The President says he’d accept foreign assistance to win in 2020, Democrats hold contempt votes over the Census scandal, Joe Biden and Donald Trump tear into each other, and Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders deliver two big speeches. Then Congresswoman Ilhan Omar talks to Ana Marie Cox about her new plan to relieve student debt.

Show Notes

Census

• WaPo: As Democrats deepen probes, Trump accuses them of being ‘totally out of control’
• NYT: Census Fight Grows as House Panel Backs Contempt and Trump Asserts Privilege
• Mother Jones: By Ari Berman – House Democrats Hold Trump Officials in Contempt for Withholding Census Documents
• Vox: The fight over the 2020 census citizenship question, explained – By Dara Lind and Libby Nelson
• WaPo: ‘Not above the law’: Executive privilege’s contentious history from Washington to Trump
• BuzzFeed: Trump Invoked Executive Privilege To Block Democrats From Getting Documents About The Census Citizenship Question
• NYT: Deceased G.O.P. Strategist’s Hard Drives Reveal New Details on the Census Citizenship Question
• Mother Jones: Three Big Supreme Court Cases Hinge on the GOP’s Controversial Gerrymandering Guru
• NYT: Charges of Politics in Census Debate Are ‘Smoke and Mirrors,’ Justice Dept. Says
• Think Progress: Under Trump, the 2020 U.S. Census could fail to count 4 million Americans
• WaPo: The census is a sleeping giant of a potential Trump administration scandal
• CityLab: Where a Census Undercount Will Hurt (or Help) Most
• NYT: How the Supreme Court’s Decision on the Census Could Alter American Politics
• Public Policy of CA: 2020 Census: The Political Impact on California.
• Mother Jones: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Blasts Trump Officials for Census Citizenship Question
• Mother Jones: Hidden Figures: How Donald Trump Is Rigging the Census – By Ari Berman

Trump v. Biden

• NYT: Trump and Biden Get Personal in Iowa Skirmish
• Des Moines Register: Joe Biden, in Iowa the same day as Donald Trump, takes hard whacks at the president 
• WaPo: Biden and Trump exchange fire in Iowa, ignoring others in the field
• CNN: Trump and Biden tap same theme: Why are you so obsessed with me?
• LA Times: Trump and Biden trade barbs as they cross paths and split screens in Iowa
• The Atlantic: Biden’s Message Is Incoherent
• CBS: New poll shows Biden beating Trump by a “landslide”
• New Yorker: Joe Biden Bets on Being the Anti-Trump Candidate
• NYT: Trump Needs a Target to Stay Interested in His Campaign. For Now, It’s Biden.
• Vanity Fair: JOE BIDEN IS DONALD TRUMP’S REELECTION RITALIN
• Axios: Trump’s Biden obsession
• Vox: Trump’s big problem is that he’s unpopular – By Matt Yglesias
• The Atlantic: I Helped Obama Win in 2012. Now Trump Is Using the Same Playbook. – By Ben LaBolt
• WaPo: Trump, without evidence, claims his campaign’s polling shows him ahead in every state surveyed
• Axios: Trump’s re-election crisis
• ABC News: ‘I think I’d take it’: In exclusive interview, Trump says he would listen if foreigners offered dirt on opponents
• HuffPo: Joe Biden: Republicans ‘Know Better,’ Will Change After Trump
• Talking Points Memo: Biden Stays On His ‘Republicans Are Redeemable’ Thread — And People Are Pissed
• WaPo: Biden is getting it wrong on Trump and the GOP – By Greg Sargent
• Crooked: By Brian Beutler – JOE BIDEN’S APPROACH TO GOVERNING WON’T WORK
• Crooked: THE FEVER IS NOT GOING TO BREAK – By Brian Beutler
• WaPo: Joe Biden argues Republicans would work with him … by pointing to Merrick Garland?
• The New Republic: Someone Please Tell Joe Biden That Bipartisanship Is Dead
• The Atlantic: By Ron Brownstein – The Democratic Debate Over Winning Back Trump’s Base
• Daily Beast: Obama Veterans: Joe Biden’s Pledge to Work With GOP Is Delusional – By Sam Stein
• CNN: Read: Joe Biden’s remarks as prepared for delivery in Iowa
• USA Today: Joe Biden says ‘we’re gonna cure cancer’ if he’s elected president

Mayor Pete’s speech

• NYT: Buttigieg Outlines Foreign Policy Views, Urging End to ‘Endless War’
• WaPo: The Daily 202: ‘A product of the 9/11 generation’: Pete Buttigieg leans into his youth as he outlines a foreign policy
• Politico: Buttigieg puts focus on foreign policy as he hammers Trump
• Daily Beast: Mayor Pete Buttigieg Calls For ‘End to Endless War’ In First Foreign Policy Address
• Time: Can a Small-Town Mayor Run as the Foreign Policy Candidate in 2020?
• Vox: Pete Buttigieg just gave his first foreign policy speech. He offered 5 clear proposals. – Buttigieg outlined what he’d do about climate change, Israel, Iran, and war.
• The Atlantic: Buttigieg Splits From the Progressives on Foreign Policy
• Politico Magazine: When Pete Buttigieg Ripped America’s Missionary Zeal
• NYT: Pete Buttigieg’s Focus: Storytelling First. Policy Details Later.
• NBC News: Buttigieg calls for ‘Douglass Plan’ to boost economic prosperity for African Americans 
• Charleston Chronicle: By Pete Buttigieg – Buttigieg’s Message Ahead of BET Black Economic Alliance Forum
• Indianapolis Star: Pete Buttigieg has now released official positions on 27 topics
• Mayor Pete’s ISSUES page
• NBC News: Buttigieg unveils wide-ranging policy positions
• NYT: Elizabeth Warren Has Lots of Plans. Together, They Would Remake the Economy.
• Vanity Fair: “YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PLAN TO DEAL WITH THEM”: HOW THE MEDIA FELL OUT OF LOVE WITH BETO O’ROURKE
• The Atlantic: The Democrats Discover the Supreme Court
• Indianapolis Star: Pete Buttigieg needs black and Latino support to win. Here’s why that could be a problem.
• Politico: Warren vs. Buttigieg: Battle of the eggheads
• WaPo Op-Ed by Jennifer Rubin
• CNN Analysis by Nia Malika Henderson -What’s Mayor Pete’s path?
• Politico: Buttigieg confronts his black voter problem
• CNN: Democrats are betting big on big plans for 2020 

Meanwhile in Trump foreign policy on Wednesday…

• NYT: Trump Embraces Nationalist Leader of Poland With Flyover and More Troops

More Mayor Pete news…

• BuzzFeed: A Major LGBT Political Group Is Set To Endorse Pete Buttigieg For President

Bernie speech

• Vox: Read: Bernie Sanders defines his vision for democratic socialism in the United States 
• NYT: Bernie Sanders Delivers Defense of His Democratic Socialist Philosophy
• Politico: Sanders goes full FDR in defense of democratic socialism
• WaPo: Bernie Sanders injects a big idea into the presidential race – Plum Line – By Greg Sargent
• Politico: Sanders: Trump wants socialism for corporations and rich people
• WaPo: Sen. Bernie Sanders defends democratic socialism, reflecting internal Democratic battle over the party’s philosophy
• Reuters: Taking heat from critics, Bernie Sanders defends democratic socialist views
• USA Today: 2020 Democrats shy from ‘socialist’ label. Not Bernie Sanders
• New Yorker: Bernie Sanders’s Walmart Speech May Offer a Preview of Larger Labor Proposals
• Vox: Bernie Sanders’s definition of democratic socialism, explained 
• NYT: What Is Democratic Socialism? Whose Version Are We Talking About? – By Maggie Astor
• The Atlantic: As Bernie Sanders Leans Into Socialism, His Rivals Laugh – By Edward Isaac Devore 
• WaPo: Should Democrats embrace socialism? The 2020 primary, in four factions.
• WaPo: Bernie Sanders wants Americans to buy into socialism. He’s got some convincing to do.
• Axios: “Axios on HBO” poll: 55% of women prefer socialism

Some more 2020 pieces

• WaPo: The Trailer: The risk of going negative for Democrats – by Dave Weigel
• CNN: Decades of Iowa polling shows there’s no runaway Democratic favorite right now – By Harry Enten
• NYT: Warren Surpasses Sanders in Nevada Poll, Trailing Only Biden in 2020 Field
• NYT: As 2020 Candidates Struggle to Be Heard, Their Grumbling Gets Louder
• NYT: Trump’s Competition for Most Unpopular Politician in New York: de Blasio
• NYT: How Old Should a President Be? With So Many Choices, Democrats Are Sharply Divided
• New Yorker – New Momentum for Elizabeth Warren