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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - August 25, 2015
From Ballotpedia
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- In a new Gallup poll of Hispanic voters, Donald Trump registered the lowest net favorability rating of any Republican candidate at -51. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio topped the list with +11 and +5, respectively. The poll also found Hillary Clinton had a net favorability score of +40 and was the most widely known Democratic candidate. (Gallup)
- According to a new Monmouth University poll, Trump leads in South Carolina with 30 percent. Ben Carson is second at 15 percent and Bush is third at 9 percent. Lindsey Graham, a senator from the state, registered 4 percent support. (Monmouth University)
- Public Policy Polling released a poll on Tuesday finding Trump and John Kasich leading in New Hampshire with 35 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Scott Walker saw the largest drop in the state from 24 percent to 7 percent. Bernie Sanders led the Democratic field with 42 percent to Hillary Clinton’s 35 percent. (Public Policy Polling)
Democrats
Joe Biden
- CNN reported on Monday that President Obama gave his blessing to Joe Biden to run for president. (CNN)
- Although Biden will not attend the Democratic National Committee seasonal meeting in Minneapolis later this week, Draft Biden, a super PAC supporting his potential run, submitted a memo to DNC members advocating for Biden as a candidate. “Our ask for you today is not financial: we are asking you to keep an open mind and consider a Biden candidacy. Our country, the Democratic Party, and yes, the Vice President deserves nothing less. The more you consider it, the more sense it makes,” the memo reads. (Politico, Talking Points Memo)
Lincoln Chafee
- When asked if Hillary Clinton was politically vulnerable because of the investigation into her private email server, Lincoln Chafee responded on Tuesday, “Yes, obviously. It’s a huge issue. It just is, and you see it in the news and reflected in the polls. Voters want choices, and that’s what we should have, and it’s going to be six good candidates, it looks like, if the vice president gets in. … I’m proud of my record. I voted against the war. Vice President Biden did vote for it. Secretary Clinton voted for it. This is what choices should all be about. Your judgment, your character, your past record, your vision for the future.“ (The Washington Free Beacon)
Hillary Clinton
- Democratic state parties in New Hampshire, Mississippi, Virginia and Wisconsin have signed joint fundraising agreements with Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Money raised under these agreements would be placed in “Victory Funds” to be split between state parties and Clinton’s campaign. (The New York Times)
- Clinton responded to Jeb Bush’s assertion on Tuesday that Planned Parenthood was “not actually doing women’s health issues” by tweeting, “Jeb is just wrong.” She then listed the number of patients and cancer screenings Planned Parenthood handles each year. (Politico)
- USA Today released a poll on Tuesday finding Hillary Clinton with 54 percent support in Iowa, a 34-point lead over Bernie Sanders. (USA Today)
- Rasmussen Reports released a survey on Tuesday finding 46 percent of likely U.S. voters believe Clinton should suspend her campaign during the investigation into her private email server. (Rasmussen Reports)
- Lisa Changadveja has been hired to direct Clinton’s outreach to Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. (NBC News)
Martin O’Malley
- Martin O’Malley said of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, “Well, we've seen other examples of this in history, when people feel like their economic opportunities are declining, when people feel like they're not going to be able to give their children a better future. It becomes a very volatile political climate within which charlatans and unscrupulous so-called leaders can scapegoat other people and say that the reason you're not doing better is because people not like us, people like them, the others.” (Real Clear Politics)
Bernie Sanders
- Bernie Sanders said he would not change his campaign approach if Joe Biden were to run for president. “You're not going to find a guy who is more decent than Joe Biden is. I promised Joe that if he gets into the race that I will, as I have up to now, run an issue oriented campaign. Joe's views on a number of issues I suspect, I know, are different on a number of issues than mine,” Sanders said on Monday. (NBC News)
Republicans
Jeb Bush
- Jeb Bush suggested on Monday his use of the term “anchor babies” primarily referred to Asian travelers who engage in birth tourism. “What I was talking about was the specific case of fraud being committed where there is organized efforts — and frankly it’s more related to Asian people — coming into our country, having children in that organized effort, taking advantage of a noble concept, which is birthright citizenship,” Bush said. (The Washington Post)
- Columba Bush, Jeb Bush’s wife, wrote an editorial in the Las Vegas Review-Journal highlighting her work as the first lady of Florida to combat substance abuse in the state. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
- At a town hall on Tuesday, Bush said he did not believe Planned Parenthood should receive any federal funding because “they’re not actually doing women’s health issues.” (Politico)
Ben Carson
- In an op-ed for USA Today on Monday, Ben Carson argued the Black Lives Matter movement was wrong in its focus on Bernie Sanders. ”My mother knew what the problems were and she shielded me and my brother from them. I can tell you she wasn't worried about Socialist senators from tiny rural states. 'BlackLivesMatter' could learn from her to focus on the real sources of our hopelessness,” Carson wrote, before listing failing schools, violence in entertainment and federal assistance programs as the real problems. (USA Today)
- At 72 percent, Carson had the highest favorability rating of any Republican candidate, according to a new Monmouth University poll of South Carolina voters. (Monmouth University)
Chris Christie
- Chris Christie blamed President Obama for the severe stock market drop on Monday. “What’s happened is, because this president has run up more debt than any president in American history, that debt has been given to us in large measure by the Chinese,” he said. (Breitbart)
- Christie released a new ad on Monday positioning himself as a law enforcer against sanctuary cities, substance abuse, ISIS and Hillary Clinton. (YouTube)
- In an interview on MSNBC on Monday, Christie said Clinton "deserves to be pounded" for her use of a private email server. "The fact is she doesn’t think she’s accountable to the American people because she won’t answer questions," he added. (MSNBC)
Ted Cruz
- At a fundraiser in South Carolina on Monday, Ted Cruz complimented Donald Trump for what he called "shining a light” on immigration and border issues. “There have been an awful lot of Republican presidential candidates who have gone out of their way to take a stick to Donald Trump. I am not one of them,” Cruz noted. (Greenville News)
- Cruz will lead a 50-state campaign to defund Planned Parenthood beginning with a conference call with pastors across the country on Tuesday. More than 100,000 pastors received an invitation to participate in the discussion on how to “mobilize churchgoers in every congressional district beginning Aug. 30.” (Texas Tribune)
- On Monday, Cruz demanded information from the Obama administration regarding Russia’s alleged violation of a treaty covering ballistic and cruise missile use. Cruz suggested the information being withheld could impact national security and the New START arms treaty. (The Washington Free Beacon)
Jim Gilmore
- Jim Gilmore had a low net favorability rating at -17 points in a recent Monmouth University poll of South Carolina voters. (Monmouth University)
Lindsey Graham
- In an interview on CNN on Tuesday, Lindsey Graham said Republicans will lose the general election if Donald Trump wins the nomination. Graham also noted in a separate interview on Fox News that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus’ suggestion that Trump was a “net positive” for the Republican Party was “dumb.” (Daily Caller, Politico)
Mike Huckabee
- Mike Huckabee released the following statement regarding the severe market drop on Monday: “You don’t build a strong economy by empowering Washington-Wall Street elites at the expense of American workers on Main Street and sadly the chickens are now coming home to roost for the Obama administration and its failed economic policies. It’s time to build America’s economy, not China’s or Mexico’s and quit importing cheap labor and exporting jobs overseas, driving the wages of American workers lower than the Dead Sea! As president, I’ll implement the FairTax to let workers keep their entire paycheck and bring trillions of dollars in offshore investment and manufacturing back to the U.S., growing our economy and creating good jobs and real prosperity for American workers.” (Breitbart)
John Kasich
- According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, John Kasich’s approval rating in Ohio is at an all-time high of 61 percent. (Quinnipiac University)
- Former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) endorsed Kasich on Tuesday. “We need his keen budget mind in the White House to help get our federal budget reined in. His long experience on national security and foreign policy is just as critical," Lott said in a statement. (CNN)
Bobby Jindal
- Bobby Jindal wrote an op-ed in Forbes on Tuesday arguing that Obamacare has made healthcare “unaffordable” and Scott Walker’s healthcare proposal would contribute to the problem. “Governor Walker’s refundable credit from cradle to grave for every American is not only a new federal entitlement program, but it guarantees that the government pays for health insurance. Any guarantee that everyone will have government funded health insurance will increase the cost of healthcare, because when government guarantees spending, the system will charge as much as possible to meet the supply,” Jindal wrote. (Forbes)
- On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast filed a request for an injunction to prevent Jindal from canceling its Medicaid contract. (The Times-Picayune)
Rand Paul
- On Monday, Rand Paul addressed the Black Lives Matter movement in a television interview with KING 5. “Do I think it's a good idea for people to jump up and commandeer the microphone? No, and I wouldn't let them take my microphone. You know things cost money, and they need to learn that things cost money, and really all lives matter. Someone said that the other day, and then they had to apologize, and it's like 'Really? You're apologizing because you said all lives matter?' But I think there are some grievances, and I think the drug war has disproportionately affected black individuals, and I'd be willing to meet with them anytime; I'd be willing to sit and have a forum with them. I've been to 10 criminal justice forums that include many African Americans talking about all these same things, but we do it in a civil way. We don't get up there and grab someone's microphone and yell at them. And they're getting attention, but I don't know if they're making a good point,” Paul said. (KING 5)
- Paul wrote an op-ed in Breitbart to protest eminent domain and Donald Trump on Monday. “Donald Trump cannot fix our problems because he is an integral part of the problem. From using government to seize property to enrich himself, to hiring lobbyists to get what he wanted, Donald Trump has bought access to government at all levels and exploited that access for personal gain,” Paul said. (Breitbart)
Rick Perry
- Sam Clovis has resigned as the chairman of Rick Perry’s campaign in Iowa. “I feel bad for the campaign and I feel bad for Governor Perry because I think he’s a marvelous human being, he’s a great man and it was my honor to be a part of this, but it was just time to move on," Clovis said of his departure. (The Washington Post)
- Perry’s campaign has begun to pay some of its staffers again after it froze salaries earlier this month due to cash flow issues. (U.S. News & World Report)
Marco Rubio
- According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, Marco Rubio received his highest approval rating in Florida at 57 percent. (The Tampa Bay Times)
Rick Santorum
- Rick Santorum will have visited all 99 counties in Iowa by September 1, 2015. He will be the first 2016 presidential candidate to do what is called the “Full Grassley” at a pace months ahead of his successful 2012 tour of the state. (The Washington Times)
Donald Trump
- Donald Trump posted a video to his Instagram on Monday featuring Barbara Bush, Jeb Bush’s mother, stating that she did not want to see her son run for president. “I think it’s a great country. There are a lot of great families. There are other people out there that are very qualified and we’ve had enough Bushes,” she said in the clip. (Instagram)
- Trump reignited his feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly over Twitter on Monday night. He retweeted a tweet calling her a “bimbo” and suggested she take another extended vacation. Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes responded with the following statement: “Donald Trump's surprise and unprovoked attack on Megyn Kelly during her show last night is as unacceptable as it is disturbing. … I could not be more proud of Megyn for her professionalism and class in the face of all of Mr. Trump’s verbal assaults. Her questioning of Mr. Trump at the debate was tough but fair, and I fully support her as she continues to ask the probing and challenging questions that all presidential candidates may find difficult to answer. Donald Trump rarely apologizes, although in this case, he should. We have never been deterred by politicians or anyone else attacking us for doing our job, much less allowed ourselves to be bullied by anyone and we’re certainly not going to start now.” (CNN, Business Insider)
- In response to a Monmouth University poll of South Carolina Republicans, Trump tweeted, “Congrats @LindseyGrahamSC. You just got 4 points in your home state of SC—far better than zero nationally. You're only 26 pts behind me.” (CNN)
Scott Walker
- The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Anthony Scaramucci, Scott Walker’s national finance co-chairman, spoke with Donald Trump to discuss defecting to Trump’s campaign. While Trump claimed Scaramucci wanted to endorse him, Scaramucci maintained he spoke with Trump to discourage him from speaking negatively about the hedge fund industry. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Walker released the following statement regarding the stock market plunge on Monday: “Americans are struggling to cope with the fall in today's markets driven in part by China's slowing economy and the fact that they actively manipulate their economy. Rather than honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping with an official state visit next month, President Obama should focus on holding China accountable over its increasing attempts to undermine US interests. Given China's massive cyberattacks against America, its militarization of the South China Sea, continued state interference with its economy, and persistent persecution of Christians and human rights activists, President Obama needs to cancel the state visit. There's serious work to be done rather than pomp and circumstance. We need to see some backbone from President Obama in the US-China relationship.” (Vox, TIME)
- Walker hired Chris Leavitt to join his campaign in Virginia. Leavitt previously worked as the campaign manager for Ed Gillespie’s 2014 Senate campaign in the state. (Politico)
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
