Illustration by Kris Davidson
“It’s certainly the case that a strong performance in Iowa is going to be critical to us winning the nomination, and that’s what we’re building toward,” Buttigieg told Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace yesterday. “We’ve got a terrific ground game, over 22, I believe, field offices now, a hundred organizers, and I think a message that’s really connecting with Iowans.”
Buttigieg released “Solutions,” his latest statewide Iowa ad this morning, which laments how corporate decisions have gutted Midwestern economies over the last 50 years. “We want to make sure rural areas and urban areas, have an equal shot at success in this country,” Buttigieg says in the ad.
Good Monday morning, and welcome to IMPORTANTVILLE.
HAPPENING THIS WEEK: Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill faces a five-day-long disciplinary hearing in the state Supreme Court over allegations he groped four women last year, and is staring down the prospect of a potentially suspended law license. GET UP TO SPEED HERE: “Curtis Hill Set To Defend Law License At Weeklong Hearing,” by WFYI’s Brandon Smith.
WHERE’S VP? He delivers remarks to the International Astronautical Congress opening ceremony at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center at 10:30 a.m., joins a Cabinet meeting at 11:30 a.m., lunches with the president at 12:45 p.m., and then heads to Avoca, Penn., for remarks on the USMCA.
WHERE’S PETE? He joins Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show at 11:35 a.m.
INDY COUNCIL DEMOCRATS OUTRAISE REPUBLICANS
In competitive Indianapolis City-County Council races this year, Marion County Democrats have out-raised their Republican counterparts by nearly $200,000, hauling in roughly $485,762 to the GOP’s $290,065, according to an analysis of fundraising reports.
In eight out of nine races, Democrats are leading the money race. The only exception: Republican Councillor Janice Henry (District 6) raised $24,938 to Crista Carlino’s $13,658.
AROUND IMPORTANTVILLE
- Sen. Todd Young’s job of defending the Senate majority looks increasingly difficult.
- Republican Rep. Jim Banks talks to NPR about his decision to vote against the president on Syria: “I see it less as a rebuke of the administration and more as a voice of support of our maintained efforts in Syria as we combat the threat of ISIS and to stand with our Kurdish allies,” Banks said.
- I joined FOX 59’s Dan Spehler to talk about the state of the mayor’s race and Buttigieg’s debate performance last week. Watch here.
IMPORTANTVILLE READS
Elena Schneider, Politico: ‘It sure feels like Buttigieg and Klobuchar have wind in their sails’
MASON CITY, Iowa — Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar shot out of the last Democratic debate with the most precious commodity a presidential candidate can get before the Iowa caucuses: momentum. Now, they’re racing to actually crack open what for months has been a three-person race.
The Minnesota senator and the South Bend, Ind., mayor each raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours following the debate, a sign that their critiques of progressive leaders Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders during the debate struck a chord. Energetic crowds greeted them in the first caucus state soon after — including voters who said they were looking for alternatives to Joe Biden, the longtime polling leader who has slipped in Iowa over the past month.
The events mark the first moment since Biden entered the 2020 primary that other moderates sense a real opportunity to cut into the former vice president’s support, which has largely blocked them out of the top of the race. And they’re doing it by contrasting themselves with Warren and Sanders, overshadowing Biden’s own attempts to sell an alternative to Medicare for All and other popular plans on the left.
Annie Karni, New York Times: “Pence, Thrown Into Turkey Negotiations, Pleases Few With Erdogan Agreement”
Vice President Mike Pence’s most notable public appearances recently have been as a warm-up act for President Trump at his rallies. His big-ticket projects include low-visibility roles leading the National Space Council and the Commission on Election Integrity, and serving as something of a traveling Trump administration salesman, promoting the new North American trade deal across the country.
So when Mr. Trump turned to him in the Oval Office after a phone call on Monday with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and said he wanted Mr. Pence to depart immediately for Ankara to begin negotiations with Mr. Erdogan it was by far the most high-profile moment of his vice presidency.
But after a frenzied rush to obtain visas and a push by the Secret Service to organize in 48 hours a foreign visit that would normally take weeks to plan, the 35-hour door-to-door trip was yet another illustration of the perils of being Mr. Trump’s vice president. By the time he returned to Washington early Friday morning, the cease-fire agreement he negotiated had been roundly denounced, even by Republicans, as a capitulation to Mr. Erdogan.
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