Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - January 26, 2016
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- Donald Trump threatened to skip Thursday night’s Republican debate because of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly’s planned participation as a moderator. He said, “If I think I’m going to be treated unfairly I’ll do something else. But I don’t think she can treat me fairly, actually. I think she’s very biased and I don’t think she can treat me fairly.” A spokesman for the network released the following statement in response: “Sooner or later Donald Trump, even if he’s president, is going to have to learn that he doesn’t get to pick the journalists — we’re very surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly.” (The Hill)
- 'The Boston Globe endorsed John Kasich in the New Hampshire primary on Monday. The editorial board wrote, “His success in that important swing state, and his record as a moderate conservative who is willing to compromise in pursuit of results, suggests he is the Republican hopeful most likely to be successful on the national stage.” Another Boston-based paper, The Herald, endorsed Chris Christie on the same day, stating, “Gov. Chris Christie is a smart and principled candidate with a real shot at uniting his party and broadening its appeal in November. Starting now this race gets serious, and Christie is a serious candidate.” (The Boston Globe ,The Boston Herald)
Polls
- In a CNN/ORC national poll released on Monday, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Bernie Sanders narrowed, 52 percent to 38 percent. CNN reported, “The national survey shows a Democratic electorate sharply splintered along demographic lines. Women, non-whites, self-identified Democrats and those over age 50 are Clinton's strongest backers. Men, white voters, independents who lean Democratic and younger voters are more apt to say they plan to support Sanders.” (CNN)
- CNN/ORC released another national poll on Tuesday of the Republican field. Donald Trump reached a new high with 41 percent support. Ted Cruz, the only other candidate to receive double-digit support, registered 19 percent. Sixty-eight percent of respondents believe Trump will win the nomination. (CNN)
- According to a national poll from NBC News/SurveyMonkey, Clinton maintained her lead over Sanders with 51 percent to Sanders’ 37 percent. In the Republican field, Donald Trump stands at 39 percent support, 22 points higher than his closest competitor, Ted Cruz. (NBC News)
Democrats
- Although President Barack Obama has not yet made an endorsement in the presidential race, he discussed the Democratic candidates in an interview with Politico over the weekend. He said, “Bernie [Sanders] came in with the luxury of being a complete long shot and just letting loose. I think Hillary [Clinton] came in with the both privilege — and burden — of being perceived as the front-runner. … You’re always looking at the bright, shiny object that people haven’t seen before — that’s a disadvantage to her.” (Politico)
Hillary Clinton
- The State Department has requested an extension to produce the final batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails from her time as secretary of state, pushing the deadline from the end of January to February 29. Attorneys for VICE argued on Monday that this would “cause grave, incurable harm” and “deprive the voters of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina, of the ability to participate in the democratic process as fully informed as they would otherwise.” (CNN)
- Clinton made a rare comment on her Methodist faith during a campaign stop in Iowa on Monday. “I am a person of faith. I am a Christian. I am Methodist. My study of the Bible and my many conversations with people of faith has led me to believe that the most important commandment is to love the lord with all your might, and to love your neighbor as yourself. That is what I think we are commanded by Christ to do,” she said. (TIME)
- According to former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), the Federal Bureau of Investigation is “ready to indict” Clinton for her use of a private email server to conduct confidential Department of State business. “They're ready to recommend an indictment and they also say that if the attorney general does not indict, they're going public,” DeLay added. (Newsmax)
Martin O'Malley
- In an interview with New Republic published on Monday, Martin O’Malley criticized Hillary Clinton’s climate change policy for not being aggressive enough. “Secretary Clinton’s plan can most kindly be summed up as a voluntary solar panel plan for residences. Under her plan the planet would literally burn up. Her approach is much more incremental,” said O’Malley. (New Republic)
- O’Malley presented himself as a unifier who can accomplish liberal goals at CNN’s televised town hall on Monday night. He said, “We cannot be this fed up with our gridlocked, dysfunctional national politics and think that a resort to old ideologies or old names is going to move us forward. I know this is a tough fight, but I've always been drawn to a tough fight." (The Week)
Bernie Sanders
- Justin Bamberg, a Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and the attorney who represents the family of police shooting victim Walter Scott, endorsed Bernie Sanders on Monday. “What I got from him was not a presidential candidate talking to a state representative, or an old white man talking to a young black guy. What I got from him was a man talking to a man about things that they are passionate about, and that was the tipping point for me,” Bamberg said. He had initially endorsed Hillary Clinton. (VICE)
- Sanders launched a new initiative this month called “Prove Them Wrong,” which encourages young voters to caucus in Iowa. “They say you don’t care. They say you won’t caucus. They say Bernie can’t win. Prove them wrong,” the project’s site reads. (Prove Them Wrong)
- Sanders clarified his view of Planned Parenthood on Monday night after a prospective voter questioned his description of the organization as part of the establishment. “They are a fantastic organization — count me in as somebody who strongly supports them. This was simply a question of endorsement policy,” Sanders said. He continued, “What I said on a television program — and I didn't say it well — is that sometimes the base of an organization looks at the world a little bit differently than the leadership.” (Vox)
Republicans
- Several Republican presidential candidates reacted to the news on Monday that a grand jury had cleared Planned Parenthood of charges relating to an alleged discussion of the sale of fetal tissue, and instead indicted the two anti-abortion activists who recorded the undercover footage that prompted the investigation. Marco Rubio said he was “disturbed” by the news and Mike Huckabee called it “a sad day.” (CNN)
Jeb Bush
- Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) endorsed Jeb Bush on Monday. He said, ”I have friends in this race. Marco Rubio is a friend. Chris Christie is a friend. I know John Kasich. There are some folks that I know well in this race who I think are very talented. They have great skills. I just think Jeb is the guy – today – uniquely qualified to take the reins as commander in chief and to move the nation forward.” (Minnesota Public Radio)
- In an interview on Monday, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld questioned why former President George H.W. Bush chose to criticize George W. Bush and Rumsfeld in his authorized biography released at the end of last year, given Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. “I was amazed that he said what he said when he said it, because I didn’t think it was very complimentary of his son, George W. Bush, and I didn’t think it was very helpful to his other son who was running for president," Rumsfeld said. (Politico)
- Over the weekend, Bush detailed his commitment to appointing conservative federal judges on his 2016 presidential campaign website. He wrote, “In my view, the federal courts have a vital but limited role in our national life. Their job is not to second-guess laws or to substitute their own judgment for the provisions of the Constitution. It is to apply the laws as written, and follow the Constitution above all. … As president, I will search for nominees who agree with this job description—nominees in the mold of such Justices as Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas—and I will fight for their confirmation.” (National Review)
Ben Carson
- Ben Carson released his cybersecurity plan on Monday. A keystone of his plan would be the creation of the National Cyber Security Administration (NCSA), “a consolidation and unification of the countless and often redundant programs, initiatives and offices which operate disjointedly throughout the government.” (The Hill)
- Carson’s campaign rejected Defender of Freedom and Security PAC’s reference to the death of campaign volunteer Braden Joplin in a fundraising email over the weekend. Carson spokesman Larry Ross said, “The Ben Carson for President 2016 campaign has no affiliation with the PAC in question, and quite frankly are disgusted and appalled that any organization would use this tragic accident to raise money.” (Mother Jones)
- On Monday, Carson wrote an op-ed in The Des Moines Register outlining his philosophy on foreign policy and national security. He wrote that “we must identify the threat of radical Islam by name and declare war on the Islamic State, counter Russian aggression through sanctions and lethal assistance to Ukraine and oppose Chinese adventurism through regional economic and military cooperation. A Carson administration will employ armed diplomacy, not unilateral disarmament.” (The Des Moines Register)
Chris Christie
- In an interview with The Huffington Post's Sam Stein, Chris Christie dismissed criticism of him campaigning as New Jersey recovered from flooding caused by Winter Storm Jonas. Christie said, “Sam, I don’t even know what critics you’re talking about. There is no residual damage, there is no residual flooding damage. All of the flooding receded yesterday morning. And there was no other damage. People were driving around the streets yesterday morning of New Jersey. So this is just what they wish would have happened." When asked while campaigning in New Hampshire about his absence, Christie said, “Do you want me to go down there with a mop?" (Politico ,ABC News)
Ted Cruz
- The New York Times profiled Ted Cruz’s early career in politics, including a stint as the domestic policy adviser to George W. Bush’s presidential campaign during the 2000 recount. Members of Bush’s legal team had varying accounts of Cruz’s role in the operation, although Cruz “cast himself as central to the recount action” in his latest book, A Time for Truth. (The New York Times)
- Keep the Promise I, a super PAC backing Cruz, has spent $2.5 million to air ads in Iowa and South Carolina highlighting Donald Trump’s previous position in favor of legalized abortion and previous support for Cruz. One clip features Trump saying in 1999, “I am pro-choice in every respect.” (CBS News)
Carly Fiorina
- Carly Fiorina discussed the “crazy” state of the presidential race while campaigning in Iowa on Monday. She said, “We’ve got a billionaire on the [Republican] side who has made billions buying politicians on the inside like Mrs. Clinton, then we have another billionaire who is talking about jumping into the race. That’s pretty crazy to me.” She added, “We have a real game going here. I’m not doing this for sport. I’m not doing this to be veep or some Cabinet post.” (Omaha.com)
Mike Huckabee
- Pursuing America’s Greatness, a super PAC supporting Mike Huckabee, released a radio ad in Iowa to encourage voters to “consider someone serious” when they caucus next week. “At times, this presidential campaign has been downright hard to watch. It's as if Trump and Cruz have completely forgot they're running for the highest office in the land, an office held by great men, great Republicans,” the ad’s narrator says. (The Hill)
John Kasich
- Although some of John Kasich’s rivals have questioned his relationship with Wall Street given his time at Lehman Brothers in 2008, Kasich made light of his position there while campaigning in New Hampshire on Monday. He said, “I’ve been accused of bankrupting Lehman Brothers. I actually operated a two-man office in Columbus, Ohio. If I can bankrupt Lehman Brothers from there, I ought to be pope.” (The New York Times)
Rand Paul
- Rand Paul said on Monday that he expected to qualify for the primetime debate on Thursday. “We think the polling data as it shows—look, yesterday, one of Fox’s own polls, we were ahead of two of the three people that were on the stage the last time,” Paul said. (Vanity Fair)
- Paul wrote an op-ed in Kentucky paper The Independent on Monday to show his support for steelworkers laid off as a result of “steel dumping” from “unfairly traded imports.” Paul wrote, “I know this is an issue incredibly important to the hard-working families in Ashland and the surrounding areas, as well as Kentucky as a whole. I gave you my word when I made a commitment to the community to monitor this situation and aid in any way possible, and I will continue to stay involved on behalf of the community, workers, and families.” (The Independent)
- In his latest “Waste Report” released on Monday, Paul criticized the construction of a large-scale model of a historical Air Force base prior to its demolition for nearly $40,000. (U.S. Senator for Kentucky, Rand Paul)
Marco Rubio
- U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) joined Marco Rubio at a rally in Des Moines on Monday. Although she did not endorse Rubio, Ernst introduced him, calling him a “good friend” who is “very near and dear to my heart.” She added, “I know he has the confidence necessary in a leader to contain or destroy ISIS.” (USA Today)
- Rubio’s campaign is planning a “leadership huddle” in Miami, Florida, in March, for supports who have helped fundraise at least $27,000. This event will come less than a week before Florida’s winner-takes-all primary on March 15. (Politico)
- Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) endorsed Rubio on Monday. He said in an interview with The Arizona Republic, “I know him. I like him a lot. I came to respect him as a real expert in matters related to our national security. He is on the Intelligence Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee. He knows the subject very well, and he also has very good instincts about what we should do." (The Arizona Republic)
Rick Santorum
- Rick Santorum posted a statement to Facebook on Monday accusing USA Today of misrepresenting his statements on whether he would remain in the presidential race. “I need to get this off my chest. I can’t stand the media. From the start of this campaign, they’ve decided that we’re not worthy of them. They think it’s their job to anoint who they think should be the Republican nominee. Seriously? The media determining the Republican nominee? Give me a break!” Santorum wrote, before calling on his supporters to organize and prove the media wrong at Iowa’s caucus. (Facebook)
- Santorum has more than 35 events planned in Iowa prior to the caucus next Monday. (The Des Moines Register)
Donald Trump
- U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) posed several questions to Donald Trump on Twitter on Monday, including whether he had “repented” for his alleged affairs with married women. Sasse also tweeted several questions about Trump’s opinion of executive unilateralism and whether taxation was an act of patriotism. (The Washington Post)
- Trump said on Monday that he did not believe former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) was worth $36.5 billion. “I’d beat him,” Trump said. He also questioned why investors and financial firms still used the Bloomberg Terminal, instead of developing a “better” alternative. (CNN)
- In an interview on Monday, Trump said that he believed the establishment was beginning to support him because of its aversion to Ted Cruz. “I think the establishment actually is against me, but really coming on line because they see me as opposed to Cruz who is a nasty guy who can't get along with anybody. At a certain point you've got to make deals,” said Trump. (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
