Trump campaign optimistic on ’20
Kushner: ‘We’re on offense everywhere’
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign on Thursday shrugged off the president’s expected impeachment less than a year before Election
Day, talking up the campaign’s data collection efforts and declaring that no one in the Democratic field can compete with the incumbent.
With a House impeachment vote expected next week, the campaign stressed that polls indicate impeachment is unpopular with independents, particularly in battleground states.
Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, was one of several senior campaign officials who briefed reporters Thursday on the state of the campaign. He said that when the re-election team looks at the Democratic field, “We don’t see anyone who can put together the Obama coalition. We’re on offense everywhere, and we’re very excited about that.”
Kushner, who was a Democrat before helping steer his father-in-law’s surprise victory three years ago, added: “I was not a Republican. Now I’m a Republican. I think the Republican Party is growing now that people like me feel comfortable being part of it.”
The strategy being laid out is multi-pronged, including a focus on turning out supporters of the president who stayed home during the 2018 midterms; a robust data operation fueled by collecting information at the president’s raucous rallies; a volunteer-heavy and technology-driven organization far more professional than the 2016 version; and a commitment to expanding possible paths to victory by competing in 17 battleground states. Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign is moving to become the first in the Democratic presidential primary to hire field staff and open field offices in Pennsylvania, early moves in a late primary state that could be an important prize if the nominee remains in doubt past March. Warren’s campaign said it has hired a Pennsylvania campaign strategist to start next week and will bring on organizing staff and open a field office in Philadelphia in the coming weeks.
Cory Booker will remain in the Democratic presidential race, even though he does not expect to qualify for next week’s primary debate, he announced Thursday, after a burst of fundraising support.
While the New Jersey senator has hit the grassroots fundraising threshold to qualify for the December primary debate, his campaign acknowledged it doesn’t expect him to meet the polling threshold.
Michael Bloomberg is in “outstanding health,” but a letter from his doctor released Thursday notes that the 77-year-old Democratic presidential candidate is receiving treatment for several medical conditions, including an irregular heartbeat.
Bloomberg takes a beta blocker and medication to control his cholesterol, Dr. Stephen D. Sisson wrote, adding that he had “small skin cancers” removed and receives treatment for arthritis and heartburn.
Twitter is bringing back special labels to help users identify accounts and tweets from U.S. political candidates.
The company, which first used such labels for the midterms last year, said it is trying to provide users with original sources of information and prevent spoofed and fake accounts from fooling voters.
The election labels provide details such as what office a person is running for and where.
Democrats will hold four primary debates in each of the early primary states as voting gets underway next year, with some of the debates scheduled for just days before voters head to the polls, the Democratic National Committee announced in an email to campaigns Thursday.
The first primary debate of the new year will be Jan. 14 in Des Moines, Iowa.
The next debate is scheduled for Feb. 7 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Democrats will debate in Las Vegas on Feb. 19, and they’ll meet for a debate in Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb. 25.