“In Maryland, the Democrat candidate for governor wants to give illegal aliens free college tuition courtesy of the American taxpayer,” Trump said. “Come on in, free college.”

The crowd booed. But the Jealous campaign on Friday cheered, seizing on the spotlight by issuing a statement and holding a conference call with fellow Democrats to try to tie Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to Trump.

Trump’s words were an apparent swipe at Jealous' proposal to offer free tuition to community college students, without excluding Maryland residents who were brought to the United States without authorization to stay as young children — a group known as Dreamers. Jealous is not proposing free tuition for more recent arrivals.

For Jealous, whose weak fundraising has stymied his ability to counter a barrage of ads from Hogan and the Republican Governors Association, Trump’s attack came as free advertising. While Trump’s line went over with the crowd in red Montana, polls show the Republican president is deeply unpopular in Maryland.

"Better is good. I used to have to tell my young staff this all the time in the White House. Better is good. That’s the history of progress in this country. Not perfect, better. The civil rights act didn’t end racism, but it made things better. Social security didn’t eliminate all poverty for seniors, but it made things better for millions of people. Do not let people tell you the fight’s not worth it because you won’t get everything that you want."

Obama's speech on Friday was inspirational in many ways but what really stuck out was his defense of principled compromise. We must work together to get things done for the American people, it's the only way to put lasting change into action.

President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at The New York Times in a tweet over the paper’s publishing an op-ed by an anonymous Trump administration official.

Hours after the piece was published, Trump questioned whether the official exists and demanded that the paper turn the author over to the government, saying it is a national security issue.

“Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source?” he tweeted. “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”

Trump also appeared to question earlier Wednesday whether the official had committed “treason” by writing the piece.

A modern glass home sits on the edge of the water in Miami Beach. The ground-level master suite has a soaking tub that looks out to the ocean, and the bedroom's glass doors allow the owner to roll out of the sheets and onto the yacht. It is listed for sale at $25 million.

Another Miami home sits on a garbage-strewn street in Little Havana, about five miles inland. Its owner can walk out the front door and see a dead chicken in the street. It is listed for sale at $559,000, but some experts claim it is a better investment than $25 million mansion.

The mansion, while highly desirable and exquisitely appointed, is paradise at a price, because rising tides and increasingly extreme storms may already be lowering its value. On the other hand, the home in Little Havana, which sits on high ground with little risk of flooding, is appreciating at a fast clip. It has nearly doubled in value in just the past two years, according to Zillow.

"What we see here is a theory of climate gentrification that suggest that in Miami, higher elevation land will be worth more," said Harvard University's Jesse Keenan, who co-authored the first peer-reviewed study offering evidence of the existence of a climate change signal in the real estate market.

John McCain’s political legacy is likely to be the subject of conversation and reflection for quite a while after his death on Saturday. But his Arizona Senate seat probably won’t stay vacant for long. Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona will appoint McCain’s replacement, and the Republican can select someone as soon as he wants. I expect him to land on a replacement within the next two weeks, maybe even sooner (it has been clear for months that McCain was close to death and might need to be replaced). Ducey’s choice is likely to be sworn into the Senate within a few days of being chosen — and then become a fairly reliable vote for initiatives backed by President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

So what kind of politician should we expect Ducey to land on for McCain’s replacement, and what will that choice mean for the future of the Senate, President Trump’s Supreme Court nomination and national politics in general?

...

Some (journalists and pundit types) have floated the idea of Ducey picking McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, for the seat. According to the Arizona Republic, the past few months, Cindy McCain, 64, has been speaking on behalf of the senator at events he could not attend because of his health. We don’t know much about Cindy McCain’s political views. And that uncertainty is why I don’t expect Ducey to choose her. I think Ducey is likely to pick someone who is a reliable Republican vote — picking someone without a clear record on many issues is an inherent risk.

Ducey is not a McCain-style Republican himself and has no incentive to appoint someone who occasionally breaks with the GOP’s priorities, as McCain did. To sum up the governor’s politics briefly: Ducey is a fairly traditional Republican on policy (he is a strong backer of cutting taxes, limiting abortion rights and expanding gun rights), doesn’t have a record of bucking his party on major issues and has built some fairly strong ties to President Trump and the White House. He seems to have presidential aspirations, so choosing a replacement for McCain who is liked by key party activists and donors could help him there.

Today, the DNC held its quarterly meeting in Chicago, where we reaffirmed one of our core beliefs as Democrats: That our democracy works best when every person's voice is heard.

We passed the strongest reforms to our party in decades, and I wanted to share some of the highlights with you:

• Our North Star from the beginning of this process has been to grow our party, unite our party, and earn the trust of committed Democrats like you. That's why we've taken the historic step of dramatically reducing the influence that superdelegates have over our presidential nominating process. Now superdelegates will refrain from voting on the first presidential nominating ballot, unless a candidate has already passed the threshold to secure the nomination. This change empowers the grassroots and respects the will of voters.

• To make the presidential nominating process more inclusive, transparent, and accessible to participants of all backgrounds, the DNC voted to expand the use of primaries so that more people could participate in the process. Primaries are more accessible for many voters, including seniors, shift-workers, students, members of the military, parents of young children, and people with disabilities. And we know our democracy works best when more people can participate, not fewer.

• For states with caucuses, our reforms recommend that those states take steps to make their caucuses as accessible as possible, including offering absentee voting for voters who can't make the caucus in person and implementing better processes for tracking ballots in case a recount is needed.

• Democrats are doing all we can to make sure that every eligible voter can exercise their constitutional right at the ballot box. That's why we're encouraging all states to offer same-day voter registration and the ability to register as a Democrat to vote in Democratic primaries.

I say this a lot, but I'll say it again because it's true: The new DNC is doing things differently.

These changes are all about the future. They're about growing our party, increasing participation in our democracy, and putting Democrats in the best possible position to win in November and beyond. I'm proud of the steps we've taken this year to rebuild our infrastructure from the ground up. We've made unprecedented investments in technology, state parties, grassroots organizers, and voter protection efforts. We're building the infrastructure Democrats will need to succeed in 2018, take back our democracy from Donald Trump in 2020, and win elections up and down the ballot for years to come. You should be proud too, because we're building this party together.

Thanks for standing with Democrats,

Tom

Tom Perez
Chair
Democratic National Committee

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said it’s “very likely” President Donald Trump will replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions but warned against doing so before the midterm elections.

“The president’s entitled to an attorney general he has faith in, somebody that’s qualified for the job, and I think there will come a time, sooner rather than later, where it will be time to have a new face and a fresh voice at the Department of Justice,” said Graham of South Carolina, who may be in line to head the Judiciary Committee next year. “Clearly, Attorney General Sessions doesn’t have the confidence of the president.”

Graham however warned against acting before the election, calling that possibility “a nonstarter.” That “would create havoc” with Senate efforts to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and with the midterm elections in November, he said.