* It’s still weird that Sen. Bernie Sanders, stoked for another run at the Democratic presidential nomination, still can’t actually call himself a “Democrat.”
* We all know the pragmatic reality: If the Democrats had a sure-fire, baggage-free, kick-ass candidate who could go after Trump as well as rally all Dem troops for the progressive cause, we wouldn’t have nearly two dozen, formally-declared candidates.
* But say this forCaliforniaSen. Kamala Harris: She made good use of her Senate Judiciary Committee forum in her questioning of Attorney General William Barr. Most senators come equipped with staff-prepared queries. But staff can’t prepare ad hoc follow-ups, which she is really good at. Her prosecutorial chops were more than a match for Trump-surrogate Barr, who seemed more DOJ grunt than grandee. Presidential candidate Harris’ persistent probing–OK, “performance”–does make you fantasize how she would handle the pompous, sophomorically-spoken, detail-challenged Trump one on one.