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Exclusive: The RNC is treating Kamala Harris like the 2020 Dem frontrunner

Who’s the frontrunner to win the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination? We’ve made some arguments before for Sen. Kamala Harris, focusing on social media buzz and other less-used metrics. But here’s another: A tipster who receives all RNC press releases and “one-on-one” emails tells us that a survey of emails sent between January 1, 2019 and today shows more focus on Harris than on Sen. Bernie Sanders– a typically popular punching-bag for the GOP. A ton of these RNC emails naturally focus on things like bashing the Green New Deal or undercutting former Trump lawyer/”rat” Michael Cohen. The RNC also sends press releases out when its Chairwoman, Ronna Romney McDaniel, appears on TV (party chair TV appearances usually get about 30 viewers, so the committees like to bump up the numbers in any way they can, including with “In Case You Missed It” (ICYMI) emails with YouTube links to appearances). But…

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Has Gavin Newsom lost his progressivism?

Water: With ever more climate change underway, drought in parts of California and years of horror stories regarding toxic water coming out of Flint, Michigan, progressives know water policy is important. In the Golden State, progressives are rightly making water policy a priority. But there’s a problem: Newly-inaugurated Gov. Gavin Newsom seems to be going about it in a way that could turn out to actually be regressive. Newsom could end up hurting the same poor Californians he’s trying to help. Where water is concerned, Newsom’s progressivism seems to have gone missing-in-action. If you haven’t heard about Newsom’s plan, the Sacramento Bee has a summary: Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a tax on drinking water Thursday to help disadvantaged communities clean up contaminated water systems. Newsom’s plan for a “safe and affordable drinking water fund,” included in the new governor’s first budget proposal, attempts to revive an idea that died in the Legislature…

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How “Oakland tough” is Kamala Harris? This much, you gigantic wuss.

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is determined not to let fellow Democratic presidential contender Sen. Elizabeth Warren have the limelight all to herself this week. Warren may have been stumping in Iowa. But Harris is putting out a book. And it’s already got people including CNN’s Maeve Reston, formerly of the LA Times, talking about it. U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris: Ready and willing to beat the shit out of bank executives and anyone else who wants a piece of her. A major focus of the book, apparently, is making sure everyone knows exactly how “Oakland tough” Harris is on a scale of one to ten. A scale on which she wants you to know, she comes in at about a fifteen. “I took off my earrings (the Oakland in me) and picked up the receiver…He yelled… I gave it right back…We were like dogs in a fight.” — Kamala Harris, in…

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2020 Watch: CNN/Des Moines Register: 2x as many Iowa Dems view Sanders unfavorably as Harris

There’s more detail on that CNN/Des Moines Register poll relating to the 2020 Iowa caucus we covered here. While  Sen. Kamala Harris, California’s leading contender for the Democratic nomination in 2020, isn’t faring that well in Iowa, she does have an arguable numbers advantage over Sen. Bernie Sanders– one of the big dogs in the 2020 nomination fight. Check out these numbers, cited by data whiz Josh Jordan: Notice how Harris’ unfavorable number is less than half that of Sanders, while her favorable number is more than half what Bernie’s is? That suggests that while Iowa Democrats don’t know a ton about her, as it stands, based on what they know, she’s faring pretty well compared to an extremely well-known quantity. How will these numbers change as Harris’ profile rises– assuming she does run for President? It’s hard to say, but the probability is that as a second-time candidate, Sanders…

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