“More than a third of likely voters backing Democrat Hillary Clinton in the latest Bloomberg Politics national poll say she should pick Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a darling of the party’s liberal wing, as her running mate.”
“On the Republican side, almost a third of likely voters supporting Donald Trump say former House Speaker Newt Gingrich would be his best pick.”
A new Bloomberg poll finds just 32% of Americans view the Republican Party favorably, the lowest level recorded since the poll’s inception.
The Democratic Party, by contrast, is seen favorably by 49%.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), “who had pledged for months not to seek re-election to the Senate while he waged an ill-fated campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, said Wednesday that he is rethinking that decision and could enter the race as soon as next week,” the Washington Post reports.
“Rubio said his decision followed a Sunday conversation with his friend Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R), who is running to succeed him in the Senate, on the sidelines of the scene of the terror attack in Orlando.”
Gawker apparently has obtained the DNC opposition research file that was stolen by Russian hackers.
The document—which according to embedded metadata was created by a Democratic strategist named Warren Flood—was created on December 19th, 2015, and forwarded to us by an individual calling himself “Guccifer 2.0,” a reference to the notorious, now-imprisoned Romanian hacker who hacked various American political figures in 2013.
The package forwarded to us also contained a variety of donor registries and other strategy files, “just a few docs from many thousands I extracted when hacking into DNC’s network,” the purported hacker claimed over email, adding that he’s in possession of “about 100 Gb of data including financial reports, donors’ lists, election programs, action plans against Republicans, personal mails, etc.”
Gov. Larry Hogan (R) told the Washington Post that he does not plan to vote for Donald Trump.
Said Hogan: “No, I don’t plan to. I guess when I get behind the curtain I’ll have to figure it out. Maybe write someone in. I’m not sure.”
Donald Trump “singled out Republican leaders, explicitly telling them to get tougher, sharper, smarter and quiet,” Politico reports.
Said Trump: “You know, the Republicans, honestly, folks, our leaders — our leaders have to get tougher. This is too tough to do it alone. But you know what? I think I’m gonna be forced to. I think I’m going to be forced to.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters that he will no longer talk about Trump until after Nov. 8.
Donald Trump said today he was right to imply that President Obama is an ISIS sympathizer, ABC News reports.
In an attempt to defend his controversial claims that the president supports the terrorist group, Trump tweeted a story from Breitbart.com that cites a newly discovered “secret” memo the website says proves Obama is an ISIS supporter.
A new Marquette Law School Poll in Wisconsin shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump among registered voters, 42% to 35%.
But among likely voters her lead grew to 46% to 37%, as just 78% of Republicans said they were absolutely certain they would vote in November, down from 87% in March and 90% in June 2012.
Said pollster Charles Franklin: “That is a substantial fall-off. What we’ve seen over these last two months is a pretty sharp drop-off in Republican likelihood of turning out.”
“First of all, before I figure this out, I’ve got to think like Trump.”
A new Rasmussen survey finds that 45% of likely voters would prefer to have a beer with Donald Trump as compared to 37% who would like to have a beer with Hillary Clinton.
“Marco has my support if he gets in. But I will say it’s not unanimous among Republicans at home… His decision to skip votes during the presidential race nationally I don’t think had a big implication, but at home it certainly did.”
— Rep. David Jolly (R-FL), quoted by the National Journal, on his campaign to replace Marco Rubio in the Senate.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) “has launched a talking filibuster on the Senate floor in an effort to force Republicans and Democrats to come to an agreement on legislation to deny suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms and requiring universal background checks,” Politico reports.
“I’m not often critical of the media, but I am this year. And it’s driven mostly by television, and ratings. They never really vetted Bernie Sanders, and to this day have not vetted Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton? Oh my God. No human being in history has been more vetted.”
— Former Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson (R), quoted by City Pages, announcing his support for Hillary Clinton who he said is a “very kind, a very good person.”
Jeff Greenfield: “What’s emerged in recent days, however, is something we have never seen before. The hard questions about the character and temperament of the presumptive Republican nominee are coming from within his own party at precisely the time when the most important piece of business for a nominee is consolidation of that party. The weekend gathering that Romney hosted is yet one more measure of just how unmoored his candidacy is from anything remotely familiar in American politics.”
“In a normal intraparty contest, the fights usually take familiar forms: who best represents the party; whose ideas resonate, whose prescriptions are sound, or flawed; who has the experience (or the fresh ideas) that best serve the party. The disputes can be intense—think of Walter Mondale deriding Gary Hart’s new ideas campaign of 1984 by asking, ‘Where’s the beef?’ or George H.W. Bush labeling Ronald Reagan’s ideas ‘voodoo economics,’ or Hillary Clinton in 2008 deriding Barack Obama’s promises of change.”
“Rarely, however, does a candidate take on an intraparty foe on questions of character.”
“Donald Trump will address House Republicans July 7, a top House Republican staffer said Tuesday, fulfilling a request House Republicans made shortly after Trump became the presumptive nominee,” CNN reports.
“House GOP members expect to hear from the presumptive Republican presidential nominee about his proposed policies and hear plans to unite the party.”
Utah Lt. Governor Spencer Cox (R) addressed a vigil held to honor the victims and survivors of the mass shooting in Orlando:
Thank you for being here tonight on this very solemn and somber occasion. I begin with an admission and an apology. First, I recognize fully that I am a balding, youngish, middle-aged straight, white, male, Republican, politician… with all of the expectations and privileges that come with those labels. I am probably not who you expected to hear from today.
I’m here because, yesterday morning, 49 Americans were brutally murdered. And it made me sad. And it made me angry. And it made me confused. I’m here because those 49 people were gay. I’m here because it shouldn’t matter. But I’m here because it does. I am not here to tell you that I know exactly what you are going through. I am not here to tell you that I feel your pain. I don’t pretend to know the depths of what you are feeling right now. But I do know what it feels like to be scared. And I do know what it feels like to be sad. And I do know what it feels like to be rejected. And, more importantly, I know what it feels like to be loved.
I grew up in a small town and went to a small rural high school. There were some kids in my class that were different. Sometimes I wasn’t kind to them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know now that they were gay. I will forever regret not treating them with the kindness, dignity and respect — the love — that they deserved. For that, I sincerely and humbly apologize.
Over the intervening years, my heart has changed. It has changed because of you. It has changed because I have gotten to know many of you. You have been patient with me. You helped me learn the right letters of the alphabet in the right order even though you keep adding new ones. You have been kind to me…. You have treated me with the kindness, dignity, and respect — the love — that I very often did NOT deserve. And it has made me love you.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) suggested to the AP that Donald Trump might not end up as the Republican party’s nominee after all.
Said Alexander: “We do not have a nominee until after the convention.”
Reminded that Trump is the presumptive GOP nominee, Alexander retorted, “That’s what you say.”
First Read: “Well, the 2016 primary season came to an end last night with Hillary Clinton beating Bernie Sanders in DC, 79%-21%. And it came to an end without Sanders conceding or endorsing Clinton, although the two met last night and released positive-sounding statements.”
“Here’s the reality: Sanders hasn’t played his hand well. Many of his demands from yesterday (wanting Debbie Wasserman Schultz out of the DNC, ending superdelegates, having more open primaries) seem small. By not conceding a race he trails by every measure possible, he seems even smaller. And smaller still is the real leverage he holds, especially after losing eight out of the last 11 contests, after Obama and Warren have already endorsed Clinton, and after polls show Clinton increasing her lead over Trump.”
“The irony here is that Sanders already won — he performed better than anyone imagined, and he already effectively moved Clinton and her campaign to the left. But one of the arts in politics is declaring victory after you’ve already won. But Sanders continues to march on… “
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.