Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - April 25, 2016
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Monday's Leading Stories
- The campaigns of Ted Cruz and John Kasich issued statements on Sunday night announcing that they would focus on different states to limit the number of delegates that Donald Trump could receive in upcoming primaries. “To ensure that we nominate a Republican who can unify the Republican Party and win in November, our campaign will focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Gov. Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico,” Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe said in a statement. John Weaver, Kasich’s chief campaign strategist, similarly said, “Due to the fact that the Indiana primary is winner-take-all statewide and by congressional district, keeping Trump from winning a plurality in Indiana is critical to keeping him under 1,237 bound delegates before Cleveland. We are very comfortable with our delegate position in Indiana already, and given the current dynamics of the primary there, we will shift our campaign's resources West and give the Cruz campaign a clear path in Indiana." (Politico, CNN)
- Shortly after, Trump tweeted in response, “Wow, just announced that Lyin' Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!” He continued in another tweet, “Lyin' Ted and Kasich are mathematically dead and totally desperate. Their donors & special interest groups are not happy with them. Sad!” (CNN)
- Cruz supporters have won at least 65 of the 94 delegate slots decided over the weekend, including 19 of 20 in Maine and 36 of 37 in Utah. Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R), a Trump supporter, condemned the result, accusing one Cruz operative of refusing to vote for a slate of delegates that reflected the results of Maine’s primary, as promised. LePage said in a statement on Saturday, "Not only are Cruz’s national campaign operatives trying to suppress delegates for Trump and Kasich, but they are also besmirching the efforts of the many good Maine Republicans who are Cruz supporters. They, too, deserve better than these devious machinations by professional political operators from the Republican establishment who are scheming to stifle the voice of Mainer voters." (Politico, Bloomberg)
- Using an executive order on Friday, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe restored voting rights in his state to 200,000 felons who have served their prison time and completed probation. Virginia Speaker of the House William J. Howell (R) said that McAuliffe had signed the order to benefit Hillary Clinton. “The singular purpose of Terry McAuliffe’s governorship is to elect Hillary Clinton president of the United States. This office has always been a steppingstone to a job in Hillary Clinton’s Cabinet,” he said. McAuliffe stated that he was motivated by a desire to address the disenfranchisement of black voters who are disproportionately incarcerated. (The New York Times, The Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Polls
- Three Indiana polls were released over the weekend:
- CBS News/YouGov found Donald Trump leading Ted Cruz, 40 percent to 35 percent. Fox News measured a slightly wider margin for Trump, 41 percent to 33 percent. In a WTHR/Howey Politics, however, Trump did not cross the 40 percent support threshold. He registered 37 percent to Cruz’s 31 percent. (CBS News, Fox News, WTHR)
- On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton held three- to five-point leads over Bernie Sanders according to polls from CBS News/YouGov, Fox News, and WTHR/Howley Politics. (CBS News, Fox News, WTHR)
- In Pennsylvania, Trump is leading by double digits. NBC/WSJ/Marist found him ahead of Cruz, 45 percent to 27 percent. Trump’s margin was even better in a CBS News/YouGov poll released on Sunday with 49 percent to Cruz’s 26 percent. (NBC News, CBS News)
- Clinton maintained her lead in Pennsylvania with 55 percent to Sanders’ 40 percent, according to an NBC/WSJ/Marist poll. CBS News/YouGov found that margin nearly cut in half, 51 percent to 43 percent. (NBC News, CBS News)
- Public Policy Polling released a series of polls on Monday tracking voters in upcoming primary states Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Trump leads the Republican field in all three states by margins ranging from 26 points to 38 points. The race is more competitive on the Democratic side. Clinton leads Sanders in Pennsylvania, 51 percent to 41 percent. She also holds a narrow lead in Connecticut, 48 percent to 46 percent. Sanders claims the top spot in Rhode Island with 49 percent to Clinton’s 45 percent. (Public Policy Polling)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- The New York Times reported on Saturday that Hillary Clinton’s campaign was beginning to consider potential vice presidential picks: “Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, former governors from the key state of Virginia; Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who represents both a more liberal wing of the party and a swing state; former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, a prominent African-American Democrat; and Thomas E. Perez, President Obama’s labor secretary and a Hispanic civil rights lawyer.” (The New York Times)
- On Saturday, Clinton questioned the genuineness of reports from Donald Trump’s campaign that Trump was evolving to be more presidential. "Well, if we buy that, shame on us. Because he already showed us what he believes, and he has already said what he wants to do, and he wants go after every one of the rights we have,” she said. Her campaign also released a video online called “Extreme Makeover,” which highlights statements that Trump has made about immigrants, national security, and abortion rights. The clip concludes with Clinton quoting Maya Angelou, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” (ABC News)
- In an interview over the weekend, billionaire and Republican political donor Charles Koch said that Bill Clinton was a better president than George W. Bush “in many ways.” He added that it was “possible” Hillary Clinton could be a better president than the Republican nominee. Asked if he could ever support Clinton, Koch said, “Well, I— that— her— we would have to believe her actions would be quite different than her rhetoric.” Clinton tweeted in response to the interview, “Not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to vote.” (ABC News, The New York Times)
Bernie Sanders
- In an interview on NPR on Saturday, Bernie Sanders campaign adviser Tad Devine said that Sanders’ campaign would adjust its approach to criticizing Hillary Clinton depending on the results of Tuesday’s primaries. "If we think we've made enough progress, then we'll keep on the path that we're on. If we think we have to, you know, take a different way or re-evaluate, you know, we'll do it then,” he said. (CBS News)
- On Saturday, Sanders surrogate Rosario Dawson referenced Monica Lewinsky while discussing how Sanders supporters were being pushed to support Clinton. “We are literally under attack for not just supporting the other candidate. Now I'm with Monica Lewinsky with this: bullying is bad,” Dawson said. When asked on Sunday if he thought it was acceptable for Dawson to invoke Lewinsky, Sanders said, “I have no idea in what context Rosario was talking about her. But I would hope that all of our people would focus on the real issues facing working people and the massive level of wealth and income inequality.” Nick Merrill, Clinton’s press secretary, said that he would "absolutely not" respond to Dawson’s statements. "You could ask the Sanders campaign why they encourage this vitriol in the vicinity of their candidate by staying silent," Merrill added. (CNN)
- When asked on Sunday why he had lost 16 of 17 primaries in states with the highest income equality, Sanders said, “Well, because poor people don't vote. I mean, that's just a fact. That's a sad reality of American society.” He continued, “And that's what we have to transform. We have one — as you know, one of the lowest voter turnouts of any major country on Earth." (Talking Points Memo)
- The Philadelphia Tribune endorsed Sanders on Saturday. The editorial board wrote, “Since his days as a student at the University of Chicago protesting against segregation in public schools in Chicago and throughout his political career, Sanders has supported policies and programs that would be in the best interest of all Americans and African Americans, specifically. He has been a consistent fighter for a more just and equitable society.” (The Philadelphia Tribune)
Republicans
Ted Cruz
- Ted Cruz restated his support on Saturday for a North Carolina bill which prohibits transgender individuals from using the public bathroom that corresponds to their gender identity. “There is no greater evil than predators and if the law says that any man, if he chooses can enter a women's restroom, a little girl's restroom and stay there and he cannot be removed because he simply says at that moment he feels like a woman, you're opening the door for predators," Cruz said. He added that although he accepted unisex bathrooms, “a women’s restroom should not be used to drive a political point by the PC police." (ABC News)
- In an interview with IndyStar on Saturday, Cruz rejected Donald Trump’s proposal to “tax the hell” out of Indiana corporation Carrier because it planned to relocate thousands of jobs to Mexico. He said, “Donald has a long history of threatening government retaliation against any company that moves jobs overseas — exactly like Obama and Hillary do. I think that's exactly backward. It is a tragedy that Carrier is moving so many jobs to Mexico, but it is responding to the disaster that is the Obama-Clinton economy. It is the federal government that has driven Carrier out of Indiana and is driving jobs away from America all across this country.” (IndyStar)
- Cruz wrote an op-ed in USA Today on Monday calling for tax reform. “Sunday was Tax Freedom Day, marking the first point in the year in which Americans have earned enough to pay their 2015 tax bill. Four straight months — that’s how long it takes for the hardworking people of this country to fund the bloated government. It shouldn’t take us a third of the year simply to pay the government, much less spend billions of hours and dollars of our time to do so. … Instead, I have proposed the Simple Flat Tax, which scraps the existing tax code and replaces it with a much simpler, fairer and more pro-growth system. It collapses the existing seven individual rates into one flat rate of 10% for everyone, abolishes the IRS as we know it, and dismantles the Washington Cartel by cutting off their access to the tax code as a political weapon. All Americans will be able to fill out their taxes on a postcard or phone app — in a matter of minutes,” Cruz outlined. (USA Today)
John Kasich
- John Kasich discussed several domestic issues during an interview with The Hartford Courant on Friday. (The Hartford Courant)
- On General Electric moving its headquarters from Connecticut to Massachusetts: “First of all, the reason why these companies are fleeing this state is because you're driving them out. It's just the way it is. You can say it's something else, you can say it's corporate greed, you can say whatever you want. The fact is, when you beat them to a pulp, they leave. I actually talked to Jeff Immelt, and they basically had had it with Connecticut. I mean I'm told every time you turn around, there's another tax increase. And the other problem is, they look to the future, how you're going to pay your bills ... they don't see a path.”
- On receiving an F and an A from the National Rifle Association: “I voted for the assault weapons ban because [I was convinced] that policemen were outgunned. We passed the bill. It had virtually no impact at all. I'm not one for putting laws on the books that have no impact. I'm a Second Amendment guy.”
- On abortion rights and the Supreme Court: “I'm pro-life except in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother. ... I think we're pretty split. I think you have about 50-50 here. I respect someone who doesn't agree with me on the issue, I just don't happen to agree with them. ... There are a lot of other issues that are critically important to women as well. Child care, early childhood, the environment, women's health ... I expanded Medicaid [in Ohio]. I'm against Roe v. Wade, but we have an appointment to the [Supreme Court] bench, which will be important. I don't do litmus tests on judges. I want a conservative judge. In terms of legislative initiatives, I have to see what comes.”
- In an interview on Sunday, Kasich said that it was “possible” that he would announce a vice presidential pick ahead of the Republican National Convention. He noted, however, “You know Reagan tried to do that in 1976. He didn’t win.” (Philly.com)
- Former U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart (R-Penn.) endorsed Kasich on Friday. She said in a statement, “From balancing the federal budget as chairman of the Budget Committee to his leadership as the governor of Ohio, John Kasich has proven he is a reformer and a champion of pro-growth and commonsense solutions. Governor Kasich’s bold ideas and ability to get things done is exactly why he is consistently projected to win against Hillary Clinton.” (Kasich for America)
- The Philadelphia Tribune also endorsed Kasich over the weekend. The editorial board said of Kasich that “a conservative who has worked with African-American state legislators on police reform is easily the best GOP choice.” (The Philadelphia Tribune)
Donald Trump
- In an interview that aired on Sunday, Donald Trump Jr. said that “Ted Cruz has no chance of winning [the Republican nomination] without bribing the delegates. That's his game at this point.” He added that his father could do the same, but such a system was undesirable. “He could send his private plane and send them down to Doral, they could play golf for a week and then we win that delegate. That's not the way this country should be run," Trump Jr. said. (CNN)
- Trump convention manager Paul Manafort also called out Cruz for suggesting that “the voting doesn’t matter.” He continued, “He's trying to say that all that matters is to destroy the party and see who can pick up the pieces on a second, third or fourth ballot. Good news for him, or for the party we’re not going to let that happen. We're going to win it on the first ballot, and it will be clear on June 7." (Politico)
- During a rally in Maryland on Sunday, Trump criticized failed political candidates for giving concession speeches where they praised their opponents after “saying horrible things, the worst things you can imagine.” If he were to lose, Trump said, “I'm not sure you're ever going to see me there. I don't think I'm going to lose, but if I do, I don't think you're ever going to see me again, folks. I think I'll go to Turnberry and play golf or something." (Business Insider)
- A man in Connecticut was arrested Saturday after tweeting to his friends that his family should be warned not to attend Trump’s rally to avoid being hurt. He also threatened, “Is someone going to bomb the trump [sic] rally or am I going to have to?" (NBC News)
- After former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer (R) recommended on Sunday that Trump select Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) to be his vice presidential pick during a segment on CNN, Trump tweeted that it was “great advice.” (CNN)
Third Party Candidates
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- Gary Johnson was interviewed on an Indiana talk radio show on Friday where he discussed how third parties are barred from participating in presidential debates. He said, “At the heart of what's wrong with presidential politics is the Presidential Debate Commission. Made up of Democrats and Republicans, they collude with one another to exculde [sic] everyone else. … I'm suing the Presidential Debate Commission. We think the Democrats, and the Republicans, sign documents with one other to exclude everbody [sic] else. We think that the media also participates in that. We think the discovery phase of this lawsuit will provide national insight into just how rigged the game is.” He also commented on same-sex marriage and states’ rights, saying, “If you're going to get government out of the business of marriage, you have to change thousands of laws, and that goes from state to state, and that's the federal government also. So the way that you accomodate [sic] not having to change any of those laws is just recognizing marriage equality.” (93.1 FM WIBC)
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
