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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - August 6, 2015
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Thursday's Leading Stories
- The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Bill Clinton called Donald Trump when the real estate mogul was finalizing his decision to run for president. According to The Post, “The tone of the call was informal, and Clinton never urged Trump to run, the four [Trump allies] said. Rather, they said, Clinton sounded curious about Trump’s moves toward a presidential bid and told Trump that he was striking a chord with frustrated conservatives and was a rising force on the right.” (The Washington Post)
- The first Democratic presidential debate will be hosted by CNN on October 13, 2015, in Nevada. (CNN)
- Providing a preview of what to expect in the Republican presidential debates tonight, several GOP candidates have released questions they want their rivals to answer. These include how ISIL can be destroyed without American ground forces and which candidate they admire the most. (NPR)
- Poll: A new Gallup poll released on Thursday morning shows Marco Rubio with the highest net favorability rating in the Republican field at +38 percentage points. Donald Trump ranked near the bottom of the pack with a rating of +18 percentage points. (Gallup)
- Poll: A WMUR Granite State poll released on Wednesday finds Hillary Clinton in statistical ties with Republican rivals Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker. (Newsmax, WMUR Granite State Poll)
Democrats
Joe Biden
- Rep. John Carney (D-Del.) endorsed Joe Biden's possible presidential run. According to a spokesman for Carney, “Congressman Carney hasn't made any official statements on the race but he is a longtime friend of the Biden family. If the Vice President throws his hat in the ring, the Congressman will absolutely be supporting him.” (The News Journal)
Lincoln Chafee
- According to engagement data released by Facebook on Thursday, Lincoln Chafee “generated only 330,000 interactions from 228,000 unique people.” Compare this figure to the 60,640,000 interactions Hillary Clinton generated. (CBS News)
Hillary Clinton
- The Daily Beast published a profile on Thursday of Hillary Clinton’s finance director, Dennis Cheng, who is predicted to help raise $2 billion for Clinton’s campaign. (The Daily Beast)
- During a campaign stop in Utah, Clinton praised the state legislature for passing housing and employment anti-discrimination laws covering LGBT Utahns. “I'm not so optimistic to think we can carry Utah. But I'm sure we can do better than expected,” Clinton added. She raised $300,000 during her visit. (The Salt Lake Tribune, KSL.com)
- According to The Washington Free Beacon, in May and June 2015, Clinton’s campaign consistently paid its female staffers less than male staffers. (The Washington Free Beacon)
- Clinton’s campaign released a video on Thursday calling the evening’s Republican presidential debates part of “Throwback Thursday” where “Republicans share their backward plans for America.” The video introduced the hashtag #GOPTBT. (YouTube)
Martin O’Malley
- In an interview with The Hill on Wednesday, Martin O’Malley claimed party insiders were pushing Hillary Clinton forward as the frontrunner. “There's an effort by a few insiders to try to limit the number of debates that we have and I've shared with the chair – Debbie Wasserman Schultz – that I think that’s a grave mistake and I think it's undemocratic,” O’Malley said. He added that the Clintons were part of this inside group, saying, “President and Secretary Clinton are the most colossal, prolific fundraising couple in the history of representative democracies.” (The Hill)
Bernie Sanders
- Bernie Sanders is scheduled to speak at Liberty University, an evangelical Christian university, on September 14. “Liberty University was kind enough to invite me to address a convocation and I decided to accept. It goes without saying that my views on many issues – women’s rights, gay rights, education – are very different from the opinions of some in the Liberty University community. I think it is important, however, to see if we can reach consensus regarding the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in our country, about the collapse of the middle class, about the high level of childhood poverty, about climate change and other issues,” Sanders said in a statement on Wednesday. (Bernie Sanders for President)
- Sanders charged the Republican debate tonight will be directed towards wealthy Americans rather than the middle class, saying, “Essentially, when you watch that debate, just imagine that you are one of the wealthiest people in this country and extremely greedy and selfish. You’re going to have ten candidates more or less talking about your needs and not the needs of working people.” (The Hill)
Republicans
- The Independent Journal Review released a video on Thursday featuring the pre-debate rituals of the Republican presidential contenders. (YouTube)
Jeb Bush
- Jeb Bush was endorsed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (R-Ga.) and Attorney General Sam Olens (R-Ga.) on Wednesday. Cagle said, “Governor Bush is a proven leader with the right vision and skills to strengthen our country and transform Washington. His commitment to reforming education and encouraging private sector job growth is just what we need from our next President. Now, more than ever, we need somebody that can tackle our challenges head on, bring about real solutions, and restore our faith in those elected to represent us in Washington. There’s no doubt in my mind that Governor Bush will be that kind of President and I’m proud to support him.” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Ben Carson
- Ben Carson said in an interview with FOX News’ Bill O’Reilly on Wednesday that he’s not engaging in any serious preparation for Thursday’s debate. “It's not brain surgery. I only need to talk about what's true. I don't have to try to remember talking points or the multitude of things that people have told me. I just have to talk about what's true. And I think people will see that,” Carson explained. (FOX News)
Chris Christie
- Chris Christie released a video earlier this week addressing Hillary Clinton’s support of Planned Parenthood. Speaking directly to the camera, Christie says in the video, “My position on this is clear. We defunded Planned Parenthood in New Jersey nearly six years ago and I’ve vetoed it seven times since then. I don’t believe taxpayer money should be going to Planned Parenthood. Now Secretary Clinton, why don’t you answer this question: Do you support the conduct of Planned Parenthood in the killing of children in the womb in a way that maximizes their body parts for sale on the open market? Secretary Clinton, answer that question. I just did." (Breitbart)
- The American Federation of Teachers posted a petition demanding Christie apologize for his "violent" statements earlier this week against the union. “When you go on national television and say that teachers' unions deserve ‘a punch in the face,’ you're not threatening a faceless organization. You're creating a culture of violence and intimidation that directly affects hard-working educators across America. Violence has no place in our national discourse,” the petition reads. (The Huffington Post)
- Christie disclosed his personal finances on Wednesday. He and his wife have a net worth between $1.5 million and $3.4 million. (Cleveland.com)
Ted Cruz
- In advance of Thursday night’s debate, the National Journal published a profile of Ted Cruz and his collegiate training in parliamentary debate. (National Journal)
- During a national grassroots call including more than 100 tea party leaders on Wednesday, Cruz was named as an early favorite among the conservative activist group. (Breitbart)
Carly Fiorina
- During an interview special with David Webb on Wednesday, Carly Fiorina shared personal experiences from her life and career, including memories from her childhood, reflections on a sales meeting at a strip club arranged by male colleagues “to intimidate” her, and her view on grit and determination. (Breitbart)
- Fiorina again attacked Clinton for misunderstanding technology during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Hillary Clinton, of course, doesn't understand that technology well enough to know that her sever has most assuredly been hacked, because Secret Service agents can't protect it from being hacked,” Fiorina said. (The Hill)
Jim Gilmore
- Jim Gilmore, who is set to appear in the undercard debate on Thursday afternoon, said of the primetime debate, “I think it has a possibility of being showmanship versus substance, and I am happy to be in a place where there will be substance.” (The Washington Times)
Lindsey Graham
- Responding to President Obama’s Iran deal speech on Wednesday, Lindsey Graham said, “It just goes to show you how delusional, naive and uninformed our president is about the world. This is the man who tells you the Iran deal is good.” (Mediaite)
Mike Huckabee
- Mike Huckabee released a question to his competitors in advance of the debate on Thursday night. “The Supreme Court is not the Supreme Being. So, do you believe that the recent ruling on same-sex marriage is the law of the land?” Huckabee asked. (Facebook)
Bobby Jindal
- Bobby Jindal released an ad on Wednesday targeting Hillary Clinton for “evolving” in her support of Planned Parenthood. (Breitbart)
- The Believe Again super PAC will run an ad in Iowa on Thursday night during the primetime debate to promote Jindal. “The debate in Cleveland is all about a celebrity, but one candidate is moving up where it counts, in Iowa: Bobby Jindal,” the ad states. (The New York Times)
- Jindal’s administration is privatizing the management of family and medical leave programs for state workers in nine agencies. (KLFY News)
George Pataki
- George Pataki continued to criticize the primetime debate criteria, saying on Wednesday, “I think it's wrong that TV decides who is a credible candidate. It's all about name recognition at this point and if you're the host of a reality TV show or the relative of a president, your name recognition is going to be up there.” David Catalfamo, an advisor to Pataki, said, “We are not going to disappear from the scene. I’m fairly satisfied that through what we do at 5 p.m. and after, we will have opportunities to talk to Americans equally or more so than the ones in the later debate.” (Newsday, The Wall Street Journal)
Rand Paul
- Rand Paul blamed the media’s “billion dollars worth of” coverage of Donald Trump for his dominant performance in polls. "I've really had a little trouble getting traction with getting the message out. You have to admit that there's been an extraordinary amount of attention paged to one person and I think anybody's numbers would rise with that amount of attention,” Paul said on Thursday morning. (CBS News)
- Paul introduced several amendments to S 754 - Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act to better protect the privacy of Americans’ records, including those held by third parties. (U.S. Senator for Kentucky, Rand Paul)
- Vincent Harris, the CEO of the political strategy firm supporting Paul’s campaign, said he will focus advertising on Twitter tonight. ”Whereas almost everyday during the election cycle Twitter might be a second or third platform, on debate night it’s certainly going to be the No. 1,” Harris said. (Wired)
Rick Perry
- Rick Perry highlighted his job creation and economic record during an exclusive interview with Breitbart on Thursday. “Freedom from over taxation and freedom from over regulation will work everywhere – this is not Texas centric. A president who is committed to devolving power out of Washington, D.C. and back to the states, I think, is a breath of fresh air,” Perry said. (Breitbart)
Marco Rubio
- Marco Rubio attacked President Obama’s new “Clean Power Plan” on Wednesday at a welcome rally in Cleveland. Claiming “we are tying our own hands” with new regulations governing carbon emissions, Rubio added, “The world won't get any cooler. The seas won't get any lower. It will only increase the cost of living in this country.” (Cleveland.com)
Rick Santorum
- Rick Santorum said Thursday morning the Republican National Committee was doing a “disservice to the American public” by organizing the debates as it has. “Well, I just think when you have an abundance of riches like we do in the Republican Party, you look at the fact that we have over a dozen candidates who are clearly very qualified, competent leaders, the fact that we are arbitrarily limiting that debate is I just think a disservice to the American public. And if I was the Republican Party, I would be boasting about our riches, not trying to cull the field by debate rules,” Santorum said. (Mediaite)
Donald Trump
- New York Magazine reported on Wednesday that Donald Trump’s large campaign machine “has descended into civil war.” The strife includes a disagreement between Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, over his comments on Mexican immigrants. (New York Magazine)
- According to The Washington Post, Trump’s net favorability has significantly risen over time and provides a sharp contrast to his more stagnant Republican rivals. (The Washington Post)
- Karl Rove published a scathing op-ed in The Wall Street Journal highlighting the contradictory policy positions Trump has taken in the past two decades. (The Wall Street Journal)
Scott Walker
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
