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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - July 29, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Friday's Leading Stories
- Hillary Clinton formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday night. In her acceptance speech, she acknowledged the historic moment, saying, "Today, we've reached a milestone in our nation's march toward a more perfect union: The first time that a major party has nominated a woman for President. Standing here as my mother's daughter's, and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come. Happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. Happy for boys and men, too, because when any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone. When there are no ceilings, the sky's the limit." Clinton made the case that Donald Trump is unqualified, unfit, and unprepared to serve as president. She criticized him for trying to win the election by dividing the nation, saying, "He's taken the Republican Party a long way, from 'Morning in America' to 'Midnight in America.' He wants us to fear the future and fear each other.” She then contrasted her description of Trump’s leadership style with her own, saying, "America's strength doesn't come from lashing out. Strength relies on smarts, judgment, cool resolve, and the precise and strategic application of power. That's the kind of Commander-in-Chief I pledge to be." (Ballotpedia, ABC News, NBC News)
- Trump posted six tweets during her speech criticizing her for her “refusal to mention Radical Islam,” being “owned by Wall Street,” and her lack of judgment. One tweet read: “Hillary's vision is a borderless world where working people have no power, no jobs, no safety.” (Twitter)
- The final night of the Democratic National Convention featured Chelsea Clinton; Sens. Senator Sherrod Brown, Claire McCaskill, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Barbara Boxer; Reps. Xavier Becerra and Joaquin Castro; and New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo.
- Chelsea Clinton: Clinton introduced her mother, calling her a "fighter" as a professional and “wonderful, thoughtful and hilarious” as a mom. Clinton said, "People ask me all the time, how does she do it? How does she keep going amid the sound and the fury of politics? Here's how: because she never ever forgets who she's fighting for. … So, this November, I’m voting for a woman who is my role model, as a mother, and as an advocate. A woman who has spent her entire life fighting for families and children. I’m voting for the progressive, who will protect our planet from climate change and our communities from gun violence. Who will reform our criminal justice system, and who knows that women’s rights are human rights. And who knows, that LGBT rights, are human rights and around the world. I’m voting for a fighter who never, ever gives up. And who believes that we can always do better when we come together and we work together.” (Time)
- General John Allen: Allen, a retired four-star Marine general and former commander of American forces in Afghanistan, explained the importance defeating ISIS and electing Clinton as commander-in-chief. Allen said, "To our allies and to our friends and partners, listen closely, we are with you, America will not abandon you. To those acting against peace, acting against civilization and world order, we will oppose you. And to our enemies, to our enemies, we will pursue you as only America can. You will fear us. And to ISIS and others, we will defeat you! … My fellow Americans, I tell you without hesitation or reservation that Hillary Clinton will be exactly, exactly the kind of commander-in-chief America needs. I know this because I served with her.” While he was speaking, chants of "USA! USA!" erupted to cover up the chants of "No more war!" by a small anti-war crowd in attendance. (CNN)
Polls
- Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump by one percentage point, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released on Thursday. (Rasmussen Reports)
- In a head-to-head matchup in Pennsylvania, Clinton leads Trump 50 percent to 41 percent, according to a Suffolk University poll released on Thursday. In a four-way race, Clinton leads Trump 46 percent to 37 percent. Gary Johnson and Jill Stein follow with 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively. (Suffolk University)
Democrats
- The Hill reported on Thursday that “[p]rominent Democrats are worried their party will be painted as soft in the fight against terror” because polls show that voters think Donald Trump is stronger on issues of national security and terrorism than Hillary Clinton. In an effort to show that Clinton is better prepared to fight terrorism, night three of the Democratic National Convention featured speakers with strong national security credentials. A Clinton aide said, “As always planned, we continue prosecuting the case tonight over who is best to keep our country safe.” (The Hill)
- In the final article of a three-part series, senior editor at Ballotpedia and veteran congressional reporter Rich Cohen examines the Democratic National Convention and compares the messaging of the Democrats to the messaging of the Republicans at their convention. (Ballotpedia)
- On Thursday, Ballotpedia senior writer Jim Barnes sat down for a Q&A with Harold Ickes, a long-time political confidant and advisor to Hillary and Bill Clinton. (Ballotpedia)
- Ballotpedia staff writer Emily Aubert explains how the Democratic Party’s nominating process was revised by delegates at the Democratic National Convention in her article, “The rise and fall of superdelegates.” (Ballotpedia)
Hillary Clinton
- Mel Heifetz, “a real estate investor and one of the most generous supporters of gay rights causes in the country,” contributed $1 million to help elect Clinton. He said, "I don't want to see our country taken apart by [Donald] Trump." According to The Hill, “He says he's been told by the Democratic National Committee that his $1 million will be divided among groups supportive of Clinton. He doesn't know all the details yet, but he wrote an email to a large group of wealthy friends encouraging them to join him in backing Clinton.” (The Hill)
- On Thursday, The New York Times recounted Clinton’s “uneasy” relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (The New York Times)
Republicans
Donald Trump
- On Thursday, when asked about his request for the Russian government to find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, Donald Trump said, “Of course I’m being sarcastic. … They have no idea if it’s Russia, if it’s China, if it’s somebody else. Who knows it is? … The real problem is what was said on those emails from the Democratic National Committee. They talk about religion, they talk about race, they talk about all sorts of things, including women. What they said on those emails is a disgrace. It’s disgraceful, it’s disgraceful. They’re just trying to deflect from that.” His original comments came two days after the FBI announced that it was investigating whether the Russian government leaked the Democratic National Committee’s emails in order to influence the presidential election. (The Wall Street Journal, The Hill)
- On Thursday, vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said, I’m pro-life and I don’t apologize for it.” He said that Trump will appoint Supreme Court justices like the late Justice Antonin Scalia and the court will likely overturn the abortion law case, Roe v. Wade, if Trump is elected. Pence said, “We’ll see Roe vs. Wade consigned to the ash heap of history where it belongs. … While we’re choosing a president for the next four years, this next president will make decisions that will impact our Supreme Court for the next 40. ... Go tell your neighbors and your friends, for the sake of the rule of law, for the sake of sanctity of life, for the sake of our 2nd Amendment, for the sake of all our other God-given liberties, we must insure [sic] the next president appointing justices to the Supreme Court is Donald Trump.” (The Los Angeles Times)
- On Thursday, the Defeat Crooked Hillary PAC released the ad, “Bernie Never Stood a Chance.” The $300,000 to $400,000 ad buy aimed at attracting Bernie Sanders’ supporters focuses on now-ousted DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s relationship with Hillary Clinton. The narrator in the ad says, "Hillary's Washington insiders never had a chance. Bernie never had a chance. … More corruption by Hillary and her cronies. Now Hillary hires her DNC chair and wants you to just roll over." (CNN)
- On Thursday, Trump said that he wanted to "hit a number of those speakers [at the Democratic National Convention] so hard, their heads would spin. They'd never recover." About an unnamed speaker he said, "I was going to hit one guy in particular, a very little guy. I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin, he wouldn't know what the hell happened. … He made deals with me. 'Will you help me with this? Would you make this deal and solve the problem?' I solved the problem.” (CNN)
- White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Trump will receive classified intelligence briefings, despite calls from some Democrats to withhold the information. Earnest said, "The Director of National Intelligence has indicated he intends to conduct those briefings pursuant to that long-standing tradition. He certainly is supported by this administration and this White House in doing so.” (ABC News)
- On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to withhold classified materials and briefings from Trump because of Trump’s request for the Russian government to find Clinton’s missing emails. According to CBS News, “Cicilline says Trump's ‘call for hostile foreign action’ goes beyond partisan politics and ‘represents a threat to the republic itself.’” (CBS News)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- In an interview with The Atlantic on Thursday, Jill Stein said that since Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign, his supporters have been drawn to her campaign. Stein said, “The floodgates opened. I almost feel like a social-worker, being out there talking to the Bernie supporters. They are broken-hearted. They feel really abused, and misled, largely by the Democratic Party.” She also said that, although Sanders has promised to continue his political revolution, “It’s hard to have a revolutionary campaign inside of a counterrevolutionary political party. Every time, there’s been a rebel inside the Democratic Party, a candidate with integrity, they have been sabotaged, like Bernie. All their claims about having a movement that will live on inside the Democratic Party, it just doesn’t happen.” (The Atlantic)
- On Thursday, Salon writer Sean Illing sat down for a Q&A with Stein. Illing asked Stein about the Green Party movement and whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump would be better for America. Illing asked, “If our choice was ultimately reduced to Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, who would you rather live with? Who would more reliably defend progressive values?” Stein replied, “Do we live in Iran where they tell us we have one or two choices. We live in the United States of America. We live in a democracy. We are building that democracy, and that democracy doesn’t consist of two deadly choices.” (Salon)
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- During an interview with Fox Business Network’s Charles Payne, Gary Johnson discussed where he and Hillary Clinton differ, free trade, and how he would bring Republicans and Democrats together as president. (Fox Business Network)
- On how he differs from Clinton: “I’ve got differences when it comes to Hillary Clinton. I really don’t believe that government has the answer. I think that lower taxes, less regulation… And then personal freedom and liberty… it’s important to all of us.”
- On free trade: “Free trade is the opposite of crony capitalism. Free trade needs to be promoted in a really big way. Diplomacy, that’s what we ought to be engaged in. I reject the fact that libertarians are isolationists – Donald Trump is [an] isolationist… we want free trade to prevail.”
- On bringing Republicans and Democrats together: “Life is good, we have issues. I’m presenting the case that if you had two former Republican governors that served in heavily blue states elected President [and] Vice President … they’d actually be able to bring together Republicans and Democrats -- something that won’t happen if Clinton or Trump are elected.”
- On Thursday, Johnson said to CNN's Wolf Blitzer that he thinks former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney (R) is “considering the possibility of doing this of actually endorsing the two of us." (CNN)
- On Thursday, when Johnson was asked if he had ever considered running for Congress, Johnson replied, “No. I really think that the root of all evil is Congress, and when it comes to that job, being a congressperson, man or woman or even the U.S. Senate, I think that you get judged by how much bacon you bring home, and that's the reason why we have a $20 trillion debt. Congress spends money that isn't there, and I don't want to be a part of it.” (Aberdeen News)
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
