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Top Stories
Trump Spells Out How He Would Make Mexico Pay For The Border Wall
The Gist: In a memo to the Washington Post published early Tuesday morning, Donald Trump laid out several strategies he could use to force Mexico to pay for a wall along the southern border of the United States.
Did SCOTUS Protect ‘One Person, One Vote’ From Future Conservative Attack?
The Gist: With its unanimous decision in Evenwel v. Abbott, the Supreme Court sent a strong message that it was not interested in upending a decades-old interpretation of the foundational principle: one person, one vote. The question is, will the conservative forces who pushed the case listen?
Emerson Poll: Sanders Surges Past Clinton In Wisconsin
The Gist: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) leads former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by eight percentage points in Wisconsin, reversing the six-point advantage that Clinton enjoyed in the state only two weeks ago, according to an Emerson College Polling Society survey released Monday.
From The Reporter’s Notebook
In a Saturday internal memo leaked to the Washington Post, Trump adviser Barry Bennett lambasted the “pathetic display” from members of the media who criticized Donald Trump last week, TPM’s Caitlin MacNeal wrote. Just as Trump himself uses polls to tout his success in the race, Bennett used a tracking poll to assure the campaign that the Trump campaign is still winning.
Agree or Disagree?
“Trump’s view of ‘deals’ comes from the often predatory world of the Manhattan real estate market, where the sharks often do ‘win’ in absolute terms, sticking other parties with ‘deals’ where they win and the other guy loses. This has all come into sharper relief as Trump has started talking about a withdrawal from various US foreign alliances in Europe and Asia. If you look closely, he’s not really talking about pulling out, he’s talking about demanding what amounts to protection money payments from these countries for US security security protections, payments he seems to think end up helping pay off the national debt. So Japan, you want a great power protector from a rising China? What’s it worth to you? You and Germany are going to need to pay up maybe $100 billion a year for protection and also to cover whatever trade deficits you’re running with us. This is to put it mildly a way of thinking about national economic policy and foreign policy that is fundamentally geared to rent-seeking, poorly functioning markets, ones geared to force and non-mutually beneficial trade.”
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “With the probability of Hillary Clinton being the next president as high as it is, my feeling is that it’s time to focus on the Senate. Here is the situation: Democrats (and “independent” allies) hold 46 seats, of which 10 are up for re-election this year; Republicans hold 54 seats, of which 24 are up for re-election. So how many of each are really in play, and by how much? On the Blue side, only two seats are at all plausible turnovers: Colorado and Nevada. In Colorado, incumbent Michael Bennett has always had a “leans blue” edge. One big plus for him is that the Republicans have so far been unable to find a candidate on whom to focus (the Republican primary is June 28th), though there are so far 15 declared candidates plus almost a dozen more considered “potential”–none of whom were on the GOP’s original shortlist. Also, Bennett is in a strong financial position ($5.4 million in cash, plus he was till recently chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which means he has taps available). To me, this one looks safe. Nevada, with Harry Reid’s seat now coming open, had long been classed a tossup. The two encouraging notes are one, that Tea Party fave Sharron Angle has now jumped into the Republican field, which will force party preference Joe Heck to expend some time and money, and possibly force him farther right than he’d like to be prior to a general election. And two, Nevada has a lot of Hispanics and the Democratic candidate is Latina Catherine Cortez Masto (who has name recognition after 8 years as state attorney general). Heck is a strong GOP candidate, but if this state was “tossup” before, the entry of Angle makes it, to me, now a “leans blue” state. And if the general is the “blue wave” that a Trump candidacy would produce, it gets even better.”
Related: A Nevada Democrat said Harry Reid told him to quit his campaign for a U.S. Congressional seat, saying a Muslim could not win.
Have something to add? Become a Prime member and join the discussion here.
What We’re Reading
How a 17-year old girl is trying to regain her life after escaping ISIS. (Buzzfeed)
The history of the gay subtext of Batman and Robin. (Slate)
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