The Hill’s Campaign Report: Buzz builds around Warren for VP

Welcome to The Hill’s Campaign Report, your daily rundown on all the latest news in the 2020 presidential, Senate and House races. Did someone forward this to you? Click here to subscribe.

We’re Julia Manchester, Max Greenwood and Jonathan Easley. Here’s what we’re watching today on the campaign trail.

LEADING THE DAY:

Buzz is growing around Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D) prospects as former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate.

The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reported on Thursday that Stanley Greenberg, one of the Democratic Party’s top pollsters, gave a presentation earlier this month to senior members of Biden’s campaign making the case that Warren would provide the most upside as a vice presidential candidate.

The 14-deck slide presented by Greenberg detailed how Biden will need to grow his support among young people and Democrats who did not vote for him during the primary if he’s going to defeat President Trump in November.

The presentation warned that the biggest threat Democrats face in 2020 is the “lack of support and disengagement of millennials and the fragmentation of non-Biden primary voters.”

Greenberg concluded that the intensity of support around Warren’s messages opposing Washington corruption and denouncing the economy as rigged against the middle class would help Biden win over those remaining persuadable voters.

“Senator Warren is the obvious solution,” Greenberg concluded in the presentation.

Those findings were backed up by a Morning Consult-Politico survey released Wednesday that found a plurality of Democrats declaring they would be more likely to vote for Biden in November if he chose Warren as his running mate.

The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Alexander Bolton reported on Thursday that Warren is in regular contact with Biden. She plans to hold a big online fundraiser for him in June and has been sending other signals about her eagerness to join his team.

One big potential obstacle: Massachusetts is governed by Republican Charlie Baker, who could replace her with a new GOP senator until a special election takes place in 2021.

That means Democrats might be down a seat in the Senate in the early days of a potential Biden administration, which could prove costly given how close the battle for the Senate is lining up to be.

–- Jonathan Easley

READ MORE:

Top Democratic pollster advises Biden campaign to pick Warren, by Jonathan. 

The big obstacle facing Warren’s VP candidacy, by Amie and Alexander.

 

FROM THE TRAIL:

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said Thursday that Republican officials have not submitted the proposal requested by his office to detail how they plan to handle health risks at the planned Aug. 24 national convention, raising questions about whether Trump will go through with his threat to pull the convention out of the state. Jonathan reports.

Biden is hoping to decide on a running mate by Aug. 1, a little more than two weeks before the Democratic National Convention. That tracks with the timeline the former vice president previously laid out. He has said that the vetting process should be complete by July and that a final decision will come shortly after that. Jonathan reports.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) commissioner Ellen Weintraub warned on Thursday that President Trump’s claims that mail-in voting comes with an increased risk of fraud threaten to “undermine the American people’s faith in our democracy.” She also wrote that “there’s simply no basis for the conspiracy theory that voting by mail causes fraud. None.” The Hill’s Justin Wise reports.

FROM CONGRESS & THE STATES:

The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Wednesday approved a plan to send absentee ballot applications to more than 2.7 million registered voters, in a move that comes as Trump continues to attack mail-in ballots as leading to fraud. Justin reports. 

Everytown for Gun Safety rolled out its first round of House endorsements on Thursday, committing to double down on its effort to protect what it has dubbed a “gun sense majority” in the lower chamber. The 58 endorsements, which were released exclusively to The Hill’s Julia Manchester, mark the first round of the group’s $60 million electoral program.

Meanwhile, the Brady PAC, another gun safety group, has rolled out its final slate of endorsements, including Reps. TJ Cox (D-Calif.), Abby Finkenauer (D-Iowa), Sean Casten (D-Ill.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.) and Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.). It’s their final slate of frontline endorsements.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) on Thursday said that he would run for a third term in office — but that he would not mount a traditional campaign or raise money in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Reid Wilson reports.

 

PERSPECTIVES:

Antjuan Seawright: “Lifting our voices — and votes.”

Douglas Schoen: “Joe Biden has uncertain road to presidency across swing states.”

 

MONEY WATCH:

Former White House hopeful Julián Castro launched a new political action committee to boost progressive down-ballot Democrats. Tal Axelrod reports.

 

POLL WATCH:

ST. PETE POLLS – FLORIDA PRESIDENTIAL

Biden: 48 percent (+/-0)

Trump: 47 percent (-1)

 

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

(Keep in mind these dates could change because of the outbreak.)

June 2:

District of Columbia primaries

Indiana primaries

Maryland primaries

Montana primaries

New Mexico primaries

Pennsylvania primaries

Rhode Island primaries

South Dakota primaries

 

June 9:

Georgia primaries

West Virginia primaries

 

June 23:

Kentucky primaries

 

July 7:

New Jersey primaries

Delaware primary

 

July 11:

Louisiana

 

July 14:

Alabama Republican Senate primary runoff

 

August 11:

Connecticut primary

 

August 17-20:

Democratic National Convention

 

August 24-27:

Republican National Convention

 

ONE HOPEFUL THING

Over the past few months, we’ve told you about how some of your favorite celebrities are doing during quarantine, and today we can report that 98-year-old actress Betty White is holding up just fine.

A spokesperson for the “Golden Girls” and “Hot in Cleveland” star told the Today Show that she’s practicing responsible social distancing.

“No one permitted in except those who must. Has helpers who are great with her,” the spokesperson said in an email to the show.

Additionally, her publicist revealed that a family of ducks frequently checks in on White in her backyard.

“The animal community is watching over her,” the publicist said. “The virus is afraid of Betty!”

We’ll catch you tomorrow for the latest campaign news and updates.