| | | | | We're back! Hope you had a great holiday and happy New Year! 🎉 | | My 2018 political resolutions | | I'm a big fan of New Year's resolutions. Sure, it's sort of an arbitrary time to make changes or reassert first principles but, for me, it's a useful exercise to do just that -- no matter when it happens during the year.
To that end, I have come up with a handful of 2018 political resolutions that I am committing to follow for the next 363 days.
1. Don't normalize Trump's behavior: Because President Trump does so many things that are antithetical to the idea of being "presidential," there's a natural tendency to grow accustomed to them.
But whether you like Trump or you hate him, the defining characteristic of his presidency is and will be his flouting of political conventions. He is not the normal president. Not even close. And my job as a journalist is to document the ways in which Trump is diverging from the path trod by former presidents and let people make up their minds about whether that is a good or bad thing. I tried to do that today with a piece on Trump's undermining of his own Justice Department.
2. (Keep) covering the tweets: There's an argument in political journalism circles that goes like this: By covering Trump's tweets, we are doing his bidding. That he tweets as a way to distract and deflect from less favorable stories for him. Or to simply flex his ability to dictate news cycles.
That argument has merit. And yet, Trump is the president of the United States. And Twitter is his preferred method of communication. Covering his tweets brings the user/reader/viewer as close as we can get to what Trump is thinking about or watching at any given moment. It's a remarkable window into a president's mind. And it's one we shouldn't shut -- even a little bit of the way.
3. Trump changed the rules: With every day that passes since November 8, 2016, I find myself reverting back to the old ways of thinking about and assessing politics and campaigns. Who does the establishment want to run for a seat? Who can raise the most $$$$? Who has the best consultants?
Trump's win in 2016 ran directly counter to that way of thinking. He didn't have ANY of those things and he still won. Now, a single victory at the presidential level doesn't mean all the old conventional wisdom about how to win campaigns must be ignored. Those principles might still be true. But I need to remember the "might" in that last sentence.
4. Anecdotes are meaningless: My belief that Virginia Gov.-elect Ralph Northam wasn't a very good candidate was largely built on isolated stories -- passed along by Democratic sources -- that painted him as stumbling and awkward on the campaign trail. Turns out the low-key and steady Northam wound up running the best race of 2017 -- easily winning the governorship of one of the country's swing states.
Anecdotal evidence is just that: Anecdotal. Simply because I talk to one voter or one consultant who has a particularly strong view of a politician or an issue, that doesn't mean a hill of beans. Elections are decided by -- in most cases -- hundreds of thousands of voters, rendering the view of any one of them (or any 100 of them) statistically insignificant.
5. Handle legitimate criticism of my work better: The Internet, generally speaking, is a bit of a cesspool when it comes to politics. It's easy for someone to dash off a tweet or even an email that impugns a reporter's motives or blindly recites a talking point being peddled by those on the extreme right or left. But in the past I have been too quick to lump all criticism of my work into that troll category. That's not fair. Legitimate criticism of how (or why) I wrote something needs to be addressed -- as best I can -- in a calm, non-defensive way. In that vein, here's my personal email address if and when you have critiques/criticisms/questions about my work: chris.cillizza@cnn.com.
-- Chris | | | Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch announced he will retire at the end of the year, clearing the way for former Utah governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to possibly run. "After much prayer and discussion with family and friends I've decided to retire at the end of this term," Hatch, who is the longest-serving Senate Republican, said in a video message. Read more on the Hatch news here. Also on Tuesday: Rep. Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, announced he will not seek re-election in November. The Washington Examiner first reported the news, and Shuster confirmed in a follow-up statement from his office.
"Rather than focusing on a re-election campaign, I thought it wiser to spend my last year as chairman focusing 100% on working with President Trump and my Republican and Democratic colleagues in both chambers to pass a much needed infrastructure bill to rebuild America," he said in a statement. "So it is with a happy heart and a sense of accomplishment that I say this will be my final year in the US Congress."
In case you need a refresher, CNN keeps a running list of who's announced their plans to resign, retire or run for another office. | | SPEAKING OF OPEN SEATS... | | Former Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minnesota, is considering running for Al Franken's Senate seat.
"I've had people contact me and urge me to run for that Senate seat, and the only reason I would run is for the ability to take these principles into the United States Senate," Bachmann told "The Jim Bakker Show". "The question is, should it be me? Should it be now?"
Franken's temporary replacement in the Senate is Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota. She is expected to run in November's special election. | | CNN's Maegan Vazquez reported that Tuesday marked the Minnesota Democratic's final day in the US Senate after he announced he would step down in the wake of groping allegations.
Multiple women have accused Franken of touching them inappropriately. He apologized for some of the accusations but in his resignation speech said his response to those women's accounts "gave some people the false impression that I was admitting to doing things that in fact I haven't done."
Franken submitted his letter of resignation, effective at 1 p.m. ET, to Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton. Franken wrote that serving in the Senate "has been a privilege and an honor."
"I am grateful to Minnesotans for giving me a chance to serve our state and our nation, and I am proud to have worked on their behalf," the letter states.
Read more in Maegan's full story here. | | "Democrats are doing nothing for DACA - just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start 'falling in love' with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS," President Trump tweeted Tuesday, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program the President and his administration decided to end.
Following the tweet, CNN's Tal Kopan wrote a handy explainer on what DACA is. She reports: "Trump's tweet ignored several facts about the debate, including that the urgency felt in Congress to save DACA was created by his administration's decision to end the program. DACA was an executive action taken by President Barack Obama that allowed undocumented immigrants who came to the United States under the age of 16 to apply for protection from deportation. After a background check, those individuals were able to get renewable two-year permits to work and study in the United States, as well. Since it went into effect in 2012, roughly 800,000 people were protected by the program, and roughly 700,000 had active DACA protections in September, when the Trump administration announced its end. Conservatives have long disliked DACA, with Trump pledging repeatedly during the campaign to immediately rescind it. Upon ending the program, Trump urged Congress to find a legislative solution and praised recipients as 'good, educated and accomplished young people.' DHS set a date of March 5 for permits to begin expiring."
Read more in Tal's full explainer here. | | Per a report in The Daily Beast, former short-term White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci Is telling people President Donald Trump wants him back in the White House. Here's Chris' take:
"If you think about what we know of President Donald Trump's psyche -- as demonstrated by his past actions -- there is a totally credible case to make that Trump might, eventually, want Mooch back. Remember that Trump is, at heart, a reality star/reality TV producer. He knows what gets people watching and what keeps them watching. And he judges himself, almost exclusively, by ratings of some sort or another. Given that, Trump likes drama. He encourages it. He marinates in it. And he is drawn to the people in his orbit who cause it."
Read more in Chris' full take here.
BTW, Daily Beast reporter Asawin Suebsaeng tweeted Tuesday morning: "the Mooch texted me again claiming we printed 'flat-out lies' adding that 'btw I talked to POTUS last night & wished him a happy new year.'" | | NBC made the right -- and easy! -- decision on Tuesday morning when it announced that Hoda Kotb would be Savannah Guthrie's full-time co-host on the "Today" show.
The idea that it is groundbreaking to have two women hosting a morning show on broadcast TV speaks to how far we still have to go in terms of equality in newsrooms. That it took a sexual harassment scandal involving longtime "Today" anchor Matt Lauer to make this all happen is yet more evidence that we aren't where we need to be just yet.
But! The Hoda move is both good news for TV watchers and a total no-brainer. She is, among other things: a) smart b) funny c) empathetic d) normal.
Kudos to NBC. And HUGE congrats to Hoda.
-- Chris | | | Happy 2018! Thanks for reading. Tell all your friends to subscribe to The Point this year. | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Our authors for The Point are Chris Cillizza and Saba Hamedy. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris or Saba. Follow on Twitter: Chris and Saba. | | | | | | |
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