The candidates gathered in Houston, Texas, for the latest Democratic debate represented the top tier of the large field campaigning for the party’s 2020 nomination. But how did each of them fare during a night of policy cut and thrust, some mutual admiration and also some caustic attacks – on each other and Donald Trump
Continue reading...Category Archives: US elections 2020
How did each candidate in the Democratic debate do?
Klobuchar, Booker, Buttigieg, Sanders, Biden, Warren, Harris, Yang, O’Rourke and Castro – all 10 hopefuls rated
The candidates gathered in Houston, Texas, for the latest Democratic debate represented the top tier of the large field campaigning for the party’s 2020 nomination. But how did each of them fare during a night of policy cut and thrust, some mutual admiration and also some caustic attacks – on each other and on Donald Trump.
Related: Biden clashes with Warren and Sanders in lively Democratic debate
Continue reading...Democratic debate: the five key takeaways
Biden was Biden but despite a smaller field sparks failed to fly with Warren, while O’Rourke had a good night – as did Obama
The Democratic debate in Houston was a mix of smackdown, backslapping and policy gab-fest as the 10 top-tier candidates faced off against each other while at least 10 others were only able to watch from the sidelines, having failed to qualify.
Related: Biden clashes with Warren and Sanders in lively Democratic debate
Continue reading...Democratic debate: Warren and Sanders clash with Biden over healthcare – live
The 10 candidates on stage in Houston offered competing visions based on Obamacare and Medicare for All
Joe Biden is taking a question on gun control and once again arguing he has the best (and certainly the longest) record on the issue. “I’m the only up here who’s ever beat the NRA,” the former vice president and senator said.
Biden then similarly applauded Beto O’Rourke for his efforts to help his hometown of El Paso heal from the mass shooting that killed 22. Biden originally referred to the former congressman as “Beto.” He then apologized and O’Rourke interjected, “Beto is good.”
In the midst of a discussion on race and criminal justice, Ari Berman, author of Give Us the Ballot, has made this important point:
You know what else is racist? Preventing people from voting. There have been 29 presidential debates in 2020 & 2016 and no questions about voting rights
Continue reading...Donald Trump’s cancelled Taliban talks are typical of a president who blows hot and cold
President’s snakes-and ladders approach to diplomacy raises eyebrows in Kabul and Washington
Donald Trump’s boundless faith in his own magnetism and negotiating skills has taken a knock after the cancellation of his bizarre plans for talks with Taliban chiefs. Most Afghans, including the president, Ashraf Ghani, can live with that. Since they believe Trump was selling them out, they will be glad the talks bombed.
The fact that Trump secretly planned a personal meeting with a murderous group proscribed by the US as terrorists days before the 18th anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks that they assisted, is said to have raised eyebrows in Washington. That’s diplomat-speak for shock-horror.
Continue reading...Trump reportedly considering ending US refugee program – live
NYT reports top official has proposed ‘zeroing out’ the program, while another option is to cut admissions by half or more
That’s it from me this week. My West Coast colleague, Julia Carrie Wong, will be taking over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Fresh from the department of oof: Democratic presidential candidate Tim Ryan said he thinks Joe Biden is “declining” and doesn’t have the “energy” to defeat Trump.
“I just think Biden is declining,” Ryan told a reporter, whom he apparently mistook for a potential donor. “I don’t think he has the energy. You see it almost daily. And I love the guy.”
Continue reading...Socialism used to be a dirty word. Is America now ready to embrace the ideology?
Voters’ feelings on socialism have shifted with half of those under 40 saying they would prefer to live in a socialist country
In his 1998 film, Bulworth, Warren Beatty played a Democratic senator who goes rogue, embarking on a truth-telling binge in which he spouts radical truths no Democrat serious about election would ever utter. At one stage, Bulworth even mentions socialism.
“In America that’s like saying cocksucker,” Beatty once told me with a chuckle over dinner at his home in Los Angeles shortly before the film came out in Britain a year later. “We have this so-called thriving economy which has missed most people and while the disparity between rich and poor increases we have just one party – the money party, made up of Republicans and Democrats.”
Continue reading...Trump’s Middle East envoy resigns amid Kushner’s stalling peace plan – live
US president says Jason Greenblatt will be leaving to pursue work in the private sector after three years in administration
A CNN analyst neatly summarized Joe Biden’s continued dominance in the polls despite a series of embarrassing gaffes that many commentators predicted would affect his front-runner status.
Average of all polls this year of Biden v. Trump? Biden by 8. Average of all August polls, after all the gaffes? Biden by 10. That's the same as it is in the RCP average. Clinton lead in the RCP average against Trump at this point? 2.4 points... (1/?)
Maybe, it will change. Heck, we're over a year out. But the difference between what the numbers are saying and conventional wisdom (at least in some quarters) is stunning.
Meanwhile, Trump is still refusing to acknowledge that he was wrong when he tweeted Sunday about the threat Hurricane Dorian posed to Alabama.
Just as I said, Alabama was originally projected to be hit. The Fake News denies it! pic.twitter.com/elJ7ROfm2p
I was with you all the way Alabama. The Fake News Media was not! https://t.co/gO5pwahaj9
Continue reading...‘I love the theatrics’: meet the tourists traveling to see the 2020 election unfold
Some vacationers ‘too depressed by UK politics’ are heading to Iowa, the state with an outsized importance in the nominee process, to witness the primary elections
For many people, a vacation to the US means heading up New York’s Empire State Building, descending into the Grand Canyon in Arizona or splashing about in the Pacific Ocean in California.
Some, however, are choosing to whet their appetites differently, by instead traveling to Iowa, in the middle of the US, to witness the presidential primary elections in person.
Continue reading...Separated migrant children experience ‘heightened feelings of anxiety’, says report – live
HHS inspector general concluded children affected by Trump’s family separation policy exhibited more fear and post-traumatic stress
Bernie Sanders dismissed concerns that there was not enough room in the Democratic presidential primary for both him and Elizabeth Warren, given that the two progressive senators espouse similar ideals.
“Elizabeth is a friend of mine. She and I have known each other well over 20 years. She’s going to run her campaign and I will run my campaign,” Sanders told ABC’s “The View.”
"Elizabeth is a friend of mine. She and I have known each other well over 20 years. She's going to run her campaign and I will run my campaign," Bernie Sanders tells @TheView when asked if there's room in the Democratic Party for himself and Sen. Warren. https://t.co/QXHJ4vE89I pic.twitter.com/FBemYsKdPn
Imagined as a Venn diagram, there is common ground between Warren and Sanders voters but each has their own distinct base. A survey by the Pew Research Center this month found that about seven in 10 of Warren’s supporters are white, compared to about half of Sanders’ backers. Warren’s supporters are substantially more likely to have a college degree compared with supporters of [Joe] Biden and Sanders.
John Zogby, a pollster and author, said: ‘Because of progressive ideology there is some sort of overlap, but they are different. Warren picks up support among women that ordinarily Sanders would not get, including former Clinton supporters who regard her as the bearer of the torch to get a woman elected.’
Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson sent (and deleted) a tweet implying that the path of Hurricane Dorian could be altered with “the power of the mind.”
Marianne Williamson has deleted this tweet pic.twitter.com/YdLRD7UfoZ
Prayers for the people of the Bahamas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. May the peace of God be upon them and their hearts be comforted as they endure the storm.
Continue reading...How do the 2020 Democrats stack up on climate?
Environmental groups rate Democrats’ plans and records ahead of CNN’s town hall focusing on the climate crisis
Democrats will pit their climate plans against each other on Wednesday at a seven-hour CNN town hall, as world scientists warn the window is narrowing to prevent catastrophe.
With the planet already about 1C warmer than before industrialization, the United Nations’ climate panel says that keeping the increase to 1.5C would require “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”.
Continue reading...Trump ousts personal assistant for talking to the press – live news
Madeleine Westerhout, who had been with Trump since his inauguration, reportedly shared details about his family and the Oval Office
The Guardian is also tracking the progress of Hurricane Dorian, which is expected to become the worst storm to hit Florida’s east coast in more than 25 years.
Hurricane #Dorian Intermediate Advisory 24A: Hurricane Hunters find Dorian a little stronger. https://t.co/CSOdLLF50S? pic.twitter.com/w5pn0XzFu0
Hurricane Dorian is likely to affect the state directly overnight Sunday, with the latest computer modeling predicting it will make landfall in the early hours of Monday, the Labor Day holiday in the US, around West Palm Beach.
But weather experts on Thursday proclaimed the state’s entire east coast at risk.
The Trump administration is exploring how to act on the president’s unfounded claims after mass shootings that more mental institutions would minimize such tragedies.
The AP reports:
When back-to-back mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, jolted the nation earlier this month, Trump again spoke of ‘building new facilities’ for the mentally ill as a way to reduce mass shootings.
‘We don’t have those institutions anymore and people can’t get proper care,’ Trump lamented at a New Hampshire campaign rally not long after the latest shootings.
Continue reading...Trump pushes his ‘magnificent’ resort as site of next G7 summit – live news
- US president repeatedly mentioned his company’s properties during the G7 closing conference, after skipping meeting dedicating funds to Amazon fires
- Sign up to the US briefing and get a new perspective
Hello readers, this is Kari Paul in San Francisco taking over the blog for the next few hours. Stay tuned for updates.
That’s it from me today. I’m handing the blog over to my West Coast colleague Kari Paul for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
Continue reading...‘We all know he’s unfit’: Joe Walsh to challenge Trump in Republican primary
- Former Tea Party congressman is vocal conservative critic
- Opinion: Trump seems to think he’s an emperor
Joe Walsh, a talk radio host and former congressman, said on Sunday he would challenge Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination.
Related: Something rotten? Trump's state over Denmark at heart of a madcap week
Continue reading...Donald Trump heads to G7 summit as recession fears grow – live
The president is travelling to France for the G7 summit, claiming the economy is ‘phenomenal’ despite some worrying signs
A city council candidate in Michigan said she wants to keep her community white “as much as possible” at a public forum on Thursday.
The candidate, Jean Cramer, made the comment in response to a question about diversity in Marysville, which is 55 miles (88 kilometers) northeast of Detroit and more than 90% of its 9,700-person population is white.
Donald Trump, who tapped into the angst and anger in the rust belt in 2016, has failed to return jobs to Lordstown, Ohio, where a GM plant closed down last year.
The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt visited the town where, he writes, the presence of the factory and its well-paid manufacturing jobs was particularly important:
Related: 'It's devastating'. End of GM in Ohio town as Trump fails to bring back midwest jobs
Continue reading...Sarah Sanders to join Fox News as contributor – live news
- Trump’s former press secretary will make her debut appearance next month on the president’s favorite show, Fox & Friends
- Sign up to the US briefing and get a new perspective
I’m signing off for the day and handing over the reigns to my talented colleague, Julia Wong. Thanks for sticking with us through what has proved to be a slow but steady news days. Here’s a roundup of the biggest news of the day.
Connecticut senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat who became a leading champion of gun control in the wake of the Newtown shooting, has revived hope of action on background checks after Trump appeared to walk back his support.
I spoke with the White House today. They have not walked away from improving background checks. I am skeptical we can reach consensus but I’m willing to stay at the table over next few weeks. Maybe I’m a fool for trying but stakes are too high.
Continue reading...Sanders to unveil $16tn climate plan, far more aggressive than rivals’ proposals
Democratic presidential hopeful’s 10-year plan warns of devastating economic consequences if crisis is not addressed
Bernie Sanders has laid out an ambitious 10-year, $16.3tn national mobilization to avert climate catastrophe, warning that the US risks losing $34.5tn in economic productivity by the end of the century if it does not respond with the urgency the threat demands.
The Vermont senator has long spoken of the climate crisis as a existential danger to the US and the world, and he has previously endorsed a Green New Deal, which he put forward with the New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Continue reading...Trump rule would allow for indefinite detention of immigrant families – live
New rule would effectively replace the Flores agreement, which sets 20-day limit for families held in custody
Eighteen (!) of the 23 (!!) prominent Democratic candidates for president are speaking at the Iowa Federation Labor Convention today.
The presidential hopefuls will address union members in Altoona, beginning at 10am ET and running, presumably, for a long time.
Some reaction to the Trump administration rule on indefinitely detaining immigrant families:
The government should NOT be jailing kids, and certainly shouldn’t be seeking to put more kids in jail for longer.
This is yet another cruel attack on children, who this administration has targeted again and again with its anti-immigrant policies.
Congress must not fund this. https://t.co/bp3uDIJder
Even a short period of detention— let alone prolonged detention—has devastating, often lifelong effects on children. https://t.co/3823D0XnhO
It's also incredibly costly. DHS declined to run the numbers in the proposed rule, so we did so for them. Each year this will cost at least $200 MILLION, and as much as over $1 BILLION.
All to hurt kids and families.https://t.co/MjsidJxQx0
Trump postpones meeting with Danish PM over Greenland purchase
President blames rescheduling on Mette Frederiksen’s comments ‘that she would have no interest in discussing purchase’
National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre confirmed, via a tweet, that he spoke with President Trump today about gun laws, and called him a “strong” president.
The Atlantic reported earlier this afternoon that Trump had called LaPierre to reassure him that any background check legislation was now off the table.
I spoke to the president today. We discussed the best ways to prevent these types of tragedies. @realDonaldTrump is a strong #2A President and supports our Right to Keep and Bear Arms! – Wayne LaPierre
Donald Trump said on Tuesday evening that he is postponing a scheduled meeting with the Danish prime minister over her comments on his proposal for the US to buy the island.
Denmark owns Greenland, and the country has said the island is not for sale. Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said on Sunday: “Greenland is not for sale. Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland. I strongly hope that this is not meant seriously.”
....The Prime Minister was able to save a great deal of expense and effort for both the United States and Denmark by being so direct. I thank her for that and look forward to rescheduling sometime in the future!
Continue reading...O’Rourke: El Paso shooting makes clear the ‘real consequence’ of Trump racism
Democratic presidential candidate says suspect who killed 22 people earlier this month was inspired by Trump’s rhetoric
The deaths of 22 people in the El Paso shooting earlier this month made clear “the real consequence and cost of Donald Trump”, Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke said on Sunday.
Related: 'Rigging the game': Stacey Abrams kicks off campaign to fight voter suppression
Continue reading...