Nice Country You Have There

Howard Schultz delivers his ransom note:

Early this year, Schultz announced that he was considering running for president as a centrist independent. He had traveled around the country doing public appearances and promoting his memoir ― while facing significant criticism from some Democrats who say that his run could help President Donald Trump win a second term. 

Schultz told his staff Wednesday that he was closely watching former Vice President Joe Biden, the frontrunner on the Democratic side who is more moderate and centrist than many of the other candidates. Schultz said that if Biden does not appear to be the nominee, he would think about jumping into the presidential race after Super Tuesday. 

Shorter Howard Schultz: I reserve the right to ratfuck the 2020 election on behalf Donald Trump if Dems do not nominate my preferred candidate.

Will Schultz be popular if he runs? Not at all. But in a close election it doesn’t take many people to defect. Given that 46% is basically Trump’s ceiling, if the opposition is unified it will be enormously difficult for him to win, but every point that goes to a vanity candidate because a voter doesn’t like Trump but also doesn’t like the Dem candidate because (2020 equivalent of EMAILS!) matters.

Meanwhile, I don’t know if Manchin is serious about resigning but if so the Senate would go from “difficult” to “nearly impossible”:

When you push Sanders or Biden on how their agenda would get through, they say public pressure would break the Rs.

They should probably check “Cocaine Mitch” Twitter, which sets off fireworks every time a bill with 70-90% polling support gets smothered. https://t.co/W0kWWLgmt2— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) June 13, 2019