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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - April 26, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- Five states have primaries today: Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are both looking to sweep these states to cement their status as the presumptive nominees. According to Ballotpedia senior writer James Barnes, the "Acela Primary" states do not have a “GOP establishment that is very influential, and thus, little ability to help rally opposition to Donald Trump. In Wisconsin, Trump’s last primary setback, the GOP apparatus was much more potent and much of it lined up against the party’s frontrunner.” In the Democratic contest, Bernie Sanders may perform well in Rhode Island where independents are allowed to vote in the either primary. (Ballotpedia)
Polls
- In a USA Today/Suffolk University national poll released on Monday, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders by five points, 50 percent to 45 percent. According to the pollsters, “Even if Clinton clinches the nomination, 54% of likely Democratic voters say he should continue his campaign until the convention, no matter what. That includes not only seven in 10 of his supporters but also four in 10 of her backers.” In the Republican race, Donald Trump maintains a double-digit lead with 45 percent to Cruz’s 29 percent. “Seven of 10 Trump backers say a candidate with who has clear lead in delegates, even if it's not a majority, should be nominated … Just one in four of those supporting Cruz or Kasich share that view,” the survey found. (USA Today)
- In general election matchups, Sanders won by wider margins than Clinton against the Republican candidates. Kasich also topped Clinton by 5 points:
- Clinton (49 percent) vs. Cruz (42 percent);
- Clinton (50 percent) vs. Trump (39 percent);
- Kasich (46 percent) vs. Clinton (41 percent);
- Sanders (50 percent) vs. Cruz (38 percent);
- Sanders (44 percent) vs. Kasich (43 percent);
- Sanders (52 percent) vs. Trump (37 percent). (Suffolk University)
- Trump has reached 50 percent support in an NBC News/SurveyMonkey national poll released on Tuesday, claiming the top spot by a margin of 24 points over Cruz. “Overall, this week's 6-point swing — Trump up 4 points, Cruz and Kasich down 2 points — is the biggest weekly shift in the poll so far. Combined with his significant win in New York, Trump's rise nationally could be an early sign of consolidation within the Republican Party,” the pollsters noted. (NBC News)
- According to a national survey of young voters conducted by the Harvard Institute of Politics, 18- to 29-year olds support Clinton by a decisive margin over Trump, 61 percent to 25 percent. (Harvard Institute of Politics)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- While campaigning in Delaware on Monday, Hillary Clinton criticized Donald Trump for living a lifestyle that has left him removed from the concerns of average Americans. She said, “I have said, 'Come out of those towers named for yourself and actually talk and listen to people.' You know, at some point, if you want to be president of the United States, you gotta get familiar with the United States. You gotta spend time with Americans of all sorts and backgrounds in every part of our country.” Clinton continued, “Don't just fly that big jet in and land it, go make a big speech and insult everybody you can think of and then go back, get on that big jet, and go back to you know your country club house in Florida or your penthouse in New York.” (Politico)
- Clinton released a new ad, “Love and Kindness,” in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Connecticut media markets on Monday. It features a montage of images including Clinton meeting with the mother of Sandra Bland, the civil rights leader and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), and former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). (The New York Times)
- U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said on Monday that although it was “flattering” that the media was speculating that he was a contender for Clinton’s vice presidential pick, he was not interested in the role. "I've made it clear I don't really want this job," he said. (CNN)
- When asked during a televised town hall on MSNBC if she would pledge to fill her cabinet with an equal number of men and women, she said, “I am going to have a cabinet that looks like America, and 50 percent of America is women, right?” (MSNBC)
- The Baltimore Sun endorsed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary on Monday. Clinton “has offered solid policies on the issues Americans care about: income and wealth inequality; job creation and the problems faced by working families in a changing economy; the need for federal investment in cities and the nation's crumbling infrastructure; and strengthening U.S. national security to meet the challenges posed by China's growing military might, a resurgent Russia and new threats from rogue states and terrorist organizations. On all these issues Ms. Clinton has advanced realistic, well thought out proposals whose details make sense both as sound policy and as good politics,” the editorial board wrote. (The Baltimore Sun)
Bernie Sanders
- Bernie Sanders was one of 17 U.S. senators who declined to sign a letter advocating for an increase in the amount of military aid given to Israel. The country currently receives $3 billion per year, more than any other nation. (Salon)
- During a televised town hall on MSNBC on Monday, Sanders said that it would be “very hard” for him to win the Democratic nomination if he were behind in pledged delegates. “Hundreds of hundreds of superdelegates, parts of the Democratic establishment, voted for Hillary Clinton, or chose to come on board her campaign, before I even announced my candidacy,” he said. Sanders added, however, "Those people have the right to rethink the decision that they made." (NBC News)
- Sanders said on Tuesday morning that he would give “very serious thought to” selecting a woman to be his running mate. Although he said that it was “a little too early to be speculating“ about individual candidates, Sanders added, “I think, as you know, there are people in life today, Elizabeth Warren, I think, has been a real champion in standing up for working families, taking on Wall Street. There are other fantastic women who have been active in all kinds of fights who I think would make great vice presidential candidates." (Politico)
Republicans
- After the agreement between Ted Cruz and John Kasich to each strategically target certain states was publicized on Monday, The New York Times noted that neither candidate was embracing tactical voting. Kasich told reporters that his supporters “ought to vote for me” in Indiana. He added, however, that he would not be “out there campaigning and spending resources.” Cruz’s campaign also privately rejected the idea of tactical voting. “We’re simply letting folks know where we will be focusing our time and resources,” read a talking point from the Cruz campaign. (The New York Times, The Hill)
Ted Cruz
- ABC News reported on Monday that Ted Cruz’s campaign has begun to vet potential vice presidential picks. “Any responsible candidate just a couple of months out from the convention would begin that process. We’ve begun examining both a long list and now a shorter list that has been called. And that naturally includes a vetting process. At this point, no decisions have been made in terms of who a nominee would be. Or what the timing would be of the announcement,” Cruz said on Monday. Carly Fiorina is among those being vetted, according to her senior adviser Sarah Isgur Flores. (ABC News)
- On Monday, the Texas Democratic Party filed a complaint on Monday alleging that Cruz’s campaign broke campaign finance law when Cruz campaign bundler Keet Lewis told attendees of a fundraiser in December 2015 to donate the maximum amount to Cruz’s campaign and then contribute to the super PAC Stand for Truth. Lewis told Politico three weeks ago that he did not consider himself to be an agent of Cruz’s campaign. (The Houston Chronicle, Politico)
- Cruz joined 82 U.S. senators on Monday in signing a letter urging President Barack Obama to agree to a new defense aid package for Israel that is higher than the current $3 billion per year. (Reuters)
John Kasich
- The editorial board of The Baltimore Sun endorsed John Kasich on Monday. “In a GOP presidential field whittled down to three, there is only one candidate who comes anywhere close to following this formula — Ohio Gov. John Kasich. The former House Budget Committee chairman has run on a platform that, while perhaps more conservative than Mr. Hogan's, has at least approached issues more rationally than his more flamboyant opponents Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz. That Governor Kasich recognizes that climate change is real and a problem, for instance, has demonstrated that at least he is not science-averse,” they wrote. (The Baltimore Sun)
- U.S. News & World Report profiled Kasich’s hometown of McKees Rocks in western Pennsylvania on Monday. G. Terry Madonna, the director of the College Poll at Franklin & Marshall College, noted the area leans Democratic. He added that in the Republican race, the high level of poverty in the region suggested an outsider candidate like Donald Trump would perform better than native son Kasich. (U.S. News & World Report)
Donald Trump
- Politico reported on Tuesday that Donald Trump has returned some authority to campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as internal misgivings with convention manager Paul Manafort’s publicity and delegate strategy grow. One “operative pointed out that since Manafort joined the campaign, it has continued to struggle to keep pace with Cruz’s superior operation to recruit delegates free to back their preferred candidate if a first ballot at a contested convention yields no nominee. Citing Trump’s poor showing in delegate battles over the weekend in Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, South Carolina and Utah, the operative said ‘this is the narrative that Trump has tried to get away from and that was supposed to be Paul’s job,’” wrote Politico’s Kenneth Vogel and Eli Stokols. (Politico)
- Ken McKay, the former manager of Chris Christie’s presidential campaign, joined Trump’s delegate operations team on Monday. (The New York Times)
- Trump issued several personal attacks against Ted Cruz and John Kasich on Monday after reports of their alliance to block him from receiving delegates was announced. Trump criticized Kasich for eating in “a disgusting fashion” and called him “1 for 41,” referring to his sole primary win in Ohio. Discussing Cruz, he said, “He doesn’t know anything about the economy. He doesn’t know anything about jobs. He was a failed senator; he couldn’t get anything passed.” Commenting on their alliance, he added, “You know, if you collude in business or if you collude in the stock market, they put you in jail. But in politics — because it’s a rigged system, because it’s a corrupt enterprise — in politics, you’re allowed to collude.” (The Blaze)
- The Washington Post reported on Monday that Trump would personally meet with delegates from California and Virginia at state party conventions this week. He is also scheduled to deliver the keynote speech kicking off California’s event. (The Washington Post)
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
