Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - December 23, 2015
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Wednesday's Leading Stories
- FOX Business Network (FBN) released its criteria on Tuesday for the next Republican debate. “The primetime debate will feature candidates that place in the top six nationally, and place within the top five in Iowa or New Hampshire, while the remaining candidates will be invited to the early debate,” FBN announced. Carly Fiorina, John Kasich and Rand Paul are unlikely to qualify for the primetime debate under the new criteria. (FOX Business Network, The Huffington Post)
- Bernie Sanders wrote an op-ed in The New York Times on Wednesday calling for reform of the Federal Reserve. “We would not tolerate the head of Exxon Mobil running the Environmental Protection Agency. We don’t allow the Federal Communications Commission to be dominated by Verizon executives. And we should not allow big bank executives to serve on the boards of the main agency in charge of regulating financial institutions,” Sanders wrote. He also recommended prohibiting “commercial banks from gambling with the bank deposits of the American people” and increasing loans to “creditworthy small businesses and consumers.” (The New York Times)
- Poll: In a CNN/ORC poll released on Wednesday, Donald Trump leads the Republican field with 39 percent, which is more points than the next three candidates combined. Ted Cruz follows with 18 percent. Marco Rubio and Ben Carson tie for third with 10 percent. (CNN)
Democrats
- Reuters reported on Tuesday that several liberal and Latino activist organizations are using Donald Trump’s rhetoric on immigration to register Latino voters. Trump’s campaign chairman in New Hampshire, Fred Doucette, rejected the idea, saying, “The ones that are upset are the ones that are illegal quite frankly.” Alfonso Aguilar of the conservative American Principles Project said, however, that “Donald Trump is a political gift to the Democratic political machine.” (Newsweek)
Hillary Clinton
- In response to Donald Trump’s comment that Hillary Clinton had been “schlonged” in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s director of communications, tweeted on Tuesday morning, “We are not responding to Trump but everyone who understands the humiliation this degrading language inflicts on all women should. #imwithher.” (CNN)
- Clinton announced her plan to combat Alzheimer’s disease on Tuesday, which includes an investment of $2 billion per year in research to find a cure by 2025. (The Huffington Post)
- When asked what she would say to “disillusioned” Bernie Sanders’ supporters, Clinton said on Tuesday, “I think it's very dangerous to look at the alternatives and believe that your staying home is a responsible choice. It's hard for me to believe that anybody who would support Senator Sanders would want to see any of the Republicans elected president of the United States. I would just ask that when this nomination is wrapped up that they come and join with us to make sure that we don't turn the White House back over to the Republicans.” (The Washington Post)
Martin O’Malley
- Martin O’Malley is scheduled to campaign in Iowa for four days following Christmas. (The Des Moines Register)
- CBS News noted on Tuesday how O’Malley’s children have become involved in his campaign, both on the trail and in the development of his policy. Grace O’Malley, a public school teacher in Baltimore, said, “It grounds my dad's work every single day as he rolls out a comprehensive debt free college plan that actually targets the cost of tuition but also outside of tuition costs. You'll see my experiences with my students mirrored in his really comprehensive policy." (CBS News)
Bernie Sanders
- Bernie Sanders’ campaign began airing TV ads in Nevada on Tuesday to broadcast Sanders’ commitment to "working families and for principle." (USA Today)
- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1837, a union representing 1,600 workers at electric utilities and broadcasting stations in New England, endorsed Sanders on Tuesday. (New Hampshire Union Leader)
Republicans
- Former Gov. Jon Huntsman (R-Utah) said he did not plan to launch a presidential bid as a Republican or independent, even though he had received “a lot” of encouragement from party members to do so. "I always want to help my country where I can, but you don't want to embark on a suicide mission. I'm not ready for a third-party run until we have a complete collapse of the Republican Party that I can still believe in,” Huntsman said. (USA Today)
Jeb Bush
- In an interview with The Huffington Post on Tuesday, Jeb Bush said his performance as a governor distinguished him from Chris Christie. “I would say it's the record of accomplishment -- my record in Florida compared to his. When people look at it, I'm a reform-minded conservative that got to do big things. He didn't. He hasn't. We were AAA bond rated. He's had credit downgrades. We led the nation in job growth. New Jersey hasn't done as well,” Bush said. (The Huffington Post)
- In response to Donald Trump saying Hillary Clinton had been “schlonged” in the 2008 Democratic primary election, Bush said on Tuesday, “She’s great at being the victim. This will enhance her victimology status. This is what she loves doing. Trump is not going to be President because he says these things, it turns people off. For crying out loud, we’re two days before Christmas. Lighten up, man.” (Talking Points Memo)
- Ten members of Lindsey Graham’s presidential operation have joined Bush’s team, including the former ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins. (Business Insider)
Ben Carson
- Ben Carson said that although he “doesn’t want to just bomb people” like fuel truck drivers indiscriminately in ISIS-controlled territory, he would not hesitate to use force. “I would just say, ‘Hey, guys, any truck coming out of there is getting bombed. So if you don’t want your people to die, don’t put them in the truck.’ You know, that makes a lot more sense to me,” Carson said. (The Huffington Post)
- According to The Wall Street Journal, “Internal campaign budget documents...show [Carson’s] political operation hemorrhaging cash. Mr. Carson’s team raised $8.8 million in October and spent $9.5 million—putting the retired neurosurgeon’s effort under water months before the first early-state voters caucus and cast ballots.” Doug Watts, Carson’s spokesman, said this apparent cash flow issue could be attributed to pre-paid costs. “You’re paying for expenses that you are incurring for future activities, for future fundraising activities or for future campaign activities,” said Watts. (The Wall Street Journal)
Chris Christie
- Chris Christie said on Tuesday morning that he has shown greater leadership than Marco Rubio in his governance of New Jersey. “When you’re governor of New Jersey, you don’t like spending, you use the line-item veto and you line-item it out and you make the argument to people. You show up and get the job done. This is an important position. You say you oppose spending but you do nothing about it. That should tell people something about what kind of effective leader someone might be. You have to figure out ways to do it. He [Rubio] should have shown up on the floor and made his case to his colleagues against that bill if he was so opposed to it. He didn’t, and that is a huge substantive difference between us,” said Christie. (Politico)
- When asked about Donald Trump’s attack on Hillary Clinton during a rally earlier this week, Christie said on Tuesday that no one “really cares whether Hillary Clinton apologizes to Donald Trump, or Donald Trump apologizes to Hillary Clinton.” He added, “They need to stop being so self-consumed and start talking about what people really want to hear, which is how we are going to keep the homeland safe and protected." (CNN)
- Christie criticized Clinton on Tuesday for stating the U.S. was where it needed to be in addressing the threat of ISIS. He said, “Here’s my suggestion to her: suspend your campaign, get on a plane to Paris, and go and look in the eyes of the families of those dead victims and tell them we’re exactly where we want to be on ISIS." (Politico)
Ted Cruz
- Ted Cruz said on Tuesday that he agreed with Donald Trump that the Republican primary would likely come down to him and Trump. “I did think it was interesting Donald said a couple of days ago that he thought that the Republican race could come down to just him and me. And I think he may well be right,” Cruz said. (The New York Times)
- The Lone Star Committee, a new tax-exempt organization, plans to spend $1 million in New Hampshire to promote Cruz and his call to return to the gold standard. (CNN)
- On Tuesday evening, The Washington Post retracted a cartoon featuring Cruz’s two daughters. Ann Telnaes, the cartoonist, defended her work, saying, “When a politician uses his children as political props, as Ted Cruz recently did in his Christmas parody video in which his eldest daughter read (with her father's dramatic flourish) a passage of an edited Christmas classic, then I figure they are fair game.” Fred Hiatt, a Post’s editorial page editor, issued the following statement: "It's generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree." (CNN, The Washington Post)
Jim Gilmore
- In a statement on his Facebook page on Monday afternoon, Jim Gilmore applauded the efforts of Muslims Facing Tomorrow for speaking out against terrorism. He said, “I am gratified that honest, patriotic American-Muslim leaders are now speaking out. It helps me in my efforts to urge those presidential candidates who are using a broad brush to condemn all Muslims, and all Hispanics for that matter, for the bad actions of others who have dishonored their culture. Our nation has always been a place of tolerance and acceptance and it should remain so, even in the face of the terrorist threat. If we turn our backs on all Muslims and all Hispanics during this stressful time, the terrorists will have scored a victory.” (Facebook)
Mike Huckabee
- Mike Huckabee criticized Hillary Clinton’s performance in last weekend’s Democratic presidential debate during a radio interview on Tuesday. He said, “Quite frankly, I thought Hillary’s best moment the entire night was when she was in the restroom, not on the stage, and maybe should’ve stayed there and it would’ve been her, perhaps, shining moment through the whole debate.” He added, “We don’t trust her, we know she’s not telling the truth. Again if I were them, I’d want to make sure that I debated at times when nobody would be likely to be watching, cause I’d be embarrassed to go out there and try to sell that load of nonsense to the American people.” (BuzzFeed)
- Huckabee described Donald Trump’s recent statement that Clinton had been “schlonged” as “earthy.” He continued, “People just want someone to say publicly at the podium what they might say at the coffee shop with three or four close friends as they huddle together, and I think to some people that's really appealing.” (CNN)
John Kasich
- While speaking in his hometown on Tuesday, John Kasich expressed support for “redistricting reform dramatically.” He said, “I think we need to eliminate gerrymandering. We've got to figure out a way to do it. We've got to be aggressive on it. We've got to have more competitive districts. That to me is what's good for the state of Ohio and what's good for the country." (Aurora Advocate, Cleveland.com)
Rand Paul
- In an op-ed for The Blaze on Tuesday, Rand Paul criticized Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio for supporting increased military spending without making cuts in the budget elsewhere. He wrote, “This March, Cruz and Rubio wanted to increase military spending by $190 million over the next two years. I called for raising defense spending by the same amount, but also proposed offsetting the hike with proportional cuts in other areas of the budget. Cruz, Rubio, and nearly every other Republican in the Senate voted against my amendment. Fiscal responsibility is apparently much easier to say than to do.” (The Blaze)
Marco Rubio
- U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) endorsed Marco Rubio on Tuesday. He said in a statement, “No candidate better understands the challenges facing our nation in the 21st Century than Marco Rubio and it's my honor to endorse him for president.” (The Salt Lake Tribune)
- Conservative Solutions PAC, which backs Rubio, released a video on Tuesday highlighting Rubio’s record against the Affordable Care Act. (The Tampa Bay Times)
- On Tuesday, Rubio defended his decision to be absent from last week’s omnibus budget bill vote. He said that “we are going to win this election, so the American people are no longer subjected to these kind of votes where the outcome is already predetermined, and at the end of the day, it’s an issue there was no transparency on.” Rubio continued, “I was doing something, and that is running for president so we don’t have to keep doing this in the future. I want to win this race so that we have a president that doesn’t force us to take the garbage that was in that omnibus that was passed last week.” (Breitbart)
Donald Trump
- The Tax Policy Center released its analysis of Donald Trump’s tax platform on Tuesday. According to the nonpartisan think tank, “His proposal would cut taxes at all income levels, although the largest benefits, in dollar and percentage terms, would go to the highest-income households. The plan would reduce federal revenues by $9.5 trillion over its first decade before accounting for added interest costs or considering macroeconomic feedback effects. The plan would improve incentives to work, save, and invest. However, unless it is accompanied by very large spending cuts, it could increase the national debt by nearly 80 percent of gross domestic product by 2036, offsetting some or all of the incentive effects of the tax cuts.” (Tax Policy Center)
- Trump said on Tuesday night that his use of the word “schlonged” to describe Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the 2008 Democratic primary was not “vulgar.” He tweeted, “Once again, #MSM is dishonest. ‘Schlonged’ is not vulgar. When I said Hillary got ‘schlonged’ that meant beaten badly.” Trump then pointed to the use of the word in a 1984 interview in The Washington Post. (CNN)
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
