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A New Poll for 2020 Has Joe Biden in the Lead Among Democrats Obama Names ‘Red Lines’ That Would Pull Him Back Into Political Fray
(about 7 hours later)
■ A first poll of 2020 is out, with Joe Biden in the lead among Democratic voters. ■ The “red lines” that would bring President Obama back into the political fray.
■ President-elect Donald J. Trump talked “life” with Kanye West at Trump Tower. ■ President-elect Donald J. Trump talked “life” with Kanye West at Trump Tower — and Kanye puts off a White House run?
■ Rick Perry, selected to head the Energy Department — which he once forgot that he wanted to eliminate — has a knack for dancing around his deficiencies. ■ A Hill press aide vaults to the White House.
Before Mr. Trump can even be inaugurated, the first poll of his potential Democratic opponents in 2020 is now out. Not surprisingly, it looks a bit premature. In an interview on “The Daily Show,” President Obama drew a red line on “core issues” that might lead him to speak out against his successor in the first year of his post-presidency. If Mr. Trump sought to create a Muslim registry or sought to round up those brought illegally to the United States as children, “I might have to say something about that.”
The survey of 400 Democratic primary voters, conducted last week by Public Policy Polling, drops off precipitously from there, with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey coming in at 4 percent, Senators Al Franken of Minnesota and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York at 3 percent, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York at 2 percent, and Julián Castro, President Obama’s housing secretary, at less than 1 percent. “But it’s not my intention to be, I’ve said this before, the old guy at the bar who’s just kind of hanging on,” he said. “I need to take some time.”
In other words, the field is wide open — though Mr. Biden did keep his options open. That reluctance to speak out is beginning to anger some fellow Democrats. He also told Trevor Noah, the “Daily Show” host, “When the D.N.C. got hacked, we immediately assigned our intelligence community, our law enforcement, to investigate what had happened.”
“Four years is a lifetime in American politics. And I think that nominees are determined by their parties based mostly on what skill set is most needed at that time,” the departing vice president said Sunday. “And who knows where we’re going to be two years from now when people really start looking seriously at what they are going to do.” “This was not a secret,” the president said.
The rapper and music impresario Kanye West, who told an audience that he would have voted for Mr. Trump if he had bothered to vote, dropped by Trump Tower to discuss African-American issues with the president-elect. And the moment wasn’t going to slip by Mr. Trump, who came down to the lobby to greet the “New Kanye” in front of the cameras. The rapper and music impresario Kanye West, who told an audience that he would have cast his ballot for Mr. Trump if he had bothered to vote, dropped by Trump Tower to discuss African-American issues with the president-elect. And the moment wasn’t going to slip by Mr. Trump, who came down to the lobby to greet the “New Kanye” in front of the cameras.
“Just friends, just friends. He’s a good man. Long time. Friends for a long time,” Mr. Trump told reporters about the meeting.“Just friends, just friends. He’s a good man. Long time. Friends for a long time,” Mr. Trump told reporters about the meeting.
He added: “Life. We discussed life.”He added: “Life. We discussed life.”
Mr. West took to Twitter after the meeting to explain.
He then suggested cryptically that his own promise to run for the presidency in 2020 would be delayed — presumably so as not to challenge Mr. Trump’s second term.
Some of his fans may be saying they miss the old Kanye.Some of his fans may be saying they miss the old Kanye.
Rick Perry, the former Texas governor who famously forgot in a presidential primary debate that he wanted to eliminate the Energy Department, was selected on Tuesday to be the next energy secretary. For congressional reporters of even a moderately long vintage, Stephen Miller was known as an eager press aide to Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, eager to talk ... and talk ... and talk about policy, especially his views on immigration.
The prospect of the current energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist, turning over the reins of the government’s premier scientific laboratories to Mr. Perry is raising some eyebrows. The Energy Department, after all, is only tangentially involved in energy production. About 80 percent of its budget goes to basic science, the stewardship of the nation’s aging nuclear weapons stockpile, and the arduous cleanup of the Cold War nuclear weapons production plants. Mr. Miller hit it big when he left the Senate for the Trump campaign when few gave Mr. Trump much of a shot to win the Republican nomination.
Its web of scientific laboratories deal more in plasma physics than in oil and natural gas drilling. On Tuesday, he was named assistant to the president and senior adviser to the president for policy.
But Mr. Perry does have a facility for dancing around his deficiencies. Before Mr. Trump is even inaugurated, the first poll of his potential Democratic opponents in 2020 is now out. Not surprisingly, it looks a bit premature.
Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, discussed the post of energy secretary, but in the end, his appointment would have only let his state’s new Democratic governor appoint a successor. The survey of 400 Democratic primary voters, conducted last week by Public Policy Polling, drops off precipitously from there, with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey coming in at 4 percent, Senators Al Franken of Minnesota and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York at 3 percent, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York at 2 percent, and Julián Castro, President Obama’s housing secretary, at less than 1 percent.
Mr. Manchin still may be the president-elect’s best Democratic partner as he tries to enact his agenda. His statement after Mr. Perry got the energy job: In other words, the field is wide open — though Mr. Biden did keep his options open.
Mr. Trump, never big on sleep it seems, took to Twitter on Monday night to announce his plans for his company in lieu of the Thursday news conference that he had postponed. “Four years is a lifetime in American politics. And I think that nominees are determined by their parties based mostly on what skill set is most needed at that time,” the departing vice president said Sunday. “And who knows where we’re going to be two years from now when people really start looking seriously at what they are going to do.”
Those plans are unlikely to please ethicists, including those at the Office of Government Ethics who had advised the president-elect to divest himself of all his business assets and to place the proceeds in a truly blind trust. Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, discussed the post of energy secretary, but in the end, his appointment would have only let his state’s new Democratic governor appoint a successor.
Then: Mr. Manchin still may be the president-elect’s best Democratic partner as he tries to enact his agenda. His statement after Rick Perry got the energy job:
Finally:
His promise to make “no new deals” could cut down on the wooing of foreign businesses and governments, but existing projects in countries including Brazil, India and the Philippines have already enmeshed Mr. Trump in intricate economic negotiations.
Case in point: Newsweek magazine is to publish a report on Tuesday that a Trump business partner in Turkey was arrested by the secret police and accused of being complicit in a failed coup in July. The aim, the magazine says, is to pressure the incoming administration to extradite a man exiled in Pennsylvania whom President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds responsible for the coup attempt.
The Trump transition team announced early Tuesday that Rex W. Tillerson, the chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, was the president-elect’s choice for secretary of state, despite concerns over Mr. Tillerson’s close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.The Trump transition team announced early Tuesday that Rex W. Tillerson, the chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, was the president-elect’s choice for secretary of state, despite concerns over Mr. Tillerson’s close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Those “relationships with leaders all over the world” are what has both Democrats and Republicans worried.Those “relationships with leaders all over the world” are what has both Democrats and Republicans worried.
Democratic interest groups are happily providing visual evidence.Democratic interest groups are happily providing visual evidence.
And:And:
But the concern is bipartisan.But the concern is bipartisan.