Greg Sargent/The New Republic:
Michael Scherer/Washington Post:
Michael Tomasky/The New Republic:
Wired:
Brian Beutler/”Off Message” on Substack:
I don’t agree. I think it’s almost too early, unless you’re running for president of the pundits. But he’s right about what Democrats should do. Biden in particular should channel his inner Harry Truman and give ‘em hell.
Simon Rosenberg/”Hopium Chronicles” on Substack:
Bolts magazine:
Matt McNeil and Cliff Schecter on the media and bothsidesism.
YouTube Video
Elise Stefanik’s Ugly “Hostages” Barb Points to Serious GOP Mayhem Ahead
Not all House Republicans agree that the January 6 criminals are hostages. This is a division that is sure to deepen between now and Election Day.
News flash, vulnerable Republicans: This will almost certainly get much worse. If you think some throwaway sound bite designed to pump up Sean Hannity creates political problems for you, what will it mean for you if Trump goes to trial this year or even earns a criminal conviction?
Here’s an overlooked possibility to contemplate: While commentators often assume the prosecutions of Trump are only driving the GOP to unite behind Trump, it’s perfectly plausible that when his legal travails grow more serious, it will ensure that GOP divisions grow deeper—perhaps much deeper.
Stefanik’s insurrectionist outburst suggests a misplaced confidence that none of this threatens the party. Last month, Trump said of the hundreds of people charged or convicted in relation to January 6, “I don’t call them prisoners. I call them hostages.” Then on Meet the Press last Sunday, Stefanik brashly echoed his language: “I have concerns about the treatment of January 6 hostages.”
Biden’s team has hired a youth engagement director. And she’s got credentials too: Levenson worked as the Policy Manager for March for Our Lives and was the youth lead digital strategist for Nancy Pelosi. https://t.co/ICuo2MASYu
— Adam Bass (@AdamBassOfMass) January 12, 2024
Michael Scherer/Washington Post:
Democratic group plans $140 million voter testimonial onslaught against Donald Trump
The effort will focus on appealing to working class women in the northern swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin
“The hardest part about using the most powerful messengers in politics, which are real people from these communities, is finding them,” said Bradley Beychok, co-founder of American Bridge.
The planned ad campaign will expand upon a smaller effort American Bridge launched in 2020 to turn working-class voters in the same states against Trump. This time, with the tacit support of the White House and President Biden’s team, the focus will narrow somewhat to working-class female voters in those states, with the possibility of expanding into North Carolina later, Beychok said.
As I have been saying: things are going to change once the election begins in earnest. Things are going to change a lot. https://t.co/ylwZ0e9HmJ
— Magdi Jacobs (@magi_jay) January 12, 2024
Michael Tomasky/The New Republic:
Why the Media Narrative on Donald Trump’s Legal Woes Is Wrong
Political pundits are ignoring the poll numbers on independent voters.
The media narrative with respect to the Trump lawsuits will be what it has been, except on steroids: Trump’s legal woes only help him. That’s true with respect to Republican voters. But there are a lot of reasons to think that that piece of conventional wisdom will be dead wrong when it comes to other voters.
First of all, New Hampshire may well prove this point. Independents can vote in New Hampshire primaries and have a history of being cranky and unpredictable. Now let’s assume that Trump doesn’t win the Granite State handily—he wins it narrowly or maybe even loses. If that happens, Haley will be succeeding on the strength of those independent voters. And that will constitute a big and important switch that’s worth paying attention to.
In 2016, independents made up 42 percent of the electorate in the state’s GOP primary, and Trump cleaned up among them: He got 36 percent of the independent vote, while his closest competitor, John Kasich, got 18 percent.
This exchange says so damn much. Mace is playing the identity politics game while AOC very succinctly details Mace’s hypocrisy. https://t.co/IAkfyy3sT2
— @ijbailey (@ijbailey) January 12, 2024
Wired:
How Charlie Kirk Plans to Discredit Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Act
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk is preparing to launch a campaign against MLK and the landmark civil rights law he helped enact.
For decades, conservatives have pointed to King and his idea that people should “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” as a model for equality.
“For a while, Dr. King’s stock was very much on the rise in conservative circles and the Republican Party,” says John Wood Jr., a Republican activist. “It’s been understood on the right that even though Dr. King wasn’t really one of us politically, he was still a ‘good liberal.’”
For Kirk, the shift on King wasn’t an offhand remark, but a glimpse into his broader strategy to discredit the civil rights leader and the landmark legislation most associated with King: the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“I have a very, very radical view on this, but I can defend it, and I’ve thought about it,” Kirk said at America Fest. “We made a huge mistake when we passed the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s.”
Watching the endorsements roll in while Trump legal team asserts immunity to assassinate rivals is really something. https://t.co/je0BQx5p8i
— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) January 12, 2024
Brian Beutler/”Off Message” on Substack:
Democrats™ Awaken To The Consequences Of Conflict Avoidance
Biden is struggling, Trump is recovering, and now it's almost too late
As a substantive matter, Democrats should do what they think is right. Republicans have pitted important values against one another and Democrats may have little choice but to decide which wins out.
But as a political matter, they are free to engage with Republican demands however they please. They could be excessively generous, if they want to be chumps about it, and take Republicans at face value when they say they’re motivated by a demand for a more lawful and orderly society.
Or they could introduce context: of the GOP’s leader bellowing about the immigrant-poisoned blood of the American body politic, while he sabotages the republic itself to avoid the 91 felony charges he faces.
The Democrats prefer option two; The Democrats™ prefer option one.
I don’t agree. I think it’s almost too early, unless you’re running for president of the pundits. But he’s right about what Democrats should do. Biden in particular should channel his inner Harry Truman and give ‘em hell.
You could channel the NY Daily News from 1975 and write a headline for today of - SPEAKER TO FREEDOM CAUCUS: DROP DEAD https://t.co/4UDVpliPWm
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) January 12, 2024
Simon Rosenberg/”Hopium Chronicles” on Substack:
Another Measure Finds Prices Falling, 2024 Optimism, Republicans Side With Russia and Iran, Liz Cheney on GOP's Future
For the second time this month one of the ways we measure inflation found prices *falling.* From Reuters:
WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in December amid declining costs for goods such as diesel fuel and food, suggesting inflation would continue to subside and allow the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates this year.
The report from the Labor Department on Friday also showed prices for services were unchanged for the third straight month, another boost in the U.S. central bank's fight against inflation. With supply chains mostly normalized after severe disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, services are now at the core of the inflation battle. Services inflation, partly driven by a tight labor market, is less responsive to rate hikes.
"The inflation pipeline is clearing and consumer prices will gradually get to the Fed's 2% target," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial in Charlotte, North Carolina.
…
Why I Am Optimistic About 2024 - Recapping my core take on the election:
Probably doesn't fully set in until the conventions, but ultimately a feature for Biden, not a bug. https://t.co/8RZB6OZdFW
— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) January 12, 2024
Bolts magazine:
A New Plan to Lower Recidivism: Stimulus Payments to Formerly Incarcerated People A bill filed in Colorado aims to break the cycle of incarceration by giving people up to $3,000 upon release from prison.
James Coleman, a Democratic state senator whose Denver district includes the state’s largest women’s prison, says the legislature ought to try something new: giving more money to people exiting incarceration. He and three other Democrats are proposing Senate Bill 12 to allocate up to $3,000 per person upon release, for a one-year period. That would be a dramatic change to how Colorado currently treats people who exit its state prisons; most only receive a one-time debit card with $100, according to formerly incarcerated people and those who work with them.
This idea has been only lightly tested in the U.S., and only in the last few years. The New York-based nonprofit Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), which is behind the Colorado effort, in 2020 began distributing checks of up to $2,750 to more than 10,000 people returning from incarceration in six states, including Colorado, plus a couple dozen cities. CEO says beneficiaries of that project, which it called the Returning Citizens Stimulus, were more likely to obtain and keep employment and housing, and to stay free from incarceration.
If passed, Coleman’s bill would make Colorado the first to codify a program of this sort in state law, according to CEO.
“The reality—$100 and a bus ticket—is not enough. People want the resources to not go back,” Coleman told Bolts on Wednesday. “We want to see people able to get out and utilize the dollars on housing, on workforce development, on opportunities to get jobs.”
Missed this the other week but Ted Cruz told Comer on his podcast that he thought he was making a mistake by insisting on a private deposition for Hunter rather than just having a public hearing. “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” pic.twitter.com/vJDRuWBXJv
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) January 12, 2024
Matt McNeil and Cliff Schecter on the media and bothsidesism.
YouTube Video