Biden, Bernie drop the gloves in foreign policy fight

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2020 Democrats criticize US airstrike, Biden calls attack ‘hugely escalatory move’ in region

Sen. Bernie Sanders says President Trump’s actions now put us on the path to another war; reaction and analysis from ‘Fox and Friends’ host Brian Kilmeade.

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On the roster: Biden, Bernie drop the gloves in foreign policy fight - Pompeo nixes Senate run, sets off GOP scramble - McConnell ready to roll without trial deal - Peak Russia 

BIDEN, BERNIE DROP THE GLOVES IN FOREIGN POLICY FIGHT
USA Today: “Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who have built their campaigns appealing to opposite ends of the Democratic voter spectrum, have sharpened their focus on what they may believe is comfortable political ground after a U.S. airstrike killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. … Biden was scheduled to make a ‘foreign policy statement’ in New York on Tuesday afternoon after questioning whether Trump has a plan following the death of Soleimani during comments at a private Manhattan fundraiser Monday night. … Meanwhile, Sanders, an independent from Vermont, has increasingly gone on the attack against Biden by name, calling his record ‘weak’ and placing foreign policy atop his critique. ‘Joe Biden voted and helped lead the effort for the war in Iraq – the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in the modern history of this country,’ Sanders said in an interview with CNN…”

Bloomy: No regrets over Iraq war backing - LAT: “With U.S. and allied forces bracing for renewed military conflict in the Persian Gulf, Democratic presidential candidate Michael R. Bloomberg said Monday that he had no regrets over supporting the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. ‘I don’t live in a regret world, and I didn’t make the decision,’ the former New York mayor told The Times in an interview in downtown Los Angeles. Bloomberg recalled that most Americans supported President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ‘America wanted to go to war, but it turns out it was based on faulty intelligence, and it was a mistake,’ Bloomberg said after celebrating the opening of his campaign office near Pershing Square. ‘But I think the people that made the mistake did it honestly, and it’s a shame, because it’s left us entangled, and it’s left the Middle East in chaos through today.’”

Dems face Friday deadline to qualify for next debate - Politico: “The Democratic presidential debate stage is set to shrink again next week. Only five candidates so far have earned spots in the Jan. 14 CNN/Des Moines Register debate in Iowa: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Tom Steyer, Andrew Yang and Cory Booker will all watch from the sidelines unless they see polling surges before Friday’s deadline to qualify. Faced with this potential winnowing of the field, the Democratic National Committee has come under new criticism — especially from the candidates on the chopping block. They pointed to a smaller number of polls over the eight-week qualifying period — which included lengthy breaks over both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays — and a weeks-long early state polling drought, urging the DNC to make the polling thresholds more lenient.”

Scant congressional support reflects unsettled Democratic race - McClatchy: “Three swing-state House members backed Joe Biden’s presidential campaign over the weekend, lifting his number of congressional endorsements to 31, more than double the amount of any 2020 rival. But with just four weeks to go until the Iowa caucuses, most of their Democratic colleagues are choosing to stay on the sidelines. By comparison, Hillary Clinton had secured 181 congressional endorsements by the first week of January 2016, an overwhelming show of force that solidified her as the party’s frontrunner. Biden, who leads national polls of the 2020 primary race, isn’t even at a fifth of that total. It’s a reflection of the extremely cautionary approach elected officials are taking in a still-unsettled campaign. … While four of Biden’s congressional supporters have come in the past week, the reluctance of a majority of Capitol Hill Democrats to pick a favorite by this point in the race demonstrates their uncertainty about a field without a clear-cut frontrunner — and a calculation that staying neutral is the safest bet.”

The nuts and bolts of Iowa’s unusual process - WaPo: “Iowa is an odd place to begin for a number of reasons, but, this year, it’s odd for three particular reasons. The first is that it has caucuses, not a primary… The second is that the results this year may not lend themselves to the sort of clear so-and-so-won narratives to which we’ve gotten accustomed. The third? It’s a state that doesn’t reflect the diversity of the Democratic electorate, muddying the extent to which one can learn from its lessons. … If a candidate fails to earn 15 percent of the total at the site, supporters of that candidate will be asked to choose someone else to support. That process continues until a candidate reaches the level of support necessary to earn delegates… In past years, the total level of support statewide … has been reported as the result. … This year, though, the party will release another datapoint, the first-round levels of support for each candidate. In other words, we could see multiple candidates come out of Iowa claiming a victory…”

THE RULEBOOK: SHIVER YER TIMBERS
“A definition of felonies on the high seas is evidently requisite. … The meaning of the term, as defined in the codes of the several States, would be as impracticable as the former would be a dishonorable and illegitimate guide.” – James Madison, Federalist No. 42

TIME OUT: PRALINES’ LOUISIANA ROOTS
The Atlantic: “When [Myles Poydras] began to research the praline’s origin story, reading food-history books, cookbooks, and academic articles about colonial Louisiana, [he] saw a story of black pastoral brilliance. Retracing these threads allowed [him] to recognize all the cultural influences that played a factor in the innovation of the candy in the American South. The original praline was a 17th-century French dessert described as ‘almonds coated in boiled sugar.’ The southern candy is a riff on this formulation and is markedly different from its contemporary European counterpart, which can be any kind of nut boiled in sugar… The praline that emerged in the South in the 1800s — as a result of colonialism — featured pecans and sugar, and was bonded with a heavy milk. Enslaved black women were responsible for those improvisations, which were made after French settlers introduced their version in Louisiana, where sugarcane plantations were a dominant industry and pecan trees were prevalent.”

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SCOREBOARD
DEMOCRATIC 2020 POWER RANKING
Biden: 26.2 points (no change from last wk.)
Sanders: 18.6 points (no change from last wk.)
Warren: 16.2 points (no change from last wk.)
Buttigieg: 9.4 points (no change from last wk.)
Bloomberg: 5.2 points (no change from last wk.)
[Averages include: NBC News/WSJ, CNN, Quinnipiac University, USA Today/Suffolk University and NPR/PBS/Marist.]

TRUMP JOB PERFORMANCE 
Average approval: 43.8 percent
Average disapproval: 51.4 percent
Net Score: -7.6 percent
Change from one week ago: no change
[Average includes: NBC/WSJ: 44% approve - 54% disapprove; CNBC: 40% approve - 49% disapprove; CNN: 44% approve - 52% disapprove; Quinnipiac University: 43% approve - 52% disapprove; USA Today/Suffolk University: 48% approve - 50% disapprove.]

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POMPEO NIXES SENATE RUN, SETS OFF GOP SCRAMBLE
NYT: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday told Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, that he does not plan to run for Senate in 2020, most likely ending Republicans’ hopes of securing a potentially dominant candidate for the open seat in his home state of Kansas, according to four people briefed on the meeting. Mr. Pompeo, a former congressman from the Wichita area, has quietly explored a campaign for months. But in the aftermath of the military operation last week that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani of Iran, Mr. Pompeo has told senior party officials that he is ruling out becoming a candidate, according to several people who have spoken with him directly. His conversation with the majority leader, which took place in Mr. McConnell’s Capitol office… Another person briefed on the decision said it was clear it would be ‘irresponsible’ for Mr. Pompeo to leave the State Department and would not help him in any possible presidential run in 2024 as much as people had speculated it might.”

Lindsey Graham’s challenger touts latest fundraising record - McClatchy: “U.S. Senate hopeful Jaime Harrison’s campaign raised more than $3.5 million in the last quarter of 2019, another record haul for the Columbia Democrat who wants to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. In details shared first with The State, the Harrison campaign also reported it had more than $4.6 million on hand to spend entering 2020 in what is expected to be an expensive race that already has drawn national attention and donors. Graham has posted his own fundraising records in his reelection bid. Harrison’s campaign, in the last three months of the year, also raised more than any other Democratic Senate challenger in the history of the state, including himself, his campaign said. His campaign said the average contribution during the quarter was $27 from 67,000 individual donors, and 112,000 different contributions, including contributions from every county in the state.”

Ossoff gets fundraising boost in bid to challenge Perdue - AJC: “Democrat Jon Ossoff will report raising more than $1 million for his U.S. Senate bid over the last three months as he races to establish himself as the frontrunner in a contest with three other well-known contenders competing to challenge Republican David Perdue. Ossoff told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his fundraising haul includes contributions from more than 19,000 donors who made about 30,000 contributions, including roughly 96% that were under $200. He also said he added nearly 8,000 new donors who had not given to his 2017 campaign for a U.S. House seat. The Ossoff campaign did not release how much cash it has in its account. He reported in October roughly $1.3 million in cash on hand, the most of any Democratic rivals in the race.”

Trump repays Van Drew’s ‘undying support’ - Politico: “President Donald Trump will be in New Jersey on Jan. 28 for a rally in newly-minted Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew’s district. … Van Drew is not mentioned on the invitation, but he had told local media outlets that he expected Trump to come to the 2nd Congressional District. … Van Drew has three Republican opponents in the June primary, but some GOP leaders in the district have signaled a willingness to back Van Drew after Trump endorsed him. The three — David Richter, Brian Fitzherbert and Bob Patterson — have so far refused to drop out of the race. Six Democratic candidates have either said they’re running or have filed paperwork to declare their candidacies. On Monday, Amy Kennedy — the wife of former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) — became the latest Democrat to join the race.”

Dems get recruit for open Washington House seat - The [Tacoma, Wash.] News Tribune: “Former state Rep. Kristine Reeves announced Monday she is running to succeed U.S. Rep. Denny Heck in the 10th Congressional District, declaring ‘it’s time to break the gridlock and end the stranglehold of special interests in Washington, DC — to put people first.’ Reeves, a Federal Way Democrat, served in the state House from 2017 until her resignation last month. She is director of economic development for the Military and Defense Sector in the state Commerce Department. Heck announced late last year that he will not run for re-election, saying the discourse in Washington, D.C., had left him feeling discouraged. In an interview, Reeves emphasized that she’s a working mother with two young children who during her three years in the Legislature has emphasized investing in education and making ‘life a little easier for middle-class families.’”

MCCONNELL READY TO ROLL WITHOUT TRIAL DEAL
WaPo: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told his Republican colleagues during a closed-door lunch that he has the votes to begin President Trump’s impeachment trial with just opening arguments and questions from senators, and with no deal on witnesses. The vote to start the trial would be held after the House sends over the articles of impeachment.”

Trump’s legal team has plan in place - Politico: “Coordinating over the past month, the White House counsel’s office and the president’s team of private lawyers have prepared a detailed legal brief pushing back against last month’s House-passed impeachment articles that seek Trump’s removal from office for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. That document, according to a person familiar with the Trump legal strategy, is modeled after one that President Bill Clinton’s lawyers submitted at the start of his 1999 Senate impeachment trial — which ended a month later with his acquittal. Trump’s lawyers have also been preparing their oral arguments — and who will give them. Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel who has written several blistering letters to Democrats critical of their efforts, is primed to have the lead speaking role and will be backed up by his top deputies, Michael Purpura and Patrick Philbin.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Justice Dept. recommends former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn serve six months in prison - WaPo

Pergram: Where Pelosi, Senate may stand with Trump impeachment trial in limbo - Fox News

AUDIBLE: WE HEARD THE JURY’S STILL OUT ON SCIENCE 
“I've got something better than data. Common sense.” – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s response when asked to back up claims that certain types of bikes were more dangerous than others.

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“Why speculate if Democrats would have gone ‘bananas’ over President Obama’s hawkish actions when evidence is plainly available? When Obama went to war in Libya without a congressional declaration of war, he violated the War Powers Resolution as he expressly understood the duties of the president (he explicitly stated so as a presidential candidate during a December 2007 interview with the Boston Globe). How many Democrats went ‘bananas’ when he sent the US to war in Libya? Sixty-one representatives with a (D) next to their name voted for Dennis Kucinich’s resolution calling for the US to leave Libya (87 Rs voted for the resolution). Hardly an overwhelming response.” – Michael Friend, Atlanta

[Ed. note: I think many – if not most – Democrats in Washington actually would have preferred if Obama had actually taken a more aggressive posture with Libya. And it was Libya that he reportedly cited to rebuff the broad bipartisan foreign policy establishment on enforcing the red line he had been pressured into setting for Syria. A big part of Obama’s presidency was trying to evade the very considerable pressures in his own party for a Wilsonian kind of internationalism – the Hillary Clinton model. Obama would have had plenty of backing in his party for a robust, NATO or UN operation and nation-building project in Libya. And many of the Republicans who backed the June 2011 resolution you mentioned did so not because Obama was doing too much, but that he was doing too little. But it’s not hard to imagine what would have happened had Obama ordered a surprise targeted strike against Iran’s top general, triggering threats of retribution from a nation with a population of California, Texas and New York combined and one that for decades has played a central role in liberal foreign policy aspirations for the region. It’s impossible to imagine Obama doing exactly as Trump in this case, but if he did, Democrats would most certainly have gone bananas. The “kinetic military action” in Libya, with its brutal yet still absurd secular dictator who was already substantially a Western client (bunga bunga parties and all that), was part of what was then still called the Arab Spring, imagined by many Democrats as the birth of liberal Democracy in the region. Iran was their long-sought partner in peace. I don’t mean to go on at your expense, Mr. Friend, but I want to make clear the importance of not being facile about foreign policy questions, especially for the purpose of scoring partisan points. Foreign policy is almost always the work of choosing the least bad options. It is almost always hard. It always produces unintended consequences. Pretending that there are easy or simple answers isn’t just unfair, it’s a great way to stumble into big mistakes.]   

“I totally disagree that Dems would have gone nuts had he decided to kill the terrorist.  I have proof that they would have been just fine with it. Obama killed hundreds with drone strikes. He attacked Libya. He killed two Americans that decided to join ISIS by droning them. Dems never said one word. I'm betting had it been Trump that took out Bin Ladin there would have been more than just a few that would have lost their non-existent minds. If you truly believe that Dems would have decried Obama killing this thug then have even more reason to suspect your political thinking.” – Ron Lawrence, Saint Cloud, Fla.

[Ed. note: Yikes, Mr. Lawrence! I won’t recapitulate the points I made above about the “smart power” Wilsonian interventionists of the Democratic Party and their different feelings about the two situations. But a couple of things: First: Do recall all of the Democratic anguishing over Obama’s kill list as well as a dose over Obama’s limited surge in Afghanistan. It was obviously more tempered than it would have been under a Republican president, but it was an obvious point of division for Democrats, one on which Obama had to be vigilant as he faced re-election. Second: You may do better in being less rancorously partisan in such matters. If you mean to persuade people, saying things like “their non-existent minds” will do you no good. Starting with the assumption that those with whom you disagree are insincere not only blocks your ears to potentially useful information but lets you and your team off the hook too easily. After all, why sincerely try persuade those who aren’t sincere themselves? Yes, partisanship is a huge factor in how much and how often people express their foreign policy views, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own beliefs. Finally, I don’t know what you find “suspect” about my political thinking, but if you think that I have no allegiance to or affiliation with any party or politician, Republican or Democrat, that’s a fact. I have a natural personal disinclination toward excessive partisanship and all other forms of mob-ism. If you’re coming here for attacks on one side or another, you will continue to be disappointed. What I hope you will find, though, is something as politically dispassionate as we can make it so that you can better see the whole of the picture.]     

“In regard to your comment about Grover Cleveland and pickled herring, I add, even God was imperfect. He made the seed too big in the avocado! (I stole that one from George Burns.) All Republicans did not go ape when Trump pulled out of Syria. Yes, a lot of them did, but I didn't see that much bother about it. I thought Trump's comments about there being other ways to be supportive than American troops being kept in war zones in the Middle East went over pretty well, at least it did with me. I do enjoy your reporting, and I do believe you do your best to show all sides and report rather than give your opinion.” – Karen Smith, Bear Lake, Utah

[Ed. note: I had never heard the one about the avocado! I love it, Ms. Smith! Plus, have you ever seen a platypus? And quite so: the GOP wasn’t completely united in its opposition to Trump on Syria, but it was a loud enough roar to get him to adjust his trajectory. Thanks for reading, your kind words and taking the time to write.] 

“I’m not sure exactly how to view your response to George Fuller on [Monday] referencing Grover Cleveland. If you are demeaning Cleveland’s appreciation of pickled herring, I would like to inform you that my tradition of welcoming the New Year could be no better without martoonis, dry roast cashews and pickled herring on club crackers.” – John Hermeling, Centralia, Ill.

[Ed. note: Many great things have come out of Centralia, Mr. Hermeling, not the least of which was Dike Eddleman and his “Centralia kiss shot.” But the revival of pickled herring as a snack is one I hope stays on your side of the Lincoln Highway!]

Share your color commentary: Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM and please make sure to include your name and hometown.

PEAK RUSSIA 
UPI: “A trio of escaped pigs wandered into a supermarket in Russia and were caught on camera raiding the liquor aisle. A video taken at the store in Tyumen, Siberia, shows the three pigs perusing the liquor aisle and knocking over bottles of cognac, which they then proceeded to lap up off the floor. Witnesses said the three pigs were found to have escaped from a nearby home. The pigs were returned to their owner unharmed.”

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“[Charles de Gaulle] said he was motivated always by ‘a certain idea of France.’ Nostalgia for that exalted status, hunger for imperial gloire, is what animates French policy today. France does not expect to rival America but to tame it, restrain it, thwart it — and to accept the world's laurels for having led the way.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing in Time magazine on March 17, 2003.

Chris Stirewalt is the politics editor for Fox News. Brianna McClelland contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.