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Bloomberg Actively Mulling Presidential Bid

January 23, 2016 at 10:18 am EST By Taegan Goddard 150 Comments

Michael Bloomberg “has instructed advisers to draw up plans for an independent campaign in this year’s presidential race,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Bloomberg, 73, has already taken concrete steps toward a possible campaign, and has indicated to friends and allies that he would be willing to spend at least $1 billion of his fortune on it… He has set a deadline for making a final decision in early March, the latest point at which advisers believe Mr. Bloomberg could enter the race and still qualify to appear as an independent candidate on the ballot in all 50 states.”

Washington Post: “This is not the first time that Bloomberg has explored the possibility, and he may well decide that a race is not feasible. But three associates said that several factors have convinced him that a run outside of the Republican and Democratic party process is worth another look.”

Why the Establishment Hasn’t Backed Rubio

January 23, 2016 at 10:17 am EST By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Most analysis of the GOP presidential race finds four Republican candidates fighting to be the “establishment” candidate: Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich.

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Does Anyone Care Who the Des Moines Register Backs?

January 23, 2016 at 9:35 am EST By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

“The Des Moines Register has been endorsing candidates ahead of Iowa’s presidential caucuses since 1988, but when it announces its latest picks Saturday evening, it’ll be doing so in an upside-down political atmosphere in which once-vaunted traditions have become unwelcome reminders of insiderdom,” Politico reports.

“The two Republican candidates likeliest to win the caucuses — Donald Trump and Ted Cruz — didn’t even bother to court the paper’s endorsement. And it’s unclear if they’d want it anyway. Republican strategists and political observers predicted that unlike in previous years, a Register endorsement could become an instant talking point for rivals, proof that the honoree is aligned with a mainstream media outlet’s moderate-to-liberal lean.”

Conservative States Vote First

January 23, 2016 at 9:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 9 Comments

Wall Street Journal: “Exit polls from 2012 nominating contests make the point. The Iowa Republican caucuses drew one of the most conservative voter pools of the year, with 84% of caucus-goers describing themselves as ‘conservative’ or ‘very conservative.'”

“Three of the next four contests on this year’s calendar also drew a larger share of conservative voters than the party’s national average, which stood at 61% conservative in the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll. New Hampshire was the lone, more centrist, outlier.”

“March 1, the day that allocates the most delegates of the primary season, includes large list of conservative states, including Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Oklahoma.”

Ted Cruz Never Lost His Health Insurance

January 22, 2016 at 10:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 97 Comments

Sen. Ted Cruz has health insurance, and he had it all along, his campaign admitted to the Wall Street Journal, reversing what the presidential candidate said a day earlier.

Cruz had claimed he no longer had health care and lost his coverage “because of Obamacare.”

Trump Quote of the Day

January 22, 2016 at 10:25 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 44 Comments

“Just watched Jeb’s ad where he desperately needed mommy to help him. Jeb, mom can’t help you with ISIS, the Chinese or with Putin.”

— Donald Trump, tweeting about Jeb Bush’s new ad featuring his mother.

Trump Still Up By Double-Digits Nationally

January 22, 2016 at 10:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 5 Comments

A new Fox News national poll finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 34%, followed by Ted Cruz at 20%, Marco Rubio at 11% and Ben Carson at 8%.

Everyone else has 4% or less.

Obama Aides Side with Clinton

January 22, 2016 at 10:19 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 29 Comments

New York Times: “Mrs. Clinton’s eagerness to tie herself to her old boss — most conspicuously in last Sunday’s debate — has been gratifying to Mr. Obama’s aides, given the tangled history between the president and his onetime rival turned lieutenant. His aides still view Mrs. Clinton as more electable and better qualified to protect his record than Mr. Sanders, though they have been impressed by the senator’s recent performance and unsettled by hers.”

Clinton Banks on Sanders Not Being Obama

January 22, 2016 at 10:15 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 138 Comments

“Clinton campaign officials tell NBC News that two key factors propelled Obama to victory over Clinton in 2008: 1) Obama’s ability to galvanize the African-American vote after winning the Iowa caucuses; and 2) Obama’s domination of the caucus contests.”

“But the Clinton campaign – while acknowledging the possibility they could lose Iowa – argues that Sanders will be unable to capitalize on either factor that benefitted Obama.”

Trump-Cruz Feud Takes an Ugly Turn

January 22, 2016 at 6:39 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 66 Comments

“The waning alliance of convenience between Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz collapsed on Friday in a burst of negative advertisements and counterattacks, as Mr. Trump moved aggressively to derail Mr. Cruz’s chances of winning the Iowa caucuses in 10 days,” the New York Times reports.

“The sparring signaled a new and more combative phase in a nominating battle that many Republicans view as rapidly narrowing to a choice between Mr. Cruz and Mr. Trump, who enjoys a substantial lead over all rivals in New Hampshire and in recent days appears to have erased Mr. Cruz’s advantage in Iowa, which will hold the first caucuses on Feb. 1.”

O’Malley Supporters Could Decide Iowa

January 22, 2016 at 4:05 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 44 Comments

“Martin O’Malley has rarely broken above 5% in Iowa polls, but on caucus night he could be the most popular person in the room — or, rather, his supporters will be, as activists for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders desperately try to scoop them up,” the New York Times reports.

“The arcane rules of Iowa’s Democratic caucuses mean that most O’Malley supporters will be ruled ‘nonviable’ if he does not get 15% support at a caucus; his supporters will then be up for grabs by another candidate. With polls showing the race between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders narrowing to a near tie, O’Malley supporters, along with attendees who enter their neighborhood caucuses undecided, could swing the results.”

Trump Follows Schwarzenegger’s Path

January 22, 2016 at 3:27 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 55 Comments

Vanity Fair looks back at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2003 gubernatorial victory in California and concludes that it wasn’t an aberration, “but proof of concept for the Republican candidate of the future. It was Donald Trump’s road map.”

“Like Trump, Schwarzenegger the Politician just sort of materialized one day. He wasn’t particularly known as somebody who could run for office, though there had been rumblings. He had just been in a Terminator movie; he didn’t need such a low-paying fallback career. So we didn’t think about him very seriously. But then he went on The Tonight Show, and suddenly he was—the recall was, and then he was.”

“He was an action hero, painted in broad strokes, who ran on a name and a catchphrase. And the shock was the same as it is now.”

Christie Leaves the Campaign Trail

January 22, 2016 at 2:43 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 23 Comments

Gov. Chris Christie reverse course and announced that he’s cutting his latest campaign trip short to return to New Jersey ahead of an incoming blizzard, the Newark Star Ledger reports.

Said Christie: “I gotta go home. We’ve got snow coming. Now, I’ve got to tell you something, after you’ve dealt with Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Irene and more more snow storms than I can even count, I forget the number of states of emergency I’ve now signed over the course of my time, but when snow comes people get nervous.”

Kansas Lawmaker Imposes Dress Code for Women

January 22, 2016 at 2:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 77 Comments

Kansas state Sen. Mitch Holmes (R) “imposed a dress code on Kansans testifying on elections or ethics bills that explicitly prohibits women from wearing skimpy skirts or blouses with plunging necklines while establishing no wardrobe restrictions exclusively for men,” the Topeka Capital Journal reports.

“Holmes said he considered stipulating men had to wear suit and tie when addressing his Senate committee, but decided males didn’t need supplemental instruction on how to look professional.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

January 22, 2016 at 1:32 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 31 Comments

“Now I’m kind of surprised that I’m still here and three more years to go. That is, unless I take my surplus campaign funds and put a ballot initiative on the November ballot to allow fourth-term governors to seek a final, fifth term. Heh heh.”

— California Gov. Jerry Brown (D), quoted by the Los Angeles Times.

Clinton Library to Release Trump Documents

January 22, 2016 at 12:57 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 23 Comments

“The Clinton Presidential Library plans to release later this year a trove of records relating to Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and his business,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The documents, which must be released in early April unless the White House or Mr. Clinton’s office request an extension or claim executive privilege, could prompt further criticism from Republicans that Mr. Trump’s relationship with the Clintons in the decades before his presidential campaign was inappropriately cozy.”

Sanders Maintains Lead in New Hampshire

January 22, 2016 at 12:36 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 65 Comments

A new Suffolk University poll in New Hampshire finds Sen. Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton by 9 points, 50% to 41%.

Also interesting: “Sanders fares better when it comes to the issue of trust. Asked which of the three major Democratic candidates is the most trustworthy, respondents chose Sanders by a 15-point margin: 51% to Clinton’s 36%. And while 26% of likely Democratic voters said they were bothered by Clinton’s use of private email as secretary of state, 71% said that it is not of concern.”

Group Seeks Evidence to Convict Snyder

January 22, 2016 at 11:25 am EST By Taegan Goddard 53 Comments

“Hacking group Anonymous has set its sights on Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who is scrambling to address a drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan,” The Hill reports.

“The goal of the campaign is to gather evidence against Snyder and put him in jail. The governor has been widely berated for his slow response to the emergency in Flint, where lead levels in the drinking water have spiked since officials switched the water source to a local river to cut costs.”