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While the Democrat establishment tends to favor candidates like Joe Biden (D) and Bloomberg, Horwitz said it is “obvious” that the former vice president is “not all there anymore.” “He’s clearly not as sharp. He’s struggling to find his words. He is a man who is mentally deteriorating, and I think that’s a reason Bloomberg has jumped into the race,” he said, describing the billionaire as a “fallback for the establishment in case Biden truly breaks down mentally.” There is no comparison, Horwitz contends, between Sanders’ grassroots support and the establishment backing of Biden and Bloomberg. “If you just look...

“In conversations on the sidelines of a DNC executive committee meeting and in telephone calls and texts in recent days, about a half-dozen members have discussed the possibility of a policy reversal to ensure that so-called superdelegates can vote on the first ballot at the party’s national convention,” Politico reported. “Such a move would increase the influence of DNC members, members of Congress and other top party officials, who now must wait until the second ballot to have their say if the convention is contested.” Politico noted that it’s an uphill battle for those who want the rule change, but...

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren told a crowd of supporters in Iowa that her potential secretary of education would be "someone who's taught in a public school" and that the nominee would also need to be vetted by a "young trans person." "I'm going to have a Secretary of Education that this young trans person interviews on my behalf, and only if this person believes that our Secretary or Secretary of Education nominee is absolutely committed to creating a welcoming environment, a safe environment, and a full educational curriculum for everyone will that person actually be advanced to be Secretary of...

In early December, more than 100 members of Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign staff gathered at the South Bend City Church a mile from headquarters for a mandatory half-day retreat about diversity and inclusion. Less than two months remained before the start of voting, a time when most campaigns are focused full-time on politics. Buttigieg advisers say the retreat was part of an ongoing effort to foster a progressive culture that empowered employees of color. For some of these staff members, however, the workplace itself was a problem, and working for a candidate with so little support from black and Hispanic...

Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) left a mock caucus at Iowa’s Drake University in protest after Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) won and Sanders failed to meet the event’s “viability threshold.” With voting in Iowa’s statewide caucuses just a week away, colleges held simulations of the events across the state Monday night. NBC News campaign embed Ben Pu covered the Drake University mock caucus, and reported that after the first round, only Warren and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg exceeded the 15 percent viability threshold. “!!! Only Buttigieg and Warren are viable. Supporters are...

Some Democratic National Committee (DNC) members and supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are venting frustration at DNC Chairman Tom Perez over his initial appointments to the committees that will oversee the rules and party platform at the nominating convention in Milwaukee later this year. Sanders’s allies are incensed by two names in particular: former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who will co-chair the rules committee, and Hillary Clinton’s former campaign chairman John Podesta, who will have a seat on that committee.

Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders' White House bid and some Democratic National Committee members are frustrated with some initial appointments made by DNC Chairman Tom Perez to the crucial committees that will oversee the rules and party platform at this summer’s presidential nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wis. Their frustration comes after Perez named former Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts – who was a surrogate for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign -- as co-chair of the convention’s Rules Committee. And Perez picked John Podesta – who served as Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager – to have a seat on the committee.

Supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders' White House bid and some Democratic National Committee members are frustrated with some initial appointments made by DNC Chairman Tom Perez to the crucial committees that will oversee the rules and party platform at this summer’s presidential nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wis. Their frustration comes after Perez named former Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts – who was a surrogate for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign -- as co-chair of the convention’s Rules Committee. And Perez picked John Podesta – who served as Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager – to have a seat on the committee. The...

Bernie Sanders is rising quickly in the polls as Iowa and New Hampshire voters prepare to cast their ballots in the 2020 Democratic race for the White House. This is making plenty of Democrats nervous. “Bernie Sanders could be the nominee of our party,” 2020 Dem Pete Buttigieg messaged through his campaign in a recent email. “Bernie’s campaign is out-raising and out-spending us. If this continues, there’s a good chance he wins the Iowa caucuses.” Bernie On the Rise As his poll numbers spike, Sanders is relishing in needling the Democratic establishment. “They’re looking at recent polls in New Hampshire...

DES MOINES — With Sen. Bernie Sanders gaining traction, his rivals for the presidential nomination and other top Democrats have begun aggressive efforts to slow the favorite of the party’s progressive wing, fearing he may become unstoppable and cost Democrats their shot at retaking the White House in November. There are risks, however. The attacks may backfire by galvanizing Sanders’ fervent supporters, who embrace him precisely because he is an anti-establishment figure. The result is that days before voting in the 2020 race kicks off with Monday’s Iowa caucuses, Democrats are turning their fire inward just as President Trump is...

Pete Buttigieg's pitch to Democratic donors in Chicago was overshadowed by protesters. During a fundraiser of more than 300 people at the tony Standard Club on Saturday, Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was interrupted by two demonstrators while he was trying to answer questions . . . “I need you to respect me, and respect my question, and respect the people of South Bend! You’re saying solidarity, you’re saying rules of the road, and you’re not following them yourself. You don’t love me; you won’t let me ask my question," shouted the protester, who also identified as...

Democrats are really gonna do this, huh?I’m imagining Barack Obama looking at these new polling numbers and contemplating his legacy: A wipeout of Democrats in federal and state races by 2016, the election of a Republican president whom O himself allegedly describes as a “fascist,” and the increasing likelihood that his own party will choose an out-and-out socialist as its next nominee. In time, the Obama/Romney contest of 2012 may come to be seen as the last non-“European” election America had for many years. The well-respected NYT/Siena poll finds that everything’s coming up Bernie in Iowa:Elizabeth Warren’s loss is...

Bernie Sanders leads the race for the Democratic nomination in New Hampshire, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire. Overall, 25% of likely Democratic primary voters back the Vermont senator, with former Vice President Joe Biden (16%), former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (15%) and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (12%) battling for second place. Behind these four, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar (6%), Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (5%) and businessman Andrew Yang (5%) make up a third tier of candidates. Sanders' edge in New Hampshire, a state he won by more than 20 points...

[Barf Alert] Pete Buttigieg: Pope Francis Endorsement ‘Most Coveted’ in Primary Race Former Mayor Pete Buttigieg said Thursday that he wanted the endorsement of Pope Francis over all others in the Democrat primary race. Buttigieg commented on political endorsements during a podcast interview with CEO of IMPACT Strategies Angela Rye at Claflin University.“Your most coveted endorsement in the race is who?” Rye asked.Buttigieg paused, but ultimately said, “The Pope, I want the endorsement of the Pope.”

Nancy Pelosi famously proclaimed that Democrats had to pass ObamaCare to find out what was in it. On the other hand, Democrats in California last year passed legislation outlawing many freelance and independent contracting jobs knowing the disruption it would cause—and voters are now discovering the damage. Ride-hailing app Uber this week rolled out changes for drivers and riders in California in an effort to duck the state’s new labor law AB5. That law reclassified a large swath of independent contractors from freelance journalists to Uber drivers as employees who are owed rest breaks, workers compensation, health benefits and paid...

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is considering backing former Vice President Joe Biden in the Democratic presidential primary, The New York Times reported Thursday. Multiple Democratic officials familiar with the California senator’s deliberations told the Times she’s weighing the option of backing her former primary opponent. The officials told the Times the potential endorsement would not be likely until after the Senate impeachment trial that kicked off this week. Harris’s spokesman Chris Harris told the Times the senator “remains focused on the ongoing impeachment trial.” “No decisions have been made about whether she will endorse, which candidate, nor when an endorsement...

Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden freaked out at a reporter Wednesday after a campaign event in Mason City, Iowa, after he was grilled about his ongoing feud with Bernie Sanders.

Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has jumped into fourth place in the Democratic primary contest with 9 percent support among Democrats nationwide, a poll published Wednesday shows. The top contenders remain unchanged, according to the Monmouth University survey: Former Vice President Joe Biden was the choice of 30 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had 23 percent and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in with 14 percent. Bloomberg is trailed by former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg with 6 percent and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar at 5 percent.

Senators on Wednesday night agreed to admit a classified document from an aide to Vice President Pence into the impeachment trial following closed-door deliberations. The one-page document relates to a phone call that took place between Pence and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a week before Zelensky met with President Trump at the United Nations. This latest development is a win for House Democrats who have unsuccessfully pressed the White House to declassify the document, which Pence aide Jennifer Williams submitted to the House in late November to supplement her public testimony earlier that month. House managers who function as prosecutors...

The attendees' acceptance of Trump is all the more surprising given the theme of this year's annual WEF meeting: "Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World." Trump, after all, is a climate-change denier, although he seems to have kept his denial under wraps in his prepared address. He limited his barbs at environmentalists (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-world-economic-forum-davos-switzerland/) to urging a rejection of "the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse," including "an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the '70s and an end of oil in the 1990s." The change of heart toward Trump may have something to...