Hillary Clinton told New York magazine that she could beat Donald Trump in Texas and turn the red state blue for the first time in 40 years.
Said Clinton: “If black and Latino voters come out and vote, we could win Texas.”
Hillary Clinton told New York magazine that she could beat Donald Trump in Texas and turn the red state blue for the first time in 40 years.
Said Clinton: “If black and Latino voters come out and vote, we could win Texas.”
“Two Republicans intimately familiar with Bill Kristol’s efforts to recruit an independent presidential candidate to challenge Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have told Bloomberg Politics that the person Kristol has in mind is David French — whose name the editor of the Weekly Standard floated in the current issue of the magazine,” Bloomberg reports.
“French is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. According to the website of National Review, where French is a staff writer, he is a constitutional lawyer, a recipient of the Bronze Star, and an author of several books who lives in Columbia, Tenn., with his wife Nancy and three children.”
“Sheldon Adelson’s advisers are in talks about setting up a new Donald Trump super PAC that could become the central outside entity supporting his candidacy,” Politico reports.
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“I really admire you, I really like you, I just don’t know if I can vote for a woman to be president. I mean, they come to my events and then they say that to me.”
— Hillary Clinton, quoted by New York magazine.
A new Siena College poll in New York finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by 21 points in their home state, 51% to 31%.
At a press conference defending his donations to veteran’s groups, Donald Trump “demanded that journalists credit him for his act of charity and took umbrage at their scrutiny of his boasts and promises,” the New York Times reports.
“In a heated, 40-minute appearance in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, Mr. Trump dismissed a CNN reporter as ‘a real beauty’ and an ABC reporter as ‘a sleaze,’ and said that if he was elected president, the American public could expect a similar dynamic in the White House briefing room.”
Said Trump: “Yes, it is. It is going to be like this.”
Politico: “The major cable news networks — CNN, MSNBC and Fox News — broadcast nearly every single word of the billionaire’s news conference at Trump Tower, in which he was expected to disclose the details of the money he’s raised and distributed to veterans organizations but largely focused on attacking on the Fourth Estate.”
“I gather Donald Trump said I’m a loser. I’ve won some and I’ve lost some, but one thing I’ve always tried not to be is a roaring jackass.”
— Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, quoted by Politico.
Josh Kraushaar: “A useful rule of thumb: Politicians usually act in their own self-interest. And that’s why Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is opening the door to running again for his Senate seat.”
“If Rubio wants to run for president in 2020, it would be very difficult for him to do so without holding any prominent statewide elected office. Having only one term on the Senate under his belt and four years outside of office is an awfully thin starting point to mount a second presidential bid. There will be other newly-elected governors and senators who will emerge on the national radar. And with the Florida governor race unlikely to be an option—Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is popular and the odds-on GOP favorite—the only option for him to remain politically relevant is to pursue a second Senate term.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, quoted by the Washington Times: “We’re all lobbying hard for him to run again. He’s been back in the Senate for six weeks. He’s, I believe, enjoying it, and being effective.”
Former Trump political director Rick Wiley told Bloomberg that he still thinks Donald Trump will win the presidential election.
“Wiley said Republicans need to remember that the 2012 general election wasn’t a blow-out. If the GOP had turned out 400,000 more voters in three states combined—Ohio, Virginia, and Florida—Mitt Romney would’ve won, he said. Trump will capitalize on his crossover appeal with non-Republican voters and win battlegrounds ‘where everyone says he can’t.'”
Said Wiley: “The path exists. I firmly believe this guy’s going to win… The unwritten story is the enthusiasm gap.”
David Frum: “Whatever happens in November, conservatives and Republicans will have brought a catastrophe upon themselves, in violation of their own stated principles and best judgment. It’s often said that a good con is based upon the victim’s weaknesses. Why were conservatives and Republicans so vulnerable? Are these vulnerabilities not specific to one side of the political spectrum—are they more broadly present in American culture? Could it happen to liberals and Democrats next time? Where were the guardrails?”
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who feuded bitterly with Bill Clinton during the 1992 presidential campaign, endorsed Hillary Clinton in an open letter, calling her nomination the “only path forward to win the presidency and stop the dangerous candidacy of Donald Trump,” the Sacramento Bee reports.
A new Monmouth poll in New Jersey shows Hillary Clinton just ahead of Donald Trump in the presidential race, 38% to 34%.
Another 11% volunteer that they will vote for a third party or independent candidate even though the poll question did not include that option, and 15% say they are undecided.
Michael Gerson: “For those of us with a certain political bent and background, this is the most depressing moment of all. The best of the GOP — Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan, the intellectually serious reformicons who have called attention to issues of poverty and the need for Republican outreach — are bending their knee to the worst nominee in their party’s history. Ryan drags himself slowly. Rubio eventually went with a quick Band-Aid pull. But the largest political choice each man has made this year will be one of the worst mistakes of their careers.”
MSNBC: “Although there are about 70,000 Amish citizens and counting in the potential swing states of Ohio and Pennsylvania, very few of them have participated in presidential politics, since their faith requires them to eschew most of the trappings of modern society. For instance, in 2004, an estimated 1, 300 voted in the Lancaster County, P.A. region (or 13 percent of the eligible Amish voting population), and while they largely backed President George W. Bush’s re-election, their tiny turnout didn’t prevent Democratic nominee John Kerry from winning statewide.”
“Nevertheless, Trump supporters with ties to Dr. Ben Carson and Newt Gingrich have founded Amish PAC, which aims to launch the most ambitious get-out-the-vote efforts among the devout religious sect to date. They will almost certainly face an uphill battle, since the Amish don’t watch television or read social media, which could be a net positive or negative for Trump, depending on your point of view. And while voting is not necessarily prohibited by their strict religious beliefs, it’s not exactly encouraged either.”
First Read: “Yes, Hillary Clinton is just 72 delegates away from crossing the 2,383 magic number needed for a majority of delegates to win the Democratic convention. Yes, she’s likely to hit that milestone before polls even close in California (due to the New Jersey primary and its 126 pledged delegates). And, yes, even if she loses in California by 10 points, her lead over Bernie Sanders in pledged delegates would still be twice the size of Obama’s lead over Clinton in 2008.”
“But here’s the reason why Clinton needs to beat Sanders in California next week: She doesn’t want to give him any legitimate rationale to remain in the race beyond June 7 or June 14 (the final primary in DC). Why? Because… the moment Sanders exits the race, her poll numbers against Trump will increase… Maybe that’s why Clinton has canceled an event in New Jersey this week to spend more time in California.”
A new Hoover Institution poll shows Clinton leading Sanders by 13 points, 51% to 38%.
A new Franklin Pierce University-Boston Herald poll in New Hampshire shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton tied at 44% each.
The U.S. Senate race is also dead even, with Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) facing a tough challenge from Gov. Maggie Hassan (D).
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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