THE LEDE

The sense that Elizabeth Warren seems likely to be the Democratic nominee is sinking in — and now the backlash is here.

The Policy Stakes: Joe Biden has managed to hold on to his status as the safe alternative to Warren, if barely, and his campaign has in some sense done an admirable job of treading water amid a storm. But one person is a little disoriented by what’s different about this campaign: his sister, Valerie Biden Owens. “I have been his campaign manager since high school — class president,” Biden Owens told a small group that included our Henry Gomez. “This is the first time I haven’t managed the campaign, and I want to tell you, it’s damn frustrating!” Read Henry’s full story here.

The Political Stakes: If you read about Election Day at all, it was probably about the Democratic win in Kentucky. But the biggest news was from (excuse my bias) a somewhat larger and more vibrant jurisdiction, where New York voted to implement something called instant-runoff voting, which effectively allows you to vote both with your heart (first choice) and your head (second choice) in the next mayor’s race. It’s an interesting model — and a large-scale experiment.

READ RECEIPTS

Texting with Bill Weld

Bill Weld has had a pretty amazing life in politics — he was a US attorney and senior Justice Department official under Reagan and then a successful, two-term governor of Massachusetts. He’s been in the political wilderness for the last 20 years, however, doing eccentric things like...running for the Republican nomination against Donald Trump. We talked about it via text message on Tuesday.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Selfie of Bill Weld. BILL WELD: Hi Ben- text son! Bill

BEN SMITH: Thanks Governor - you got ahead of me. When you’re free can you begin with where you are today and what you’re up to? BILL WELD: I’m in Texas right now on my way to New York, Mass. and New Hampshire. Writing speeches today, meetings and media next, then back to New Hampshire. BEN SMITH: We first met in 2006 when you ran for governor of New York. Then you were on the Libertarian ticket in 2016, and now you’re running for president. Why do you keep doing it? BILL WELD: I’m a happy warrior!

BEN SMITH: This stuff must get you down a bit: IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Screenshot of a Star Tribune headline reading, “Minnesota Republican Party leaves Trump challengers off presidential primary ballot” BEN SMITH: Do you worry there won’t even be primaries to fight?

BILL WELD: New Hampshire, Vermont, Mass., California, Wisconsin and the other Super Tuesday states, plus New York and all mid-Atlantic states, plus Oregon, Washington, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Michigan for openers- there are now twenty “crossover” states (open primaries). My strategy is to enlarge the electorate everywhere.

BEN SMITH: Over to impeachment: You worked in the Justice Department in the 1980s with many of the key figures in impeachment. I read that Rudy Giuliani recommended you to Reagan to serve as a US Attorney back in the 1980s. Was he always like this? BILL WELD: Rudy was without question the sharpest guy in the Reagan Justice Department. He and I were close allies both in the Department and later, when he became Mayor and I became Governor. BEN SMITH: What do you make of his current role, and his evolution?

BILL WELD: He was always aggressive in handling cases, so that’s not new. BEN SMITH: Bill Barr was an ally of yours then too, I think? How do you think these lawyers become so loyal to Trump? BILL WELD: I’m more worried about Bill Barr than about Rudy, because ever since the unsolicited memo Bill sent to DOJ in June of 2018, he seems to have totally bought into the idea that the role of the Justice Department is to serve and protect the President, rather than the people or the Constitution.

BEN SMITH: What would you say to Senate Republicans right now? BILL WELD: I’d say the President is ordering them to walk the plank and abandon their duty under the Constitution in order to save his bacon. If they do, most of them will lose their seats, and we’ll be back to 100 per cent Democratic rule in Washington. BEN SMITH: You’re a student of history. What historical figure would you compare Trump to? BILL WELD: Caligula, Tiberius, Nero, and Domitan.

BEN SMITH: And to finally move off Trump, I wonder what you think of the rising tide of activism - and civil disobedience- among young people around climate. Do you think it’s moving the needle? BILL WELD: I hope so! Climate change needs to be our number one issue in Washington. We have to put a price on carbon to keep the atmosphere’s temperature from rising more than 1.5 degrees Centigrade, or the polar ice cap will melt, causing truly catastrophic flooding and storms. Today’s young people will bear the brunt of that.

BEN SMITH: Last question. I think this may have been the most controversial moment of your campaign. IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Interview excerpt with Bill Weld about the best and worst Halloween candy reading, “The best: The best Halloween candy is candy corn, as a few bags of it make my wife happy for weeks. The worst: The worst Halloween candies are Reese’s Pieces, as I cannot resist them; they don’t require much chewing, so they slide right down; they leave a delicious aftertaste of peanut butter on the roof of my mouth; and they are quite bad for both one’s complexion and one’s waistline.” BEN SMITH: Are you saying you don’t chew them? Just swallow them like Advil? BILL WELD: I try to just swallow them, to get the most dramatic experience, but they do get stuck sometimes so then you have to chew in self-defense, so you’ll live to savor them again another day.

BEN SMITH: Yikes. Thanks for doing this Governor. BILL WELD: Now that I’ve absorbed the genre- any time! BW

ON THE TRAIL WITH BUZZFEED NEWS

It looks (and sounds like) Mayor Pete has caught up with Joe Biden in Iowa, Henry reports.

Rosie has the story on Tulsi Gabbard, who absolutely insists that she is not running as a third-party candidate, no matter how much you don’t believe her.

The latest on impeachment: New transcripts of congressional testimony show that even US bureaucrats live in fear of the Trump tweet, Miriam writes.

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