The Note: Democrats seek out offense on culture wars
Democrats see an opportunity to flip around the politics of abortion rights.
The TAKE with Rick Klein
Remember when candidate Donald Trump warned that we're going win so much, "you're going to be so sick and tired of winning?"
President Donald Trump's supporters now see a trade war with China and a possible actual war with Iran on the horizon.
And now, at a local level but with national ramifications, Alabama appears poised to join a series of states with new restrictive laws on abortion. Recall another Trump campaign promise: that his election would result in Roe v. Wade being overturned "automatically, in my opinion, because I am putting pro-life justices on the court."
That becomes at least a realistic possibility now, with two Trump justices on the Supreme Court and a 5-4 ruling on Monday where the court overturned a 40-year-old precedent, alarming liberals who see it as a potential indication that the precedent set by Roe v. Wade could be under threat.
Democrats see it as an opportunity to flip around the politics of abortion rights, in keeping with a mindset of offense on so-called culture wars that have harmed some Democrats in the past.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., campaigns in Georgia on Thursday, to highlight the new Georgia bill she's calling an "inhumane abortion ban." She won't be the last Democrat to seek to turn Trump's wins into their own.
Alabama. Georgia. Mississippi. Kentucky. Ohio. The assault on on reproductive rights is happening across the country, and we have to step up our fight to stop them. Together.We need to focus our attention and our efforts where the attacks start: in the states. Stay tuned.
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) May 15, 2019
The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks
Americans are well aware that Florida alone has decided presidential elections and that makes the revelations in special counsel Robert Mueller's report about Russia's hacking of two Florida county voter databases all the more serious.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this week did not call the hacking reports from the FBI a hoax or fake. He said that there was no evidence that vote totals in 2016 had been altered, but confirmed that two different county databases had been violated by Russians.
DeSantis though stopped short of explaining precisely what was being done to prevent this -- or more sophisticated attacks -- from happening again. Florida officials said they are asking what the federal government is doing to prevent election interference in 2020, while federal officials said they are working more closely than ever to share threat information and help states secure their systems.
Still, without clear answers and reassurances from leaders -- especially President Donald Trump -- that these issues are being addressed, skepticism and distrust in the system will likely only grow. And that was likely the Russians' real goal all along.
The TIP with Zohreen Shah
He's not even old enough to vote, but a 17-year-old scooped political reporters on a presidential announcement. Gabe Fleisher of St. Louis was scrolling through https://blog.4president.us/ looking to update his newsletter, which he's run for eight years and says reaches 50,000 people, when he stumbled on a tip about New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
"My first reaction is, 'That's odd because it hasn't been announced yet,'" Fleisher told ABC News.
The de Blasio event in Iowa was described as his "first stop on Presidential announcement tour." Fleisher tweeted the information and it wasn't long before the national media caught up with the high school junior and confirmed de Blasio's plan to announce his run on Thursday.
"It seemed like the Woodbury County Democrats scooped the de Blasio campaign," Fleisher said. "This is probably one of the bigger things I was able to break."
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Thursday morning's episode features ABC News Legal Contributor Kate Shaw on the conservative strategy to overturn Roe v. Wade after Alabama's abortion ban. Then ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl breaks down Trump's immigration plan. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. Some 2020 presidential candidates are already hitting the reset button on their campaigns. Others, such as tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, are gaining momentum. Yang speaks with ABC News Political Director Rick Klein and Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce on "Powerhouse Politics." https://apple.co/2Zfz5nD
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive it every weekday.
We need to focus our attention and our efforts where the attacks start: in the states. Stay tuned.
The RUNDOWN with MaryAlice Parks
Americans are well aware that Florida alone has decided presidential elections and that makes the revelations in special counsel Robert Mueller's report about Russia's hacking of two Florida county voter databases all the more serious.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis this week did not call the hacking reports from the FBI a hoax or fake. He said that there was no evidence that vote totals in 2016 had been altered, but confirmed that two different county databases had been violated by Russians.
DeSantis though stopped short of explaining precisely what was being done to prevent this -- or more sophisticated attacks -- from happening again. Florida officials said they are asking what the federal government is doing to prevent election interference in 2020, while federal officials said they are working more closely than ever to share threat information and help states secure their systems.
Still, without clear answers and reassurances from leaders -- especially President Donald Trump -- that these issues are being addressed, skepticism and distrust in the system will likely only grow. And that was likely the Russians' real goal all along.
The TIP with Zohreen Shah
He's not even old enough to vote, but a 17-year-old scooped political reporters on a presidential announcement. Gabe Fleisher of St. Louis was scrolling through https://blog.4president.us/ looking to update his newsletter, which he's run for eight years and says reaches 50,000 people, when he stumbled on a tip about New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
"My first reaction is, 'That's odd because it hasn't been announced yet,'" Fleisher told ABC News.
The de Blasio event in Iowa was described as his "first stop on Presidential announcement tour." Fleisher tweeted the information and it wasn't long before the national media caught up with the high school junior and confirmed de Blasio's plan to announce his run on Thursday.
"It seemed like the Woodbury County Democrats scooped the de Blasio campaign," Fleisher said. "This is probably one of the bigger things I was able to break."
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News' "Start Here" podcast. Thursday morning's episode features ABC News Legal Contributor Kate Shaw on the conservative strategy to overturn Roe v. Wade after Alabama's abortion ban. Then ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl breaks down Trump's immigration plan. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
ABC News' "Powerhouse Politics" podcast. Some 2020 presidential candidates are already hitting the reset button on their campaigns. Others, such as tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang, are gaining momentum. Yang speaks with ABC News Political Director Rick Klein and Senior Congressional Correspondent Mary Bruce on "Powerhouse Politics." https://apple.co/2Zfz5nD
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY
Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive it every weekday.