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Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing - October 8, 2015
From Ballotpedia
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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
- Hillary Clinton said she opposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership on Wednesday. “As of today, I am not in favor of what I have learned about it,” said Clinton. She named currency manipulation, job loss and overly favorable terms for pharmaceutical companies as some of her chief concerns with the agreement. (The Huffington Post)
- Bobby Jindal wrote an op-ed in Forbes on Thursday to promote his new tax platform. Under Jindal’s proposed tax plan, there would be three personal tax brackets: 2 percent, 10 percent and 25 percent. Jindal would also eliminate corporate income tax, the death tax, the gift tax, the alternative minimum tax and the “marriage penalty.” (Forbes, Bobby Jindal for President)
- Gallup will no longer produce public opinion polls of the “primary horse races.” Frank Newport, Gallup’s editor-in-chief, explained, “We believe to put our time and money and brainpower into understanding the issues and priorities is where we can most have an impact.” (Politico)
- Poll: According to a Field Poll survey of Democratic California voters released on Wednesday, 47 percent of respondents said they would vote for Hillary Clinton. Bernie Sanders came in second with 35 percent support. (Reuters)
Democrats
- No Democratic candidate agreed to attend journalist Campbell Brown’s education forum co-hosted by The Des Moines Register this month. “What happened here is very clear: The teachers unions have gotten to these candidates,” Brown said. Six Republicans participated in a similar forum in August. (Politico)
Joe Biden
- At a fundraiser hosted by the Latino Victory Project PAC on Tuesday, Joe Biden said Republican presidential candidates were “beating Hispanics” with their rhetoric around immigration. Biden continued, “And the message I have for you guys is these guys don't remotely speak for America. The American people are so much better. They are so far beyond. They are so, so, so much different than these guys who are appealing to everything from homophobia to this notion of the like know nothing party of the late 1800s." (CNN, National Review)
Hillary Clinton
- The Associated Press reported on Wednesday night that hackers located in China, South Korea and Germany attempted to infiltrate Hillary Clinton’s private email server in 2013. The cyberattacks were blocked by a “threat monitoring” service. It is not yet known whether the attempted attacks were targeted or a “nuisance” attack directed at servers around the world. (Associated Press)
- Datto, Inc., a private technology company hired by Platte River Networks to produce backups of Clinton’s email accounts, is reportedly providing the FBI with data it has preserved from those accounts. Clinton has consented to the release. (The Washington Post)
- On Thursday, Clinton will announce her financial regulation platform. According to Vox, Clinton’s plan includes prohibiting banks from investing up to 3 percent of their capital in “speculative investment vehicles” like hedge funds. (Vox)
Lawrence Lessig
- In an interview with TIME on Wednesday, Lawrence Lessig discussed why his campaign spent $100,000 on an ad buy to target Marco Rubio. “Money is the central issue. … We’re going to move down to other candidates too, but do it in a way that puts that on the table and that’s a recognition of my name with this issue. … It’s true that money is a problem across the field, but it’s important for us in the Democratic primary to attack the issue in a way that doesn’t alienate the base right away. So that’s why we went with the obvious Republican targets first,” Lessig explained. (TIME)
- In the same interview, Lessig also questioned the “restrictive” criteria for the CNN Democratic debate next week. He said, “If you look at the viability of this campaign relative to Lincoln Chafee or Jim Webb, I’ve qualified for public funding, they haven’t qualified for public funding, and there’s more energy and enthusiasm that’s driven support for my campaign than theirs.” (TIME)
Martin O’Malley
- Generation Forward, a super PAC supporting Martin O’Malley, spent $215,000 on an ad to introduce O’Malley to voters in Iowa in advance of the first Democratic presidential debate. (Baltimore Sun)
Bernie Sanders
- Bernie Sanders received his first endorsement from a member of Congress on Wednesday from U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.). (The Huffington Post)
- In an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Tuesday, Sanders explained why he believed most trade agreements were not beneficial to Americans. Sanders said, “I think if you look at the history of trade agreements, Chris, what you find, they are written by Wall Street. They are written by corporate America. They're written by the drug companies, written by – they have been, in my view, a disaster for the American worker. And now the President differs, and he will tell you why he differs. … I think virtually every union in this country, that virtually all of them oppose this agreement. Elizabeth Warren and I will help lead the effort to defeat it.” (RealClearPolitics)
- According to Politico, Sanders is preparing for next week’s Democratic presidential debate with “briefing books, a couple of meetings with policy experts, and an abiding aversion to the idea of acting out a debate before it happens.” (Politico)
Republicans
- The Fitzwater Presidential Forum on Energy and the Environment was canceled on Wednesday after only Jim Gilmore and George Pataki agreed to attend. "I am confident that these issues, which are of great importance to New Hampshire citizens and our presidential candidates, will continue to be discussed throughout the remaining months leading up to the First-in-the-Nation Primary," the planned moderator and former U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said. (Huffington Post)
Jeb Bush
- Jeb Bush wrote an op-ed in USA Today on Wednesday to proclaim he “intend[s] to shake up Washington.” As part of his reform agenda, Bush said he would work to establish a balanced budget amendment, a six-year lobbying ban on former members of Congress, congressional term limits and the reduction of the federal workforce by 10 percent. (USA Today)
- U.S. Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) endorsed Bush on Wednesday. (Fresno Bee)
- Bush argued on Wednesday that gun control regulations do not prevent mass shootings. He said, “Name a case where gun rights being restricted out of Washington would have changed the course of any of those cases. The bigger problem right now is we have people that are, have growing despair, are isolated from society, that are disconnected from the rest of us, and spiral out of control and then commit these atrocious acts of violence and in many cases commit suicide." (CBS News)
Ben Carson
- On Tuesday, Ben Carson defended his suggestion that potential victims of a mass shooting should together attack a gunman and rejected the notion he was “tone deaf” or “callous” in making the comment. “[I’m not] judging them at all. But, you know, these incidents continue to occur. I doubt that this will be the last one. I want to plant the seed in people's minds so that if this happens again, you know, they don't all get killed," he said. (CBS News)
- In an interview with Breitbart on Wednesday, Carson presented a four-point plan to combat instability in Syria. He said the U.S. should “maintain current engagements with air and ground forces,” “continue to assist Syrian insurgent forces in their conflict against pro-Assad and ISIS forces with advisors, intelligence and weapons,” work with Turkey to develop a no-fly zone along the country’s border with Syria and reject Russian calls for the U.S. to relinquish control of airspace over Syria. (Breitbart)
- Carson said on Wednesday that the proposition that “every lifestyle is exactly of the same value” is wrong. He continued, “It is very clear that intact, traditional families with traditional, intact values do much better in terms of raising children. So let’s stop pretending that everything is of equal value." (Huffington Post)
Chris Christie
- Chris Christie criticized President Obama’s handling of foreign relations with Russia and said the U.S. should provide more support to Europe to be less dependent on Russia for energy. “We could counter that if we had an aggressive energy policy like the one I’ve proposed in this campaign. We should lift the export ban. We should...partner with Mexico and Canada to say the north American continent will supply to Western Europe what they need so they don’t have to rely on Putin. This guy’s economy is in tank and he’s swinging above his weight. And the only American he can knock out in the ring is Barack Obama. Put me in the ring against Vladimir Putin, we’ll do just fine,” Christie said. (Breitbart)
- America Leads, a super PAC backing Christie, spent more than $700,000 on television, Facebook and Google ads this week. (NorthJersey.com)
Ted Cruz
- On Wednesday, Ted Cruz announced the more than 200 Iowans who will lead his county campaign efforts in the state. (The Des Moines Register)
Carly Fiorina
- James Davis, a spokesman for the Koch brothers’ Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, confirmed on Wednesday that Carly Fiorina is being closely considered by the organization. She joins Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio as one of five candidates on the “the donor network’s watch list.” (ABC News)
- In an extensive interview with Christianity Today, Fiorina described her daily faith practice and how her spirituality has influenced her campaign. “The people who get on television and call me a liar hope that I will be scared off. So it’s really important to get centered in the love of the Lord and get centered in the reality of, ‘Of whom shall I be afraid?’ and ‘The Lord is the stronghold of my life,’” Fiorina said. She also noted she would like to create better opportunities for women by acknowledging they “are half the potential of this nation,” honoring women’s choices to “be at home with their children” or “to become chief executive,” developing meritocracies and using technology to empower women. (Christianity Today)
Lindsey Graham
- On Wednesday, Lindsey Graham criticized Ben Carson for seemingly criticizing the victims of last week’s Oregon community college shooting for “just stand[ing] there.” Graham said, “I think Mr. Carson has no idea what he would do. … I just don’t think that’s the road to go down in terms of questioning these people, who have lost their lives, because you have no idea what you would do," Graham said, citing his own military background to suggest an individual does not know how he or she will face a violent situation until confronted with it. (Newsmax)
- Graham announced his intentions to participate in 100 town hall meetings in New Hampshire on Wednesday. "I was with John McCain when he was fifth in a four-person race. He did 100 town hall meetings in New Hampshire. I'm going to try to duplicate that. I think I'm the best person to be commander-in-chief. And I thank God for Iowa and New Hampshire, because it gives a person like me a chance,” he said. (CNN)
Mike Huckabee
- Mike Huckabee is scheduled to visit the U.S.-Mexico border this weekend. "Governor Huckabee will address the media and outline his plan to secure the border within the first year of his presidency," a spokesperson said. (CNN)
- According to BuzzFeed, Huckabee’s 1998 book, Kids Who Kill, features several fabricated or misattributed quotes from the founding fathers “used to reinforce Huckabee’s moral viewpoint.” Many of the incorrect quotes could only be sourced back to Huckabee’s book. (BuzzFeed)
John Kasich
- USA Today reported on Wednesday that John Kasich is conducting “a bold test” of Federal Election Commission regulations banning coordination between campaigns and super PACs. New Day for America, a super PAC backing Kasich, has produced and funded an ad featuring footage Kasich shot for the group. Kasich’s campaign argues there was no improper “coordination” because Kasich was not a candidate when the filming took place. (USA Today)
George Pataki
- At a campaign event at the Tuck School of Business in New Hampshire, George Pataki said the Republican Party “has to embrace science.” He continued, “We can't be the party who, in the 21st century, doubts vaccines, doubting evolution or denies the fact that human activity is emitting CO2 in the atmosphere and that CO2 is warming the earth." (Newsday)
Rand Paul
- Rand Paul dismissed proposals to create a no-fly zone over Syria as “a terrible idea.” He explained, “That's drawing a red line in the sky. Once you draw a red line, and people cross it, what happens? Now we're talking about an incident that could lead to World War III. We went 70 years having open channels of communication with the Russians, trying to avoid having one side shoot down the opposite side's plane. I think the people who call for a no-fly zone are naive.” (The Washington Post)
- During an interview on an Iowa talk radio show, Paul advocated for schools to advertise that their teachers and security are armed. “When you have a gun-free zone at a school, it’s like an invitation, if you are crazy and want to shoot people, that’s where you go. I would do the opposite. I would have and encourage every school in American put stickers on every window going into the school saying, ‘We are armed. Come in at your own peril. We have concealed carry for teachers who have it and we also have armed security and you will be shot,’” Paul said. (Sun Times National)
Marco Rubio
- On Wednesday, Marco Rubio criticized Donald Trump’s support of eminent domain. Rubio said of his time in the Florida state legislature, “We passed what has become model legislation for other states around the country, that actually passed both a law and a constitutional amendment that keeps developers like Donald Trump from using the power of eminent domain to take private property away from an owner and give it to another owner.” (CNN)
- On the same day negotiators announced they had finalized the terms of the Trans-Pacific Partnership after six years, Rubio said he was “generally very much in favor free trade.” He added, “I explain to people all the time, the United States cannot get locked out of 95 percent of the world’s consumers.” (The Hill)
Rick Santorum
- At a campaign stop in Iowa on Wednesday, Rick Santorum argued the deportation of 11 million undocumented immigration from the U.S. was “a matter of will.” He said the first step was to address people who remained in the U.S. with an expired visa. (Sioux City Journal)
Donald Trump
- On Wednesday morning, Donald Trump tweeted his defense of Ben Carson for saying he would “not just stand there and let [a gunman] shoot” him in response to the Oregon community college shooting last week. Trump wrote, “Ben Carson was speaking in general terms as to what he would do if confronted with a gunman, and was not criticizing the victims. Not fair!" (CNN)
- At a campaign event in Iowa on Wednesday night, Trump distinguished himself from early 2012 Republican frontrunners Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain. He said, “For three months, we've been number one. They were there for a week." At the same event, climate change activists interrupted Trump’s speech. He instructed the crowd “to be nonviolent towards” the demonstrators before they were escorted from the event space. (Bloomberg, CNN)
- Trump is releasing a new book entitled Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again on October 27. He said the “tough” and “nasty title” was necessary “because our country’s in trouble.” (Business Insider, Amazon)
- Javier Palomarez, the president of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said Trump was “never going to win the White House” given his treatment of Latino voters. “This particular candidate has done everything he can to alienate that electorate. And given the chance to come and explain himself in a dialogue that’s about substance, it’s about a track record and being able to clarify exactly what he meant with those deplorable comments. In the end of the day, he checked out and chose not to do this,” Palomarez said on Wednesday. (Fox News Latino)
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
