Origin of the term
 
Rogers was writing of the 2004 Senate election in Illinois:
 
“”Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That's crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% crazification factor in any population.

The Associated Press @AP
 
Worried that impeachment talk could spoil Thanksgiving dinner? An etiquette coach suggests setting aside a room for such discussions and designating a calm relative as a moderator. http://apne.ws/f2fxW7f

Mass for Shut-ins (is a podcast) @edburmila
 
The conventional advice is “Avoid politics at thanksgiving" but as a political scientist I advise you go hard. Point out all the social welfare programs your relatives are on. When your uncle says “it’s illegal to say merry Christmas in New York” call him a fucking moron.

Challenge your Dad to a fistfight the second time he brings up Hunter Biden. When your grandma starts bitching about immigrants, tell her you tried to organize an intervention for her pill problem but couldn’t find 4 people who want her to live.  
 
Be great. Hold nothing back.

When your high school friend brings up the constitution, remind him that he got a D in 9th grade civics. Ask your “all lives matter” cousin if he has had any luck getting his ‘97 Mitsubishi Eclipse pregnant. Shatter a glass for effect.
 
Holding our tongues got us where we are.

He told Patrick earlier this year that it was likely “too late” for him to secure “money and talent” if he jumped in the race.  
Occasionally, he can be cutting. With one candidate, he pointed out that during his own 2008 campaign, he had an intimate bond with the electorate, especially in Iowa, that he no longer has. Then he added, “And you know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden.”

Back when Sanders seemed like more of a threat than he does now, Obama said privately that if Bernie were running away with the nomination, Obama would speak up to stop him. (Asked about that, a spokesperson for Obama pointed out that Obama recently said he would support and campaign for whoever the Democratic nominee is.)

Over the past year, Obama and his closest advisers were clinical in their assessments of the candidates. They discussed doubts about Kamala Harris’ appeal to African Americans. Obama was deeply skeptical about the prospects of Mayor Pete Buttigieg. During their West End meeting, he was complimentary about Steve Bullock’s record as a governor and frank about his challenges: “Nobody knows who you are,” he told him.
 
When it comes to Sanders, I asked one close adviser whether Obama would really lay himself on the line to prevent a Sanders nomination. “I can’t really confirm that,” the adviser said. “He hasn’t said that directly to me. The only reason I'm hesitating at all is because, yeah, if Bernie were running away with it, I think maybe we would all have to say something. But I don't think that's likely. It's not happening.” (Another close Obama friend said, “Bernie's not a Democrat.”)
 
As for Warren, the candidate who has tried to bridge the worlds of Sanders and Obama, Obama’s relationship with Warren is famously complicated. Back in early 2015, when Warren was considering running for president and started to excite progressives, Obama said privately that if Democrats rallied around her as their nominee it would be a repudiation of him—a clear sign that his economic decisions after the Great Recession had been seen as inadequate. There are very few former senior Obama officials in Warren’s campaign.
 

Over the next year, Obama, according to his closest advisers, will start to emerge with slightly bolder colors. The boldest might be riding into a battle unfolding on his own side, if he did lead a potential stop-Bernie campaign. But absent that unlikely development, one adviser suggested that Obama could also be pulled into the primary and forced to play a major role if Democrats failed to pick a nominee before the convention. “The only kind of wrench in this, and I have not discussed this with him, is like what happens if we have a brokered convention?” the adviser said.

Giuliani was in talks to be paid by Ukraine’s top prosecutor as they together sought damaging information on Democrats

President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, negotiated earlier this year to represent Ukraine’s top prosecutor for at least $200,000 during the same months that Giuliani was working with the prosecutor to dig up dirt on vice president Joe Biden, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The people said that Giuliani began negotiations with Ukraine’s top prosecutor, Yuri Lutsenko, about a possible agreement in February.

[...] For Lutsenko, the agreement would have provided a pipeline to Trump’s lawyer and, through him, potentially to other top U.S. officials. For Giuliani, the agreements would have been a way to accrue financial benefit from a person who was also providing him politically damaging information that could help another client, the president of the United States.

The agreements were never executed and there is no indication that Giuliani was ultimately paid by Lutsenko or other Ukrainian officials. But the negotiations proceeded far enough that a series of legal agreements were drafted under which Giuliani’s company would have received more than $200,000 to work for the Ukrainians, people familiar with the agreements said.

Some versions of the agreements envisioned Washington husband-and-wife lawyers Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova, also playing a role and receiving payment.