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Donald Trump once called Bill Barr, his former attorney general, Weak, Slow Moving, Lethargic, Gutless, and Lazy. When Mr. Barr recently endorsed Mr. Trump, rather than express gratitude or graciousness, the former president said, Based on the fact that I greatly appreciate his wholehearted Endorsement, I am removing the word Lethargic from my statement. Thank you Bill. MAGA2024!

This is the sort of thing Mr. Trump is known for, even with people who came around and bent the knee. It is a critical part of his politics and its an area that pollsters arent fully measuring and Democratic strategists rarely take into consideration.

Politics is a dominance competition, and Mr. Trump is an avid and ruthless practitioner of it. He offers a striking contrast with most Democrats, who are more likely to fret over focus-group data and issue ever more solemn pledges to control prescription drug prices.

What these Democrats seem to have forgotten is that they have their own liberal tradition of dominance politics and if they embrace it, they would improve their chances of defeating Trumpism. But unlike Mr. Trump, whose lies and conduct after the 2020 election were damaging to democracy, leaders like Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exerted dominance in liberal ways and to prodemocratic ends. They obeyed the law, told the truth, and honored liberal values.

Psychologists have noted the effectiveness of dominance in elections and governing. My recent research also finds that what I call Mr. Trumps high-dominance strategy is far and away his most formidable asset.

High-dominance leaders shape reality. They embrace conflict, chafe at playing defense and exhibit self-assurance even in pursuit of unpopular goals. By contrast, low-dominance leaders accept reality as it is and shun conflict. They tell people what they think they want to hear and prefer mollification to confrontation.

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Opinion | Trump Knows Dominance Wins. Someone Tell Democrats. - The New York Times

The Democratic Party is intensifying its effort to prevent third parties and independent candidates from getting on the ballot and challenging President Joe Biden this year, according to reports byPolitico, theNew York Times and other media outlets.

The report in theTimes, published April 29, notes the vast resources that right-wing independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been compelled to expend in his push for ballot status:

The effort has already cost his campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars, and a supporting super PAC at least $2.4 million more, federal campaign finance records show. It has involved a number of professionals who specialize in getting people on the ground with clipboards and petitions and helping candidates navigate the complicated process. Their success is what will make or break Mr. Kennedys campaign.

Kennedy has paid a single firm with expertise in ballot access, Texas-based Accelevate2020, $689,000 for campaign consulting, and the campaign is advertising for full-time petition signature collectors in New York state, offering $40 an hour on Craigslist.

While Kennedy himself is a multi-millionaire, his campaign is being financed by billionaire Timothy Mellon, heir to a banking fortune, and his running mate Nicole Shanahan, the ex-wife of Google founder Sergei Brin, one of the 10 richest Americans.

The politics of his campaign are thoroughly reactionary, a combination of right-wing demagogy about slashing the federal deficit and eliminating corporate corruption of the Democrats and Republicans, all-out support for the Israeli genocide in Gaza, coupled with opposition to the war in Ukraine, and support for cutting military spending overall. Add to this Kennedys signature preoccupation with denouncing vaccination, including essential protections for children, as well as the vaccines against COVID-19 that have saved millions of lives.

Neither his right-wing nostrums nor his famous name have protected Kennedy from attack by both the Democrats and more recently Trump, with both sides in the capitalist political duopoly fearing any outlet for popular discontent outside the two-party system.

A follow-up report in theTimesTuesday outlined the many obstacles created by the Democrats and the Republicans to make it more difficultand in some states nearly impossiblefor candidates outside the two-party system to run against them.

Some states have rules against people coming in from out of state to help a campaign procure signatures; others have rules that restrict a campaigns ability to hire paid canvassers instead of relying solely on volunteers. Some states allow months for independent candidates to gather signatures, while others have short windows. Some states require a vice presidential nominee on the petition. The work of actually gathering thousands of signatures, and ensuring that all these rules are met, is grueling and often costly.

ThePoliticoreport, published May 3, gives considerable detail about the internal discussions among Democratic-aligned super PACs after their success in pushing the No Labels group of conservative Democrats out of the election. The right-wing group, financed by billionaires Harlan Crow (real estate) and Michael Smith (LNG gas), recently declared that it would not nominate a candidate for president, largely because it had failed to convince any prominent corporate politician to challenge Biden and Trump.

The coalition of pro-Biden fundraisers is now turning its sights on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Politico wrote, message-testing anti-Kennedy advertising and monitoring Kennedy campaign events in order to collect negative information on his campaign. This could include a multimillion-dollar ad campaign, depending on where Kennedy obtains ballot status, particularly in the so-called battleground states.

The effort to suppress any challenge to the two-party monopoly already involves considerable resources. According toPolitico:

To date, the campaign against Kennedy has largely focused on research and legal challenges. The Democratic National Committee hired veteran staffers to coordinate their push back against Kennedy, particularly through media stories about Kennedy. Theyve alsofiled Federal Elections Commission complaints against Kennedys allies. The outside groups, like Clear Choice PAC and American Bridge, are diving into opposition research and messaging. MoveOn, a 10 million-member organization, reassigned staffers from No Labels-focused efforts toward Kennedy, as well as bringing on additional staff.

Kennedy has ballot status in Michigan after gaining the nomination of the Natural Law Party, a political formation established by the transcendental meditation religious cult. The party was largely disbanded in 2004 but retains a ballot line, only in Michigan, by means of third-party campaigns for minor offices where it was the only alternative to the Democrats and Republicans on the ballot.

The Kennedy campaign claims it has obtained and filed enough petition signatures to get on the ballot in Nevada, New Hampshire and North Carolina. It is currently petitioning in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, and has announced plans to do the same in Wisconsin. All these states are expected to be closely contested in November, and in all these states the Democrats will challenge Kennedys petitions.

The Democratic Party campaign to deny ballot status to third parties and independent candidates is by no means limited to Kennedy, thePoliticoreport notes. It includes Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent Cornel West, a former left Democrat and supporter of Biden against Trump in 2020.

In March, it was widely reported that the Democratic National Committee had set up a special unit with a sizeable budget to coordinate efforts to force third-party candidates to play by the rules, which means making use of various anti-democratic legal technicalities to prevent political opponents from obtaining ballot status.

Most of the legal challenges to Kennedy, and presumably to Jill Stein and Cornel West, are likely to fail. But they have the additional benefit, from the standpoint of the Democrats, of diverting time and resources which these independent efforts would otherwise devote to campaigning.

Similar methods have been employed by the Democrats against the Socialist Equality Party in previous election campaigns, notably in Midwestern states like Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, where Democrats mobilized lawyers to check nominating petitions and seek to invalidate thousands of signatures on spurious grounds.

Both the Democrats and Republicans have already engaged in such sordid tactics this year in two congressional campaigns in Michigan. In one case, the Republicans challenged petitions by Democrat Curtis Hertel in the district which includes Lansing. In the other, Democratic incumbent Shri Thanedar challenged a prospective primary opponent, fellow Democrat Adam Hollier, in the district that covers much of Detroit and the Downriver suburbs.

Both challenges are anti-democratic, seizing on supposed errors in paperwork. The Republicans claim that Hertel made fatal errors in his candidate affidavit and nominating petitions by listing the office he is seeking as US Congress rather than US House of Representatives.

Thanedar challenged 791 of the 1,555 signatures filed by Hollier to meet a requirement of 1,000 valid signatures, claiming that the signers are not registered or registered at a different address, are duplicates, or live outside the district or the signatures are forged (based on claimed similarities in handwriting).

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Democrats step up campaign to block third parties - WSWS

OMAHA Nebraskas 2nd District Republican primary U.S. House race, with challenger Dan Frei running to Rep. Don Bacons right, appears to be opening left-leaning wallets, too.

National Democrats increasingly see division among some Omaha-area Republicans as boosting State Sen. Tony Vargas chances of flipping Nebraskas most competitive House district their way.

This week, a key funder for Democrats trying to wrest the House from GOP control, House Majority PAC, announced reserving $2 million in digital and TV advertising in the Omaha ad market for this fall.

That is up from about $660,000 in 2022, when House Republicans were in a stronger financial position headed into a mid-term cycle with a Democratic president in office. They spent $900,000 in 2020, the last presidential election cycle.

House Majority PAC will do whatever it takes to ensure NE-02 flips from red to blue come November, said Dora Pekec, a spokeswoman for House Majority PAC. Don Bacons anti-choice, extremist record makes it abundantly clear Bacon stands with Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda, not the people of NE-02.

Nationally, the GOP equivalent Congressional Leadership Fund has seen the Democrats pick up fundraising for a 2024 general election likely to be dominated by a presidential rematch.

The House Majority PAC and its related super PAC outraised the Congressional Leadership Fund and its super PAC by $7 million in the first quarter of 2024, $37 million to $30 million. The CLF has still raised more to date this cycle.

The shift is part of a broader national trend, with the Democratic National Committee and its aligned groups outraising the Republican National Committee and its allies.

The Republican group has not yet announced its ad reservations for the fall but said they have incredibly strong incumbents and a political environment that likely favors them.

Sources within the GOP-aligned group say the House Majority PAC often overstates how much it plans to spend, but that they are taking seriously the threat of more money being spent.

Cycle after cycle, Democrats spend millions hoping to knock out Don Bacon, yet he keeps winning because hes one of the most effective Members of Congress and is a true fighter for Nebraskans in Washington, said Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman for the leadership fund. This cycle wont be any different.

Traditional fundraising is also up for Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha, who reported raising $770,000 in the first quarter of 2024 and having $1.6 million in cash on hand.

That is roughly doubling what he had by this point in his 2022 race with Bacon.

Bacon has stepped up his fundraising, too. His campaign reported raising $709,000 in the first quarter.

Bacons cash on hand climbed to $1.9 million from his 2022 total at this point in the race of $1.1 million, but he may have to spend some of that money on Frei and the GOP primary. His campaign said it will have enough to defend his strong conservative record.

Freis first meaningful fundraising tallies since launching his campaign in January had him raising nearly $80,000 with about $54,000 in cash on hand, his campaign said. He was endorsed by the Nebraska Republican Party.

Most local political observers expect Bacon to survive the Frei challenge. But they say he needs to consolidate conservative support without alienating swing voters in a swing district.

And which party controls the House could hinge on the 2nd District vote. With Republicans losing another seat to a retirement next week, their advantage will shrink to 217-213, at least until special elections and regular elections can be held.

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Democrats investing more in Vargas during Bacon-Frei GOP primary fight in NE-02 Nebraska Examiner - Nebraska Examiner

President Biden stands with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on April 3, 2024. Four years ago, Sanders endorsed Biden, and the former rivals worked together to craft policy proposals that bridged Democratic divides. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption

President Biden stands with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on April 3, 2024. Four years ago, Sanders endorsed Biden, and the former rivals worked together to craft policy proposals that bridged Democratic divides.

Four years ago this week, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ended his second bid for the White House, effectively cementing Joe Biden's path to the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sanders threw his support behind Biden. And unlike past displays of party unity after a primary fight, Biden and Sanders took a unique step to collaborate on a handful of policy-focused task forces in the hope of finding common ground between the candidates' coalitions.

Over the course of several months, the task forces produced a 110-page document focused on topics like the economy and climate, and Biden went on to incorporate a number of the recommendations into his campaign platform and first-term agenda.

The partnership between Biden and Sanders helped deliver the Vermont senator's supporters, including young voters, into Biden's camp.

Four years later, Sanders still backs Biden. The two appeared together recently in a video posted on the Biden campaign's TikTok account.

But as Biden seeks a second term with low approval ratings, he faces a new struggle to win over young voters who were crucial to his first election. And as an incumbent with no high-profile primary opponent to join forces with, a similar unity moment like the 2020 task forces may not be an option.

To Sanders' chief political adviser, Faiz Shakir, part of the difference now is that Biden has to answer to his own record.

"He owns the policy direction in a way that in 2020 he didn't," Shakir said. "He was offering policy directions and saying, 'Put me into office.' Now he owns the Middle East policy, Ukraine policy, migrant policy. There's an assumption, expectation, that Joe Biden has to deliver on different policy outcomes that particularly young people would like to see."

And many young people don't like what they see. According to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, among voters under 30, 6 in 10 disapprove of Biden's job as president, the highest of any age group.

But Shakir remains hopeful that the president can rally a voter coalition similar to what he had four years ago, partially because of Biden's ability to absorb critical feedback.

"What has been a consistent thread of Joe Biden's life as a politician, he's in some sense not like Bernie Sanders, who I think has appropriately and stubbornly held certain positions and has been right about them," Shakir said. "Biden is authentic in that he's always indicated: I will move on my positions, on certain ones, if you can show me that the center or that the majority, that the movement is in a different place."

Sanders entered the 2020 primary with strong support among young voters.

"He spoke to young people and their importance on a regular basis," said Shana Gallagher, Sanders' national student organizing director, in 2020. "And that is actually very rare for candidates to do, especially in a consistent, genuine way."

Over two presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020, Sanders rose in popularity among many young voters by backing key progressive issues, including a push for universal health care and significant increases in government spending to combat climate change.

When Cristbal Alex thinks back to April 2020, he recalls the value of Sanders' endorsement.

"It was a very important one, maybe the most important ever," said Alex, who served as a senior adviser to the Biden campaign and sat on the immigration-focused policy task force.

"Bernie played a huge role in bringing young folks over," he added.

Carmel Martin was a senior policy adviser to Biden's 2020 campaign and coordinated the task forces.

"It was a way that we could send a signal to the people who were supporting Sen. Sanders," Martin said. "That what they cared about mattered to President Biden as well."

Allies of both the president and Sanders point to policies implemented throughout Biden's first term that can be linked back to the task forces including major investments in climate change prevention and infrastructure and attempts to relieve billions in student debt wins that Biden now touts on the campaign trail again.

Sanders has continued to work with Biden throughout his first term, including holding private meetings over issue messaging.

To the Biden campaign, a second term is about building on the work started four years ago. Because of that, they argue there isn't necessarily a need for another prominent coming-together moment that echoes the task forces.

"We're already part of a coalition," said Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., a Biden campaign surrogate. "So we don't have to fight our way in. We just have to continue making our voices heard. And the president is still listening to us."

Despite initially supporting and working for Sanders in the 2020 primary, Frost, who is the first Gen Z member of the U.S. House, has been pushing young voters to give Biden another chance.

"I think progressives have always had a knack for being able to communicate to voters across party lines and help inspire disaffected voters," Frost said. "And I think whether it's Bernie [Sanders] or myself or many progressives, we still have something to give in terms of helping to influence the messaging, and not just the messaging but the action that backs up the messaging in this election so people can turn out."

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators call for a cease-fire in Gaza during a protest outside the White House on April 2, 2024. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images hide caption

But while many progressives like Frost and Sanders campaign for Biden, it's unclear how many of the policy wins they tout have resonated with younger voters. Just 1 in 10 voters under 30 say Biden's policies have helped them personally, according to a recent poll by The New York Times and Siena College.

Instead, Biden is battling lower enthusiasm to vote compared with four years ago, as well as doubts over his age. And he's faced pressure from many younger voters to demand a permanent cease-fire and stop additional aid to Israel in its war in Gaza as the death toll climbs past 33,000, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Despite his past popularity among progressives, Sanders is not entirely in lockstep with the left wing of the party on the issue. In the initial months after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, according to Israel, Sanders received pushback from progressives, including previous campaign staff, for refusing to call for a cease-fire.

The Vermont senator has acknowledged that the president's position on Israel could cost him votes, particularly from young voters and nonwhite voters.

Biden's public posture on the war has changed. He now supports a temporary cease-fire and is more critical of Israel's continued military campaign.

But he's yet to go to the extent many progressives want.

When thinking about avenues to mend some of today's divisions, alums of the Sanders 2020 campaign draw back on Biden's willingness to collaborate four years ago.

"Joe Biden is undeniably a politically astute leader," said Analilia Mejia, Sanders' 2020 political director. "Now, that doesn't mean perfection, but that means understanding where people are and understanding when there is a need to shift."

Mejia, who coordinated the task forces for the Sanders side, argued that watching Biden begin to shift his position on U.S. involvement in the Israel war is a testament to his political skill.

Shakir says Sanders is now urging Biden to lay out a second-term progressive agenda, and that Sanders has a frank pitch for Biden moving forward: Acknowledge problems and explain how they're being addressed.

"Even on the issues where there's the most division," Shakir said, referencing the war in Gaza. "You don't have to mask it. Be honest with them. And it's the reason why we have to continue in this direction because the other choice would certainly set us backwards."

The Biden campaign has six months to boost the youth vote. According to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, a third of Gen Z and millennial voters have a good idea who they'll vote for but could still switch, and 17% have not made a decision.

And when Shakir thinks about why young voters aren't on board yet, there's a simple answer. "They're not done pushing him," he explained. "And to his credit, Joe Biden's always indicated, yeah, keep pushing me."

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4 years ago, Sanders and Biden united Democrats. Biden needs young progressives again - NPR

A Douglas County voter filed suit on Wednesday seeking to prevent the Colorado secretary of state from placing Democrat Trisha Calvarese's name on the special election ballot to fill the remainder of former Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck's term.

James Glasser, a Castle Rock resident, argues in the lawsuit filed in Denver District Court that Calvarese doesn't meet statutory and party bylaws requirements that congressional nominees must be registered Democrats in Colorado for at least 12 months prior to their nomination.

The state Democratic Party and Calvarese say they're confident she meets the requirements. A spokeswoman for Calvarese said the candidate plans to contest the lawsuit's claims in court.

A spokeswoman for Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in an email to Colorado Politics on Thursday afternoon that the department hasn't been served with the lawsuit and so has no comment.

The lawsuit asks the court to issue an order preventing Griswold, Colorado's top election official, from certifying Calvarese as the Democratic nominee on the ballot. Under state law, the secretary of state has until April 29 to certify the ballot.

Calvarese won the Democratic nomination in an online convention on April 4 to run in the June 25 special election, which was triggered when Buck resigned from Congress last month.

A week earlier, Republicans nominated Greg Lopez, a former Parker mayor and two-time gubernatorial candidate, to run in the special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat.

The special election only the second in state history will take place concurrently with the state's primary election, which will pick the major parties' nominees to run in November for a full term representing the 4th Congressional District, which covers Douglas County and Colorado's Eastern Plains.

Calvarese, who grew up in Colorado, moved to Highlands Ranch from Virginia last fall to care for her ailing parents. She registered to vote in Colorado in December.

"Im in compliance with the statute," Calvarese told Colorado Politics in a text message. "Ive been registered as a Democrat since college. I'm running for the people because they want, need, and deserve someone with values like truth, election integrity, and democratic process."

Glasser's lawsuit, filed by attorney John S. Zakhem, cites a state law that says a party's nominees "must be affiliated with the party for at least twelve consecutive months prior to the date the convention begins, as shown in the statewide voter registration system."

Noting that state law allows political parties to supersede certain statutory requirements, the lawsuit also points to the party's bylaws, which says nominees must be members of the Colorado Democratic Party for at least 12 months prior to the convention.

Glasser didn't respond to a phone call seeking comment.

"Im shocked that the Democrats didnt catch this," Zakhem told Colorado Politics after the lawsuit had been filed.

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib told Colorado Politics that the party hadn't missed anything.

CDP rules are clear that a candidate simply has to be a Democrat for at least 12 months immediately preceding the convention," Murib said in a text message.

"Ms. Calvarese says she meets this requirement. There is no residency requirement for Congress that prevents her from being the nominee.

The state Democrats' rules committee chair, Josh Trupin, said the party rules cited by Calvarese's critics don't apply to the circumstances surrounding the special election.

CDP Rule 4.9, Vacancy in Office, applies only to offices held by Democrats within the state of Colorado," Trupin said in a text message. "The procedure to nominate a candidate for a special election is statutorily separate and unique (CRS 1-12-202). The CDP does not have rules specific to vacancy in Congress as it had not occurred since 1983, but the residency requirements in 4.9 are not applicable.

Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams told Colorado Politics that he expects all candidates to meet legal requirements and urged the court to resolve the question quickly.

We certainly hope and expect all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, to meet all legal requirements for ballot access and hope this issue is resolved by the court soon so voters have certainty about the special election before June," Williams said in a text message.

Added Williams: "Regardless of the outcome, Greg Lopez will be elected to fill the remainder of Ken Bucks unexpired term.

Calvarese is among three Democrats seeking their party's nomination to the 4th CD's primary ballot at an online assembly scheduled for Thursday evening, along with John Padora and Karen Breslin.

Ike McCorkle, the party's 2020 and 2022 nominee for the seat, qualified for the primary by petition on Wednesday. After learning he'd made the ballot, he said he would skip the assembly.

Lopez, the GOP nominee for the special election, isn't running in the primary. Describing himself as a "placeholder" candidate, Lopez said he would only serve through the end of the year, letting primary voters pick Buck's successor.

As many as eight candidates could qualify for the GOP primary in the district.

Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert who moved into the district earlier this year from the more competitive seat she's represented for two terms qualified by petition last month and went on to win top-line designation at the GOP's district assembly on April 5.

Republican candidates who have qualified for the primary by petition include former U.S. Senate candidate Deborah Flora and state Reps. Richard Holtorf and Mike Lynch. Four more petitioning candidates are awaiting rulings from the Secretary of State's Office on the signatures they submitted by last month's deadline.

Editor's note: This developing story will be updated.

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Lawsuit seeks to prevent Democrat Trisha Calvarese from appearing on Colorado's 4th CD special election ballot - coloradopolitics.com