A new NBC News/Survey Monkey poll finds that only 56% of Ted Cruz supporters and 53% of Donald Trump supporters said they would vote for the other GOP candidate in a general election should the Democratic candidate be Hillary Clinton.
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Married Women Really Don’t Like Trump
A new Bloomberg Politics/Purple Strategies survey of women voters finds that 70% of married women who plan to vote in November have a negative opinion of Donald Trump.
Just under 60% of women voters think comments about women are “offensive and embarrassing” and disqualify him from being a serious candidate.
The Outcomes Look Bleak for Republicans
Chris Riback and Taegan Goddard discuss how the Republican presidential nominating process might end.
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Trump Is Now the Underdog
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Clinton Makes Fun of Subway Mishap
The 404 error page on Hillary Clinton’s website is a photo of her struggling to swipe her New York City subway card: “Trying to get where you want to go?”
Obama’s Worst Moment Is Clinton’s Best?
Vanity Fair: “Hillary Clinton has often found herself on the defensive when asked to name her accomplishments as secretary of state, and Barack Obama isn’t making things any easier. Asked during an interview Sunday to name the ‘worst mistake’ of his presidency, Obama said it was failing to anticipate the fallout from toppling Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011—one of the policies cited by Clinton as one of her chief accomplishments when she headed the State Department.”
Said Obama: “Probably failing to plan for the day after, what I think was the right thing to do, in intervening in Libya.”
“As secretary of state, Clinton was one of the strongest proponents of the U.S. intervention in the Libyan civil war against Gadhafi; according to the New York Times, the decision to commit military assets to ending the dictator’s 42-year-old regime was ‘arguably her moment of greatest influence as secretary of state.’ While Obama has now pointed to that decision multiple times as one of his biggest regrets, he has also used the same logic to defend his reticence to intervene in Syria, where Clinton has urged a more militaristic approach, including a no-fly zone.”
Colorado GOP Swamped with Calls from Trump Supporters
The Colorado Republican party chairman said he’s “received more than 2,000 calls from people complaining that the process was a sham,” after Ted Cruz swept Donald Trump in the delegate race, the New York Times reports.
“His telephone number was mysteriously disseminated across the Internet.”
Is GOP Headed for Its Own Bush vs. Gore?
Byron York: “And it could be worse than that. The 2000 winner of the popular vote, Al Gore, lost the presidency because of the constitutional structure under which electors, not popular vote totals, determine who enters the White House. Seeing the popular vote loser, George W. Bush, win the election was unfortunate — it hadn’t happened since the 19th Century — but it was specifically provided for in the Constitution. Democrats unhappily accepted the result because they accepted the Constitution as the bedrock of our system of government.”
“In an intra-party Republican fight, on the other hand, the winner of the 2016 nomination could be determined not by the Constitution but by rules written by party activists and insiders the week before the GOP convention. If those rules can be reasonably viewed as unfair, they won’t command the fundamental respect and consensus of a constitutional provision. And the resulting nominee won’t command that respect, either.”
Why Paul Ryan Won’t Run for President
Politico: “The backdrop of all his denials is the political reality that Ryan would likely lose. Most public polling has him faring relatively poorly in a potential matchup with Clinton. … Ryan would be forced to launch and run a presidential campaign in three months. His experience from 2012 would help, but even the most talented campaigner would be at a disadvantage on such a compressed timetable.”
Quote of the Day
“For him to win a floor fight, he’s going to need more friends, not less. And I think he’s reaching out to people, and we’ll see how that goes.”
— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by the Texas Tribune, on Sen. Ted Cruz’s chances of winning the Republican nomination.
Trump Names Possible Veep Picks
Donald Trump told USA Today that he would consider Sen. Marco Rubio, Gov. Scott Walker and Gov. John Kasich as his potential running mate.
Said Trump: “I do like Marco. I do like Kasich. … I like Walker actually in a lot of ways. I hit him very hard, … but I’ve always liked him. There are people I like, but I don’t think they like me because I have hit them hard.”
Trump, Clinton Headed for Big Wins In New York
A new NY1/Baruch College poll in New York finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 60%, followed by John Kasich at 17% and Ted Cruz at 14%.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 50% to 37%.
For members: New York Primary Cheat Sheet
There Are Few Limits on Wooing Delegates
Washington Post: “The already freewheeling Republican presidential contest is fast turning into a personal persuasion game as the candidates pursue no-holds-barred efforts to lock up delegates — and there are relatively few limits on how far they can go.”
“Under regulations established in the 1980s, delegates cannot take money from corporations, labor unions, federal contractors or foreign nationals. But an individual donor is permitted to give a delegate unlimited sums to support his or her efforts to get selected to go to the convention, including money to defray the costs of travel and lodging.”
Said campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel: “They’ll live like kings at the convention.”
Attacks Ads Threaten to Undermine Trump
New York Times: “More than half of the record spending on negative advertising during the 2016 presidential primary has been directed at a single candidate, Donald J. Trump, a barrage that threatens to undermine his candidacy even as he continues to march toward the Republican nomination.”
Feds Looking at De Blasio’s Fundraising
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara is investigating New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s (D) “campaign fund-raising activities as part of a widening probe into NYPD corruption,” the New York Post reports.
“The feds are looking at how the mayor solicits campaign cash from members of the real-estate industry — and the fund-raising activities of his former campaign treasurer, Ross Offinger.”
Anti-Trump Billionaires Fund Delegate Fight
Politico: “First they spent tens of millions trying to boost their favorite presidential candidates, then they poured cash into ads attacking Donald Trump, and now some of the biggest donors on the right are turning their attention to the delegate fight.”
“Anti-Trump billionaires are funding ground operations in an increasing number of states to try to ensure the selection of national convention delegates who oppose Trump.”
Trump Way Up In New York
A new NBC News/Marist poll in New York finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 54%, followed by John Kasich at 21% and Ted Cruz at 18%.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders 55% to 41%.
Quote of the Day
“There won’t be any games in Cleveland. If someone’s at 1,237, they’re going to be the presumptive nominee. No one can get talked out of it. Nobody can be promised something to make that not happen.”
— RNC Chairman Reince Priebus, quoted by Politico.
