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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - June 9, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Thursday's Leading Stories
- In an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Donald Trump said that was “no reason” to raise $1 billion to compete in the general election. He continued, "I just don’t think I need nearly as much money as other people need because I get so much publicity. I get so many invitations to be on television. I get so many interviews, if I want them." (Bloomberg)
- U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is set to endorse Clinton in the next week or two and has not ruled out the possibility of serving as Clinton’s running mate. Reuters reported, “Warren has stayed neutral in the Democratic primary race, notably remaining the only woman senator not throwing her support behind the first woman presidential nominee of a major political party. Were she to join the Clinton ticket, she could help energize progressives and win over supporters of Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist U.S. senator from Vermont. Sanders' calls for reining in Wall Street and breaking up big banks dovetail with Warren's views.” (Reuters)
- Warren will also deliver a scathing speech against Trump on Thursday night at the American Constitution Society’s National Convention. In an excerpt from Warren’s prepared remarks, she criticizes Trump’s allegation that federal judge Gonzalo Curiel is biased because of his Mexican heritage. “Judge Curiel is one of countless American patriots who has spent decades quietly serving his country. Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone and serves nobody but himself. And that is just one of the many reasons why he will never be President of the United States,” Warren will say at the event. (ABC News)
- President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet with Bernie Sanders at the White House on Thursday, although he is not expected to request that Sanders leave the presidential race. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “At this point, the president believes Senator Sanders has more than earned the right to make his own decision about the direction of his campaign.” Sanders is also meeting with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who has been more vocal about Sanders withdrawing from the primary. (CNN, USA Today)
Polls
- With 44 percent support each, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are tied in a new general election poll of Pennsylvania voters released by Public Policy Polling on Wednesday. When Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are added to the mix, Clinton narrowly tops Trump, 41 percent to 40 percent. Johnson and Stein receive 6 percent and 3 percent, respectively. The pollsters found, “Pennsylvania is a great microcosm of the issue Clinton faces in winning over Sanders fans. Among people who support Sanders in a head to head match up with Trump, only 72% support Clinton in the general. 10% would go to Trump, 6% to Stein, 4% to Johnson, and 9% are undecided. If Clinton could win over even just half of those Sanders supporting hold outs her lead over Trump would go from a tenuous 41-40 to a comfortable 47-40. Whether it's possible for her to do that time will tell.” (Public Policy Polling)
- The Wall Street Journal published an article on Thursday comparing Clinton and Trump by the numbers: the popular vote count in the respective primaries, favorability ratings, approval rating of the sitting president, cash on hand, and other figures. Prediction markets currently favor Clinton. (The Wall Street Journal)
Democrats
- Hillary Clinton signed a new fundraising agreement with the Democratic National Committee on Wednesday that looks forward to the general election. In addition to allowing donors to Clinton’s primary campaign to contribute another $2,700 to her general election effort, it also allows them “to funnel more money to the Democratic Party. According to Federal Election Commission rules, donors can now give $100,200 to the convention account and $100,200 to the DNC's headquarters account, two accounts the Clinton campaign had not raised money for before. Campaign aides see this as an urgent need, too, given that the convention in Philadelphia is only seven weeks away,” CNN reported. (CNN)
- President Barack Obama is preparing to extensively campaign for Clinton, but NPR noted on Wednesday that it has not been typical for the incumbent party to receive such presidential support in recent election cycles due to illness, personal scandal, and low approval ratings. Obama’s popularity with Democrats is expected to help foster party unity and bolster support for Clinton from black voters and voters under 30. (NPR)
Hillary Clinton
- Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer endorsed Hillary Clinton on Wednesday. "She will move us rapidly towards becoming 'the clean energy superpower of the 21st century,' with inclusive prosperity and a better future for all,” he said in a statement. Steyer contributed $70 million to candidates in 2014. (Politico, CNN)
- The United Steelworkers (USW), Utility Workers Union of America, and the Glass Molders, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers International Union, whose membership together totals 1.3 million active and retired workers, also endorsed Clinton on Wednesday. USW said in a statement that “Trump has consistently proven to be on the side of the wealthy and powerful, rather than on the side of working people. Trump believes workers’ wages are too high and supports union-busting legislation. His tax plan would benefit millionaires and billionaires at the expense of the middle class. He supports efforts to repeal the ACA but has no concrete plan to replace it.” (United Steelworkers)
- Clinton said on Wednesday that she planned to deliver a speech next week that would contrast her economic policies with Donald Trump’s. She also noted that she would not be opposed to having people with Wall Street experience join her administration. “I’m not ruling in, I’m not ruling out. I will always look for the best people when and if that opportunity arises, and I think there’s a lot of people around the country, not just in one place in our country, with the kind of experience that would be useful,” she said. (The Wall Street Journal)
- On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said that he did not expect to be asked to join Clinton’s ticket. "I was vetted for this spot back in '08, and I love being mentioned but my gut was never saying 'I think it's going to be me,' and I don't feel that differently now," he said. (The Hill)
- The Clinton campaign is preparing to launch an effort to recruit Republicans dissatisfied with Trump as their party’s nominee. Tentatively titled “Together for America,” the campaign is searching for a couple of Republicans willing to endorse Clinton in an op-ed or Sunday show appearance. “Others less willing to speak out could then quietly add their names to a roster of Republicans” on the project’s website, Fortune noted. (Fortune)
- Clinton condemned the terrorist attack in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and said, “I stand in solidarity with the Israeli people in the face of these ongoing threats, and in unwavering support of the country’s right to defend itself.” (Haaretz)
- When asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper if former President Bill Clinton planned to divest himself from the Clinton Foundation if he returned to the White House, Clinton said, “Well, Anderson, we'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. But let me just try to set the record straight. We had absolutely, overwhelming disclosure. Were there one or two instances that slipped through the cracks? Yes. But was the overwhelming amount of anything that anybody gave the foundation disclosed? Absolutely. And I'm proud of the foundation. I'm proud of the work it has done.” (RealClearPolitics)
Bernie Sanders
- U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the only sitting senator to endorse Bernie Sanders, said on Wednesday that it was time for Bernie Sanders to accept Clinton as the Democratic nominee. “Once a candidate has won a majority of the pledged delegates and a majority of the popular vote, which Secretary Clinton has now done, we have our nominee. This is the moment when we need to start bringing parts of the party together so they can go into the convention with locked arms and go out of the convention unified into the general election,” he said. Merkley added that he “would not support a battle that involves trying to flip superdelegates.” (The Washington Post)
- Danny Spriggs, the vice president for global security for The Associated Press, said on Wednesday that some of the news agency’s reporters had received harassing emails from Sanders supporters who opposed Monday’s declaration that Clinton was the presumptive Democratic nominee. “We have not received any specific security threats. It is always good to practice situational awareness around AP bureaus and offices,” Spriggs said. (The Hill)
- Several female journalists also reported being harassed by Sanders supporters in the wake of Clinton being called the presumptive Democratic nominee. Amy Chozick of The New York Times tweeted, for example, “I won't be answering calls from unknown numbers today, after third call from Bernie supporters telling me they'd hunt me down in the streets.” (CBS News)
- Vice President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that it was up to Bernie Sanders when he would exit the presidential race. “It's clear we know who the nominee is going to be. I think we should be a little graceful and give him the opportunity to decide on his own,” Biden said. (CNN)
- According to The Week, Al Giordano, a journalist and supporter “of the Obama coalition,” is considering launching a senatorial campaign for Sanders’ seat in 2018 if Sanders does not “enthusiastically support” Clinton. He charged that Sanders has been “exploiting racial and gender divisions...in a way that harms the movement” by saying the primary process was corrupt and that Clinton’s southern victories were unimportant. (The Week)
Republicans
Donald Trump
- CNN reported on Thursday that Donald Trump’s ground campaign, noting that he planned to rely on the Republican National Committee to develop the infrastructure in battleground states rather than build his own teams, as former Republican presidential nominees Mitt Romney and John McCain did. “Meanwhile, RNC officials still aren't even sure where the campaign has already deployed staffers. Trump's field organization is a patchwork of aides, some paid, some retained on a volunteer basis and many left over from the Republican primaries. While he has campaign chiefs in Florida – and solidly blue states like Washington and New York – in crucial battlegrounds including Ohio and Colorado, Trump doesn't have so much as a state director,” CNN’s Sara Murray and Ashley Killough wrote. (CNN)
- U.S. Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas) said on Wednesday that he could not yet endorse Trump given his comments about federal judge Gonzalo Curiel and his Mexican heritage. “Mr. Trump needs to show how he will address the critical issues on the minds of Americans: national security and economic opportunity for hardworking American families. Americans need to see more vision and less trash talk. I was incredibly angry to see Mr. Trump question a judge's motives because of his ethnicity,” Flores said in a statement. (Politico)
- Charles Koch told USA Today on Wednesday that officials from his policy network planned to meet with the Trump campaign. He noted that he wanted “to be open” to Trump and said the candidate would need to demonstrate support for free trade, "free speech," ending “corporate welfare,” and “trying to find common ground with people” before he backed him. Koch also commented on Trump’s criticism of federal judge Gonzalo Curiel, saying, “It’s either racist or it’s stereotyping. It’s unacceptable, and it’s taking the country in the wrong direction.” (USA Today)
- Curiel ordered video footage of Trump’s depositions in the Trump University lawsuits be unsealed on Wednesday. The text of those depositions was released over the weekend. (CBS News)
- Trump is set to meet with Republican National Committee’s leading fundraisers on Thursday to discuss how their joint fundraising effort for the Trump campaign, the RNC, and 11 state parties will function. (The Wall Street Journal)
- U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.), a retiring third-term congressman, said on Wednesday that he would not vote for Trump and was considering supporting the Libertarian ticket. Discussing Trump’s criticism of Gonzalo Curiel, Ribble said, “His comments over the weekend are authenticating what I believe is the man's character. Something that walks like a duck, talks like a duck, is likely to be a duck. If you continue to say what I believe are racist statements, you're likely to be a racist." (CNN)
- The Trump campaign has hired pollster John McLaughlin to survey Trump’s home state of New York and determine what his general election chances are there. (The New York Times)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- In a recorded interview with “The Young Turks” published on Wednesday, Jill Stein said it was “offensive” to claim that Hillary Clinton’s policies were feminist merely because of her gender. “Feminism is much more than that. It’s about peace, it’s about justice, it’s about rights for women as caretakers and caregivers. And the broader agenda of the woman needs to be consistent with that and in Hillary’s case, it’s not. I think it’s an offense to the concept of feminism to say that Hillary Clinton and her advocacy for war, for Wall Street, and for the Wal-Mart economy, represents feminism. By no means,” Stein said. (Mediaite)
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
