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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - April 1, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Friday's Leading Stories
- John Kasich held a press conference on Thursday morning where he discussed why he believes that Donald Trump is “clearly not prepared” to be president of the United States. He primarily criticized Trump’s foreign policy positions, including his discussion of using nuclear weapons in the Middle East and Europe, abolishing the Geneva Convention, and rejecting NATO. “As a commander in chief and leader of the free world, you don't get do-overs. You need to be able to get it right the first time,” Kasich said. (CNN)
- Trump’s delegates from South Carolina may no longer be bound to him after he disavowed the Republican Party’s loyalty pledge this week. For decades, South Carolina has required presidential candidates to pledge loyalty to the party’s future nominee in order to qualify for the primary ballot. “Breaking South Carolina’s presidential-primary-ballot pledge raises some unanswered legal questions that no one person can answer. However, a court or national convention Committee on Contests could resolve them. It could put delegates in jeopardy,” said South Carolina Republican Party chairman Matt Moore. (TIME)
- During a campaign event on Thursday, Hillary Clinton was confronted by a Greenpeace activist calling on her to “reject fossil fuel money” in her campaign. She responded, "I do not have – I have money from people who work for fossil fuel companies. I'm so sick. I'm so sick of the Sanders' campaign lying about me. I'm sick of it.” Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill later added that Clinton, like Sanders, has received money from individuals working in the gas and oil industry rather than gas and oil companies. “Assuming they don’t believe their own candidate is bought by the fossil fuel industry, they should stop the false attacks and do what they’ve claimed the campaign is about: debating the issues,” said Merrill. (CNN)
- Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs released the following statement, in part, on Thursday: “The truth is that Secretary Clinton has relied heavily on funds from lobbyists working for the oil, gas and coal industry. According to an analysis by Greenpeace, Hillary Clinton’s campaign and her super PAC have received more than $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry. In fact, 57 oil, gas and coal industry lobbyists have directly contributed to Clinton’s campaign, with 43 of them contributing the maximum allowed for the primary. Eleven of those 53 lobbyists are working as bundlers and have raised over $1.1 million in bundled contributions between them.” (Bernie Sanders for President)
Polls
- In a national poll from the Pew Research Center released on Thursday, Donald Trump leads the Republican field with 41 percent. Ted Cruz and John Kasich follow with 32 percent and 20 percent, respectively. Only 38 percent of respondents said that they believed the Republican Party would “solidly unite” behind Trump. (Pew Research Center)
- On the Democratic side, the Pew Research Center found Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders, 49 percent to 43 percent. Sixty-four percent of respondents said that they believed Democrats would “solidly unite” behind Clinton. (Pew Research Center)
- Public Policy Polling released its findings for several head-to-head general election match-ups on Thursday, including numbers for contests featuring 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.):
- Clinton (45 percent) vs. Cruz (42 percent);
- Clinton (45 percent) vs. Romney (32 percent);
- Clinton (44 percent) vs. Ryan (39 percent);
- Clinton (48 percent) vs. Trump (41 percent);
- Kasich (45 percent) vs. Clinton (40 percent;
- Kasich (44 percent) vs. Sanders (41 percent);
- Sanders (48 percent) vs. Cruz (41 percent);
- Sanders (48 percent) vs. Romney (31 percent);
- Sanders (45 percent) vs. Ryan (38 percent);
- Sanders (48 percent) vs. Trump (40 percent). (Public Policy Polling)
- In Wisconsin, Cruz leads Trump, 42 percent to 32 percent, according to a Fox Business News poll released on Thursday. (Fox Business)
Democrats
- Discussing the Democratic primary race this week, former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was critical of the caucus process. He said in an interview with Salon, “It’s ironic that we complain about voter suppression and shortened voting times and then we have so many caucuses. The caucuses are the least democratic political operation in America. They cater to the people who have a lot of time on their hands, and what’s interesting is Sanders is the nominee of the caucuses and Hillary is the nominee of the primaries.” (Slate)
Hillary Clinton
- Priorities USA Action, a super PAC backing Hillary Clinton, released an anti-Donald Trump ad that highlights Trump’s comments about women and recent assertion that there should be “some form of punishment” for women who have illegal abortions. (The New York Times)
- Bernie Sanders’ supporters interrupted a Clinton rally in Syracuse, New York, on Thursday, chanting “she wins, we lose.” As they were escorted out of the venue, Clinton said, “I know the Bernie people came to say that. We're very sorry you're leaving. As they're leaving, I want to say I have earned 9 million votes this election already. I have 1 million more votes than Donald Trump, and I have 2 1/2 million more votes than Bernie Sanders." (Syracuse.com)
- On Thursday, former President Bill Clinton defended his decision to remain a superdelegate and not recuse himself from this year’s Democratic National Convention. He said he would vote for Sanders if he won the nomination, adding, "Last time I did what my candidate asked, I voted for Barack Obama.” (The Hill)
- Clinton is set to announce a $10 billion manufacturing plan, “Make It In America,” during a roundtable discussion in Syracuse, New York, on Friday. (Syracuse.com)
- Four of Clinton’s top aides, including her former chief of staff Heather Mills and deputy chief of staff Jake Sullivan, have hired the same lawyer to represent them in the FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s private email server. “The united front suggests they plan to tell investigators the same story — although legal experts say the unusual joint strategy still presents its own risks, should the interests of the four aides begin to diverge as the probe moves ahead,” Politico reported on Friday. (Politico)
Bernie Sanders
- Approximately 18,500 people attended Bernie Sanders’ campaign rally in the Bronx on Thursday night. “His campaign strategy for New York is to focus intensely on how his upbringing in the city and his family’s financial challenges helped shape him into a candidate intent on reforming Wall Street and addressing income inequality. He will also use his personal narrative — told through statewide advertising buys and back-to-back campaign events — to try to persuade voters that his time in the state makes him a better choice than his rival, Hillary Clinton, who is highlighting her years in the United States Senate representing New York,” The New York Times reported. (The New York Times)
- Sanders’ campaign announced on Friday that it had a record-setting month for fundraising, taking in $44 million in contributions. His total haul for the first quarter of 2016 is $109 million. (Bernie Sanders for President)
Republicans
- The New York Times reported on Wednesday that some corporations are considering decreasing donations to the Republican National Convention this year or abstaining completely from the event. Coca-Cola, for example, contributed $660,000 to the 2012 convention. This year, they have only donated $75,000 and do not plan to offer more. Bruce Haynes of the bipartisan communications firm Purple Strategies said that it was a matter of branding. “If this is going to look like 1968, there will be people that say, ‘That’s not where I want my product placement,’” said Haynes. (The New York Times)
Ted Cruz
- In several interviews this week, Ted Cruz has invoked Rule 40(b) of the Republican Party to explain why he believes only he and Donald Trump will be competing at the Republican National Convention. This regulation, which requires a candidate to have won a majority of delegates in at least eight states to compete at the convention, has only been met Trump at this point. Nevertheless, Cruz opposed changes to this and other convention rules. “I think that would be a terrible idea for the Washington power brokers to change the rules, because they’re unhappy with the candidates who the voters are voting for. It was the Washington establishment that put this rule in place. So now when the Washington establishment candidates are losing, they want to change the rules to try to parachute in some candidate who hasn’t earned the votes of the people. That is nothing short of crazy,” he said. (The Washington Post)
- In a per curiam opinion, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania denied an appeal of a lawsuit challenging Cruz’s eligibility to run for president because, the appellant asserted, Cruz is not a natural-born citizen. (Philly.com)
- Cruz’s campaign released a new ad on Thursday that features Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). “Jobs, freedom, security. That’s what’s at stake. That’s why I’m supporting Ted Cruz,” Walker says. (TIME)
John Kasich
- New Day for America, a super PAC backing Kasich, released an ad on Thursday that presents Ted Cruz as a liar. In the clip, Cruz’s nose grows long enough to wrap around his own neck. The ad is currently airing in Wisconsin as part of a $500,000 ad buy. (The Washington Post)
- Developer Rick Caruso has joined Kasich’s campaign as his California co-chair. “Caruso, best known as the developer of malls such as The Grove and The Americana at Brand, has served on the Los Angeles Police Commission and the Department of Water and Power commission. His name often surfaces as a potential mayoral candidate, although he has not thrown his hat in the ring,” CBS Los Angeles noted. (CBS Los Angeles)
- Disability Rights Ohio filed a class action lawsuit against Kasich and the state of Ohio on Thursday, alleging a failure to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the “illegal segregation of institutionalized people with disabilities.” (Cleveland.com)
Donald Trump
- Donald Trump met with Reince Priebus, the chair of the Republican National Committee, on Thursday afternoon to discuss convention rules. “The Chairman and Mr. Trump had a productive conversation about the state of the race. The Chairman is in constant communication with all of the candidates and their campaigns about the primaries, general election, and the convention. Meeting and phone conversations with candidates and their campaigns are common and will increase as we get closer to November,” said an RNC spokesperson. (CBS News, CNN)
- On Thursday, Karen Giorno, Trump’s southeast regional political director, accused Ted Cruz of making a death threat when he joked in an interview on Wednesday night, “If I were in my car getting ready to reverse and saw Donald in the backup camera, I'm not confident which pedal I'd push." Giorno said, “To be honest with you, if he wasn’t Ted Cruz he probably would be reported and investigated by the Secret Service. That’s a death threat to our nominee to be.” (CBS News, Daily Caller)
Third Party Candidates
- Fox Business Network will air the Libertarian Presidential Forum on Friday, featuring Gary Johnson, Austin Petersen, and John McAfee. (Fox Business News)
See also
- Presidential election, 2016
- Presidential candidates, 2016
- Presidential debates (2015-2016)
- Important dates in the 2016 presidential race
- Polls and Straw polls
- 2016 presidential candidate ratings and scorecards
