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Alex Burns
@alexburnsNYT
, 7 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
NEW: How Joe Biden’s $200,000 speech helped rescue a powerful Republican in Michigan

A former VP, a lucrative speaking gig on GOP turf and a lawmaker who both championed funding for cancer research — and helped devise a bill gutting Obamacare

nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/…
Biden worked w/Upton in 2016 on medical research funding. People involved in the event said Upton had no role in Biden's invitation.

But an Upton family foundation helps underwrite the speaker series & VP's contract specifies it would be an R-heavy crowd.
nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/…
Local Dems were stunned by VP's remarks, as was Upton. Upton referenced them in a debate & they appeared in GOP advertising.

Dem county chair who attended speech pleaded w/Biden aide – w/o success – to get the VP to back Upton's challenger, @MattLongjohn. nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/…
The episode captures so many of the dynamics swirling around Biden as he weighs a 2020 decision, including his aspiration to restore a golden age of bipartisanship, his genuine affection for some Rs & his efforts to amass wealth after leaving office
nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/…
It also gives us our 1st rough estimate of what Biden has earned in paid speeches. His fee in Michigan was $150k plus a $50k travel allowance. His reps at CAA previously offered a $100k rate to Univ of Utah, calling it a discounted college rate. nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/…
Biden aides wouldn't address whether those are standard rates for college and non-college paid speaking. But if they were – and that's a big if – he would have earned somewhere between $4-5 million in speaking fees since leaving office. nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/…
Here's an Upton campaign mailer (left) and a pro-Upton group's digital advertising (right) using Biden's remarks
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Alex Burns
@alexburnsNYT
Columnists often project their own interests and views onto voters. But this, from Andrew Sullivan, is so wildly detached from the lived reality of anyone involved in or reporting on, or in many cases voting in, the 2018 election.
You can argue that tribalism is a defining force - or the defining force - in American politics without making the kind of claim that suggests you’ve never talked to an undecided voter or visited a competitive congressional district or state.
(Re-reading it, the rhetorical choice to group health care — a life-or-death or bankruptcy-threatening issue for millions — with relatively abstract debates about “norms” and the executive branch is probably the most revealing part.)
Read 3 tweets
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Alex Burns
@alexburnsNYT
And if you think it’s important not to normalize aberrant behavior by politicians, don’t complain that reporters are taking note of this because it’s not what Trump does
Also, it’s the press’s job to fight for transparency. Local media often lacks the megaphone national media has in that fight. It’s a good thing when bigger outlets pay attention to this stuff, in general.
And at least as far as NY-based outlets go, the attention to AOC on this front is not unique — ask any NYC mayor. Heck, ask the current mayor who recently lost a big disclosure fight in court.
Read 3 tweets
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Alex Burns
@alexburnsNYT
Caricaturing concerns about the spread of deliberate misinformation – like, say, Sandy Hook conspiracy theories – as a demand to "blacklist people I don't like" is about as intellectually dishonest as it gets
This is obviously bad-faith media bashing, of the kind that I normally try not to engage – there are good-faith complaints about the press that are far more worthwhile. But the debate about Infowars is important & the idea that it just presents a different point of view is wrong.
This @McCormackJohn thread was persuasive to me – if there's an argument against banning Jones, it's not about intellectual diversity
Read 4 tweets

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Kavanaugh's mother (judge) ruled against accuser's parents
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Hey #Michigan!
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THREAD of ALL of them with photos, Twitter & Websites.
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Lori
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I don't have it in me to turn this into a full fic, so here. We're gonna do this on a thread. Imagine, if you will, piano man Scott Moir, dicked over by his record label, lost everything, finally taking a job in a dive playing for tips. Which he gets, because he's GOOD.
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@painefultruths
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@RAMRANTS
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