MORNING MESSAGE
The
Japanese economy is contracting and struggling with deflation ... Brazil and
Russia are in recession or worse ... Europe – still in the chokehold of German
austerity and roiled by the flood of immigrants from Syria and elsewhere – eked
out growth of 0.3 percent last quarter ... the threat of a global downturn
should be at the center of our politics – and of our political debate. In the
U.S., it would be sensible for the president and the Congress to enact a major
plan to rebuild the country, addressing long overdue infrastructure needs ...
creating jobs and generating demand.
BERNIE BOOM PROMPTS AFL-CIO PAUSE
AFL-CIO
holds off on endorsement, buoying Sanders. WSJ: “What’s not clear, however,
is if that means the group hasn’t reached the level of support it needs to give
a candidate a nod, or if it has but is choosing to delay an endorsement given
the division among some union leaders … Larry Cohen, a top adviser to Mr.
Sanders who is charged with winning support from union leaders, said the
grassroots-driven campaign has had a surge that will only be helped by the
AFL-CIO’s inaction.”
Major
Democratic donors discuss Super PAC for Sanders. The Hill: “…Democratic
donors, fundraisers and operatives told The Hill that the stakes are so high in
this election … that there is no way the left’s donor class will sit on their
checkbooks just because Sanders orders them to do so. ‘It’s going to cost $1
billion to elect the next president,’ says Keith Mestrich, who sits on the board
of … the Democracy Alliance … ‘There will be avenues that will be created to put
money into [Sanders’s] campaign.'”
Former
WH economists knock independent analysis of Sanders plan touted by his campaign.
WSJ: “… the four economists took aim at Gerald Friedman, a professor of
economics at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, who has said that the
Sanders economic program could boost growth in gross domestic product to 5.3%
annually … ‘no credible economic research supports economic impacts of these
magnitudes,’ said the economists in an open letter … ‘There’s nothing at all
unusual in my method,’ [Friedman] said. ‘Why can’t the economy grow
faster?'”
Clinton
makes final pitch to Latinos. W. Post: “Clinton debuted an emotional ad
Thursday featuring a 10-year-old Nevada girl Clinton met at a gathering Sunday
of young people temporarily shielded from deportation … ‘My parents, they have a
letter of deportation. I’m scared,’ the tearful girl told Clinton … ‘Let me do
the worrying. I’ll do all the worrying. Is that a deal?’ Clinton told her.”
Campaigns
grapple with African-American generational divide. W. Post: “In courting
black voters, Clinton has in large part employed a classic political strategy:
enlisting the support of African American clergy and local political leaders …
Yet the Black Lives Matter movement … has accelerated a generational divide,
calling into question the civil rights-era model of movement leaders speaking
for African Americans at large.”
NV
hard to poll. LAT: “The state has a highly transient population … Young
people as well as Latinos are more likely to use cellphones as opposed to land
lines, making them harder and, not incidentally costlier, to reach … Nevada has
a lot of people working odd hours … It’s [hard] to guess who will show up at
noon Saturday because the Nevada caucuses are a relatively new phenomenon.”
Sanders
momentum in VA. W. Post: “With Hillary Clinton’s once-overwhelming lead in
Virginia shrinking, it seems that every prominent Democrat in the commonwealth
has been deployed to boost her quest for the White House … An army of 7,000
Sanders volunteers is staffing phone banks, making 18,000 to 24,000 phone calls
a night to potential Virginia voters.”
“Trump
and Sanders Give Voice to the Voiceless” argues The Atlantic’s Ron
Brownstein: ” For Trump, that key constituency is working-class Republicans;
for Sanders, it’s the Millennial generation. By demonstrating—and
crystallizing—these groups’ electoral clout, each man is signaling a lasting
internal power shift in the party he is seeking to lead.”
TRUMP CRUISING IN CAROLINA
Trump
leads big in SC. Bloomberg: “Trump leads the field with support from 36
percent of likely voters, followed by Cruz, the junior senator from Texas, at 17
percent. Rubio, the junior senator from Florida, is at 15 percent, closely
followed by Bush, a former Florida governor, at 13 percent.”
Anti-Muslim
sentiment propelling Trump in SC. Mother Jones: “Local activists … began
fighting state and federal authorities to stop the flow of Muslim refugees
nearly a year ago, long before national Republicans discovered the issue in the
fall. Every year since 2011, conservative lawmakers have pushed to ban Islamic
Shariah law from being applied in state courts. Activists have even complained
that one rural corner of the state is already under Islamist control.”
Gov.
Nikki Haley backs Rubio. NYT: “Mr. Rubio is counting on Ms. Haley’s embrace
to draw a bold line under his campaign promises of ushering in a new era of
conservatism led by younger, optimistic leaders.”
DEMAND FOR SCOTUS HEARINGS
Pressure
on Judiciary Cmte Chair Chuck Grassley whether to hold hearings. The Hill:
“The editorial board of the Des Moines Register ripped Grassley for [advocating
delay.] Grassley has since backed off his statement … Kyle Barry, director of
justice programs at the Alliance for Justice, a liberal-leaning group that
follows the court closely, said Grassley’s legacy as a good-government reformer
would hinge on his decision.”
Editorial
boards attack other Republican senators. NYT: “In New Hampshire, The Concord
Monitor had harsh words on Wednesday for Senator Kelly Ayotte … The Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel and Capital Times editorial boards both went after Senator Ron
Johnson … Local editorial boards have also targeted Senator Rob Portman,
Republican of Ohio…”
Sandra
Day O’Connor wants the seat filled. Politico quotes: “I think we need
somebody there now to do the job, and let’s get on with it.”
Nation
split. W. Post: “Forty-three percent of respondents said that the Senate
should vote this year on Obama’s preferred replacement for Scalia, while 42
percent said they should wait until a new president is sworn in to fill the
vacancy.”
Progressive
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