The Note: Sanders' cash, Booker's friends and Klobuchar's soundbite

Sanders' fundraising made it clear that supporters are still "Bern-ing" for him.

By
MaryAlice Parks
 and
John Verhovek
February 22, 2019, 6:01 AM ET
6 min read

The TAKE with MaryAlice Parks

This week Sen. Bernie Sanders brought the cash, Sen. Cory Booker brought big friends and Sen. Amy Klobuchar reminded Democratic voters that it's hard to put candidates in a box.

Sanders' first-day haul made it clear that hundreds of thousands of supporters are still "Bern-ing" for him. That kind of sway this early has the ability to change the game. While money literaly pays for travel, airtime and staff it's symbolic of buy-in.

But money can't necessarily buy friends, and it's nice to have those too.

Booker dropped a noteworthy press release Thursday morning announcing that every single member of the New Jersey delegation had his back. Having that kind of across-the-board support from his home state -- a big state -- this early was a statement too.

Meanwhile, Klobuchar started the week with a soundbite that made her sound like a tough pragmatist, telling a crowd on a college campus she's not for free four-year college for everyone.

But before people could get too comfortable dubbing her a moderate or an incrementalist, she went on to talk about why she thought the Green New Deal was important and how she supports a federal $15/hr minimum wage.

The point here is not rocket-science: One single factor is not going to guarantee a party nomination.

The RUNDOWN with John Verhovek

After all the twists, turns, unexpected witnesses and documents not produced, we finally have what many believed all along was the best way to move forward after allegations of election fraud marred the result in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District: a new election.

While that new election -- the timing of which has yet to be determined -- will give North Carolinians a chance to move on from a scandal-plagued 2018 midterm race and try to regain confidence in their electoral process, it brings with it national implications about the political mood of the country heading toward the 2020 presidential election.

The 9th District is typically a Republican stronghold, but Republican Mark Harris' now-invalidated 905-vote victory showed that this suburban Charlotte seat -- the exact kind Democrats built their new House majority with -- is very much up for grabs.

Harris has not said whether he'll run again for the seat.

Dan McCready already has raised half a million dollars and "rebuilt his campaign team," according to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The people of North Carolina's 9th Congressional District, with the entire nation watching, now have a chance to put this political drama behind them.

The TIP with Mariam Khan

House Democrats are expected to vote soon on a privileged resolution to terminate the emergency declaration invoked by Trump last week to fund his border wall -- a step toward what could be a potential embarrassment for the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

With the resolution likely to pass the House, McConnell, who supported Trump's declaration, will have 18 days to take it up in the Senate, where several Republicans have already indicated, citing concerns about presidential authority and precedent, that they'll break ranks to vote with Democrats to back the resolution.

"This issue transcends partisan politics, and I urge all senators -- Democrats and Republicans -- to support this resolution to terminate the president's emergency declaration when it comes up for a vote in the Senate," the top Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement Thursday.

Trump has served more than two years without issuing a veto, but should the situation play out as expected, he'll need his stamp at the ready to take yet another stand for the wall. And in the middle is McConnell, in a position he probably doesn't want to be in, but he can't say he didn't warn the president.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast.

Friday morning's episode features ABC News' John Verhovek, who's been covering the hearings over an alleged scheme to tip last year's race toward Republican Mark Harris in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District. He says the state's Board of Elections voted unanimously to hold a new election. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

Sunday on “This Week”: House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, author of the new book, “The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump,” come to “This Week” Sunday. Plus, the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics, with Republican strategist and ABC News Contributor Alex Castellanos, former New Jersey Governor and ABC News Contributor Chris Christie, Washington Post Congressional Reporter Rachael Bade, Open Society Foundations President and Obama White House Political Affairs Director Patrick Gaspard, and former North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

  • The president will meet with the vice premier of the People's Republic of China in the Oval Office at 2:30 p.m. In the evening, he will deliver remarks at the Republican Governors Association event in Washington.
  • The National Governors Association will kick off its annual winter meeting on Friday at the Marriott Marquis in Washington. Dozens of the nation's governors will attend a lunch hosted by Vice President Mike Pence at the Naval Observatory. Then they'll attend a roundtable on election security with Washington Director of Elections Lori Augino, Department of Homeland Security Senior Cybersecurity adviser Matt Masterson and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. The final event of the evening will be an NGA Partners welcome reception at 8:30 p.m.
  • Former Housing and Urban Development and San Antonio Mayor, Julián Castro will be on the campaign trail in Iowa this weekend. On Friday, he will attend a Woodbury County Democrats Truman Club Event at 6 p.m. CST. On Saturday, he will attend an event with Boone County Democrats at the Livery Deli in Boone, Iowa at 3 p.m. CST. He will conclude his trip at Collegiate Methodist Church for the Story County Democrats soup supper at 5 p.m. CST.
  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will travel to Iowa this weekend. He will join the Woodbury County Democrats in Sioux City on Saturday and address the Asian and Latino Coalition in Des Moines on Sunday.
  • Presidential candidate Sen. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, will host an event on Friday at The Barley Room in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at 4 p.m. CST.
  • Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., will meet with Polk County Democrats on Friday at Doc's Lounge in Johnston, Iowa, at 4:30 p.m. On Saturday, he will attend a roundtable with farmers at Arron Heley Lehman's Farm Location at 12:50 p.m. CST.
  • The New Hampshire Democratic Party will hold its 60th annual McIntryre-Shaheen 100 Club dinner at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Manchester, New Hampshire, at 6 p.m. Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., will be the keynote speaker. On Saturday, Warren will attend a house party at 9:45 a.m. and attend a Plymouth organizing event at Heritage Commons at Plymouth State University at 2:30 p.m. She will end the evening by attending a meet-and-greet with New Hampshire Young Democrats at Martha's Exchange in Nashua, New Hampshire, at 6:15 p.m.
  • Presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., will make her second trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate. On Saturday, Harris will have a discussion with Asian and Latino Coalition and LULAC at Iowa State Capitol at 10:15 a.m. and attend an Ankeny Town Hall at FFA Enrichment Center at 3 p.m. She will conclude her evening at the Annual Iowa Democratic Party Black Caucus event at USW local 310 Union Hall in Des Moines, Iowa, at 7:30 p.m. CST. On Sunday, Harris will attend Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church meet and greet and worship at 10:15 a.m. and host the Scott County Town Hall at Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center at 3 p.m. Her final stop in Iowa will be an appearance on Community Conversation Moderated by the Hosts of Political Party Live Podcast at 8 p.m. CST.
  • Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, will continue his "Dignity of Work" book tour in Nevada. On Saturday, he will host a meet-and-greet with UNITE HERE's Culinary Union at Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas at 2:30 p.m. PST and speak at Nevada Democrats' "Local Brews & National Views" at Lovelady Brewing in Henderson, Nevada, at 5 p.m. PST. He will then host a live discussion with Nevadans on wages and prescription drug costs exclusively on NowThis. The discussion will be shared on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
  • Former astronaut and combat pilot Mark Kelly will launch his campaign for U.S. Senate on Saturday in Tucson, Arizona, at Hotel Congress at 2 p.m. PST.
  • Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will travel to Iowa to meet with voters and speak to the Story County Democrats' Annual Soup Supper. On Saturday, Hickenlooper will host Woodbury County Democrats at Pierce Street Coffee Works in Sioux City, Iowa, at 10 a.m. and Kerp Tavern in Carroll, Iowa, at 1 p.m.
  • Presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., will travel to Nevada on Sunday for his first trip to the state as a presidential candidate. He will host a "Conversation with Cory" at Nevada Partners Inc. in Las Vegas at noon PST.

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