Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - August 19, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Friday's Leading Stories
- The Clinton Foundation announced on Thursday that it will no longer accept foreign and corporate donations if Hillary Clinton is elected president. Regardless of the election outcome, it will also stop holding an annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting. The Associated Press reported that “Bill Clinton said the foundation plans to continue its work, but intends to refocus its efforts in a process that will take up to a year to complete. The former president...said he will resign from the board, and the foundation will only accept contributions from U.S. citizens and independent charities.” The charity organization has been under scrutiny for previously accepting contributions from countries with a history of human rights violations like Saudi Arabia. (The Associated Press)
Polls
- In a national Pew Research Center poll released on Thursday, Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump in a four-way race, 41 percent to 37 percent. Gary Johnson registered 10 percent support and Jill Stein 4. The Washington Post noted that the poll showed an optimism gap between Clinton and Trump supporters. “Asked whether the next generation could expect life in the United States to be better or worse, a plurality of supporters of Hillary Clinton said better. A majority — two-thirds — of Donald Trump supporters said worse,” The Post reported. (Pew Research Center, The Washington Post)
- Clinton and Trump are tied in Georgia with 43 percent each, according to a new poll from Opinion Savvy. (Opinion Savvy)
- In a Suffolk University poll of Nevada voters released on Thursday, Clinton held a narrow lead over Trump, 44 percent to 42 percent. “Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, accounts for nearly 70 percent of the statewide vote, and Hillary Clinton’s lead there is the reason she is winning the state,” said the poll’s director, David Paleologos. (Suffolk University)
Democrats
- U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will launch Our Revolution next Wednesday, an organization seeking to convert the support for Sanders’ presidential campaign into an increase in the number of progressive candidates elected in November. (The Hill)
Hillary Clinton
- Hillary Clinton met with top law enforcement officials in New York City on Thursday in a closed-door session to discuss policing and race relations. “It's obvious that recent events — from Dallas and Baton Rouge to Milwaukee and across the country — underscore how difficult and important the work is ahead of us to repair the bonds of trust and respect between our police officers and our communities. We have to be clear-eyed about the challenges we face. We can't ignore them, and certainly we must not inflame them,” she said. (The Washington Post)
- WIRED endorsed Clinton on Thursday, marking the technology magazine’s first presidential endorsement. Editor-in-chief Scott Dadich wrote in an op-ed, “Her vision is bright and forward-looking; Donald Trump’s is dark and atavistic. She’s qualified, she knows the material; Trump is all bluster. We happen to believe that for all the barbs aimed at Hillary Clinton—the whole calculating, tactical, Tracy Flick enchilada—she is the only candidate who can assess the data, consult with the people who need to be heard, and make decisions that she can logically defend. Sure, she’s calculating. She’s tactical. There are worse things you can ask of a person with nuclear codes.” (WIRED)
- The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing in September where they will question the FBI on allegations that Clinton committed perjury when testifying about her private emails server. FBI Director James Comey is expected to be a witness. (USA Today)
- The Clinton Foundation hired security firm FireEye to determine whether its systems had been compromised after it was discovered that the same techniques used to hack the Democratic National Committee were attempted against the foundation. (Reuters)
Republicans
- Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) will fundraise for gubernatorial candidate Chris Sununu in New Hampshire at the end of the month, signaling to some an interest in a 2020 presidential election bid. (Cleveland.com)
Donald Trump
- During a rally in North Carolina on Thursday, Donald Trump expressed regret for hurtful comments he has made throughout the election cycle. “Sometimes, in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that, and I regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues,” he said. The New York Times said the words were a reflection of the influence of Trump’s new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. Trump also discussed creating a “New American future” and asked black voters to consider him supporting him. “What do you have to lose by trying something new?” Trump said. (The New York Times, ABC News)
- Trump tweeted on Thursday morning, “They will soon be calling me MR. BREXIT!” While the exact meaning of this tweet is unclear, TIME noted that the Trump campaign recently hired marketing firm Cambridge Analytica, which worked on the Brexit campaign. (TIME)
- According to The News & Observer, Hillary Clinton has 19 campaign offices across North Carolina, while Trump currently has none in the key battleground state. Trump spokesman Kirk Bell announced on Thursday that “the North Carolina team has acquired new field operatives and will shortly announce the opening of campaign offices across North Carolina.” Politico reported, however, “Interviews with more than a dozen North Carolina operatives and lawmakers reveal that Trump has failed to consolidate the Republican base in North Carolina. Worse, according to these sources, he is particularly driving away female and independent voters who are crucial in Republican-leaning suburbs, such as Apex, outside of Raleigh.” (The News & Observer, Politico)
Third Party Candidates
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- While participating in Fusion’s Libertarian Presidential Forum on Wednesday, Gary Johnson expressed opposition to hate crime laws. He said, “Look, I am scared to death regarding hate crime legislation. You’re talking about me throwing a rock through someone’s window. I should be prosecuted on throwing the rock, not my thoughts that motivated me throwing the rock through that window.” Johnson’s running mate, Bill Weld, took a different position. “Yeah, I don’t know. I think a burning cross on the lawn of a black church–you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know there is an overtone there,” Weld said. (Fusion)
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
