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On the roster: Poll shows double trouble for Bernie - Time Out: Make way for the paw paw - Senate set for historic rebuke of Trump - Trumpworld faces subpoena avalanche - A crime pandemic

POLL SHOWS DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR BERNIE 

Fox News: “Sen. Bernie Sanders has some wind at his back as he makes a second straight bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. But a new poll suggests his age and self-identification as a ‘democratic socialist’ could hurt the independent senator from Vermont if he reaches the 2020 general election. An NBC News/Wall Street Journal public opinion survey tested 11 different presidential characteristics among registered voters nationwide. The most widely accepted – being an African American (87 percent said they were ‘enthusiastic’ or ‘comfortable’ with that characteristic), a white man (86 percent), a woman (84 percent), and gay or lesbian (68 percent). The least popular characteristics? Being over the age of 75 (37 percent) and a socialist (25 percent). Sanders – at 77 – is the oldest declared or potential presidential candidate in the 2020 field. And he’s been repeatedly labeled by Republicans as a socialist. Looking at possible 2020 Democratic primary voters, though, the survey suggests that self-identifying as democratic socialist is less of a liability.”

Hickenlooper’s quirky style could set him apart - FiveThirtyEight: “Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper announced on Monday that he is running for president, saying that he ‘can bring people together to produce the progressive change Washington has failed to deliver.’ … Hickenlooper’s campaign is basically starting from scratch. In early surveys of the Democratic field — which mostly reflect name recognition at this point — he is polling between 0 and 1 percent. … What Hickenlooper does have going for him is that he may be more skilled than most at getting his name out there. He’s run some of the best political ads in recent memory, including endearing spots about parking meters and his humble wardrobe, which helped him stand out in a wide-open field (sound familiar?) during his first run for mayor. … His quirky personality was his secret political weapon in Colorado, but it’s unclear how it’ll shake out on a national stage, where his demographics — older, white, male — may pigeonhole him as a retread.”

Holder is out - Fox News: “Count Eric Holder out. While the field of Democratic presidential candidates continues to expand, the attorney general during former President Barack Obama’s administration announced Monday that he won’t be running for the White House in 2020. Instead, Holder said he’ll keep battling to end partisan gerrymandering. ‘Though I will not run for president in 2020, I will continue to fight for the future of our country through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates,’ Holder wrote in an opinion piece in the Washington Post. He emphasized that his party’s top priority is to make ‘sure a Democratic president is sworn in on Jan. 20, 2021. I will do my part to help make that possible, while leading an effort to ensure fairness in our democracy.’ … Last month, Holder kept alive speculation about a 2020 bid with a trip to Iowa, the state that votes first in the presidential caucus and primary calendar.”

Inslee’s super PAC gets ads going in Iowa - The Hill: “A super PAC backing Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) will begin the first major television advertising blitz of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday, just as Inslee begins his first trip to Iowa as a candidate. The group, Act Now on Climate, will spend more than $1 million on television and digital advertising, a spokeswoman told The Hill. The television spots will run for two weeks, beginning in Iowa on Tuesday before broadening to national cable networks on Wednesday. … Act Now on Climate was formed late last month by a former top official at the Democratic Governors Association, Corey Platt, and Christy Setzer, a longtime Democratic strategist. The group has raised more than $1 million so far, money they plan to plow into the early blitz.”

Read this: ‘Andrew Cuomo’s Case for 2020 – No, Really’ - Atlantic: “Here’s how Andrew Cuomo ends our first interview at the beginning of January, sitting in a chair in his office, after eating cookie No. 4 from the tray his staff prepared. [Journalist Edward-Isaac Dovere] put a simple question to him: ‘Would you like to be president?’ He dodges it over and over by talking about how much he wants to do his job as governor well. Finally he says, Well, Joe Biden is running anyway. … A Cuomo interview is a manic chess game. It’s hard not to feel his hand trying to guide every move, constantly recalculating and recalibrating, and going off the record to embellish a point or ingratiate himself. It’s also hard not to feel his actual hand: Sort of for emphasis and sort of for dominance, he’ll grab a foot or knee, quickly lean forward with his big body, and stare until he’s not the one who breaks. He never wants to be the one who breaks.”

Thanks but no thanks, Bubba - AP: “Nearly 20 years after he left the White House, Bill Clinton is still sought after for advice by some Democrats running for president. But the names on his dance card in recent months underscore how much his standing in the party has changed. So far, none of the party’s early front-runners has had a formal meeting with Clinton. Nor have the women who are running in the historically diverse primary field. Instead, Clinton has spoken mostly with male candidates who are considered longshots for the Democratic nomination, including Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Housing secretary Julian Castro and former Maryland Rep. John Delaney.”

THE RULEBOOK: MONEY MOVES 
“The ability of a country to pay taxes must always be proportioned, in a great degree, to the quantity of money in circulation, and to the celerity with which it circulates.” – Alexander HamiltonFederalist No. 12

TIME OUT: MAKE WAY FOR THE PAW PAW 
Atlantic: “In 1916, agricultural experts voted the pawpaw the American fruit most likely to succeed, ahead of blueberries and cranberries. But today most people have never even heard of it, let alone tried it. What is the pawpaw, and how did we forget it? … The pawpaw belongs to a family of tropical fruits called custard apples, and its cousins are popular throughout Central and South America. … What, then, is the tropical pawpaw doing so far north—and why has it been overlooked? The answer to the first question is simple, according to Andrew Moore, the author of Pawpaw: In Search of America’s Forgotten Fruit: It was likely transported from the tropics in the intestines of very large animals. … The answer to the second question is more complex. … According to Devon Mihesuah … the pawpaw was not only enjoyed as food, but also valued as the raw material for products as diverse as head-lice shampoo and ropes. … ‘I’m not sure that it’s been forgotten. I think it’s been ignored, disliked, and unavailable,’ [Mihesuah said.]”

Flag on the play? - Email us at HALFTIMEREPORT@FOXNEWS.COM with your tips, comments or questions.

SCOREBOARD
Trump job performance 
Average approval:
 43.2 percent
Average disapproval: 53.4 percent
Net Score: -10.2 points
Change from one week ago: up 2.4 points 
[Average includes: NBC/WSJ: 46% approve - 52% disapprove; Fox News: 46% approve - 52% disapprove; Gallup: 44% approve - 52% unapproved; CNN: 42% approve - 54% disapproval; Quinnipiac University: 38% approve - 57% disapprove.]

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SENATE SET FOR HISTORIC REBUKE OF TRUMP 
NYT: “Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, said on Sunday that he would support a resolution that would overturn President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border, appearing to provide the crucial vote needed for the Senate to pass the measure. ‘I stand with the president often, and I do so with a loud voice,’ Mr. Paul wrote in an opinion piece published late Sunday on Fox News’s website. ‘Today, I think he’s wrong, not on policy, but in seeking to expand the powers of the presidency beyond their constitutional limits.’ ‘I cannot support the use of emergency powers to get more funding’ for a wall along the border with Mexico, he wrote, ‘so I will be voting to disapprove of his declaration when it comes before the Senate.’ Mr. Paul joins three other Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — in backing the resolution. His support appears to provide the slim majority Democrats need to send the measure to the president’s desk, offering a stinging repudiation of the declaration.”

Pergram: Behind the scenes on the Senate vote on the Trump emergency - Fox News: “The decision by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to vote in favor of blocking President Trump’s national emergency declaration for the border sets two things in motion on Capitol Hill: 1) It all but guarantees passage of the resolution overturning the declaration in the Senate. 2) It tees up President Trump’s first veto effort. The Senate math is currently 53 Republicans and 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats. All 47 Democrats are expected to vote in favor of the resolution, including Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va. When asked last week how he'd vote, Manchin told Fox he’d vote yes. Manchin also cited the fact that he now held the seat of the legendary, late Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd, D-W. Va. Byrd was very protective of Congressional prerogatives. He was also a longtime chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In other words, Byrd would probably take a dim view of Manchin if he voted otherwise.”

TRUMPWORLD FACES SUBPOENA AVALANCHE 
Fox News: “House Democrats opened a huge new avenue Monday in their investigations into President Trump, with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee firing off document requests to dozens of figures from the president's administration, family and business. Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Monday the committee served document requests to 81 agencies, entities and individuals, as part of a new probe into ‘alleged obstruction of justice, public corruption, and other abuses of power by President Trump.’ In addition to the White House, Nadler is also seeking information from Trump family members, like Donald Trump Jr.Eric Trump and Jared Kushner; from former administration figures like former chief of staff Reince Priebus, former national security adviser Mike Flynn, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former spokeswoman Hope Hicks; and from Trump campaign figures like Brad Parscale and Corey Lewandowski. … The White House confirmed Monday it had received a letter from Nadler.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Nick Gillespie: ‘Trump just might have won the 2020 election today’ - Reason

Re-vote in fraud-plagued N.C. House election set for SeptemberWBTV

House Dems prepare request for Trump’s tax returns NBC News

AUDIBLE: HEY-O!
“I heard today that the president spoke for two hours so my plan here is to keep my speech short. My speech here will be shorter than a Robert Kraft visit to the Orchids Day Spa.” – Presidential Candidate Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said while speaking at the Gridiron Dinner on Saturday Night in Washington D.C.

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

A CRIME PANDEMIC 
Fox News: “A Wisconsin man's attempt to play a prank on his neighbors ended up devolving into a literal panda-monium last month after police were called to a neighborhood on a report of a suspicious animal. The Muskego Police Department told CBS58 the incident took place on Feb 22, after a resident contacted authorities to report a panda bear being spotted at the front door of a home. The caller thought it was suspicious since panda bears are not native to the Badger State. ‘It's a big teddy bear,’ the caller told the operator in a recording of the call obtained by CBS58. … Officers responded to the home and made contact with the panda bear, who turned out to be a 48-year-old resident in a costume. The man, who does not want to be identified, told CBS58 he had been asked to dog-sit at a friend's house and thought dressing up to do it would be a fun prank. … The man said he knew his neighbors had surveillance cameras and wanted to prank them by donning the $125 suit.” 

AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“In the middle ages, people took potions for their ailments. In the 19th century they took snake oil. Citizens of today's shiny, technological age are too modern for that. They take antioxidants and extract of cactus instead.” – Charles Krauthammer (1950-2018) writing for Time Magazine on January 29, 1996.

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.