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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - July 26, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- After being “repeatedly interrupted and booed” by Florida’s delegation at the Democratic National Convention Monday morning, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) announced that Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the Democratic party's secretary, would “gavel the convention into order in her place,” according to The Hill. Wasserman Schultz said, "I have decided that, in the interest of making sure that we can start the Democratic convention on a high note, that I am not going to gavel in the convention.” The interruptions and boos were in response to emails released by Wikileaks that “suggested top DNC aides had worked to help Clinton win the Democratic presidential nomination against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) during the primary race.” (The Hill)
- Democrats stressed party unity on day one of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). The first night’s featured speakers were: Sens. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and First Lady Michelle Obama. Their comments appear below.
- Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.): In the most anticipated speech of the night, Bernie Sanders thanked his supporters and urged them to unite behind Clinton. He said, “I understand that many people here in this convention hall and around the country are disappointed about the final results of the nominating process. I think it’s fair to say that no one is more disappointed than I am. But to all of our supporters — here and around the country — I hope you take enormous pride in the historical accomplishments we have achieved.” According to The Washington Post, Sanders’ supporters called out “We want Bernie!” during the speech, while “[o]thers stood silently, tears streaming down their faces.” Sanders asked his supporters to vote for Clinton in November, saying, “Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States. The choice is not even close.” (The Washington Post)
- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.): Elizabeth Warren was the night’s harshest critic of Trump, saying, "Time after time, he prayed on working people, people in debt, people who had fallen on hard times. Donald Trump goes on and on and on about being a successful businessman, but he filed business bankruptcy six times, always to protect his own money and stick the investors and contractors with the bill." She concluded her speech by urging voters to support Clinton. Warren said, "If you believe that America must work for all of us, not just for the rich and powerful, if you believe that we must reject the politics of fear and division, if you believe that we are stronger together, then let's work our hearts out to make Hillary Clinton the next president of the United States." (ABC News)
- Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.): In his speech, Cory Booker “recalled the history of the country and what Americans have overcome in search of success,” according to ABC News. He then called for Americans to “build bridges across our differences to pursue the common good.” He concluded by saying, “I believe this election is a referendum on who best embodies the leadership we need to go far, together. Donald Trump isn’t that leader." (ABC News)
- First Lady Michelle Obama: Without naming him, Michelle Obama said that Trump “would be a poor role model for kids” and criticized his use of Twitter. She also endorsed Clinton, saying, "I am here tonight because in this election, there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility. Only one person who I believe is truly qualified to be president of the United States. And that is our friend, Hillary Clinton." (Business Insider)
- In the first part of a three-part series, Senior Editor at Ballotpedia and veteran congressional reporter Rich Cohen examines the “relative style and strengths” of Clinton and Trump as they managed their nominating conventions. (Ballotpedia)
Polls
- A CNN/ORC poll released on Monday revealed that Donald Trump received a 6-point convention bounce. According to CNN, “There hasn't been a significant post-convention bounce in CNN's polling since 2000. That year Al Gore and George W. Bush both boosted their numbers by an identical 8 points post-convention before ultimately battling all the way to the Supreme Court.” The poll found that Trump leads Clinton 48 percent to 45 percent in a head-to-head race. In a four-way race, Trump leads Clinton 44 percent to 39 percent. Gary Johnson comes in at 9 percent, and Jill Stein has 3 percent support. (CNN)
- If voters had cast their ballots on Monday, Trump would have defeated Clinton, according to the FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver. Silver gave Trump a 57.5 percent chance of winning the election, and he gave Clinton a 42.5 percent chance of winning. (FiveThirtyEight, Business Insider)
- Trump leads Clinton 45 percent to 41 percent, according to an LA Times/USC poll released on Monday. (LA Times/USC)
- According to an Economist/YouGov poll released on Monday, Clinton leads Trump 47 percent to 42 percent in a head-to-head matchup. In a four-way race, Clinton leads Trump 40 percent to 38 percent. Johnson and Stein follow with 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively. (Economist/YouGov)
- According to a CBS News poll released on Monday, Trump leads Clinton 44 percent to 43 percent in a head-to-head matchup. In a three-way race, Trump leads Clinton 40 to 39 percent. Johnson follows with 12 percent support. (CBS News)
- In Ohio, Trump and Clinton are tied at 45 percent support in a head-to-head matchup, according to Public Policy Polling. In a four-way race, Trump leads Clinton 42 to 39 percent. Johnson and Stein follow with 6 and 2 percent support, respectively. (Public Policy Polling)
- In Nevada, Trump leads Clinton 43 percent to 38 percent, according to a KTNV/Rasmussen poll released on Monday. (KTNV/Rasmussen)
- In Georgia, Trump leads Clinton 46 percent to 44 percent, according to a WSB-TV/Landmark poll released on Monday. Johnson and Stein follow with 5 percent and 3 percent support, respectively. (WSB-TV/Landmark)
Democrats
- On Monday, Bernie Sanders urged his supporters to elect Hillary Clinton. After Sanders said, “We have got to elect Hillary Clinton,” his delegates responded with loud boos. Sanders continued, “This is the real world that we live in. Trump is a bully and a demagogue. Trump has made bigotry and hatred the cornerstone of his campaign.” Michael Tafe, a Sanders delegate from Hingham, Mass., said he and other Sanders delegates “feel alienated by the Clinton campaign. They’ve made zero effort to reach out to us. Hillary’s VP choice is doubling down on her moderate platform and I think the people in this room are smart enough to realize once she gets into office, she’s just going to flip.” (USA Today)
- Sanders “sent a text message to the leaders of his delegation pleading with them not to protest on the Democratic convention floor Monday night,” according to Yahoo. Sanders wrote, “I ask you as a personal courtesy to me to not engage in any kind of protest on the floor. Its of utmost importance you explain this to your delegations.” (Yahoo)
- Ballotpedia staff writer Emily Aubert reported from the Democratic National Convention that “Democrats avoided a floor fight over the superdelegate system on Monday evening when supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders joined together to support the creation of a ‘unity commission’—a committee whose charter includes a call to reduce the influence of superdelegates and reform the Democratic nominating process.” For more on her reporting from the convention, click here. (Ballotpedia)
- On Monday, The Hill reported that much “of the [Democratic Party’s] platform was simply copied and pasted from previous years,” which resulted in their endorsement of strengthening the United States’ relationship with Thailand, a military junta. Sections from the 2008 and 2012 Democratic platforms read: “From the Asia Pacific to the Indian Ocean, we will deepen our relationships in the region with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand.” According to The Hill, “The problem is that, since a coup against the democratically elected government in 2014, Thailand has been ruled by a military junta.” (The Hill)
Hillary Clinton
- On Monday, former Vice President Al Gore (D) endorsed Hillary Clinton. In a series of tweets, he wrote, “I am not able to attend this year’s Democratic convention, but I will be voting for Hillary Clinton. Given her qualifications and experience -- and given the significant challenges facing our nation and the world, including, especially, the global climate crisis, I encourage everyone else to do the same.” (The Huffington Post)
- On Monday, retired Marine Gen. John Allen endorsed Clinton. Allen said in a statement, "Through 37 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps, I saw some of the toughest challenges that our nation faces around the world, and I know that America has the power to meet those challenges. However, it requires continued leadership and engagement in the world, continued partnership with our allies, and a clear understanding of our adversaries. It requires patience and a deep comprehension of the international landscape to make smart decisions about when and how to use military force as well as an understanding that other tools of American power such as diplomacy and development aid - that will [keep] armed forces out of harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary. And it requires a leader who wants to understand these complex issues and seek advice and counsel. Hillary Clinton is all of those things." (Politico)
- On Monday, during a speech at the V.F.W. Convention in Charlotte, N.C., Clinton contrasted her approach to national security to Donald Trump’s without actually naming him. She said, “I believe in standing with our allies. Generations of American troops fought and died to secure those bonds. They knew we were safer with more friends and partners. … You will never hear me say I will only listen to myself on national security. … One thing you will never hear from me: praise for dictators and strongmen who have no love for America.” Clinton also said she would never “order troops to commit war crimes,” as Trump suggested he would by reinstituting waterboarding and targeting families of suspected terrorists. (The New York Times)
- The New York Times’ Nate Cohn explained that Clinton’s weak support from “white voters without a college degree, and particularly white men without a degree” could prevent her from winning the election. According to Cohn, “Trump leads among white registered voters without a degree by a margin of 58 percent to 30 percent.” He added that “white working-class voters represented about 44 percent of 2012 voters.” For Clinton to win the election, she will need “enough well-educated white voters and nonwhite voters to swamp Mr. Trump’s white working-class gains.” (The New York Times)
- Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, said that they will not call Trump names during the election. On Sunday night, Clinton told CBS’s “60 Minutes,” “I don’t call him [Trump] anything. And I’m not going to engage in that kind of insult-fest that he seems to thrive on.” Kaine added, “Most of us stopped the name-calling thing about fifth grade.” (The New York Post)
Republicans
Donald Trump
- After the FBI announced on Monday that they are investigating whether Russians hacked the Democratic Party's emails to help Donald Trump, the Clinton campaign began suggesting that Trump “would be more lenient in dealing with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” according to The Los Angeles Times. Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook said, “Russian state actors had facilitated the hacking and release of the emails ‘for the purpose of helping Donald Trump.’” Clinton’s campaign “also noted that Trump’s campaign co-chairman, Paul Manafort, previously worked as a consultant for the now-ousted pro-Russian government in Ukraine.” (The Los Angeles Times)
- Manafort said that the allegations of ties between Putin and the Trump campaign were “absurd. And, you know, there is no basis for it.”
- Trump also addressed the allegations on Twitter. He wrote, “The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me.” (Twitter)
- During a campaign event in Roanoke, Virginia, on Monday, Trump accused Clinton of being “low energy.” He said, “She’s low energy. She actually is low energy. She’ll go home, she’ll take a nap for four or five hours and then she’ll come back. No naps for Trump! I don’t nap. We don’t have time. We don’t have time.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- After Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, Trump tweeted, “Elizabeth Warren, often referred to as Pocahontas, just misrepresented me and spoke glowingly about Crooked Hillary, who she always hated!” (Twitter)
- On Monday, Trump also tweeted about Bernie Sanders’ revolution. Trump wrote, “Sad to watch Bernie Sanders abandon his revolution. We welcome all voters who want to fix our rigged system and bring back our jobs. Bernie Sanders totally sold out to Crooked Hillary Clinton. All of that work, energy and money, and nothing to show for it! Waste of time.” (Twitter)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- In a series of tweets on Monday night, Jill Stein criticized Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. Stein tweeted: (Washington Examiner)
- “If Hillary really believed in overturning Citizens United & getting [money] out of politics why didn't she fundraise like Bernie? … Clintons have done more to increase inequality than anyone: NAFTA, trade w/ China, Wall St deregulation that caused '08 crash. … How can Hillary hold big banks and Wall Street accountable when she takes more money from them than anyone in this race?”
- “Did @SenWarren really just mention "rigging" systems without mentioning rigged Democratic Primaries?”
- On Monday, in front of Philadelphia City Hall, Stein said to a group of her supporters and Bernie Sanders’ supporters, “Your campaign lost because of a rigged system.” The crowd then marched to the Democratic National Convention chanting “‘We are the 99 percent’ and ‘This is what democracy looks like,’ carrying signs opposing both Clinton and GOP nominee Donald Trump,” according to The Huffington Post. (The Huffington Post)
- During an interview on Monday, Stein discussed the growing interest in her campaign and a woman serving as president. Stein said, “There’s clearly a lot of interest in our campaign and we’re up against a really steep hill. … This is how you build political movements —- you have to gain trust and you have to work together and that's what you can do in the course of a political campaign. You can test the waters and those waters right now are feeling very warm and welcoming.” Stein also pointed out during her interview with ABC News that “while Clinton will be making history by being officially nominated as the first female presidential candidate for one of the main parties, Stein is the woman who has earned the most presidential votes in the history of U.S. politics to date.” Stein added, “You can be sure that Hillary Clinton does not look favorably on another woman candidate who is actually progressive in the race. We are a very inconvenient truth.” (ABC News)
- When asked if she thought Clinton was a better choice than Trump for president during an interview with Glamour, Stein said, “It's not clear that she is. And in many ways, Hillary Clinton and the policies of Hillary and Bill—passed by Bill, but enthusiastically supported and promoted by Hillary—have really created this right-wing extremism that has produced Donald Trump. The economic insecurity of the past ten to 15 years, the 2008 Wall Street crash, NAFTA, and the loss of millions of good jobs—these directly grow out of Democratic Party neo-liberal policies. The policies that Hillary advocates are going to be more of the same, whether you're looking at her cozy relationships with the banks, her refusal to support Glass-Steagall, her vagueness about what actually she's going to do about the control of the big banks.” (Glamour)
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- On Monday, Montana state Reps. Daniel Zolnikov (R-Billings) and Nicholas Schwaderer (R-Mineral County) endorsed Gary Johnson and Bill Weld in the following joint statement: “Our generation will be most affected by the outcome of this unprecedented presidential election. Gary Johnson is the only serious presidential nominee who stands for policies that will lead to growth and opportunity for young Americans. We do not want another war. We do not want more deficit spending and debt. We do not want increased surveillance and violations of Americans' rights. We want a sane, intelligent government that lives within its means and governs according to the Constitution. Governors Gary Johnson and Bill Weld are clearly the best choice to lead our nation toward prosperity and freedom, and we are proud to support them for President and Vice President of the United States.” (Reason.com)
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
