The Note: Ascendant left drives outcomes -- and backlash
Now Democrats are pondering where they will be taken next.
The TAKE with Rick Klein
The young and ascendant left announced its arrival in a few splashy ways this week. Now Democrats are pondering where they will be taken next.
Amazon’s decision to pull its scheduled expansion out of New York City capped a remarkable week for freshman House Democrats and the movement they’re helping to lead. That movement is already drawing backlash -- and helping President Donald Trump frame the kind of re-election race he hopes to run.
In forcing the about-face, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez helped beat out the rivalry-turned-partnership of two Democratic titans from their shared home state: Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
The "Green New Deal" that she and other progressives introduced has become an early marking point for 2020 conversations and a point of mockery from Republicans. It is due for a vote in the Senate, though as a wedge Republicans hope to use against Democrats, not the other way around.
The new Economist cover highlights "The Rise of Millennial Socialism," in both America and Europe, using a label that not all who are leading the movement would quickly reject.
Someone else who might welcome such branding? Trump.
The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks
Washington might have finished the paperwork to avoid another partial government shutdown, but Trump on Thursday made sure that the debate about a border wall was far from over.
By vowing to use executive action, including the possibility of declaring a national emergency, Trump guaranteed the conversations around security, immigration and law enforcement will rage on well into this year and likely into 2020. Worth noting, as Democrats vow to look into the legality around some of his proposed moves, the president did not guarantee more structures necessarily will be built.
With this move, Trump is looking to test the limits of executive power and challenge the fact that the founding fathers explicitly gave Congress, not the president, the power of the purse.
Previous presidents, including President Barack Obama, have pushed boundaries before, of course. Just ask some of the many Republicans still in office about how much they disapproved then.
The TIP with Adam Kelsey
The Democratic National Committee announced Thursday its polling and fundraising thresholds for its first two presidential debates, capping the field at 20 participants who earn at least 1 percent in three polls or receive donations from at least 65,000 unique donors across 20 states.
The latter criteria would seem to vindicate some of the race's first entrants, including below-the-radar candidates like former Maryland Rep. John Delaney and entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who have each been in the race since 2017 and received some mockery for their early bids.
While the polling threshold requires the 1 percent be acquired in surveys taken in 2019, the start date on attracting donors is simply the launch of one's campaign or exploratory committee, giving Delaney and Yang a year-plus headstart on making the debate stage.
But on the flipside, the requirement may now force the hands of potential candidates who have thus far avoided the early rush. For someone like Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, who reportedly wants to wait for the end of the state's legislative session in May to get in the race, it would take a fast and furious effort to corral donors with just a month to spare.
ONE MORE THING
The judge who earlier this week ruled that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was in breach of his plea agreement is no stranger to special counsel cases -- she has presided over matters related to six of them. Get to know Judge Amy Berman Jackson.
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THE PLAYLIST
ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Friday morning’s episode features ABC News Senior National Correspondent Terry Moran and ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce as they analyze Trump’s decision to declare a national emergency in order to obtain border wall funding. Then, ABC News Senior Washington reporter Devin Dwyer explains why some Americans are seeing less money in their tax refunds this year. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
FiveThirtyEight’s "Politics Podcast." ABC News’ partner FiveThirtyEight reacts to the news that Trump plans to sign a bipartisan budget deal and declare a national emergency to build a wall at the southern border. Vox Senior Correspondent Dara Lind also joins the podcast to discuss the contours of the border security deal Trump plans to sign. https://53eig.ht/2BxH8BV
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the key political moments of the day ahead. Please check back Monday for the latest.
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