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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - March 21, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Monday's Leading Stories
- During two rallies for Donald Trump in Arizona on Saturday, several protesters were arrested and at least one man was assaulted. The companion of a female protester wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood was punched by a black rally attendee in Tucson. Trump, seeing the protester, said, “There's a disgusting guy, puts a Ku Klux Klan hat on, he thinks he's cute, he's a disgusting guy.” The other arrests resulted from the blockade of a highway leading to a rally venue in Fountain Hills, which caused “a very dangerous traffic jam.” (CBS News, The Washington Post, ABC 15 Arizona)
- According to a Deseret News poll released on Sunday, if Trump became the Republican nominee, Utah would become competitive for Democrats for the first time in 50 years, whether he ran against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. The Washington Post also reported on Saturday how a Clinton-Trump general election could redefine the electoral map. Because of Trump’s strong level of support from white voters, the “blue wall” of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota could come into contention. “On the other hand, states such as Nevada, New Mexico and possibly Colorado could see less competition unless Trump can overcome his extraordinarily high negative ratings within the Hispanic community,” The Post noted. (Deseret News, The Washington Post)
Polls
- According to a survey of New York voters conducted by Emerson College, Donald Trump leads Ted Cruz in the state by 52 points, 64 percent to 12 percent. Hillary Clinton also emerges with an enormous lead over her rival, Bernie Sanders, with 71 percent to Sanders’ 23 percent. In head-to-head matchups in the state, Clinton and Sanders both defeat Trump by 17 points and 19 points, respectively. Clinton also tops Cruz, 61 percent to 30 percent. (Emerson College)
- A Y2 Analytics poll released on Sunday found Cruz far ahead of the Republican field in Utah with 53 percent. John Kasich followed with 29 percent. Trump was a distant third with 11 percent. (The Salt Lake Tribune)
- According to a national Rasmussen Reports poll released on Friday, Trump leads with 43 percent support. Cruz follows 15 points behind with 28 percent. (Rasmussen Reports)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- Lisa Changadveja left her position as the director of Asian-American and Pacific Islander outreach for the Clinton campaign to join the Colorado Democratic Party. Her departure “comes ahead of Democratic nominating contests in states with the highest proportion of Asian American voters, like Washington later this month and California in June,” The Huffington Post noted on Saturday. (The Huffington Post)
- Clinton raised $30.1 million in February and started March with $30.8 million of cash on hand. (The New York Times)
- Priorities Action USA, a pro-Clinton super PAC, ended February with $44 million of accessible cash. (The Wall Street Journal)
- During Super Tuesday III, Clinton won voters 65 and older by margins ranging from 39 points to 54 points. “In Virginia, Texas and other Southern states that voted earlier, she won more than 80 percent of these voters, often matching or beating the support Mr. Sanders received from voters 18 to 29. The two age groups are comparable in size, but those 65 and older show up at the polls far more often — 72 percent of them voted in 2012, according to the Census Bureau, compared with 45 percent among those under 30,” The New York Times noted. (The New York Times)
Bernie Sanders
- On Sunday, Bernie Sanders called the current debate over illegal immigration “a trumped up and exaggerated problem.” He continued, “We don’t need a wall and we don't need barbwire. We need to fix our broken criminal justice system. First and foremost, it goes without saying that we need comprehensive immigration reform, we need to take 11 million undocumented people out of the shadows, out of fear, and we need to provide them with legal protection, and we need to provide them with a path toward citizenship." (ABC News)
- Sanders announced on Friday that he would not attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Conference on Monday due to a scheduling conflict. He wrote in a letter to the organization that "issues impacting Israel and the Middle East are of the utmost importance to me, to our country and to the world." He will be the only presidential candidate not in attendance. (Talking Points Memo)
- Sanders outraised Clinton in February by more than $13 million. His total haul was $43.5 million and he had $17.2 million in cash on hand at the end of the month. (Forward)
Republicans
Ted Cruz
- Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox (R) endorsed Ted Cruz on Saturday during a rally in Provo. “Ted has unwaveringly fought for conservative principles time after time, and as president, he will do the same. I am asking all of my fellow Utah Republicans to join me, Senator Mike Lee and Mitt Romney in voting for Ted Cruz on Tuesday,” Cox said. (CNN)
- U.S. District Court Judge Jill Parrish dismissed a lawsuit on Friday challenging Cruz’s eligibility to run for president. Parrish wrote that the plaintiff, a Utah resident, lacked standing because he failed to show how he would be injured “in a personal and individual way” by Cruz’s candidacy. (FOX Salt Lake City)
- Cruz wrote an op-ed in Politico condemning President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba over the weekend. “The White House keeps saying that this trip will chart a new course for people-to-people relations, but all that Obama’s appeasement of the Castro dictatorship has done so far is create a channel for inside deals between large corporations and the Cuban military, which holds all the keys to the island’s economy. The effect will not be liberalization but rather the institutionalization of the Communist dictatorship,” he wrote. (Politico)
- In February, Cruz’s campaign raised $11.9 million and finished the month with $8 million on hand. (The Washington Post)
John Kasich
- During an interview on Saturday, John Kasich said that he would have considered nominating federal judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. “Well, you know, he received overwhelming support, I think even from Senator Hatch. So, of course we'd think about it. The way we do it, John, is, we look at a person's record. I want a conservative who is not going to make the law, but who will interpret the law, and somebody of high standing. I don't care about their peccadillos 30 years ago,” said Kasich. (CBS News)
- Kasich clarified his comments on Garland while speaking to reporters later in the day on Saturday. “In an effort to be polite today, I've created little bit of a situation. Look, you know, Garland is — I'm gonna have my own picks for the Supreme Court. You know, the fact is, I said that they ought to meet him and talk to him and, you know, I'm not gonna pick somebody who's, you know, obviously not a respecter of the Second Amendment. I don't want people making law and so, nobody should be confused, worked up or upset. He's not gonna be my pick for the Supreme Court,” he said. (NBC News)
- New Day for America, a super PAC supporting Kasich, released an ad last week called “Win,” which positions Kasich as the only Republican candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. A narrator begins, “There was a time presidents were honorable, trustworthy. What’s happened? We must stop Hillary Clinton.” (The New York Times)
- On Sunday, Kasich said no Republican candidate would get enough delegates to secure the nomination before the convention. He added, "[E]verybody's gotta face the fact that we're going to an open, multi-ballot convention. That's where we're headed, and the convention is an extension of what we're going through right now. … And that's fine. I don't know why everybody's so panicked about this, everybody needs to take a little chill pill, to tell you the truth." (CNN)
- Kasich raised $3.4 million in February and began March with $1.25 million cash on hand. (The Washington Post)
Donald Trump
- After Trump tweeted on Friday that Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly was “sick” and “overrated” because her show has criticized him, Fox News released the following statement: "His extreme, sick obsession with her is beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate who wants to occupy the highest office in the land. Megyn is an exemplary journalist and one of the leading anchors in America — we're extremely proud of her phenomenal work and continue to fully support her throughout every day of Trump's endless barrage of crude and sexist verbal assaults." (NBC News)
- On Sunday, Trump defended the actions of his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who allegedly grabbed a protester during his rally in Arizona. "I give him credit for having spirit. He wanted them to take down those horrible, profanity-laced signs,” Trump said. His campaign announced later in the day that it would “be dedicating additional security resources to larger events in the future to prevent staff from having to intervene.” (Business Insider, ABC News)
- Trump continued to mostly self-finance his own campaign, contributing $7 million in February. He spent less than $500,000 on payroll expenses to around 100 employees. This is far less than the $5 million Bernie Sanders spent to pay 900 employees over the same time period. (Politico)
- Last week, Trump’s sister and son both received threatening letters, with one including suspicious white powder that later tested non-hazardous. The FBI, U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Marshals Service are working together to investigate the incidents. (USA Today)
- Trump said on Sunday that he would release a list of up to 10 potential judges he would nominate first to the Supreme Court if he were elected president. (The New York Times)
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
