Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Several weeks after launching a presidential exploratory committee, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) formally kicked off her 2020 campaign, calling for “fundamental change,” even if the “cowards and armchair critics” call it “extreme or radical.” Her choice of locations was notable: Warren chose Lawrence, “a distressed mill town about 30 miles outside Boston, with a more obscure, but very telling history: Just over 100 years ago in the factory buildings that served as a backdrop for Warren’s speech, women textile workers defied bosses and bayonets to start a strike, that as Warren said, ‘changed America.’”
* On a related note, Rep. Joseph Kennedy III introduced Warren and endorsed her candidacy.
* Roughly 24 hours later, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who’ll be on the show with Rachel tonight, launched her own presidential campaign at a snowy event in Minnesota. A sense of community “is fracturing across our nation right now, worn down by the petty and vicious nature of our politics,” she argued. “We are all tired of the shutdowns and the putdowns, the gridlock and the grandstanding.”
* As was the case with Warren in Massachusetts, Klobuchar benefited from Minnesota officials showing up in force to lend their support to the senator. Among those on hand for her kickoff were Sen. Tina Smith (D) and Gov. Tim Walz (D).
* A Washington Post-Schar School poll released over the weekend found Virginians deadlocked over whether Gov. Ralph Northam (D) should resign: 47% support his ouster, 47% do not. Those results will probably encourage the governor to dig in further. * Despite his recent failed attempt to derail Nancy Pelosi’s bid to become House Speaker, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) conceded to BuzzFeed yesterday, “I’m thinking about running for president. I’m not definitely running, but I’m going to take a very hard look at it. A very serious look at it. Because I believe it’s time for a new generation of leadership, and we gotta send Donald Trump packing.” * Speaking of a new generation of leadership, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) is scheduled to lead a march through his hometown of El Paso later today, culminating in a “Celebration of El Paso” event. The gathering is scheduled to be held across the street from Donald Trump’s rally in the Texas city this evening. * O’Rourke also wrote a blog post on Friday, fleshing out his perspective on immigration policy.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
