Hot mic opens window on Senate races
Putin derides 'old woman' Pelosi for Taiwan trip
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for October 28, 2022:
Georgia prosecutors press for answers from Graham.
Democrats get to trumpet some good economic news.
Liz Cheney endorses a sitting House Democrat.
SENATE. We rarely hear unvarnished election reviews by lawmakers which aren't tinged with partisan BS. But a hot mic on the tarmac in New York yesterday gave us a unique window into the fight for the U.S. Senate - in a conversation between Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and President Joe Biden. Watch the video.
GEORGIA. “The state where we’re going downhill is Georgia," Schumer said about a seat held by Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA). "It’s hard to believe that they will go for Herschel Walker.” But Schumer said early voting in Georgia is ‘huge’ for Democrats.
PENNSYLVANIA. Two days after a somewhat rough debate for Lt. Gov. John Fetterman - because of his speaking difficulties - Schumer was still upbeat. "It looks like the debate didn’t hurt too much in Pennsylvania as of today, so that’s good.” Biden crosses his fingers when hearing that.
NEVADA. Schumer also was optimistic about the chances of Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV). "We’re picking up steam in Nevada," he was heard telling Biden - though the polls have sometimes told a different story.
WHITE HOUSE POOL. Early on, Schumer says, "We're in danger in that seat" - but it's not clear what state. This is just a hunch - maybe Schumer was talking about Arizona, where Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) is running for reelection? Regardless, it was interesting to be a fly on the tarmac.
CARNAC. It's that time here in Washington when everyone can make their predictions on the midterm elections. That was on display at the American Enterprise Institute this week, in an election preview which started 40 years ago.
SEAN. Sean Trende of Real Clear Politics sees the GOP winning 52 seats in the Senate. But he gave himself an out. "These Senate candidates on the Republican side are terrible," Trende said. “They are probably the single worst collection of Senate candidates for competitive races that I have encountered."
NORM. "It is hard to imagine the circumstances now where Democrats hold on to the House of Representatives - and the Senate is in the balance," said veteran political analyst Norm Ornstein.
KRISTEN. "I still think Republicans have a tiny advantage; it's not nearly the kind of advantage that I think you would expect in a big wave election year," said GOP pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson.
JOHN. "I am more bullish for Republicans than some forecasters," said analyst John Fortier about elections for the House. "I think a 15 seat loss for Democrats would be a good night for them."
ECONOMY. Republicans almost uniformly ignored the big economic news of Thursday, which showed the U.S. economy growing in the third quarter by a 2.6 percent annual rate. That was obviously much better news than the figures from the first and second quarters, which reflected an overall reduction in economic output.
BIDEN. The White House made sure to trumpet the news. "For months, doomsayers have been arguing that the US economy is in a recession," President Biden said in a statement. "But today we got further evidence that our economic recovery is continuing to power forward.'
GOP. In his statement, Biden accused Republicans of ‘rooting for a downturn.’ There was little optimism from the GOP. "Many economic experts predict America's economy will shrink this year and contract more next year," said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX). He called the Q3 report, 'ghost growth.'
RECESSION. Most of us were taught that when the U.S. economy contracts for two straight quarters - that is a recession. So, yesterday's report means the recession is already over, even if it never seemed like there was one, with unemployment at historically low levels.
JOBS. Democrats got a good economic report yesterday. Will they get another one next Friday? That’s the final jobs report on the Friday before the November elections.
GAFFE-O-MATIC. Joe Biden certainly has his share of gaffes - and he made another on Thursday about gas prices, which continue to decline before Election Day. But Biden made a characterization which just wasn't correct, saying prices were 'over $5 when I took office.'
GAS PRICES. The average high of $5.02 for a gallon of gas was on June 14 of this year - almost 15 months after Biden was sworn into office. The national average on Inauguration Day was $2.39. It's now at $3.76 per gallon.
INTEREST RATES. Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) is warning the Federal Reserve that it is raising interest rates too quickly - which could slow the economy too much, and cost jobs. That came in a letter released on Thursday.
HICK. "I worry any additional action will undermine economic growth and harm American families," the Colorado Democrat wrote in a letter to the Federal Reserve. "To date, the Fed's actions have failed to stem inflation, but risk steering our country into a recession."
SHERROD. It was the second letter from a Democrat to the Fed this week. Earlier, Senate Banking Committee Chair Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) warned the Fed not to 'lose sight of your responsibility to ensure that we have full employment.'
PUTIN-PELOSI. Vladimir Putin spent several hours spewing hatred for the West on Thursday, and used part of it to take aim at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "Why did that old woman have to go to Taiwan?" Putin said, complaining the U.S. was trying to damage both Russia and China. "It's absurd."
TRANSLATION. The best part about Putin's speech was scouring Twitter for translations. One of my favorites was a tweet labeling her trip to Taiwan, a 'visit by the provocative American grandmother.'
PELOSI. One thing about Nancy Pelosi - leaders like Putin or Xi don't make her flinch. "All roads lead to Putin," was her favorite saying about Donald Trump.
UKRAINE. Not much made sense about the timing, the details - and especially the excuses - about a letter on Ukraine sent by House Progressive Democrats this week to President Biden. It made no sense at all - an unforced error that creates criticism of your party’s President and dissent within the ranks. That's my column this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
REGULAR ORDER. On this Friday, we welcome back our weekly subscribers. It’s not too early to think about the holidays - so why not upgrade to a paid subscription - or give the gift of straight news to one of your friends - and support independent journalism on Capitol Hill.
LINDSEY GRAHAM. Prosecutors in Georgia had a direct message for the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday - telling Justice Clarence Thomas that there is no reason Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) should avoid answering questions under oath about what he did to help Donald Trump reverse his election loss in 2020.
BRIEF. "Senator Graham’s arguments have largely proceeded with an absence of factual or legal support in their favor," wrote D.A. Fani Willis, who wants Graham to explain why he pressured Georgia elections officials to throw out ballots from counties which favored Biden.
CALLS. "Secretary Raffensperger said that Senator Graham suggested that Georgia could discard or invalidate large numbers of mail-in ballots from certain areas," Willis wrote.
RULING. It's not clear when Justice Thomas will rule - or if he will pass the case on to all nine Justices on the Supreme Court.
CHENEY. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) - who lost her primary bid for reelection this year because of her commitment to investigate the January 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump - is endorsing a sitting Democrat for Congress in Michigan, Rep. Elissa Slotkin.
SLOTKIN. "Liz Cheney and I certainly don’t agree on every issue, but at a moment when the heart of our democracy is being challenged, her voice and leadership have been indispensable," Slotkin said on Thursday.
NEXT WEEK. First elected in 2018, Slotkin worked in the CIA and the Pentagon. Cheney will join the Michigan Democrat for a public event next Tuesday in her district, which is based around the state capital of Lansing.
PENTAGON LEAK. A group of House Republicans is asking the military to figure out how confidential service records were given to the press about a Republican running for Congress from Indiana, Jennifer-Ruth Green, who is trying to defeat Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-IN). "There must be consequences for this unprecedented and illegal leak," said Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN).
LETTER. In a letter to the Inspector General of the Air Force, Republicans say action must be taken. "The timing of the leak indicates that this illegal act was politically motivated with the intention of interfering in the upcoming November election," they wrote.
INFO. The material involved details about a sexual assault on Green while she served in Iraq. Politico said it obtained the records through a regular Pentagon records request, not from the Mrvan campaign. Green calls it a smear.
COVID TREATMENT. A new study from the Centers for Disease Control shows that Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to be prescribed new antiviral pills to help combat the COVID-19 virus. "Racial and ethnic disparities persisted in outpatient COVID-19 treatment," the report stated.
STUDY. From April to July 2022, Black COVID-19 patients were treated with Paxlovid at a rate 36 percent lower than White patients. Hispanics received the virus medication 30 percent less. "These disparities existed among all age groups and patients with immunocompromise," the report added.
PAXLOVID. I can currently testify as to the importance of both using Paxlovid and getting it prescribed quickly. COVID deaths are still averaging over 350 per day. That’s over 127,000 per year.
RAP SHEET. A Tennessee man who grabbed D.C. police officer Michael Fanone and dragged him into a crowd of rioters on Jan. 6 has been sentenced to 7 and a half years in prison. 43 year-old Albuquerque Cosper Head had pleaded guilty back in March.
RIOTERS. Fanone's stun gun was used against him repeatedly by the rioters, as the D.C. officer suffered a mild heart attack when he was beaten and tased. Another man who joined in the attack, Kyle Young, was sentenced to just over seven years in prison back in September.
MUSE OF HISTORY. October 28, 1807. On this date, Benjamin Latrobe submitted a report on his construction work for the House side of the Capitol. The House had just convened for the first time in what we now call Statuary Hall - but the chamber of 1807 was different from what we see today. The room was a hippodrome, a 'U' with a closed top. Thomas Jefferson had insisted the ceiling be speckled with 100 skylights, modeled after the Halle aux Blés in Paris. Unfortunately, other than Latrobe's architectural drawings and writings, there is no painting or sketch of this House chamber, which was destroyed by the British in 1814. What did it look like? Here is one guess.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on November 14.
The Senate will have votes on November 14.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
Wonderful architecture lesson!
Re: Putin: total BS about Pelosi from these men who themselves have not escaped the physical ravages of age. She is a total rock star who saved our democracy on January 6th.