“I want to run as a Republican. I think I’ll get the nomination.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by The Hill.
Daily Archives
July 23, 2015
21 posts · Thursday
Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 190
Trump Is Everywhere
Trial Balloon · Ep. 190: Trump Is Everywhere
Favorability of the GOP Nosedives
A new Pew Research survey finds the Republican Party’s image has grown more negative over the first half of this year.
“Currently, 32% have a favorable impression of the Republican Party, while 60% have an unfavorable view… Favorable views of the GOP have fallen nine percentage points since January. The Democratic Party continues to have mixed ratings (48% favorable, 47% unfavorable).”
Trump Speaks for Republicans on Immigration
“Like Trump, self-identified Republicans are more likely to hold negative than positive views about recent immigrants. The June American Values Atlas survey finds that nearly half (48 percent) of Republicans say that newcomers from other countries threaten traditional American customs and values, compared to 36 percent who say they strengthen American society. In contrast, majorities of Democrats (63 percent) and independents (54 percent) believe that recent immigrants strengthen American society.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Oh my God… I’ll never run for office. I’m too aggressive, and nobody will ever vote for me.”
— Hillary Clinton, as recalled by Bill Clinton in a Time interview.
Connecticut Democrats Drop ‘Jefferson-Jackson’ Dinner
Connecticut Post: “Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are history in Connecticut. Under pressure from the NAACP, the state Democratic Party will scrub the names of the two presidents from its annual fundraising dinner because of their ties to slavery.”
“The decision is believed to be unprecedented and could prompt Democrats in other states with similarly-named events to follow suit.”
Quote of the Day
“If Picasso were alive today, he could get a lot of artistic fulfillment just by drawing congressional districts.”
— Former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), quoted by Roll Call.
Ayotte Slightly Ahead in New Hampshire
A new WMUR poll in New Hampshire finds Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) with a small edge over potential challenger Gov. Maggie Hassan (D), 45% to 43%.
McGinty Will Run for U.S. Senate
Katie McGinty (D) will resign her position as chief of staff to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) in preparation to run for the U.S. Senate, National Journal reports.
“McGinty’s entrance would be a major victory for Democrats in Washington, who have scoured Pennsylvania looking for a top-tier candidate in what should be a politically-crucial Senate battleground in 2016. Party leaders are wary about the only Democrat in the race, former Rep. Joe Sestak, concerned that his unwillingness to listen to strategic advice could cost them a winnable race against the well-entrenched Toomey.”
How Badly Would An Indie Trump Bid Hurt the GOP?
The Washington Post/ABC poll finds a three-way race would result in Hillary Clinton getting 46%, Jeb Bush getting 30%, and Donald Trump 20% among registered voters.
The Latest on Wonk Wire
Why Trump Could Be for Real
Rick Klein: “We can only speculate about what kinds of props or insults Donald Trump is bringing with him to the Texas-Mexico border today. But the new ABC News/Washington Post poll out Thursday suggests the extent to which he may not need them. Roughly half of Republicans in the poll oppose a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants – and Trump gets support from a third of those voters. Think about that: In a 16-person field, the idea that any candidate could get 34 percent of that large a slice of potential voters suggests an extraordinarily powerful issue.”
“That’s a much tougher sell in the general election, of course. But it’s a useful reminder that Trump isn’t operating in a political vacuum, or that his support is manufactured or meaningless. It also suggests that if Trump could go a news cycle or three without being, well, Donald Trump-ish, he could settle into a campaign trajectory that could last.”
Wonk Wire: Why Trump matters
The GOP Debate Watch Party Pack
From the Democratic National Committee:
The first GOP debate is August 6th, and we already have a pretty good idea of what the Republican candidates will say … so we made a bingo game! Order your GOP Debate Watch Party Pack and you’ll receive:
- Four (4) “I survived the GOP Debates” 16 oz plastic cups
- Four (4) “I survived the GOP Debates” lapel stickers (please only wear these if you do survive!)
- One 50-sheet bingo pad to play our official GOP Debate Bingo game with your friends
Trump Has Been Invited on The Daily Show
Donald Trump told The Hill that Jon Stewart is “begging” him to appear on the final episode of The Daily Show.
Said Trump: “They have invited me. I like Jon Stewart — I think he’s good. They’re begging me to go on.”
He added: “I would do it… the problem is it looks like pandering. It looks so false and so phony if I do it.”
Trump Threatens Third Party Run
Donald Trump told The Hill that the chances that he will launch a third-party White House run will “absolutely” increase if Republicans are unfair to him during the 2016 primary season.
Said Trump: “The RNC has not been supportive. They were always supportive when I was a contributor. I was their fair-haired boy. The RNC has been, I think, very foolish.”
Pressed on whether he would run as a third-party candidate, Trump said that “so many people want me to, if I don’t win.”
First Read: “So the RNC has a choice to make: Does it bite its tongue and hold back on future criticism? Or does it let him go? It isn’t an easy decision. On the one hand, the threat is credible — Trump has enough money (to get on the ballot) and enough name ID to affect a D-vs.-R presidential contest. On the other hand, he’s held the GOP and its candidates hostage. And when you’re dealing with a hostage-taker, sometimes the best approach is taking him out.”
Anthony Weiner Gets a New Job
New York Post: “A top ‘crisis’ public-relations firm with ties to Hillary Clinton has hired the last person in the world that most people would call on to dispense advice on dealing with a scandal: disgraced, penis-texting former Congressman Anthony Weiner.”
“The man who destroyed his own promising political career by botching a 2011 sext-message imbroglio with bald-faced lies — and who then ruined his comeback by running one of the most disastrous mayoral campaigns of all time — will now get paid to dispense advice to high-paying clients of the MWW p.r. firm… About the only thing that makes sense about this is that one of the company’s clients is Ball Park Franks.”
Bush Blasts Lobbyists But Was Once One Himself
Jeb Bush complained about “swarms of lobbyists” who hold sway over Washington, but he has accepted campaign donations from lobbyists, turned to some for advice and was once registered as a lobbyist himself, the AP reports.
A Small Senate Battlefield
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “First, Democrats have a plausible but narrow path to a minimal majority, requiring a net gain of four seats if a Democratic vice president is also elected, or five seats if the GOP wins the White House. But as we note below, Democrats need to win the lion’s share of the small number of truly competitive seats on this cycle’s map.”
“Second, because the route to a Democratic majority is fraught with peril and obstacles aplenty, the Republicans are still more likely to keep the majority than the Democrats are to win it, though it would be a considerable surprise if the GOP’s 54-46 seat margin wasn’t reduced by at least a seat or two. Not losing any net seats probably requires the Republican nominee to not only win the presidency, but capture more than 300 electoral votes in doing so — something no Republican has done since George H.W. Bush in 1988.”
Trump’s Nativist Appeal Is an American Tradition
Jeff Greenfield: “Are there sound reasons for questioning comprehensive immigration reform? Of course… But those are not the arguments that Trump and his supporters are offering. They’re embracing the same arguments that were once aired at the Irish and German Catholics; at the Chinese; at the Italians and Poles and Jews: They’re going to undermine our culture; they’re disproportionately criminal or they’re carrying diseases; they threaten our way of life.”
“In this sense, Trump’s screeds on immigration fit perfectly with his birther arguments four years ago. There’s simply no way of knowing whether his GOP rivals will succeed in pushing Trump and his arguments to the margins, or whether the broader Republican primary electorate will reject the messenger, if not the message. What’s clear is that the rise to the presidency of Barack Obama—seen by many Republicans and conservatives as a source of patriotic pride—is still seen by others as proof that an ‘un-American’ occupies the highest office in the land.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
More about Taegan Goddard →