Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - March 23, 2016
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Wednesday's Leading Stories
- Donald Trump won the Arizona Republican primary on Tuesday night, taking all of the state’s 58 delegates. In Utah, however, he came in third. Ted Cruz won that caucus with more than 50 percent of the vote, triggering Utah’s allocation of 40 delegates to change from proportional to winner-takes-all. According to CNN’s delegate count, “Trump leads with 741 delegates. Cruz has 461 and Kasich has 145.” (CNN)
- On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton won the Arizona Democratic primary and a majority of its delegates. Bernie Sanders claimed two victories on Tuesday night in the Utah and Idaho caucuses. CNN estimated that by “the end of the night, Clinton had 1,711 delegates, including 1,229 pledged delegates and 482 superdelegates. Sanders has 939 delegates, including 912 pledged delegates and 27 superdelegates.” (CNN)
- Jeb Bush endorsed Cruz on Wednesday morning. He said in a statement, “Washington is broken, and the only way Republicans can hope to win back the White House and put our nation on a better path is to support a nominee who can articulate how conservative policies will help people rise up and reach their full potential.” Cruz was also endorsed by the political arm of Club for Growth, marking the organization’s first ever presidential endorsement. (CNBC, Politico)
Polls
- According to a national Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, Donald Trump leads the Republican field with 43 percent to Ted Cruz’s 29 percent. In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton tops Bernie Sanders, 50 percent to 38 percent. This poll also found, however, that Trump and Clinton lead the “no way” list for voters, with 54 percent of respondents saying they “would definitely not” vote for Trump and 43 percent also rejecting Clinton. (Quinnipiac University)
- Quinnipiac University also conducted head-to-head general election matchups:
- Clinton (46 percent) vs. Trump (40 percent);
- Clinton (45 percent) vs. Cruz (42 percent);
- Kasich (47 percent) vs. Clinton (39 percent);
- Sanders (52 percent) vs. Trump (38 percent);
- Sanders (50 percent) vs. Cruz (39 percent);
- Kasich (45 percent) vs. Sanders (44 percent). (Quinnipiac University)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- After condemning the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday morning, Hillary Clinton cautioned that it would be “unrealistic to say we're going to completely shut down our borders to everyone. But we have to do a much better job in coordination with the Europeans on tracking and following anyone who has any connection with terrorist activity or terrorism." She also rejected waterboarding as an effective counterterrorism tactic. “As to waterboarding, you know, our country’s most experienced and bravest military leaders will tell you that torture is not effective. It does put our own soldiers and increasingly our own civilians at risk,” she said. (Talking Points Memo, The New York Times)
- In an interview with CNN, Clinton said that “soft targets” in the U.S. should have an increased police presence. She added, "I'm a very strong supporter of NATO. It's the best international defense alliance I think ever. We have to keep adjusting and changing its mission to meet the new threats that we as members of NATO face. I think it would be a grave error to walk away from Europe, to walk away from NATO." (CNN)
- The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Priorities USA, a super PAC supporting Clinton, was planning to reserve $70 million for advertising following the Democratic National Convention in battleground states like Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and Virginia. (The New York Times)
- In her Arizona victory speech on Tuesday night, Clinton criticized Donald Trump’s and Ted Cruz’s response to the Brussels terrorist attacks. “The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear. In the face of terror, America doesn’t panic. We don’t build walls or turn our backs on our allies,” she said. Speaking to Cruz’s proposal to monitor Muslims, specifically, Clinton said, “Ted Cruz, who said we need to be policing everywhere Muslims live. I don't know about you; that is not only offensive that too is dangerous. Because we want everybody to feel together on our common defense against terrorism.” (The New York Times, ABC News)
Bernie Sanders
- Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard wrote an op-ed in TIME on Tuesday to promote Bernie Sanders as “the only person running for president who has the intelligence, foresight and good judgment to make sound decisions when it comes to the issue of war and peace.” She argued that “while Sanders understands the need to defeat al-Qaeda, ISIS and other terrorist organizations that attacked America on 9/11 and who continue to wage war against us, he has made it clear that he will not waste American treasure and lives on interventionist wars of regime change and so-called nation building.” (TIME)
- Commenting on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel on Monday, Sanders said, “Israel has done some very bad things, so has every other country on earth. I think the people who want to attack Israel for their policies, I think that is fair game. But not to appreciate that there is some level of anti-Semitism around the world involved in that I think would be a mistake.” (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
- Sanders released a statement on Tuesday morning regarding the terrorist attacks in Brussels. He said, “We stand with our European allies to offer any necessary assistance in these difficult times. Today's attack is a brutal reminder that the international community must come together to destroy ISIL. This type of barbarism cannot be allowed to continue." (Talking Points Memo)
- Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, questioned projections on Tuesday night finding Hillary Clinton the winner of Arizona. “There’s obviously something wrong with the numbers, and I think once we see where they come down, it may end up being a split of delegates basically in Arizona,” said Weaver. (Politico)
Republicans
Ted Cruz
- In response to Tuesday morning’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, Belgium, Ted Cruz issued a statement calling for the U.S. government to stop accepting refugees from “countries with a significant al-Qaeda or ISIS presence” and “to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.” Alice Stewart, a spokesperson for Cruz, added, "We know what is happening with these isolated Muslim neighborhoods in Europe. If we want to prevent it from happening here, it is going to require an empowered, visible law enforcement presence that will both identify problem spots and partner with non-radical Americans who want to protect their homes." (The Washington Post)
- Politico reported on Monday that Cruz’s campaign had investigated the possibility of Marco Rubio signing on as Cruz’s vice president by polling Republican primary voters. Three sources close to Rubio’s campaign told Politico that Rubio was not interested in such a “unity ticket.” (Politico)
John Kasich
- John Kasich called on President Barack Obama to return to the U.S. early from Cuba to organize the American response to the Brussels terrorist attacks. He said, “What I hope he will say he's leaving Cuba and heading back to the White House he’s gonna begin to organize meetings with the leaders around the world and at the same time get himself in the position of where we can send teams of people immediately to Europe to begin to dig in terms of what we need to do to address the vulnerabilities we have.” (Politico)
- Kasich also issued the following statement, in part, on Tuesday commenting on the Brussels terrorist attacks: ”We must also redouble our efforts with our allies to identify, root out and destroy the perpetrators of such acts of evil. We must strengthen our alliances as our way of life and the international system that has been built on our common values since the end of the Second World War comes under challenge from these and other actors of evil.” He warned against monitoring Muslims in the U.S. because of their religion, however. He told reporters, “We are not at war with Islam; we’re at war with radical Islam.” (John Kasich for President, The New York Times)
Donald Trump
- Donald Trump said on Tuesday morning, in the wake of the Brussels terrorist attacks, that Brussels had changed drastically from when he visited the city years ago. “Anybody that goes there will tell you it's like an armed camp,” he said. Trump also warned that many people in the U.S. “have the same feelings and the same feeling of hate as the people in Brussels” and argued that America’s borders should be strengthened and more care taken with who is allowed in. (ABC News)
- In an interview with CNN, Trump also said that Salah Abdeslam, a suspected terrorist captured in Belgium and believed to have been involved with the Paris terrorist attacks, knew about the Brussels attack and would have talked "a lot faster with the torture." (CNN)
- During a press conference on Tuesday morning, the leadership of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) condemned Trump’s direct criticism of President Obama in his speech on Monday evening. “We say, unequivocally, that we do not countenance ad hominem attacks, and we take great offense to those that are levied against the president of the United States of America from our stage said. While we may have policy differences, we deeply respect the office of the president of the United States and our president, Barack Obama. We are disappointed that so many people applauded a sentiment that we neither agree with nor condone,” said AIPAC President Lillian Pinkus. (Foreign Policy)
- U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Pa.) endorsed Trump on Tuesday. "We need to listen to the voters instead of elitists trying to tell us right from wrong," Barletta said in a statement. (The Morning Call)
- Expressing displeasure with an ad featuring a photo of his wife posing nude, Trump tweeted on Tuesday night, “Lyin’ Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from G.Q. shoot in his ad, Be careful, Lyin’ Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!” Cruz responded, “Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you’re more of a coward than I thought. #classless.” (The New York Times, The Washington Post)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- Jill Stein will join fellow Green Party presidential candidates William Kreml and Sedinam Kinamo Christin Moyowasifza-Curry at the Green Party of Ohio’s Nominating Convention on April 3. (Green Party)
Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party)
- Gary Johnson welcomed a Republican challenger in the Libertarian Party primary during an interview on Monday. “I think they get shoveled out the door. But, you know, it would be great to have somebody really high profile show up and run for the Libertarian nomination. That would be terrific,” he said. “It would raise the profile of the whole Libertarian position. Who would that high profile name be to believe they could come in and take the Libertarian nomination? And if in fact it did happen it would just raise the attention of the whole process and raise the profile of the person who did end up getting the nomination,” Johnson continued. (The Wall Street Journal)
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
