Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), a vice chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said she “was disinvited from the first Democratic presidential primary debate in Nevada after she appeared on television and called for more face-offs,” the New York Times reports.
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Trump Was Ready to Attack Carson
Donald Trump says he was ready to go after Ben Carson for questioning his faith, but decided to hold back after his GOP primary rival apologized, The Hill reports.
Said Trump: “I was all set to go wild, now I can’t go wild. I’m actually saying, ‘I wish he had hit me.’ No, he’s very smart. I wish he had hit me.”
Clinton Holds Huge Leads in South Carolina, Nevada
A new CNN/ORC poll in South Carolina shows Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic presidential race with 49%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 24% and Joe Biden at 18%.
In Nevada, Clinton leads with 50%, followed by Sanders at 34% and Biden at 12%.
Quote of the Day
“The House is bordering on ungovernable right now.”
— Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), quoted by NBC News.
Obama Will Hit Campaign Trail
President Obama “heads into the 2016 campaign season in a position few in the White House or anywhere else expected a year ago: in demand,” Politico reports.
“The president and his aides are expecting to capitalize on that popularity, according to people familiar with the planning, taking a more active role this election cycle than during last year’s midterms. Those plans include Obama hitting the campaign trail as early as the spring to help unite the party after the primaries and to sound off on Republicans he portrays as not serious enough for prime time.”
Secret Archive Gives New Insight Into Nixon
“President Richard Nixon believed that years of aerial bombing in Southeast Asia to pressure North Vietnam achieved ‘zilch’ even as he publicly declared it was effective and ordered more bombing while running for reelection in 1972, according to a handwritten note from Nixon disclosed in a new book by Bob Woodward,” the Washington Post reports.
“Nixon’s note, which has not previously been disclosed, was found in a trove of thousands of documents taken from the White House by Alexander P. Butterfield, deputy to H.R. Haldeman, Nixon’s chief of staff, and not made public until now.”
Trump Quote of the Day
“You know, I think people are going to turn it on for a couple of minutes and then fall asleep.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by Politico, on the Democratic debate this week.
More Republicans Now Prefer One Party Government
Gallup: “In a shift from last year, Republicans now clearly prefer having one party control Congress and the presidency, as opposed to favoring divided party control or saying it makes no difference. Forty percent of Republicans favor one-party control, up from 24% last year. This change makes their views similar to Democrats’ views, which are essentially unchanged from last year.”
Extra Bonus Quote of the Day
“You name the country. Where are we in better shape now than we were when he came to office? Nowhere.”
— Sen. Mitch McConnell, quoted by The Hill, on President Obama’s “mind-boggling” foreign policy.
Obama Says Trump Won’t Be President
President Obama said Donald Trump was “the classic reality TV character” who had tapped into something real in the Republican Party but was unlikely to end up as president, Reuters reports.
Said Obama: “He is a great publicity-seeker – and at a time when the Republican Party hasn’t really figured out what it’s for as opposed to what it’s against.”
He added: “I don’t think he’ll end up being president of the United States.”
Trump Still Leads GOP Presidential Race
A new CBS/New York Times poll finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race nationally with 27%, followed by Ben Carson at 21%, Ted Cruz at 9%, Marco Rubio at 8%, Jeb Bush at 6%, Carly Fiorina at 6%, Rand Paul at 4%, Chris Christie at 3%, Mike Huckabee at 2% and John Kasich at 2%.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads with 46%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 27% and Joe Biden at 16%.
House Conservatives Not Yet Sold on Paul Ryan
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the founder of the House Freedom Caucus, says his group is not sold on Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for Speaker, The Hill reports.
Said Jornda: “Well, look, Paul Ryan is a friend, I meet with him every single week, we talk about policy, I think he’s be a great messenger. He’ll come in front of our group and talk to us, I think our group would be favorable towards him, but we’re not there yet.”
He added that his 40-to-50-member group would be willing to support Ryan if he committed to decentralizing power in the House.
McConnell Sees Ryan as Only Option for House Speaker
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has told Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) “that he sees no other alternative for the speaker job, and has painted a somewhat apocalyptic short-term future if Ryan won’t accede,” Bloomberg reports.
“A failure to efficiently deal with the debt ceiling in November, or pass a resolution to fund the government in December could have serious repercussions for the party, McConnell argues, that could imperil the GOP’s hold on the Senate. It could also have an adverse impact on the party’s chances to win the White House, according to McConnell and other leading Republicans, who have talked to Ryan.”
What Ted Cruz Is Counting On
George Will: “Cruz’s audacious ‘base plus’ strategy … aims to leaven the electorate with people who, disappointed by economic stagnation and discouraging cultural trends for which Republican nominees seemed to have no answers, have been dormant during recent cycles. … Whites without college experience include disproportionate numbers of nonvoters whose abstention in 2012 … produced Obama’s Electoral College victory.”
“The Cruz campaign’s substantial investment in data scientists serves what [Cruz chief strategist Jason] Johnson calls ‘behavioral micro-targeting,’ changing behavior as well as gathering opinions. If a person drives a Ford F-150 and subscribes to Guns & Ammo, he probably is conservative. The challenge is to make him a voter by directing to him a package of three- or four-issue appeals tailored to him.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“There’s almost no measure by which we’re not better off than when I took office and when we started this process for change. But it does kind of make you wonder. Why are so many Republican politicians so down on America? Why are they so grumpy?”
— President Obama, quoted by Yahoo News.
Romney’s Path to Nomination Eludes Bush
“On paper, Jeb Bush’s 2016 campaign mirrors Mitt Romney’s 2012 efforts, but Bush faces a far steeper climb to the nomination,” The Hill reports.
“With three popular outsider candidates leading the race, rising establishment contenders and the failure to lock down any of the early-voting states so far, Bush is beset by burdens that never weighed on Romney.”
The Twilight of the Republican Elite?
Frank Bruni: “Donald Trump’s stamina and the ascendance of Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina suggest as much. The three of them, who have led national polls since mid-September, aren’t just political outsiders, which is the label hung on them most frequently. For Republicans (and perhaps for Democrats, too) this is a season of rebellion, as the chaos in the House of Representatives vividly illustrates. A consequential share of the Republican majority there have made it clear that they will not bow to precedent, not follow any conventional script, not have anyone foisted on them.”
“Those bomb throwers are mirrors of the voters who are saying no to Jeb Bush, no to Chris Christie, no to John Kasich, no to anyone who was once or could soon be the darling of the northeastern Acela corridor. And they’re pointing the Republican primary in a genuinely unpredictable direction.”
GOP Staffer Fired from Benghazi Committee
“A Republican staffer from the House Select Committee on Benghazi has been fired after he says he developed concerns about the politicized nature of the panel’s investigation,” the Washington Post reports.
“The criticism from an experienced Republican intelligence investigator comes amid growing Democratic Party complaints that the special committee was on a mission to undermine former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton and her bid for the presidency.”
