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Obama Says Mass Killings Must Be Politicized

October 1, 2015 at 7:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 110 Comments

A “visibly angry” President Obama made an impassioned case that gun violence is “something we should politicize” following a mass shooting at an Oregon college, The Hill reports.

Said Obama: “This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America. We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction.”

Politico: “Reiterating that “thoughts and prayers” are not enough, a visibly frustrated Obama called on state legislatures, governors and Congress to work with him to implement effective gun legislation that could prevent future shootings.”

Wonk Wire: Mass shootings since Sandy Hook

Trump Leads In Yet Another National Poll

October 1, 2015 at 7:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 68 Comments

A new Economist/YouGov poll finds Donald Trump leads the GOP presidential race with 25%, followed by Marco Rubio at 16%, Ben Carson at 15%, Ted Cruz at 9%, Carly Fiorina at 8%, Jeb Bush at 7% and Rand Paul at 4%.

Key finding: “The old conventional wisdom that Bush would be the inevitable GOP nominee seemed to disappear sometime in August as Trump remained on top in the polls. Today, more than a third of Republicans continue to regard Trump as the party’s likely nominee. Bush is far behind,”

Biden Eyes Political Operatives for Possible Role

October 1, 2015 at 5:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 6 Comments

Vice President Joe Biden’s “small team of political advisers has been quietly reaching out to Democrats who could join the campaign in senior roles, including State Department official Marie Harf and former Obama campaign official Paul Tewes,” the AP reports.

Romney Says Trump Will Not Be the Nominee

October 1, 2015 at 4:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 39 Comments

Mitt Romney said he sees the Republican contest breaking into two brackets: “the more insurgent, outspoken, tea party perhaps bracket” and “the more mainstream conservative bracket,” according to the Washington Post.

In the former, he placed Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. In the latter, Gov. Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Sen. Marco Rubio, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina and Gov. John Kasich.

But Romney was definitive in predicting the front-runner’s fate: “Donald Trump will not be the nominee. Ultimately our nominee will come from the mainstream conservative bracket. I don’t know who that will be.”

CNN’s Virtual Reality Debate

October 1, 2015 at 4:44 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 1 Comment

Stephen Colbert looks at the latest technology promised for this month’s Democratic presidential debate.

Treasury Will Debt Limit Will on November 5

October 1, 2015 at 4:20 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

The Treasury Department said it would reach the debt limit a month earlier than was expected by many on Capitol Hill, Roll Call reports.

“Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress in a new letter that thanks in part to lower-than-expected quarterly tax receipts, the extraordinary measures to forestall breaching the debt limit, combined with the new revenues, will run their course just a week after the resignation of Speaker John A. Boehner (R-OH) takes effect.”

Conway Has Lead for Kentucky Governor

October 1, 2015 at 3:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

A new Survey USA poll in Kentucky finds Jack Conway (D) leading Matt Bevin (R) in the race for governor, 42% to 37%, with Drew Curtis (I) at 7%.

Clinton Will Appear on ‘Saturday Night Live’

October 1, 2015 at 2:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 30 Comments

Hillary Clinton “is scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live this weekend, the latest — and highest stakes — appearance of her current push to show her funny, personable side as the campaign heads into the critical first Democratic debate and she faces headwinds in Iowa and New Hampshire and a potential challenge from Vice President Joe Biden,” the New York Times reports.

“In a top-secret appearance that her campaign would not confirm, Mrs. Clinton will meet her comedic counterpart, Kate McKinnon, who has portrayed the former first lady to effusive praise… In order to appear, Mrs. Clinton turned down the chance to give the keynote address to the influential Human Rights Campaign, the country’s most powerful lesbian and gay rights group, which will allow her to make the debut SNL appearance of her 2016 campaign.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

October 1, 2015 at 1:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 34 Comments

“We’ve really got a mess in the financial system with regard to campaigns right now… We’ve gotta rethink campaign finance.”

— Mitt Romney, quoted by the Huffington Post.

Clinton Maintains Big Lead in Democratic Race

October 1, 2015 at 1:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 125 Comments

A new USA Today/Suffolk University poll finds Hillary Clinton continues to lead the Democratic field with 41% — a double-digit drop in two months — followed by Bernie Sanders at 23% and Joe Biden at 20%.

Trump Quote of the Day

October 1, 2015 at 12:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

“While we were expecting 10,000 people based on demand, and it would have been a happening, everyone’s safety is of far more importance to me.”

— Donald Trump, quoted by TPM, cancelling a Virginia rally due to an impending hurricane.

While Joe Biden Waits

October 1, 2015 at 11:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 54 Comments

First Read: “The Biden waiting game is no longer doing him or his party any favors. With Clinton and Sanders having already raised a combined $115 million… waiting to start raising money isn’t going to help him compete financially with Clinton, let alone Sanders. The waiting game has paralyzed parts of the non-Hillary wing of the Democratic establishment.”

“And as our NBC/WSJ poll shows, Biden disproportionally takes away support from Clinton when the vice president is included in the polling. As we’ve said before, if Biden wants to run and win (and start preparing to build a $1 billion enterprise for the general election in our Super PAC/501c4 Era), he has to get in ASAP. He doesn’t have until late October or early November. Sure, we get that Biden seems to be waiting to see how October fares for Hillary (see above). But that waiting game comes at a cost.”

Russian Airstrikes Hit U.S.-Backed Rebels in Syria

October 1, 2015 at 9:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 34 Comments

“Russian officials insisted they were attacking the Islamic State after efforts by the U.S. and its partners had failed to dislodge the extremists, but U.S. officials said the strikes appeared to target opponents of President Bashar al-Assad and hit units that were trained by the CIA,” the Washington Post reports.

First Read: “If Syria was already a black mark for the Obama administration, it’s now turning into a full-fledged debacle, with Russia now appearing to bomb Syrian rebels opposed to Assad.”

Which Presidential Candidate Lies the Most?

October 1, 2015 at 9:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

Wonk Wire has the rankings.

It’s a Big Month for Hillary Clinton

October 1, 2015 at 9:20 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 28 Comments

First Read: “”It’s the beginning of October, and we can’t stress enough how big the month will be for Hillary Clinton — and, by extension, the Democratic Party. Oct. 13 brings us the first Democratic presidential debate. Hillary’s testimony before the House Benghazi committee is on Oct. 22. Two days later, she (as well as the other Democrats in the field) speaks at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner — the same venue where then-candidate Barack Obama turned out his presidential fortunes in 2007. And October is the month where we SHOULD get an answer to whether or not Joe Biden is running.”

“Bottom line: This is going to be a decisive month for Hillary, especially given that she’s been stuck in a negative feedback loop over the past three months (Emails! Falling poll numbers! Biden! Emails! Falling poll numbers! Biden!). If she somehow doesn’t end up as the Democratic nominee, we’ll likely be able to trace it back to the events in October. Conversely, if she does wind up as the nominee — and remains the candidate to beat in the general — we’ll likely be able to trace it back to the events in October.”

Carson Jokes About Taunting the Police

October 1, 2015 at 8:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 48 Comments

Ben Carson joked that while growing up on Detroit he had fun taunting police officers “back in the day, before they would shoot you,” MSNBC reports.

Carson said he and his friends would throw rocks at cars which he joked “everybody did … because it was so much fun.”

When cops came, “always in unmarked cars, they’d be chasing us across the field and they would think they trapped us” at 10-feet-tall fences. But the cops “had no idea how adept we were at getting over those fences.”

Biden Won’t Decide Before First Debate

October 1, 2015 at 8:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 28 Comments

Vice President Joe Biden “has extended his window for deciding whether to jump into the 2016 presidential campaign, several Democrats say, allowing the contest to play out even longer before he answers one of the biggest questions hanging over the race for the White House,” CNN reports.

“He is not preparing for the first Democratic debate on October 13 in Las Vegas and is not expected to participate, people close to him say, because he feels no pressure to reach a decision by then. He is likely to reveal his plans in the second half of October.”

Bar Raised for Next GOP Debate

October 1, 2015 at 8:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 54 Comments

CNBC announced that candidates for the next Republican presidential debate on October 28 must have an average of at least 3% among recognized national polls in order to participate, CNN reports.

“It’s not clear how many candidates would clear the 3% mark, but it is expected to put Paul, Christie and Mike Huckabee at risk of being relegated to the undercard. All three of those candidates are currently hovering around the 3% mark in an average of recent national polls.”