May 23, 2019: John Hickenlooper unveiled his gun safety platform. Kirsten Gillibrand released her “Family Bill of Rights” on healthcare and adoption.
Here’s the latest from the campaign trail.
Poll Spotlight
Notable Quote of the Day
“[Barack Obama’s] untitled memoir, which will reportedly begin with his 2004 Democratic National Convention speech and cover his two terms in the White House, won’t be released in 2019, as his publisher, Penguin Random House, had predicted just a few months ago. Dropping the book this year would have helped Obama largely avoid the current political calendar, and a 2020 release threatens to affect the primaries and the party’s campaign against Donald Trump by re-litigating decisions made a decade ago. Another option is to hold it until 2021, when Obama could be either the voice of a party in despair after another defeat, or poised to grab the spotlight from a freshly elected Democratic president.”
– Edward-Isaac Dovere, The Atlantic staff writer
Democrats
- Bill de Blasio will attend a rally of McDonald’s workers in Iowa striking for a $15 minimum wage and to form a union. Julián Castro will also join a McDonald’s rally in North Carolina Thursday.
- Cory Booker said that he would create a White House Office of Reproductive Freedom focused on “coordinating and affirmatively advancing abortion rights and access to reproductive health care” at the federal level.
- Pete Buttigieg discussed the state of the Republican Party and democracy in The New York Times podcast The Argument.
- Kirsten Gillibrand released her “Family Bill of Rights” proposal that would address several medical, educational, and tax policies, including requiring insurance companies to cover fertility treatments like IVF and providing refundable tax credits for adoption. She also said she would establish “Equal Adoption Rights” prohibiting taxpayer-funded adoption services from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion.
- Gillibrand and Bernie Sanders introduced the Inclusive Prosperity Act which would tax the trade of stocks by 0.5 percent, bonds by 0.1 percent, and derivatives by 0.005 percent.
- The Mike Gravel campaign tweeted that Gravel was in the process of writing a book.
- During an interview on Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Kamala Harris discussed investigations into Trump and her equal pay policy proposal.
- John Hickenlooper released his gun safety platform Wednesday, calling for universal background checks, extending waiting periods from three to 10 days, establishing a national gun license, raising the age to own a gun from 18 to 21, and supporting extreme risk protection orders.
- Jay Inslee signed a measure into law in Washington prohibiting local authorities from asking about someone’s immigration status.
- Amy Klobuchar will hold a roundtable with health officials, first responders, and healthcare and treatment professionals on the opioid crisis in Minnesota Thursday.
- Seth Moulton advocated a public option rather than single-payer healthcare during a hearing on various Medicare for All proposals.
- Beto O’Rourke, Andrew Yang, John Delaney, and Eric Swalwell have held the most events in Iowa since January 1 with 30 or more events in the state over the past five months.
- Tim Ryan discussed Chinese tariffs, the economy, Nancy Pelosi, and why he changed his mind on abortion access in an interview on WBUR’s Here & Now.
- Elizabeth Warren released a list of more than 50 legal matters she worked on including asbestos and bankruptcy cases.
- Marianne Williamson made a three-day swing through New Hampshire from Tuesday through Thursday. She also appeared on Fox News, where she criticized the debate qualification criteria set by the Democratic National Committee. Williamson has met the minimum qualification for the debate via fundraising.
Republicans
- Mike Pence attended a kickoff event in North Carolina for the Republican National Convention, which will be held in Charlotte next year.
General Election Updates
- The Nevada State Senate passed a bill supporting the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. If signed by Gov. Steve Sisolak, Nevada would be the 15th state to join the agreement, bringing the total electoral votes covered by the agreement up to 195. The compact will only take effect once 270 electors are pledged.
What We’re Reading
- Politico: Inside the 2020 Democrats’ survival strategies
- Vox: We asked the dads running for president what they do for child care
- The Week: If Justin Amash is going to run for president, he should do it as a Republican
Flashback: May 23, 2015
Ben Carson won the Southern Republican Leadership Conference straw poll with 25 percent of the vote. Scott Walker and Ted Cruz followed with 21 percent and 17 percent, respectively.