Lawsuit challenging US immigration policy on family separation may proceed, judge rules

A lawsuit challenging a U.S. immigration policy that allows parents to be separated from their children may proceed, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Dana Sabraw of the U.S. Southern District of California said he would decide later whether to order a nationwide halt to the policy.
Sabaw said the lawsuit -- involving a 7-year-old girl who was separated from her Congolese mother and a 14-year-old boy who was separated from his Brazilian mother -- could proceed on a claim that their constitutional rights to a fair hearing were denied.
Sabraw also said he would issue separate rulings on the American Civil Liberties Union’s request for a nationwide injunction and to expand the lawsuit to apply to all parents and children who are split up by border authorities.
“Such conduct, if true, as it is assumed to be on the present motion, is brutal, offensive, and fails to comport with traditional notions of fair play and decency,” wrote Sabraw, an appointee of President George W. Bush.
The judge, whose court is based in San Diego, Calif., said the allegations “describe government conduct that arbitrarily tears at the sacred bond between parent and child.”
Sabraw said the ACLU’s claims were “particular troubling,” because the plaintiffs had allegedly come to the U.S. seeking asylum from their home countries, Bloomberg reported.
“The government actors responsible for the ‘care and custody’ of migrant children have, in fact, become their persecutors," the judge said.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the family separation policy was the work of his political opponents.
"Separating families at the Border is the fault of bad legislation passed by the Democrats," the president tweeted. "Border Security laws should be changed but the Dems can’t get their act together! Started the Wall."
In early May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a “zero tolerance” policy at the border.

“We believe every person that enters the country illegally .. should be prosecuted. And you can’t be giving immunity to people who bring children with them recklessly and improperly and illegally.”

“We want to send a message to the world that if you want to come to America, make your application and wait your turn,” Sessions told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in a Tuesday interview, according to the transcript.
“We believe every person that enters the country illegally like that should be prosecuted,” Sessions said. “And you can’t be giving immunity to people who bring children with them recklessly and improperly and illegally.”
However, the policy reportedly targets people with few or no previous offenses for illegally entering the country.
"Today’s ruling could not be stronger, and squarely rejects the Trump administration’s claim that these families lack the constitutional right to remain together," ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in an email obtained by Bloomberg.
First-time offenders face up to six months in prison, though they often spend only a few days in custody after pleading guilty and exposing themselves to more serious charges if they are caught again.
Sessions told Hewitt he has not visited the more than 100 facilities that have detained around 10,000 children.
“Those are within the ambit of the Homeland Security and the Health and Human Services. But I believe for the most part they’re well taken care of,” Sessions said.
Homeland Security declined to comment on pending litigation, according to Bloomberg’s report.

Soros push to elect progressive DAs in California fails to attract voters

New York billionaire George Soros’ multimillion-dollar effort to reshape California's criminal justice system by propping up progressive district attorney candidates backfired Tuesday, with most of his candidates suffering major defeats.
Soros, together with other wealthy liberal donors and groups, spent millions on would-be prosecutors who favor lower incarceration rates, crackdowns on police misconduct and changes in a bail system that they argue discriminates against the poor.
But most of the money went to waste as their candidates lost to more traditional law-and-order prosecutors who didn’t share progressive views or have hostile attitudes toward police.

District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert defeated Soros-backed candidate Noah Phillips by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, getting 65 percent of the vote in Sacramento County.  (Schubert for DA)

In Sacramento County, District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert defeated Noah Phillips by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, getting 65 percent of the vote. Phillips led an insurgent campaign, attacking Schubert for failing to prosecute a police officer who shot a civilian.
He reportedly received around $400,000 from Soros and admitted Soros' team scripted and paid for a TV ad during the campaign, the Los Angeles Times reported. His fundraising efforts received help from Cari Tuna, wife of Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, who contributed more than $650,000 to a political action committee led by Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King.
"This is a good day for the people," Schubert told to a crowd of about 100 supporters after she won the election, the Sacramento Bee reported. "You can't buy an election in the county of Sacramento. Here's to four more years."

"This is a good day for the people. You can't buy an election in the county of Sacramento. Here's to four more years."

Geneviéve Jones-Wright, the Soros-favored candidate in San Diego County, also suffered a major defeat Tuesday. She got only 36 percent of the vote while her opponent, District Attorney Summer Stephan, received more than 60 percent.
Soros spent more than $1.5 million in the race, funneling the money to a political action committee that propped up Jones-Wright’s candidacy as she pledged to form a police-misconduct unit and supported progressive reform of the criminal justice system.
Stephan fought back against the influence of outside money in the race, declaring Soros’ backing a public safety threat. Jones-Wright, meanwhile, insisted the money merely gave a voice to minorities and poor people.
In Alameda County, in the San Francisco Bay Area, District Attorney Nancy O'Malley fended off a challenge from Pamela Price, reportedly receiving more than 60 percent of the vote.

District Attorney Summer Stephan received over 60 percent of the vote on Tuesday, defeating Soros-favored Geneviéve Jones-Wright in San Diego County.

O'Malley said she was surprised the outside donors tried to oust her, given that she’s a registered Democrat and was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., organized labor and other Democratic groups.
Soros’ PAC accused O’Malley during the campaign of implementing “racist” stop-and-frisk policies and Price criticized her for being cozy with law enforcement groups.
But there was one victory for the wealthy liberals Tuesday. Progressive DA candidate Diana Becton received a majority of the votes in Contra Costa County, also in the Bay Area, though not enough to secure an outright victory.
She will now face off against Senior Deputy District Attorney Paul Graves – who came second – in a run-off election. Graves criticized the influence of wealthy outsiders, describing them as “billionaires who apparently think Contra Costa's public safety is for sale.”
In other counties – such as Yolo County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County – where wealthy donors also spent money, albeit on a significantly smaller scale, most progressives candidates suffered defeats. One exception: reform-minded defense attorney Jason Anderson, who managed to win in San Bernardino County against four-term DA Michael Ramos.

Samantha Bee 'sorry' in first 'Full Frontal' since calling Ivanka Trump c-word

Samantha Bee opened Wednesday night’s episode of her TBS show, “Full Frontal,” by addressing the firestorm that erupted after last week’s show, in which she referred to Ivanka Trump as "a feckless c---" during a segment on immigration policy.
It was the late-night comedian’s first show since drawing the ire of advertisers, viewers and President Donald Trump -- and she told viewers that her insult directed at the first daughter “crossed a line.”
"It is a word I have used on the show many times, hoping to reclaim it,” Bee said. “This time, I used it as an insult. I crossed a line. I regret it and I do apologize."
The former member of comedian Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" troupe on Comedy Central acknowledged that some women “don’t want that word reclaimed” and she didn’t want “to inflict more pain on them.”
But Bee, 48, mixed in some humor with her apology, saying that while her goal was to produce a “challenging” and “honest” show, “I never intended it to hurt anyone — except Ted Cruz.”
Bee also joked that, “Many men were also offended by my use of the word — I do not care about that.”
Last week’s profane insult sparked outrage from many, leading sponsors like AutoTrader and State Farm to pull their ads from the show. Both Bee and TBS issued apologies the following day, with the network tweeting the “vile” comment was “our mistake too, and we regret it.”
Bee’s words also fired up accusations of a politically based double standard, with critics comparing TBS’s “non-reaction” to the Bee controversy with ABC’s firing of Roseanne Barr from her namesake sitcom over a racist tweet. Barr is well known as a Trump supporter, while Bee, a liberal, has been critical of the administration.
The same day as her apology, Bee received a “social change” honor from the Television Academy. The press was blocked from attending the event’s reception and Bee avoided the red carpet interviews before the event amid the surrounding controversy.
In her reception speech that night, Bee again apologized, acknowledging the “one bad word” she used distracted from the immigration issues she intended to shed light on.
“We spent the day wrestling with the repercussions of one bad word, when we all should have spent the day incensed that as a nation we are wrenching children from their parents and treating people legally seeking asylum as criminals,” Bee said in her speech, obtained by IndieWire.
The host hit on this issue again in Wednesday’s monologue, ultimately conceding her words “distracted” viewers from the children affected by the administration’s juvenile immigration policy. Bee apologized to the kids, too.
Bee concluded Wednesday night's third apology by giving those who worried about “the death of civility” this past week something to think about.
"I'm really sorry that I said that word, but you know what? Civility is just nice words," she said. "Maybe we should all worry a little bit more about the niceness of our actions."
Even after Bee’s many apologies, TBS -- part of the Turner Broadcasting System conglomerate that includes CNN, TNT and other stations -- will reportedly step up its oversight of the late-night show to prevent further incidents that could scare away advertisers and draw public condemnation, a source close to the matter told the Hollywood Reporter Wednesday.

Media report of DOJ watchdog chastising Comey puts fired FBI boss' leadership style under the microscope

The inspector general examines whether James Comey went beyond his authorities in 2016 when he publicly discussed the Clinton email investigation and recommended against criminal charges; chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge reports from Washington.
A media report that the Justice Department's watchdog has prepared a draft assessment that chastises James Comey for defying authority is putting the former FBI boss' leadership style under the microscope.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has been exploring the DOJ's and FBI's actions during the 2016 presidential campaign, including whether Comey exceeded his authority in July 2016 when he publicly discussed the Hillary Clinton email investigation and recommended against charges.
That decision angered Democrats because the responsibility for the criminal case ultimately rested with his boss at the time, former Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
Comey has since explained that Lynch's infamous June 2016 Phoenix tarmac meeting with former President Bill Clinton during the probe, as well as other non-public and unconfirmed intelligence that may have suggested Lynch would short-circuit the investigation, led him to go public with the FBI's findings that Hillary Clinton had been "extremely careless."
A source cited by ABC News claimed the report by the DOJ watchdog specifically called Comey "insubordinate," with much of the criticism centering on the way he handled the reopening of the Clinton email probe in the days leading up to Election Day in 2016. Fox News has not confirmed the ABC report.
Horowitz's report also takes aim at Lynch, according to ABC News. Comey has testified before Congress that Lynch advised him to call the criminal probe of Clinton a "matter," rather than an investigation. Comey said that language concerned him.
The DOJ IG's reported rebuke of Comey, whom President Trump has called an "untruthful slime ball" after firing him last year, contradicts the by-the-book, responsible image Comey has carefully cultivated since leaving office.
On Oct. 28, 2016, Comey publicly notified Congress that the investigation would be reopened because new emails had been discovered that might contain classified information.
Comey was said to have ignored at least one superior in the Justice Department who said that commenting publicly on the ongoing investigation would violate policy, in addition to impermissibly interfering with the presidential campaign so close to Election Day, sources told ABC News.
The reported criticisms in the draft DOJ assessment would echo the scathing critique laid out against Comey in a memo by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein last year, before Trump decided to fire him.
In the memo to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Rosenstein was particularly critical of Comey's unilateral decision to hold a press conference in July 2016, in which he announced that Hillary Clinton had been "extremely careless" in handling classified information but that "no reasonable prosecutor" would pursue the case.
“It is not the function of the Director to make such an announcement,” Rosenstein wrote, saying that Comey should have simply referred the case to prosecutors without staging a dramatic, analysis-filled press conference.
Rosenstein also faulted Comey for publicly reopening the Clinton email probe in October, citing several DOJ officials who called the move "inappropriate."
In his recently released book, "A Higher Loyalty," Comey called for "ethical leadership" in Washington, even as several commentators questioned whether he had lived up to that standard.
Horowitz's final report is expected to be released soon. The watchdog's review had broad bipartisan support when it began in January 2017.

California Voter Cartoons

Rep. Kristi Noem wins South Dakota GOP governor primary

Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., and South Dakota gubernatorial candidate, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 5, 2017. Noem and state Attorney General Marty Jackley are competing for the Republican nomination for governor in the June 5, 2018, primary.  (Associated Press)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem won South Dakota's Republican primary for governor on Tuesday, defeating Attorney General Marty Jackley to emerge as the favorite to become the state's first female governor.
GOP primary voters made Noem the only woman South Dakota Republicans have nominated for the state's top job. She advanced to face well-funded Democrat Billie Sutton, a state senator and former professional rodeo cowboy, in the November general election.
Noem credited her primary victory in part to traveling around the state and talking about policies that cast a bold new vision for South Dakota.
"I expect the general election will be competitive as well, but we're going to work hard," Noem said. "We will start focusing on that tomorrow."
The governor contest — the highest-profile match up on the ballot — started mostly polite, but soured at the end as the candidates sought to break out in the primary.
Ads from Noem in the final days criticized Jackley for his handling of a case involving a former state agent who received a $1.5 million state settlement after she won a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit. They also accused Jackley of being soft in his prosecution of a financial misconduct case involving the EB-5 investment-for-visa program.
Similar on policy, the candidates tried to contrast their experience. Noem touted her role negotiating the GOP's recent federal tax cuts with President Donald Trump. She cast Jackley as a "government lawyer" who would maintain the status quo.
Jackley unsuccessfully made himself the homegrown candidate, focusing on his tenure as the state's former U.S. attorney and now attorney general.
Patricia McKeever's vote went to Noem. McKeever, a 74-year-old retiree in Sioux Falls who works at a church, appreciated Noem's support for Trump but also felt Noem — a rancher, farmer and small business owner — had proven herself as a businesswoman.
"And the last point on the list is that she's a woman: I want to see a first female governor," McKeever said.
Matt Schilling, 52, of Sioux Falls, backed Jackley, saying he felt he was committed to making sure South Dakota is run as efficiently as it can be.
"He's conservative. He's proven that he puts the state first, and I think that that's important for the state of South Dakota," said Schilling, a sales director for a manufacturing company.
Noem will have an advantage going into the general election in heavily conservative South Dakota, but Democrats have put forward a strong and well-funded challenger. Sutton has banked cash while Noem and Jackley fought for the GOP nomination.

Stephen Colbert grills Bill Clinton over answers in earlier interview

Former President Bill Clinton, left, appears with host Stephen Colbert while promoting his book 'The President is Missing,' on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,' Tuesday, June 5, 2018 in New York.  (CBS via AP)

Comedian Stephen Colbert on Tuesday pressed former President Bill Clinton about his recent heated interview on the "Today" show released Monday that focused on the Monica Lewinsky scandal and today’s #METOO movement.
Clinton was asked by an NBC reporter during the earlier interview if he would have resigned over his sexual affair with Lewinsky in the Oval Office if it occurred in 2018 at the height of the #MeToo movement.
“I don’t think it would be an issue because people would be using the facts instead of the imagined facts. If the facts were the same today, I wouldn’t [step down],” Clinton said.
Colbert, the host of “The Late Show,” asked Clinton on Tuesday if he realized why some people thought his response was "tone-deaf.”
"Examples of men who were not held accountable for their behavior, especially men in power with younger women or people who worked for them, is worthy of being readjudicated or adjudicated for the first time, no matter how long ago it happened,” Colbert said about the former president's conduct with Lewinsky.
Clinton responded and acknowledged that his combative response in the "Today" show interview wasn't his "finest hour."
"I was mad at me — not for the first time," the former president said.
Clinton said he didn't like that particular interview because it "started with an assertion that basically I had never apologized."
“People need to know I apologized. I meant it then. I mean it now ... And I still support Me Too,” Clinton said. “And I think we all need to keep trying to be doing better. And I would never dispute that.”
Still, Clinton says, "It was very painful thing that happened 20 years ago," adding that he had to "live with the consequences every day since."

Democrats lose California state senate supermajority after recall vote

California Democrats have been denied their supermajority in the state Senate, in a key vote that means Senate Democrats won't hold the two-thirds majority needed to pass tax and fee increases.
Democrats temporarily lost their supermajority in February when a lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct resigned.
They likely would have gotten it back in a special election in August. But then they lost another seat on Tuesday, when voters in an Orange County district recalled Democratic Sen. Josh Newman from office over his vote to raise gas taxes last year.
Former Republican Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang won the seat.
The development comes amid other good news for the GOP in the Golden State on Tuesday. Fox News projects that Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will move on to the November election in the state's gubernatorial race, taking the top spot in the jungle primary. But Newsom will face Republican businessman John Cox, who surged late in the campaign with the support of President Trump to finish second.
Cox's strong finish over former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democratic institution in Southern California, was something of a win for President Trump, who enthusiastically backed Cox over another Republican contender.

California's key primaries: Trump-backed John Cox outpaces Villaraigosa for governor, Feinstein takes top spot in Senate contest

Polls have closed in the pivotal primaries in California, the liberal stronghold where Democrats' hopes of retaking Congress in November and mounting a national challenge to President Trump's agenda hang in the balance.
In early results, Fox News projects that Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom will move on to the November election in the state's gubernatorial race, taking the top spot in the jungle primary. Newsom will face Republican businessman John Cox, who surged late in the campaign with the support of President Trump to finish second.
The result is disappointing for Democratic former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who was widely considered the most viable potential challenger to Newsom in November's general election in the extremely liberal state.
But Cox's strong finish over Villaraigosa, a Democratic institution in Southern California, was something of a win for President Trump, who enthusiastically backed Cox over another Republican contender.
Trump said in a May tweet that Cox will "Make California Great Again," rallying the state's conservative base around the businessman and saying he could solve California's "high crime, high tax problems."
"This is only the first step to turning around this state and taking back California for all Californians," Cox told supporters in San Diego.
Fox News also projects that Sen. Dianne Feinstein will place first in the state's jungle primary -- a widely expected result. She will likely face ultra-progressive State Sen. Kevin de Leon in November, who delivered remarks early Wednesday strongly suggesting that he will be the runner-up.

"This is only the first step to turning around this state and taking back California for all Californians."

The state's key House races, though, are still too close to call, but the Fox News Decision Desk will make those calls as ballots are counted. The winners and losers in California's most competitive races could take days to sort out given the state's unique election laws.
There were some results in from the House races early Wednesday. Republican Rep. Mimi Walters easily advanced to the November election in her Orange County district that has been targeted by Democrats. The second spot remained up for grabs.
And to the north, House intelligence committee chairman Devin Nunes, a Republican, qualified for the general election ballot as well. Nunes is a polarizing figure in national politics given his support for Trump in one of the many investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Democrats need to flip 23 Republican-controlled to retake the House from the GOP in November. Out of California's 53 House seats, Republicans hold 14 -- and seven of those GOP-held districts backed Hillary Clinton in 2016.
That makes the Golden State center stage for what Democrats are hoping is a major anti-Trump wave in November.
In several races, either Republicans or Democrats face the very real prospect of being denied a place on the ballot in the general election.
That's because of California's nonpartisan, open "jungle primary" system, which advances the top two vote-getting candidates to the general election -- regardless of their party affiliation.
The risk is particularly high for Democrats, who are riding a wave of anti-Trump enthusiasm in California. So many Democrats are running in three of the House races that they might split the vote to such an extent that two Republicans end up with the most ballots.
That result would lock Democrats out of competing in the general election in some of the most vulnerable Republican districts, a kind of embarrassing political "own goal" that would highlight the quirks and perils of California's unique primary procedure.
Seven other states held primaries on Tuesday, including New Jersey, Alabama, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa and Montana. Click here for results from those key races.

Calif. gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom is projected to finish in one of the top spots in the state's jungle primary.  (AP)

More on California's closest races:
The governor's race
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a liberal establishment Democrat who previously served as mayor of San Francisco, will win one of the two spots in the jungle primary and therefore will advance to the November ballot, Fox News can project.
But the intrigue in the race centered on who will take the number two spot. Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Republican businessman John Cox, who surged late after an endorsement from President Trump, were locked in a close battle for second place.
Newsom is essentially assured victory in November's statewide contest, given California's overwhelmingly liberal electorate.
Some Democrats cried foul earlier this month after Newsom ran ads that reminded voters of Cox's connections with Trump and the NRA, saying the frontrunner was implicitly trying to rally conservatives to the polls to ensure Cox beat Villaraigosa for the second spot on the ballot.
The House races
One of the most hotly contested races is in the 48th Congressional District, which includes Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. Hillary Clinton narrowly won the district in 2016. Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who has held the safe seat without serious challenge for decades, faces eight Democrats and fierce competition from GOP rival Scott Baugh.
So many Democrats are running for the seat that none may end up getting the votes needed to appear on the ballot in November.
A similar situation might play out in California's 49th District, where a broad array of candidates is vying for the seat vacated by retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa. Eight Republican candidates are in the running, along with four Democrats who are neck-and-neck. The sheer number of entrants in the race could lock out either the GOP or the Democrats in November. Hillary Clinton also won here in 2016, by a margin of a little over seven points.
Another closely watched race is the effort by four Democrats to unseat incumbent Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in the 45th District in Orange County, which no Democrat has ever represented but that also supported Clinton in 2016. Walters voted to repeal ObamaCare, which has become a hot-button issue in the increasingly liberal district. On Tuesday, Walters easily advanced to the November election. The second spot remains up for grabs.
Important GOP-held seats with incumbents facing challenges are the 50th District, where Rep. Duncan Hunter is under investigation for misuse of campaign funds; the 10th District held by Rep. Jeff Denham; the 21st District, where Hillary Clinton won convincingly, that is currently occupied by David Valadao; and the 25th District, where Rep. Steve Knight is facing several challengers.

Incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein cruised to victory in Tuesday's California primary, taking the top spot.  (AP)

Ed Royce, who was first elected to Congress in 1992 and chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced his retirement earlier this year. He will vacate his 39th District seat, and several Republican and Democratic candidates are competing to replace him. That setup, again, raises the possibility of one party being knocked entirely out of the November contest.
The Senate race
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will place first in the jungle primary, Fox News projects, even though the California Democratic Party pointedly declined to endorse her in February.
The majority of the votes from delegates at the party's annual convention went to State Sen. Kevin de Leon, Feinstein's progressive challenger who served as the former president pro tempore of the California Senate. Republican James P. Bradley, another hopeful in the primary, is not expected to make it to November's contest.
At 84 years old, Feinstein is the oldest senator in the U.S., and California's increasingly liberal demographics raised concerns during the campaign that even Feinstein may be too moderate for the state's new progressive wing. But her strong party backing, financial position and name recognition have offset those potential stumbling blocks.
In remarks early Wednesday, Kevin de Leon didn't claim the second-place spot, but strongly suggested he'll be facing Feinstein in November.
"A majority of Californians want new leadership in Washington,' he said. "In November, voters will have the opportunity to send a message to Washington, and around the world that the system is broken, the status quo is failing, and the future is now."

Chuck Schumer Cartoons

Doug Schoen: The Democrats are at war -- with each other. And it could spell disaster in November

Eight states – Alabama, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota – will hold primaries Tuesday to pick candidates to run in the midterm general elections Nov. 6. But before turning our attention to those races, it’s useful to look back at primary results in May and see how they reveal a Democratic party in a deep state of division.
Voters in Democratic primaries are split between staunchly progressive and more moderate factions. In the struggle for leadership of the party, supporters of each faction are potentially fatally weakening the Democrats for November contests, and potentially for the 2020 elections as well. That could pave the way for President Trump to be re-elected.
There has been a dramatic change in the generic polling for Congress. Republicans now lead Democrats by 1 point, according to Reuters. Moreover, there has been a dramatic improvement in President Trump’s approval rating, with the Real Clear Average now up to 44 percent.

The Democrats must advance an agenda that is explicitly different from what party leaders are currently articulating and focus on long-term objectives to create a society of opportunity for all – not guaranteed outcomes achieved through wealth redistribution.

The reason why this is happening is because Democrats lack an agenda. The party, deeply split between its progressive and moderate wings, is divided on both message and tactics. This puts the party at risk not only at the ballot box, but in Republican-controlled state legislatures and governor’s offices throughout the country, with redistricting occurring after the 2020 census.
To be sure, the Democrats’ losses in 2010 doomed their chances this past decade. Republican majorities throughout the country continue to benefit President Trump as he prepares for 2020, when he has said he will run for re-election.
The lack of consensus between the two factions of the Democratic Party is clear, unambiguous and startling.
The progressive agenda focuses primarily on resisting President Trump at every step, labeling his every action a scandal, and calling for his impeachment without any vetted or verifiable evidence of wrongdoing. Progressives also advocate a redistribution of wealth without any long-term plan to fund policies such as Medicare-for-All or guaranteed employment.
The moderates offer a distinctly different worldview. They offer a plan for inclusive economic growth and an alternative set of policies to resolve the issues surrounding immigration and health care. At the same time, they reject party-line loyalty to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and calls for President Trump’s impeachment.
These positions allow the moderates to most effectively and persuasively articulate differences with the president, as well as find potential compromises with him.
One moderate Democrat, Rep. Conor Lamb, won a highly consequential special election in southwestern Pennsylvania’s 18^th District earlier this year by explicitly rejecting Nancy Pelosi’s announced bid for re-election as Democratic leader and calling for new leadership in Congress.
Lamb, however, remains in the distinct minority among a set of far-left candidates who are in ascendancy at the gubernatorial and congressional levels.

It would be a fundamental mistake for Democrats to pursue impeachment without evidence, based only on Russia’s broader election meddling scheme, which is now clear and unambiguous.

Even in Texas and Kentucky, where moderates emerged victorious, a solid third or more of the Democratic electorate remains committed to progressive causes and candidates.
In order to preserve the party’s chances in 2018 and capture a House majority last achieved in 2010, Democrats must adopt an explicitly moderate agenda.
When looking at the electorate, there is no evidence that formerly working-class Democrats who defected to President Trump in 2016 – or simply didn’t turn out for Hillary Clinton – will respond to a nearly socialist message from Democrats or to increasingly vitriolic attacks on the president.
Indeed, a set of April 2018 Remington Research Group surveys of voters in Iowa’s 1^st District, Wisconsin’s 3^rd District and Minnesota’s 8th District found that solid majorities of more than 60 percent in each district who previously voted for President Obama and defected to Donald Trump continue to support the Republican president.
The reason these voters see no incentive to return to the Democratic Party is because the leadership lacks a plan to effectively counter President Trump's initial success on economic revitalization by reducing taxes and cutting regulations. The stock market has made gains and unemployment has fallen below 4 percent for the first time since 2000.
Further, average U.S. household income recently reached a 50-year high. And much to the Democrats’ chagrin, the latest CBS/YouGov poll finds that 68 percent of the public credits President Trump for their personal economic success.
Given these circumstances, the Democrats must advance an agenda that is explicitly different from what party leaders are currently articulating and focus on long-term objectives to create a society of opportunity for all – not guaranteed outcomes achieved through wealth redistribution. This new agenda is needed to win back Obama voters who defected to Trump, especially working-class Midwestern voters.
In terms of specific issues, Democrats must recognize that increasing economic opportunities – particularly through vocational education and job training, with a focus on working Americans – is the key to winning.
Accordingly, Democrats should advocate for investment in our nation’s crumbling infrastructure as a central part of cultivating economic growth and job creation.
Democrats would also do well by working to take the issue of immigration off the table. According to a Harvard/Harris poll, 77 percent of Americans support legalization for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients, who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children by their parents. And 54 percent of Americans support a combination of physical and electronic barriers across the U.S.-Mexico border. Some 60 percent believe current border security measures are inadequate.
The Democratic leadership can and should achieve a compromise with President Trump and the Republicans on providing necessary funding to secure the Southern border and also create a pathway to citizenship for individuals who illegally entered the United States through no fault of their own, and since that time have contributed greatly to the American economy and our society.
On health care, with the repeal of the individual mandate and persistent attacks from Republicans on President Obama’s landmark Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), the key now is to expand coverage that is affordable, given that premiums continue to increase in jurisdictions nationwide.
By working with Republicans to enact fixes to the Affordable Care Act, rather than chasing an unfunded Medicare-for-All system, the Democrats can protect President Obama’s legacy, ensure Americans do not lose affordable coverage, and make sure they can obtain it.
Regarding potential impeachment of President Trump, the Democrats must only pursue this possibility if or when Special Counselor Robert Mueller produces a vetted report that indicates that there was direct and substantial collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, or an associated conspiracy charge.
It would be a fundamental mistake for Democrats to pursue impeachment without evidence, based only on Russia’s broader election meddling scheme, which is now clear and unambiguous.
If Democrats don’t want to squander their first real opportunity at controlling the House since 2010 – and likely their best shot for the foreseeable future – they must deliver a change in leadership, a change in policies, and a movement back to the moderate, inclusive message that won them control of government in the 1990s and the early 2000s.
Taking this path will do more than carry Democrats to victory in November. It will position the party for success in 2020 – after which redistricting decisions will be made nationwide – and beyond.

Douglas E. Schoen is a Fox News contributor. He has more than 30 years experience as a pollster and political consultant. His new book is "Putin's Master Plan". Follow him on Twitter @DouglasESchoen.

Melania Trump skipping G7, North Korea summits

WASHINGTON –  First lady Melania Trump will not join her husband at the G7 summit in Quebec later this week and there are "no plans" for her to travel to Singapore to meet with North Korea's leader later this month, a spokeswoman told Fox News late Sunday.
Mrs. Trump stayed behind Friday when President Donald Trump, and family-- including his daughters, eldest son and son-in-law-- went to the Camp David retreat for the weekend.
She hasn't made a public appearance since before her five-day hospital stay in mid-May for treatment of a kidney condition the White House only described as benign.
Mrs. Trump took to Twitter last week to dispel rumors circulating about her whereabouts.
"I see the media is working overtime speculating where I am & what I'm doing," she tweeted on May 30. "Rest assured, I'm here at the @WhiteHouse w my family, feeling great, & working hard on behalf of children & the American people!"
Stephanie Grisham, her spokeswoman, said earlier that the first lady has been meeting with staff and working on projects. Mrs. Trump is scheduled to join the president Monday in hosting a reception, closed to the press, for Gold Star families.
"She will not attend the G7 and there are no plans for her to travel to Singapore at this time," Grisham said.
The G7 summit will be held in Quebec on Friday and Saturday. The president plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on June 12 in Singapore, the first leaders' summit between two countries that are still formally at war.

Kansas gubernatorial hopeful calls out 'snowflake meltdown' after riding jeep with replica gun at parade

Republican Kansas governor hopeful Kris Kobach pictured with the jeep mounted with a replica of a gun that sparked the outrage.  (Twitter)

Republican Kansas governor hopeful Kris Kobach said he won’t “back down in the face of a snowflake meltdown and outrage culture” after being criticized for riding in a jeep mounted with a replica of a large gun at a parade on Saturday.
Koback, the state’s secretary of state, raised eyebrows on social media over the weekend after he attended the Old Shawnee Days parade, named after the Kansas City-suburb.
“Had a blast riding in the Old Shawnee Days Parade in this souped up jeep with a replica gun,” he tweeted. “Those who want to restrict the right to keep and bear arms are deeply misguided. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”
But many criticized the politician for riding a vehicle equipped with a large replica gun at the event attended by young children.
Pastor Johnny Lewis of Shawnee Community Christian Church criticized the candidate in a Facebook post, saying his six-year-old child “worries constantly about school shootings.”
“Why was that necessary, sir? My child didn’t need that today. Don’t care what your position is on second amendment that is completely unnecessary,” he said.

Kobach's vehicle for the parade equipped with a replica of a gun.  (Twitter)

Lewis also told the Kansas City Star that his concern wasn’t about Kobach’s support for gun rights, but rather about the potential upset he caused to young children who came to watch the parade.
“My greatest concern today was not Kris Kobach’s political position… It was that in a world where our children… live with anxiety about school shootings and do intruder drills regularly that any politician thought it was OK to drive through a crowd of children with an automatic weapon pointed at the crowd,” the pastor said.
Despite the backlash, Kobach remained defiant.
“The outrage over the replica gun on the back of a patriotic jeep is the left trying to attack guns and your #2A rights. I will not back down in the face of a snowflake meltdown and outrage culture,” he tweeted.
The city of Shawnee has since issued an apology for having Kobach to attend the event and causing upset over the display of a large replica gun.
"Please know that the safety of our residents is always our highest priority and we apologize if this made anyone feel unsafe or unsettled. We will be taking steps in the future to try to ensure something similar does not happen again,” the statement said.

Portland sees bloody fighting as Antifa activists storm Patriot Prayer rally

Violence broke out in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Sunday as Antifa activists stormed a Patriot Prayer rally. Police tweeted that "Weapons have been confiscated from protesters" and "Fireworks and bottles have been thrown at officers and participants."  (Portland Police/AP Photo)

Violence broke out in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Sunday as Antifa activists stormed a Patriot Prayer rally — about a year after similar dueling rallies triggered bloody fights and arrests.
Some protesters on Sunday hurled bottles and fireworks at police officers while others were caught with knives and other weapons, Portland Police tweeted. Officials encouraged people to get out of the immediate area "for their safety."
Many of the Antifa activists wore black and covered their faces. Some protesters said they were demonstrating against police brutality; one sign bluntly read "F--- the police."
Patriot Prayer, which bills itself as a peaceful First Amendment advocacy group, organized a rally — "Tiny's Freedom March," a going-away event for Tusitala John Toese, who's close with group leader Joey Gibson — for 5 p.m.
The Rose City Antifa scheduled a counter-protest for 4 p.m. "to show Patriot Prayer, just as we showed them last year, that their violence and hatred has no place in Portland."
The demonstrations came a year after the same two groups converged in downtown Portland for opposing rallies, KOIN reported. Last year's protests resulted in 14 arrests.
Police said Sunday that while the city respects "the right to assemble," anyone with weapons or anyone involved in violent activities was subject to arrest.
It was not immediately clear if Sunday's demonstrations downtown resulted in any arrests, but photos and videos posted to social media showed protesters fighting and clashing, while some apparently were doused with pepper spray.

Democrat Swamp Cartoons

Republican blasts 'unethical tricks from the swamp,' rejects Dems' donations

A little-known Republican congressional candidate in Southern California has received $137,000 in campaign donations from Democrats from across the U.S. ahead of Tuesday's primary.
But John Gabbard -- a small business owner and Marine Corps veteran -- rejected the Democrats' help Friday, accusing the party of “bringing its classic unethical tricks from the swamp in Washington to the shores of Orange County.”
The Dems' backing of the GOP's Gabbard in California's 48th Congressional District seems to be part of an unorthodox strategy --- not to help Gabbard, but to ultimately help the Dems get one of their own candidates to emerge from Tuesday's primary and appear on the November ballot.
It's part of some $5.4 million that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent on congressional races in Orange County in recent weeks, the Orange County Register reported.
Under California primary rules, the top two vote-getters Tuesday, regardless of party, will face each other in November. So if two Republicans top the field, the Democrats would be shut out of the general election.
That GOP shutout is likely to happen in the 48th District, because two of the candidates are well-known former Orange County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh and incumbent U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, the Register reported.

"The [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] machine is bringing its classic unethical tricks from the swamp in Washington to the shores of Orange County."

John Gabbard, a GOP congressional candidate, is a small business owner and Marine Corps veteran.  (Facebook)

So the Democrats' best hope of getting one of their own -- either businessman Harley Rouda or stem-cell biologist Hans Keirstead -- to finish in the top two may be to back Gabbard, and hope he siphons enough votes away from Baugh or Roherabacher to eliminate one of them and help a Democrat advance.
Robocalls and radio ads funded by Democratic organizations have lavished praise on Gabbard’s wartime service, touting him as a man who has “traveled the world keeping America safe” and who “evacuated hundreds of Americans threatened during an African coup.”
At least one politcal watcher says Democrats are making a big mistake with their opposite-party financing.

"That's the kind of game plan that really turns voters off. That money would be so much better spent just on get-out-the-vote efforts."
- Jodi Balma, political science professor, Fullerton College

"That's the kind of game plan that really turns voters off," Jodi Balma, a political science professor at Fullerton College, told the Register. "That money would be so much better spent just on get-out-the-vote efforts."
Will the Democrats' plan work? Orange County voters will find out next week.

Obama-era FAA hiring rules place diversity ahead of airline safety, attorney tells Tucker Carlson

Activists inside the federal government decided that air traffic controllers weren't diverse enough and in recent years and in the first step of the hiring process, used a 'biographical questionnaire' to screen potential employees. One man is suing the FAA for its updated hiring practice. #Tucker
The safety of America's airline passengers is being compromised for the sake of diversity in hiring air traffic controllers, an attorney suing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host Tucker Carlson on Friday.
During the Obama administration, the FAA replaced the previous hiring standards with rules designed to increase diversity among air traffic controllers, attorney Michael Pearson said.
“A group within the FAA, including the human resources function within the FAA -- the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees -- determined that the workforce was too white,” Pearson told Carlson. “They had a concerted effort through the Department of Transportation in the Obama administration to change that.”

"A group within the FAA ... determined that the workforce was too white. They had a concerted effort ... in the Obama administration to change that."

Pearson said there’s no data to support that increasing diversity in the ranks of air traffic controllers would make the flying public safer. Thus, Pearson said, he is suing the FAA for its revised hiring practices.
“It’s the safety of the national airspace that’s at risk here,” Pearson said.
Pearson, who said he was an air traffic controller in four of the nation's busiest facilities for nearly 27 years, asserted that much of the problem lies with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NACTA), the union that controls a large political action committee.
"They fund a lot of politicians,” Pearson told Carlson.
“Nothing will get passed in aviation unless they get blessing of the controller’s union,” he said, referring to legislation proposed in Congress. “Their position radically changed when the Obama administration came in.
“This is social engineering at its finest,” he added.
The FAA declined to send a representative to appear on the program, Carlson said.

Obama to headline pricey LA fundraiser for Democrats later this month

Back again to stir up more trouble for America.

Democrats hoping to see former President Barack Obama at a fundraiser in Los Angeles later this month might want to start setting aside some cash now.
General admission for the Democratic National Committee event, scheduled for June 28, starts at $2,700 and other admission options run as high as $100,000, the Hill reported.
The pricier tickets include such perks as premium seating, photos ops, and membership in the DNC’s National Finance Committee, the report said.
Obama has kept a relative low profile since leaving the White House in January 2017 -- although he has appeared at events related to the planned $500 million Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
In California, he has thrown his weight behind Democratic candidates and causes, including the re-election bid of longtome U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, which begins with Tuesday's California primary election.
In May, Obama was scheduled to appear at a Beverly Hills fundraising event for U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who's seeking a third term this year.
Meanwhile, Obama and former first lady Michele Obama last week announced a multiyear production deal with Netflix. The streaming service will serve as a platform for their production company, "Higher Ground Productions."
The June 28 Los Angeles fundraiser coincides with a concerted effort by Democrats to retake Congress in the 2018 midterm elections in November.
Obama, for his part, is expected to intensify his fundraising efforts on behalf of the Democrats, including raising money for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, Politico reported.