Biden’s positive polling + Cows can’t tweet + California backs transgender suit
It’s Wednesday, alerters! Which means you have one more day to prime the turkey and count your cutlery so tomorrow’s Thanksgiving prep is easy as pie. Which, by the way, I’m team pumpkin.
Things are a little slow around the Capitol, so we’re bringing you some national news today. We have the day off tomorrow, so I’ll see you Monday and happy Thanksgiving!
But to start: Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon announced on Tuesday that he will not seek re-election next year to represent his Southern California district, saying he instead plans to spend more time with wife and young children.
JOE’S TIME TO SHINE
It appears that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s soaring poll numbers have reversed course and left the presidential candidate 10 points behind her greatest competitor.
According to a Tuesday Quinnipiac University poll, 24 percent of Democratic and left-leaning independent voters support former Vice President Joe Biden. Trailing Biden is South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, with 16 percent of the potential vote, Warren at 14 percent and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, with 13 percent of those polled.
The numbers reflect a stark difference from the Oct. 24 poll that measured Warren at 28 percent, ahead of Biden’s 21 percent.
“Biden is back on top of the pack but now there is a 3-way race for second. Buttigieg has broken into the top tier, apparently at the expense of Warren, who has taken a dive after being hammered for being too far left on health care and other issues,” said analyst Tim Malloy.
Warren is still considered among 20 percent of the voters to be their second choice. But nearly half of those surveyed said they believe Biden is the most electable candidate with the greatest shot at beating President Donald Trump in next year’s election. More than a third reported that “electability” is the most important factor in determining who they will vote for in 2020.
Health care was ranked the most important topic for voters, with climate change following suit. Fifty-two of those surveyed said that the “Medicare for All” option the more left-leaning candidates are touting is not such a great idea.
And on that whole “I” word splashing headlines these days? A greater percentage of voters say they don’t think Trump should be impeached and removed, 48 percent, compared to those who support impeachment and removal, 45 percent. Still, more than half of the voters disapprove of Trump’s work.
GRIMM V. GLOUCESTER COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD
Attorney General Xavier Becerra joined 22 other attorneys general on Tuesday in supporting a 2015 lawsuit that alleges a Virginia school board violated the rights of a transgender student named Gavin Grimm who was not able to use a bathroom that coordinated with his gender identity while in high school.
The state’s amicus brief filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit supports Grimm’s claim that the policy was discriminatory and caused harmed and unhealthy consequences for transgender students.
“Discrimination against transgender people has no legitimate basis, and serves only to injure a group that is feared for being different,” the brief states. “Such discrimination harms transgender people at school, at work, and in other settings, causing tangible economic, educational, emotional and health consequences.”
COWS DON’T HAVE THUMBS
A Democratic strategist is refusing to disclose communications that could reveal the identity of anonymous Twitter users who criticize Rep. Devin Nunes, arguing in a new court filing that the accounts are clearly satirical expressions of political speech.
Nunes, R-Tulare, has sued Twitter and anonymous social media users who run accounts known as Devin Nunes’ Cow and Devin Nunes’ Mom. Nunes’ attorney last month issued a subpoena demanding records about them from Democratic National Committee employee Adam Parkhomenko.
In a new filing to quash the subpoena, Parkhomenko’s attorney argues that the Twitter accounts’ language “does not constitute defamation” and that courts are tasked with protecting anonymous communications in the interest of freedom of speech.
“No reasonable person would believe that Devin Nunes’ cow actually has a Twitter account, or that the hyperbole, satire and cow-related jokes it posts are serious facts,” reads the filing in Virginia’s Henrico County Circuit Court. “It is self-evident that cows are domesticated livestock animals and do not have the intelligence, language, or opposable digits needed to operate a Twitter account. Defendant ‘Devin Nunes’ Mom’ likewise posts satirical patronizing, nagging, mothering comments which ostensibly treat Mr. Nunes as a misbehaving child.”
In the subpoena for the communications, Nunes’ attorney Steven Biss asked for emails, text messages and direct messages on Twitter between Parkhomenko and the anonymous social media users.
Parkhomenko has mocked the Republican congressman on Twitter since Nunes filed defamation lawsuit in March. Though it’s unclear how Parkhomenko is related to the case, Biss’ motion to compel the communications demonstrates a belief that he could be useful in identifying the anonymous users.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
You butter believe it...
“Thankfully Bread and Butter have been raised by the Jacksons to remain calm under any condition, which will be very important because they’ve already received subpoenas to appear in Adam Schiff’s basement on Thursday.”
- President Donald Trump, after excusing two birds named Bread and Butter during the annual Thanksgiving Turkey pardon.
Alternate quote, also from Trump:
“I expect this pardon will be a very popular one with the media. After all, turkeys are closely related to vulchers.”
Best of The Bee:
- California utilities are experimenting with a new technology that proponents say could help prevent both electricity shutoffs and equipment failure-related wildfires by Andrew Sheeler
A California correctional officer let about 30 inmates hold a party following the death of a gang member, according to a watchdog agency report published Monday, by Wes Venteicher