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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - November 19, 2015
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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
- The former national finance co-chairman for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign and billionaire Frank VanderSloot endorsed Marco Rubio on Wednesday. He said in an endorsement letter, “Marco Rubio is the brightest and most capable candidate. He has the uncanny ability to state his positions clearly in a way that resonates with the average voter.” (Politico)
- Poll: According to a poll from Fox News released on Thursday, Donald Trump maintained his lead in New Hampshire with 27 percent support. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz followed with 13 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Ben Carson dropped to fourth place with 9 percent. In the Democratic field, Bernie Sanders held a narrow lead over Hillary Clinton 45 percent to 44 percent. Martin O’Malley registered 5 percent support. (Fox News)
- Poll: In head-to-head general election matchups in New Hampshire, Fox News found, “Although Trump is the top choice of Republican primary voters, he performs the worst against Clinton in general election ballot tests. Clinton bests Trump by seven points (47-40 percent), Cruz by three points (44-41 percent) and Christie by one (44-43 percent). Clinton and Fiorina tie at 43 percent each. Four Republican candidates come out ahead of the presumptive Democratic nominee: Rubio is ahead by 7 points (47-40 percent), Bush (45-42 percent) and Kasich (43-40 percent) are up by 3 points each, and Carson has a 2-point edge (45-43 percent).” (Fox News)
Democrats
- Poll: In a poll of Arizona Democratic voters from the Behavior Research Center released on Thursday, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 47 percent to 19 percent. (RealClearPolitics)
- Poll: Clinton sits atop the Democratic field in New Jersey with 64 percent support to Bernie Sanders’ 26 percent, according to a new survey from the PublicMind Poll at Fairleigh Dickinson University. (Fairleigh Dickinson University)
Hillary Clinton
- Former President Bill Clinton will host at least 20 fundraisers for Hillary Clinton over the next month. Politico reported, “The cash swing for the legendary fundraiser rounds out the current fundraising quarter and gives a boost to the campaign's 2015 goal of collecting $100 million in money for the primary. Based on funding reports through the third quarter, the Clinton team needs to have collected about $25 million from October through December to make its goal.” (Politico)
- Clinton is scheduled to deliver her policy to defeat the Islamic State during a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday. Earlier this week, she criticized Republican opposition to accepting Muslim Syrian refugees, tweeting, “We've seen a lot of hateful rhetoric from the GOP. But the idea that we'd turn away refugees because of religion is a new low.” (TIME)
- After Mayor of Roanoke David Bowers (D) said on Wednesday that his opposition to accepting Syrian refugees into his city “reminded [him] that President Franklin D. Roosevelt felt compelled to sequester Japanese foreign nationals after the bombing of Pearl Harbor,” Clinton removed Bowers from her leadership team in Virginia. A spokesman for Clinton said, “The internment of people of Japanese descent is a dark cloud on our nation’s history and to suggest that it is anything but a horrible moment in our past is outrageous.” (Washington Times)
Martin O’Malley
- Martin O’Malley’s campaign is seeking public matching funds through the Federal Election Commission. A decision on his eligibility is expected next week. BuzzFeed reported, “The move reflects a campaign up against its own limitations, short on time and money, yet pressing forward. After five months in the race, 18 trips to Iowa and 10 to New Hampshire — after trying again and again to will the polls upward, to find his footing and finally take off — O’Malley is still trying, though now with equal parts resolve and resignation. His team is pursuing a public funding option that would keep them afloat in the short term, while locking the campaign into a set of restrictions that would almost certainly guarantee failure in the long term.” (BuzzFeed)
Bernie Sanders
- National Nurses United For Patient Protection (NNUPP), a super PAC supporting Bernie Sanders, has spent nearly $570,000 to promote Sanders. His campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, rejected the idea that NNUPP’s support contradicted Sanders’ previous assertions that he was a “non-billionaire major candidate for president who does not have a super PAC.” Weaver said, “Unlike others, we have not started a super PAC, are not coordinating with a super PAC, and we have not fundraised for a super PAC. We stand by our position that we do not want the help of a super PAC.” (CNN)
- In a speech at Georgetown University on Thursday, Sanders is set to explain why he describes himself as a democratic socialist and promote “a second Bill of Rights” as first developed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. "At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, Sanders believes, as did Roosevelt, that all Americans should have a right to a job with a living wage; health care; education; social security; housing and freedom from unfair competition and monopolies,” his campaign said on Wednesday. (USA Today)
Republicans
- Poll: Donald Trump leads the Republican field in New Jersey with 31 percent support. Marco Rubio and Ben Carson follow with 18 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Jeb Bush had the most significant drop in support in the state, falling from 18 percent in June to 5 percent this month. (Fairleigh Dickinson University)
Jeb Bush
- In a speech at the Citadel on Wednesday, Jeb Bush said the U.S. should increase the number of ground forces in the Middle East to combat the Islamic State. “The United States -- in conjunction with our NATO allies and more Arab partners -- will need to increase our presence on the ground," Bush said, although he did not provide an estimate of how many soldiers he would send to the region. (CNN)
- Right to Rise, a super PAC backing Bush, has made a three-week ad buy in Ohio to promote Bush in the state beginning November 30. John Weaver, a campaign strategist for John Kasich whose home state is Ohio, said the ads were “a quick and ineffective way to spend down their funds before Jeb is out of the race.” (The New York Times)
- Bush received endorsements from 27 retired flag officers – the most senior military officers who have held the rank of general or admiral – on Thursday. “Jeb Bush has been a strong advocate for the U.S. military, strong enough to earn my support. The 2016 field has many talented candidates, but for this old sailor, Bush has presented the strongest plan in the field for rebuilding our military,” wrote Navy Admiral Robert Natter (Ret.) in an op-ed for The Virginian-Pilot. (Fox News)
Ben Carson
- Ben Carson wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post on Wednesday with his “plan to defeat the Islamic State.” In addition to recommending the U.S. destroy or take control of “the oil fields along Syria’s eastern border,” Carson emphasized the importance of using social media to challenge the Islamic State’s online propaganda campaign. He wrote, “We can monitor social media by expanding the search algorithms already in place to safeguard against inappropriate behavior, including religious hate speech. Once flagged, we can notify platform providers and encourage them to censor communications (and block users) that violate the terms of constructive discourse. The hacker group Anonymous has already provided a model for accomplishing this.” (The Washington Post)
- After receiving criticism for saying the 2005 legal interventions to keep Terri Schiavo alive were “much ado about nothing,” he explained his intended meaning on Wednesday. “I am steadfastly opposed to euthanasia. I have spent my entire career protecting life, especially the life of children. I regret that my recent comments about Terri Schiavo have been taken out of context and misinterpreted. When I used the term 'much ado about nothing,' my point was that the media tried to create the impression that the pro-life community was nutty and going way overboard with the support of the patient,” Carson said. (The Washington Post)
Chris Christie
- In response to President Obama’s criticism of Republicans who oppose admitting Syrian refugees into the U.S., Chris Christie said on Wednesday, “The President's the person who created this entire situation. He didn't keep his word when he drew a red line in Syria. He allowed the situation in Syria to happen, he hasn't set up a no-fly zone that could create a safe haven for these refugees to live safely in their own country, rather than having to scatter all across the world. And he's the one who's casting aspersions? It's a joke. And he's a joke on this issue." (CNN)
- In the same interview on CNN, Christie said he opposed Donald Trump’s suggestion that some mosques should be closed. “We don't need to indiscriminately close mosques. What we need to do is to increase our intelligence capability back to what it was post-9/11 so that we can prevent attacks from happening,” Christie said, referring to the National Security Agency’s program to collect metadata from Americans’ phone records. (CNN)
- According to a poll released by Fairleigh Dickinson University on Wednesday, Christie’s disapproval rating in New Jersey is 56 percent. (NJ.com)
Ted Cruz
- After President Obama criticized Republicans for opposing the admission of Syrian refugees while abroad, Ted Cruz challenged him to a debate on refugee policy. He said, “If you want to insult me, you can do it overseas, you can do it in Turkey, you can do it in foreign countries, but I would encourage you, mister president, come back and insult me to my face.” (The New York Times, RealClearPolitics)
- The Dallas Morning News reported on Wednesday that Cruz has been extensively developing his campaign ground strategy in Georgia: “Already, Cruz has a more extensive organization in the Peach State than any of his rivals. The campaign has enlisted 1,500 volunteers, and it’s aiming for 5,000 by year’s end. There are Cruz supporters in each of Georgia’s 159 counties and designated campaign directors in the two-thirds or so that will generate the bulk of primary votes.” (The Dallas Morning News)
Carly Fiorina
- On Tuesday, Carly Fiorina said the federal government should refocus its energy on national security. She said, “Here’s a startling fact ... we have more IRS agents than FBI and CIA. Does that strike you as a mis-allocation of resources? Of course it is. We need to take this terror threat seriously." She added that instead of closing mosques, she would “increase the amount of agents we have on the ground." (Fox News)
Jim Gilmore
- Jim Gilmore requested equal time from an NBC affiliate in South Carolina following Donald Trump’s episode of “Saturday Night Live.” His campaign advisor, Boyd Marcus, said the time should be granted because Trump’s hosting did not fall into any news programming exemption. “A candidate's appearance on the show is to entertain, not to provide bona fide news coverage to the public," Marcus said. (Boston Herald)
Lindsey Graham
- On Wednesday, Lindsey Graham announced he intended to submit a motion to declare war on ISIS after Thanksgiving Day. He said such a declaration would “allow this President and every other president to do whatever is necessary to destroy ISIL before they hit us here at home.” (Fox Business)
- In an interview on Wednesday, Graham questioned the wisdom of John Kasich’s plan to form a new diplomatic “that has a clear mandate to promote the core, Judeo-Christian Western values.” Graham said, “I don’t think we should be promoting Judeo-Christian values in the Arab world. I think that was the Crusades. … John Kasich is trying to do a good thing, but you’ve got to watch your words in this business. Our enemies can take our words and use them against us.” (Politico)
Mike Huckabee
- In an op-ed for TIME on Wednesday, Huckabee argued that no visas should be granted to foreigners from areas with an “ISIS presence.” He wrote, “Europe’s experiment with open borders collided with radical Islamic terrorism on Friday, producing the most bloodshed in Paris since WWII. One of the terrorists responsible for the attacks in France is believed to be a Syrian refugee and others are believed to have trained there. Paris should be a wake-up call for the Washington establishment and many in the GOP who support open borders and out-of-control amnesty.” He added, “Regardless of what this White House says, we are not at war with militant Methodists, extremist Episcopalians, or radicalized Roman Catholics. We are at war with Islamic jihadists. And it’s time we identify our enemy by name and start waging a winning war.” (TIME)
- Huckabee has requested equal time from an NBC affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, following Donald Trump’s SNL appearance. (Boston Herald)
John Kasich
- On Wednesday, John Kasich wrote an op-ed for TIME outlining his plan to combat ISIS. “In addition to destroying ISIS with a coalition of boots on the ground, we must arm moderates, we must arm the Kurdis [sic] in both Syria and Iraq in order to help them defend their homelands and take the fight to ISIS as we prepare our collective response. With a coalition we must create and enforce no-fly zones in Syria where refugees can find shelter. Our allies in the region must provide sanctuary for those displaced by war,” Kasich wrote. (TIME)
- In a new ad from the New Day for America super PAC, Kasich is presented as an alternative to presidential candidates without political experience. As images of President Obama, Donald Trump and Ben Carson appear on the screen, the ad’s narrator says, “On-the-job training for president does not work. Benghazi. Beheadings. Paris. Our lives depend on a commander-in-chief with experience, who understands the world.” (Washington Times)
- Kasich has drawn criticism for “present[ing] himself publicly as uninvolved and neutral” on a 2013 bill to restrict abortion access even though several of his aides were involved in drafting the legislation. "Gov. Kasich intentionally hid the pivotal role he played in Ohio's assault on reproductive rights. He did this because he knows Ohio remains a pro-choice state and he does not want to be held accountable for his actions,” said Sandy Theis, the executive director of ProgressOhio. A spokesman for Kasich responded to the accusations, saying, “Providing feedback on proposed or contemplated legislation, and especially on issues that are complex, is very common for state agencies and the governor's office.” (ABC News)
Rand Paul
- In an interview on Wednesday on Fox News, Rand Paul said his call to prevent terrorism by blocking Syrian refugees from entering the country extended to French citizens. He said, "I think our biggest entry for those who would attack us is coming to visit, basically, coming as a refugee or coming as a visitor or coming as a student. We also have to be concerned about French citizens coming here. Most of the people involved in the attack, I think, are going to turn out to be French citizens. ... I would stop that. I would say nobody comes unless they're part of Global Entry [a program for international travelers who have already been screened].” (CNN)
- Paul said on Wednesday that the U.S. should stop participating in arms sales with countries that refuse to accept Syrian refugees. He said, “One of the biggest supporters of Sunni terrorism in the world is Saudi Arabia, Qatar is up there, UAE is up there. Sometimes government, sometimes private donors. What I would say is no more sales of any arms to these countries until they start accepting refugees.” (RealClearPolitics)
Marco Rubio
- The Democratic National Committee (DNC) attacked Marco Rubio for not attending briefings on the Paris terrorist attacks on Wednesday. Christina Freundlich, a spokesperson for the DNC, said in a statement, "While the rest of the world is focused on the terror attacks in Paris, Rubio is skipping critical briefings on national security to focus on high-dollar fundraisers. He excuses his poor voting record by saying the votes he misses don't matter, but it's especially galling when he's missing national security briefings in order to attend ritzy West Coast fundraisers." Rubio had already attended a classified Intelligence Committee session on Tuesday on the Paris terrorist attacks, according to his spokesperson, Alex Conant. (CNN)
Rick Santorum
- In an interview on Fox News Radio on Wednesday, Rick Santorum suggested President Obama was “in cahoots” with ISIS. He said, “The president’s policy is to keep ISIS within their bounds. ISIS’s objective is to keep their territorial integrity. What does that sounds [sic] like? It sounds like president Obama is in cahoots with the strategy of ISIS to maintain their territorial integrity. (Fox News Radio)
Donald Trump
- On Wednesday, Donald Trump released a series of radio ads to be broadcast in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. In one ad, criticized President Obama’s refugee policy, Trump pledged to “bomb the hell out of ISIS.” (The New York Times)
- Trump said in a statement on Wednesday that concealed carry permit holders have an obligation to be armed. He wrote, “Carrying a weapon is not always feasible or appropriate. However, given the increased tensions that are the result of continued, escalating terrorism around the world, more legitimately armed individuals on the streets is a positive outcome. … I will carry more often than I have in the past, and I am sure other concealed permit holders will do the same. Do we have an obligation to carry? The answer is ‘yes,’ but we must do it in such a way as to raise serious doubts in the minds of those who might be considering violence in America. Deterring violence is far better than dealing with the aftermath of an act of terror. Less blood, more security. That is what will make America great again.” (Breitbart)
- In response to a New York Times article featuring an adviser to Ben Carson saying he had a poor understanding of foreign policy, Trump said on Wednesday, “That's a pretty serious problem. I don't want someone incapable of learning foreign policy when we have ISIS, when we have Iran, when we have all of these problems. When the New York Times says, from his top adviser and a couple of others, he's essentially incapable of learning foreign policy, I mean that's pretty sad." (CNN)
Third Party Candidates
Jill Stein (Green Party)
- When asked on Wednesday for her opinion on Israel and Palestine, Jill Stein said, “We should not be in the business of funding a war criminal. As outrageous as that is, it’s even worse that Obama is meeting with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu now to discuss increasing the funding for the Netanyahu government.” (Triad City Beat)
- At the same event, Stein differentiated herself from Bernie Sanders, saying, “We think foreign policy should be based on international law, human rights and diplomacy. He believes you can fight these things out. Our view is we created ISIS through our foreign policy.” (Triad City Beat)
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
