Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - February 21, 2019

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February 21, 2019

Gillibrand and Harris expand campaign teams   February 21, 2019: Sen. Cory Booker has locked down support from Democratic officials at the federal, state, and local level in his home state of New Jersey. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Kamala Harris have both brought on new national and early state staffers. Share the latest from the campaign trail.         Notable Quote of the Day "I think there's an exhausted majority out there, looking for something bold but normal. It's putting guard rails around capitalism, it's not rejecting capitalism and doing a demolition job." – Jim Kessler, Third Way vice president of policy Democrats The Democratic National Committee will ask all candidates to sign an affirmation form stating they “are a member of the Democratic Party, will accept the Democratic nomination; will run and serve as a member of the Democratic Party." The affirmation form follows from a rule passed last year. Sen. Cory Booker will announce home state support Thursday with endorsements from every Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation. He is also backed by Gov. Phil Murphy, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, the state Senate president, and the state Assembly speaker. Former U.S. Housing Secretary Julián Castro will travel to Iowa Thursday, marking his first visit to the state as a presidential candidate. Castro also appeared on a segment of WBUR’s Here and Now, where he discussed immigration, Medicare for All, low-income housing, and his Catholicism. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard discussed her position on Syria and why she does not call Bashar Assad an enemy of the state during an appearance on The View. “An enemy of the United States is someone who threatens our safety and our security. There is no disputing the fact that Bashar al-Assad in Syria is a brutal dictator. … My point is that the reality we are facing here is that since the United States started waging a covert regime change war in Syria starting in 2011, the lives of the Syrian people have not been improved." Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand added two new staffers to her Iowa operation: Casey Clemmons as her Iowa caucus director and Haley Barbour as political director. Sen. Kamala Harris expanded her campaign staff, bringing on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 state director in Nevada and Colorado, Emmy Ruiz, as a senior adviser. Missayr Boker and Julie Chávez Rodriguez are also joining the campaign as co-national political directors. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ fundraising haul increased to $6 million in the first 48 hours of his presidential campaign. He tweeted that 225,000 individuals had contributed. Republicans Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld was interviewed on Bloomberg Television where he eschewed the moderate label. “I want the government out of your pocketbook and out of your bedroom. That remains my view,” Weld said. The Republican National Committee brought in $15.5 million in January, more than double the $6.5 million that the Democratic National Committee raised over the same time period. On the Cusp: Tracking Potential Candidates The Associated Press reported that advisers to former Vice President Joe Biden (D) reached out to former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) in December about the possibility of him joining a ticket with Biden. Rep. Tim Ryan (D) said his fellow party members were coming off as hostile to business. “You can be hostile to greed, you can be hostile to income inequality, you can be for raising raises … but you can’t be hostile to businesses because 98 percent of businesses are small business people,” Ryan said. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) will speak at the Politics & Eggs breakfast at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics Feb. 25. What We’re Reading CNN: Democrats getting less white, more educated, more liberal Newsweek:  Oregon Getting Close to Becoming First State to Change Legal Voting Age to 16 Politico Magazine: If Dems Don't Buck This Historical Trend, Trump Could Win in 2020 Flashback: February 21, 2015 Ronna Romney McDaniel was elected to chair the Michigan Republican Party. In her acceptance speech, she set the 2020 presidential election as a target. No Republican presidential candidate had won the state since 1988. Trump went on to win the state by roughly 10,000 votes.