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RNC Website Doesn’t Mention Trump

By 80 Comments

Steven Benen: “The RNC’s homepage has two pictures of Hillary Clinton, but zero of Trump. Click on the ‘View All Articles’ link for the latest RNC blog posts and press releases, and you’ll find plenty of content, but of the top 20 items, 19 attacked Hillary Clinton, while one attacked President Obama. Here, too, there wasn’t a single Trump mention.”

“If you didn’t know anything about politics and you stumbled onto the RNC’s site, you might think the election were some kind of referendum on whether or not Clinton deserves support, rather than a choice between competing candidates.”

Texas County GOP Strips New Chairman of Power

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The Travis County, TX Republican Party voted to move the party’s cash and social media accounts to a newly-formed political committee to keep them out of incoming chairman Robert Morrow’s hands during his two-year tenure, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

During the debate, Morrow tweeted a statement on what the party’s “top priority” will be when he is chairman: large female breasts.

Whitman Will Support Clinton Over Trump

By 112 Comments

Republican donor Meg Whitman, the high-profile Hewlett Packard president and CEO, indicated at Mitt Romney’s closed-door summit that she would likely be supporting Hillary Clinton in November, ABC News reports.

Whitman served as Romney’s finance co-chair in 2012.

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Quote of the Day

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“There’s no question in my mind, he will never release his tax returns. He will follow one excuse after another to say why he can’t.”

— Mitt Romney, quoted by The Hill, insisting there is a “bombshell” in Donald Trump’s tax returns.

Trump Took Clinton’s Twitter Bait

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Politico: “Clinton’s team also prepared a Twitter trap for her rival last week, when she delivered a blistering speech in San Diego that denounced Trump’s worldview as a series of ‘bizarre rants, personal feuds, and outright lies.’ When Trump tweeted that she was telling tall tales — ‘She made up things that I said or believe but have no basis in fact. Not honest!’ — her account dryly responded, ‘You literally said all those things,’ linking to a page that listed dozens of Trump’s statements on topics like torture, terrorism, Mexico, Russia and the pope.”

“According to the Clinton campaign, her tweet was viewed more than 2 million times.”

Alabama Speaker Convicted of 12 Felony Counts

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Alabama House Speaker Michael Hubbard (R), “whose sharp-elbowed approach to politics propelled the Republican Party to dominance in his state, was convicted Friday on 12 felony ethics charges, leaving him stripped of power and facing the possibility of decades in prison,” the New York Times reports.

“The verdict…deepened the political crisis in Alabama, where some of the most influential state officials are facing inquiries and threats of ouster.”

Campaign to Recall Judge Gains Steam

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“A fledgling campaign to recall the judge who sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman gained momentum as three prominent political consultants joined the effort,” the AP reports.

Ryan Grilled for Trump Endorsement

By 26 Comments

“House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) faced tough questioning here Friday for his decision to endorse Donald Trump, and he tried to explain to an audience hostile to the New York mogul the factors that led him to back the presumptive GOP nominee,” the Washington Post reports.

“Ryan’s appearance briefly brought into the open the issue that has shadowed the annual ideas summit hosted by 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney — the alarm with which many establishment Republicans view Trump’s pending nomination and the potential damage it could do to the party in November and beyond.”

CNN: Romney retreat puts spotlight on Trump’s fundraising problem

Clinton Leads In Kansas

By 189 Comments

A new Zogby poll in Kansas finds Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump in the presidential race, 43% to 36%, with 21% undecided.

“If those trends hold through November, it would mark a historic shift in Kansas politics, where no Democratic presidential candidate has won Kansas since 1964, when Lyndon Johnson carried it over Barry Goldwater, 54-45 percent.”

Trump Surprised by Reaction to Racist Comments

By 55 Comments

Ron Brownstein: “Trump has reason to be surprised because until now, Republican leaders have mustered no more resistance to his provocations than momentary grumbling, followed by capitulation. Trump personally demeaned Marco Rubio during the campaign as contemptuously as one presidential candidate has ever belittled another; yet Rubio compliantly endorsed him. Ryan criticized Trump over his Duke remarks and his proposal to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants. But then, after briefly withholding his endorsement, he too fell into line (if perhaps only temporarily).”

“Throughout, even the Republican leaders most uneasy with Trump have recoiled from confronting him partly because he has demonstrated how much of the GOP coalition responds to a racially barbed message of defensive nationalism.”

Women Open Their Wallets for Clinton

By 38 Comments

Open Secrets: “Hillary Clinton has raised a higher percentage of her campaign funds from women than any major party presidential candidate in recent history. She’s also raised a higher total in contributions from women than any other candidate at this point in the cycle.”

“And Donald Trump has the dubious honor of achieving the exact opposite: He has raised the least from women, ever, for a major party’s nominee at this point in the presidential cycle.”

Romney Leads a Party In Exile

By 44 Comments

Washington Post: “At this time four years ago, Mitt Romney ­summoned the leading figures in the Republican Party to this mountain resort at the start of his general-election campaign. He was then the standard-bearer of a party united and seemingly confident about its future.”

“Today, the GOP is divided and anxious, and as many of these same people gather with Romney once again, they now represent a party in exile, retreating to the political wilderness of Deer Valley and powerless in what has become the party of Donald Trump.”

It Was Too Late to Stop Trump Anyway

By 90 Comments

Matthew Sheffield: “The time to stop Trump was in the 1990s, when the movement’s intellectuals were busy prostrating themselves before Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell as they sought to remake the GOP into a party for white Christians. The time to stop Trump was during the George W. Bush administration, when Republicans swallowed the nonsense that deposing secular dictators was a great way to promote moderate Islam. The time to stop Trump was in 2009, when Sarah Palin was dumbing down conservatism into an alternative lifestyle that glorified anti-intellectualism. The time to stop Donald Trump was in 2013, when Ted Cruz was opportunistically telling Republican voters that obstreperousness was the equivalent of conservative philosophy.”

“2016 was far too late to stop the Trump Train.”

Team Clinton Is Formidable

By 154 Comments

Rick Klein: “This started as the year of the deepest Republican bench in history. But the Democratic lineup that’s just starting to warm up could be the story of summer and fall. Consider the advocates Hillary Clinton will have at her disposal: President Obama, former President Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren – all before Sen. Bernie Sanders even gets to the point where he can work to defeat Donald Trump.”

“And Trump will have… Chris Christie? Jeff Sessions? Trump is busy warring with Warren on Twitter, and seems to relish the ‘Pocahontas’ jokes. But Warren is already demonstrating how strong she can be in terms of advocacy when her heart is in the fight. Her role is only getting larger: Her answer, when Rachel Maddow asked her if she thinks she could step into the presidency at a moment’s notice, was one for the veepstakes ages: ‘Yes, I do.'”

For members: How Likely Is Elizabeth Warren as Clinton’s Veep?

Clinton Leads as Trump Fades In New Poll

By 75 Comments

A new Fox News poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump nationally by three points, 42% to 39%.

Clinton’s edge over Trump is due to a six-point drop in support for him rather than an increase for her. Trump was up by 45% to 42% three weeks ago. Since then, he lost three points among self-identified Republicans and 11 points among independents.

The HuffPost Pollster average shows Clinton ahead 45% to 39%.

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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.

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