theguardian--2020-02-10--Pizza, sushi, Ben & Jerry's: what 2020 Democrats are feeding their staffers

If the Democratic primaries were a sporting event , they would look something like an ultra-marathon followed by a series of punishing wind sprints .
Campaign staff spend a full year door-knocking , phone-banking and organizing in Iowa and New Hampshire before setting off on a mad dash through the parts of the country where 98 % of Americans actually live .
Staying competitive in this feat of endurance requires fueling your foot soldiers .
So what are the campaigns feeding their staff and what , if anything , does it tell us about them ?
Campaigns are required to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Federal Election Commission ( FEC ) each quarter , showing how much money they raised from donors – and what they spent it on .
We used those filings to analyze the remaining candidate ’ s expenditures on all things edible – from Starbucks coffee runs and airplane snacks to and steakhouse dinners and pizza pies .
This analysis covers spending from each campaign ’ s launch through 31 December 2019 .
A caveat : each campaign uses slightly different categorizations in its FEC filings .
We excluded expenditures if they included @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to catering for fundraising events .
This decision primarily affected the analyses for the Amy Klobuchar , Pete Buttigieg , Joe Biden , and Andrew Yang campaigns , since Bernie Sanders , Elizabeth Warren , Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg are not holding high-dollar fundraisers .
Overall , we examined $ 1.9m in spending on food and beverages by these eight campaigns .
Here ’ s what we found .
About $ 1m of that spending went to catering companies or restaurants that we characterized as generally American .
Of the other $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ choice .
Democratic campaigns spent $ 92,120 at Mexican restaurants throughout 2019 , led by the Warren campaign , which accounted for more than a third of that total .
Soul food and barbecue were popular choices in South Carolina , another state with an early primary .
Andrew Yang , whose parents emigrated to the US from Taiwan , spent the most on Chinese food , followed by Tom Steyer , Warren , Biden and Sanders .
Yang ’ s campaign was also the only one to show expenditures from Korean and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaigns also demonstrated notable diversity in their choices .
Sanders staffers shelled out for Thai , Jamaican and Middle Eastern food .
Warren workers dined on Filipino , vegan , Thai , and Indian food .
Meanwhile , Bloomberg ’ s campaign dominated the spending on Japanese food , shelling out $ 16,877 at a single sushi restaurant in the six weeks after he launched his run in late November .
That restaurant , Hanabi Japanese Cuisine , is just a few blocks away from the Bloomberg Philanthropies offices , which are housed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Upper East Side of Manhattan .
( The Bloomberg campaign is paying rent to the Bloomberg Philanthropies building , according to the filings . )
Lest you think the campaign blew all that money in one sitting , Hanabi is no Nobu .
The storefront restaurant offers specialty rolls at prices ranging from just $ 7 to $ 13 .
Bloomberg staffers might have a taste for mid-range sushi , but his campaign is not exactly pinching pennies when it comes to meals .
Despite only having launched in late November , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 310,000 on food .
Most of that went to office catering services , but one notable line item was more than $ 10,000 to Air Culinaire , an in-flight catering service for private jets .
Options for travelers out of New York range from a seared wagyu steak with foie gras , morels and potato hash to sous-vide black chicken thighs with green onion salad , beetroot puree , jasmine tea-infused rice and sesame dressing .
Each menu also features extensive options from Petrossian Caviar , Air Culinaire ’ s “ caviar partner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the race , Steyer , spent more than half a million dollars on food and beverages .
Much of that spending went to catering and restaurants , but there were also some notable expenditures : • None $ 31,428 on delivery apps , including $ 20,731 just on the grocery delivery service Instacart For those campaign workers who don ’ t work for billionaires , however , meals of pizza , sandwiches , and bar food were much more common .
The Sanders campaign spent the most on pizza – about $ 30,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the most orders of any pizzeria .
America ’ s most disappointing sandwich chain , Panera Bread , meanwhile , accounted for $ 50,450 in spending across all the campaigns .
Campaign staff typically work exceptionally long hours , and you can ’ t make it through the day without a strong breakfast .
The most popular breakfast choice was Dunkin ’ Donuts , followed by a number of bagel shops , and Starbucks .
The Buttigieg campaign also spent $ 2,160 at a specialty croissant bakery in morthern California .
As for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ menu – Klobuchar ’ s and Sanders ’ .
The Minnesota senator spent more than $ 10,000 at the Cookie Cart , a Minneapolis not-for-profit bakery that provides job training for teenagers .
Meanwhile , Sanders ’ campaign has spent $ 13,837 on Ben & Jerry ’ s Ice Cream .
He is from Vermont , after all .

If the Democratic primaries were a sporting event, they would look something like an ultra-marathon followed by a series of punishing wind sprints. Campaign staff spend a full year door-knocking, phone-banking and organizing in Iowa and New Hampshire before setting off on a mad dash through the parts of the country where 98% of Americans actually live.
Staying competitive in this feat of endurance requires fueling your foot soldiers. So what are the campaigns feeding their staff and what, if anything, does it tell us about them?
Campaigns are required to submit detailed records of their spending to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) each quarter, showing how much money they raised from donors – and what they spent it on. We used those filings to analyze the remaining candidates’ expenditures on all things edible – from Starbucks coffee runs and airplane snacks to and steakhouse dinners and pizza pies. This analysis covers spending from each campaign’s launch through 31 December 2019.
A caveat: each campaign uses slightly different categorizations in its FEC filings. We excluded expenditures if they included event space rentals or appeared to refer to catering for fundraising events. This decision primarily affected the analyses for the Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden and Andrew Yang campaigns, since Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg are not holding high-dollar fundraisers.
Overall, we examined $1.9m in spending on food and beverages by these eight campaigns. Here’s what we found.
MVP cuisines
About $1m of that spending went to catering companies or restaurants that we characterized as generally American. Of the other $900,000, Mexican food was the top choice. Democratic campaigns spent $92,120 at Mexican restaurants throughout 2019, led by the Warren campaign, which accounted for more than a third of that total.
Soul food and barbecue were popular choices in South Carolina, another state with an early primary. Andrew Yang, whose parents emigrated to the US from Taiwan, spent the most on Chinese food, followed by Tom Steyer, Warren, Biden and Sanders. Yang’s campaign was also the only one to show expenditures from Korean and Creole restaurants.
The Warren and Sanders campaigns also demonstrated notable diversity in their choices. Sanders staffers shelled out for Thai, Jamaican and Middle Eastern food. Warren workers dined on Filipino, vegan, Thai and Indian food.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s campaign dominated the spending on Japanese food, shelling out $16,877 at a single sushi restaurant in the six weeks after he launched his run in late November. That restaurant, Hanabi Japanese Cuisine, is just a few blocks away from the Bloomberg Philanthropies offices, which are housed in a 19th-century Italianate mansion on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. (The Bloomberg campaign is paying rent to the Bloomberg Philanthropies building, according to the filings.)
Lest you think the campaign blew all that money in one sitting, Hanabi is no Nobu. The storefront restaurant offers specialty rolls at prices ranging from just $7 to $13.
How the 0.01% eats
Bloomberg staffers might have a taste for mid-range sushi, but his campaign is not exactly pinching pennies when it comes to meals. Despite only having launched in late November, the campaign has already spent about $310,000 on food. Most of that went to office catering services, but one notable line item was more than $10,000 to Air Culinaire, an in-flight catering service for private jets. Options for travelers out of New York range from a seared wagyu steak with foie gras, morels and potato hash to sous-vide black chicken thighs with green onion salad, beetroot puree, jasmine tea-infused rice and sesame dressing. Each menu also features extensive options from Petrossian Caviar, Air Culinaire’s “caviar partner”.
The other self-funding billionaire in the race, Steyer, spent more than half a million dollars on food and beverages. Much of that spending went to catering and restaurants, but there were also some notable expenditures:
$14,474 on fruit delivery
$23,562 on a premium “third wave” office coffee service, and
$31,428 on delivery apps, including $20,731 just on the grocery delivery service Instacart
Back to reality
For those campaign workers who don’t work for billionaires, however, meals of pizza, sandwiches and bar food were much more common.
What’s Joe Bitin’? The former vice-president with a stack of pizzas. Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters
The Sanders campaign spent the most on pizza – about $30,000 – while Domino’s racked up the most orders of any pizzeria.
America’s most disappointing sandwich chain, Panera Bread, meanwhile, accounted for $50,450 in spending across all the campaigns.
Breakfast of champions
Campaign staff typically work exceptionally long hours, and you can’t make it through the day without a strong breakfast. The most popular breakfast choice was Dunkin’ Donuts, followed by a number of bagel shops and Starbucks.
The Buttigieg campaign also spent $2,160 at a specialty croissant bakery in northern California.
Sweet tooth
As for afters, two campaigns dominated the dessert menu – Klobuchar’s and Sanders’. The Minnesota senator spent more than $10,000 at the Cookie Cart, a Minneapolis not-for-profit bakery that provides job training for teenagers.
Meanwhile, Sanders’ campaign has spent $13,837 on Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. He is from Vermont, after all.


theguardian--2020-02-10--Iowa caucuses: Sanders campaign to ask for 'partial recanvass' of results

Bernie Sanders ’ campaign plans to ask for a “ partial recanvass ” of the results of last week ’ s Iowa caucuses .
A campaign aide confirmed the plans on Sunday night , ahead of a Monday deadline for candidates to ask the Iowa Democratic party to recanvass the results .
A recanvass is not a recount , but a check of the vote count to ensure the results were added correctly .
The state party released updated results on Sunday showing Pete Buttigieg leading Sanders by two state delegate equivalents out of 2,152 counted .
The Associated Press @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it believes the results may not be fully accurate and are still subject to potential revision .
Technical issues have plagued the caucuses .
Use of an app used by party volunteers to report results and jammed phone lines set up for the same purpose meant the Iowa Democratic party failed to release any results to the public until nearly a day after the event .
Behind the scenes , party volunteers reported inconsistencies in the complicated maths used by caucus volunteers to calculate the outcome of each individual caucus .
To confirm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Iowa Democratic party officials spent much of the week collecting paper records of the results and checking them against the numbers reported by volunteers .
But issues continued to plague the party ’ s reporting , and the Iowa Democratic party on Saturday said it was reviewing reported inconsistencies in 95 precincts .
The state party also asked campaigns to submit any evidence of inconsistencies in the final results , and pledged to issue any corrections by Monday .

Bernie Sanders’ campaign plans to ask for a “partial recanvass” of the results of last week’s Iowa caucuses.
A campaign aide confirmed the plans on Sunday night, ahead of a Monday deadline for candidates to ask the Iowa Democratic party to recanvass the results. A recanvass is not a recount, but a check of the vote count to ensure the results were added correctly.
The state party released updated results on Sunday showing Pete Buttigieg leading Sanders by two state delegate equivalents out of 2,152 counted.
The Associated Press remains unable to declare a winner because it believes the results may not be fully accurate and are still subject to potential revision.
Technical issues have plagued the caucuses. Use of an app used by party volunteers to report results and jammed phone lines set up for the same purpose meant the Iowa Democratic party failed to release any results to the public until nearly a day after the event. Behind the scenes, party volunteers reported inconsistencies in the complicated maths used by caucus volunteers to calculate the outcome of each individual caucus.
To confirm the validity of the data they received, Iowa Democratic party officials spent much of the week collecting paper records of the results and checking them against the numbers reported by volunteers.
But issues continued to plague the party’s reporting, and the Iowa Democratic party on Saturday said it was reviewing reported inconsistencies in 95 precincts. The state party also asked campaigns to submit any evidence of inconsistencies in the final results, and pledged to issue any corrections by Monday.


theguardian--2020-02-10--I helped coin the term 'identity politics'. I'm endorsing Bernie Sanders | Barbara Smith

In 1977 I co-authored the Combahee River Collective Statement – a document that emphasized the overlapping forms of economic and social oppression faced by black women .
The Combahee Statement coined the term “ identity politics ” , and it was instrumental in pushing the international left and other political movements to understand inequality as a structural and intersectional phenomenon which affects oppressed groups differently .
Those ideas continue to reverberate today .
I am often disheartened , however , to see support for identity politics and intersectionality reduced to buzzwords .
I am supporting Bernie Sanders for president because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ understanding of politics complements the priorities that women of color defined decades ago .
I was born into Jim Crow in 1946 .
The country I grew up in , with few exceptions , was brutally committed to keeping people like me in their place .
My family were among the courageous African Americans who participated in the first wave of the Great Migration after the first world war , which occurred during an even more perilous era than the later wave following the second world war .
They ended up in Cleveland @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a northern state , racism and segregation shaped every aspect of our daily lives .
I became active in the civil rights movement as a teenager .
At the same time that I was growing up in Cleveland , Bernie Sanders , who was a few years older , was growing up in Brooklyn .
He noticed some of the same paradoxes and injustices that I did and came to a similar conclusion : that he needed to get involved .
Long before he thought about running for any office , let alone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ justice .
He and I worked in different local branches of the same organization , the Congress of Racial Equality ( Core ) , which focused on de facto segregation in the North .
Because there is little understanding of the terrifying conditions of mid-twentieth century US apartheid , some people dismiss Sanders ’ involvement in the civil rights struggle as insignificant or think that many white people at the time supported black liberation and human rights .
Far from it .
I support Sanders because unlike most people of his generation he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jim Crow .
I wonder if other candidates can say the same .
Sanders has devoted most of his life to social movements .
He has shaped them and been shaped by them .
He understands that the most substantial and meaningful change comes from the bottom up , not the top down .
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , to name two examples , would not have happened without movement organizing .
The Vietnam war ended because a mass movement finally forced the political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and I were in that movement too .
Sanders has said that as president he will be “ organizer-in-chief ” .
He is committed to fighting for regular working people , which is most of us , and he has the advantage of connection with an existing broad-based social movement .
As president he can implement policies that give those who are most harmed by the current system full access to opportunity and a decent human life .
At least 140 million people in the United States live in poverty or do not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s basic needs of food , housing and healthcare .
Women , people of color , members of the LGBTQ+ community , people with disabilities , children and elders are disproportionately part of this 140 million .
Some critics have questioned whether Sanders is concerned about the specific ways that people with varying intersecting identities experience oppression .
As a black lesbian feminist who has been out since the mid-1970s , I believe that , among all the candidates , his leadership offers us the best chance to eradicate the unique injustices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In 2016 I served on the LGBTQ steering committee for the Sanders campaign .
I am even more excited to support him now .
Look at the diversity and vitality of Sanders ’ own supporters .
His campaign is powered by a grassroots movement including thousands of women and people of color .
His current surge in the polls is due in large part to support from voters of color , Spanish-speakers and immigrants .
Multilingual caucus sites in Iowa supported Sanders by a huge margin .
Four of the most dynamic women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jayapal , Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib – have endorsed Bernie .
The stakes could not be higher .
Before the 2016 election I dreaded a return to the Jim Crow era signaled by the slogan “ Make America Great Again , ” which obviously meant white .
Tragically that is exactly what happened .
Four more years is unthinkable .
That is why I am working to elect President Bernie Sanders .
• None Barbara Smith is an author , activist and independent scholar .
She is a co-founder @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kitchen Table : Women of Color Press

In 1977 I co-authored the Combahee River Collective Statement – a document that emphasized the overlapping forms of economic and social oppression faced by black women. The Combahee Statement coined the term “identity politics”, and it was instrumental in pushing the international left and other political movements to understand inequality as a structural and intersectional phenomenon which affects oppressed groups differently.
Those ideas continue to reverberate today. I am often disheartened, however, to see support for identity politics and intersectionality reduced to buzzwords. I am supporting Bernie Sanders for president because I believe that his campaign and his understanding of politics complements the priorities that women of color defined decades ago.
I was born into Jim Crow in 1946. The country I grew up in, with few exceptions, was brutally committed to keeping people like me in their place. My family were among the courageous African Americans who participated in the first wave of the Great Migration after the first world war, which occurred during an even more perilous era than the later wave following the second world war. They ended up in Cleveland, Ohio; although we lived in a northern state, racism and segregation shaped every aspect of our daily lives. I became active in the civil rights movement as a teenager.
At the same time that I was growing up in Cleveland, Bernie Sanders, who was a few years older, was growing up in Brooklyn. He noticed some of the same paradoxes and injustices that I did and came to a similar conclusion: that he needed to get involved.
Long before he thought about running for any office, let alone for president, Sanders fought for racial justice. He and I worked in different local branches of the same organization, the Congress of Racial Equality (Core), which focused on de facto segregation in the north.
Because there is little understanding of the terrifying conditions of mid-20th century US apartheid, some people dismiss Sanders’ involvement in the civil rights struggle as insignificant or think that many white people at the time supported black liberation and human rights. Far from it. I support Sanders because unlike most people of his generation he decided as a young person to challenge Jim Crow. I wonder if other candidates can say the same.
Sanders has devoted most of his life to social movements. He has shaped them and been shaped by them. He understands that the most substantial and meaningful change comes from the bottom up, not the top down. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to name two examples, would not have happened without movement organizing. The Vietnam war ended because a mass movement finally forced the political establishment to end the carnage. Sanders and I were in that movement too.
Sanders has said that as president he will be “organizer-in-chief”. He is committed to fighting for regular working people, which is most of us, and he has the advantage of connection with an existing broad-based social movement. As president he can implement policies that give those who are most harmed by the current system full access to opportunity and a decent human life.
At least 140 million people in the United States live in poverty or do not have enough income to cover their family’s basic needs of food, housing and healthcare. Women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, children and elders are disproportionately part of this 140 million.
Some critics have questioned whether Sanders is concerned about the specific ways that people with varying intersecting identities experience oppression. As a black lesbian feminist who has been out since the mid-1970s, I believe that, among all the candidates, his leadership offers us the best chance to eradicate the unique injustices that marginalized groups in America endure.
In 2016 I served on the LGBTQ steering committee for the Sanders campaign. I am even more excited to support him now.
Look at the diversity and vitality of Sanders’ own supporters. His campaign is powered by a grassroots movement including thousands of women and people of color. His current surge in the polls is due in large part to support from voters of color, Spanish-speakers and immigrants. Multilingual caucus sites in Iowa supported Sanders by a huge margin. Four of the most dynamic women of color in Congress – representatives Pramila Jayapal, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib – have endorsed Bernie.
The stakes could not be higher. Before the 2016 election I dreaded a return to the Jim Crow era signaled by the slogan “Make America Great Again”, which obviously meant white. Tragically that is exactly what happened. Four more years is unthinkable. That is why I am working to elect President Bernie Sanders.


theguardian--2020-02-10--From Republicans to Democrats: America is hopefully divided | Geoffrey Kabaservice

The early 20th-century American entertainer and social commentator Will Rogers once observed : “ I ’ m not a member of any organized political party .
I am a Democrat.
” Rarely has that aphorism seemed as appropriate as in the wake of this week ’ s botched Iowa Democratic caucuses .
I stayed up half the night waiting for the Iowa election results , only to find ( along with my fellow frustrated political obsessives ) that none would be forthcoming , largely on account of a faulty app .
With the results still trickling in days after they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are in a virtual dead heat for the lead , with Elizabeth Warren , Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar rounding out the second tier .
But no one at this point can say what exactly who won or by what margin .
A number of media outlets found inconsistencies and errors in the reported results from Iowa , raising the possibility that the actual outcome may never be definitively verified .
In any case , Buttigieg and Sanders have been deprived of the momentum they presumably would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while Biden escaped much of the scrutiny his woeful results otherwise would have incurred .
Adding insult to injury , Donald Trump and his minions crowed that the Iowa debacle shows that the Democratic establishment is both incompetent and biased against Sanders ’ insurgency .
Some of Sanders ’ supporters enthusiastically endorsed this conspiratorial interpretation .
The State of the Union address , the day after the Iowa caucuses , provided an effective showcase for the president to , in effect , preview his re-election campaign .
As in his past addresses , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ members of both parties in Congress for their work on criminal justice reform and imploring them to cooperate on broadly popular issues like public health research funding , infrastructure , paid family leave and reducing prescription drug prices .
But Trump conspicuously declined to shake House speaker Nancy Pelosi ’ s hand when he arrived at the podium , and much of his speech flayed his opponents for their alleged softness toward socialism , criminal aliens , “ failing government schools ” and other conservative shibboleths .
Trump also was notably ungracious toward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he didn ’ t mention Obama by name , Trump accused him ( and to some extent former president George W Bush ) of having presided over economic decay , foreign policy weakness and the “ downsizing of Americans ’ destiny ” .
The reception of Trump ’ s address illustrated the almost complete polarization that prevails in America today .
Republicans considered the address a thoroughly appropriate – perfect , one might say – extended boast about the economic success under his watch .
Democrats considered it a divisive , meanspirited barrage @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sources , for what it ’ s worth , detected dozens of exaggerations , misleading statements and outright untruths in the address . )
By the same token , your partisan affiliation likely will determine whether you thought Pelosi ’ s tearing Trump ’ s speech text apart was an outrageous and disrespectful breach of decorum or a dissent against demagoguery .
Trump ’ s strutting demeanor at the State of the Union address no doubt stemmed in part from his confidence that he would be acquitted in his impeachment trial in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ proved to be the case .
The vote , along almost entirely partisan lines , demonstrated Trump ’ s overwhelming command over the party he leads .
And , as conservative pundits had predicted , the entire impeachment episode has only increased Trump ’ s popularity .
According to the most recent Gallup poll , Trump ’ s overall approval rating now stands at 49 % – his highest ever and 10 percentage points above his rating in October before the House impeachment proceedings began .
His approval rating among Republicans has reached @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percentage points from last month , and his approval rating among independents is also at or near record levels .
While election dynamics can change enormously between now and the elections , particularly if more incriminating evidence about the Ukrainian caper leaks out , betting markets currently put the odds of Trump ’ s re-election at well above even .
I have no polling expertise , but Democrats clearly out to be troubled by the depth of the division between their moderate and progressive wings , as well as the likelihood of Sanders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other nominee .
Worse yet , total turnout in the Iowa caucuses appears to have been at the tepid levels of 2016 , as opposed to the record levels of 2008 when Barack Obama ’ s candidacy galvanized a huge influx of first-time voters .
These results would seem to give the lie to predictions that Democrats are highly motivated to turn out to defeat Trump , or that Sanders ’ campaign would bring in huge numbers of young people .
On a personal note , I will forever remember this week , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because my father died on Tuesday at age 81 after a long illness .
Dad wasn ’ t particularly interested in politics , but he was a brilliant and meticulous engineer who would have been wholly unsurprised by the Iowa caucuses ’ app debacle .
He had seen all too many examples of systems whose complexity overwhelmed their users , as well as too many hotshot designers mesmerized by new technology and ignorant of how it would be used in actual practice — in this case , by older , not very tech-savvy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out how download or install the app .
My dad passed the day before the Utah senator Mitt Romney cast the only Republican vote to convict Trump for abuse of power , making him the only senator in American history to vote to remove a president from his own party .
This sad coincidence made me wonder to what extent Romney ’ s vote was influenced by the example of his late father , George Romney .
The elder Romney , who was the moderate Republican governor of Michigan , was one of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ life in the 1960s .
I consider him one of history ’ s great might-have-beens .
If he had defeated Richard Nixon for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 , amid the turmoil of the civil rights era and the Vietnam war , in all likelihood the GOP would have been the anti-war party and there would have been no “ southern strategy ” appealing to anti-integration white southerners .
Mitt Romney told Washington Post reporter Michael Leahy in 2011 that “ my dad was a champion of civil rights when some in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement ” – and , he might have added , when the Romneys ’ Mormon church still prohibited African Americans from admission to the priesthood .
George Romney ’ s courageous adherence to principle was a large part of why his son called him “ my greatest influence ” and “ the person I have admired most in political life ” .
Before he cast his vote for Trump ’ s conviction , Mitt Romney acknowledged that he would face vehement denunciation from many Republicans , and unsurprisingly a tidal wave of abuse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump ’ s supporters .
Donald Trump Jr has called to expel Romney from the party he led as the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 .
Romney ’ s speech announcing his vote moved some senators to tears , so rare is it to see a Washington politician acting on principle against all calculations of politics and self-interest .
Romney said that his fidelity to God and the constitution – which his father believed was a divinely inspired document – apparently left him no other choice .
But the wish to live up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inspire us to be the best version of ourselves .
May Americans of all political persuasions ( and none ) keep this in mind as we head into this agonizingly divisive election season .

The early 20th-century American entertainer and social commentator Will Rogers once observed: “I’m not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” Rarely has that aphorism seemed as appropriate as in the wake of this week’s botched Iowa Democratic caucuses.
I stayed up half the night waiting for the Iowa election results, only to find (along with my fellow frustrated political obsessives) that none would be forthcoming, largely on account of a faulty app. With the results still trickling in days after they should have been tabulated, it appears that Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders are in a virtual dead heat for the lead, with Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar rounding out the second tier.
But no one at this point can say exactly who won or by what margin. A number of media outlets found inconsistencies and errors in the reported results from Iowa, raising the possibility that the actual outcome may never be definitively verified. In any case, Buttigieg and Sanders have been deprived of the momentum they presumably would have received in an unclouded election, while Biden escaped much of the scrutiny his woeful results otherwise would have incurred. Adding insult to injury, Donald Trump and his minions crowed that the Iowa debacle shows that the Democratic establishment is both incompetent and biased against Sanders’ insurgency. Some of Sanders’ supporters enthusiastically endorsed this conspiratorial interpretation.
The State of the Union address, the day after the Iowa caucuses, provided an effective showcase for the president to, in effect, preview his re-election campaign. As in his past addresses, he showed flashes of bipartisanship, congratulating members of both parties in Congress for their work on criminal justice reform and imploring them to cooperate on broadly popular issues like public health research funding, infrastructure, paid family leave and reducing prescription drug prices. But Trump conspicuously declined to shake House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hand when he arrived at the podium, and much of his speech flayed his opponents for their alleged softness toward socialism, criminal aliens, “failing government schools” and other conservative shibboleths. Trump also was notably ungracious toward the Democratic former president Barack Obama. While he didn’t mention Obama by name, Trump accused him (and to some extent former president George W Bush) of having presided over economic decay, foreign policy weakness and the “downsizing of Americans’ destiny”.
The reception of Trump’s address illustrated the almost complete polarization that prevails in America today. Republicans considered the address a thoroughly appropriate – perfect, one might say – extended boast about the economic success under his watch. Democrats considered it a divisive, mean-spirited barrage of lies and slander. (Media sources, for what it’s worth, detected dozens of exaggerations, misleading statements and outright untruths in the address.) By the same token, your partisan affiliation will probably determine whether you thought Pelosi’s tearing Trump’s speech text apart was an outrageous and disrespectful breach of decorum or a dissent against demagoguery.
Trump’s strutting demeanor at the State of the Union address no doubt stemmed in part from his confidence that he would be acquitted in his impeachment trial in the Senate the next day, as indeed proved to be the case. The vote, along almost entirely partisan lines, demonstrated Trump’s overwhelming command over the party he leads. And, as conservative pundits had predicted, the entire impeachment episode has only increased Trump’s popularity. According to the most recent Gallup poll, Trump’s overall approval rating now stands at 49% – his highest ever and 10 percentage points above his rating in October before the House impeachment proceedings began. His approval rating among Republicans has reached an astonishing 94%, up six percentage points from last month, and his approval rating among independents is also at or near record levels.
While election dynamics can change enormously between now and the elections, particularly if more incriminating evidence about the Ukrainian caper leaks out, betting markets currently put the odds of Trump’s re-election at well above even. I have no polling expertise, but Democrats clearly ought to be troubled by the depth of the division between their moderate and progressive wings, as well as the likelihood of Sanders and his supporters failing to back any other nominee. Worse yet, total turnout in the Iowa caucuses appears to have been at the tepid levels of 2016, as opposed to the record levels of 2008 when Barack Obama’s candidacy galvanized a huge influx of first-time voters. These results would seem to give the lie to predictions that Democrats are highly motivated to turn out to defeat Trump, or that Sanders’ campaign would bring in huge numbers of young people.
On a personal note, I will forever remember this week, not because of any political developments but because my father died on Tuesday at age 81 after a long illness. Dad wasn’t particularly interested in politics, but he was a brilliant and meticulous engineer who would have been wholly unsurprised by the Iowa caucuses’ app debacle. He had seen all too many examples of systems whose complexity overwhelmed their users, as well as too many hotshot designers mesmerized by new technology and ignorant of how it would be used in actual practice – in this case, by older, not very tech-savvy caucus chairs who couldn’t figure out how to download or install the app.
My dad passed the day before the Utah senator Mitt Romney cast the only Republican vote to convict Trump for abuse of power, making him the only senator in American history to vote to remove a president from his own party. This sad coincidence made me wonder to what extent Romney’s vote was influenced by the example of his late father, George Romney. The elder Romney, who was the moderate Republican governor of Michigan, was one of the most formidable figures in American political life in the 1960s. I consider him one of history’s great might-have-beens. If he had defeated Richard Nixon for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968, amid the turmoil of the civil rights era and the Vietnam war, in all likelihood the GOP would have been the anti-war party and there would have been no “southern strategy” appealing to anti-integration white southerners.
Mitt Romney told the Washington Post reporter Michael Leahy in 2011 that “my dad was a champion of civil rights when some in the Republican party questioned the civil rights movement” – and, he might have added, when the Romneys’ Mormon church still prohibited African Americans from admission to the priesthood. George Romney’s courageous adherence to principle was a large part of why his son called him “my greatest influence” and “the person I have admired most in political life”.
Before he cast his vote for Trump’s conviction, Mitt Romney acknowledged that he would face vehement denunciation from many Republicans, and unsurprisingly a tidal wave of abuse and ostracism has come his way from Trump’s supporters. Donald Trump Jr has called to expel Romney from the party he led as the Republican presidential nominee in 2012. Romney’s speech announcing his vote moved some senators to tears, so rare is it to see a Washington politician acting on principle against all calculations of politics and self-interest. Romney said that his fidelity to God and the constitution – which his father believed was a divinely inspired document – apparently left him no other choice. But the wish to live up to our parents’ example can also inspire us to be the best version of ourselves. May Americans of all political persuasions (and none) keep this in mind as we head into this agonizingly divisive election season.


theguardian--2020-02-10--Does Pete Buttigieg have a path to the Democratic party nomination? | Rachel Bitecofer

With the final results still missing , it ’ s as if the Iowa caucus never happened , largely nullifying what has been for decades the most important contest in the presidential nomination system .
Despite the chaos , the Buttigieg campaign decided to claim the winner ’ s cup based on internal results , displaying a strategic shrewdness that probably allowed the campaign to salvage at least some of what would have been a massive momentum effect from his “ dark horse ” victory .
The days after the Iowa caucus , as the state ’ s Democratic party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Buttigieg surged in New Hampshire polls and his fellow Democratic primary competitors treated him with a newfound respect at Saturday ’ s debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester , New Hampshire , training their sights on the new frontrunner .
But with New Hampshire ’ s primary still pending , important questions remain about Pete Buttigieg ’ s viability for the party ’ s nomination outside the safe confines of two states that are both poor representations of the Democratic party ’ s modern voter coalition .
Up till now , Buttigieg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ color , and the Beltway narrative has centered around his problematic record on race relations as mayor of South Bend , Indiana , to explain his failure to gain traction .
Without a doubt , this frame has had some effect on Buttigieg ’ s ability to gain traction with black voters , although it ’ s important to note it ’ s an issue he shares with several of his peers .
But narratives such as this can be powerful , especially when they are echoed in media circles .
Voters rely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opinion generally flows from elites and opinion leaders down to the public .
Once they become set , these types of narratives can be all but impossible to escape .
In 2016 , I demonstrated how successful Donald Trump was with making the “ Crooked Hillary ” nickname stick .
Public opinion data showed that despite a much cleaner Politifact “ Truth-O-Meter ” scorecard than her opponent , voters overwhelmingly described Hillary Clinton , not Donald Trump as a “ liar ” .
Biden ’ s weak performance through the primary , both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been buoyed up until Iowa by a heightened risk aversion among voters keen to remove Donald Trump from office .
But voters have begun to see the once-safe Biden as risky and voters seem anxious about Trump ’ s ability to tarnish Biden via his son Hunter Biden .
For some voters , the memory of what the Republicans did to Hillary Clinton via their investigative power in the House over the Benghazi embassy attacks is fresh in their minds .
Voters are no longer sure that Joe Biden and his 40+ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back to the White House .
But the party ’ s mainstream seems even more uneasy about nominating Bernie Sanders , a self-described democratic socialist .
The question that remains to be seen , and won ’ t be answered until states with more representative electorates begin voting , is which faction , the mainstream or the progressives , have more sway this cycle .
Primaries , even the presidential kind , are notoriously low-turnout affairs .
The people who do tend to turn out in primaries care passionately about party politics .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ increasingly advantaged candidates that party elites find terrifying , like Sanders .
But if turnout is high , if there is heightened participation due to angst about Trump and more moderates and Independents vote in the Democratic primary because there is no competitive Republican primary , perhaps the mainstream faction will have an edge .
Although overall turnout in Iowa vastly underperformed the historic turnout analysts expected , youth turnout did increase over 2016 , no doubt helping Sanders .
If support for Biden continues to collapse and Buttigieg comes out of New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frontrunner , his path to the nomination will be rockier than similar candidates in previous cycles , and not just because of the threat he ’ ll face from Sanders .
With Amy Klobuchar earning more than $ 2.5m the night of the New Hampshire debate and Mike Bloomberg rising in the polls in South Carolina and across the Super Tuesday states , it is looking increasingly likely that a Biden collapse will produce a trifurcated mainstream vote , complicating the pathway for Buttigieg , or any other of the mainstream candidates to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s nomination .
In that scenario , Sanders may be advantaged and would almost certainly be if Warren was to withdraw from the race .
Ultimately , it may be Bloomberg , not Biden that subverts Buttigieg ’ s already historic bid for the Democratic nomination .
Bloomberg , like Buttigieg , has a complicated relationship with voters of color .
But unlike Buttigieg , he has experience and a campaign war chest the likes of which we ’ ve never seen .
At the end of the day , what voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nominee is reassurance that their long national nightmare will end and that is the message Bloomberg is selling .
And he has all the money in the world to bankroll the effort .
• None Rachel Bitecofer is a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center .
She is an assistant director of the Wason Center for Public Policy , Department of Political Science at Christopher Newport University .

With the final results still missing, it’s as if the Iowa caucus never happened, largely nullifying what has been for decades the most important contest in the presidential nomination system. Despite the chaos, the Buttigieg campaign decided to claim the winner’s cup based on internal results, displaying a strategic shrewdness that probably allowed the campaign to salvage at least some of what would have been a massive momentum effect from his “dark horse” victory.
The days after the Iowa caucus, as the state’s Democratic party struggled to determine the winner, Pete Buttigieg surged in New Hampshire polls and his fellow Democratic primary competitors treated him with a newfound respect at Saturday’s debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, training their sights on the new frontrunner.
But with New Hampshire’s primary still pending, important questions remain about Pete Buttigieg’s viability for the party’s nomination outside the safe confines of two states that are both poor representations of the Democratic party’s modern voter coalition.
Up till now, Buttigieg has struggled to win over voters of color, and the Beltway narrative has centered around his problematic record on race relations as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, to explain his failure to gain traction. Without a doubt, this frame has had some effect on Buttigieg’s ability to gain traction with black voters, although it’s important to note it’s an issue he shares with several of his peers. But narratives such as this can be powerful, especially when they are echoed in media circles. Voters rely heavily on signals by pundits: public opinion generally flows from elites and opinion leaders down to the public.
Once they become set, these types of narratives can be all but impossible to escape. In 2016, I demonstrated how successful Donald Trump was with making the “Crooked Hillary” nickname stick. Public opinion data showed that despite a much cleaner Politifact “Truth-O-Meter” scorecard than her opponent, voters overwhelmingly described Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump as a “liar”.
Biden’s weak performance through the primary, both in terms of fundraising and debates, has been buoyed up until Iowa by a heightened risk aversion among voters keen to remove Donald Trump from office. But voters have begun to see the once-safe Biden as risky and voters seem anxious about Trump’s ability to tarnish Biden via his son Hunter Biden. For some voters, the memory of what the Republicans did to Hillary Clinton via their investigative power in the House over the Benghazi embassy attacks is fresh in their minds. Voters are no longer sure that Joe Biden and his 40+ year Senate record are the safest route back to the White House.
But the party’s mainstream seems even more uneasy about nominating Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist. The question that remains to be seen, and won’t be answered until states with more representative electorates begin voting, is which faction, the mainstream or the progressives, have more sway this cycle. Primaries, even the presidential kind, are notoriously low-turnout affairs. The people who do tend to turn out in primaries care passionately about party politics. In this polarized era, this has increasingly advantaged candidates that party elites find terrifying, like Sanders. But if turnout is high, if there is heightened participation due to angst about Trump and more moderates and Independents vote in the Democratic primary because there is no competitive Republican primary, perhaps the mainstream faction will have an edge. Although overall turnout in Iowa vastly underperformed the historic turnout analysts expected, youth turnout did increase over 2016, no doubt helping Sanders.
If support for Biden continues to collapse and Buttigieg comes out of New Hampshire as the mainstream faction’s frontrunner, his path to the nomination will be rockier than similar candidates in previous cycles, and not just because of the threat he’ll face from Sanders. With Amy Klobuchar earning more than $2.5m the night of the New Hampshire debate and Mike Bloomberg rising in the polls in South Carolina and across the Super Tuesday states, it is looking increasingly likely that a Biden collapse will produce a trifurcated mainstream vote, complicating the pathway for Buttigieg, or any other of the mainstream candidates to secure enough delegates to clinch the party’s nomination. In that scenario, Sanders may be advantaged and would almost certainly be if Warren was to withdraw from the race.
Ultimately, it may be Bloomberg, not Biden that subverts Buttigieg’s already historic bid for the Democratic nomination. Bloomberg, like Buttigieg, has a complicated relationship with voters of color. But unlike Buttigieg, he has experience and a campaign war chest the likes of which we’ve never seen. At the end of the day, what voters are looking for the most in their nominee is reassurance that their long national nightmare will end and that is the message Bloomberg is selling. And he has all the money in the world to bankroll the effort.


theguardian--2020-02-08--'It's stunning how far they've fallen': Iowa app farce shows Democrats' tech slump

“ Now I understand the votes are fried in Iowa , ” he told reporters at the White House on Friday .
“ Think of it , all the money that Democrats spent and the votes are fried .
They have no idea who won.
” The president ’ s schadenfreude flowed from the debacle of the Democratic Iowa caucuses , the much-hyped first step to finding a nominee to challenge him in November .
After seven debates , nearly a billion dollars in national campaign spending and a year of criss-crossing the midwestern state in search of every last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and no official results .
The main problem was an app the Iowa Democratic party used to tabulate the results .
It had been rushed out shortly before caucusing began , did not undergo rigorous testing and hit a coding glitch .
Back-up phone lines were jammed , compounding a meltdown that raised questions not only over the viability of the first-in-the-nation caucuses but Democrats ’ grasp of technology .
Wendy Schiller , a political science professor at Brown University in Providence , Rhode Island , said : “ When you consider that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s use of technology , large-N data and interactions with voters via mobile phones through texting , and that was 12 years ago , it is stunning how far from technological grace the Democrats have fallen and that was on full display in Iowa .
“ We saw some of this problem in the Clinton campaign in 2016 when they were using technology to recruit campaign volunteers and supporters rather than using it to court voters as Trump did .
A perfect example is that Trump bought ads on SnapChat before the debates @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is just the tip of the iceberg .
The last Democratic administration ’ s healthcare website suffered a botched launch and went over budget .
The Trump campaign outspent and outmanoeuvred Clinton on Facebook and other platforms in 2016 , also receiving a boost from Russian interference .
Since then , under manager Brad Parscale , the campaign has built a huge digital operation that will be difficult for the Democratic nominee to match .
It is a very different landscape from when Obama revolutionised online organising on his way to beating John @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s Orca Project , a big data voter-tracking app designed to rival Obama ’ s ground game in 2012 , crashed and burned at the crucial moment .
The Republican National Committee ( RNC ) learned the lessons of those defeats , argues lobbyist Henry Barbour , a partner at Capitol Resources , with chair Reince Priebus and his successor Ronna McDaniel recruiting dedicated tech staff .
In contrast , the Democratic National Committee ( DNC ) rested on its laurels .
Barbour said : “ We ’ re in a strong position @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Obama years we were playing catch-up .
Now I think the Democrats are .
The DNC is a shell of its former self , a shambles .
There is weak leadership left over from President Obama , who invested in his own organisation more than the DNC .
“ President Trump is doing the opposite , investing in the RNC and the nuts and bolts .
As a result , Republicans have built an advantage on the data side.
” Even as Obama won two elections , Democrats suffered punishing defeats in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ losing nearly 1,000 state legislative seats .
In the wake of the Iowa chaos , Tom Perez , the DNC chair who had begun to turn things around , is facing calls to resign .
Barbour , chairman of the Republican firm Data Trust and the RNC national committee member for Mississippi , added : “ The Democratic data is controlled on the state level , whereas the Republicans have a national approach to it .
I think it ’ s a big advantage in 2020 when you ’ re trying to figure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ target them and when to do it .
Better data yields better results.
” Republicans do not entirely have the upper hand .
The Democrats have ActBlue , an easy-to-use online platform that enables grassroots activists and big-dollar donors to chip in small amounts to candidates or big sums to party committees .
In 2019 , it funneled more than $ 1bn to Democratic candidates and causes .
While ActBlue was born in 2004 , and played a role in Democrats ’ 2018 midterms success , Republicans scrambled to catch up last year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raised $ 70m in the final quarter of last year and could hit between $ 800m and $ 1bn in 2020 , but he predicted ActBlue may reach $ 2bn for this year .
Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will be up against the Trump campaign ’ s almost unlimited war chest and determination to “ flood the zone ” of social media with opportunistic merchandising and targeted advertising , including generous helpings of dishonest and inflammatory clickbait .
The right has learned how to turn social media ’ s divisive echo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , editor at large for the technology news website Recode , wrote in the New York Times this week “ of a persistent myth : that the Democrats are the party of the internet generation , intuitively embracing the whole app-tastic , AI-centered , who ’ s-got-the-VR-headset future better than the Republicans .
“ That fallacy was fueled , in part , by the use of digital tools by Barack Obama ’ s campaign in 2008 and the image of him as tech-forward , a guy who hung out with Silicon Valley leaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Schmidt.
” But Obama was “ only sort of techie ” , Swisher argued , and his administration did not challenge the industry in any significant way .
“ In fact , from the start of the internet age in the 1990s , the right has been more clever than its rivals in exploiting ever-morphing tech to influence vast numbers of people with targeted messages.
” Obama ’ s victory in the Iowa caucuses in 2008 launched him towards the presidency and his victory speech that night inspired many to support him .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s chief technology officer in 2008 , was dismayed by the chaos in 2020 on a night that was supposed to provide the party with clarity .
“ At the end of the day , I bet there ’ s plenty of blame for everybody , ” he said .
“ This speaks to an ineffective approach to innovation and technology at the national level .
“ It speaks to an unpreparedness at the state level .
It speaks to probably some naivety at the technical level .
You ’ re really only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 1,700 places .
Why not use a Google spreadsheet ?
I ’ m not saying that ’ s the right answer , but I just think it reflects failures at multiple levels.
” Slaby , now chief strategist of the not-for-profit Harmony Labs , added : “ I do think that the party as a whole was this place where we were , especially pre-2016 , sort of taking technology and our strengths in digital for granted .
We have moved beyond that in some ways .
There ’ s new investment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not in a bubble and it ’ s not easy to do well .
I don ’ t think either party has a corner on tech .
It ’ s something that is always moving and therefore must always be invested in and if you ’ re not actively investing in getting better at technology , then you ’ re getting worse .
“ And if you look at the national level , I think we have under-invested in technological and digital infrastructure , especially when it comes to digital media , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will be a wake-up call to threats both domestic and external .
Moe Vela , a former senior adviser to vice-president Joe Biden and now board director of TransparentBusiness , was in Iowa on caucus night .
“ I came back in a state of shock , ” he said .
“ I can ’ t imagine after the Russians hacked our election , and the issues with cybersecurity being at the front of everyone ’ s minds , that the Iowa Democratic party wouldn ’ t take every possible precaution to this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a sad day for the Democratic party from a technology perspective and it ’ s disappointing to me , as an entrepreneur who deals with a lot of tech companies , that we couldn ’ t find one to build an app that worked properly.
” But Vela , an LGBTQ and Latino activist , was reluctant to make sweeping comparisons .
“ Donald Trump and Brad Parscale ’ s advantage was cheating , ” he said .
“ Ours was merely a glitch .
I ’ ll take a glitch rather than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
”

Donald Trump was gloating again.
“Now I understand the votes are fried in Iowa,” he told reporters at the White House on Friday. “Think of it, all the money that Democrats spent and the votes are fried. They have no idea who won.”
The president’s schadenfreude flowed from the debacle of the Democratic Iowa caucuses, the much-hyped first step to finding a nominee to challenge him in November. After seven debates, nearly a billion dollars in national campaign spending and a year of criss-crossing the midwestern state in search of every last voter, Monday ended with no winner and no official results.
The main problem was an app the Iowa Democratic party used to tabulate the results. It had been rushed out shortly before caucusing began, did not undergo rigorous testing and hit a coding glitch. Back-up phone lines were jammed, compounding a meltdown that raised questions not only over the viability of the first-in-the-nation caucuses but Democrats’ grasp of technology.
Wendy Schiller, a political science professor at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, said: “When you consider that Barack Obama revolutionised the Democratic party’s use of technology, large-N data and interactions with voters via mobile phones through texting, and that was 12 years ago, it is stunning how far from technological grace the Democrats have fallen and that was on full display in Iowa.
“We saw some of this problem in the Clinton campaign in 2016 when they were using technology to recruit campaign volunteers and supporters rather than using it to court voters as Trump did. A perfect example is that Trump bought ads on SnapChat before the debates with Hillary Clinton.”
The Iowa app is just the tip of the iceberg. The last Democratic administration’s healthcare website suffered a botched launch and went over budget. The Trump campaign outspent and outmanoeuvred Clinton on Facebook and other platforms in 2016, also receiving a boost from Russian interference. Since then, under manager Brad Parscale, the campaign has built a huge digital operation that will be difficult for the Democratic nominee to match.
It is a very different landscape from when Obama revolutionised online organising on his way to beating John McCain and Mitt Romney. Romney’s Orca Project, a big data voter-tracking app designed to rival Obama’s ground game in 2012, crashed and burned at the crucial moment.
We’re in a strong position, as a party, whereas in the Obama years we were playing catch-up. Now I think the Democrats are Henry Barbour
The Republican National Committee (RNC) learned the lessons of those defeats, argues lobbyist Henry Barbour, a partner at Capitol Resources, with chair Reince Priebus and his successor Ronna McDaniel recruiting dedicated tech staff. In contrast, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) rested on its laurels.
Barbour said: “We’re in a strong position as a party, whereas in the Obama years we were playing catch-up. Now I think the Democrats are. The DNC is a shell of its former self, a shambles. There is weak leadership left over from President Obama, who invested in his own organisation more than the DNC.
“President Trump is doing the opposite, investing in the RNC and the nuts and bolts. As a result, Republicans have built an advantage on the data side.”
Even as Obama won two elections, Democrats suffered punishing defeats in the Senate, House and key governorships while losing nearly 1,000 state legislative seats. In the wake of the Iowa chaos, Tom Perez, the DNC chair who had begun to turn things around, is facing calls to resign.
Barbour, chairman of the Republican firm Data Trust and the RNC national committee member for Mississippi, added: “The Democratic data is controlled on the state level, whereas the Republicans have a national approach to it. I think it’s a big advantage in 2020 when you’re trying to figure out who to target, how to target them and when to do it. Better data yields better results.”
Republicans do not entirely have the upper hand. The Democrats have ActBlue, an easy-to-use online platform that enables grassroots activists and big-dollar donors to chip in small amounts to candidates or big sums to party committees. In 2019, it funneled more than $1bn to Democratic candidates and causes.
While ActBlue was born in 2004, and played a role in Democrats’ 2018 midterms success, Republicans scrambled to catch up last year by launching WinRed. Barbour said WinRed raised $70m in the final quarter of last year and could hit between $800m and $1bn in 2020, but he predicted ActBlue may reach $2bn for this year.
Whoever emerges as the Democratic nominee will be up against the Trump campaign’s almost unlimited war chest and determination to “flood the zone” of social media with opportunistic merchandising and targeted advertising, including generous helpings of dishonest and inflammatory clickbait. The right has learned how to turn social media’s divisive echo chambers to its advantage.
Kara Swisher, editor at large for the technology news website Recode, wrote in the New York Times this week “of a persistent myth: that the Democrats are the party of the internet generation, intuitively embracing the whole app-tastic, AI-centered, who’s-got-the-VR-headset future better than the Republicans.
“That fallacy was fueled, in part, by the use of digital tools by Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008 and the image of him as tech-forward, a guy who hung out with Silicon Valley leaders like the former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.”
But Obama was “only sort of techie”, Swisher argued, and his administration did not challenge the industry in any significant way.
“In fact, from the start of the internet age in the 1990s, the right has been more clever than its rivals in exploiting ever-morphing tech to influence vast numbers of people with targeted messages.”
Obama’s victory in the Iowa caucuses in 2008 launched him towards the presidency and his victory speech that night inspired many to support him. Michael Slaby, the Obama campaign’s chief technology officer in 2008, was dismayed by the chaos in 2020 on a night that was supposed to provide the party with clarity.
“At the end of the day, I bet there’s plenty of blame for everybody,” he said. “This speaks to an ineffective approach to innovation and technology at the national level.
“It speaks to an unpreparedness at the state level. It speaks to probably some naivety at the technical level. You’re really only talking about 5,000 numbers – three numbers from 1,700 places. Why not use a Google spreadsheet? I’m not saying that’s the right answer, but I just think it reflects failures at multiple levels.”
If you’re not actively investing in getting better at technology, then you’re getting worse Michael Slaby
Slaby, now chief strategist of the not-for-profit Harmony Labs, added: “I do think that the party as a whole was this place where we were, especially pre-2016, sort of taking technology and our strengths in digital for granted. We have moved beyond that in some ways. There’s new investment in new projects.
“Technology’s not in a bubble and it’s not easy to do well. I don’t think either party has a corner on tech. It’s something that is always moving and therefore must always be invested in and if you’re not actively investing in getting better at technology, then you’re getting worse.
“And if you look at the national level, I think we have under-invested in technological and digital infrastructure, especially when it comes to digital media, as a party.”
Others hope Iowa will be a wake-up call to threats both domestic and external. Moe Vela, a former senior adviser to vice-president Joe Biden and now board director of TransparentBusiness, was in Iowa on caucus night.
“I came back in a state of shock,” he said. “I can’t imagine after the Russians hacked our election, and the issues with cybersecurity being at the front of everyone’s minds, that the Iowa Democratic party wouldn’t take every possible precaution to this debacle happening.
“It’s a sad day for the Democratic party from a technology perspective and it’s disappointing to me, as an entrepreneur who deals with a lot of tech companies, that we couldn’t find one to build an app that worked properly.”
But Vela, an LGBTQ and Latino activist, was reluctant to make sweeping comparisons.
“Donald Trump and Brad Parscale’s advantage was cheating,” he said. “Ours was merely a glitch. I’ll take a glitch rather than being in bed with the Russian bots.”


theguardian--2020-02-10--Sanders and Buttigieg campaigns request partial recanvass of Iowa caucuses – live

Remember Roger Stone ?
It was only just three months ago that the self-described “ dirty trickster ” and longtime adviser of Donald Trump was found guilty of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election , but after these past few weeks , that all feels years before .
Federal prosecutors haven ’ t forgotten , however – and today they ’ re asking a judge to sentence him to up to nine years in prison .
“ Stone knew the gravity of the House intelligence committee ’ s investigation when he obstructed it by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ witness , ” the sentencing memo reads .
“ Indeed , Stone acknowledged as much in his opening statement before the committee .
Stone chose – consciously , repeatedly and flagrantly – to obstruct and interfere with the search for the truth on an issue of vital importance to all Americans .
This court should impose a sentence that accurately reflects the value the judicial system places on the need to allow witnesses to testify truthfully without threat or interference , and the importance of testifying truthfully under oath.
” Read the whole @ @ @

Vivian Ho in San Francisco (now), Joan E Greve in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Colin Blackstock (earlier)

11 Feb 2020 01.05 GMT Evening summary The rallies still rage in New Hampshire tonight, but that’s it from us. Stay tuned for more news from our stellar politics team, who will have updates. President Trump met with just some families of victims of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland , Florida - and this select group apparently did not include those who are calling for gun control.
met with just some families of victims of the 2018 school shooting in - and this select group apparently did not include those who are calling for gun control. Retired brigadier general Peter Zwack had some choice words for Senator Lindsey Graham and his support of the firing of impeachment witness Alexander Vindman.
had some choice words for and his support of the firing of impeachment witness The South Dakota bill that proposed jail time for doctors who gave puberty-blocking drugs to transgender children died in Senate committee.
bill that proposed jail time for doctors who gave puberty-blocking drugs to children died in Senate committee. Federal prosecutors asked for a judge to sentence longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone to up to nine years in prison.
11 Feb 2020 00.35 GMT At the Trump rally in Manchester, a familiar chant has appeared to have turned on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. New Hampshire crowd chants "Lock her up!" after President Trump alluded to Nancy Pelosi "mumbling terribly behind me" during the State of the Union.
"There was a little anger back there," he said. "We're the ones who should be angry, not them." https://t.co/2OrQPtHreq pic.twitter.com/TkKtm2MxgM — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 11, 2020
11 Feb 2020 00.09 GMT Because it’s New Hampshire primary eve, there are multiple rallies happening simultaneously and it is a lot. Lauren Gambino is in Manchester, where Donald Trump Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle warmed up the crowd for President Trump and the vice-president, Mike Pence. Loudest boos yet at the rally for Elizabeth Warren. Donald Trump Jr is winding up the crowd by saying she got "trolled into taking a DNA test."
"Remember that one?" — Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) February 10, 2020 Donald Trump Jr. says "I sorta want it to be Joe."
"All I want for Christmas is him one-on-one with Donald Trump for six months," he said after doing a fuddy-duddy impression of Biden, quoting his dog-faced pony soldier comment. — Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) February 10, 2020 Elsewhere in Manchester, Joan Greve is at a Joe Biden rally. Sean Hannity is here at the Biden event in Manchester talking to New Hampshire voters. pic.twitter.com/DoXu5116dG — Joan Greve (@joanegreve) February 10, 2020 Former New Hampshire governor John Lynch is speaking at this Biden event in Manchester and introducing the state lawmakers who have endorsed Biden and are present tonight. — Joan Greve (@joanegreve) February 10, 2020
Updated at 01.05 GMT
10 Feb 2020 23.45 GMT Remember Roger Stone? It was only just three months ago that the self-described “dirty trickster” and longtime adviser of Donald Trump was found guilty of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, but after these past few weeks, that all feels years before. Federal prosecutors haven’t forgotten, however – and today they’re asking a judge to sentence him to up to nine years in prison. In a sentencing memo out this evening, federal prosecutors ask Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentence Roger Stone to up to 9 years in prison. https://t.co/yz3y5tUL70 — Dan Friedman (@dfriedman33) February 10, 2020 “Stone knew the gravity of the House intelligence committee’s investigation when he obstructed it by giving false testimony and tampering with a witness,” the sentencing memo reads. “Indeed, Stone acknowledged as much in his opening statement before the committee. Stone chose – consciously, repeatedly and flagrantly – to obstruct and interfere with the search for the truth on an issue of vital importance to all Americans. This court should impose a sentence that accurately reflects the value the judicial system places on the need to allow witnesses to testify truthfully without threat or interference, and the importance of testifying truthfully under oath.” Read the whole document here.
Updated at 00.04 GMT
10 Feb 2020 23.21 GMT The retired brigadier general Peter Zwack, a former supervisor of impeachment witness Alexander Vindman, reacted strongly to Senator Lindsey Graham supporting Vindman’s ousting, exclaiming out right, “This is ridiculous!” “Senator Graham, I always had a lot of respect for you,” Zwack said. “I met you when I was in Afghanistan in 2008 when you arrived with Senator McCain and Joe Lieberman as part of the three amigos. We thought you guys were rock stars. Where are you now, sir?” This interview took my breath away. Thank you General. #vindman #cnn https://t.co/WbhjD4kYD1 — Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) February 10, 2020
Updated at 00.02 GMT
10 Feb 2020 23.00 GMT The South Dakota bill that proposed jailing doctors for giving puberty-blocking drugs to transgender children failed to get enough support in a senate committee on Monday. The Republican-dominated committee voted 5-2 to kill the legislation, according to the Associated Press. BREAKING: The South Dakota bill to criminalize health care for trans youth just effectively died in committee, being moved to the 41st Legislative Day.
This is a huge win for all LGBTQ+ South Dakotans and every person who made their voice heard on this bill. pic.twitter.com/FbDLJX6uxJ — ACLU (@ACLU) February 10, 2020
Updated at 23.13 GMT
10 Feb 2020 22.53 GMT Nadler demands answers on Giuliani The House judiciary chair, Jerry Nadler, sent a letter to William Barr, the attorney general, today, demanding answers after he and Senator Lindsey Graham admitted that “Rudy Giuliani is sending information concerning Ukraine to the Department of Justice through a special intake process.” BREAKING: @HouseJudiciary Chairman Nadler Demands Answers from AG Barr on Giuliani Back Channel to DOJhttps://t.co/37WkipwSTV — House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) February 10, 2020 “As you know the department has formal, established channels by which to receive information and begin investigations,” the letter reads. “This new channel to Mr Giuliani would seem to be a significant departure from those traditional channels.” Read the full letter here.
Updated at 22.58 GMT
10 Feb 2020 22.25 GMT Donald Trump met today with some families of victims of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, to discuss ways to keep schools safe – but it appears he was selective in which families he invited to the Oval Office. For those wondering, White House schedule today says:
3:30PM THE PRESIDENT greets Parkland Families
Oval Office
Closed Press
I guess it is not all of the families as I only learned of this today through a reporter. My family and I were NOT invited. — Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) February 10, 2020 Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was one of 17 killed almost two years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school, was escorted out of the State of the Union last week when Trump defended the US constitution’s second amendment and the right to bear arms – and Guttenberg loudly objected. It appeared that the White House invited just the Stand With Parkland group, which does not include all the families, specifically to discuss how to guard schools against mass shootings by improving building designs and employing best practices – and not talk about gun control, on which other Parkland activists have turned their focus. (1,2) As I read more of the public reports on this, here is what appears to have happened. The group Stand With Parkland was invited as they are working on several initiatives. This group does not include all of the families and my family is not part of this group. https://t.co/rBhgM660ma — Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) February 10, 2020 (2,2) I wish the families well today and I hope that they have a great meeting. My issue with the public schedule remains however as it is not accurate and considering this week is two years since this happened, this should have been handled differently by the White House. — Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) February 10, 2020
Updated at 22.46 GMT
10 Feb 2020 21.51 GMT The Utah senator Mitt Romney was already “formally NOT invited” to this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference after he broke ranks with the Republican party to cast a vote for President Trump’s impeachment. The conference chair, Matt Schlapp, went on Greta Van Susteren’s Full Court Press to explain that he feared for Romney’s physical safety. “This year, I would actually be afraid for his physical safety, people are so mad at him,” he said. He later tempered that sentiment on Twitter: Stuart I take my little girls and my 80 year old mom to @CPAC and we have never had a problem w any of our attendees ever. Listen to the whole interview if you can. I wish Gov Romney no harm I just want him to find a new hobby away from destroying GOP momentum https://t.co/9by17dhLWt — Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) February 10, 2020
Updated at 22.48 GMT
10 Feb 2020 21.36 GMT Hey all, Vivian Ho on the west coast here, taking over for the inimitable Joan Greve. Let’s see where the rest of the day takes us.
10 Feb 2020 21.31 GMT Evening summary That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Vivian Ho, will take over for the next few hours. Here’s where the day stands so far: Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders have both requested partial recanvasses of the Iowa caucus results, after the state’s Democratic party said Buttigieg appeared to edge out Sanders by 0.1% in the state delegate equivalent metric, which is used to determine the winner of the first voting state.
and have both requested partial recanvasses of the Iowa caucus results, after the state’s Democratic party said Buttigieg appeared to edge out Sanders by 0.1% in the state delegate equivalent metric, which is used to determine the winner of the first voting state. Polls show Sanders leading in New Hampshire, which will hold its primary tomorrow, with Buttigieg trailing in second place.
A national poll showed Sanders jumping ahead of Joe Biden after the former vice president’s poor showing in Iowa, as Michael Bloomberg crept into third place.
after the former vice president’s poor showing in Iowa, as crept into third place. The White House officially released its annual budget proposal, which calls for spending cuts to safety-net programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
The number of US troops diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries from last month’s strike on a military base in Iraq has surpassed 100. After the attack, Trump initially claimed no service members had been injured in the strike. Vivian will have much more coming up, so stay tuned.
10 Feb 2020 21.24 GMT Amy Klobuchar appears to be riding a wave of momentum in New Hampshire after her widely praised debate performance on Friday. Her campaign event in Exeter was at capacity and stretched into an overflow room, allowing the Minnesota senator to address more than 500 people, with one day to go until the state’s primary. .@amyklobuchar onstage in Exeter. Fire marshal tells me hall is at capacity (439 people) and overflow room is also at capacity (100 people) pic.twitter.com/usIBwvkoI4 — Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) February 10, 2020 Several polls have shown Klobuchar in the double digits in recent days, but she will need to hit at least 15% to receive any national delegates from New Hampshire.
10 Feb 2020 21.01 GMT Although most New Hampshire voters will head to the polls tomorrow, three small towns with a tradition of midnight voting will cast their ballots later tonight, and the results will be immediately available. 3 tiny towns in NH's North Country -- Dixville Notch, Hart's Location and Millsfield -- will vote at midnight tonight and the results will be released right away. Here's how they've voted in contested Dem races -- the statewide winner for each year is in italics: pic.twitter.com/8EOSnhleQM — Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) February 10, 2020


theguardian--2020-02-10--Amazon wants to question Trump over loss of $10bn 'war cloud' contract

Amazon wants Donald Trump to submit to questioning over the tech company ’ s losing bid for a $ 10bn military contract .
The Pentagon awarded the cloud computing project to Microsoft in October .
Amazon later sued , arguing that Trump ’ s interference and bias against the company harmed Amazon ’ s chances .
Amazon was considered an early frontrunner for a project that Pentagon officials have described as critical to advancing the US military ’ s technological advantage over adversaries .
The project , known as Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure , or Jedi , will store and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowing the US military to improve communications with soldiers on the battlefield and use artificial intelligence to speed up its war planning and fighting capabilities .
The Pentagon was preparing to announce its decision between the finalists , Amazon and Microsoft , when Trump publicly waded into the fray in July .
Trump said then that other companies told him the contract “ wasn ’ t competitively bid ” , and he said the administration would “ take a very long look ” .
Oracle had also protested after it and IBM were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Amazon is looking for more information about what happened before and after Trump ordered the review .
Amazon ’ s court filing cites an alleged comment that surfaced in a recent book that said Trump in 2018 privately told the then defense secretary , Jim Mattis , to “ screw Amazon ” out of the contract .
The George Washington University procurement law expert Steve Schooner said a deposition of Trump would be “ clearly relevant to the primary allegations underlying their lawsuit ” , but that did not mean it would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imagine this president sitting for that deposition , ” Schooner said in an email Monday .
Besides seeking Trump ’ s deposition , Amazon is also asking to depose Mattis , the current defense secretary , Mark Esper , and other government officials .
Amazon said it wanted more information about the “ unusual timing ” of Esper recusing himself from the decision-making process because of his son ’ s work for IBM .
That came in October , long after IBM was no longer in the running for the contract and despite @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard look ” at the bids after Trump ordered the review .
In a filing with the US court of federal claims unsealed Monday , Amazon said Trump had a “ well-documented personal animus towards ” Amazon , its CEO Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post , which Bezos owns .
Amazon said Trump was the only one who could testify about the “ totality of his conversations and the overall message he conveyed ” about the bidding process .
Trump has accused Amazon of not paying its fair share of taxes and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump has also gone after Bezos personally and accused the Post of being Amazon ’ s “ chief lobbyist ” .
The White House and justice department declined comment Monday .
The defense department said it “ strongly opposes ” Amazon ’ s request to depose senior military leaders .
“ The request is unnecessary , burdensome and merely seeks to delay getting this important technology into the hands of our warfighters , ” Lt Col Robert Carver , a Pentagon spokesman , said in an email .
A judge is expected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on whether Microsoft can start working with the Pentagon on the cloud computing project .
Amazon has asked for work to be halted as its lawsuit proceeds .
Amazon said in a statement Monday : “ The question is whether the president of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of the DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends .
”

Amazon wants Donald Trump to submit to questioning over the tech company’s losing bid for a $10bn military contract.
The Pentagon awarded the cloud computing project to Microsoft in October. Amazon later sued, arguing that Trump’s interference and bias against the company harmed Amazon’s chances.
Amazon was considered an early frontrunner for a project that Pentagon officials have described as critical to advancing the US military’s technological advantage over adversaries.
The project, known as Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or Jedi, will store and process vast amounts of classified data, allowing the US military to improve communications with soldiers on the battlefield and use artificial intelligence to speed up its war planning and fighting capabilities.
The Pentagon was preparing to announce its decision between the finalists, Amazon and Microsoft, when Trump publicly waded into the fray in July.
Trump said then that other companies told him the contract “wasn’t competitively bid”, and he said the administration would “take a very long look”.
Oracle had also protested after it and IBM were eliminated from an earlier round of bidding.
Amazon is looking for more information about what happened before and after Trump ordered the review.
Amazon’s court filing cites an alleged comment that surfaced in a recent book that said Trump in 2018 privately told the then defense secretary, Jim Mattis, to “screw Amazon” out of the contract.
The George Washington University procurement law expert Steve Schooner said a deposition of Trump would be “clearly relevant to the primary allegations underlying their lawsuit”, but that did not mean it would happen.
“I can’t imagine this president sitting for that deposition,” Schooner said in an email Monday.
Besides seeking Trump’s deposition, Amazon is also asking to depose Mattis, the current defense secretary, Mark Esper, and other government officials.
Amazon said it wanted more information about the “unusual timing” of Esper recusing himself from the decision-making process because of his son’s work for IBM. That came in October, long after IBM was no longer in the running for the contract and despite Esper earlier pledging to take a “hard look” at the bids after Trump ordered the review.
In a filing with the US court of federal claims unsealed Monday, Amazon said Trump had a “well-documented personal animus towards” Amazon, its CEO Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post, which Bezos owns. Amazon said Trump was the only one who could testify about the “totality of his conversations and the overall message he conveyed” about the bidding process.
Trump has accused Amazon of not paying its fair share of taxes and of putting brick-and-mortar stores out of business. Trump has also gone after Bezos personally and accused the Post of being Amazon’s “chief lobbyist”.
The White House and justice department declined comment Monday. The defense department said it “strongly opposes” Amazon’s request to depose senior military leaders.
“The request is unnecessary, burdensome and merely seeks to delay getting this important technology into the hands of our warfighters,” Lt Col Robert Carver, a Pentagon spokesman, said in an email.
A judge is expected to decide as early as this week on whether Microsoft can start working with the Pentagon on the cloud computing project. Amazon has asked for work to be halted as its lawsuit proceeds.
Amazon said in a statement Monday: “The question is whether the president of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of the DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends.”


theguardian--2020-02-10--Conservative activist says he wishes Romney ‘no harm’ after comments cause alarm

A prominent conservative activist and Trump supporter has insisted he wishes “ no harm ” to Mitt Romney , despite saying the Utah senator would be “ afraid for his physical safety ” if he attended a major conservative conference near Washington later this month .
Last week , Romney cast the sole Republican vote to convict and remove the president during Donald Trump ’ s impeachment trial .
“ I am sure to hear abuse from the president and his supporters , ” the 2012 Republican nominee for president said in his speech on the Senate floor , outlining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his religious faith and sense of duty to the US constitution .
Praised in the media and in liberal circles , Romney was attacked by Trump , vilified by the president ’ s family members and allies and criticized by leaders of his own party , which is run by his niece Ronna McDaniel .
Matt Schlapp is chair of the Conservative Political Action Conference ( CPAC ) and husband of Mercedes Schlapp , a former White House communications aide now working for Trump ’ s re-election campaign .
On Sunday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Court Press he would not “ credential [ Romney ] as a conservative ” at CPAC , which takes place later this month , but “ if he wants to come as a nonconservative and debate an issue with us , maybe in the future we would have him come ” .
He added : “ This year , I would actually be afraid for his physical safety , people are so mad at him.
” That prompted rebuke from media figures and politicians .
On Monday morning , the West Virginia Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I have not met a more honorable person than Mitt Romney … that has the interests of our country … [ at heart ] .
It ’ s hard to believe that he have stooped this low.
” Schlapp sought to play down the prospect of violence , tweeting that he took his “ little girls and my 80-year-old mom to CPAC and we have never had a problem with any of our attendees ever … He wrote : “ I wish … Romney no harm .
I just want him to find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ momentum.
” At the White House , meanwhile , Trump addressed a gathering of state governors .
When Utah ’ s Republican governor , Gary Herbert , asked a question , Trump said : “ How ’ s Mitt Romney ?
You keep him .
We don ’ t want him .
”

A prominent conservative activist and Trump supporter has insisted he wishes “no harm” to Mitt Romney, after saying he feared for the Utah senator’s safety if he attended a major conservative conference near Washington later this month.
Last week, Romney cast the sole Republican vote to convict and remove the president during Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
“I am sure to hear abuse from the president and his supporters,” the 2012 Republican nominee for president said in his speech on the Senate floor, outlining a decision he said was made according to his religious faith and sense of duty to the US constitution.
Praised in the media and in liberal circles, Romney was attacked by Trump, vilified by the president’s family members and allies and criticized by leaders of his own party, which is run by his niece Ronna McDaniel.
Matt Schlapp is chair of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and husband of Mercedes Schlapp, a former White House communications aide now working for Trump’s re-election campaign.
On Sunday, Schlapp told Gray Television’s Full Court Press he would not “credential [Romney] as a conservative” at CPAC, which takes place later this month, but “if he wants to come as a nonconservative and debate an issue with us, maybe in the future we would have him come”.
He added: “This year, I would actually be afraid for his physical safety, people are so mad at him.”
That prompted rebuke from media figures and politicians.
On Monday morning, the West Virginia Democratic senator Joe Manchin told CNN: “I have not met a more honorable person than Mitt Romney … that has the interests of our country … [at heart]. It’s hard to believe that he have stooped this low.”
Schlapp sought to play down the prospect of violence, tweeting that he took his “little girls and my 80-year-old mom to CPAC and we have never had a problem with any of our attendees ever …
He wrote: “I wish … Romney no harm. I just want him to find a new hobby away from destroying GOP momentum.”
At the White House, meanwhile, Trump addressed a gathering of state governors. When Utah’s Republican governor, Gary Herbert, asked a question, Trump said: “How’s Mitt Romney? You keep him. We don’t want him.”
Herbert did not respond.


theguardian--2020-02-10--Burritos, bagels and $16K worth of sushi: how 2020 Democrats are feeding their staff

If the Democratic primaries were a sporting event , they would look something like an ultra-marathon followed by a series of punishing wind sprints .
Campaign staff spend a full year door-knocking , phone-banking and organizing in Iowa and New Hampshire before setting off on a mad dash through the parts of the country where 98 % of Americans actually live .
Staying competitive in this feat of endurance requires fueling your foot soldiers .
So what are the campaigns feeding their staff and what , if anything , does it tell us about them ?
Campaigns are required to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Federal Election Commission ( FEC ) each quarter , showing how much money they raised from donors – and what they spent it on .
We used those filings to analyze the remaining candidates ’ expenditures on all things edible – from Starbucks coffee runs and airplane snacks to and steakhouse dinners and pizza pies .
This analysis covers spending from each campaign ’ s launch through 31 December 2019 .
A caveat : each campaign uses slightly different categorizations in its FEC filings .
We excluded expenditures if they included event @ @ @ @ @ @ @ catering for fundraising events .
This decision primarily affected the analyses for the Amy Klobuchar , Pete Buttigieg , Joe Biden and Andrew Yang campaigns , since Bernie Sanders , Elizabeth Warren , Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg are not holding high-dollar fundraisers .
Overall , we examined $ 1.9m in spending on food and beverages by these eight campaigns .
Here ’ s what we found .
About $ 1m of that spending went to catering companies or restaurants that we characterized as generally American .
Of the other $ 900,000 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic campaigns spent $ 92,120 at Mexican restaurants throughout 2019 , led by the Warren campaign , which accounted for more than a third of that total .
Soul food and barbecue were popular choices in South Carolina , another state with an early primary .
Andrew Yang , whose parents emigrated to the US from Taiwan , spent the most on Chinese food , followed by Tom Steyer , Warren , Biden and Sanders .
Yang ’ s campaign was also the only one to show expenditures from Korean and Creole restaurants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demonstrated notable diversity in their choices .
Sanders staffers shelled out for Thai , Jamaican and Middle Eastern food .
Warren workers dined on Filipino , vegan , Thai and Indian food .
Meanwhile , Bloomberg ’ s campaign dominated the spending on Japanese food , shelling out $ 16,877 at a single sushi restaurant in the six weeks after he launched his run in late November .
That restaurant , Hanabi Japanese Cuisine , is just a few blocks away from the Bloomberg Philanthropies offices , which are housed in a 19th-century @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Manhattan .
( The Bloomberg campaign is paying rent to the Bloomberg Philanthropies building , according to the filings . )
Lest you think the campaign blew all that money in one sitting , Hanabi is no Nobu .
The storefront restaurant offers specialty rolls at prices ranging from just $ 7 to $ 13 .
Bloomberg staffers might have a taste for mid-range sushi , but his campaign is not exactly pinching pennies when it comes to meals .
Despite only having launched in late November , the campaign has already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Most of that went to office catering services , but one notable line item was more than $ 10,000 to Air Culinaire , an in-flight catering service for private jets .
Options for travelers out of New York range from a seared wagyu steak with foie gras , morels and potato hash to sous-vide black chicken thighs with green onion salad , beetroot puree , jasmine tea-infused rice and sesame dressing .
Each menu also features extensive options from Petrossian Caviar , Air Culinaire ’ s “ caviar partner ” .
The other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , spent more than half a million dollars on food and beverages .
Much of that spending went to catering and restaurants , but there were also some notable expenditures : • None $ 31,428 on delivery apps , including $ 20,731 just on the grocery delivery service Instacart For those campaign workers who don ’ t work for billionaires , however , meals of pizza , sandwiches and bar food were much more common .
The Sanders campaign spent the most on pizza – about $ 30,000 – while Domino ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pizzeria .
America ’ s most disappointing sandwich chain , Panera Bread , meanwhile , accounted for $ 50,450 in spending across all the campaigns .
Campaign staff typically work exceptionally long hours , and you can ’ t make it through the day without a strong breakfast .
The most popular breakfast choice was Dunkin ’ Donuts , followed by a number of bagel shops and Starbucks .
The Buttigieg campaign also spent $ 2,160 at a specialty croissant bakery in northern California .
As for afters , two campaigns dominated the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sanders ’ .
The Minnesota senator spent more than $ 10,000 at the Cookie Cart , a Minneapolis not-for-profit bakery that provides job training for teenagers .
Meanwhile , Sanders ’ campaign has spent $ 13,837 on Ben & Jerry ’ s ice cream .
He is from Vermont , after all .