Larry Lessig ended his Democratic presidential campaign because he was shut out of the debates.
Archives for November 2015
$1 Million Spent on School Board Race
Joshua Spivak: “Once again, a recall election is arguably the most fascinating election of the year. As opposed to some of the past famous recalls, the big one this year is for a minor political position: three School Board members in Jefferson County, Colorado, Ken Witt, Julie Williams and John Newkirk. Yet we’ve already seen over a million dollars raised by recall proponents in what has to be one of the (though not the) most expensive school board races of all time.”
Bush Tries to Reset His Campaign
Quote of the Day
“You know when you ever go to a hotel room or get a rental car that has been smoked? That’s what this smells like.”
— Speaker Paul Ryan, in an interview with NBC News, on the pervasive smell of cigarettes in his new office.
Trump Keeps Lead in New Hampshire
A new Monmouth poll in New Hampshire finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 26%, followed by Ben Carson at 16%, Marco Rubio at 13%, John Kasich at 11%, Ted Cruz at 9%, Jeb Bush at 7%, Carly Fiorina at 5% and Chris Christie at 5%.
Trump Slams DNC Chair
Donald Trump says that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a “crazy” and “highly neurotic woman,” Politico reports.
Said Trump: “This is a woman that is a terrible person. I watch her on television. She’s a terrible person. And in all fairness, she negotiated a great deal for Hillary because they gave Hillary all softballs.”
The Latest on Wonk Wire
Democrats Look to Capitalize on GOP Debate Mess
“The Spanish-language network Telemundo is in talks with the Democratic National Committee about possibly scheduling a new candidate forum with the Dem presidential candidates, after the Republican National Committee canceled its debate on NBC News and the NBC-owned Telemundo to protest CNBC’s handling of last week’s gathering,” Greg Sargent reports.
“If this comes to fruition, Democrats would effectively be moving into the breach created by the RNC’s decision. It would mean Democrats end up holding two debate-style events on Spanish-language networks, since they are already set to hold a Univision debate in March.”
The Reason for the GOP Debate Over Debates
First Read: “While many of those demands are reasonable, there are two explanations for this ‘debate over the debates’ is happening compared with past presidential cycles. One, we’ve never seen this many candidates in one party’s field before — 14 total, 10 on the main stage, four in the undercard. And two, it’s another example of how weaker the political parties have become. In the past, the campaigns would trust the parties to control the debating parameters with the TV networks. Well, not this time.”
GOP Campaigns Only Agree They Want Better Debates
Rick Klein: “It took another fractious debate to unite the GOP candidates: They agree that they don’t like these fractious debates, even if the viewing public seems to. But, as Sunday night’s summit made clear, they agree on almost nothing of what they want out of the debates, aside from longer opening statements and some say over graphics that come on screen. Ben Carson wants fewer debates and more candidates together; Bobby Jindal and Lindsey Graham want more debates and to be alongside the likes of Carson and Donald Trump; Trump wants as few candidates as possible, and definitely wants everything to end inside of two hours. (Campaigns including Marco Rubio and John Kasich’s don’t seem to want major changes at all, and Carly Fiorina was so unworried her campaign didn’t send a representative to the meeting.)”
“It’s likely that the most substantive changes that will grow out of this mini-revolt will have the candidates taking a leading role in negotiating format with individual television outlets, instead of the RNC. That cuts out a middleman who was never interested in getting in the middle of those fights anyway. The campaigns seem to lack either the time, inclination, or unity (these are individuals who want the same job, remember) to make wholesale changes to a locked-in debate schedule. The RNC can’t like the rumblings, but it may wind up cheering the results.”
The Washington Post has a draft letter listing the campaigns’ demands for the next debates.
Who Really Won the 2000 Election?
CNN revisits the 36-day Florida recount battle in the 2000 presidential election.
“Taken as a whole, the recount studies show Bush would have most likely won the Florida statewide hand recount of all undervotes. Undervotes are ballots that did not register a vote in the presidential race. This goes against the belief that the U.S. Supreme Court handed the presidency to Bush, or took it away from Gore.”
“The studies also show that Gore likely would have won a statewide recount of all undervotes and overvotes, which are ballots that included multiple votes for president and were thus not counted at all. However, his legal team never pursued this action. The studies also support the belief that more voters went to the polls in Florida on Election Day intending to vote for Gore than for Bush.”
Bush Hopes New Book Will Kickstart Campaign
Jeb Bush’s comeback plan starts Monday with a three-day, three state tour wrapped around the release of his latest book, Reply All.
Bloomberg: “The self-published work is the story of Bush’s eight years as Florida governor, from 1999 to 2006, uniquely told through some of the tens of thousands of e-mails Bush sent to and received from citizens, reporters and state lawmakers.”
Does Tax Reform Have a Chance Now?
Paul Ryan’s rise to House speaker “is fanning hopes that a once-in-a-generation tax overhaul might be on the horizon,” Politico reports.
“The Wisconsin Republican who claimed the gavel last week is one of Congress’ preeminent tax experts, an ardent advocate of rewriting the code with lots of ideas on how to do it… But now Ryan has far more power to put the issue on Washington’s agenda — and the latest budget deal between congressional leaders and the White House should give him ample room to launch his speakership without being distracted by constant battles over funding the government and raising the debt limit.”
Super PAC Silence Confuses Cruz Campaign
“The super PACs backing Cruz’s presidential run have yet to reserve any TV time in the early primary states – or anywhere else – despite a combined $38 million warchest that ranks second only to Jeb Bush’s $103 million operation,” Politico reports.
“The total absence of ads has created confusion and growing consternation inside the Cruz campaign, which cannot legally communicate with its allied super PACs and has had to watch as their rivals lock in tens of millions of dollars in ads before prices spike, as they typically do as elections near.”
Ryan Builds Messaging Team
Speaker Paul Ryan “has hired eight communications staffers as he builds what he promises to be a large-scale press shop to lead the GOP messaging operation,” Politico reports.
“Ryan has said he’ll spend a lot of time on television communicating the party’s message. He plans to hire upwards of a dozen communications hands.”
Bush Predicts He’ll Win New Hampshire
“Jeb Bush, facing headwinds in his Republican presidential bid, said Sunday the race is still in the early stages and predicted he would win the crucial New Hampshire primary next year,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Said Bush: “I don’t think they follow all the things that people in other parts of the country follow. They want to hear the candidates, hear their heart, and hear their ideas. And I think I’m going to win New Hampshire because of that, by the way.”
GOP Campaigns Meet to Rethink Debates
Several Republican presidential campaigns “began mapping out new demands Sunday for greater control over the format and content of primary debates, which have attracted big audiences and become strategically critical for the 2016 cycle’s expansive field of contenders,” the Washington Post reports.
“The effort was a response to long-simmering frustrations over the debates, the questions and in some cases the moderators, which boiled over this weekend when advisers from at least 11 campaigns met in the Washington suburbs to deliberate about how to regain sway over the process.”
“The private gathering became the latest twist in what has been a turbulent season of debates for the GOP, with less popular candidates — including a sitting senator and governor — furious about being relegated to a little-watched ‘undercard’ debate and the front-runners dismayed by a process they have described as a disastrous brew of bias and arbitrary rules.”
Matalin Bets on Cruz in GOP Race
GOP strategist Mary Matalin says she was “flummoxed” by Jeb Bush’s performance at last week’s GOP debate, The Hill reports.