Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) nascent presidential campaign said it raised $1 million in just three-and-a-half hours today. That’s an extremely impressive haul, consistent with a candidate who enjoys an enthusiastic base of supporters.
* The North Carolina State Board of Elections held a hearing yesterday on the 9th district’s congressional race, and as Rachel noted on last night’s show, board members heard from a Republican witness who admitted that she engaged in fraudulent and illegal activity.
* Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is scheduled to an unveil an ambitious plan for universal child care today.
* Adopting an unusual stance, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) reportedly offered a tacit defense of WikiLeaks during a campaign stop in New Hampshire over the weekend. “Obviously, the information that has been put out has exposed a lot of things that have been happening that the American people were not aware of and have spurred some necessary change there,” the congresswoman was quoted saying.
* The progressive Demand Justice Initiative is launching a new television ad campaign in Maine, targeting Sen. Susan Collins (R) for having supported Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. It’s part of a five-figure ad buy. * Though I didn’t realize this was even a possibility, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made clear that he will not run for the U.S. Senate in his home state of Kansas next year. “I’ve said repeatedly that I’m going to be the FCC chairman for the next two years,” he said following the FCC’s latest monthly meeting, “and I have no plans to do anything else during that time.” * And in case anyone was concerned about Donald Trump having to come up with childish nicknames on the fly in advance of his re-election bid, the Associated Press reports that the president has been “workshopping other attempts to imprint his new adversaries with lasting labels, according to two people on whom the president has tested out the nicknames.” It’s almost as if he has a bit too much free time on his hands.
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
