Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - March 31, 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
- During a town hall on Wednesday hosted by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, Donald Trump said that “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions if abortion is criminalized. Shortly after the remarks were made public, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks released the following statement from Trump: “This issue is unclear and should be put back into the states for determination. Like Ronald Reagan, I am pro-life with exceptions, which I have outlined numerous times." Trump issued a second statement on Wednesday evening, stating, "If Congress were to pass legislation making abortion illegal and the federal courts upheld this legislation, or any state were permitted to ban abortion under state and federal law, the doctor or any other person performing this illegal act upon a woman would be held legally responsible, not the woman.” (CNN, The New York Times, MSNBC)
- Trump’s rivals have all commented on his position:
- Ted Cruz released the following statement on Wednesday: “Once again Donald Trump has demonstrated that he hasn’t seriously thought through the issues, and he’ll say anything just to get attention. On the important issue of the sanctity of life, what’s far too often neglected is that being pro-life is not simply about the unborn child; it’s also about the mother — and creating a culture that respects her and embraces life. Of course we shouldn’t be talking about punishing women; we should affirm their dignity and the incredible gift they have to bring life into the world.” (Fox News)
- John Kasich said, "Of course, women shouldn't be punished.” (Reuters)
- Hillary Clinton tweeted, “Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. Horrific and telling.” (The Wall Street Journal)
- Bernie Sanders also tweeted his response, writing, “Your Republican front-runner, ladies and gentlemen. Shameful.” (The Wall Street Journal)
Polls
- According to a Marquette University Law School poll released on Wednesday, Ted Cruz leads Donald Trump in Wisconsin, 39.6 percent to 30.4 percent. In the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders is four points ahead of Hillary Clinton with 49.2 percent to Clinton’s 44.9 percent. (Marquette University)
- In a Quinnipiac University poll of New York voters released on Friday, Trump has 56 percent support, marking a substantial lead over Cruz’s 20 percent. Clinton leads Sanders, 54 percent to 42 percent, among Democrats. In any general matchup, both Democratic candidates beat their Republican rivals.
- Clinton (53 percent) vs. Trump (33 percent);
- Clinton (53 percent) vs. Cruz (32 percent);
- Clinton (46 percent) vs. Kasich (41 percent);
- Sanders (56 percent) vs. Trump (32 percent);
- Sanders (56 percent) vs. Cruz (28 percent);
- Sanders (47 percent) vs. Kasich (37 percent). (Quinnipiac University)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- Hillary Clinton’s campaign released an ad set to air in some Wisconsin markets beginning on Thursday that challenges Gov. Scott Walker’s record on education. A second ad was released on Wednesday that highlights Clinton’s major policy positions. A narrator says, “She’ll never let anyone privatize Social Security and Medicare, or shut down Planned Parenthood. She’ll take on the gun lobby, finally get equal pay for women, and stop the Republicans from ripping all our progress away.” According to Clinton’s campaign, these two clips were part of a six-figure ad buy in the state. (The Capital Times)
- After The Washington Post reported earlier this week that 147 FBI personnel were investigating whether classified material was mishandled during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, the newspaper amended the figure to "fewer than 50.” On Wednesday, NBC News reported that there were only around 12 full-time FBI agents working on the investigation, according to their source. (NBC News)
- The editorial board of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which endorsed John Kasich on Tuesday, published an op-ed challenging Clinton’s commitment to transparency on Wednesday. “Clinton has a long track record of public service but an equally long record of obfuscation, secrecy and working in the shadows to boost her power and further her ambition. We encourage voters to think long and hard about that record when choosing the next president,” they wrote. (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Bernie Sanders
- Bernie Sanders’ appearance on the D.C. primary ballot was challenged by a Democratic voter because Sanders did not submit his registration information to the D.C. Board of Elections on time. “D.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Anita Bonds said the issue may be resolved through an emergency vote by the D.C. Council, if necessary. The Board of Elections could rule it was an administrative error and correct it,” NBC Washington reported. Hillary Clinton also failed to submit her registration information on time but it was not challenged. (NBC Washington)
- Chris Sautter, an attorney for Sanders’ campaign, said legal action had not been ruled out in Arizona to dispute the 20,000 provisional ballots that were deemed invalid. “There are a lot of unanswered questions, things that have to be fixed; we're not so concerned about apologies. We're concerned about making sure that people who were wrongly disenfranchised have their votes counted,” Sautter said. (FOX 10 News Phoenix)
Republicans
- Some members of the rules committee for the 2016 Republican National Convention have expressed disapproval of a 2012 rule requiring any candidate who wants to compete at the convention to have received a majority of delegates in at least eight states, Politico reported on Wednesday. “I’m not a big fan of the eight-state threshold. I think that’s an artificial number. It was designed to prevent Ron Paul delegates — their votes from being counted. I don’t think it’s necessary to do that this year,” said David Wheeler, a rules committee member from South Dakota. (Politico)
Ted Cruz
- The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Ted Cruz’s campaign is questioning the validity of signatures John Kasich submitted to qualify to appear on the Montana Republican primary ballot. “Because John Kasich's campaign filed only 622 signatures, and the minimum number of signatures required under Montana law is 500, there is a reasonable probability that material defects with his petitions reduce the number of valid signatures below the required minimum, and John Kasich is therefore not eligible for placement on the ballot,” his campaign said. (U.S. News & World Report)
- Cruz is personally meeting with delegates in North Dakota, a state with one of the larger contingents of unbound delegates. Gary Emineth, former chairman of the Republican committee of North Dakota and a delegate candidate in the state, said, "Cruz has the best ground game in the state. His team is very aggressive identifying the past delegates. Congratulating us on our service with in-person meet and greets, emails and phone calls. Normally delegates are incumbents so they know who wants to be on that ballot. I have not heard from Trump." (CNBC)
- On Wednesday, Cruz, joined by his mother and wife, held an event in Wisconsin announcing his “Women for Cruz” coalition. Cruz said, "This event this morning is a celebration of strong women. Listen, I have news for the Democratic Party: Women are not a special interest. Women are a majority of the United States of America and every issue is a women's issue. (CNN)
John Kasich
- John Kasich said on Wednesday that he would have “would have gotten rid of” Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s campaign manager, if there were video evidence of him assaulting reporter Michelle Fields. When asked if he would support Trump as the Republican nominee, Kasich hedged that he didn’t yet know what he was doing to do. "I have two 16-year-old twin daughters. And if he happened to be the nominee, I would have to tell them why I would endorse him if I did," Kasich added. (NBC News)
- In an interview with radio host Jay Weber recorded earlier this week, Kasich called Republicans’ pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act “a big joke.” After Weber noted it was a “fallacy at the time” because a Democrat was in the White House, Kasich said, “Yeah, exactly. But you know, we’ve got all these conservatives all stirred up and angry because they didn’t keep their word. I mean, what a stupid promise.” (BuzzFeed)
Donald Trump
- The National Border Patrol Council endorsed Donald Trump on Wednesday. “Mr. Trump will take on special interests and embrace the ideas of rank-and-file Border Patrol agents rather than listening to the management yes-men who say whatever they are programmed to say. This is a refreshing change that we have not seen before – and may never see again," the union said in a statement. (CNN)
- In an interview on Wednesday, Trump said that he would nominate to the Supreme Court individuals “that would look very seriously at [Hillary Clinton’s] email disaster because it’s a criminal activity, and I would appoint people that would look very seriously at that to start off with.” (Politico)
- Trump’s tax attorneys confirmed in a letter released on Wednesday that Trump has been audited by the IRS every year since 2002. “Examinations for returns for the 2009 year and forward are ongoing. Your returns for these years report items that are attributable to continuing transactions or activities that were also reported on returns for 2008 and earlier. In this sense, the pending examinations are continuous of prior, closed examinations," they noted. (CNN)
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
