Voters in Battleground States Back Probe, Not Removal

52% to 44%

By 52% to 44%, voters across six battleground states oppose impeaching and removing President Trump from office according to a new New York Times Upshot/Siena College poll of registered voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. But, by 52% to 44%, voters across the six states support the impeachment inquiry being conducted by the House of Representatives.

Schumer Worries Trump Make Shut Down Government Over Impeachment

“I’m increasingly worried that President Trump may want to shut down the government again because of impeachment, an impeachment inquiry. He always likes to create diversions.”

— Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he was growing more worried that President Trump could force a government shutdown as soon as next month over the impeachment fight, The Hill reports.

Trump’s Trouble in the Suburbs

51%

A new Selzer & Company poll find just 32% of all suburban voters now say they would definitely vote to re-elect President Trump, while another 14% said they would consider someone else, and 51% said they would definitely vote for a candidate other than Trump. Suburban women especially appear motivated to make their disapproval felt: 88% of suburban women said they would definitely vote in the 2020 presidential election, ten points higher than voters overall.

GOP’s Potential ‘Perfect Storm’ Scenario

“A growing number of Republicans are privately warning of increasing fears of a total wipeout in 2020: House, Senate, and White House,” Axios reports.

  • House Republicans in swing districts are retiring at a very fast pace, especially in the suburbs of Texas and elsewhere.
  • The Republican Senate majority, once considered relatively safe, suddenly looks in serious jeopardy. Democrats are raising more money, and polling better, than Republican incumbents in battleground after battleground.
  • President Trump trails every major Democratic candidate nationally and in swing states — and his favorable ratings remain well under 50%.

“All of this is unfolding while the economy still looks strong, and before public impeachment proceedings have officially begun.”

Florida GOP Has No Appetite for Dinner

Florida GOP Chairman Joe Gruter — AP
“The Republican Party of Florida on Tuesday postponed its biggest annual fundraiser, a move that some officials blamed on lackluster interest from donors,” Politico reports.

“Planners were having difficulty selling table sponsorships to the Statesman’s Dinner, and money that Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged to raise for the event has yet to arrive. Event planners also couldn’t land a keynote speaker for the dinner, which was scheduled for Nov. 9 in Orlando.”

Trump Sees Syrian Oil as Spoils of War

“We’re keeping the oil. I’ve always said that — keep the oil. We want to keep the oil, $45 million a month. Keep the oil. We’ve secured the oil.”

— President Trump has a long history of calling for the United States to “take the oil” in the Middle East, in Iraq and Syria in particular, ABC News reports. “But any oil in both countries belongs to their governments, and according to U.S. law and treaties it has ratified, seizing it would be pillaging, a technical term for theft during wartime that is illegal under U.S. and international law.”

Political Committees Have Spent Over $20 Million at Trump Properties

+$20 million

Federal political committees have spent more than $20 million at businesses owned by President Trump since the 2008 cycle, according to OpenSecrets. “Roughly 99% of that money has come since the start of the 2016 cycle, when Trump announced his bid for president and began spending campaign money at his own properties.”

Man Who Snubbed McConnell at Cummings’ Funeral Explains

“I could not put my hands in the man’s hand who refused to help somebody who served his country… I couldn’t do it, because I was thinking about my brother.”

— Bobby Rankin, the man seen in a viral video refusing to shake Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) hand at the late Rep. Elijah Cummings’s (D-MD) funeral told the Washington Post the snub wasn’t based on his loyalty to Cummings.