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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - March 8, 2016
From Ballotpedia
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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential Briefing was sponsored by the Leadership Project for America. | ||||
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Tuesday's Leading Stories
- Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) announced on Monday that he would not launch a third-party presidential campaign. “As the race stands now, with Republicans in charge of both Houses, there is a good chance that my candidacy could lead to the election of Donald Trump or Senator Ted Cruz. That is not a risk I can take in good conscience,” he wrote in an editorial. (Bloomberg View)
- Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) endorsed Ted Cruz on Monday. "It was a hard choice – I know so many of them, Chris Christie, I know Jeb Bush, I know the ones still running now. They are good people ... But I am also looking toward November and I think if Ted Cruz is nominated, he has a good opportunity to defeat the Democratic nominee,” Bryant said. The Mississippi Republican primary will take place on Tuesday. (Politico)
- According to Ballotpedia’s senior writer Jim Barnes, the Michigan primary on Tuesday will be pivotal for both the Democratic and Republican contests. “Which candidates will be helped by a large turnout varies from state to state. Sanders is likely to benefit from a large turnout in Michigan. If that happens it could be a sign that working Democratic-leaning voters are not crossing over to vote for Trump in the GOP primary. Trump could benefit from a large turnout in Michigan, just as McCain did in 2000,” Barnes added. (Ballotpedia)
Polls
- Marco Rubio has narrowed the gap between him and Donald Trump in Florida, according to a Monmouth poll released on Monday. He trails 30 percent to Trump’s 38 percent in the state. (Monmouth University)
- On Monday, Public Policy Polling released a poll finding Trump and John Kasich in a tight race in Ohio, 38 percent to 35 percent. In the Democratic race, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders, 56 percent to 35 percent. (Public Policy Polling)
- In Michigan, Clinton and Trump both have 13-point leads in each primary race, according to a Monmouth poll released on Monday. (Monmouth University)
- According to an Idaho Politics Weekly poll, Trump leads in Idaho with 30 percent. Ted Cruz follows with 19 percent. (Idaho Politics Weekly)
- According to a national ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Tuesday, Trump leads the Republican field with 34 percent support. In one-on-one contests with Cruz and Rubio, however, Trump trails by 13 points and five points, respectively. For the Democrats, Clinton retains a shrinking lead over Sanders, 49 percent to 42 percent. (ABC News)
Democrats
Hillary Clinton
- U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham (D-Fla.) endorsed Hillary Clinton on Monday. “We’ve got to want to work together to make sure that we deal with the issues that our country is facing, and I know that Secretary Clinton is the one to be able to do that,” she told reporters after casting her vote early in Florida. (The Tallahassee Democrat)
- During a town hall hosted by Fox News on Monday, Clinton discussed the classified emails found on her private email server. She said, “Well, what I’m saying is, it wasn’t [classified] at the time. Now, if you — let’s take Mary Smith, who has some information in the government, and she is FOIA'd, Freedom of Information Act, give us your information, your memos, your emails, whatever it might have been. That then goes through a process. So, even though the agency she works in has said none of this is classified, others start to have a chance to weigh in. So others might say, ‘You know, that wasn’t at the time, but now, with circumstances, we don’t want to release it, so, therefore, we have to classify it.’ I’ve asked, and I echo Colin Powell in this, release it, and once the American people see it, they will know how absurd this is. So, Colin Powell and I are exactly on the same page.” (RealClearPolitics)
Bernie Sanders
- The National Rifle Association tweeted an image featuring a portion of Bernie Sanders’ explanation during Sunday’s debate for why he rejected manufacturer liability: “What you're really talking about is ending gun manufacturing in America. I don't agree with that.” It captioned the image, “Sen. Sanders was spot-on in his comments about gun manufacturer liability/PLCAA [Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act].” (CNN)
- On Monday, Sanders clarified his assertion at the Democratic debate that white people did not know “what it's like to be living in a ghetto” and seeming conflation of African-Americans with poverty. He said, “What I meant to say is when you talk about ghettos traditionally, what you're talking about is African-American communities. I think many white people are not aware of the kinds of pressures and the kind of police oppression that sometimes takes place within the African-American community.” (NBC News)
- Sanders released a five-minute Spanish-language docu-ad, “Tenemos Familias,” on Monday that focuses on the challenges faced by Latino farmworkers in Florida. It is set to air on Univision on Thursday night. (NBC News)
Republicans
- The Sun Sentinel announced on Monday that it would not endorse any Republican presidential candidate. “We cannot endorse businessman Donald Trump, hometown Sen. Marco Rubio or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz because they are unqualified to be president. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is the best of the bunch, but if you measure a candidate by the caliber of his campaign, Kasich's lack of traction and organization make a vote for him count for little,” the editorial board wrote. (The Sun Sentinel)
Ted Cruz
- Keep the Promise I, a super PAC supporting Ted Cruz, released five new ads in Florida criticizing Marco Rubio’s immigration policies, tax plan and support for federal sugar subsidies. The narrator in one ad says, “So-called conservative Marco Rubio has been taking your hard-earned tax dollars and giving them to pay his billionaire buddies – the same billionaires who have funded Marco Rubio’s political career. You know who else practices this kind of pay-to-play corporate cronyism? Hillary Clinton.” (The New York Times)
- Cruz charged in an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the media has damaging information about Donald Trump but is delaying its release. He said, “I can't tell you how many media outlets I hear, you know, have this great exposé on Donald, on different aspects of his business dealings or his past, but they said, ‘You know what? We're going to hold it to June or July. We're not going to run it now.’” (The Washington Post)
- Judge David Weinstein dismissed a lawsuit filed in New York state court on Monday that challenged Cruz’s eligibility to run for president because he was born in Canada. He wrote that the petitioners had failed to meet the statutory deadline for an objection. (USA Today)
- Cruz wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday to argue that President Obama should not be allowed to appoint a liberal justice to fill Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court. He asked, “Do the American people want a justice who adheres to the unchanging text, history and structure of the Constitution, or do they want a justice who thinks the Constitution should evolve with the personal beliefs of unelected lawyers?” (The Wall Street Journal)
- Cruz is expected to announce his first Senate endorsements this week. “Cruz has until now failed to earn the endorsement of any of his fellow senators, a fact that Donald Trump has beaten him over the head with. But as many see Marco Rubio’s prospects dimming, some members of the upper chamber are beginning to make peace with Cruz, convinced that he’s the only candidate who can stop Trump,” National Review reported. (National Review)
John Kasich
- John Kasich argued on Monday that he could win a brokered convention without a delegate lead at the start. He said, “The delegates will be smart, and they’ll figure it out. I was at a convention where Ronald Reagan challenged Gerald Ford. Ford won and the party was unified. But, you know, to say – I have more than you, therefore I should get it? Go out and earn it! Don’t be whining about how it’s gonna work. Go get what you need to be the legitimate winner!" (The Washington Post)
- On Monday, Kasich criticized Hillary Clinton for calling on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) to resign because of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. He said, “You know, that’s demagoguery out of her. I know her and I don’t like that. I’m really agitated with the fact that here she is calling on somebody else to resign with her history, with the history of her family. Give me a break, OK?” (Politico)
Marco Rubio
- CNN reported on Monday that some of Marco Rubio’s advisers have encouraged him to suspend his presidential campaign before the Florida primary because a loss there could “hurt his political future.” Alex Conant, Rubio's communication director, called the story “fiction.” (CNN)
- Rubio will participate in a televised town hall hosted by MSNBC and moderated by Chuck Todd on Wednesday night in Florida. (Deadline)
- Rubio announced his National Security Advisory Council on Monday. It includes former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, former Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim, former State Department official Paula Dobriansky and Ambassador Kristen Silverberg. (The Chicago Tribune)
- Former Mass. Gov. and 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has recorded robocalls for Rubio’s campaign in Florida. The message is not an official endorsement, however. Romney, instead, says, “If we Republicans were to choose Donald Trump as our nominee, I believe that the prospects for a safe and prosperous future would be greatly diminished — and I’m convinced Donald Trump would lose to Hillary Clinton.” (The New York Times)
Donald Trump
- The Chicago Tribune reported on Monday that Latino officials were planning to protest a Donald Trump event at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Friday. Out of concern that protesters might be injured if they tried to demonstrate at the event site, the protest is scheduled to take place outside. “We want to raise our voices because the city of Chicago has an incredibly proud tradition of being inclusive, of bringing people together. And Mr. Trump has the tradition of division, of hatred, of bigotry, of prejudice. We are asking all of Chicago to stand up,” U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) said. (The Chicago Tribune)
- U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Monday that the Republican Party should have rejected Trump earlier in the campaign cycle. “He took our problems in 2012 with Hispanics and made them far worse by espousing forced deportation. Looking back, we should have basically kicked him out of the party.” (Politico)
- The Washington Post published a profile of Donald Trump’s sister and Third Circuit federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry on Tuesday. It focuses on Barry’s legal career and 2000 ruling on partial-birth abortions which led to some, including Ted Cruz, labeling her as a “radical pro-abortion extremist.” (The Washington Post)
- Trump released an ad opposing Marco Rubio in Florida on Monday. It accuses Rubio of “defrauding the people of Florida” and being “a total no-show in the U.S. Senate with the worst voting record of all.” (The New York Times)
- Foreign diplomats have reportedly expressed concern about Trump’s candidacy and rhetoric. CNBC noted on Monday, “Officials from Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia have complained in recent private conversations, mostly about the xenophobic nature of Trump's statements, said three U.S. officials, who all declined to be identified.” (CNBC)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- Jill Stein spoke with Illinois Public Radio last Thursday where she “talked about how her party is engaging people of color, and how she thinks more third party representation in Illinois would be good for the political process.” (Illinois Public Radio)
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
