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Trump Aide Pledges Toned Down Campaign

April 22, 2016 at 6:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 26 Comments

“Donald Trump’s newly installed campaign chief sought to assure members of the Republican National Committee on Thursday night that Mr. Trump recognized the need to reshape his persona and that his campaign would begin working with the political establishment that he has scorned to great effect,” the New York Times reports.

In fact, Paul Manafort bluntly suggested the candidate’s incendiary style amounted to an act.

Said Manafort: “That’s what’s important for you to understand: That he gets it, and that the part he’s been playing is evolving. The negatives are going to come down, the image is going to change, but Clinton is still going to be crooked Hillary.”

Republicans Begin Tangling Over Convention Rules

April 22, 2016 at 6:06 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 3 Comments

“The Republican Party has seen nearly all of its traditions and expectations upended by this year’s presidential campaign. Now, the party is under pressure to change even the most basic rules of the game,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Case in point: The spring meeting of the Republican National Committee, which wrangled over a proposal to make it harder for party elders at the July convention to anoint a ‘white knight’ candidate should delegates deadlock over businessman Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.”

“Thursday’s spat, tamped down by a voice vote, could be just the first in a string of disputes over usually arcane procedures and rules as the divided party heads into the final months of battle over choosing the GOP’s nominee. Already, party veterans are warning that the convention in July could end up entangled in legalistic skirmishes over who can serve as a delegate and how business will be conducted—details that could shape the battle for the nomination.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

April 21, 2016 at 5:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 37 Comments

“We can’t take a chance that we’re accused of any monkey-business. Tricks. Stunts. Anything.”

— Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R), quoted by Politico, talking to RNC members about this summer’s convention.

Dead Heat In Indiana

April 21, 2016 at 4:36 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 43 Comments

Politico has seen three different private polls of the Republican presidential race in Indiana.

One survey shows Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in a statistical tie, 32% to 32%, with John Kasich at 14%.

A second survey also had Trump and Cruz tied, a change from three weeks earlier when Cruz had led outside the margin of error.

A third survey had Trump ahead of Cruz, outside the margin of error.

Parody of ‘The War Room’ Planned

April 21, 2016 at 4:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 2 Comments

Fred Armisen and his former “Saturday Night Live” colleagues Bill Hader and Seth Meyers are planning a parody of the classic political documentary The War Room, called “The Bunker,” for cable channel IFC this fall, Politico reports.

Trump Vows to Include Abortion Exceptions In Platform

April 21, 2016 at 4:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 60 Comments

Donald Trump would “absolutely” change the Republican Party’s platform on abortion to include exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother, Politico reports.

Said Trump: “Yes, I would. Yes, I would. Absolutely. For the three exceptions, I would.”

Long Primary Comes at Big Cost to Clinton

April 21, 2016 at 4:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 101 Comments

“Hillary Clinton has burned through tens of millions of dollars to counter Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in states that are unlikely to be general election battlegrounds, delaying any pivot to the general election and shrinking her potential financial advantage over the eventual Republican nominee,” the New York Times reports.

“While Mrs. Clinton has built a significant advantage in pledged delegates over Mr. Sanders in the Democratic nominating contest, her lead has come at a significant cost. She spent more than she raised in each of the first three months of the year, according to Federal Election Commission data, including more than $12 million on ads in March alone… Mrs. Clinton has spent at least $20 million on advertising in states like New York, Illinois and Massachusetts, money that could otherwise have been saved for the general election.”

GOP Scales Back In Some States

April 21, 2016 at 4:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 25 Comments

The RNC “is scaling back its financial commitments to some of the most hotly contested states because of flagging fund-raising, the most concrete evidence yet of how the party’s divisive and protracted presidential race is threatening the entire Republican ticket in November,” the New York Times reports.

“Committee officials outlined detailed plans in written ‘playbooks’ distributed this year in the most competitive states about how they intended to assist Republican campaigns up and down the ballot with money and manpower. By July 1, Florida was to have 256 field organizers and Ohio another 176, for example, according to a state party chairman in possession of the strategy books who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.”

Trump Winning Big In California

April 21, 2016 at 2:44 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 20 Comments

A new Capitol Weekly/Sextant Strategies poll in California shows Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 41%, followed by Ted Cruz at 23% and John Kasich at 21%.

“California is worth 172 delegates when it votes on June 7 — with the winner of each of the state’s 53 congressional districts receiving three delegates. The statewide winner receives 13 delegates. The Capitol Weekly/Sextant Strategies poll shows Trump winning in almost every corner of the state.”

How Likely Is a Clinton-Warren Ticket?

April 21, 2016 at 10:28 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 99 Comments

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

If Hillary Clinton picked another woman as her running mate, as the Boston Globe suggests is a possibility, it would be a doubling down on strength much like Bill Clinton did when he put fellow Southerner Al Gore as his ticket in 1992.

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What Does Bernie Want?

April 21, 2016 at 9:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 323 Comments

Washington Post: “Hillary Clinton’s victory in the New York primary Tuesday has brought Sen. Bernie Sanders one step closer to a series of difficult decisions that can be summed up in one simple question: What does Bernie want? How he answers that question will have a direct bearing on how united Democrats will be heading into the fall campaign — and whether Sanders will be able to leverage his success this year into lasting power and influence.”

This Has Been the Wildest Year

April 21, 2016 at 9:14 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 2 Comments

We’ve got Charlie Cook, publisher of the must-read Cook Political Report, on the latest episode of our podcast. You’ll definitely want to listen to this one.

Subscribe via iTunes or RSS to get new episodes automatically downloaded to your phone.

Clinton Will Consider All-Woman Ticket

April 21, 2016 at 7:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 310 Comments

“Hillary Clinton’s short list of vice presidential options will include a woman, a top campaign official said in an interview — creating the possibility of an all-female ticket emerging from the Democratic convention in Philadelphia,” the Boston Globe reports.

Said campaign chairman John Podesta: “We’ll start with a broad list and then begin to narrow it. But there is no question that there will be women on that list.”

“The development immediately injects liberal darling Senator Elizabeth Warren’s name into the growing speculation about who Clinton will choose as her running mate now that she is almost certainly on track to become the nominee.”

For members: How Likely Is a Clinton-Warren Ticket?

Trump Pledges Not to Blow It

April 21, 2016 at 7:02 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

Donald Trump “is planning to roll out significant changes in his campaign, including giving a policy speech on foreign affairs and using teleprompters and a speechwriter,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“He and his newly recast team also are pledging to do more outreach to Washington Republican leaders, who have often been hostile and the target of Trump attacks, and to spend significant amounts of money to run a more conventional campaign.”

Said Trump: “The campaign is evolving and transitioning, and so am I. I’ll be more effective and more disciplined. I’m not going to blow it.”

Nate Cohn: How Trump could win the nomination outright.

Trump and Cruz Court Party Insiders

April 21, 2016 at 7:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 9 Comments

“The messy fight for the Republican presidential nomination is shifting to a luxury seaside resort in south Florida as Donald Trump and chief rival Ted Cruz quietly court party leaders ahead of another set of high-stakes delegate contests,” the AP reports.

“Cruz conceded publicly for the first time that he doesn’t have enough support to claim the nomination before the party’s summertime national convention, but he also vowed Wednesday to block Trump from collecting the necessary delegates as well. The Texas conservative predicted a contested convention that many party loyalists fear could trigger an all-out Republican civil war.”

Quote of the Day

April 21, 2016 at 6:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 41 Comments

“If you don’t have ideas, you got nothing, and frankly my Republican Party doesn’t like ideas. They want to be negative against things.”

— Gov. John Kasich, in a Washington Post interview.

Ryan Tries to Set GOP Agenda

April 21, 2016 at 6:53 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 25 Comments

House Speaker Paul Ryan “plans to roll out a wide-ranging conservative agenda in the weeks before Republicans gather in Cleveland to select their presidential nominee,” the Washington Post reports.

“Republicans say the speaker’s agenda project — the product of several task forces and dozens of meetings among rank-and-file House members — will provide specifics, and perhaps even draft legislation, on key issues of importance to conservatives, including health care, taxes and national security. Republicans have long promised an alternative to President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which they constantly bash but for which they have not produced a concrete replacement.”

Trump Terrifies World Leaders

April 21, 2016 at 6:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 51 Comments

President Obama “is trying but failing to reassure foreign leaders convinced that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. They’re in full-boil panic,” Politico reports.

“According to more than two dozen U.S. and foreign-government officials, Trump has become the starting point for what feels like every government-to-government interaction. In meetings, private dinners and phone calls, world leaders are urgently seeking explanations from Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Trade Representative Michael Froman on down. American ambassadors are asking for guidance from Washington about what they’re supposed to say.”