NY Times:
Operative Offered Trump Campaign ‘Kremlin Connection’ Using N.R.A. Ties
A conservative operative trumpeting his close ties to the National Rifle Association and Russia told a Trump campaign adviser last year that he could arrange a back-channel meeting between Donald J. Trump and Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, according to an email sent to the Trump campaign.
Business Insider:
'Just unreal': Trump's latest tweet indicates he's 'utterly clueless about his own jeopardy,' experts say
If Trump knew that Flynn was in the FBI's crosshairs when he asked former FBI Director James Comey, whom he later fired, to consider "letting Flynn go" the day after Flynn resigned, that could dramatically bolster the obstruction case federal prosecutors are building against him.
Maybe he’s just trying to bolster the “I have dementia” defense.
Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann/NY Times:
How the Republicans Broke Congress
We used to blame both parties for our poisonous political environment. Not anymore.
We do not come at this issue as political partisans; though we are registered Democrats, we have supported Republicans, consider ourselves moderates and have worked with key figures in both parties to improve political processes. Still, we can’t help seeing the Republican Party as the root cause of today’s political instability.
Three major developments in the party required us to change our view….
Mr. Trump’s election and behavior during his first 10 months in office represent not a break with the past but an extreme acceleration of a process that was long underway in conservative politics. The Republican Party is now rationalizing and enabling Mr. Trump’s autocratic, kleptocratic, dangerous and downright embarrassing behavior in hopes of salvaging key elements of its ideological agenda: cutting taxes for the wealthy (as part of possibly the worst tax bill in American history), hobbling the regulatory regime, gutting core government functions and repealing Obamacare without any reasonable plan to replace it.
Recovering Republican Chris Ladd/Forbes:
The GOP Has Become A Dangerous Cult
At this moment, why are Republicans trying to slash taxes for the wealthy? Why would someone castrate themselves and commit suicide? Because that’s what the cult demands.
There are no bright economic minds suggesting that this is a good idea. There is no difference of opinion among sane, credible people about whether America needs a massive tax cut for the rich. An effort by Republican leaders to claim support among economists devolved into unabashed lying. One of the “economists” listed as a supporter, Gil Sylvia, has yet to be identified and may not even exist. When one of the president’s minions pitched this idiotic tax plan to a panel of American CEO’s - men who will be getting fat tax cuts - they balked. In public. On camera. Director Cohn’s stunned response after soliciting their backing should be etched on the tombstone of the former Party of Lincoln, “Why aren’t the other hands up?”
Will Jordan:
THE MILLENNIALS ARE COMING
The additional context demonstrates a couple of things. For one, McAuliffe’s relatively poor performance with young voters in 18-29 may have been a fluke, or simply polling error (exit polls are, after all, polls, and they have error). Yet the fact still remains: Northam did extremely well with young voters, capturing a larger percentage of the 18-29 year-old vote than any statewide candidate in recent memory, with the exception of Mark Warner. Ex-Gov. Warner won 71 percent of the youth vote in 2008, but that was while he was winning 65 percent of the vote across all ages against ex-Gov. Jim Gilmore.
Northam also did particularly well among the 30-44 crowd, who vote at higher rates and make up a much larger share of the electorate. One thing to note here that will become relevant again lower down: nearly half of 30-44s are now Millennials, the oldest of whom are now around 35 or 36 years old. Meanwhile, Northam did about average with voters over 45, and that’s key – it was the age gap between young and old that was especially unique.
I compiled a similar dataset for New Jersey, and the same picture emerged. In Murphy’s case, he really was the strongest candidate since at least 2004 among voters aged 18 to 29 (caveat: exit polls do not appear to have been conducted for Booker’s elections in 2013 or 2014, or for Lautenberg’s in 2008). Murphy won “only” 56 percent statewide, but took a massive 73 percent among 18-29 year-olds and 63 percent among 30-44 year-olds
Remember, half the 30-44 are millennials.
Jill Filipovic/NY Times:
The Men Who Cost Clinton the Election
Many of the male journalists who stand accused of sexual harassment were on the forefront of covering the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Matt Lauer interviewed Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump in an official “commander-in-chief forum” for NBC. He notoriously peppered and interruptedMrs. Clinton with cold, aggressive, condescending questions hyper-focused on her emails, only to pitch softballs at Mr. Trump and treat him with gentle collegiality a half-hour later. Mark Halperin and Charlie Rose set much of the televised political discourse on the race, interviewing other pundits, opining themselves and obsessing over the electoral play-by-play. Mr. Rose, after the election, took a tone similar to Mr. Lauer’s with Mrs. Clinton — talking down to her, interrupting her, portraying her as untrustworthy. Mr. Halperin was a harsh critic of Mrs. Clinton, painting her as ruthless and corrupt, while going surprisingly easy on Mr. Trump. The reporter Glenn Thrush, currently on leave from The New York Times because of sexual harassment allegations, covered Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 campaign when he was at Newsday and continued to write about her over the next eight years for Politico.
WaPo:
Alabama’s closely watched U.S. Senate race is a neck-and-neck contest as voter concerns about personal moral conduct weigh on the candidacy of Republican Roy Moore, according to a new Washington Post-Schar School poll.
With less than two weeks to go, support for Democrat Doug Jones among likely voters stands at 50 percent vs. Moore’s 47 percent — a margin of a scant three points that sets up a nail-biter for the oddly timed Dec. 12 special election.
David Drucker/Washington Examiner:
Pro-Trump group could boost Roy Moore in Alabama Senate race
Moore's presence in the Senate could taint Republicans running for office in 2018. Moving to expel him could put Senate Republicans at odds with Trump, who has tacitly endorsed Moore, not to mention cause a backlash from the party's conservative base that is supportive of the president. America First Policies' participation in the Alabama campaign would give Moore a sort of official GOP seal of approval that other Republicans might have to answer for.
The GOP is married to this guy. He’s considerably younger than the GOP (founded in 1854), but they see that as a plus.
Politico:
Is Roy Moore winning? Don't ask the pollsters
The most closely watched election in the nation is taking place in the equivalent of a polling black box.