| | | | | Welcome to The Point with Chris Cillizza – a brand new nightly politics newsletter! This new addition to your evenings will cut through the day's news and get right to The Point with analysis from Chris Cillizza and co-author Saba Hamedy. See something you like -- or don't? Or something that we can do better? Let us know. Send your thoughts to cillizza@cnn.com. Enjoy! | | | Beach-gate is why people hate politics | | It's easy to dismiss Chris Christie's decision to sun himself at a beach he ordered closed as a funny but ultimately forgettable moment over this long July 4 weekend.
And, don't get me wrong: The photo of Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, looking up at what seems to be the plane from which The Star-Ledger was taking photos of them alone on the beach IS funny. Very funny.
So is Christie spox Brian Murray's defense of the gov to CNN's Brianna Keilar on Monday: "He had 45 minutes on the beach and then he got back to work." I mean...
But, there's a broader (and more important) point here, too: The visuals of Christie and his family all alone on a vast swath of pristine beach is exactly what people a) believe and b) hate about politicians.
If you haven't see the photo I'm talking about, here it is:
Special treatment. Entitlement. Different rules. Hypocrisy. It's all in that one photo.
And, Christie's defense of his beach adventure is a destructive doubling-down on all of it. "That's because the governor has a residence at Island Beach. Others don't," Christie told reporters when asked about the seeming double standard of hanging out at a beach house situated on a beach he closed. "It's just the way it goes. Run for governor and then you can have the residence."
"Run for governor and then you can have the residence." Oomph.
It's the opposite of what the public -- already deeply distrustful of and angry at politicians -- needs to hear.
So, no, Christie isn't going to be a player in national politics anytime soon. But, his action -- and reaction to it -- is having a major negative impact on how people feel about their pols. | | "He did not get any sun," Murray, Christie's spokesman, initially said of the photos. "He had a baseball hat on."
Murray's quote is a peak PR response -- but it's certainly not the first time a spokesperson has danced around the reality of a situation. We compiled a list of a few other times spokespeople have tried to avoid answering the question. - "The President and a small group of people know exactly what he meant."
-- White House press secretary Sean Spicer when asked about Trump infamously using the term "covfefe" in a tweet, May 31, 2017. - "You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons."-- Spicer (again), when asked about the Trump administration's policy toward Bashar-al Assad in the wake of a chemical attack against Syrian civilians, April 11, 2017.
- "You're saying it's a falsehood. And Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts."-- Kellyanne Conway on Spicer's claim that Trump had the largest crowd size ever at his inauguration. NBC's "Meet the Press," January 23, 2017.
- ''The governor is hiking the Appalachian Trail.''-- A spokesman for then-Gov. Mark Sanford when asked about the South Carolina Republican's disappearance (he was visiting his mistress in Argentina), June 23, 2009.
| | LIGHTS! CAMERA! CHRISTIE! (CONTINUED) | | Thanks @darth and Brian Heitman for these internet gems.
For more Christie takes, check out Chris' Q&A with NJ.com political reporter Matt Arco and this piece by CNN's Greg Krieg: "A tale of two beaches."
| | HEALTH CARE STILL ON HOLD | | Moving on from the Christie beach saga ... So, health care. Though it's the holiday weekend, negotiations are continuing as planned for a new health care proposal that repeals and replaces Obamacare simultaneously, CNN's Phil Mattingly reports.
Even when senators return after the Fourth, the health care negotiations will likely be a "a multiweek process," according to Phil.
Reminder: There are 52 Republican senators, and the bill needs 50 "yes" votes to move through Senate | | 
Everyone -- and I mean EVERYBODY -- thought Rep. Ann Wagner (R) was going to run against Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) in 2018.
Which is what makes Wagner's decision not to run, which she announced Monday, all the more intriguing.
"Those who know me well know I put my family and my community first," she told the Washington Examiner. "While I am grateful for the incredible support and encouragement I have received from across Missouri to run for United States Senate, I am announcing today my intention to run for re-election to the United States House of Representatives in 2018."
Which is odd. Because, again, everyone expected Wagner to run. And Wagner certainly looked like a Senate candidate; she raised more than $800K in the first three months of 2017 and had $2.8 million in the bank.
So, what could have made her reconsider a race against McCaskill, who is widely regarded as one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents on the ballot next year?
Here's an idea: Donald John Trump.
McCaskill had already made clear that she would spend the next 16 months making Wagner answer for every tweet and public statement by the President. Maybe that prospect made Wagner think twice?
If so, it's an ill omen for Republican recruiters who looked at the 2018 map -- 25 Democratic seats up as compared to just nine GOP ones -- as a treasure trove of opportunities. If top-tier candidates keep saying "no" because of the potential Trump cloud, an opportunity-laden playing field for Republicans could start shrinking very quickly. | | | Relax with this oldie but goodie: "The Trapeze Swinger," by Iron & Wine. | | 41 of 50 STATES AREN'T COOL WITH KRIS KOBACH | | At least 41 states have publicly expressed reservations over turning over private voter information, according to CNN's Liz Stark and Grace Hauck.
Liz and Grace reached out to all 50 states to get their responses to Kris Kobach's election commission request for their voter data. The states were particularly worried about legal repercussions and turning over Social Security numbers and birth dates.
Criticism of the election commission's request has ranged from mild (Connecticut: "Given Secretary Kobach's history we find it very difficult to have confidence in the work of this Commission.") to scathing (Virginia: "At best this commission was set up as a pretext to validate Donald Trump's alternative election facts, and at worst is a tool to commit large-scale voter suppression") to this glorious response from Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican: "They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from."
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster also weighed in on social media. In a series of three tweets, he wrote: "By law, the SC Election Commission maintains the list of registered voters for all 46 counties. They are required to make the list available to the public upon request and Social Security numbers are never disclosed. Constitution ensures voters ballot choices will always be secret. Americans have died protecting this freedom."
Three states – Florida, Idaho, and Nebraska – are still reviewing the request. And while six states have not yet received an official letter from the election commission, three of them – New Mexico, Michigan, and West Virginia – have already pledged not to provide voters' private information.
As of publication time, three states -- Hawaii, New Jersey, and Wyoming -- had not commented yet. Check back for more coverage later on CNNPolitics.com. | | MEANWHILE IN CALIFORNIA... | | Unsurprisingly: A lot of Californians still don't love Donald Trump. After his victory in November, interest in "CalExit," a movement for California to secede from the union, grew.
On Sunday, several thousand showed up in downtown Los Angeles for an impeachment march. Some Trump supporters also went to counterprotest. (Read more from Los Angeles Times reporter Laura Nelson here).
Also in L.A. this weekend: Mayor Eric Garcetti -- a rumored Democratic #2020 presidential candidate and a potential 2018 gubernatorial candidate -- was sworn in for his second and final term. | | | The New York Times' Jack Healy, Jess Bidgood and Alan Blinder asked how patriotic Americans were feeling this Fourth of July. They spoke to about three dozen people in Colorado, Georgia and New Hampshire. Check out the full article here: "A Patriotic Fourth: What Does That Mean Now?" | | Getting your grill on this Fourth? Here's a fun look at "How Americans Order Their Steak" from FiveThirtyEight's Walt Hickey and Rachael Dottle.
The data was provided to them by Longhorn Steakhouse, which compiled a year's worth of steak orders from its 491 US locations.
The verdict? "Americans claim to like their steak a lot rarer than they actually do." The statistics suggest 2.5% of Americans order their steak rare and 22.5% order their steaks medium-rare. A whopping 37% prefer medium, 25% order medium-well and 11.7% order well done.
Related: This New York Times analysis of the best store-bought hot dogs. (Wellshire Farms for the win!) | | | Have a great Fourth of July! We're celebrating by not working tomorrow! We'll be back with more on Wednesday. In the meantime, tell everyone you know to subscribe. And make sure to check out the audio version of The Point on Amazon Echo, Google Home and iTunes. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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