A new Public Policy Polling survey in Rhode Island finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 61%, followed by John Kasich at 23% and Ted Cruz at 13%.
On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders leads Hillary Clinton 49% to 45%.
A new Brown University poll finds Trump leading with 38%, followed by Kasich at 25% and Cruz at 14%.
Meanwhile, Clinton leads Sanders 43% to 34%.
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Connecticut finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 59%, followed by John Kasich at 25% and Ted Cruz at 13%.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton edges Bernie Sanders 48% to 46%.
“So let me make things real simple, even if Donald Trump dresses up as Hillary Clinton, he shouldn’t be using the girl’s restroom.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz, quoted by ABC News, before apologizing to the audience for giving them the image of “Donald in a bright blue pantsuit.”
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Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich “have agreed to coordinate in future primary contests in a last-ditch effort to deny Donald J. Trump the Republican presidential nomination, with each candidate standing aside in certain states amid growing concerns that Mr. Trump cannot otherwise be stopped,” the New York Times reports.
“In a statement late Sunday night, Mr. Cruz’s campaign manager, Jeff Roe, said that the campaign would ‘focus its time and resources in Indiana and in turn clear the path for Governor Kasich to compete in Oregon and New Mexico.’ Minutes after Mr. Roe’s statement, the Kasich campaign put out a similar message.”
Trump responded on Twitter: “Lyin’ Ted and Kasich are mathematically dead and totally desperate. Their donors & special interest groups are not happy with them. Sad!”
Politico: “While most of the public attention has been on the presidential race — and President Barack Obama has so far been holding off on campaigning other than endorsing select candidates with statements and fundraising for party committees — the vice president has quietly embarked on a year-long legacy project for a little political poetic justice.”
“Even as his chances of winning the Democratic presidential nomination slip away, Sen. Bernie Sanders and his allies are trying to use his popularity to expand his political influence, setting up an ideological struggle for the soul of the Democratic Party in the post-Obama era,” the New York Times reports.
“Amid his unexpectedly strong showing in the Democratic primaries, Mr. Sanders has tapped his two-million-person donor list to raise money for liberal congressional candidates in New York, Nevada and Washington State. And in the waning months of Barack Obama’s presidency, Mr. Sanders’s allies are testing their muscle against the White House, mounting a public attack on the president’s housing secretary, Julián Castro, over his department’s sales of delinquent mortgages to banks and private equity firms.”
Washington Post: “Transgender rights have become an unlikely and heated issue in the presidential campaign after North Carolina enacted a law that, among other things, mandated that people use the bathroom that corresponds to the gender on their birth certificate.”
“Cruz has seized on Trump’s assertion that the North Carolina law, which also rolled back other protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people, was unnecessary and bad for business — corporations including PayPal and Deutsche Bank scrapped plans to create jobs in the state after the legislation was enacted. Trump said there has been ‘little trouble’ with allowing people to use the bathroom they want, though he later said that states should have the power to enact their own laws. Trump also said he would let transgender reality television star Caitlyn Jenner use the women’s bathroom at his properties.”
New York Times: Two states see tourist backlash after LGBT rights legislation
John Kasich said his campaign is looking at potential running mates in case he secures the nomination, The Hill reports.
Said Kasich: “Well, we have some old hands now who are beginning to do that. You know, these things come quickly. And you don’t want to have yourself in a position where you have to pick somebody out of a hat. So I have some skilled hands who are beginning now to take a look and figure out who would really fit. And, you know, it’s just starting, so there isn’t a lot to report.”
More than 40 letters in support of former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) — including one from his former congressional colleague Tom DeLay (R-TX) — were made public in advance of his sentencing on hush money charges, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Said DeLay: “We all have our flaws, but Dennis Hastert has very few. He doesn’t deserve what he is going through. I ask that you consider the man that is before you and give him leniency where you can.”
“It’s so easy to make a mistake in this. Choosing Edwards was a mistake because Dick could have helped us in Ohio in a way that Edwards could not, and Dick would have done better in the vice-presidential debate.”
— Robert Shrum, quoted by the New York Times, acknowledging that advising John Kerry to pick John Edwards over Dick Gephardt as his running mate in 2004 was a mistake.
Bernie Sanders senior adviser Tad Devine tells CBS News that voters could see a shift in Sanders’ critical tone toward rival Hillary Clinton after next Tuesday’s primaries.
Said Devine: “If we think we’ve made enough progress, then we’ll keep on the path that we’re on. If we think we have to, you know, take a different way or re-evaluate, you know, we’ll do it then.”
Former Sen. Harris Wofford (D-PA) writes in the New York Times that he’s getting married again — but this time to a man.
“Matthew is very different from Clare. The political causes that continue to move me do not preoccupy him, nor have I turned my priorities to design, the focus of his driving talent. Still, the same force of love is at work bringing two people together.”
“Twice in my life, I’ve felt the pull of such passionate preference. At age 90, I am lucky to be in an era where the Supreme Court has strengthened what President Obama calls ‘the dignity of marriage’ by recognizing that matrimony is not based on anyone’s sexual nature, choices or dreams. It is based on love.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) says he doesn’t want to be anybody’s running mate in 2016, the Huffington Post reports.
Said Rubio: “I have no intention of being vice president. I’m always looking for a way to serve the nation, but I don’t believe that it will be as vice president and I’m really not seeking it, I’m not requesting it, and it won’t happen.”
Mark Salter: “He might lose more Republicans and Republican-leaning independents in November than he won in the primaries. It’s possible that as much as a third of Republicans won’t vote for him, especially if a conservative alternative runs independently.”
“It’s safe to say and a comfort to know that barring some catastrophic misfortune, Donald Trump will be remembered as one of the biggest losers in the history of presidential elections.”
“I feel better just writing that.”
Charles Koch blasted Donald Trump’s support of a registry for Muslims, the Huffington Post reports.
Said Koch: “That’s reminiscent of Nazi Germany. I mean that’s monstrous, as I said at the time.”
“I can do presidential folks, believe me.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by NBC News, adding that it was “easy.”
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) told the Enid News that he is supporting John Kasich “not so that he could be president,” instead hoping he would be Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
Said Inhofe: “I support John Kasich not so that he could be president, but so that if Donald Trump becomes president, I would want Trump to use him as vice president because Kasich is one of the smartest guys I know.”
Hillary Clinton is warning voters not to believe Donald Trump when he starts to soften his image, the New York Times reports.
Said Clinton: “Trump keeps saying things like, ‘Well, you know, uh, I didn’t really mean it. It was all part of my reality TV show.’ Well, you know what? If we buy that, shame on us. Because he’s already showed us what he believes and he’s already said what he wants to do, and he wants to go after every one of the rights we have.”
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.
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