Year: 2017

Noonan: Trump Is a ‘Drama Queen’

Buck Banks

“The president’s primary problem as a leader is not that he is impetuous, brash or naive. It’s not that he is inexperienced, crude, an outsider. It is that he is weak and sniveling. It is that he undermines himself almost daily by ignoring traditional norms and forms of American masculinity. … He’s not strong and self-controlled, not cool and tough, not low-key and determined; he’s whiny, weepy and self-pitying. He throws himself, sobbing, on the body politic. He’s a drama queen.”

— Peggy Noonan

McCain Has Not Forgotten Trump Slights

Buck Banks

“There is nothing Trump can do any more that will get to McCain. Battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, the maverick was willing to vote ‘no’ on the ‘skinny repeal’ amendment so that other GOP colleagues who were also opposed to the measure could vote ‘yes’ to save face with the conservative base. To this day, Trump has never apologized for saying that the former fighter pilot was not a war hero because he got captured in Vietnam. It gets less attention, but the president also besmirched the Arizona senator’s character by repeatedly accusing him of not taking care of other veterans. McCain has never forgotten.”

— James Hohmann

Gingrich Disses Sacamucci

Buck Banks

“I think that Scaramucci had better be a lot more careful than he has been. He obviously likes the limelight. He obviously likes being in the media. I would say right now that he’s being more pugnacious than effective. I think he ought to slow down a little bit and learn what he’s doing… If he’s gonna be that divisive, I’m not sure he’s gonna be very useful to the President. … I think Scaramucci’s full of himself.”

— Newt Gingrich, harshly criticizing White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci in a radio interview with Laura Ingraham, calling his recent actions “divisive” and “unhelpful.”

Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Trips Cost More than Transgender Troops Medical Care

Buck Banks

0.14%

In announcing his ban on transgender people in the military, President Trump said that taxpayers “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Except that USA Today points out that trans troops don’t really cost that much: “A report for the Pentagon last year found that transition-related care would cost between about $2.4 and $8.4 million per year — less than 0.14% of the military’s medical budget. That’s roughly the cost of four of Trump’s trips to Mar-A-Lago.”

New Voter Registration Numbers Are Out

Buck Banks

The new national registration totals for the United States, in the 32 jurisdictions in which the voter registration form asks the applicant to choose a party, according to Ballot Access News, are:

  • Democratic – 44,706,349 (40.30%)
  • Republican – 32,807,417 (29.57%)
  • Independent – 30,818,334 (27.78%)
  • Libertarian – 511,277 (.46%)
  • Green – 258,683 (.23%)
  • Constitution – 97,893 (.09%)
  • Working Families – 52,748 (.05%)

Democrats Fielding Record Number of House Challengers

Buck Banks

209

Brookings: “As of the end of June, 209 Democratic challengers had registered with the FEC and raised at least $5,000. That more than doubled the previous high mark since 2003. In 2009, the Republicans had 78 challengers with at least $5,000. The early GOP challengers in 2009 foreshadowed the party’s regaining majority control. The question is whether the same will hold true for the Democrats in 2018. … The number of challengers at six months is truly remarkable. And the candidates are not simply bunching up in a few primaries. Yes, there is some doubling up: six Democrats have filed so far against John Faso in New York’s 19th congressional district. But there is also a good spread. So far, 105 different Republican incumbents have Democratic challengers with $5,000.”