memeorandum: The 2020 circular firing squad is here (Alexi McCammond/Axios)

10:05 AM ET, June 9, 2019

Top Items:

Brianne Pfannenstiel / Des Moines Register:

Iowa Poll: Joe Biden leads, followed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg — The field of Democratic presidential candidates is starting to settle into tiers: Joe Biden leads the pack, and Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg are in close competition for second place …

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg, Political Wire and Mediaite

CNN:

CNN Iowa Poll: Biden leads a tighter top tier in first caucus state — WASHINGTON (CNN)Joe Biden leads as the top choice of likely participants in the first-in-the-nation Iowa Democratic caucuses, but his advantage there is smaller than the one he has held in recent national polling …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, New York Times, Yahoo News, Des Moines Register, WHOTV and The Week

Dan Guild / Bleeding Heartland:

Joe Biden will probably lose Iowa — Dan Guild examines what history tells us about how to interpret the latest Iowa Democratic caucus poll by Selzer & Co for the Des Moines Register, Mediacom, and CNN. -promoted by Laura Belin — It has been two months since the last good Iowa caucus poll.

Discussion: Des Moines Register

Des Moines Register:

How proposed Democratic caucus rules make polling even harder, and how we crafted our best shot — The Iowa caucuses are arguably the most difficult assignment for any pollster. That is because relatively few people attend them, and people can, and do, change their minds in the caucus room.

Discussion: The Hill, Axios and WHOTV

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
At Pride Fest in Des Moines, politics are in the spotlight

Discussion: One America News Network and Politico

New York Times:

Mexico Agreed to Take Border Actions Months Before Trump Announced Tariff Deal — WASHINGTON — The deal to avert tariffs that President Trump announced with great fanfare on Friday night consists largely of actions that Mexico had already promised to take in prior discussions with the United States …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Week, Washington Post, KTLA, CNBC, One America News Network, Washington Monthly, Slate, CNN, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Mediaite, WHOTV and Vox

Bloomberg:

Trump Hints at More Details; Mexico Still Baffled by Farm Claim — Follows claim that Mexico will buy large amounts of farm goods — Mexico already a major importer of U.S. grains, meat, dairy — President Donald Trump hinted at additional measures between the U.S. and Mexico …

Discussion: Forbes, Mediaite, Axios, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Politico, Fox News, Deadline, ThinkProgress, POLITICUSUSA, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Patterico's Pontifications

David Cohen / Politico:

Trump says there's more in Mexico deal — President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday morning that there is more to his agreement with Mexico than meets the eye. — “Importantly, some things..... .....not mentioned in yesterday press release, one in particular, were agreed upon.

Discussion: One America News Network

Ben LaBolt / The Atlantic:

I Helped Obama Win in 2012. Now Trump Is Using the Same Playbook. — The general-election campaign is happening today. And Donald Trump is running unopposed. — Presidents who have recently won reelection seeded their victories not in the final sprint before Election Day …

Carol Morello / Washington Post:

Some U.S. embassies still hoisting rainbow flags, despite advisory from Washington — Since the State Department began rejecting all embassy requests to hoist rainbow flags outside the mission buildings during LGBTQ Pride Month this year, some U.S. diplomats have been finding ways to defy, or at least get around, the new policy.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Axios

Alexi McCammond / Axios:

The 2020 circular firing squad is here — The niceties have ended: 2020 Democrats are breaking their own pledge not to go after one another. The attacks of the past week show what a long primary they're in for. — Why it matters: These jabs and skirmishes show a fracturing Democratic Party …

NBC News:

‘Whitey’ Bulger prison letters: Love for Trump, disdain for Mueller — The Boston gangster raved about the president, and railed against ex-special counsel Robert Mueller, in a series of letters to an unlikely pen pal. — In the final months of his life, James “Whitey” …

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Joe.My.God. and Washington Times

Barbie Latza Nadeau / The Daily Beast: ‘Whitey’ Bulger Wrote Letters Praising Trump to a Juror Who Convicted Him

Alex Horton / Washington Post:

ICE deported veterans while ‘unaware’ it was required to carefully screen them, report says — On the same day the White House heralded veterans on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, a federal watchdog said the government had violated its own rules on deporting former service members …

Washington Post:

For Democrats, Trump impeachment question is a personal struggle transcending politics — For two House Democrats from different backgrounds, the searing debate over whether to impeach President Trump prompted an identical question: What about my grandkids?

Meg Kinnard / Associated Press:

Kamala Harris says prosecutor past will help defeat Trump — WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Democrat Kamala Harris played up her experience as a prosecutor on Saturday, telling a mostly black crowd in South Carolina that her prosecutorial credentials have given her a window in to helping improve …

Discussion: Axios and Los Angeles Times

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:
Kamala Harris leans into prosecutor record in South Carolina

Discussion: TalkLeft

Alex Horton / Washington Post:

Convicted murderer now linked to more than 60 deaths may be most prolific serial killer in U.S. history — Samuel Little drew their portraits in paint and in pencil, filling out the contours of the faces of women he said he killed over nearly four decades. — He recalled the color …

Discussion: ABC News and NPR

Jonathan S. Tobin / National Review:

The Stacey Abrams Myth Becomes the Democratic Catechism — Democratic presidential candidates continue to swear her race was stolen. — Stacey Abrams's refusal to lose the Georgia gubernatorial election graciously was one of the low points of the 2018 midterms.

Barbie Latza Nadeau / The Daily Beast:

Eric and Donald Trump, Jr. Still Have Not Paid Irish Bar Tab — When Donald Trump's sons Eric and Donald, Jr. went on their Irish pub crawl last week and offered free rounds for the house, they failed to pay the tab, according to at least one pub owner. Caroline Kennedy …

Discussion: Breitbart and The Irish Post