The Note: 2020 race features a front-runner and a disruptor

One may or may not be here to stay, while the other isn't going anywhere.

By
Rick Klein
 and
MaryAlice Parks
May 17, 2019, 5:59 AM ET
5 min read

The TAKE with Rick Klein

The presidential race has a Democratic front-runner and an incumbent disruptor. One may or may not be here to stay, while the other isn't going anywhere.

This week rounded out the 2020 field at a robust and unprecedented 23 major candidates, by ABC News' count. Yet it also served to solidify former Vice President Joe Biden's status as the leading Democratic candidate, for whatever that's worth at this stage of the race.

Meanwhile, we're coming to the brink of war with Iran and are well into a trade war with China. President Donald Trump is frustrating congressional investigators and mocking Democrats as part of a new push on immigration that actually isn't that new -- or that has any chance of becoming law.

The Democratic race is mired in uncertainty, with unknown dynamics and now a potentially powerful issue -- abortion rights -- in the mix.

Trump is adding to the uncertainty by continuing to govern the way he does. That's one frustrating constant for Democrats and their overstuffed field of candidates.

The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks

While national politics tend to dominate the screen, this week was a reminder that local politics can quickly affect people's lives.

Still, assuming many of these restrictive state abortion laws get wrapped up in the courts, the final say will likely come from Washington. Local legislators have largely said that was the point: to challenge Roe v. Wade directly.

Lawmakers in conservative states might succeed in getting an abortion bill in front of the Supreme Court, but in the process they run the risk of deepening a gender divide in this country.

In the run-up to November last summer, an ABC News/Washington Post poll showed that two-thirds of Americans -- and nearly 70% of women -- wanted a woman's ability to get an abortion to be either the same as it is now or easier.

The president's polling, too, has cratered with women since Election Day 2016. Last month, our polling found that 62% of women said they definitely will not support Trump for reelection, and there is a strong argument that female candidates, and female voters specifically, put Democrats over the edge and into the majority in the House last year.

The TIP with Rachel Scott

President Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News, said he does not have a problem with South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg sharing the stage with his husband.

"I think it's absolutely fine, I do," the president said in a clip released Thursday. "I think it's great. I think it's something that perhaps some people will have a problem with it. I have no problem, I think it's good."

The president's comments follow a clash between Vice President Mike Pence and Buttigieg last month on gay marriage and the role of faith in politics.

The full interview airs on "The Next Revolution" Sunday on Fox News, a network Sen. Elizabeth Warren recently called a "hate-for-profit racket that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists."

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Friday morning's episode features ABC News' Trish Turner on lawmakers fretting over escalating tensions with Iran: "They're fearing that there's a move toward some sort of troop activity, military involvement in the Middle East." Then College Board CEO David Coleman explains how the new "adversity score" will factor into college admissions in the wake of the Varsity Blues scandal. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

Sunday on "This Week": Former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus comes to "This Week." Plus the Powerhouse Roundtable debates all the week's politics, with ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, former New Jersey Governor and ABC News Contributor Chris Christie, former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Democracy for America CEO Yvette Simpson.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEKEND

  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D- Minn., appears on ABC's "The View" on Friday at 11 a.m. Over the weekend she'll campaign throughout New Hampshire.
  • Montana Gov. Steve Bullock campaigns throughout Iowa on Friday and Saturday for the first time as a presidential candidate.
  • On Friday, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro attends a town hall in Santa Clara, California, at 11 a.m. Pacific time. On Sunday, he'll hold a campaign rally in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, at 2 p.m. Central.
  • South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg returns to Iowa for a two-day campaign swing. On Sunday, he'll participate in a Fox News town hall in Claremont, New Hampshire, at 7 p.m.
  • On Friday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio campaigns in Iowa. On Saturday, he travels to South Carolina.
  • On Saturday, former Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks on "Unifying America" in Philadelphia at 1 p.m.
  • Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., campaigns in North Carolina on Friday, South Carolina and Georgia on Saturday and Alabama on Sunday.
  • On Saturday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee brings his "Climate Mission Tour" to New Hampshire and Connecticut.
  • Andrew Yang participates in multiple events across Columbia and Charleston, South Carolina this weekend. It's his first trip to the state as a presidential candidate.
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., campaigns in New Hampshire over the weekend.
  • On Sunday, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., holds a town hall in Columbus, Indiana at 1 p.m. Central time.
  • Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., holds her first campaign organizing event in Los Angeles on Sunday.
  • On Sunday, Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., attends two meet-and-greet events and a house party in New Hampshire.

    Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive it every weekday.

    • Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive it every weekday.