The whodunit over the Trump administration's "anonymous" hinges on the word "senior." The New York Times describes its mysterious Op-Ed contributor as "a senior official in the Trump administration."
The big question: But how senior is "senior"? Does the author meet what the "Morning Joe" hosts called the "household name" test? Or is this actually a swampier, murkier version of "senior"?
The guessing game raced across Washington and Wall Street:
In playing the game myself, I may have been wrong about one of the most essential assumptions:
But in the few clues the paper has given, there are real questions about whether the "household name" test will be met:
Have fun with your guessing. And please gamble responsibly.
President Trump has a sudden competitor for airtime: CNN and MSNBC covered President Obama's first 2018 campaign rally Saturday as if he were in a general-election race with his successor.
Be smart, from N.Y. Times' Adam Nagourney: "Obama’s decision to enter the fray ... could very well, as some Democrats acknowledge, energize Republican ... voters ... But he made clear his main goal [yesterday] was getting Democrats and independents, who are a big bloc of voters [in Orange County], to turn out."
What's happening: CNN ("ANY MOMENT") and MSNBC ("HAPPENING NOW") both went with empty-podium teases ahead of Obama's appearance in Anaheim, Calif., and then both used "BREAKING NEWS" tabs during his live remarks. Fox News was airing a taped show, but used soundbites later.
