Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The latest national Quinnipiac poll found former Vice President Joe Biden (D) with a sizable advantage atop the Democratic presidential field with 38%, followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) with 12%, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) with 11%, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) with 10%. The only other candidates with support at 5% or higher were Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas).
* Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) unveiled a creative new proposal this morning for what she’s labeled “Democracy Dollars.” The plan is basically to give every American voter up to $600, which he or she can then contribute to candidates of their choice.
* Speaking of Democratic presidential hopefuls with new proposals, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has introduced legislation to curtail the Trump administration’s immigration detention policies.
* Pete Buttigieg yesterday became the latest 2020 candidate to release a decade’s worth of tax returns, and in the process, his campaign took a jab at Donald Trump for refusing to do the same.
* In North Carolina’s 3rd congressional district, where the late Rep. Walter Jones (R) recently passed away, there was a 17-candidate Republican special-election primary yesterday, and state Rep. Greg Murphy and pediatrician Joan Perry advanced to a runoff. (The Club for Growth’s preferred candidate finished in 9th place.) * In Wisconsin yesterday, assistant district attorney Thaddeus “Tip” McGuire (D) won a state House special election. He’ll succeed a Democrat, which means the results will not affect the balance of power in Madison. * And as a guy who minored in philosophy in college, I’m delighted to hear Biden talk about Immanuel Kant so frequently. If each of the presidential candidates want to share their thoughts on the Categorical Imperative, I’m all ears.
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
