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Trump Causes GOP a Problem in New Hampshire

November 19, 2015 at 3:00 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 32 Comments

Nate Cohn: “The weakness of mainstream candidates in New Hampshire poses a big challenge for the party’s beleaguered establishment. If a candidate acceptable to the party can’t win New Hampshire or Iowa, the G.O.P. will face a bleak choice: undertake the daunting and expensive task of mounting a come-from-behind effort, or grudgingly acquiesce to a candidate it really doesn’t want, like Ted Cruz, but who may be better than someone it can never accept, like Mr. Trump.”

“The extent of the weakness of the establishment in New Hampshire is a striking departure from recent contests.”

The Paris Terrorists Were European Citizens

November 19, 2015 at 1:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 52 Comments

The Guardian: “All the other known attackers… are of French and Belgian nationality with similar life stories of limited petty crime or drug taking, and radicalization in their late teens or early twenties. At least four are known to have spent time in Syria with Islamic State extremists.”

“As European citizens, there was no need to resort to subterfuge or risk Mediterranean sea crossings to reach their target. They could travel freely around the continent even when the authorities in their home countries were aware of their extreme views and foreign travels.”

Brown Says Most Terrorists are White Males

November 19, 2015 at 1:31 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 45 Comments

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) told WAKR that most terrorist attacks in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks have been committed by “generally white males.”

Said Brown: “Since the beginning of the Bush administration when we were attacked, September 11th, we’ve not had any major terrorist attacks in this country. We’ve had individual crazy people, of normally, they look more like me than they look like Middle Easterners. They are generally white males, who have shot up people in movie theaters and schools. Those are terrorist attacks, they’re just different kinds of terrorists.”

The United States of Corruption

November 19, 2015 at 1:28 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

A Center for Public Integrity study found that just three states — Alaska, California, and Connecticut — scored above a D+ when graded on a standard A-F scale for corruption, transparency, and accountability in state government. Most states received a D grade, but 11 of them failed completely.

Tennessee Lawmaker Wants to Round Up Refugees

November 19, 2015 at 12:23 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 46 Comments

Tennessee Rep. Glen Casasa (R) “believes the time has come for the National Guard to round up any Syrian refugees who have recently settled in the state and to stop any additional Syrian refugees from entering Tennessee,” the Tennessean reports.

Said Casasa: “I’m not worried about what a bureaucrat in D.C. or an unelected judge thinks. … We need to gather (Syrian refugees) up and politely take them back to the ICE center and say, ‘They’re not coming to Tennessee, they’re yours.’ “

Trump Steps Up Rhetoric on Muslims

November 19, 2015 at 11:11 am EST By Taegan Goddard 163 Comments

Donald Trump told Yahoo News that he would increase surveillance of Muslims and consider a series of drastic measures to keep Americans safe.

Said Trump: “We’re going to have to do things that we never did before. And some people are going to be upset about it, but I think that now everybody is feeling that security is going to rule. And certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country in terms of information and learning about the enemy. And so we’re going to have to do certain things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago.”

He wouldn’t rule out requiring Muslims to carry a form of special identification: “We’re going to have to — we’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely. We’re going to have to look at the mosques. We’re going to have to look very, very carefully.”

Trump Explains Why His Rivals Falter

November 19, 2015 at 10:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 13 Comments

Donald Trump told Yahoo News that some of his GOP rivals who are not performing as well simply have the wrong mindset.

Said Trump: “A lot of people don’t like to win. They actually don’t know how to win and they don’t like to win because down deep inside they don’t want to win. It’s a deep, deep secret, but they don’t want to win and they don’t think they should be there. And we have some people that are very good and we have some people that shouldn’t be wasting a lot of time, including their own time.”

Trump Leads Yet Another National Poll

November 19, 2015 at 9:46 am EST By Taegan Goddard 31 Comments

A new Public Policy Polling survey finds Donald Trump continues to dominate the GOP presidential race with 26%, followed by Ben Carson at 19%, Ted Cruz at 14% and Marco Rubio at 13%.

No one else in the GOP field even gets more than 5%. Jeb Bush reaches that mark followed by Carly Fiorina and Mike Huckabee at 4%.

Could Our Politics Handle a Paris-Style Attack Here?

November 19, 2015 at 9:32 am EST By Taegan Goddard 68 Comments

First Read: “The past week suggests it probably can’t. In fact, it’s been about as bad of a week for American political leadership as we’ve seen since the government shutdown days of 2013.”

“Think about it: The House of Representatives is already voting on legislation — today — on additional certifications and background investigations for Syrian refugees. The question of whether to admit these refugees has turned into a huge political fight on the 2016 campaign trail and in state capitals across the country. President Obama has used two overseas news conferences to blast his critics at home. And Ted Cruz fired back at the president: ‘Mr. President, come back and insult me to my face.’ It’s been a mess.”

Obama’s Favorite Conspiracy Theory

November 19, 2015 at 9:27 am EST By Taegan Goddard 19 Comments

President Obama shared with Bill Simmons the most entertaining conspiracy theory that he’s ever read about himself.

Said Obama: “That military exercises we were doing in Texas were designed to begin martial law so that I could usurp the Constitution and stay in power longer. Anybody who thinks I could get away with telling Michelle I’m going to be president any longer than eight years does not know my wife.”

Carson’s Different View of America

November 19, 2015 at 9:24 am EST By Taegan Goddard 24 Comments

Ben Carson’s presidential campaign “took to social media to share a map of the United States in which five New England states were placed in the wrong location. The campaign deleted the Twitter and Facebook posts Wednesday morning after media outlets and social media users pointed out the error,” the Washington Post reports.

Trump Says Sanders Is a Communist

November 19, 2015 at 9:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 49 Comments

Donald Trump told Yahoo News that Sen. Bernie Sanders, who describes himself as a “democratic socialist,” isn’t really a Democrat at all.

Said Trump: “I think he’s a communist. I think he’s actually a communist with a socialistic bent. Anybody that would say that the Paris attacks were caused by global warming, there’s something missing. Even the most ardent global-warming believers aren’t buying that one.”

Bush Tries the Serious Approach

November 19, 2015 at 8:58 am EST By Taegan Goddard 24 Comments

Rick Klein: “Jeb Bush probably didn’t have national security policy in mind when he talked about his now-famous willingness to ‘lose the primary to win the general.’ But if this is a grown-up moment in politics post-Paris, Bush is vying to be in the right place at the right time. His call for ground troops in Syria avoids both the ‘bomb the s—‘ out of them rhetoric and the no-new-ground-war talking point that the brother of George W. Bush may be tempted to embrace. He has broken with his fellow candidates and most current GOP governors in not calling for an end to refugee migration with Syria. (Though his methods for identifying Christians first and foremost remain murky.)”

“The moment has not brought out the best of our political discourse, with calls for religious tests for refugees and one schoolyard taunting going on between President Obama and a few Republican candidates. But getting serious can still matter in this race — just maybe.”

Clinton Will Unveil Plan to Defeat ISIS

November 19, 2015 at 8:45 am EST By Taegan Goddard 25 Comments

Hillary Clinton “will deliver an in-depth speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York about her national security proposals and how she would combat the Islamic State,” the New York Times reports.

“The Democrats so far have spoken mostly in broad platitudes, vowing to support France and stand with American allies in the fight against terrorism, but offering few specifics. Mrs. Clinton will face the tricky dynamic of putting forth her own ideas without appearing to criticize President Obama, under whom she served as secretary of state for four years.”

First Read: “A Clinton campaign aide previews the speech, saying the Democratic candidate will call for 1) defeating ISIS in Syria, Iraq and across the region; 2) disrupting ISIS’s network; and 3) beefing up defense/security capabilities in American and across the world. Now while those three areas aren’t necessarily different than what Obama has said in the past, we can pretty much guarantee that she’ll say it with sharper-edged rhetoric.”

O’Malley Campaign Close to Collapse

November 19, 2015 at 8:27 am EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

“With barely 10 weeks before Democrats start picking their presidential nominee, former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley’s campaign is perilously close to financial collapse,” the Washington Post reports.

“The Democratic hopeful this week began asking the roughly 30 staffers at his Baltimore headquarters to redeploy to Iowa and elsewhere, a tacit acknowledgment that he will need a surprisingly strong showing in the first caucus state to stay in the race.”

Trump Way Ahead in New Hampshire

November 19, 2015 at 8:01 am EST By Taegan Goddard 13 Comments

A new Fox News poll in New Hampshire shows Donald Trump leading with 27%, followed by Marco Rubio at 13%, Ted Cruz at 11%, Jeb Bush at 9%, Ben Carson at 9%, John Kasich at 7% and Chris Christie at 6%.

Inside the Clinton Donor Network

November 19, 2015 at 7:59 am EST By Taegan Goddard 9 Comments

A Washington Post investigation reveals how Bill and Hillary Clinton have methodically cultivated donors over 40 years, from Little Rock to Washington and then across the globe. The grand total raised for all of their political campaigns and their family’s charitable foundation reaches at least $3 billion.

Trump Quote of the Day

November 19, 2015 at 7:28 am EST By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

“I always want to think of myself as an underdog. I never want to think of myself as even leading… I am leading. I’m leading substantially… I’m leading everywhere. I still — I don’t — I don’t even think about it.”

— Donald Trump, in an interview with Yahoo News.