"we don't do a very good job of judging electability."

Klobuchar now has the endorsements of both former Republican Iowa legislators who left their party

Diplomat tells investigators he raised alarms in 2015 about Hunter Biden's Ukraine work

Diplomat tells investigators he raised alarms in 2015 about Hunter Biden’s Ukraine work but was rebuffed

A career State Department official overseeing Ukraine policy told congressional investigators this week that he had raised concerns in early 2015 about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s son serving on the board of a Ukrainian energy company but was turned away by a Biden staffer, according to three people familiar with the testimony.

George Kent, a deputy assistant secretary of state, testified Tuesday that he worried that Hunter Biden’s position at the firm Burisma Holdings would complicate efforts by U.S. diplomats to convey to Ukrainian officials the importance of avoiding conflicts of interest, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality rules surrounding the deposition.

Kent said he had concerns that Ukrainian officials would view Hunter Biden as a conduit for currying influence with his father, said the people. But when Kent raised the issue with Biden’s office, he was told the then-vice president didn’t have the “bandwidth” to deal with the issue involving his son as his other son, Beau, was battling cancer, said the people familiar with his testimony.

The testimony by Kent offers a reminder that as Democrats probe President Trump’s alleged actions in pressuring Ukraine to dig up compromising information on Biden, the impeachment inquiry also threatens to keep alive questions about the former vice president’s handling of his son’s foreign work at a precarious moment for his 2020 presidential campaign.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/newspolitics/diplomat-tells-investigators-he-raised-alarms-in-2015-about-hunter-bidens-ukraine-work-but-was-rebuffed/ar-AAIYSLA

Warren says hosting G-7 at Trump resort 'is corruption, plain and simple'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) blasted the White House’s announcement on Thursday that the annual Group of 7 (G-7) economic summit would be held at one of President Trump's golf properties in Florida.

“This is corruption, plain and simple,” Warren, who is running for president, tweeted.

https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1184884102010429441
Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Thursday afternoon said the summit, set for next June, would be held at the Trump National Doral Golf Club near Miami.

"We thought of the 12 places that we looked at ... this was by far and away the best choice," Mulvaney said.


Mulvaney also dismissed the frequent criticism from ethics watchdog groups of Trump’s use of his own properties as president.

“There’s no issue here on him profiting from this in any way, shape or form," Mulvaney said. "If you think it's going to help his brand, that's great, but I would suggest that he doesn't need much help promoting his brand."

Every Woman Noticed That Infuriating Elizabeth Warren/Joe Biden Debate Moment

Remember when we knew and largely loved Joe Biden as “Uncle Joe,” Barack Obama’s trusty vice president and surrogate “brother?” I long for those days. Truly, I wish Biden had let those good feelings, and that fairly fuzzy legacy, stand. But Biden had to go and run for president, dredging up the (perfectly valid) questions of how he mishandled the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings (which he has all but refused to apologize to Hill for), his allegedly inappropriate touching, and an ever-growing number of patronizing interactions with women. The latest, at Tuesday night’s fourth Democratic debate: Biden demanded Elizabeth Warren give him credit for her spearheading the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the federal agency established after the 2008 financial crisis to regulate mortgage lenders, credit card companies, and other financial products.

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1184306722883719168
This interaction contained multitudes, and virtually all of them sparked familiar frustration and infuriation in women watching. Perhaps most maddening of all was the practice of a man attempting to take credit for a woman’s work, and at a very high level no less—in this case, Biden raising his voice and practically shouting at Warren: “I went on the floor and got you votes. I got votes for that bill.” Sure, but that’s secondary to Warren’s conceiving of the CFPB itself, as even former chief Obama adviser David Axelrod noted on Twitter. The Harvard Business Review has found that women tend to get less credit than men for group work: It’s more than troubling that, if Biden had his way, this principle would hold true even when said “group work” takes place in the upper echelons of government.
https://twitter.com/Leahgreenb/status/1184301167104417798
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/every-woman-noticed-infuriating-elizabeth-163828697.html

Warren overtakes Biden in CNN rankings

Joe Biden, Bleeding Cash, Spent Nearly $1 Million on Private Jets

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is bleeding cash. And a big reason why appears to be an antiquated, higher-end approach to electoral politics that the former vice president has adopted.

Biden’s team spent more than $923,000 on private jets during the third quarter of 2019, according to recently filed Federal Election Commission data. The expenses, all made to the company EJCR, LLC Dba Advanced Aviation Team, represented a major chunk of change—accounting for roughly one out of every 16 dollars the campaign raised.

It’s not uncommon for candidates to lean on private jets as they crisscross the country in an effort to keep a schedule packed with speeches, rallies, and debates. But a review of Biden’s expenditures suggest that a good deal of what he’s spending money on currently involve efforts to simply raise more money.

538: Which candidates performed the best? (spoiler: Warren)

Wealth tax splits Sanders and Warren from the rest of the Democrats

The Democratic presidential candidates split Tuesday night over proposals to impose hefty wealth taxes on the richest Americans, exposing an economic policy divide in the party over the need to close the gap between the super-rich and everyone else.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) defended their proposals to heavily tax the assets held by the wealthiest Americans to create a number of new government programs, as their more centrist opponents either dodged the question or pushed back against the idea.

David Axelrod on $$$: @JoeBiden number is shockingly low.