Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - January 25, 2016
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Monday's Leading Stories
- The Des Moines Register issued primary endorsements for Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio on Saturday:
- “In the final analysis, Iowa Democrats will have to choose between the lofty idealism of Bernie Sanders and the down-to-earth pragmatism of Hillary Clinton. For some, this will be a choice of whether to vote with their hearts or their heads. Clinton has demonstrated that she is a thoughtful, hardworking public servant who has earned the respect of leaders at home and abroad. She stands ready to take on the most demanding job in the world.” (The Des Moines Register)
- “Sen. Marco Rubio has the potential to chart a new direction for the [Republican Party], and perhaps the nation, with his message of restoring the American dream. We endorse him because he represents his party’s best hope.” (The Des Moines Register)
- Former Governor of Texas Rick Perry (R) endorsed Ted Cruz on Sunday night. “Of those individuals who have a chance to win the Republican primary, at this juncture, from my perspective, Ted Cruz is by far the most consistent conservative in that crowd,” Perry said in an interview with Politico. (Politico)
- The New York Times reported on Saturday that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) was considering launching an independent presidential run if Donald Trump or Ted Cruz received the Republican nomination and Bernie Sanders won the Democratic nomination. Bloomberg said he would be willing to spend “at least $1 billion” on the campaign. He is expected to make a decision by early March to allow him time to qualify to appear on all 50 state ballots if he chose to enter the race. (The New York Times)
Polls
- Donald Trump continues to lead the Republican field in Iowa and New Hampshire with 34 percent and 31 percent, respectively, according to a Fox News poll released on Sunday. Ted Cruz follows in second place in both states with 23 percent in Iowa and 14 percent in New Hampshire. (Fox News)
- In a new poll from CBS News/YouGov, Trump also leads in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida. Excluding Iowa, Trump registers 39 percent support or higher in these states. (CBS News)
- CBS News/YouGov released a poll on Sunday showing Bernie Sanders leading Hillary Clinton in Iowa by one point and in New Hampshire by 19 points. Clinton maintains a strong lead, however, in South Carolina with 60 percent to Sanders’ 38 percent. (CBS News)
Democrats
- Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders will participate in a televised town hall hosted by CNN and moderated by anchor Chris Cuomo on Monday night. (CNN)
Hillary Clinton
- In response to reports that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) might launch a presidential bid, Hillary Clinton said on Sunday, “He’s a good friend of mine. The way I read what he said is if I didn’t get the nomination, he might consider it. Well, I’m going to relieve him of that and get the nomination so he doesn’t have to.” (TIME)
- The Boston Globe endorsed Clinton for the New Hampshire primary on Sunday. The editorial board wrote, “Sanders’s candidacy has also opened up more room for Clinton to champion working people who are struggling in a changing economy. Meanwhile, though, issues of income distribution dominate Sanders’s candidacy to the point of crowding out equally substantive matters of foreign and domestic policy. As a temperamentally moderate figure, Clinton can bring these arguments to the Congress and take concrete steps to get relevant legislation enacted.” (The Boston Globe)
- On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) joined Clinton on the campaign trail for the first time in Iowa. He said, “This is the land where my grandmother was born and raised — Des Moines, Iowa. My grandmother from Iowa, she is dancing in heaven at the prospect that the next president of the United States is going to be Hillary Rodham Clinton." Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro also joined Clinton in Iowa on Sunday, although he rejected the vice presidential chatter that followed his appearance. ”That’s not something that I’ve ever believed was going to happen. I fully expect to be home in Texas a year from now,” Castro said. (The Washington Post ,The Dallas Morning News)
- In response to a question from a rally attendee on Saturday that, according to Fox News, Clinton “was really not equipped to be in the White House” because of illness, she said, “Oh my. Well, you know, they say nearly anything about me. I've got to tell you. There are several themes they keep beating the drums on." She added, “I'll match my endurance against anybody. And last spring, my doctor put out a letter and you know, said what great health." (ABC News)
- Clinton called the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, a “civil rights issue,” in addition to “an environmental disaster and a health crisis.” She said race was a factor in how the government responded to residents’ concerns. “If it had been a rich white suburb where the water was brown and smelly, people would have come immediately to the rescue of those families,” she said. (Bloomberg)
Martin O'Malley
- In response to The Des Moines Register’s suggestion on Saturday that Martin O’Malley was “better suited” for a cabinet position than the presidency, O’Malley said he had no interest in that role and intended to win the election. (The Des Moines Register)
- While campaigning in Iowa on Saturday, O’Malley expressed conditional support for fracking. “Whether or not natural gas is a bridge to a cleaner energy future depends on whether or not we have a national policy to move us to that cleaner future. And I think that a big part of it is having much higher standards in place for protecting the air and the land and the water in the course of the extraction that's already going on in our country,” O’Malley told reporters. He released the following statement on Sunday to clarify his position: “Ending our reliance on fossil fuels by 2050 is ambitious, and throughout the transition, I support stronger regulation on the fracking that is happening right now. We need a zero-tolerance approach to methane emissions from fracking in the meantime." (The Des Moines Register)
Bernie Sanders
- On Sunday, Bernie Sanders showed confidence that he would win in a general election against Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg. “My reaction is, if Donald Trump wins and Mr. Bloomberg gets in, you’re going to have two multibillionaires running for president of the United States against me, And I think the American people do not want to see our nation move toward an oligarchy, where billionaires control the political process. I think we’ll win that election,” he said. (The Washington Post)
- Sanders committed on Friday to rescinding the Hyde Amendment, which prevents the use of taxpayer dollars to fund abortion services. He said in a statement, “As president, and as someone who has a 100 percent pro-choice voting record in Congress, I will do everything that I can to protect and preserve a woman’s right to an abortion. Women must have full control over their reproductive health in order to have full control over their lives. We must rescind the Hyde Amendment and resist attempts by states to erect roadblocks to abortion.” (MSNBC)
- In major cities across the country on Saturday, thousands of Sanders’ supporters held marches, in what one media outlet called “the first-ever nationwide march for a presidential candidate.” (RT)
- In an interview with The Washington Post on Saturday, Sanders accused Clinton of running a “desperate” campaign. The newspaper reported that Sanders “said he expects Clinton and her campaign to ‘throw the kitchen sink’ at him in the coming week in what he described as a craven attempt to avoid an embarrassing loss in Iowa.” (The Washington Post)
Republicans
- Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.) spoke with former President George H.W. Bush (R) following her response to the State of the Union address last week. Haley, whose name is frequently cited on vice presidential short lists, has yet to offer a presidential endorsement. (The Post and Courier)
Jeb Bush
- Jeb Bush commended Gov. Rick Snyder (R-Mich.) on Sunday for how he has responded to the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. “I admire Rick Snyder for stepping up right now. He’s going through the challenge. And he’s fired people and accepted responsibility to fix this. This is going to be a long-term challenge,” Bush said. (The Guardian)
- As reports arose this weekend that former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg (R) was considering an independent presidential run, Bush said he did not expect that it would come soon. He said, “I don’t think he’ll get in the race unless it’s Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, probably. But that’s way off into the future.” Commenting on Bloomberg’s character, he added, “Look, he’s a good man. He was a great mayor. He’s much more liberal than I am, but he’s a good person.” (The Hill)
- While speaking at a presidential forum in New Hampshire on Saturday, Bush attacked Donald Trump, saying that he was “a gifted entertainer, but he’s not a conservative.” He criticized Trump’s rhetoric around women and Hispanics and statements he made last year about U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his time as a prisoner of war. (CBS Boston)
Ben Carson
- Ben Carson attended a prayer rally on Saturday where he recounted personal stories and challenges in his life, including his early anger management issues, retracted allegations that he had fathered a child outside of his marriage and his medical successes. (Sioux City Journal)
- When asked to comment on the importance of Black History Month, Carson said on Saturday, “If we didn’t have a Black History Month, there are a lot of things we wouldn’t talk about. I mean [without Black History Month] there’s a whole bunch of people that we probably wouldn’t talk about and we need to talk about them. Not only in the Black community, we need to talk about them in every community in America. Everybody needs to understand that the greatness of America has a lot to do with contributions from everybody,” he said. Carson added, “Our ethnic diversity is not a problem unless we make it a problem.” (BET)
- Carson discussed how he would reduce the federal budget while campaigning in Iowa on Sunday. The Des Moines Register reported, “If elected, Carson said he would meet with the head of each government agency and tell them to cut their budget by two to three percent in a way the public would not feel a difference, or they would hand in a letter of resignation.” (The Des Moines Register)
Chris Christie
- Chris Christie criticized Marco Rubio on Saturday for jokingly saying that the blizzard that made its way across the East Coast this weekend was “probably one of the best things to happen to the republic in quite a while.” Christie countered, “Fourteen people died across the country. And that shows a real immaturity from Senator Rubio to be joking as families were freezing in the cold, losing power, and some of them losing their loved ones.” A spokesman for Rubio responded, “Chris Christie wasn’t even going to return to New Jersey until he was shamed into it. Christie should worry less about Marco’s jokes and more about his own liberal record on gun control, judges and abortion.” (The New York Times)
- Christie attributed his poor favorability rating in New Jersey to his presidential campaign on Sunday. “When you start looking for another job, your current employer gets a little miffed, and that's what's happened here in New Jersey,” he said. (CNN)
- Joining with more than 260 governors and mayors across the country, Christie declared this week to be “School Choice Week” in New Jersey. He said, “I believe it’s our moral obligation to ensure that every child in New Jersey has the right to a quality education regardless of his or her zip code. School choice empowers families to make important decisions regarding the education of their children. When these educational options abound, it's our children who truly benefit.” (BusinessWire)
- While campaigning in New Hampshire on Sunday, Christie compared competency in handling natural disasters to competency in keeping Americans safe from the threat of terrorism. He said, "Whether it's an impending storm or whether it's the scourge of radical Islamic jihadist terrorism, you have to make people be safe and secure. I’m proud that we didn't lose one life in New Jersey yesterday because the people of New Jersey, as crazy as it seems, they listen to me." (ABC News)
Ted Cruz
- Conservative political commentator Glenn Beck endorsed Ted Cruz on Saturday. He said, “We need a new George Washington. Today's Washington will not be found in the garish light of gold, but rather, in the bold service of a man who stands tirelessly for what he deeply believes – that government should be of the people, by the people, and for the people. I have prayed for the next George Washington. I believe I have found him [in Cruz].” (CNN)
- On Friday, Cruz’s campaign corrected a statement Cruz made last week that he was no longer insured as a result of the Affordable Care Act. A spokeswoman said he was automatically enrolled in a healthcare plan at the start of the new year, but was looking to switch to a plan with premiums 50 percent higher than he previously had. (The Wall Street Journal)
- A video from 1998 surfaced online over the weekend featuring an informal interview with Cruz when he was in high school. When asked what his ambitions were, Cruz responded, “Take over the world, world domination, you know, rule everything. Rich, powerful, that sort of stuff.” Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler commented on the clip, saying, “Good to see he’s always had a great sense of humor." (Politico)
Carly Fiorina
- Carly Fiorina charged on Saturday that Planned Parenthood was “a political operation” rather than an organization dedicated to women’s health. She said, “It spends millions of dollars, contributing millions of dollars to pro-abortion candidates.” (The Hill)
- In an interview with Boston Herald Radio on Friday, Fiorina said she was more qualified to be president than either Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. She explained, “Ted Cruz is a lawyer and a politician, he has never made an executive decision in his life. He has never created a job, he has never saved a job. I am running because I am the most qualified candidate. I actually understand how the economy works. I have more foreign policy experience than anyone running on the Republican side by a long shot. Commenting on Trump, she said, “He is a crony capitalist. He casts himself as an outsider and a populist, he is exactly the opposite.” (Boston Herald)
Mike Huckabee
- Campaigning in Iowa on Sunday, Mike Huckabee said his Republican rivals’ calls to defund Planned Parenthood were insufficient. “If all a candidate can promise is stop funding to Planned Parenthood, that isn’t enough for me. That’s low-hanging fruit. Let’s do something bolder than that. Let’s stop abortion completely,” he said. (The Quad City Times)
John Kasich
- The top Republican state senator in Massachusetts, Bruce Tarr (R), endorsed John Kasich on Saturday. “Now more than ever, voters in New England and across the country need a leader with the temperament and executive experience to make America strong again. John Kasich is that leader and I am proud to endorse him for President of the United States," Tarr said in a statement. (MassLive.com)
- Kasich said he planned to visit Israel and several other countries prior to the general election. According to The Columbus Dispatch, “Kasich stressed that the purpose of the trip wouldn’t be educational, since he already knows the region. He said he just wants to have conversations with certain leaders.” (The Columbus Dispatch)
- A complaint was lodged last week against Kasich claiming his campaign had made two robocalls to a New Hampshire resident on the federal do-not-call list. Tom Rath, an adviser to Kasich’s campaign, said the calls were made by volunteers. “You’re allowed to do that. You’re allowed to leave a recorded message when no one answers. If someone had answered the phone, it would have been a conversation between two human beings,” Rath said. (The Hill)
Rand Paul
- On Saturday, Rand Paul dismissed the significance of reports that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) might launch an independent presidential campaign. He described Bloomberg as “[a]nother gun control advocate who doesn’t have much respect for he [sic] Bill of the Rights in the race, but we already have Hillary Clinton and Sanders who don’t have any respect for the Second Amendment either.” He continued, “I am not sure he would get a whole lot of votes really. I don’t know that what he offers is really that distinctive.” (The Blaze)
- In response to Donald Trump’s assertion that he could shoot people and still win the Republican nomination, Paul said on Sunday, “I think, sometimes, narcissists have delusions. And I think he’s almost to the point of being delusional about his own power.” He added, “There’s a distinct American tradition that I represent that says too much power gravitating into the hands of anyone is a mistake – Republican or Democrat. So we believe in a presidency limited by the Constitution. I think that Donald Trump believes in no limits to power as long as it’s coming to him. That’s very, very worrisome to us.” (The Hill)
Marco Rubio
- Marco Rubio rejected the “establishment” label during a town hall in New Hampshire on Saturday. He pointed to the $25 million spent on ads against him by establishment figures as evidence, saying, “That’s not grassroots money. That’s multi-million dollar checks written by people who thought I need to wait in line, to wait my turn.” (The Blaze)
- In an ad released on Friday, Rubio made light of a Washington Post article highlighting a misdemeanor charge he received in 1990 that was later dismissed. Rubio’s ad features people calling out Rubio for his “crimes,” including coloring outside of the lines and double-dipping potato chips. (TIME)
- Rubio denied on Sunday that his campaign was employing a “3-2-1 strategy,” which would see him place third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire and first in South Carolina. “Our strategy is pretty straight forward. We want to have more delegates than anyone else to be the nominee of the Republican Party. And that said, we want to do as well as we can everywhere we go. We want to have more votes than the other people. That’s our strategy,” Rubio said. (Breitbart)
Rick Santorum
- Commenting on the possibility that he might not perform well in the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum said on Sunday, “I'm a person who believes in a cause and trying to make this country better, not about Rick Santorum and my own aggrandizement. I'll go through that process, whether it's after Iowa or whether it's after Super Tuesday or whenever it's happening. We'll go through that process and determine if we have a pathway to get there, and if we believe we do, trust me, no one will fight harder, no one will work longer. And if we don't, you have to work out what's in the best interest of our country." (USA Today)
Donald Trump
- Although he did not formally endorse Donald Trump, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) appeared on stage with him at a rally in Pella, Iowa, on Saturday. “I’m happy to be here with such an enthusiastic group and this candidate. And I want Mr. Trump to know I appreciate his support for me and most importantly for Iowa being first in the nation and our all-important Iowa caucuses,” Grassley said. (The New York Times)
- In an interview on Sunday, Trump said that he tries to minimize his personal taxes because he does not approve of how the government spends tax dollars. "I try to pay as little tax as possible, because I hate what they do with my tax money. I hate the way they spend our money, the way they give it to Iraq, the way they give it to Iran,” said Trump. (The Los Angeles Times)
- Expressing confidence in the health of his campaign on Saturday, Trump said during a rally in Iowa, “I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters.” (CNN)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- Jill Stein qualified for federal matching funds this week. Stein said that this “sets a new record for Green candidates to qualify this early in the election cycle. It’s a sign of the energy and the excitement that’s coming into the race.” (Green Party Watch)
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
