlobuchar was quick with the quips as she tried to gain an edge in the primary’s moderate lane. She repeatedly made a virtue of her ability to compromise and work with Republicans. There was an urgency to her presentation, with good reason: She needs an upset in New Hampshire.She hit familiar notes of criticizing Medicare for All as she touted her Midwestern appeal and legislative success in the Senate. Klobuchar’s plea boiled down to making a case for Democratic sensibility as a break from the smash-mouth nature of Trump’s presidency.“I didn’t come from money,” Klobuchar said, insisting voters “want to have someone that they can understand” in the White House.Businessman Tom Steyer speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Feb. 7, 2020, at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.Steyer’s fiery play … for South CarolinaBillionaire activist Tom Steyer does not have much of a chance in New Hampshire. So he used the debate to make a strong appeal to African American voters in South Carolina, where his campaign has invested heavily and black voters make up two-thirds of the primary electorate.The billionaire noted that well into the debate, “we have not said one word tonight about race.”“Are you kidding me?” he asked as a discussion of race ensued.He added later, “I am for reparations to African Americans in this country and anyone who thinks that racism is a thing of the past and not an ongoing problem is not dealing with reality.”Democratic presidential candidate entrepreneur Andrew Yang speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Feb. 7, 2020, hosted by ABC News, Apple News, and WMUR-TV at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H.Yang not burdenedBusinessman Andrew Yang was not burdened by low expectations. He was at ease and having fun on the debate stage Friday night, even though his chances to win New Hampshire, let alone the Democratic nomination, are minuscule.He bounced onto the stage without a tie, in stark contrast to his more buttoned-up male rivals.But Yang was largely left out of the heated exchanges that simmered through the debate, focusing instead on stepping back and looking at the larger picture.“Donald Trump is not the cause of all of our problems,” Yang said. “And we are making a mistake when we act like he is. He is a symptom of a disease that has been building up in our communities for years and decades.”The elephant in the roomTwo words were spoken Friday night that have rarely come up on the trail or in earlier debates: Mike Bloomberg.The former New York mayor and multibillionaire is skipping the early nominating states and instead spending hundreds of millions on Super Tuesday states with far more delegates at stake.A viewer-submitted question asked why the candidates were better than Bloomberg.“I don’t think anyone ought to be able to buy their way into a nomination or to be president of the United States,” Warren said.“I just simply don’t think people look at the guy in the White House and say, ‘Can we get someone richer?”’ Klobuchar said.“There are millions of people who can desire to run for office but I guess if you’re worth $60 billion and you can spend several hundred millions of dollars on advertising you have a slight advantage,” Sanders said.The responses were clear signals that they take Bloomberg seriously.
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By Polityk | 02/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
AP Fact Check: Dems Skew Health Care, Iraq Facts in Debate
Democratic presidential contenders stretched beyond the facts on policy and sometimes on their own records Friday in their New Hampshire debate.Amy Klobuchar called out Pete Buttigieg for an evolution on health care that he didn’t acknowledge. Joe Biden told only part of the story when he boasted about a success as vice president in getting troops home from Iraq.A look at how some of their claims from Manchester, New Hampshire, compare with the facts:Klobuchar, Buttigieg and health careKLOBUCHAR, on Buttigieg’s evolution on health care: “And Pete, while you have a different plan now, you sent out a tweet just a few years ago that said henceforth, forthwith, indubitably, affirmatively, you are for ‘Medicare for All’ for the ages.”BUTTIGIEG: “Just to be clear, the truth is that I have been consistent throughout in my position on delivering health care for every American.”THE FACTS: Klobuchar, a Minnesota senator, is right. Before he launched his presidential campaign, Buttigieg sounded supportive of “Medicare for All.” The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, isn’t now.In February 2018, he was involved in a Twitter exchange as liberals were pressing Democratic politicians to back a government health plan.“When/where have you ever heard me oppose ‘Medicare for All?”’ he asked in a Feb. 17, 2018, response to an activist’s query.A day later, he tweeted out a column he wrote as a Harvard University senior, saying he’d “been on record on this one since 2004.”On the same day, he sent out a separate tweet: “Gosh! Okay … I, Pete Buttigieg, politician, do henceforth and forthwith declare, most affirmatively and indubitably, unto the ages, that I do favor ‘Medicare for All,’ as I do favor any measure that would help get all Americans covered. Now, if you’ll excuse me, potholes await.”
Biden and troops in IraqBIDEN, saying President Barack Obama asked him to get 156,000 troops out of Iraq: “I did that.”THE FACTS: True, but that’s not the end of the story. Obama asked Biden to take the lead in efforts to withdraw troops and coordinate efforts to maintain stability in Baghdad. What Biden did not mention was that some of the troops had to go back.Obama and Biden failed to win agreement from the Iraqi government to keep a limited number of U.S. troops there after December 2011. That was the deadline for a complete U.S. pullout under a deal negotiated by the Bush administration in late 2008. Biden was still vice president when Obama was compelled to return American troops to Iraq in 2014 after the rise of the Islamic State extremist group.Yang and corporate profitsANDREW YANG, tech entrepreneur: “We have record high corporate profits in this country right now.”THE FACTS: Corporate profits are high, but they’re not at record levels.Companies earned $1.84 trillion in profits in 2018, slightly below the $1.86 trillion earned in 2014, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. But as a share of national income, corporate profits were 6.6% in 2018. That’s down from 7.6% in 2012 and significantly below the peak of 8.9% in 1929.
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By Polityk | 02/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Buttigieg, Sanders Battle in Generational Clash at Democratic Debate
Democratic White House hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg — neck-and-neck in the polls ahead of the next primary contest — clashed in an animated debate Friday over what path the party should take to beat President Donald Trump.Buttigieg, a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who at 38 is a fresh face on the national stage, defended himself against charges of inexperience and in a dig at Sanders urged Americans to elevate a nominee who will “leave the politics of the past in the past.”The 78-year-old leftist Sanders, eyeing the moderate Buttigieg as his possible chief adversary, aimed his own shots at his far younger rival on the debate stage in Manchester, New Hampshire, casting him as the candidate of Wall Street.“I don’t have 40 billionaires, Pete, contributing to my campaign,” Sanders said.Sanders’ policies under fireButtigieg and Sanders finished atop the pack earlier this week in Iowa’s chaotic caucuses, and both hope to renew the performance Tuesday in New Hampshire, as the Democratic Party seeks to pick a challenger to Trump in November.But Sanders, a veteran senator seeking to launch a political revolution, was in the firing line from several other rivals, including former vice president and fellow septuagenarian Joe Biden, branding his policies too radical to unite Americans.The 77-year-old Biden, fighting to keep his White House hopes alive after finishing fourth in Iowa, insisted liberal policies like Sanders’ flagship universal health care plan would be too divisive, expensive and difficult to get through Congress.“I busted my neck getting Obamacare passed, getting every Democratic vote. I know how hard it is,” he said.Biden comes out swingingBiden performed more aggressively than in previous showings, seizing a chance to argue that today’s global tensions required an experienced senior statesman to guide the nation out of a dark period.Despite the Iowa setback he also made plain he still views himself as best placed to mount a centrist challenge to the Republican Trump, who this week survived an impeachment trial that did little to dent his electoral support.“Mayor Buttigieg is a great guy (and) a patriot,” Biden acknowledged.But as a mayor of a small city he “has not demonstrated his ability to — we’ll soon find out — to get a broad spectrum of support” from American voters.A national unknown one year ago, Buttigieg’s ambitious campaign has resonated with voters who appreciate his articulate explanations of policy.Rivals argue he is an untested newcomer on the world stage, but in Manchester he once again drew on his experience as a military veteran to seek to cast himself as a credible commander-in-chief.And he advanced his central argument for generational change as the best way to take on society’s and the economy’s new challenges.“The biggest risk we could take at a time like this would be to go up against the fundamentally new challenge by trying to fall back on the familiar,” Buttigieg said.‘Trump’s worst nightmare’Also on the stage in New Hampshire were senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, technology entrepreneur Andrew Yang and billionaire activist Tom Steyer.Klobuchar, a pragmatist from Minnesota, put in a forceful performance as she voiced her opposition to liberal colleagues Sanders and Warren, arguing that their plans to fundamentally change the U.S. economy would turn off voters.“I think we are not going to out-divide the divider in chief,” she said. “Truthfully, Donald Trump’s worst nightmare is a candidate that will bring people in from the middle.”Biden appeared more energetic than usual on stage, although from the outset he embraced a stance he has rarely had in recent decades: underdog.“I took the hit in Iowa and I’ll probably take it here,” Biden said, in an apparent recognition that Sanders is likely to win New Hampshire, the state that borders his home state of Vermont.As the seven clashed in the debate, another candidate loomed in the background.Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg chose to ignore the early nominating contests and has spent heavily on advertising, hoping to make a splash March 3 on “Super Tuesday,” when 14 states hold primaries.After New Hampshire, the candidates turn their sights on Nevada, Feb. 22, South Carolina, Feb. 29 and then Super Tuesday.
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By Polityk | 02/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Seven Democrats Brace For Crucial Debate in New Hampshire
Coming off the muddled Iowa Caucuses early this week, seven Democratic candidates face off Friday night in a presidential debate in New Hampshire seeking to capitalize on early momentum or to rebound from a disappointing start.Those on the stage in Manchester, New Hampshire, are most specifically targeting voters in that state as they prepare for a primary election Tuesday. But after months of debating with no voter input, the race has a sense of sudden acceleration with nominating contests in four states this month and 14 more on the first Tuesday in March.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., listens as he is introduced during the Politics & Eggs breakfast at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Feb. 7, 2020.Sen. Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg carry the most momentum into the debate with Buttigieg having earned the most delegates in Monday’s Iowa caucuses and Sanders winning the most popular votes.Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign stop at the Merrimack American Legion, in Merrimack, N.H., Feb. 6, 2020.Sanders, who represents neighboring Vermont, is the clear favorite in New Hampshire where he dominated in the 2016 primary with 60 percent of the vote. Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, sharply criticized Buttigieg at a “Politics & Eggs” breakfast Friday at Saint Anselm College for accepting contributions from billionaires.Pre-election polls show an opportunity for former Vice President Joe Biden to bounce back after a dismal fourth-place finish in Iowa.Just behind Biden and Buttigieg in the polls is Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was third in Iowa.They will be joined in the debate by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, entrepreneur Andrew Yang and billionaire Tom Steyer.Several other Democrats are still in the race, but did not meet the national Democratic party’s requirements for the debate. To qualify, candidates could either earn at least one delegate in Iowa, or amass donations from 225,000 individual donors and show either 7% support in two polls in early voting states or 5% in national or early state polls.Those who did not make it can try to qualify for the next debate February 19 in the western state of Nevada ahead of the February 22 caucuses there, or the February 25 debate in South Carolina before that state holds its primary later that week.Like the candidates who did not perform up to their expectations in Iowa, the party itself has a chance to bounce back in New Hampshire after what Iowa state party officials called a “stumbling block” in reporting their results that left candidates and voters wondering about the final outcome for two days.Democrats will formally name their presidential nominee at a convention in Wisconsin in July.Republicans hold their convention in August to nominate incumbent President Donald Trump.
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By Polityk | 02/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
US Appeals Court Throws Out Democrats’ Lawsuit Challenging Trump Businesses
A U.S. appeals court on Friday threw out a lawsuit brought by Democratic lawmakers alleging President Donald Trump’s overseas business dealings violate the U.S. Constitution’s anti-corruption “emoluments” clauses.Reversing a lower court judge, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said a group of more than 200 Democratic lawmakers lacked legal standing to bring the case.The three-judge panel said it was bound by U.S. Supreme Court decisions that have limited the ability of individual members of Congress to litigate questions that affect the legislative branch as a whole.The Democratic lawmakers “can, and likely will, continue to use their weighty voices to make their case to the American people, their colleagues in the Congress and the president himself, all of whom are free to engage that argument as they see fit,” the three-judge panel wrote. “But we will not — indeed we cannot — participate in this debate.”“We’re disappointed in the panel’s decision and are considering next steps,” said Elizabeth Wydra, a lawyer who argued on behalf of the lawmakers.A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, which argued the case for Trump, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.One of three casesThe lawsuit was brought in 2017 by congressional Democrats including Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. It is one of a trio of cases against Trump over the rarely tested emoluments clauses, which prohibit presidents from taking gifts or payments from foreign and state governments.One or more of the cases could end at the U.S. Supreme Court, legal experts said.The emoluments cases have largely centered on the Trump International Hotel, just blocks from the White House, which the Republican president opened shortly before he was elected in November 2016.Unlike past presidents, Trump has retained ownership of numerous business interests, including the hotel, while serving as president.Since Trump’s election, the hotel has become a favored lodging and event space for some foreign and state officials visiting the U.S. capital.The lawsuits alleged that, in failing to disengage from the hotel, Trump has made himself vulnerable to inducements by foreign governments seeking to curry favor.
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By Polityk | 02/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Former Congressman Walsh Ends 2020 GOP Bid Against Trump
Former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh ended his Republican primary challenge to President Donald Trump on Friday, abandoning an effort that faced long odds and financial struggles from the start.
“I’m suspending my campaign, but our fight against the Cult of Trump is just getting started. I’m committed to doing everything I can to defeat Trump and his enablers this November.” Walsh said in a tweet.
Walsh had cast his ballot for Trump in 2016 and declared he would be “grabbing his musket” if the Republican Trump lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton. But Walsh eventually soured on Trump, deriding him as “nuts,” “cruel” and “incompetent.” He has also acknowledged that he helped “create” Trump through his own brand of “personal, ugly politics.”
The tea party favorite turned radio talk show host became Trump’s second 2020 primary challenger when he announced his candidacy in August, saying the incumbent was unfit for office and must be denied a second term. He presented himself as a conservative choice for people who were fed up with the chaos of the Trump era. Brimming with confidence over his campaign prospects, Walsh declared, “I think this thing will catch on like wildfire.”
But Walsh faced fundraising hurdles and obstacles from the Republican Party from the start. A number of state parties canceled their primaries and other nominating contests in an effort to protect Trump from the fate of George H.W. Bush, the last one-term president who faced a serious primary challenger and subsequently lost his reelection bid. Last year, the Republican National Committee issued a nonbinding resolution to declare the party’s undivided support for Trump.
Walsh also failed to get his name on the ballot in some states, including Vermont, Mississippi and Walsh’s home state of Illinois.
At times, Walsh struggled to differentiate himself as a viable Trump alternative. He courted controversy on social media in the years before his presidential run and was frequently pressed about those comments while on the campaign trail.
“There were some times when I went over the line and said things to be a little too provocative,” Walsh told a crowd at a college convention in New Hampshire in January.
Walsh’s singular campaign focus was criticizing Trump. He was often quick to ridicule former South Carolina congressman Mark Sanford for making fiscal conservatism the crux of his 2020 Republican presidential candidacy during his brief time in the race.
“This isn’t about the debt and this isn’t about tariffs and it’s not about any issue,” Walsh said when Sanford ended his run in November. “Trump’s unfit. It’s an emergency, and that’s the only reason you get into a primary against a sitting president.”
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By Polityk | 02/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Accuses House Leader of ‘Very Illegal’ Act
U.S. President Donald Trump says the highest-ranking member of the country’s legislative branch, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “broke the law” when she shredded a copy of the State of the Union speech he delivered to Congress.The president told reporters Friday that Pelosi’s act, which was caught on camera just after Trump completed his address late Tuesday, was “disrespectful to our country, and actually very illegal.”A Florida congressman of Trump’s Republican party, Matt Gaetz, has filed an ethics complaint against Pelosi, accusing her of potentially violating federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2071).The regulation prohibits the destruction of government records, but it only applies to documents that have been “filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States.”‘Brilliant’ or ‘tasteless'”That’s really a law about preserving official documents, such as the official copy that would make it to the National Archives,” said Ajay Mehrotra, executive director and research professor at the American Bar Foundation “I don’t think what Pelosi had was an official document.”The made-for-meme moment was “brilliant political theater” by a rival of Trump, but not a violation of any law, Mehrotra told VOA.Others see it differently, contending that defacing even a non-official reproduced copy of the State of the Union speech could technically violate the law.”I think it’s a legitimate question,” said Aaron Coleman, associate professor and chair of the Department of History and Political Science at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky.If Trump “sought to pursue this as a legal matter that would call into question the nature of a speech given by a U.S. president,” he added.”I think this is going to be a non-issue when it comes to any legality,” said Coleman. “It’s hard to imagine given all the other real serious issues that the president and Congress would have to face that tax dollars would be devoted to it.”Legalities aside, the political science professor said, “It’s incredibly tasteless and tactless what she did.”Impeachment outcomeTension between Trump and Democratic lawmakers has escalated since the House, controlled by the opposition Democratic party, impeached the president late last year.The Senate, controlled by the Republicans, on Wednesday did not reach the two-thirds majority vote needed to remove Trump from office, rejecting both articles of impeachment delivered by the House.Senators, acting as jurors, all voted along party lines, except for Republican Mitt Romney of Utah, who agreed with Democrats that the president abused the power of his office.Romney, however, did not vote in favor of the second article of impeachment accusing the president of obstructing Congress.Trump is only the third president in U.S. history to have faced an impeachment trial.
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By Polityk | 02/08/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democrats Tear Into GOP Sen. Collins Over Acquittal Vote
Republican Sen. Susan Collins drew attention with her deliberative approach to the impeachment trial, giving Democrats hope she might vote to convict President Donald Trump. She listened, took notes, asked questions. Then she pondered some more.
Then she did just what many Democrats figured she would do: She ultimately followed the party-line vote in voting to acquit the president.
Democrats believe Collins’ mind was made up all along, long before Wednesday’s vote. Maine Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathleen Marra called her actions a “craven political charade.”
They will now try to make this another Brett Kavanaugh moment for Collins, invoking the last time the senator considered breaking from her party in such a high-profile vote. She ultimately voted to confirm Kavanaugh, and is being blamed for a major rightward shift in for the court.
“While she has tried to show that she’s standing up to Donald Trump, here in Maine we see over these past few weeks just how much she has changed. And what we know is that Mainers, and Americans, deserve better,” said Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, who praised Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney for breaking ranks to convict Trump.
Collins and her supporters consider that sort of scrutiny a curse of centrists. No matter how reasoned her rationale is for a particular vote, there is no way to please everyone and only knee-jerk loyalty is rewarded.
But for Democrats there’s “deja vu-all-over-again” frustration that’ll feature prominently in what’s shaping up to be her most difficult reelection yet.
“I don’t think it’s any surprise that the impeachment vote didn’t work to Senator Collins’ advantage. I don’t think there’s any way that it could,” said Mark Brewer, political science professor at the University of Maine, who noted that the current political environment isn’t conducive to moderation or bipartisanship.
Collins, the last Republican member of Congress from New England, said she knew her vote would anger Mainers.
In her floor speech, she spoke of the Founding Father’s concerns about how excessive partisanship and about historical precedent with then-President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999. In the end, she sided with acquittal for Trump, just as she did for Clinton.
In media interviews, Collins did not shy away from criticizing the president over his decision to try to get Ukraine to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son. But she said his conduct wasn’t egregious enough to warrant immediate removal from office.
“The president of the United States should not be asking a foreign country to investigate a political rival. That is just improper,” she told CBS.
Collins declined to speak to The Associated Press.
Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, both Republicans, are unlikely to get as much heat and national attention for their votes, in part because they never played the role of fence sitter. But both senators face tough reelection fights.
Democrats heap greater scorn on Collins because they believe she maintains a charade of being a moderate while voting to enable Trump.
Her vote underscored that point for them.
“I wish I could say that I’m surprised, but I’m not,” said Ross LaJeunesse, another Democrat who’s vying for the opportunity to challenge Collins on the November ballot.
Despite the criticism, Collins has shown a willingness to buck her party. She was one of only three Republicans to vote against a GOP repeal of the Affordable Care Act. She criticized the Trump’s emergency declaration to build a wall at the southern border and criticized his withdrawal of U.S. troopers from Syria.
For her part, the 67-year-old Collins maintained her thorough approach to the impeachment charges against Trump. She was one of only two Republicans to vote to call additional witnesses, but Democrats didn’t give her any credit for that.
And they mocked her for saying she hoped impeachment had taught Trump a lesson, noting what she wrote about him in a 2016 op-ed: “Regrettably, his essential character appears to be fixed, and he seems incapable of change or growth.”
Collins, for her part, insists her deliberative process and respect for precedent are real. She said she hopes that whether or not people agree with her vote that they’ll respect the fact that she approached it in a thoughtful manner.
Democrats will use anger over Collins’ vote to raise money, just as they did after her vote to confirm Kavanaugh. “The state of Maine is going to sink under the weight of all of the Democratic money coming in against her,” said John Pitney, a political science professor from Claremont McKenna College in California.
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By Polityk | 02/07/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democrats Prepare for New Hampshire Debate as Urgency Rises
The Democratic Party’s seven strongest presidential contenders are preparing for what could be the fiercest debate stage clash of the 2020 primary season as candidates look to survive the gauntlet of contests that lie ahead.
The field has been shaken and reshaped by chaotic Iowa caucuses earlier this week, and Friday’s debate in New Hampshire – coming four days before the state’s primary – offers new opportunity and risk for the shrinking pool of White House hopefuls.
Two candidates, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Midwestern mayor Pete Buttigieg, enter the night as the top targets, having emerged from Iowa essentially tied for the lead. Those trailing after the first contest – including former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar – have an urgent need to demonstrate strength.
Billionaire activist Tom Steyer and New York entrepreneur Andrew Yang, meanwhile, are fighting to prove they belong in the conversation.
The rapidly evolving dynamic means that the candidates have a very real incentive to mix it up with their Democratic rivals in the 8 p.m. debate hosted by ABC. They may not get another chance.
“This is the time when voters are eager for candidates to show they can compare and contrast, but also show they’re in it to win it,” said Democratic strategist Lily Adams, who worked on California Sen. Kamala Harris’ unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign. “Expect it to get more feisty.”
Indeed, it was a debate at this same stage in New Hampshire four years ago on the Republican side that then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie devastated Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential ambitions with a well-timed take-down. Rubio never recovered, making it easier for Donald Trump to emerge as his party’s presidential nominee.Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden holds a woman’s hand while speaking to her at a campaign event, Feb. 5, 2020, in Somersworth, N.H.Joe Biden
The stakes are particularly high this week for Biden, who has played front-runner in virtually every one of the previous seven debates but left Iowa in distant fourth place. While reporting irregularities have blunted the impact of the Iowa contest, Biden’s weakness rattled supporters who encouraged him to take an aggressive tack Friday night.
One of Biden’s more prominent New Hampshire backers, Democratic operative Jim Demers, said this is the time to fight.
“People want to see the fire, they want to see fight and they want to see the differences,” he said.
Lest there be any doubt about his intentions, Biden adopted a decidedly more aggressive tone with his rivals in the days leading up to Friday’s debate, having largely avoided direct attacks against other Democrats for much of the last year. |
But Wednesday in New Hampshire, the former vice president went after Sanders and Buttigieg by name and questioned their ability to beat Trump.
On Sanders, Biden seized on the Vermont senator’s status as a self-described democratic socialist. And on Buttigieg, he knocked the 38-year-old former mayor’s inexperience.
Biden also conceded the obvious – that his Iowa finish was underwhelming at best. He called it a “gut punch” before embracing the underdog role: “This isn’t the first time in my life I’ve been knocked down.”
The seven-person field also highlights the evolution of the Democrats’ 2020 nomination fight, which began with more than two dozen candidates and has been effectively whittled down to a handful of top-tier contenders.Democratic presidential candidate entrepreneur Andrew Yang speaks during the Higher Education Forum – College Costs & Debt in the 2020 Elections, Feb. 6, 2020, at the University of New Hampshire in Concord, N.H.Lack of diversity
There are clear dividing lines based on ideology, age and gender. But just one of the candidates on stage, Yang, is an ethnic minority.
Two African Americans and the only Latino candidate were forced from the race even before voting began. The only black contender still in the running, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, did not meet the polling or fundraising thresholds to qualify for Friday’s event.
Beyond Biden’s struggles, there are several subplots to watch.Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Jan. 14, 2020, after a Democratic presidential primary debate in Des Moines, Iowa.Warren vs Sanders
The debate is the first since a progressive feud erupted on national television between Sanders and Warren. The Massachusetts senator refused to shake her New England neighbor’s hand and accused him of calling her a liar moments after the Jan. 14 meeting in Iowa.
The pointed exchange threatened to cause a permanent fissure in the Democratic Party’s far-left flank. Warren has embraced her gender as a political strength in the weeks since, highlighting the successes of female candidates in the Trump era and her own record of defeating a male Republican to earn a seat in the Senate.
That said, she stressed unity at campaign stops in recent days: “We’ve got to pull together as a party. We cannot repeat 2016,” she said.
She even points to her sprawling campaign organization to prove her dedication to party unity, noting that aides from rival candidates no longer in the race have chosen to work for her.
“I have an open campaign,” Warren said during a rally Wednesday at a community college in Nashua. “An inclusive campaign, a campaign that invites people in.”
Yet Warren has been willing to attack before. Aside from the post-debate skirmish with Sanders, she seized on Buttigieg’s fundraising practices in past meetings.
While Warren and Sanders as presidential candidates have sworn off wealthy donors, Buttigieg and the rest of the field have continued to hold private finance events with big donors, some with connections to Wall Street. In fact, Buttigieg took the unusual step of leaving New Hampshire this week to hold three fundraisers with wealthy donors in the New York area.Democratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks at a campaign stop at the Merrimack American Legion, Feb. 6, 2020, in Merrimack, N.H.Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg should expect to be under attack Friday night, said Joel Benenson, a debate adviser to Buttigieg last year and a prominent Democratic pollster.
“He’s got to be prepared for incoming from the people behind him, who are going to be punching up and trying to take votes away,” Benenson said.
“He’s got to be prepared to counterpunch, as well, and push back strenuously, but drive his message even when he’s responding,” he added. “If they draw sharp contrasts, he has to, as well.”
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By Polityk | 02/07/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Buttigieg, Sanders Top Vote-Getters in Iowa Caucus
The final results from the Democratic Party’s tumultuous Iowa caucuses were released late Thursday. The top two candidates have almost the same number of state delegates after Monday’s caucuses.Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, won 26.2% of the delegates to the state’s Democratic Party convention, while Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders earned 26.1%. However, Sanders leads in the popular vote.The state convention will determine how many of Iowa’s 41 delegates to the national democratic convention each candidate will get.Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez called for a recanvass earlier Thursday after technical problems ruined plans to produce accurate and timely vote counts. A recanvass would mean reviewing the math worksheets of each caucus site.However, Troy Price, the chairman of the Iowa Democratic Party, said a recanvass would be initiated only if a candidate requests one, a scenario that seems unlikely at this point. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., gestures while speaking during a news conference at his New Hampshire headquarters, Feb. 6, 2020 in Manchester, N.H.“We’ve got enough of Iowa,” Sanders said Thursday at a CNN town hall. “I think we should move on to New Hampshire,” the site of the next Democratic campaign.Buttigieg said he would “leave it to the party” to determine if there should be a recanvass.Sen. Elizabeth Warner, who came in third in the caucuses, said “I’m focused on moving forward.”Former Vice President Joe Biden said coming in fourth was a “gut punch” for his campaign, but added that he is not “going anywhere.” He led most of the voter polls even before declaring his candidacy.Senator Amy Klobuchar followed Biden for fifth place.Precinct captain Carl Voss of Des Moines displays the Iowa Democratic Party caucus reporting app on his phone outside of the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 4, 2020.Mobile app failsThe voting chaos of the caucuses stemmed mostly from the failure of a mobile app the Iowa Democratic Party used to count and verify the results. It took nearly an entire day to report even a single vote from Monday’s caucuses because of what party officials said was a coding error and vote inconsistencies being reported on the app specially designed for vote counting throughout the rural state.When it became apparent that the app was failing, precincts tried to phone in their results, but were placed on hold for hours, in some cases. Somehow, the telephone number used to call in the votes became public and party officials said the lines were jammed with people intent on messing up the vote counting process.It was an awkward kickoff for the Democratic Party as it tries to determine who will be its candidate to try to unseat Donald Trump in November’s presidential election. The results underscore a sharp ideological divide within the party.The youthful Buttigieg, 38, represents the moderate wing of the Democratic Party and is the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate. Sanders, 78, is a self-declared democratic socialist who endorses universal medical coverage while eliminating private insurance. Buttigieg backs government-run health insurance while letting people keep their private coverage.Sanders would provide all students with free four-year college education and cancel outstanding student debt. Buttigieg would limit free college to low-income families while looking for other ways to reduce debt.But both support the “Green New Deal” to combat global warming, favor decriminalizing illegal immigration, vow to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, and favor bringing home U.S. troops from Afghanistan.Can caucuses survive?The chaos and confusion surrounding Monday’s caucuses bring questions whether Iowa can continue to be relied on to be the first state in the nation to officially choose presidential candidates. Iowa’s population is 91% white, and some Democratic analysts say the state hardly reflects the national Democratic base, which includes a large percentage of minorities.But the state’s three leading Republicans, senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, defended Iowa’s role in picking presidential nominees for both Democrats and Republicans. They said they were confident “that every last vote will be counted, and every last voice heard” in the Democratic contest.
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By Polityk | 02/07/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump’s Prospects on the Rise After Notable Week
There appeared to be a noticeable shift in the U.S. political landscape this week.President Donald Trump finally emerged triumphant from the battle over impeachment with rising poll ratings and a Democratic Party in disarray over a major election failure in Iowa.In the span of just a few days, Trump’s reelection prospects appeared more favorable than at any time during his presidency.Victory lapTrump celebrated his acquittal in the Senate trial with a rambling celebration Thursday at the White House in front of family, administration aides and Republican members of Congress.The president denounced the impeachment process begun by Democrats in the House of Representatives as “evil and corrupt.”President Donald Trump speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Feb. 6, 2020.”They brought me to the final stages of impeachment,” Trump said. “But now we have that gorgeous word. I never thought a word would sound so good. It is called total acquittal. Total acquittal!” he declared to cheers and applause at the White House ceremony.Trump was acquitted on two articles of impeachment Wednesday in the Senate, one for abuse of power and the other for obstruction of Congress. All but one Republican, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, voted to acquit the president, and that was only on one of the articles. All 47 Democrats voted to convict on both articles.Trump is the third U.S. president impeached by the House, and like the other two, Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1999, he was acquitted after a Senate trial.Democratic setbackEven though it was expected, Trump’s acquittal was a setback for Democrats, including their Senate leader, Chuck Schumer.”You cannot be on the side of this president and be on the side of truth. And if we are to survive as a nation, we must choose truth,” Schumer said.Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2020.Earlier in the week, the president also used his State of the Union address to rally supporters with an eye toward his campaign for reelection in November.”America’s enemies are on the run. America’s fortunes are on the rise. And America’s future is blazing bright. The years of economic decay are over,” Trump announced in the House chamber Tuesday to enthusiastic cheers from Republicans who rose to their feet.In the short term, many political analysts believe Trump’s acquittal could be a political boost.”I think it will help motivate Trump’s base, no question,” said American University presidential historian Allan Lichtman. “They will buy into his argument that this was a partisan witch hunt designed to bring down their president.”Friendly pollsJust as the impeachment battle reached its final act, Trump’s approval rating in the Gallup poll rose to a new high of 49%, with 50% disapproving and 1% with no opinion.Trump’s ratings in other surveys have bumped up slightly in recent weeks, even as the Senate trial moved toward its conclusion in the Senate. For much of his presidency, Trump’s approval ratings on average have been mired in the low 40s.The primary force behind the poll bump is likely the strong U.S. economy. Gallup found 63% approve of Trump’s handling of the economy. Historically, presidents running for reelection with a strong economy win.The survey also found 94% of Republicans are with the president, and his approval rating with independent voters is up to 42%, higher than it has been in some time.As the 2020 presidential campaign kicks into high gear, Trump should reap political benefits from the strong economy, said John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington.”It points to a close race at this point. The president will still have to get his [approval] numbers up a bit to be competitive. But he is not so far from that, and he does have some other strengths.”Democrats in disarrayTrump remains a target on the presidential campaign trail, where several Democratic contenders are trying to raise their profile in the wake of a murky result out of the Iowa caucuses on Monday.Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders appeared to be the winners in Iowa. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren trailed in third place, and former Vice President Joe Biden was grappling with a disappointing fourth-place finish.Biden is trying to restart his campaign in New Hampshire ahead of next Tuesday’s presidential primary, and is keeping his focus on the president.”We know who Donald Trump is. We have to let him know who we are. We choose hope over fear. We choose science over fiction,” Biden told supporters at a rally in Nashua.While the outcome of the impeachment trial is a setback for Democrats in the near term, Lichtman said it will likely boost voter turnout in November.”So, I think Democrats, if anything, are going to be angry, fired up and ready to say, ‘All right, you said the remedy was the election. We are going to apply that remedy and get rid of Donald Trump.’ “Polarized partiesAfter months of political wrangling over impeachment, much of the country may be ready to move on, but the political polarization on display at the State of the Union address and in the wake of the impeachment battle remains.Protesters demonstrate against President Donald Trump by sitting on the floor of the Rotunda on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 5, 2020.”I think what we learned from this is that we have a divided nation, we have a divisive president, we have a splintered media, and people are going to look at it through those lenses,” said Jim Kessler, with the center-left advocacy organization Third Way.Trump is eager to claim victory after his acquittal in the impeachment trial and believes it will motivate his political base.But he faces another judgment from voters in November and some Republicans are already urging caution.Writing in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Karl Rove, a political adviser to former President George W. Bush, said at the moment the president appears to be on a “roll.”But Rove also had this warning for Trump supporters: “What happens the first week of February won’t decide what happens the first Tuesday of November.”
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By Polityk | 02/07/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Pelosi Defends Speech-Ripping as Protesting ‘Falsehoods’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday defended her speech-ripping performance after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address and took fresh aim at his fitness for office even as he celebrated his impeachment acquittal.
“That was not a State of the Union” Pelosi said. “That was his state of mind.”
She reaffirmed her shredding of Trump’s speech at the end of a difficult week for Democrats in Congress and across the nation that included the botched Iowa caucuses on Monday, Trump’s prime-time address Tuesday and his Senate acquittal on two impeachment articles on Wednesday. Pelosi led the impeachment process in the House.
Only a few hours before her news conference, Trump held up a banner newspaper headline that said, “Acquittal.” Pelosi was also in attendance for the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington and she called his behavior “inappropriate.”
Back in the Capitol, Pelosi again went after Trump’s speech and defended her decision to rip up her copy behind his back, on camera, saying the address revealed “a state of mind that had no contact with reality whatsoever.”
“I’ve extended every possible courtesy. I’ve shown every level of respect,” Pelosi said, describing her public conduct, which included “extending the hand of friendship” to him as Trump arrived. “He looked a little sedated,” she said.
He did not take her hand.
As he spoke, Pelosi said, she quickly read ahead through her copy of the speech. “I saw the compilation of falsehoods.” About one-third of the way through, she said she started to think, “There has to be something that clearly indicates to the American people that this is not the truth.”
And she decided to shred.
“He has shredded the truth in his speech, shredded the Constitution in his conduct. I shredded the address,” she said. “Thank you all very much.”
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By Polityk | 02/07/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Democratic Party Leader Calls for Iowa Caucus Vote Recount
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez called for a recount Thursday of the results of the Iowa caucuses after technical problems ruined plans to produce accurate and timely vote counts.”Enough is enough,” Perez tweeted two days after a series of problems marred the results from the Democratic Party’s first 2020 presidential contest.FILE- Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez is recorded on a phone before a Democratic presidential primary debate in Los Angeles, Calif., Dec. 19, 2019.It took the Iowa Democratic Party nearly an entire day to report even a single vote from Monday’s caucuses because of what party officials say was a coding error and vote inconsistencies being reported on a mobile app specially designed for vote counting throughout the rural state.Former Vice President Joe Biden called the preliminary results in Iowa a “gut punch,” but says he isn’t “going anywhere” after a poor showing in Monday’s caucus.With results reported from 97% of the precincts, Biden is in fourth place, trailing former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — who are running neck-and-neck — and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren in third place. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar trails Biden.Campaigning in New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first primary next week, Biden said he won’t “sugarcoat” his disappointing showing in Iowa.Biden is a centrist who calls himself the most electable candidate to take on President Donald Trump in November. He led most of the voter polls even before declaring his candidacy.Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden is surrounded at a campaign event in Somersworth, N.H., Feb. 5, 2020.”There are an awful lot of folks out there who wrote off this campaign … they’ve been trying to do that from the moment I entered the race. Well, I’ve got news for them. I’m not going anywhere,” he said.Biden, a former senator from Delaware, unsuccessfully sought the presidency twice before, in 1988 and 2008. He dropped out of the race in 2008 after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses.There are 41 delegates up for grabs in Iowa, and 3% of the votes still need to be reported.Iowa Democratic Party chairman Troy Price called the confusion “unacceptable” and apologized for the vote-counting fiasco. The preliminary results underscores a sharp ideological divide within the Democratic Party as it seeks a candidate strong enough to unseat Trump.Buttigieg, SandersDemocratic presidential candidate former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks in Concord, N.H., Feb. 5, 2020.Buttigieg, 38, represents the moderate wing of the Democratic Party and is the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate. Sanders, 78, is a self-declared democratic socialist who endorses universal medical coverage while eliminating private insurance. Buttigieg backs government-run health insurance while letting people keep their private coverage.Sanders would provide all students with free four-year college education and cancel outstanding student debt. Buttigieg would limit free college to low-income families while looking for other ways to reduce debt.Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks during a news conference in Manchester, N.H., Feb. 6, 2020.But both support the “Green New Deal” to combat global warming, favor decriminalizing illegal immigration, vow to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, and favor bringing home U.S. troops from Afghanistan.Buttigieg told backers in New Hampshire that although the final results in Iowa are uncertain, what is known so far is an “astonishing victory” for a campaign that started last year with a four-man exploratory committee working for an obscure mayor of a mid-size city.The chaos and confusion surrounding Monday’s caucuses bring questions whether Iowa can continue to be relied on to be the first state in the nation to officially choose presidential candidates. Iowa’s population is 91% white, and some Democratic analysts say the state hardly reflects the national Democratic base, which includes a large percentage of minorities.But the state’s three leading Republicans, senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, defended Iowa’s role in picking presidential nominees for both Democrats and Republicans. They say they are confident “that every last vote will be counted, and every last voice heard” in the opposition party’s contest.
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By Polityk | 02/06/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Trump Courts Black Voters, But Opposition Remains Deep
President Donald Trump brought African American guests to his State of the Union speech, ran a Super Bowl ad boasting how he’s making the criminal justice system more equitable for black people and portrayed himself as the champion of education and job opportunities for people of color.The overtures mean nothing to black voters like Jovan Brown, who loathes Trump’s record on race and sees the president’s African American-heavy guest list at the State of the Union as his penchant for using “black people as a prop.”“I don’t know too many black people who care for Donald Trump,” said the 21-year-old Brown, who favors Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. “I’m sure he has black friends, but he’s not a supporter of our community.”Trump went out of his way to reach out to black voters during his speech Tuesday, touting several initiatives ahead of the November election. His guests included one of the last surviving Tuskegee airmen and his great-grandson, who dreams of traveling to space someday, and a black veteran who struggled with drug addiction and eventually put his life back together with a new job. Trump announced a scholarship for a black fourth grader from Philadelphia to highlight what he sees as failing public schools.He trumpeted low black unemployment and poverty rates, his investments in historically black colleges and universities, and the impact of Opportunity Zones.Critics have long suggested that the real audience for Trump’s appeals to African Americans are white suburban women who may feel more comfortable voting for Trump if they see evidence that he’s not really as racist as he has at times come across. But the campaign has long disputed that charge and is convinced that, if they can just reach black voters and share what Trump has done, including on the economy, at least some may be willing to give him a chance.But recent polls paint a bleak picture for Trump with black voters.A Washington Post-Ipsos poll of 1,088 African Americans showed that more than 8 in 10 say they believe Trump is a racist and has made racism a bigger problem in the country. Nine in 10 blacks disapprove of his job performance, overall.A Pew Research Center analysis of people who participated in its polls and were confirmed to have voted showed Trump won just 6% of black voters in 2016.Trump’s public denouncement of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other professional athletes who knelt during the national anthem in protest of police violence against African Americans did little to endear him to black voters. Neither did Trump’s professions that there was “blame on both sides” following a 2017 clash between white nationalist demonstrators and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.The stakes are especially high in Detroit. The city is 80% African American and in a traditionally blue state, Michigan, that Trump won in 2016 by 10,704 votes. Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes and Pennsylvania by about 44,000 votes, two other states that typically vote Democrat in national elections and where black turnout will be key.Ninety-six percent of the city’s registered voters cast ballots for Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, but turnout was down in Detroit. It fell to 48% from 53% eight years earlier when Barack Obama won the presidency.“People vote when they’re passionate,” said City Clerk Janice Winfrey. “People were passionate for Obama. And — maybe not for the same reason — they’re passionate about Trump. And people are pretty mad.”Critics push back against Trump’s claims of economic progress for the African American community and note that the wage gap between black and white workers remains high. “If we`re talking about someone working two or three jobs and they don’t have health care and don’t have money to keep the lights on, those aren’t quality jobs,” said Rashawn Ray, a David M. Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.They are also frustrated by the racial climate under Trump, the toll of climate change on their neighborhoods and even Trump’s past words and deeds before he became president.Brown cites Trump’s stance on the so-called Central Park Five in the 1980s, when five black and Latino teenagers were charged in the rape of a white jogger in New York’s Central Park. That attack became a symbol of the city’s soaring crime. Then-real estate developer Donald Trump took out full-page newspaper ads calling for the death penalty.The teens said their confessions were coerced, and their convictions were overturned in 2002 after a convicted murderer and serial rapist confessed to the crime.“He wanted 15-year-old boys murdered even though they were innocent,” she said. “I don’t think he’s changed much.”But the notion that Trump is racist is a complete myth, said Osigah Kakaq, a 24-year-old black man from Charlotte, North Carolina.“It’s a Republican stereotype the Democrats use over and over again,” Kakaq said. “It’s Trump’s turn now. Somebody has to earn your vote. No candidate or party can be entitled to your vote.”With the 2020 race expected to be razor close, the Trump campaign believes that even slim gains among black voters and other groups may be able to push him across the finish line. And the president has scattered support among some black voters, like 67-year-old Jeanine Brown of Phoenix.She found his speech “uplifting” and listed his economic accomplishments, prison reform and opposition to abortion as areas of significance to African Americans. She’s a conservative Christian who previously voted for John McCain and Mitt Romney because of their record on abortion.“It’s not about Trump. It’s about the policies,” she said. “I’m a Christian. I don’t think we should be killing babies. I don’t believe in same-sex marriage.”Trump or no Trump, 19-year-old Bryan Lovejoy of Detroit says he’s not interested in voting in the presidential election come November. He believes Trump is on the “business side of people,” but that’s still not enough to get him to the polls.“I’m not political,” he said. “I don’t really believe in all of the hype and the government.”
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By Polityk | 02/06/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
Sanders Says He Raised $25M in January, Will Bolster Ad Buys
Bernie Sanders says he raised a whopping $25 million in January and will use his presidential campaign’s flush bank account to increase television and digital advertising in 10 states.
The Vermont senator spent $50 million during the final three months of 2019 and finished the year with $18.2 million in cash on hand, putting him in a stronger position than many of his rival candidates even before his latest bonanza last month. Partial results show Sanders in a near tie for first with Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, in Monday’s leadoff Iowa caucuses.
New Hampshire hold its primary next Tuesday.Sanders’ campaign manager, Faiz Shakir, announced Thursday that his candidate will immediately increase staffing in states that vote during the Democratic primary’s Super Tuesday, on March 3. The campaign also plans to spend $5.5 million on television and digital ads in eight new states voting then: Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah.
And Sanders will expand ad buys the campaign already made in California and Texas, the two largest states voting on Super Tuesday.“Bernie’s multiracial, multigenerational, people-driven movement for change is fueling 2020’s most aggressive campaign for president,” Shakir said in a statement, saying the campaign is “in a strong position to compete in states all over the map.”January was the Sanders campaign’s best fundraising month to date, featuring donations from 648,000 people, including 219,000 new donors, the statement said. Since announcing his presidential campaign in February 2019, Sanders has raised more than $121 million, built on donations from more than 1.5 million people. That total doesn’t include an additional $12.7 million in transfers all made in 2019 from Sanders’ other federal accounts, the campaign said.
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By Polityk | 02/06/2020 | Повідомлення, Політика
