Really well done: A Child’s First Book of Trump by Michael Ian Black and Marc Rosenthal.
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GOP Convention Seating Chart Released
Cleveland Plain Dealer: “The best seat in The Q — center stage, front row —goes to New York, the home state of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. Other front-row assignments will go to Alabama, Connecticut, New Jersey, Wisconsin and California. (Perhaps GOP leaders are throwing a bone to the California delegates to make up for assigning them to a hotel in Sandusky, the furthest drive of any state by far.)”
Inside Trump’s Veep Pick
A great behind the scenes look at Donald Trump’s running mate search from Time:
Chris Christie’s allies were so sure the New Jersey governor was the pick that his former New Hampshire state director quit a lucrative consulting job to join the Trump campaign.
Newt Gingrich thought things were drifting his way too, thanks to a lobbying push led by powerful conservative stalwarts, including billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who suggested he would lavish more cash on Trump’s campaign if the former House Speaker was on the ticket.
Meanwhile, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was left in suspense in his New York hotel room Thursday night, days after allies became convinced that Trump had zeroed in on the Hoosier, and hours after the choice began leaking widely.
Dead Heat in the Battleground States
The latest CBS News/YouGov battleground tracking polls are out:
- Ohio: Clinton 44%, Trump 40%
- Michigan: Clinton 41%, Trump 39%
- Iowa: Trump 40%, Clinton 39%
Across 11 different battleground states — Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin — Clinton barely leads 41% to 40%.
President Obama won all 10 of these states in 2012, all except North Carolina.
Trump’s Long History of Lying
New York Times: “As Mr. Trump prepares to claim the Republican nomination for president this week, he and his supporters are sure to laud his main calling card — his long, operatic record as a swaggering business tycoon. And without question, there will be successes aplenty to highlight, from his gleaming golden high-rises to his well-regarded golf resorts, hit TV shows and best-selling books.”
“But a survey of Mr. Trump’s four decades of wheeling and dealing also reveals an equally operatic record of dissembling and deception, some of it unabashedly confirmed by Mr. Trump himself, who nearly 30 years ago first extolled the business advantages of ‘truthful hyperbole.’ Indeed, based on the mountain of court records churned out over the span of Mr. Trump’s career, it is hard to find a project he touched that did not produce allegations of broken promises, blatant lies or outright fraud.”
Trump Abruptly Changes His New Logo
“Donald Trump and Mike Pence’s campaign unveiled their new logo on Saturday, one day after a logo for the campaign was widely mocked on social media for appearing to be sexually suggestive,” The Hill reports.
Trump’s One Man Show
“If ever there was a moment for Donald J. Trump to share the spotlight, his formal announcement of his running mate on Saturday was it. Instead, his introduction of Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana was a remarkable reminder that ultimately, the Trump campaign is about one person,” the New York Times reports.
“He called Mr. Pence his ‘partner,’ but before the governor took the stage, Mr. Trump stood there alone and talked for 28 minutes, delivering a long and improvised riff that emulated his rallies instead of a traditional vice-presidential debut.”
Trump Forces GOP to Make a Tough Choice
New York Times: “But amid gloom about Republican prospects in November, Mr. Trump may have endangered the party in a more lasting way: by forging a coalition of white voters driven primarily by themes of hard-right nationalism and cultural identity.”
“Republicans have wrestled for years with the push and pull of seeking to win over new groups of voters while tending to their overwhelmingly white and conservative base. Now, Mr. Trump’s candidacy may force them into making a fateful choice: whether to fully embrace the Trump model and become, effectively, a party of white identity politics, or to pursue a broader political coalition by repudiating Mr. Trump’s ideas — and many of the voters he has gathered behind his campaign.”
Quote of the Day
“You’re amazing.”
— Gov. Mike Pence, picked up by a microphone after shaking hands with Donald Trump after being formally announced as his running mate.
Clinton Promises Campaign Finance Reform
Hillary Clinton “will pledge to make an overhaul of the campaign-finance system an urgent priority, as she announces plans to introduce a constitutional amendment overturning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling during the first 30 days of her administration,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The presumptive Democratic nominee has made her opposition to the Supreme Court decision lifting restrictions on corporate and union political expenditures a prominent feature in her campaign. And on Saturday, Mrs. Clinton will sketch out how she will approach the issue as president, with a release of a video detailing her plans, a campaign official said.”
Trump Nearly Picked Christie
Donald Trump nearly picked New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as his running mate and wavered until the last minute before announcing Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was his final choice, according to CNN.
New York Times: “In conversations late into the evening, Mr. Trump repeatedly hesitated over selecting Mr. Pence, according to people briefed on the tense deliberations, who insisted on anonymity to describe the confidential talks. Even as his emissaries reassured Mr. Pence, Mr. Trump fielded a last-ditch appeal from Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, another finalist, who once again pressed his own case.”
Issa Wants to Shut Down Government Over Clinton
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) told Brietbart News Daily that now might be a good time for the Republican leadership to shut down the federal government, in protest of what he called “an imperial president” who will not “enforce criminal charges against a criminal.”
Issa was referring to the lack of charges filed against Hillary Clinton for her private email server.
Said Issa: “We should be willing to shut down the government if the president won’t limit his power.”
Pence Not Likely to Matter Much
“Here’s a good rule about vice-presidential selections: Even when they matter, they usually don’t matter much,” Nate Cohn writes.
“Donald Trump’s newly selected running make, Mike Pence, the governor of Indiana, seems even less likely to affect the result than most. He’s a relatively safe choice: an experienced but relatively unknown politician from a state that the Republicans were already expected to win.”
Both Candidates Should Get a Convention Bounce
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Trump Wasn’t Sure About Pence
Donald Trump “was so unsure about” Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate “that around midnight last night he asked top aides if he could get out of it,” CNN reports.
NBC News confirmed the report.
Washington Post: “If anything, this leak is just the latest proof of how poorly the whole thing has been handled. And that poor handling, in turn, makes the rumor seem quite plausible.”
Quote of the Day
“I don’t know how women can vote for him… It’s incomprehensible to me.”
— Barbara Bush, in an interview with CBS News, on Donald Trump as the Republican nominee.
DNC Speakers Announced
Hillary Clinton’s campaign announced the main speakers for each night of the Democratic National Convention:
Monday: Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders
Tuesday: Bill Clinton
Wednesday: President Barack Obama/Vice President Joe Biden
Thursday: Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton
Pence Was Told Yesterday
Gov. Mike Pence signed the form to withdraw from the Indiana governor’s race yesterday.
