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BIDEN THANKS PELOSI … "Senator Bernie Sanders ‘Would Rather Be In Iowa.’," via NYT: On Thursday, shortly after taking the oath to do "impartial justice" in President Trump’s impeachment trial, [Sanders] confessed there were places he would rather be.
"I would rather be in Iowa today, there’s a caucus there in two-and-a-half weeks," he said, after being asked whether he was concerned the trial would do damage to his presidential campaign. "I’d rather be in New Hampshire and in Nevada and so forth. But I swore a constitutional oath as a United States senator to do my job and I’m here to do my job, and I think the people of the United States understand that."
FLEEING THE SINKING CANOE … "N.H. State Rep Flees Warren for Klobuchar," by WFB’s Graham Piro: State representative Michael Pedersen (D.) credited [Sen. Amy] Klobuchar with a "proven track record of winning in Trump country" and said Warren's electoral victories have only been in the "liberal northeast." …
He also said this week's debate cemented his change of heart. He saw Warren's feud with Sanders as an indication that the two don't "appeal widely across the nation as Sen. Klobuchar."
SHOTS FIRED … "Dem Candidate: Chuck Schumer Doesn't Think a Black Woman Can Win in North Carolina," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: That's what State Sen. Erica Smith (D.), a former Boeing engineer, told a group of North Carolina voters at a recent campaign event while discussing the national Democratic Party's endorsement of her white male primary opponent, Cal Cunningham.
"Sen. Schumer, for whatever reason, did not want an African American running for Senate in North Carolina," said Smith, who has previously attacked the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) for breaking its pledge to remain neutral in the Democratic primary.
SOMETHING’S ROTTEN IN THE STATE OF VERMONT … "Bernie 'Will Play Dirty': Ex-Vermont Governor Slams Sanders," via POLITICO: In an interview with POLITICO, Peter Shumlin—who has endorsed Joe Biden for president in 2020 and served as Vermont’s governor from 2011 to 2017, while Sanders represented the state in the Senate—warned that Sanders, an independent and self-described Democratic socialist, ultimately did not feel loyalty to Democrats.
"What I’ve seen in Bernie’s politics is he and his team feel they’re holier than the rest. In the end, they will play dirty because they think that they pass a purity test that Republicans and most Democrats don’t pass," said Shumlin.
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN WOKE … "As Violent Crime Surged, Buttigieg Admin Lectured Cops on ‘Sizeism’," by WFB’s Yuichiro Kakutani: The slides for one of the [diversity and anti-discrimination training] sessions urged officers to avoid the use of "ableist" terms, such as "hearing-impaired."
"HEARING-IMPAIRED: an inappropriate term commonly used by hearing individuals referring to those who are Deaf," one slide read. "Considered offensive; implying that their hearing is broken, and needs to be fixed."
SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED … "Senate Passes USMCA, New North American Trade Pact," via WSJ: The U.S. Senate easily passed an overhaul of North America’s trade rules on Thursday, sending a major Trump administration priority to the president’s desk.
The Senate voted 89 to 10 in support of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which replaces the 26-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. The pact updates trading rules in the continent to address 21st-century technology, safeguard environmental and labor standards in Mexico and toughen requirements for auto-industry trade among the three countries. Notably, the vote reassures farmers, manufacturers and other businesses that tariff-free trade will continue in North America.
THE TRUTH HURTS … "BEASTMODE: McSally Calls CNN Reporter ‘Liberal Hack’," by WFB Staff: Sen. Martha McSally (R., Ariz.) was not interested in answering impeachment questions from CNN Thursday.
The network's senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju went up to McSally and her staff to ask whether she believed the Senate should consider new evidence as part of the impeachment trial, prompting her to say, "You’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking to you."
DISSENTING VOICE HORRIFIES COLUMNIST … "‘The View’ Has a Meghan McCain Problem," via NYT: For some viewers, Ms. McCain is the privileged product of conservative nepotism, capitalism, and the American military-industrial complex. That coalescence naturally renders her a villain to progressives, who envision her as the cathartic personification of a punching bag on social media …
Post-2016, we are presented with a platform that is devoid of the varnish of genteel, yet is still asking us to take a little time to enjoy the view. The problem is, with Ms. McCain still on the show, there’s not much to enjoy.
NO, YOU DIDN'T …
I've talked to my 5-year-old niece about my work and abortion in an age-appropriate way. She understands that kids are a handful and sometimes people don't want to be pregnant. She gets it because it's quite simple.https://t.co/w4Rq6JrUP3
— Renee Bracey Sherman (@RBraceySherman) January 15, 2020
The Never-Ending Impeachment," by WFB’s Matthew Continetti: The rushed inquiry and polarized vote on two vague and weak articles betrayed the political motivations behind the enterprise. Impeachment shields Pelosi from leftwing recriminations in the event that Trump is reelected and Democrats retain the House …
The test of Republican unity will be a motion to call witnesses. Republican senators will have to ask why they would want to make Schumer's job—winning the Senate for Democrats in 2020—any easier by crossing party lines. Prolonging the trial would legitimize a flawed and politicized investigation. Republicans understand by now that Pelosi and Schumer aren't engaged in an honest fact-finding mission. They are the leaders of an impeachment that will never end.
DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,132. Come back, Joe!
"You know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden." —Former President Barack Obama
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