Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - March 10, 2016
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Thursday's Leading Stories
- On Wednesday, the Republican National Committee announced that it had filed two separate lawsuits against the State Department in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. The RNC seeks to compel the State Department to respond to requests the RNC made under the Freedom of Information Act in both October and December 2015 for access to Hillary Clinton’s Blackberry texts and messenger communications, as well as all emails between Clinton and some of her top aides during a period of Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State. A second lawsuit seeks to examine whether the State Department colluded with the Clinton campaign after she left office regarding Clinton’s private email server. (ABC News)
- The twelfth Republican presidential debate will take place at the University of Miami on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET. The debate is sponsored by CNN, Salem Media Group, and The Washington Times. Jake Tapper of CNN will moderate the debate. CNN’s Dana Bash, Salem media’s Hugh Hewitt and Times reporter Stephen Dinan will join as questioners. (CNN)
- White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that President Obama had no plans to endorse any candidate in the Democratic primary. The Wall Street Journal quoted Earnest, “Those who are concerned that the presidential election, at least the Democratic contest in 2016, looks like it’s going to last longer than was anticipated — that’s not necessarily bad news and I think that would also be part of the explanation for the president not weighing in on that race.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- In advance of Thursday’s GOP debate in Miami, Jeb Bush announced that he met with Marco Rubio on Wednesday, and would meet with both Ted Cruz and John Kasich on Thursday. Bush will not meet with Donald Trump. According to CBS News, “It’s unclear why Bush is meeting with the three contenders … the former governor … hasn’t indicated whether he would formally endorse any of his former rivals before the critical winner-take-all primary in Florida next Tuesday.” (CBS News)
Polls
- An NBC/WSJ poll released on Wednesday showed both Hillary Clinton (51%-38%) and Bernie Sanders (55%-37%) defeating Donald Trump in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup in the general election. The poll also showed Hillary Clinton defeating Ted Cruz (47%-45%) and tied with Marco Rubio (45%-45%). Hypothetical matchups between Bernie Sanders and either Cruz or Rubio were not polled, and matchups between John Kasich and either Clinton or Sanders also were not polled. The poll of 1,200 registered voters was conducted between March 3-6 and included 397 Republican primary voters and 410 Democratic primary voters in the 1,200 voter sample. (NBC News)
- A Fox News poll released late Wednesday of 813 likely Republican primary voters in Florida, which was conducted between March 5-8, showed Donald Trump leading his competitors with 43% of the vote, followed by Marco Rubio with 20%. Ted Cruz gained 16% of the vote and John Kasich had 10%. According to the Fox News report of the Florida poll, "Here is what’s driving the vote: a 63-percent majority of likely Republican primary voters feels “betrayed” by politicians in their party -- and they go heavily for Trump over Cruz (49-18 percent), with Rubio and Kasich way behind (12 percent and 11 percent respectively)." (Fox News)
- A poll of 806 likely Republican primary voters in Ohio, jointly performed by Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company Research for Fox News and conducted between March 5-8, had John Kasich leading with 34% of the vote, followed by Donald Trump with 29%, Ted Cruz with 19%, and Marco Rubio was fourth with 7% of the vote. According to the Fox News report, "In the poll results, Kasich had a 79% approval rating among those who were asked if they approved or disapproved of his performance as governor." (Fox News)
Democrats
- The following comments from last night’s Democratic debate in Miami, Florida, are from an annotated transcript prepared by The Washington Post.
Hillary Clinton
- On whether she would withdraw from the race if indicted by the FBI: “Oh, for goodness -- that's not going to happen. I'm not even answering that question.”
- On her position regarding immigration reform: “In 2003, I sponsored the DREAMER (sic) Act. I sponsored I think in every Congress after that. I have been consistent and committed to comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. I think our best chance was in 2007, when Ted Kennedy led the charge on comprehensive immigration reform. We have Republican support. We had a president willing to sign it. I voted for that bill. Senator Sanders voted against it. Just think, imagine where we would be today is we had achieved comprehensive immigration reform nine years ago. Imagine how much more secure families would be in our country, no longer fearing the deportation of a loved one; no longer fearing that they would be found out. So I am staunchly in favor of comprehensive immigration reform and have been so over the course of my public career.”
- On whether or not she would deport undocumented immigrants in the United States: “Of the people, the undocumented people living in our country, I do not want to see them deported. I want to see them on a path to citizenship. That is exactly what I will do.”
Bernie Sanders
- On whether it is fair to call Donald Trump a racist: “This is what I think. I think that the American people are never going to elect a president who insults Mexicans, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults African-Americans. And let us not forget that several years ago, Trump was in the middle of the so- called birther movement, trying to delegitimize the president of the United States of America. You know, I find it very interesting, Karen, my dad was born in Poland. I know a little bit about the immigrant experience. Nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate. Maybe it has something to do with the color of my skin.”
- On his position regarding immigration reform: “Look, in this country, immigration reform is a very hot debate. It's divided the country. But I would hope very much, that as we have that debate, we do not, as Donald Trump and others have done, resort to racism and xenophobia and bigotry. This idea of suddenly, one day or maybe a night, rounding up 11 million people and taking them outside of this country is a vulgar, absurd idea that I would hope very few people in America support.”
- On his distinction between labeling himself a “career politician” and Secretary Clinton as an “establishment politician”: “Well, you've got to look at what the career is about. And this is a career that has stood up to every special interest in this country. I don't take money from Wall Street. I demand that we break up the large financial institutions. I don't take money from the pharmaceutical industry because I believe they are ripping off the American people and charging us the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. I don't take money from the fossil fuel industry because they are destroying -- they are destroying this planet through their emissions of carbon and creating the terrible climate change that we are seeing. So I think it is true that I have served in Congress for many years. But if you check my record, it is a record of strength for the environment, for workers, for seniors. Unlike the secretary, I believe we should expand Social Security benefits. It is a record of achievement for veterans, working with Republicans, helping to craft the most significant veterans healthcare bill passed in many decades. So I think the point is look at the record, and it's a record that I am proud of.”
Republicans
- Fox News dedicated an evening of programming to give each of the four remaining GOP candidates one hour of town hall style coverage. John Kasich was on Greta van Susteren’s Off the Record. Ted Cruz was on The Kelly File with Megyn Kelly. Sean Hannity hosted Donald Trump on his eponymous program, Hannity. Marco Rubio held an event with Megyn Kelly during a special edition of The Kelly File. (Fox News)
Ted Cruz
- One day before the GOP debate in Miami, Ted Cruz’s campaign announced that former Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina had endorsed the Texas Senator. Fiorina called Cruz a “fearless constitutional conservative” who could defeat Donald Trump. (Palm Beach Post)
- While campaigning in Florida, Ted Cruz made an open plea to Rubio and Kasich supporters to unite behind his candidacy, “If you don’t want to see Donald Trump as the nominee, if you don’t want to hand the general election on a silver platter to Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, then I ask you to join us … If you were a Jeb [Bush] supporter. If you’re a Marco supporter now. If you’re a [John] Kasich supporter: We welcome you to our team.” (Miami Herald)
- C. Boyden Gray, described as a “Washington super-lawyer” and “longtime confidant of the Bush family” joined Cruz’s national finance team on Wednesday. (Bloomberg)
- In a video statement, radio commentator Mark Levin endorsed Ted Cruz, saying that he prefers Cruz because he has fought for “the Constitution, the Republic, individual sovereignty, separation of powers, the Bill of Rights, family, faith, a secure border, our national security." (Washington Examiner)
John Kasich
- A Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judge scheduled deadlines of March 14th and 16th for additional briefing related to a complaint that Kasich’s campaign failed to submit the required number of signatures to get on the ballot in Pennsylvania. The objector, Nathaniel Rome, claimed that 192 of Kasich’s 2,184 signatures were invalid, pushing Kasich below the statutory minimum of 2,000 valid signatures required to get on the ballot. Kasich’s camp countered that Rome’s complaint was filed at 5:13 p.m., 13 minutes past a required deadline. Rome contended that the 5:00 p.m. deadline was not written into statute. Rome’s attorney, John Bravacos, is the brother of Chris Bravacos, state chair in Pennsylvania for the Rubio campaign. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
- The Ohio GOP broke a 64-year policy of neutrality and endorsed John Kasich for President. The Ohio GOP had not endorsed any Republican candidate for President since former Senator Robert Taft ran for President in 1952. The only other Republican presidential candidate in this election cycle who had the formal backing of a state GOP was the New Jersey GOP’s endorsement of Governor Chris Christie. (Bloomberg)
- In advance of the Illinois primary on March 15, the ‘’Chicago Sun-Times’’ endorsed Kasich for President. From the endorsement: “In the Illinois Republican primary onMarch 15, a responsible vote would be for anybody but Trump. But better than that, we urge a vote for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, knowing perfectly well that his odds of winning the nomination are remote. At least you’ll be voting for the biggest grownup in the room.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
Marco Rubio
- One day before the twelfth Republican debate, Rubio joined Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on MSNBC for a town hall event held at Florida International University in Miami. During the town hall, Rubio said he had no interest in being considered for Vice President on any ticket, "I'm not looking to be anyone's vice president.”. When asked in a follow up question if he would turn down the chance to be on Trump's ticket, Rubio said, "absolutely." (NBC News)
- During the same town hall event, Rubio reinforced that his focus was on winning the Florida primary, “Even if I had done really well in all these previous states, if I had not done well in Florida, it would be trouble for our campaign, so we need to win here. That's our priority. We're focused on it like a laser and we're going to win.” (NBC News)
- In advance of the Illinois primary on March 15, the Chicago Tribune endorsed Rubio for President. From the endorsement: “No candidate in this cycle has ridden more ups and downs than Marco Rubio. With so much attention paid to quirks — his debate repetitions, his perspiration, even his choice of boots — many Republicans seem not to have noticed his fundamental GOP message of opportunity and uplift. The nonpartisan Tax Foundation calculated that the tax plan Rubio floated with Sen. Mike Lee would raise after-tax incomes for the bottom 10 percent of earners by 44 percent, chiefly via expanded credits. Spending limits, line-item veto, a balanced-budget amendment — all Rubio policy pillars. Crucially, his foreign affairs expertise vastly exceeds that of his rivals. We like his youth, his bilingual fluency and the fact that he isn't one more Republican who's been standing in line, awaiting his turn to run. ” (Chicago Tribune)
Donald Trump
- On Wednesday, in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Trump claimed that victories in Ohio and Florida on Tuesday would “pretty much” assure that John Kasich and Marco Rubio would leave the race. In that scenario, Trump declared that those victories would likely give him the nomination, saying “I think if I win those two, I think it’s over.” (CNN)
- According to The Charlotte Observer, at a campaign rally in Concord, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Trump promised “to get tough on trade and stop companies like Carrier and Nabisco from moving to Mexico.” Trump’s campaigning in North Carolina comes as a poll conducted by Survey USA/WRAL TV showed Trump with a double digit lead over his nearest rival, Ted Cruz, ahead of Tuesday’s Republican primary. (Charlotte Observer)
- Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told the Associated Press that, of the reported $30 million dollars that Trump has lent to his political campaign, “he is not going to repay himself” and dismissed the possibility of repayment as “ridiculous.” Lewandowski said, “We have said over and over, he’s self-funding. I don’t know how (you) can pay yourself back with money you’re not raising.” (sic) (ABC News)
- In a town hall in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Trump promised to reverse the flow of outsourcing. Trump said to Sean Hannity of Fox News, "We're going to stop being the country that gets pushed around … We are gonna bring our jobs back into this country for the first time.” (Fox 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
