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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - January 21, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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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
- On Wednesday, CNN reported that on January 14, “Intelligence Community Inspector General I. Charles McCullough III sent a letter to leaders on congressional intelligence committees “explaining that … Two government agencies flagged emails on Clinton's server as containing classified information...including some on ‘special access programs,’ which are a subset of the highest ‘Top Secret’ level of classification, but are under subject to more stringent control rules than even other Top Secret information.” Clinton responded to the report saying, "As the State Department has confirmed, I never sent or received any material marked classified, and that hasn't changed in all of these months. This, seems to me, to be, you know, another effort to inject this into the campaign. It's another leak." (CNN )
Polls
- According to a Monmouth poll released on Wednesday, Donald Trump leads Ted Cruz 36 percent to 17 percent for the Republican presidential nomination. Marco Rubio and Ben Carson follow with 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively. (Monmouth )
- Trump leads Cruz 34 percent to 14 percent among likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters. Rubio and Bush follow, each with 10 percent, according to a CNN/WMUR poll released on Wednesday. (CNN/WMUR )
- Trump leads John Kasich 35 percent to 15 percent among likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire. Cruz and Rubio follow with 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively, according to a Gravis poll released on Wednesday. (Gravis )
- Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton 46 percent to 43 percent among likely Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire. Martin O'Malley earned 2 percent, according to a Gravis poll released on Wednesday. (Gravis )
- Clinton leads Sanders 59 percent to 26 percent among likely Democratic primary voters in North Carolina. O'Malley earned 5 percent, according to Public Policy Polling. (Public Policy Polling )
- Trump leads Cruz 38 percent to 16 percent among likely Republican primary voters in North Carolina. Rubio and Carson follow with 11 percent and 8 percent, respectively, according to Public Policy Polling. (Public Policy Polling )
- In a Florida Atlantic University poll of Democratic voters in Florida released on Wednesday, Clinton earned 59 percent support, and Sanders earned 26 percent. O'Malley earned 5 percent. (Florida Atlantic University )
- In a Florida Atlantic University poll of Republican voters in Florida released on Wednesday, Trump earned 48 percent support. Cruz earned 16 percent. Rubio and Bush came in at 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively. (Florida Atlantic University )
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- According to a Pew Research Center poll released on Wednesday, “35% of voters say that Hillary Clinton would make either a good or great president, with 11% saying she would be great. More voters (44%) say Clinton would be either poor or terrible in the White House; 28% say she would be terrible. About one-in-five (18%) think Clinton would make an average president.” (Pew Research )
- David Brock, founder of “Correct the Record,” a pro-Clinton super PAC, questioned Bernie Sanders’ electability because of his connection with Socialism. Brock said on Bloomberg TV’s “With all Due Respect,” “He’s a socialist … He’s got a 30 year history of affiliation with a lot of whack-doodle ideas and parties. Think about what the Republicans will do with the fact that he’s a socialist in the fall.” Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders campaign, responded to Brock’s comments, saying, “That might be a remotely interesting observation if Sen. Sanders had not been identified as a democratic socialist thousands and thousands of times in the past year alone on television, on the Internet and in print. Despite that, polling now shows Sen. Sanders is a far stronger general election candidate against any and all the Republicans than is Sec. Clinton.” (The Wall Street Journal )
- On Wednesday, the Enterprise Freedom Action Committee, ran a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. The ad reads: “Hillary Clinton stands for a lot of things, but not the Employee Rights Act. The ERA is favored by 80% of the public––including those in union households. … Why won’t she support employee privacy and voting democracy on the job?” According to the USA Today, “The group plans to run the ad next week in the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, said Richard Berman, whose consulting firm is coordinating the advertising.” (USA Today )
- On Wednesday, Bill Clinton criticized Bernie Sanders for calling Planned Parenthood part of the “establishment.” He said, “If you elect Hillary president, it will be a great day when you stop her from defunding Planned Parenthood. Hillary Clinton does not consider Planned Parenthood a member of the establishment.” Bill also compared Hillary’s healthcare plan to Sanders’. He said, “On health care, Hillary thinks we should remember how important the Affordable Care Act is. Her opponent says, no, we should scrap that and go into a single-payer system.” (ABC News )
Martin O’Malley
- On Wednesday, American Family Voices, Courage Campaign SuperPAC, MayDay PAC and Rootstrikers released a video that features Martin O'Malley asking President Obama to sign an executive order to “require federal contractors to disclose their political spending.” In the video, O’Malley says that he would sign the executive order if he could. (Huffington Post )
- According to a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg News poll, O’Malley’s “favorability has climbed from 13% a year ago to 48% today, nearly five times the 10% of likely Democratic caucus goers who have an unfavorable opinion of him.” Jayme Neiman, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Northern Iowa, said, "One of the things that I've heard the most is, 'Even though I'm not going to vote for him for president, I'd really like to see him do something.” (USA Today )
Bernie Sanders
- On Wednesday, Bernie Sanders discussed climate change “after NOAA reported that 2015 was the hottest year on record,” according to CNN. Sanders said, "This planet and its people are in trouble. Unless we get our act together, we will see in years to come more droughts, more floods and more extreme weather disturbances. … It is absolutely vital that we act boldly to move our energy system away from fossil fuels. That's why I have proposed a comprehensive plan to put people before polluters and reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050 by putting a tax on carbon and making aggressive investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency." (CNN )
- After Clinton was endorsed by the Human Rights Fund and Planned Parenthood, Bernie Sanders said in an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday night, "What we are doing in this campaign -- and it just blows my mind every day, because I see it clearly, we're taking on not only Wall Street and the economic establishment, we're taking on the political establishment. … And so I have friends and supporters in the Human Rights Fund, in Planned Parenthood. But you know what, Hillary Clinton has been around there for a very, very long time and some of these groups are, in fact, part of the establishment. Look, I'm going to do well and hopefully not win because of establishment support." After his comments, Clinton, Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Fund all responded on Twitter. Clinton wrote, "Really Senator Sanders? How can you say that groups like @PPact and @HRC are part of the 'establishment' you're taking on? --H." Planned Parenthood wrote, "We respect @SenSanders. Disappointed to be called 'establishment' as we fight like hell to protect women's health.” The Human Rights Fund wrote, "We share @PPact's disappointment in Sanders' attacks. @HRC has proudly taken on the establishment & fought for LGBT people for over 30 years." (CNN )
- During a rally in Iowa on Wednesday, Donald Trump said, "How about this guy - this socialist Bernie sanders? This guy's a total whack job.” Sanders’ spokesman Michael Briggs responded, saying, "What's he talking about? Is health care whacko? Is he talking about making college affordable? Doing something about runaway prescription drug prices and helping seniors on Social Security? Is providing family leave for new parents something he regards as whacko? Maybe he's against raising the minimum wage or creating millions of good-paying jobs by rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges. Is addressing the planetary crisis of global warming whacko? Oh yeah. I forgot. He thinks climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese. C'mon." (NBC News )
Republicans
Jeb Bush
- On Wednesday, Jeb Bush released the ad “Election Night .” The ad depicts a Clinton-Trump general election match-up with Clinton winning in a landslide. The ad concludes by saying: "Don't panic, it's not too late to change the future. Vote Jeb.” (The Hill )
Ben Carson
- Ben Carson will resume campaigning today. He temporarily suspended his campaign on Tuesday and Wednesday after Braden Joplin, a volunteer on Carson’s team, died in a car accident that injured two other volunteers and one staffer. On Wednesday, during an interview with Fox News’ Gretchen Carlson, Carson spoke about Joplin’s death, saying, "Well, the lesson to me, and particularly to the younger people is, please don't copy my generation and become hardened and cynical and hateful with people you disagree [with]. We're all in the same boat. It doesn't mean we have to be enemies because we disagree about something. … This young man was just amazing. He was so incredibly compassionate. He cared about how other people felt. ... If everyone acted like him, we would have a lot fewer problems in our country." (New York Daily News , Business Insider )
- On Tuesday, Forbes Inc. CEO Steve Forbes said that Carson has the best tax in the Republican field. Forbes said, “The one that is the cleanest one so far has come from Dr. Ben Carson, who introduced a clean flat tax about two or three weeks ago. I’m sorry it came so late in the campaign, he got it more right than the others.” (The Daily Caller )
- When asked why his poll numbers dropped during an interview on CNN on Wednesday, Carson replied, "A lot of things happened. Paris happened, and San Bernardino happened. Plus you had, I think, an almost unprecedented attack on my character. I know plenty about foreign policy, and about national security. Probably a lot more than most of the other people running.” Carson also said that he would have handled the recent incident of Iran capturing 10 U.S. sailors and the nuclear deal differently. He said, "I'd say we hold all the cards there. I would say, I want those sailors back. And I want everybody that you're holding from us back right now or you're not getting a penny.” (CNN )
Chris Christie
- After Chris Christie “vetoed a financial aid package for Atlantic City on Tuesday,” Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts explained the veto. He said, “Atlantic City government has been given over five years and two city administrations to deal with its structural budget issues and excessive spending. It has not. The governor is not going to ask the taxpayers to continue to be enablers in this waste and abuse." (ABC 6 )
- On Wednesday, when asked by a voter why he was not “smacking” Donald Trump around, Christie replied, "I think it’s the first time in my political career people have said to me you’re not aggressive enough. You know when I will? When I think it makes sense to. … Everyone’s kind of obsessed with him. I don’t quite get it. … How many times have you people in New Hampshire turned the polls upside down. How many times? The point is that I’m not going to get obsessed with anybody at the moment except for making my presentation to you so that you don’t go to another town hall meeting and say hey I went to that Christie thing in Derry [NH] and all he did was go blah, blah, blah and he didn’t say anything. I want to convince you that I’m the guy with answers that knows how to these things.” (ABC News )
Ted Cruz
- During a campaign event in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Ted Cruz criticized the “Washington establishment.” He said, “We're seeing the Washington establishment abandoning Marco Rubio and unifying behind Donald Trump. And we're seeing conservatives coming together and unifying behind our campaign. And if conservatives unite, we win. Let me encourage other members of the establishment: Keep supporting Donald Trump. Because every time you do it, what it is doing is telling conservatives all over the country where you stand and who stands with you. The Washington establishment knows who's willing to keep the gravy train going, who's willing to keep cutting the deals and growing government." (NBC News )
- In response to attacks earlier in the week by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R), Cruz restated his opposition to the ethanol mandates that Branstad supports. "There should be no mandates, no subsidies whatsoever for any energy source, whether ethanol or oil and gas or anything else," Cruz told a crowd in New Hampshire. (Politico )
- On Wednesday, Cruz received the endorsements of three "old lions of the conservative movement," Richard Viguerie, Morton Blackwell and Brent Bozell."It’s clear cut that you are either with the establishment or you are with Ted Cruz. That is the new reality," Bozell, the founder of the Media Research Center, said in his endorsement. (Breitbart)
- During an interview on Wednesday, former Senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole said that Ted Cruz will hurt the Republican Party if he is the nominee, adding that Donald Trump is a better choice. Dole said, “I question his [Cruz’s] allegiance to the party. I don’t know how often you’ve heard him say the word ‘Republican’ — not very often. … I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress. Nobody likes him. … If he’s the nominee, we’re going to have wholesale losses in Congress and state offices and governors and legislatures.” Catherine Frazier, a spokesperson for Cruz, said that Dole’s comments are part of the “same flawed narrative the Washington establishment has unsuccessfully pushed for years. Running to the middle and nominating a moderate who will continue to bank the payroll of the Washington cartel is a losing strategy.” (The New York Times )
Carly Fiorina
- During a candidate forum hosted by Iowa Right to Life on Wednesday, Carly Fiorina “said she believes that life begins at conception and that science will support that belief,” according to the Quad City Times. Fiorina said, “I am sick and tired of being told that those of us who believe life begins at conception are extreme. … The truth is Americans have found common ground. … A vast majority of Americans now agree there’s no reason at all to permit abortions after five months (of pregnancy).” (Quad City Times )
- On Wednesday, CARLY for America, the PAC supporting Fiorina, announced that it will spend $333,087 on radio ads in Iowa. The ads will begin on Thursday and run through February 1. According to the Des Moines Register, “The ad calls Fiorina ‘an American success story’ and declares that ‘she broke the glass ceiling when she rose from secretary to CEO. … Now, Carly Fiorina is taking on the political class,’ the ad's narrator says.” (Des Moines Register )
Mike Huckabee
- While speaking to a group of veterans on Wednesday, Mike Huckabee said that the first thing he would do as president is “get down on my knees and pray.” He added, “I don’t believe this is a job that mere human brains can handle without inspiration. If you believe that a person can do this job and do it solely on his own instincts and not upon God, then elect somebody else. I’m not your guy.” (Des Moines Register )
- On Wednesday, Huckabee criticized Ted Cruz for holding “a fundraiser in the home of a gay couple in New York,” according to Newsmax. Huckabee wrote in a tweet, "I'll never play political games with my faith. We shouldn't say one thing for votes, and another for NYC money.” (Newsmax )
John Kasich
- John Kasich discussed Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Donald Trump with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday. Kasich said, "Good for Sarah, she's back in the news again. God bless her. … I always liked Sarah Palin. She speaks her mind and that's good for Donald. But here in New Hampshire, they're a lot more interested in the mayor of a small town here than they are somebody who comes from the outside." (CNN )
- During the same interview, Kasich said that it was "really fantastic" that individuals imprisoned in Iran were released, but he added, "To do somersaults over this is inappropriate. These people should never have been there. There's no reason to have some big celebration of 'We've had some big diplomatic breakthrough,' because they only released people they shouldn't have been holding in the first place." (CNN )
Rand Paul
- Rand Paul introduced two bills that “he says could help scale back spending,” according to The Hill. One of the bills “would limit authorizations to four years, though lawmakers could request a longer authorization for a specific program” and “add hurdles before Congress can authorize a new program, including identifying the objective, any areas of potential duplication with existing programs and what potential alternatives were studied.” The other bill “would require the Obama administration find $10 billion in savings by eliminating and consolidating government programs within 150 days of the legislation being signed into law.” Paul commented on the legislation, saying, "My bill will lead to real savings right away by cutting wasteful duplicate spending, which is something everyone should agree on." (The Hill )
- Paul questioned why Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump during an interview on “Kilmeade and Friends.” Paul said, “I think Donald Trump still got a long way to go to convince many of us that he is a conservative. He supposedly supported President Obama in 2008, he supported the single payer system, he supported higher taxes, gave money to Harry Reid, gave money to Charlie Rangel. So call me a conservative, a Tea Party conservative that’s not really convinced that Donald Trump is a real conservative. In many ways he may be a fake conservative because he supports the abuse of eminent domain, he built his business model on the government taking away people’s private property and giving it to him. It still boggles my mind that anybody in the Tea Party, the movement that I came out of, could really be supporting Donald Trump.” (BuzzFeed )
- On Wednesday, Paul compared Trump to “the fictional character Gollum from ‘Lord of the Rings,’” according to The Hill. In a Facebook post, Paul wrote, “One candidate on this national stage wants you to give him power. He tells you he is rich, so he must be smart. If you give him power he claims he will fix America. ... This race should not be about who can grasp the ring. Electing Gollum should not be our objective. This race should be about which candidate will best protect you from an overbearing government. … There is another tradition in America. A tradition that believes that power corrupts, and that our goal should be not to gain power but to contain power or limit Presidential power. Our founding fathers feared centralization of power. They wrote the constitution to restrain the accumulation of power by the government. Trump is ignorant of this tradition, or worse yet, he is overtly opposed to the limited government tradition. I am the only one on this national stage who really doesn't want power or dominion over you. I want to set you free, I want to leave you alone, and I want a government so small you can barely see it.” (The Hill )
Marco Rubio
- Marco Rubio and his PAC, Conservatives Solutions PAC, “have reserved and spent roughly $12.5 million both promoting the Florida senator and slashing his rivals.” According to CNN, “The ad spending provides a window into Rubio's strategy heading into the key primary contests in February. He is trying rely heavily on the air war to solidify his standing in the top tier, ensuring he continues to hang around as the alternative to Donald Trump or Cruz when other establishment favorites potentially drop out. But first, he'll have to deliver a knockout blow to one his biggest foes: Christie, who has come under fire for confusing statements about his past support for Sonia Sotomayor to sit on the Supreme Court.” On Wednesday, Rubio said, "Sonia Sotomayor is maybe -- and this is a high standard -- maybe the most liberal justice on the Supreme Court.” (CNN )
Rick Santorum
- On Tuesday, Rick Santorum announced that “he plans to make 80 campaign stops in Iowa between now and caucus night.” (USA Today )
Donald Trump
- On Wednesday, when asked if Sarah Palin would was on his list of potential running mates, Donald Trump said. "I don't think that it would be something that she would want to do. She's been through that.” He added, "Certainly she could play a position [in the administration] if she wanted to." Trump also commented on her endorsement, saying, "We've known each other for a long time. I've always liked her a lot and respected her a lot. Everybody wanted that endorsement." (The Hill )
- According to a Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday,”Nearly a third (31%) say Donald Trump would be either a good or great president; 11% say he would be great. Roughly half (52%) think Trump would make a poor or terrible president, with 38% saying he would be terrible. Just 12% think Trump would be an average president.” (Pew Research )
- According to Politico, “Former President Bill Clinton’s presidential library is set to make public nearly 500 pages of records pertaining to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, according to an official notice from the National Archives. The records will detail the Clinton White House’s interactions with Trump and his Trump Organization, as well as how Clinton aides prepared to field questions about Trump’s entry into the 2000 presidential race, where he sought the nomination of the Reform Party for a few months before dropping out.” The records should be public by April. (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
