November 29 class notes

(Final class of fall semester)

• Latest California Election Results

• Latest Orange County Election Results

• $WP: Late gains in California vindicate DCCC’s intervention in House primaries

• Priorities for New Congress

• $WP: House results underscore that what’s good for Trump isn’t so good for the GOP

• What Trump’s Legal Battles Tell Us About Presidential Power

• How Big A Difference Does The House Speaker Really Make?

• Everything Is Partisan And Correlated And Boring

• $WP: Trump further divides political map for 2020

• 10 things we learned from the midterms

• Democrats Didn’t Win The Senate. But They Did Better Than It Seems.

• $NYT: How Orange County Foiled Kevin McCarthy’s Plans

• The Senate Will Be Competitive Again In 2020, But Republicans Are Favored

• Trump’s Base Isn’t Enough

• Everything Is Partisan And Correlated And Boring

september 27 Class Notes                

(Second class of fall semester)

Justice Dept. Shakeup

• $WP: The Rod Rosenstein bombshell

• Rosenstein to meet Trump Thursday as job hangs in balance

Battle for the Supreme Court; Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation

• Kavanaugh denies allegations in prepared testimony

• ‘I have never sexually assaulted anyone:’ Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony to Congress, annotated

• GOP confidence grows on Kavanaugh

• The 7 Senators Who Will Decide Kavanaugh’s Fate

• Trump attacks second Kavanaugh accuser: 'She admits she was drunk'

• Trump calls Kavanaugh accusations ‘totally political’

• New Allegation of Sexual Misconduct, from Brett Kavanaugh’s College Years

• Kavanaugh May Be Getting More Unpopular

• How Will The Troubled Kavanaugh Nomination Affect The Midterms?

• $WP: California professor, writer of confidential Brett Kavanaugh letter, speaks out about her allegation of sexual assault

• Red State: Anatomy Of A Smear: Brett Kavanaugh And The New Journalism

China Trade War

• 5 things to know about Trump's escalating trade war with China

Political Lab:  Orange County Congressional Contests

• $LAT:  Forget Trump and demonize Democrats as wild-eyed radicals — that's the Republican midterm strategy

• A Republican stronghold has become ground zero in 2018

• Kim leads Cisneros in latest poll

• Ryan's super PAC succeeds in Cisneros attack

Congressional Mid-Term Elections 2018

• Will Democratic Senators Lose Despite The ‘Blue Wave’?

• $NYT: The Five Battlefields for Control of the House

• RNC internal poll finds GOP in danger due to complacent Trump voters: report

• Poll: Almost three-quarters of Democratic women ‘very motivated’ to vote

• Republicans Are Favorites In The Senate, But Democrats Have Two Paths To An Upset

• How Democrats Are Doing In Obama-Trump Districts

• The House Districts That Swing The Most (And Least) With The National

President Trump 

• Trump (again) attacks his Attorney General

Special Counsel Investigation

• Five takeaways from Manafort’s plea deal

• Red State: Woodward Says He Found No Evidence Of Collusion Between Trump And Russia

Class Member-Suggested Articles

• $WP: The staggering hypocrisy of Brett Kavanaugh

september 13 Class Notes                

(First class of fall semester)

Class one topics preview: 

• Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination

• Emerging federal and state campaign issues

• National/California campaign news and analysis

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OC Register article on Trump Presidency class

• Retirees get the facts about Trump in popular class at Cal State Fullerton

Latest/Updates

• Obama rallies Dems in California: 'If we don’t step up, things can get worse'

Battle for the Supreme Court; Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation

• Trump in good shape to secure second Supreme Court confirmation victory

• $NYT Video: Answers to Your Questions About the Kavanaugh Hearings

• Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings Weren’t Always Such a Spectacle. There’s a Reason That Changed

California Elections Including Orange County House Elections

• $Daily News: Predictions for Southern California's half-dozen key races from 10 forecasters of various kinds and found a range of predictions

• $SacBee: Gavin Newsom has big plans for California. So how would he pay for them?

• Rent control fuels costliest fight on California 2018 ballot

• $LAT: Track California’s House races as the field is set for the midterm elections

Political Lab: 39th Congressional District

• Republican PAC slams Dem candidate on sexual harassment allegations

• Brietbart: Obama to Campaign in California for Democrat Gil Cisneros

• News release:  Super PAC Enlists Trump Supporter to Perpetuate False Claims Already Found to be ‘Grossly Misleading’

• Young Kim Among Congress' potential history-makers in 2019 

• Meet the Republican Running to Be the First Korean-American Woman Elected to Congress

Congressional Mid-Term Elections 2018

• Election Update: Democrats Are In Their Best Position Yet To Retake The House

• A Labor Day Status Report

• Election Update: Check Out How The Forecast Works For All 435 House Races

• 538.com: Forecast for House Control

• 5 Big Takeaways From 538.com House Forecast

• Women give Dems a boost in race for House control

• CBS News pollster reveals why ‘blue wave’ is unlikely

• As Midterms Near, Democrats Are More Politically Active Than Republicans

• 1 data point that should make Democrats nervous

President Trump . . . and Obama

• Does Obama Motivate Democrats Anymore? Or Just Republicans?

• Text: Obama rebukes Trump in fiery speech

• $NYT: Opinion | I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

• Red State: Why the Anonymous New York Times Op-Ed Is a Major Media Blunder

• $WP:  Bob Woodward’s new book reveals a ‘nervous breakdown’ of Trump’s presidency$WP: Trump says he has a deal with Mexico. Here’s what’s in it.

• Dems grapple with Trump’s resilience

• Americans distrusted US democracy long before Trump’s Russia problem

july 31 Class Notes                

(Summer Semester Class 5, final class of semester)

Latest/Updates

• Economy accelerates to 4.1% rate in second quarter, fastest in almost 4 years

• Trump takes victory lap on big GDP number

Battle for the Supreme Court; Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation

• .With another Supreme Court pick, Trump is leaving his mark on higher federal courts

International /Trade War

• Juncker’s secret weapon in trade talks with Trump: color-coded flash cards

• Text of joint U.S.-E.U. statement on trade

• Trump’s Specious Trade Tweets

• $WP: President makes good on his threat to target an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports with tariffs, ramping up the trade war

California Elections

• $LAT: California's candidates for governor in standoff over debate schedule

Congressional Mid-Term Elections 2018

• 100 days: Dems have midterm edge, but it's not historic

• Female millennials may doom GOP 

• What Some Early, High-Quality Polls Can Tell Us About The Race For The House

President Trump

• Dems grapple with Trump’s resilience

• Americans distrusted US democracy long before Trump’s Russia problem

july 17 Class Notes                

(Summer Semester Class 4)

Battle for the Supreme Court; Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation

• Five takeaways from Trump’s Supreme Court announcement

• How Brett Kavanaugh Would Change The Supreme Court

• The Abortion Debate Isn’t As Partisan As Politicians Make It Seem

California Elections

• Battle for House Control Runs Through California's Orange County

Congressional Mid-Term Elections 2018

• Why some polls may be underestimating Democrats

President Trump

• Trump faces crucial stretch

• The Mueller Investigation Keeps Growing Fast

Trump NATO and Putin Summits

• Five takeaways from Trump's jaw-dropping performance with PutinWhat Putin wants in Helsinki

• $NYT: Trump Reaffirms NATO Ties, and Dismisses Concerns About Russia

• The Russian Hacking Indictments Laid Out Cold, Hard Facts Amid the Theatrics

• Trump pushes Germany, NATO allies to jack up defense spending in tense meeting

• Is Trump Fueling Republicans’ Concerns About NATO, Or Echoing Them?

• Fact checking: Donald Trump - Trump falsely claims NATO countries owe United States money for defense spending

• $ Economist: Will Donald Trump be Triumphant, Tetchy or Torpedo?

International /Trade War

• $WP: President makes good on his threat to target an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports with tariffs, ramping up the trade war

Class Member-Suggested Articles

• Visit to the USA, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

july 3 Class Notes                

(Summer Semester Class 3)

Latest/Updates

• Record-Low 47% Extremely Proud to Be Americans

• Supreme Court deals blow to public-sector unions, ruling against 'fair-share' fees

• Upsets In New York and Maryland Primaries May Signal a Major Change for the Democrats

Battle for the Supreme Court; Justice Kennedy's Replacement

• With Justice Kennedy Gone, It's Trump's Court Now

• Justice Kennedy Wasn’t A Moderate

• Will Kennedy’s Retirement Help Republicans At The Midterms?

• The Uncertain Political Ramifications of Justice Kennedy’s Exit

• Facts about attitudes toward Supreme Court

California Elections

• Wild Array of Ballot Initiatives

• Gen. Election: Eligible Statewide Ballot Measures

Congressional Mid-Term Elections 2018

• Special Election In Texas Could Be A Good Sign For The GOP … Or Not

• Republicans put power of party behind eleven 'Young Gun' congressional candidates

• Winners and losers from June 26's primary elections

• Primaries Expose Division Among Democrats, While Republicans Unite Behind President Trump's Picks

• Political stunner! Crowley knocked off by millennial challenger

•  Updated Look At The Race For The Senate

President Trump

• Democrats badly underestimated Trump

• Red State: Media Ignores Or Denigrates President Trump’s Event Honoring Angel Families

Trump-Putin Summit

• Issue: Will US pull troops from Syria?

International /Trade War

• Supreme Court's monumental ruling in support of Trump's travel ban

• Trump Decides Against Harshest Measures on China Investments

• 7 Ways Donald Trump Made Harley-Davidson a Target

Class Member-Suggested Articles

• .

june 19 Class Notes                

(Summer Semester Class 2)

Latest/Updates

• The Supreme Court Isn’t Done With Gerrymandering Yet

• All About the U.S. Separating Families at Its Border

• DHS: Myth vs. Fact: DHS Zero-Tolerance Policy

Inspector General Report on FBI investigation of Clinton Email

• Full report (500 pages, PDF)

• The 500-Page Inspector General’s Report In 900 Words

• Five takeaways on the IG’s scathing report on the FBI

California Primary

• Latest 39th CD Results (with many more votes pending from mail-in, provisional ballots)

• What to make of the California primary results

• House Ratings Changes: Democrats Breathe a California-Sized Sigh of Relief

• Democrats Avoided a Nightmare Scenario in California That Could Have Cost Them the House

• How Democrats Beat the System in California

• Why California Hasn’t Moved On From Dianne Feinstein

Congressional Mid-Term Elections 2018

• What Happened in the June 12 Primary

• It’s a Sea Change’ for Democratic Women in the Primaries

• Top 10 House races of 2018 still heavily favor Democrats

• Numbers Show House GOP Still in Deep Trouble

• California results suggest blue wave has crested and ebbed 

• A blue wave could happen and still hit a wall

President Trump

• A ‘Great’ And ‘Excellent’ Economy Isn’t Making Trump Popular

• How Trump’s Popularity Is Holding Up, By State

• Inside the Trump-Era Late-Night Monologue Pressure Cooker

Korea Summit

• How To Interpret Trump And Kim’s Summit In Singapore

• On North Korea, Trump deserves more latitude and less attitude Mark as favorite On North Korea, Trump deserves more latitude and less attitude

• 80 years of summits in seven charts

International Trade

• Understanding the Trade Imbalance and Employment Decline in U.S. Manufacturing

Media and politics

• All Politics Is National Because All Media Is National

Class Member-Suggested Articles

• Sharply Fewer Democrats Say They Are Proud to Be Americans

• Behind The Scenes Shifts In American Foreign Policy Led To Summit Success

• Trump's New Foreign Policy: The Cooptation Doctrine

• The Real Summit

• Despite Glowing Media Coverage, California Faces a Future Loaded With Problems

• It's Trump's night as his candidates sweep GOP primaries

• Trump Opposes House GOP Compromise Immigration Bill

june 5 Class Notes                

(Summer Semester Class 1)

California Primary

• Democrats’ Final Push to Avoid Shutout in Key California Races

• $WP: California’s open primaries are a cautionary tale about political reform

• $WP: In Southern California, Democrats play the blame game as House races loom

• How a surge of progressive energy could backfire on Democrats in California

• $16 million spent by three millionaire Congressional candidates

• Dem money floods Calif. primaries to avert electoral disaster

Congressional Mid-Term Elections 2018

• Immigration dominates GOP candidates' TV ads in House contests across the country

• What Happens If Republicans Keep Control Of The House And Senate?

• Election fears recede for House Republicans

• Who’s ahead in the mid-term race?

• The case against Democrats winning back the House

• The Midterms Could Set Trump On A Path Toward Impeachment

President Trump

• Trump’s Handling Of North Korea Has Been One Of The Few Things Americans Likes About His Presidency

• Trump is proving to be the most fearlessly pro-life president in history

• Trump: Senate Democrats ignoring willing of public on border security

• Democrats are losing only fight that counts

• President Trump Claims His Campaign Was ‘Spied’ On. Here’s What Really Happened

• Trump demands that those investigating him be investigated

Special Prosecutor

• Trump is winning his effort to demonize Mueller

• $WP: Trump team’s chilling message to Mueller