Friday, October 29, 2021

Here’s who has the edge in the Virginia governor race

You didn't think you could get through a big, contested, nationally scrutinized election without hearing from the Post Pundit Power Ranking, did you?

The crew is back for one night only (until the next night only) to weigh in on the Virginia gubernatorial race between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin. It's the most hotly watched contest since President Biden assumed office, and it could be the key to understanding what happens in next year's nationwide congressional elections.

Our rankers were asked to rate the race as "Solid McAuliffe edge," "Slight McAuliffe edge," "Neck and neck," "Slight Youngkin edge" or "Solid Youngkin edge." But spoiler alert: There's nothing "solid" about this election at all. Read on to see just how close the rankers think this thing's going to be. — Drew Goins

Neck and neck
See Also: "I don't think Glenn Youngkin believes any of this but it shows where the party is," says Republican strategist Stuart Stevens, as the school cultural wars take center stage in Virginia's tight gubernatorial race.

On paper, this should be a slight edge for McAuliffe. Yes, the polls have tightened, but it's still been weeks since a survey showed Youngkin actually leading. But the tradition of off-year elections and midterms going against the party in the White House is as true in Virginia as anywhere. Thanks to conservative Democrats' foot-dragging and contradictory demands, the infrastructure and social spending packages have been thoroughly gutted and may not even pass in time, further dampening the party's base. And in McAuliffe, Democrats have a candidate who's always been more popular with the donor class than with the public — even before he put both feet in his mouth. — James Downie

The Democrats' biggest concern is the "enthusiasm gap" that shows up in polling and focus groups. This will be a big test of how motivated their key constituencies are, and an early indicator of what they face in next year's midterms. — Karen Tumulty

The polls are close. Democrats seem terrified. Republicans seem ecstatic. And neither candidate has a clear, overwhelming advantage on the other indicators. If Youngkin prevails — or if McAuliffe wins by a narrow margin — Democrats should be worried. They barely won the House in 2020, and even a little bit of erosion puts them in serious danger of losing the chamber in 2022. — David Byler

McAuliffe isn't a snazzy-enough candidate to inspire more enthusiasm than there already is among Dems, or about President Biden, and the enthusiasm that already exists is … not much. — Molly Roberts

See Also: Here's the Story with Kyrsten Sinema

Alas, Youngkin has successfully gotten the GOP base into a lather by demagoguing about critical race theory and feeding into former president Donald Trump's lies about 2020 while pretending not to. It remains unclear whether Democratic voters will be proportionately energized by McAuliffe's vow to keep up the fight against covid-19, even as Youngkin threatens to reverse that progress. Of course, now that Youngkin has made a big issue out of parents upset by Toni Morrison's "Beloved" being taught in schools — the horror! — maybe that will finally awaken those Democratic voters to what a menace he poses. — Greg Sargent

See Also: DeSantis reveals how Florida is trying to recruit cops from other states whose jobs are threatened by vaccine mandates

Youngkin has expertly crafted himself as a man of the reasonable center-right, while McAuliffe is being dragged down by his own gaffes and national Democratic weakness. Biden won Virginia by 10 points, and polls show the race tied; a New Jersey governor poll shows a similar 10-point movement to the GOP (Biden won by 16 points, and Phil Murphy is up by 6). Call it a jump ball with a few days to go. — Henry Olsen

Slight McAuliffe edge
See Also: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells CNN's Jake Tapper that former Clinton and Obama economic official Larry Summers is wrong on his warnings about rising inflation.

Neither of these candidates is spectacular, charismatic, super-charming or super-exciting. So I think of this as kind of a generic R-versus-D matchup. Usually, the party out of the White House does better in congressional and state races. So that helps Youngkin. But I think Virginia is more blue than purple now. And McAuliffe has had plenty of time to bring in Barack Obama, Stacey Abrams and others to pump up the Democratic base. So McAuliffe is the favorite … but Youngkin could still win. — Perry Bacon Jr.

Historically speaking, the race should be Youngkin's to lose. Since 1977, the pattern — with one exception — has been that the party that wins the White House always loses the Virginia governor's mansion the following year. The exception was none other than Terry McAuliffe, when he was elected governor in 2013, a year after Obama's reelection. So McAuliffe is trying to beat the odds a second time. Virginia is a pretty blue state at this point, but not of a deep-enough shade that anyone should expect McAuliffe to win by double digits, as Biden did last year. Biden's biggest advantage was that he was running against Trump. Youngkin's biggest weakness, and the reason I think he will fall short, is that he was endorsed by Trump — and cannot afford to disown him. On balance, in Virginia, I think that motivates the Democratic base more than the Republican. — Eugene Robinson

Slight Youngkin edge
See Also: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki - Live Update

Intensity wins off-year elections, and Republicans seem to have more of it right now. McAuliffe ought to be considered the front-runner, and he'll win if he can prod enough Democrats to vote in what has become a blue state; no GOP candidate has won statewide since 2009. But Youngkin isn't Trump. The first-time candidate comes across as a down-to-earth suburban dad, and he's forged a coalition of Forever Trumpers and Never Trumpers by avoiding too much substance and playing footsie with the "big lie". Democrats acknowledge grass-roots fatigue post-Trump, especially since they have unified control of Richmond. And McAuliffe has been campaigning like someone who believes he's losing. I wouldn't bet much money on the former governor bucking historical patterns again. — James Hohmann

Final score: The itty-bittiest, slightest McAuliffe edge
See Also: Press Secretary Psaki tells Mary Alice Parks about Pres. Biden's trip to Capitol Hill today

Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts in the comments. We'll see you for the next bellwether vote that commands a nation's gaze — anybody up for some school board smackdowns? Until then, this is the Post Pundit Power Ranking, at your service.

CNN's Don Lemon asks Rep. Jamaal Bowman if Democrats are "blowing it" with regard to getting anything passed as they negotiate the size and scope of President Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda.

CNN's Don Lemon asks Rep. Jamaal Bowman if Democrats are "blowing it" with regard to getting anything passed as they negotiate the size and scope of President Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda.
Jen Psaki reiterates Pres. Biden’s belief in a woman’s right to choose ahead of his meeting with Pope Francis
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki , October 26, 2021

CNN's Don Lemon asks Rep. Jamaal Bowman if Democrats are "blowing it" with regard to getting anything passed as they negotiate the size and scope of President Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda.

Posted: 28 Oct 2021 09:19 AM PDT

CNN's left-wing host Don Lemon asked if Democrats are "blowing it" while expressing concern on Wednesday that party infighting will impact voters in upcoming elections and the 2022 midterms. The...

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Jen Psaki reiterates Pres. Biden’s belief in a woman’s right to choose ahead of his meeting with Pope Francis

Posted: 28 Oct 2021 04:30 AM PDT

Jen Psaki got irritated when a Catholic reporter from EWTN asked about Biden's abortion stance regarding his upcoming meeting with the Pope:  <!-- Global Variables...

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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki , October 26, 2021

Posted: 28 Oct 2021 12:42 AM PDT

MS. PSAKI: Hi, everyone. Okay. Today, joining us — needs hardly an introduction — our National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, who will be previewing the President's trip — second foreign trip —...

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Thursday, October 28, 2021

Don Lemon Bluntly Asks Democratic Rep. ‘Are You Concerned That It Looks Like Your Party Is Blowing It?’

CNN's Don Lemon asked Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D- NY) Wednesday night if Democrats are "blowing it."

Bowman spoke with Lemon about Thursday's House Democratic caucus meeting, which President Joe Biden is set to attend, after yet another policy he pushed for — paid family leave — is being dropped from the spending bill because of Joe Manchin.

"Are you concerned," the CNN host asked, "that it looks like your party is blowing it and that Democrats can't govern? And, you know, that has huge ramifications, it has a ripple effect. Look at what's happening in Virginia and other places where elections are coming up."

"If you guys can't come to an agreement on this…"

"Governing is about negotiation, right? And negotiating," Bowman responded. "It takes time."

"I'm not taking about negotiating," Lemon said. "Governing is also gaining control of the narrative, being able to indicate to voters and to convince them to come aboard. Tell them what you're doing. And also to negotiate and to agree."

Bowman said the people of his district is "excited that someone is finally fighting for them."

"Your district is not the country," Lemon retorted. "When you look at polling across the country, the American people don't know what Democrats are doing."

Bowman agreed that Democrats "need to do a better job of communicating" and engaging with people about how the legislation will benefit them.

He predicted that Biden's poll numbers will go up after Democrats pass the spending bill, the infrastructure package, and voting rights reform.

You can watch above, via CNN.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman Slams Manchin’s ‘Completely Unacceptable’ Opposition to Paid Family Leave: ‘He’s Regurgitating Talking Points From the 1980s’

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) reacted strongly to the news that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has succeeded in getting paid family leave removed from President Joe Biden's dwindling Build Back Better bill.

Manchin, who had months to take a hard line against the policy, waited mere days before a scheduled House vote to put his foot down and demand the provision de dropped from the bill. A last-ditch effort to convince Manchin to support the measure failed on Wednesday.

With the Senate tied 50-50, Democrats need all their members to vote for the bill to pass through budget reconciliation, plus Vice President Kamala Harris to cast the deciding vote, as no Republicans are expected to vote for the bill.

On the House side, progressives have become increasingly irked at the measures being stripped from the bill in order to appease Manchin. Some have said they won't vote for a Senate-passed $1.5 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal until text is finalized on the reconciliation bill.

Noting the removal of paid family leave, CNN's Don Lemon asked Bowman on Wednesday night, "If that's out, are you in?"

"That remains to be determined," said Bowman. "We're the only developed country in the world that does not have paid family leave. We were supposed to be at 12 weeks. It went down to four weeks and now it's out even though the majority of the country supports paid family leave. It's archaic. It's inhumane to ask a mom or new parents to leave their child in child care while they have to go back to work to try to earn a living and keep a roof over their heads."

See Also: Here's the Story with Kyrsten Sinema

Bowman then turned to Manchin.

See Also: DeSantis reveals how Florida is trying to recruit cops from other states whose jobs are threatened by vaccine mandates

"It's unfortunate that we have a minority senator, one person who opposes this where the majority of the country supports it. So for me, it's unacceptable."

Lemon asked Bowman if he had heard from Manchin or understood his reasons for opposing paid leave.

"I personally have not heard from him," responded Bowman. "The [Congressional Progressive Caucus] has not heard from him. And I don't quite understand why he doesn't support it. He seems to be, and he has portrayed himself to be someone pro-family. And if you're pro-family, you're pro-children. If you're pro-children, we should have paid family leave as a developed nation, as the wealthiest nation on Earth."

Bowman said that "it's completely unacceptable" that the U.S. isn't providing for paid family leave.

"The only sort of rationale that I've heard from Manchin is 'entitlement mentality,'" he said. "You know, he seems to be regurgitating talking points from the 1980s when we are existing in a 21st century multiracial democracy that's going through a climate crisis trying to recover from Covid. Building back better is building back better for all people including poor people, people of color, and those who trying to start families."

Lemon again asked Bowman if he would vote for the bill.

"Again," said the congressman, "It remains to be seen."

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin plans to build a 'business park' in space

Space: the final frontier! An inspiring locale in which to realize the purest expression of human ingenuity or, what's that, Jeff Bezos? A "business park"? Oh, ok. Sure.

Jeff Bezos' space exploration company, Blue Origin, announced with Sierra Space and several other partners that it plans to build the first "commercial space station" in low Earth orbit. That means it won't be a government-run station, but will theoretically be open to visitors and tenants to, as the company says, get an address in space.

The companies are calling the station Orbital Reef. And while the name sounds exciting, and the press release describes the station as a new "ecosystem," all starry eyed notions of what a civilization in space could look like evaporate when they describe Orbital Reef as a "business park."

A business park is a collection of office buildings, with some grass or hey even a water feature or two in between structures, if you're lucky. Like a park! But for grownups, who spend the majority of their waking hours in a cubicle under fluorescent light. And that, apparently, is Jeff Bezos' vision for the future of humanity in space.

Orbital Reef will "provide the essential infrastructure needed to scale economic activity and open new markets in space," the announcement reads. Ah yes, a new economic market. Just what every young child dreams of when they look up at the cosmos. Excuse us while we go cry.

Beyond stating that Orbital Reef will be the hot new home for capitalists everywhere, the announcement is otherwise light on details. Visitors will get access to round trip travel and crew members, but there's no mention of cost. The companies say it will begin operating in the "second half" of the decade. What a bright future we have to look forward to, indeed.

Jan. 6 Panel Temporarily Pauses Request For Some Trump WH Docs

The House Jan. 6 select committee has delayed its request to President Joe Biden's team for about 50 pages worth of Trump-era White House documents that the National Archivist has already approved for the panel to obtain.

The committee told Politico that it wants to avoid wasting time on potentially having to negotiate over documents that could actually be protected by executive privilege, as ex-president Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed.

One of the members of the panel, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), told Politico that "we're in a hurry."

"We don't want to get hung up," she said.

Fellow committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin (R-MD) told Politico that the temporary pause was merely "a process of give and take" in the panel's discussions with Biden's team on releasing the documents.

See Also: Here's the Story with Kyrsten Sinema

The committee is "not acknowledging privilege in any of these cases," especially because Biden has not asserted executive privilege, Raskin said.

See Also: DeSantis reveals how Florida is trying to recruit cops from other states whose jobs are threatened by vaccine mandates

He added: "We don't think that trying to overthrow the U.S. government is something that triggers executive privilege. It's hard to see that as part of the official duties of a president."

It's unclear if the Biden White House had recommended the pause or if the committee made the decision alone.

The President has shot down Trump's requests to invoke executive privilege over records in the panel's investigation several times already, leading the former president to file a lawsuit against the committee and the National Archives.

Eastman Spins Wild Tales Of Jan. 6 As A Trap Sprung By Media And FBI

John Eastman is sure having trouble keeping his story straight.

A week ago, the ex-Trump legal adviser, whose legal memo laid out a path for Mike Pence to thwart the 2020 Electoral College certification, went to great lengths to downplay and minimize his memo.

But Eastman takes a whole different tack in a secretly filmed discussion with undercover left-wing activists at a gala.

In video released last night, Eastman bemoaned that Pence was too much of an establishment Republican to follow through on rejecting the Electoral College certification.

See Also: DeSantis reveals how Florida is trying to recruit cops from other states whose jobs are threatened by vaccine mandates

During his speech, Eastman peddled lies about the 2020 election being tainted by "fraud" before he directly called out Pence and demanded that the then-vice president have GOP-controlled state legislatures "look into" the election results (a key component of Eastman's plot detailed in his infamous memo to Trump).

See Also: Here's the Story with Kyrsten Sinema

A mob of Trump's supporters later went on to storm the Capitol, some of them shouting "Hang Mike Pence!"

The undercover activists Eastman spoke to came from The Undercurrent. They had also filmed the lawyer bragging about the memo at the same event despite him publicly insisting that he thought the legal reasoning in the document was bunk.

Friday, October 29, 2021

Neck and neckSee Also: "I don't think Glenn Youngkin believes any of this but it shows where the party is," says Republican strategist Stuart Stevens, as the school cultural wars take center stage in Virginia's tight gubernatorial race.

See Also: Here's the Story with Kyrsten Sinema

See Also: DeSantis reveals how Florida is trying to recruit cops from other states whose jobs are threatened by vaccine mandates

Slight McAuliffe edgeSee Also: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells CNN's Jake Tapper that former Clinton and Obama economic official Larry Summers is wrong on his warnings about rising inflation.

Slight Youngkin edgeSee Also: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki - Live Update

Final score: The itty-bittiest, slightest McAuliffe edgeSee Also: Press Secretary Psaki tells Mary Alice Parks about Pres. Biden's trip to Capitol Hill today

Thursday, October 28, 2021

See Also: Here's the Story with Kyrsten Sinema

See Also: DeSantis reveals how Florida is trying to recruit cops from other states whose jobs are threatened by vaccine mandates

See Also: Here's the Story with Kyrsten Sinema

See Also: DeSantis reveals how Florida is trying to recruit cops from other states whose jobs are threatened by vaccine mandates

See Also: DeSantis reveals how Florida is trying to recruit cops from other states whose jobs are threatened by vaccine mandates

See Also: Here's the Story with Kyrsten Sinema

Neck and neck
See Also: "I don't think Glenn Youngkin believes any of this but it shows where the party is," says Republican strategist Stuart Stevens, as the school cultural wars take center stage in Virginia's tight gubernatorial race.

Slight McAuliffe edge
See Also: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tells CNN's Jake Tapper that former Clinton and Obama economic official Larry Summers is wrong on his warnings about rising inflation.

Slight Youngkin edge
See Also: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki - Live Update

Final score: The itty-bittiest, slightest McAuliffe edge
See Also: Press Secretary Psaki tells Mary Alice Parks about Pres. Biden's trip to Capitol Hill today