The TAKE with Rick Klein
The 2020 presidential election will be held through Wisconsin.
There was no doubt about it — or any real choice for Democrats. But Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez made sure the Badger State will get plenty of attention by choosing Milwaukee to host his party's convention next July.
The decision has substantial symbolic value for anyone who remembers Hillary Clinton's campaign. It also reflects the consensus of strategic parties playing 2020 electoral maps that are nearly impossible to color blue without Wisconsin in their column.
The summer humidity wasn't the only thing facing the other finalist cities. Miami Beach reflected earlier judgments of Florida as the ultimate battleground, while Houston spoke to Beto O'Rourke who fueled longings for Democrats to turn Texas deep red blue.
The primary landscape is moving Democrats to the left — and far left on the West Coast, where California is basically a fifth early voting state, according to a breakdown offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders' campaign on Monday.
But the middle of the country is where Democrats just have to win next year, and Perez's pick means he will advertise at the end of the primary process, in the biggest way the party can control.
Forget the 'Rust Belt' talk, Perez said in Milwaukee on Monday: “The Midwest is the 'opportunity belt'.”
The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks
The shrunken federal government envisioned by this White House stands in stark contrast to the expanded government — with an emphasis on social programs — envisioned by many of the Democrats running for president.
President Donald Trump's proposed budget, unveiled Monday, calls for only an increase in military and defense spending, then combines it with deep cuts and overhauls to education, health and environmental care programs. Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Russell Vought will be on Capitol Hill Tuesday explaining the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget and facing questions about how much the president wants to spend and on what.
Democrats, on the other hand, have largely put more government spending into all of these areas and have sought, for example, to expand federal health care spending where the president would significantly cut funding.
Divergent agendas between the two parties mean the dollar figures in the president's budget are purely aspirational, but the policies outlined will likely guide the agencies' planning and work this year. For example, the president's budget talks about shifting some funds to charter and private schools and hiring more immigration judges.
Additionally, the budget will provide easy talking points geared toward the president's base about reducing bureaucracy and red tape.
The TIP with Molly Nagle
Former Vice President Joe Biden will deliver the keynote address at the Legislative Conference of the International Association of Firefighters, an organization with which he has longstanding ties and which will almost certainly back him if he enters the race.
“I think, whether we call it bias or not, I think it's the Democratic candidate — if he announces — who can actually win,” IAFF general president Harold Seitberger told ABC News. “I've been strong — if not parasitic — in encouraging him that America needs him far more than it needs the presidency.”
Seitberger has known Biden for more than 40 years and said Biden's appeal with working-class voters in the middle of the country, a group Democrats struggled with in 2016, could help retake the White House, adding : “Joe Biden has the voice that can reach Middle America”.
While Biden has not announced his plans, he is likely to feel the firebrand enthusiasm for a 2020 bid. Biden says he has the support of his family if he decides to run, and will be recommended by his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, at the event Tuesday in Washington.
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News' “Start Here” Podcast. Tuesday morning's episode features questions surrounding Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 as ABC News Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman joins us from Addis Ababa. Later, ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Carl presses the White House on the growing budget deficit. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
ABC News' “The Investigation” Podcast. “The Investigation” talks to David Bossi, Donald Trump's former deputy campaign manager, and Keith Davidson, the former attorney for adult film star Stormi Daniels and Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal — two women who were silenced payments after they allegedly had relationships with Trump. https://apple.co/2GjL25N
FiveThirtyEight's Politics Podcast. Democrats have been out of the wilderness and in control of the House of Representatives for a little more than two months, and with this new strength has come greater emphasis on divisions within the party. In this episode of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew looks at where the party's faults lie and what those divisions might mean for the party going forward. The gang is also investigating why some candidates, such as Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, have decided not to run in 2020. https://apple.co/2mKrhcF
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