Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - January 12, 2016
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- On Monday night, Fox Business Network announced which Republican candidates qualified for the network’s January 14 presidential debate. Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump will participate in the primetime debate. Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul and Rick Santorum qualified for the undercard debate. (FOX News)
- Paul issued a statement following Fox Business Network’s announcement regarding the January 14 debate lineup, confirming he would not participate in the undercard debate. He said, “Polls are at best an estimation, and include a standard of error that the media and the RNC are ignoring. A poll number of five is no different than a poll number of 8 if the standard of error is +/- 3. To exclude candidates on faulty analysis is to disenfranchise the voter. Creating ‘tiers’ based on electoral results of real votes might make sense but creating ‘tiers’ on bad science is irresponsible.” (Rand Paul for President)
- Two more staffers have separated from Ben Carson’s campaign, it was announced on Monday. The campaign’s general counsel, Michael Zarlenga, and the operations director, Renee Burchard, reportedly left because of “allegiances” to Carson’s former campaign manager, Barry Bennett. (Bloomberg)
- Poll: In a Monmouth University poll released on Monday of likely Republican voters in New Hampshire, Donald Trump leads with 32 percent. Ted Cruz and John Kasich follow with 14 percent each. Marco Rubio is the only other candidate registering double-digit support at 12 percent. (Monmouth University)
- Poll: Trump leads Cruz 31 percent to 29 percent in Iowa, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Monday. Marco Rubio is a distant third with 15 percent support. “The biggest loser today is former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who gets only 3 percent support from Republicans, while 26 percent say they ‘would definitely not support' him,” Quinnipiac University pollsters reported. (Quinnipiac University)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- FOX News reported on Monday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has expanded its investigation of classified information on Hillary Clinton’s private email server to include “the possible intersection of Clinton Foundation donations, the dispensation of State Department contracts and whether regular processes were followed.” Clinton denied the report on Monday, saying, “No, there’s nothing like that that is happening.” (FOX News)
- On Monday, Clinton announced a new element of her tax plan: a 4 percent surcharge on individuals who make $5 million or more. “Under her plan, marginal tax rates on the highest-earning households would return to levels that haven’t been reached since 1986, before the last major revamp of the U.S. tax code,” The Wall Street Journal reported. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Clinton called for an end to deportation raids of undocumented immigrants fleeing violence in Central America and increased funding for immigration attorneys to handle these asylum cases. “Our immigration enforcement efforts should be humane and conducted in accordance with due process, and that is why I believe we must stop the raids happening in immigrant communities," Clinton said in a statement on Monday. (The Huffington Post)
Martin O’Malley
- Although Martin O’Malley accepted the “No Labels Problem Solvers Promise … to work across the aisle on at least one of the group's policy initiatives in their first 30 days if elected,” he questioned Donald Trump also taking the pledge. “When Donald Trump says things like, ‘Let’s issue an ID card for all Muslim Americans,’ that’s not bringing people together, that’s not solving problems. That’s called making a fascist appeal,” O’Malley said. (The Hill)
Bernie Sanders
- Commenting on the shrinking margin between him and Hillary Clinton on Monday, Bernie Sanders said, “Secretary Clinton and her campaign is [sic] in serious trouble. And I think a candidate who was originally thought to be the anointed candidate, the inevitable candidate, is now locked in a very difficult race here in Iowa and in New Hampshire.” (CNN)
- On Monday, Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver dismissed Clinton’s criticism of Sanders’ record on gun control because she “has been all over the map on guns.” He said, “I think her argument would be much more compelling if she had a consistent record on this issue." (CNN)
- Sanders tacitly criticized Donald Trump’s birther arguments during a campaign visit to a high school in Iowa on Monday. He said, “As I mentioned to you earlier, my father was born in Poland. Like Obama, I am the son of an immigrant father. Nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate. Maybe it's because of the color of my skin being different than Obama's.” (UPI.com)
Republicans
Jeb Bush
- On Tuesday, The New York Times profiled Jeb Bush’s unsuccessful 1994 run for governor of Florida in its series on the early political races of the 2016 presidential contenders. Bush said of that campaign, “I could have won had I shared who I was, given people a sense that I was there to serve. You can’t offer up a five-point plan — as I did in 1994 — when not enough people can say: ‘I know this guy. He’s a good guy. He cares about me.’” (The New York Times)
- While campaigning in South Carolina on Saturday, Bush drew a larger crowd than he has in recent months with 500 attendees. CNN reported on Monday, “Bush typically draws between 100 and 200 people at his town halls so staffers had to search for extra seats. It was the fourth night in a row that Bush aides had to find more seats for a larger-than-expected crowd during a packed swing through New Hampshire and South Carolina – two states that Bush is counting on to propel his beleaguered campaign forward.” (CNN)
- In an online video released by Bush’s campaign on Monday, a father of a child with cerebral palsy offers his opinion of Donald Trump and his apparent mocking of a reporter with a physical disability last November. After describing Trump’s conduct as “not presidential,” the man says of Bush, “Jeb — it comes across that he's a caring man. He is sincere. Many people said he's the steady hand, and that's somebody we need in the White House.” (Business Insider)
- In an interview on MSNBC on Monday, Bush said Republicans should focus on how they would alleviate poverty or whether Hillary Clinton is “trustworthy,” rather than the “sexual misdeeds” of her husband, which are not “very relevant.” He added, “Bill Clinton's not running for president. Hillary Clinton is.” (RealClearPolitics)
- Pro-Bush super PAC Right to Rise released an ad for the Iowa, South Carolina, and digital markets comparing Marco Rubio to a weather vane in the wind on immigration. “He supported his own Dream Act and then he abandoned it. Marco Rubio: Just another Washington politician you can’t trust,” the ad’s narrator says. (Fox News)
Ben Carson
- When asked what he thought of President Obama’s plan to leave a seat empty during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Ben Carson said on Monday, “I wonder if the American people are concerned about that kind of symbolism, or are they concerned about the safety of their family members when they sit around the table at nighttime to eat dinner?" He continued to say that the U.S. was too concerned with “fancy symbolisms” rather than the “the number of infiltrations particularly at our Southern border” by terrorist cells. (Business Insider)
Chris Christie
- Chris Christie vetoed a law on Monday that “would have assigned police officers to work from child welfare offices and accompany employees on potentially dangerous home visits.” Christie called the objective of the bill “commendable,” but considered it too expensive to implement. (NJ.com)
- In an interview that aired on MSNBC on Monday, Christie attacked Marco Rubio for his attendance record in the Senate. He said, “The truant officer is out looking for him,” before comparing Rubio’s absence during the spending bill vote last month to him skipping his State of the State address in New Jersey on Tuesday. (Politico)
Ted Cruz
- U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Tex.) endorsed Ted Cruz on Monday. He said in a statement, “It is time. We need a real conservative in the White House who is a man of principle that can help get this country back on track.” (The Texas Tribune)
- Cruz will not attend President Obama’s final State of the Union address on Tuesday. “He's going to be in New Hampshire, working hard to win New Hampshire. No disrespect. It just is going to work out this way,” said a campaign spokesman. Cruz will be the only U.S. senator running for president absent from the event. (Newsweek)
- At least eight super PACs are now supporting Cruz, creating confusing for potential donors, according to The Washington Post on Monday. Stand for Truth, the largest new super PAC, is expected to launch a $4 million ad campaign in Iowa and South Carolina. (The Washington Post)
Carly Fiorina
- While campaigning in Iowa on Monday, Carly Fiorina highlighted her commitment to protecting religious liberty. She said that “government cannot intrude on a person's religious liberty unless it can prove a compelling interest in imposing that burden and do so in the least restrictive way.” Fiorina continued, “This is about religious liberty, not about discrimination.” (The Des Moines Register)
Jim Gilmore
- Jim Gilmore again failed to qualify for either the primetime or undercard portion of the next Republican debate on January 14. (FOX News)
Mike Huckabee
- Mike Huckabee announced endorsements from several high-profile Christian spiritual and business leaders on Monday, including Tim LaHaye, the author of the Left Behind series, and Art Ally, founder of the mutual fund company Timothy Plan. (Mike Huckabee for President)
- Huckabee criticized federal funding of Planned Parenthood on Monday by comparing it to the Powerball lottery. He posted to Facebook, “The media seems consumed with this Powerball lottery. Yes, this jackpot could make someone very rich, but here's a SHOCKING fact the media won’t report: Planned Parenthood receives more taxpayer funds each year than a $900 million Powerball winner takes home! What are Republicans doing in Washington? Planned Parenthood shouldn’t be getting rich with a taxpayers-funded jackpot every year. It’s time we burn down the corrupt Washington political machine and end abortion in America.” (Facebook)
John Kasich
- New Day for America, a super PAC backing John Kasich, released a white paper on Monday arguing that Donald Trump’s policy proposals will cost between $735 billion and $935 billion. The Hill reported, “The majority of the plan's expense would come from deporting the 11 million undocumented immigrants in America, something Trump has repeatedly pledged to do. That goal, along with other law enforcement-based goals Trump has trumpeted, would cost as much as $619 billion, according to the group.” (The Hill)
- In response to his rising poll numbers in New Hampshire, Kasich said on Monday, “If I come out of New Hampshire as a big story, I think I will be the nominee and I think I have an excellent chance to be president. All of a sudden, I'll have name ID, I'll be able to raise the money, people will be more willing to help me." (CNN)
Rand Paul
- Rand Paul continued his questioning of Ted Cruz’s eligibility to run for the presidency on Monday, saying, “Cruz is a natural-born Canadian. He was naturally born there. The question is, can you be natural-born Canadian and natural-born American at the same time? Maybe, but I think the courts will have to decide it, because it's never really been decided." He also expressed concern that Democrats could launch a legal battle against Cruz. “It is not me, it's whether or not Democrats pursue it – and I think they will,” Paul said. (CNN)
- Describing how he can appeal to independents who do not fit into any one political party, Paul mentioned his foreign policy approach, saying that “we're the one candidate that doesn't want to make the sand glow in the Middle East; we don't really want to carpet-bomb cities, thinking that somehow killing civilians is going to allow for less terrorism.” In the interview with Reason, Paul also discussed his concerns with the Federal Reserve and frustration with the polling in this election cycle. (Reason)
- Elise Jordan, Paul’s foreign policy adviser, has left her campaign post to work for NBC News and MSNBC as a political analyst. (Politico)
Marco Rubio
- Marco Rubio is expected to command television in Iowa this month, accounting for one-third of all political ads there leading up to the caucuses on February 1. Together, Rubio’s campaign and super PAC will have spent more than $5 million on the ads. (The Des Moines Register)
- After it was reported on Monday that Rubio would miss a closed-door Senate hearing on North Korea to attend a fundraiser in Miami, Rubio’s campaign postponed the fundraiser to avoid the scheduling conflict. (CNN)
Donald Trump
- With the partial intent to damage Donald Trump’s chances of winning the Iowa caucuses, the League of United Latin American Citizens has launched a $300,000 campaign to increase the turnout of Latino voters in Iowa from 1,000 in 2012 to 10,000 this year. (BuzzFeed)
- On Saturday, some Iowa voters received a robocall from the white nationalist American National Super PAC in support of Trump. “I urge you to vote for Donald Trump because he is the one candidate who points out that we should accept immigrants who are good for America. We don’t need Muslims. We need smart, well-educated white people who will assimilate to our culture. Vote Trump,” says a white supremacist in the robocall. Trump has previously rejected endorsements from white nationalist groups. (Jezebel)
- In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Monday, Trump said he would reduce funding for the Department of Education and the Environmental Protection Agency. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Trump renewed his feud with FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly on Monday, writing, “@megynkelly recently said that she can’t be wooed by Trump. She is so average in every way, who the hell wants to woo her!” (Business Insider)
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
