Week Ahead: Nevada Caucus, State Of The Democratic Party, Legacy Of Impeachment

Looking to the week ahead in news. The Nevada caucus is next as Democrats fight for the soul of their party. Plus, the latest from Washington and the legacy of impeachment.

Guests

Jon Ralston, founder and editor of the Nevada Independent. He’s a moderator of Wednesday’s Democratic presidential debate. (@RalstonReports)

Astead Herndon, national political reporter for The New York Times. (@AsteadWesley)

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst. (@JackBeattyNPR)

Abby Livingston, D.C. bureau chief for the Texas Tribune. (@TexasTribAbby)

From The Reading List

The Nevada Independent: “Culinary Union officials face profanity-laced attacks after scorecard says Sanders would ‘end’ their health care” — “Two top Culinary Union officials have faced threatening phone calls, emails and tweets and say their personal information was shared online after the release of a union scorecard that took particular aim at Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

“Secretary-Treasurer Geoconda Arguello-Kline, for instance, has come under attack for her Nicaraguan heritage, and union spokeswoman Bethany Khan was accused of being paid off by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other Democratic establishment types. … A commenter on a Nevada Independent article referred to members of the Culinary Union, who hail from 178 countries and speak more than 40 different languages, as ‘illegals.’”

The New York Times: “Young Black Voters to Their Biden-Supporting Parents: ‘Is This Your King?’” — “A groan erupted at a debate watch party at Texas Southern University last week as former vice president Joseph R. Biden Jr. got a question about slavery and racism and gave an answer about Venezuela and record players.

“But amid that exasperation, some students channeled their inner Beltway operatives and began a targeted rapid-response campaign.

“Tyler Smith, 19, texted his grandmother after the debate, hopeful that Mr. Biden’s meandering answer may have swayed her from supporting him. Amaya St. Romain, 19, mounted a three-day lobbying blitz on her mother and her great-grandmother, making sure they had seen the former housing secretary Julián Castro’s criticisms of Mr. Biden onstage.”

Politico: “‘A complete disaster’: Fears grow over potential Nevada caucus malfunction” — “Anxiety is rising over the possibility of another tech-induced meltdown at the Nevada Democratic caucuses on Saturday.

“In interviews, three caucus volunteers described serious concerns about rushed preparations for the Feb. 22 election, including insufficient training for a newly-adopted electronic vote-tally system and confusing instructions on how to administer the caucuses. There are also unanswered questions about the security of Internet connections at some 2,000 precinct sites that will transmit results to a central “war room” set up by the Nevada Democratic Party.

“Some volunteers who will help run caucuses at precinct locations said they have not been trained on iPads that the party purchased to enter and transmit vote counts. Party officials scrambled to streamline their vote reporting system — settling on Google forms accessible through a saved link on the iPads — after scrapping a pair of apps they’d been planning to use until a similar app caused the fiasco in Iowa two weeks ago.”

The Hill: “Democrats fear rule of law crumbling under Trump” — “Democrats are issuing dire warnings that the rule of law is under attack by President Trump after the Department of Justice (DOJ) overruled career prosecutors to seek a lighter sentence for longtime Trump aide Roger Stone.

“The move incensed Democratic lawmakers and raised new questions about potential White House interference at the agency.

“‘Left to his own devices, President Trump would turn America into a banana republic, where the dictator can do whatever he wants and the Justice Department is the president’s law firm — not a defender of the rule of law,’ Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday on the Senate floor in response.”

This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2020 NPR]