Presidential

As part of its 45th season premiere, Saturday Night Live put together its own Democratic Town Hall, lining up a cast of surprise celebs and past players to appear as the 2020 candidates, drawing on moments from town halls that were held over the summer.

Chloe Fineman, one of SNL’s recent new hires, had an impressive debut as spiritual self-help guru Marianne Williamson, while Maya Rudolph won the most laughs with her Kamala Harris schtick. Larry David returned as Bernie Sanders, Kate McKinnon as Elizabeth Warren, along with Alex Moffatt’s Beto O’Rourke, Colin Jost’s Pete…

Leah Stokes, a political scientist at the University of California at Santa Barbara, also told me that the poll’s findings are in line with other research. “Climate policy is very popular,” she said. “If you highlight the cost, it’s less popular. If you highlight new taxes, it’s less popular. But if you highlight job creation or the air-pollution benefits, it’s more popular.”  

She added that many climate policies are especially favored now because the public tends to take views opposite those of the sitting president, a concept known as thermostatic public opinion….

Most of us can identify a standard commercial and we usually know someone is trying to sell us something. But what happens when the “product” is a political candidate and the “ad” is a tweet, or Facebook post?

In her new book “Political Brands,” Stetson University law professor and campaign finance expert Ciara Torres-Spelliscy says that candidates are increasingly using commercial techniques like repetition and micro-targeting in order to sell themselves and their policy positions.

Torres-Spelliscy says President Trump used political branding successfully…

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, on Wednesday tweeted he was available to play brother, Julian, on “Saturday Night Live” following SNL’s failure to include his brother, the only Hispanic Democratic presidential contender, in its sketch about 2020 White House hopefuls.

“Hi @nbcsnl, I’m available next time you need someone to play Julian Castro. I get mistaken for that guy all the time. #SNL #Castro2020,” Joaquin Castro said.

The sketch, titled “Impeachment Town Hall,” included spoofs of Beto O’Rourke, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders.

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard – previously a lone holdout among the crowded field of 2020 presidential hopefuls – says she has changed her mind about an impeachment inquiry after reading the transcript of President Donald Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urging the foreign leader to help with looking into claims against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

“Up to this point, I have been…