Tag: Mike Pence

The ‘blue wave’ is not a tsunami, yet A Democratic win in Tuesday’s special election in Ohio’s traditionally Republican 12th congressional district would have provided yet another ill omen for GOP prospects of holding on to their House majority in the November midterms. Ohio special election: Republican scrapes ahead in tight race that tests Trump's clout Read more Balderson saw visits from both Donald Trump and Mike Pence in the final days of his campaign, and benefited from an investment of over $3m from the Paul Ryan-affiliated Super Pac the Congressional Leadership Fund. However, Republicans hold roughly 70 seats that are more Democratic-leaning and they will not be able to put in the same resources for every race in November. It continues the dramatic collapse in the Republican vote in suburban areas in the Trump era. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, a doctor backed by both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez and benefiting from national media hype, lost by over 20 points to the former state senate leader Gretchen Whitmer. Bush lost by 20 points as well. Female candidates are making history Two more Democratic women earned gubernatorial nominations in Tuesday, with Whitmer winning in Michigan and the state senator Laura Kelly earning her party’s nomination in Kansas. Trump’s endorsement is not always a gift After a spree of endorsements via Twitter in which he instantly changed the trajectory of Republican primaries, Trump did not seem to maintain his Midas touch on Tuesday. Gains for women in US primaries set record, while 'right to work' is defeated Read more Although all of the candidates he endorsed or campaigned for were ahead, his support didn’t have the same impact as it did in other recent races, such as Brian Kemp’s successful bid for the Republican nomination for governor in Georgia, which ended in a landslide victory. While Democrats credited Trump’s campaign appearance for the Republican Rick Saccone in March’s special election in Pennsylvania for keeping the race close and juicing up rural turnout in that district, they had not seen the same impact in initial returns in Ohio, where the result hinged on O’Connor falling just short with prosperous suburban voters.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former legislative leader Gretchen Whitmer won the Democrats' nomination for Michigan governor on Tuesday, leading what could be an all-female Democratic statewide ticket into her fall showdown against Republican state Attorney General Bill Schuette, an ally of President Donald Trump. Whitmer, the first woman to lead a Michigan state Senate caucus, beat former Detroit health director Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and chemical-testing entrepreneur Shri Thanedar, who had tried to outflank her from the left. With Whitmer's victory, Michigan's Democrats are currently set to field an all-female ticket for statewide office, though Whitmer could still choose a male running mate. She called for voters this fall to "reject the politics of division and exclusion, the politics of just taking care of a few at the expense of us all. "We have so many elected officials with no political background. Steve Lauer, 75, a retired business consultant from Traverse City, said he backed Schuette because of his experience and conservative beliefs. Colbeck, a former rocket scientist who hoped to offset lower fundraising with enthusiasm from grassroots volunteers, proposed initiatives such as eliminating the state income tax. Voters in Michigan also decided other primary races. John James won the GOP Senate primary and will try to deny Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow a fourth term in November. His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/David%20Eggert .

While a radio host in the 1990s, Mike Pence wrote two columns about Bill Clinton's admission of an affair, arguing the president should be held to the highest moral standards, according to new reporting. The Morning Joe panel discusses. »…

OPINION — In January 1959, in a Virginia courtroom, Mildred and Richard Loving pled guilty to “cohabiting as man and wife, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth,” and accepted a cruel sentence that spared them jail time but separated them from their families. … The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.” The couple, each of a different race, was forced to leave their Virginia home and not return together for at least 25 years. There can be no doubt. It’s no little matter. It must be confronted intellectually and politically and defeated. This election, this past election, and much that has flowed from it, gives us a rare opportunity to arrest these trends and to confront them.” That may sound righteous to some. But reading that Virginia’s judge’s ruling from not that long ago was a reminder of how religious belief can be sincere yet twisted to serve the prejudices of all-too-human beings. Consider this: While the Supreme Court decided in the Lovings’ favor in 1967, striking down state laws against marriages between people of different races, Sessions’ home state of Alabama, in a symbolic move, took until 2000 to remove the law from its books. You would think those who backed that baker would see the ruling as an example of the system working for them. While Sessions mentioned Department of Justice protections for Muslim, Jewish and Hindu religions under the task force, it is conservative Christian groups that seem to be what the Attorney General had in mind when he said that American culture has become “less hospitable to people of faith.” (How aggressive will the Trump administration be in defending Muslim communities’ mosque-construction plans?)

Howard Kurtz discusses the coverage of the Korean War repatriation ceremony. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC…

The vice president sits down with Pete Hegseth in Hawaii to discuss the return of U.S. remains from the Korean War and President Trump's efforts to get funding for the border wall. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing…

Vice President Mike Pence represents the Trump administration at honorable carry ceremony for presumed remains of U.S. soldiers returned by North Korea. Read more on the ceremony here: https://fxn.ws/2AyGBlk FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated…

President Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the Koch brothers, saying their conservative political network had "become a total joke in real Republican circles" and was "highly overrated” — deepening the divide between the GOP's donor class and its increasingly populist base at a crucial time, three months before the midterm election. Charles Koch, who now runs the family’s political network after the retirement of his brother David, who is ill, was somewhat more restrained, acknowledging that political polarization affected Washington and the country long before Trump entered the fray. "We've had divisiveness long before Trump became president and we'll have it long after he's no longer president," he told reporters Sunday. "I never sought their support because I don't need their money or bad ideas." Trump added that the Kochs "love" some of his policies, including tax cuts and conservative picks for federal courts. Although they have benefited from the administration's tax cuts and deregulation efforts, the Kochs oppose Trump's immigration and trade policies, especially tariffs. “If you’re running the country, you’re not really interested in a couple of billionaires -- whether it’s the Steyers on the left or Kochs on the right -- telling you, ‘We don’t really think you know what you’re doing,’” said the former administration official. “The interesting question is the extent to which the business community is going to start to be more actively opposed to Trump policies and this move by Charles Koch and his network could be a triggering mechanism,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of a left-leaning nonprofit group called Democracy 21, which has focused on Trump’s ethics and the role of big money in politics. Charles Koch and his network have the personal fortunes to push back against Trump, especially on trade and immigration, in a way that Republican lawmakers have so far been unwilling to do, Wertheimer said. While other business interests have pushed back against Trump’s trade policies, they have not done so as aggressively as Koch, he added.

Remains of potentially 55 U.S. soldiers to undergo further identification in Hawaii. Greg Palkot reports. FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one…

And there was a candidate for county commission whose brochure highlighted his ardent support for Mr. Trump in dramatically larger type than his vow to protect Sarasota’s “amazing beaches & parks.” This Trumpian spectacle was an ominous sign for Adam Putnam, whose main appeal in the Republican primary for governor is to support the candidate “who puts Florida first and knows Florida best.” Only last month, Mr. Putnam — the state’s agriculture commissioner and a genial conservative tabbed for political stardom since he won a state house seat at 22 — was ahead of Representative Ron DeSantis in fund-raising, local endorsements and opinion polls. And there may be more to come: Mr. Trump recently said he would campaign “six or seven days a week” this fall for vulnerable Republican candidates — though some of them may not want his help in states or districts where he is unpopular. Beyond Mr. Trump’s kingmaking capacity, the rapidly shifting fortunes in the governor’s race also tell a larger and perhaps more consequential story about the role of Fox News in shaping the president’s views, and thereby today’s Republican politics and about the diminished role of local media, especially in a transient state like Florida, and certainly in a primary. But those cable news appearances may have doomed Mr. Putnam, because it was Fox that begot Mr. DeSantis’s candidacy. Mr. Putnam’s allies — including his former House colleague, Vice President Mike Pence — scrambled to stop the president from formalizing his support. Mr. DeSantis’s campaign has even gone so far as to conduct polls on the Fox News viewing habits of Florida’s Republican electorate. They found that 66 percent of likely primary voters watch the cable network anywhere from every day to a few times a week, according to Mr. DeSantis’s strategists. His frequent appearances on Fox News have also illustrated the limitations of negative advertising in Republican primaries, as Mr. DeSantis has been able to fend off a barrage of attack ads from Mr. Putnam. At the time, credentials like those currently on his resume — a University of Florida degree, and membership in the school’s Blue Key leadership society; service in the state legislature; a stint in the congressional leadership; and two terms as agriculture commissioner — meant something here. In an interview before he plunged into the Sarasota gathering, he noted that Mr. DeSantis’s bid for governor was coming on the heels of an aborted 2016 Senate run, and argued that voters would come to see his rival as “someone who’s more interested in whatever the open higher office is at that moment than in making a difference in that office itself.” That distinction would grow clearer, Mr. Putnam insisted.