7/11/2019

DEMS/ELECTION/POLLS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Steve Bullock, John Hickenlooper and Jay Inslee are respected two-term Democratic governors, with proven records of accomplishment. In this presidential primary season, that counts for next to nothing. Bullock, the Montana governor, got shut out of the first debate. Inslee, the Washington governor, hasn’t cracked 2 percent in a national poll. Colorado’s Hickenlooper has hit even harder times — his senior staffers urged him to drop out of the race last month. The three governors in the 23-candidate field are mired at the bottom of national polls for any number of reasons, though one reason appears to stand out more distinctly than the rest: Donald Trump. While the steady stream of scandal and controversy surrounding the president is proving to be a boon to members of Congress running for the White House — giving some of them almost limitless opportunities for media exposure — it’s turning out to be a problem for the statehouse-based candidates. Lacking a nexus to the nation’s capital and the Trump administration story of the day, the governors are left standing on the outside looking in, news cycle after news cycle.”

Natasha Korecki and Charlie Mahtesian, “Governors tank in election about Trump,” Politico, July 11, 2019 5:00 am