“The Secret Service says people attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this July will not be allowed to carry guns,” The Hill reports.
“The statement comes in response to a petition that calls for allowing open carry of guns inside Quicken Loans Arena, the host venue. The petition has amassed more than 43,000 signatures as of Monday morning.”
“I haven’t endorsed a candidate because I think it is right what’s happening in the Democratic primary.”
— Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), quoted by National Journal, on an extended primary fight between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
Former Trump strategist Stephanie Cegielski writes about why she left the campaign:
“I don’t think even Trump thought he would get this far. And I don’t even know that he wanted to, which is perhaps the scariest prospect of all. He certainly was never prepared or equipped to go all the way to the White House, but his ego has now taken over the driver’s seat, and nothing else matters.”
She adds: “Trump acts as if he’s a fictional character. But like Hercules, Donald Trump is a work of fiction.”
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) vetoed the “religious liberty” bill that triggered a wave of criticism from gay rights groups and business leaders and presented him with one of the most consequential challenges he’s faced since his election to Georgia’s top office, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
Said Deal: “Our people work side by side without regard to the color of our skin, or the religion we adhere to. We are working to make life better for our families and our communities. That is the character of Georgia. I intend to do my part to keep it that way.”
The updated edition of It’s Even Worse Than It Looks by Thomas Mann and Norm Ornstein has a new title.
“In this revised edition, the authors bring their seminal book up-to-date in a political environment that is more divided than ever. The underlying dynamics of the situation—extremist Republicans holding government hostage to their own ideological, anti-government beliefs—have only gotten worse, further bolstering their argument that Republicans are not merely ideologically different from Democrats, but engaged in a unique form of politics that undermines the system itself. Without a fundamental change in the character and course of the Republican Party, we may have a long way to go before we hit rock bottom.”
It’s a great book. Highly recommended.
“Donald Trump is planning to make his first campaign visit to Wisconsin on Tuesday, where the upcoming Republican presidential primary could mark a turning point in the unpredictable GOP race,” the AP reports.
“But rival Ted Cruz has gotten a head-start on the contest, racking up influential endorsements, campaigning in key regions and supported by bullish advertising campaign.”
“A solid Cruz win in Wisconsin would narrow Trump’s path to the nomination, heap pressure on the billionaire to sweep the remaining winner-take-all primaries this spring, and increase the chances of a contested party convention in July.”
“Federal prosecutors investigating the possible mishandling of classified materials on Hillary Clinton’s private email server have begun the process of setting up formal interviews with some of her longtime and closest aides, according to two people familiar with the probe, an indication that the inquiry is moving into its final phases,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“Those interviews and the final review of the case, however, could still take many weeks, all but guaranteeing that the investigation will continue to dog Clinton’s presidential campaign through most, if not all, of the remaining presidential primaries.”
Meanwhile, the Washington Post details how Clinton’s aides pushed to accommodate Clinton’s wishes to use her own private email account: “From the earliest days, Clinton aides and senior officials focused intently on accommodating the secretary’s desire to use her private email account, documents and interviews show. Throughout, they paid insufficient attention to laws and regulations governing the handling of classified material and the preservation of government records.”
“Donald Trump upped the ante over the weekend by tweeting the threat of a lawsuit over last week’s maneuvering in Louisiana’s GOP delegate selection,” NBC News reports.
“Now, Louisiana is simply an example of Trump being outgunned when it comes to the nitty-gritty of delegate selection at the local level, and Team Cruz worked within the rules – not outside of them – to build a possible advantage. But for Trump’s supporters, the complaint furthers the fundamental underpinning of their candidate’s appeal – that he’s fighting an unfair and rigged establishment system to better represent the folks who have been most left out of the process.”
“Something about Trump — his face, his voice, his message — generates increased brain engagement,” CNN Money reports.
SBB Research Group CEO Sam Barnett “has been strapping electrode caps on focus group participants and showing them primary season debates” and has found that Trump “generated more brain engagement than his rivals in almost every demographic category, even among Democrats and Independents. In each category, Trump outperformed the lowest ranked rival by a double-digit percentage.”
“I’m probably the best campaign politician you will ever interview. I’m like perfectly evolved. I’m like the Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator. I love it. I’m just really good at it and take great joy in it.”
— Former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), in an interview with the Huffington Post.
New York Times: “While the Romney and Bush endorsements drew headlines, what has been just as striking is the sound of silence from the vast majority of Republican elected officials and leading donors. Nearly two weeks after Senator Marco Rubio dropped out of the race, there has been no mass rush to Mr. Cruz, even as he appears to be the last line of defense against a Trump nomination.”
“The decision by so many leading Republicans to remain on the sidelines is all the more notable because it appears inversely proportional to the scale of concern about Mr. Trump. His recent attacks on Mr. Cruz’s wife and soaring unpopularity among women, minorities and college-educated voters have left many in the party more convinced than ever that, with Mr. Trump as their standard-bearer, they are churning toward a political iceberg this fall.”
Washington Post: Why some Republicans are feeling shame
New York Times: “As the Republican Party collapses on itself, conservative leaders struggling to explain Mr. Trump’s appeal have largely seized on his unique qualities as a candidate: his larger-than-life persona, his ability to dominate the airwaves, his tough-sounding if unrealistic policy proposals. Others ascribe Mr. Trump’s rise to the xenophobia and racism of Americans angry over their declining power.”
“But the story is also one of a party elite that abandoned its most faithful voters, blue-collar white Americans, who faced economic pain and uncertainty over the past decade as the party’s donors, lawmakers and lobbyists prospered. From mobile home parks in Florida and factory towns in Michigan, to Virginia’s coal country, where as many as one in five adults live on Social Security disability payments, disenchanted Republican voters lost faith in the agenda of their party’s leaders.”
Wonk Wire: How reversing the trade deficit could make America less great
“Marco Rubio’s campaign is dead. His secret-money legacy lives on,” Politico reports.
“Nobody knows who funded the nonprofit group that spent more than $10 million on TV ads boosting Rubio, and untold more on mailers and research. And, unless those donors out themselves, nobody ever will.”
“No presidential candidate fighting for their party’s nomination has ever benefited from as much undisclosed cash, and watchdogs worry the pro-Rubio group’s unchecked activity serves as a dangerous precedent that will soon become common practice.”
Secretary of State John Kerry warned that the Republican presidential campaign raises awkward questions abroad about the reliability of the United States, Yahoo News reports.
Said Kerry: “They cannot believe it. I think it is fair to say that they’re shocked. They don’t know where it’s taking the United States of America.”
He added: “It upsets people’s sense of equilibrium about our steadiness, about our reliability, and to some degree I must say to you, some of the questions, the way they’re posed to me, it’s clear to me that what’s happening is an embarrassment to our country.”
A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll in California finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 37%, followed by Ted Cruz at 30% and John Kasich at 12%.
Key point: “How many Californians will turn out remains hard to predict because the state has not seen a fully contested June Republican primary since 1964. Also hard to predict is how the overall support for the top candidates will translate into delegates to the Republican nominating convention this summer. The state’s GOP awards delegates to the winner of each congressional district, so a candidate could lose statewide but still pick up a significant number of delegates.”
Trump leads in most areas of the state except the Central Valley, where conservative voters put Cruz ahead. In Los Angeles County, the two are nearly tied.
“It’s a new way of communicating. It’s very effective. I’ve been very effective with it. Between that and Facebook, I have like 15 or 16 million followers… Now, other people don’t like it, because they have 15 followers… And, frankly, it’s a great way of communicating, as far as I’m concerned. But I’m not going to be doing it very much as president.”
— Donald Trump, in an interview with ABC News, on his use of Twitter.
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.