Nice to see the whole internet finally debating that eternal question: is Jeb Bush stupider than his brother?
— @HunterDK
Jill D Lawrence:
Bernie Sanders' 2016 website is nothing but a fundraising page. It says we can expect the real thing on May 26, the day of the Vermont senator's formal 2016 launch in Burlington. But make no mistake, Sanders is already the real thing. And there's no denying the lure of that.
Sanders is that unique White House hopeful who calls himself a socialist and habitually warns that "the forces of greed" are afoot in the land. He talks out loud about a single-payer health system and redistributing wealth, about what we can learn from Scandinavia and about economic trends that are "immoral" and "wrong." He skips the sentimental Mother's Day tweets and videos and marks the day by calling U.S. child care "a total disaster." For Democrats weary of operating in the "reality-based community," this is like diving into an icy pond on an oppressively hot day.
James P. Manley:
The president and his team may not like to hear this right now, but with leverage anything is possible.
This explains what just played out in the Senate, where Democratic votes blocked “fast track” trade authority for the president–legislation that the Democratic president consider a top economic priority.
The Wall Street Journal piece on the behind-the-scenes skirmishes between Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Harry Reid as the Senate prepares for a test vote was, in a word, all about leverage.
Mr. McConnell leads the majority with 54 Republican votes. But to get anything done in the Senate, 60 votes are needed. Sen. Reid still has a bit of leverage himself and was prepared to use it, even against the president of his own party. (For anyone wondering how or why Sen. Reid could do this, recall his remark that he didn’t work for the president but with the president.)
More politics and policy below the fold.
DW Gibson on gentrification:
‘I Put in White Tenants’: The Grim, Racist (and Likely Illegal) Methods of One Brooklyn Landlord
He lowers his voice again:
If there’s a black tenant in the house—in every building we have, I put in white tenants. They want to know if black people are going to be living there. So sometimes we have ten apartments and everything is white, and then all of the sudden one tenant comes in with one black roommate, and they don’t like it. They see black people and get all riled up, they call me: “We’re not paying that much money to have black people live in the building.” If it’s white tenants only, it’s clean. I know it’s a little bit racist but it’s not. They’re the ones that are paying and I have to give them what they want. Or I’m not going to get the tenants and the money is not going to be what it is.
Final word on DeflateGate from Chicago: "Cannot deflate baseballs! Cubs-Mets 7:05". Not that corking and pine tar ever happened, but still.
Barronelle Stitzman:
I’m a florist, but I refused to do flowers for my gay friend’s wedding
My relationship with God trumps my connection to anyone on Earth. And now I’m getting sued.
Yep. And you lost.
"My name is Jeb Bush and I was unprepared for questions about the Iraq war. Please elect me to defend the nation against threats."
— @pourmecoffee
Ed O'Keefe:
Leading conservative commentators are lashing out at presumed GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush over comments he made about the Iraq war in a television interview.
Democrats also are targeting Bush's full-throated support of his brother's decision to invade Iraq -- that criticism is no surprise. But the sharp rebuke by leading GOP pundits signals that Bush could face even greater challenges with conservative Republican voters, a bloc that recent polls show remains skeptical of his potential candidacy.
Andrew Rosenthal:
When a candidate or officeholder says something completely ridiculous, a supporter inevitably claims he or she misheard the question. And so it goes, today, with Ana Navarro, who used to work for Jeb Bush, who used to be governor of Florida, saying he misheard a question about the invasion of Iraq.
The question, from Megyn Kelly of Fox News, was not terribly complicated: “Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion?”
Mr. Bush’s answer was that he would have done that. He went on to repeat a variety of half-truths and flat-out false statements about the history of the Iraq war resolution. Ms. Kelly helpfully tried to clarify Mr. Bush’s comments later, but in a way that made little sense.
Byron York:
Jeb's statement is likely to resonate until he either changes his position or loses the race for the Republican nomination. Should he become the nominee, the issue will dog him into the general election campaign.
There are gaffes, and then there's Jeb on Iraq. And you know what? He can't run from his last name. In fact, he doesn't want to.