A new Fox News poll finds Donald Trump leading the GOP field nationally with 26%, followed by Ben Carson at 18%, Carly Fiorina at 9%, Marco Rubio at 9%, Ted Cruz at 8%, Jeb Bush at 7% and Chris Christie at 5%.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads with 44%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 30% and Joe Biden at 18%.
A new Florida Atlantic University poll in Florida finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 32%, followed by Marco Rubio at 19%, Jeb Bush at 11%, Ben Carson at 10% and Carly Fiorina at 8%.
“We should not have a multicultural society. When you create pockets of isolation — and in some places the process of assimilation has been retarded because they’ve slowed down — it’s wrong. It limits people’s aspirations.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by ABC News.
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Mike Huckabee told Newsmax that President Obama “pretends to be” a Christian.
Said Huckabee: “I’m less concerned about what faith the person has. I’m more concerned about the authenticity of their faith and how that plays out in their politics … I’m also concerned about a guy that believes he’s a Christian and pretends to be and then says he is, but then does things that makes it very difficult for people to practice their Christian faith.”
Donald Trump announced that he “won’t be doing any more Fox shows for the foreseeable future,” as the channel “has been treating me very unfairly,” Politico reports.
“He was scheduled to appear on The O’Reilly Factor at 8 p.m. Thursday. The show is the most watched program on cable news, and Trump has appeared every now and again during the course of his campaign.”
“Senator Marco ‘Amnesty” Rubio, who has worst voting record in Senate, just hit me on national security — but I said don’t go into Iraq. VISION.”
— Donald Trump, on Twitter.
“The FBI has recovered personal and work-related e-mails from the private computer server used by Hillary Clinton during her time as secretary of state,” Bloomberg reports.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s success at salvaging personal e-mails that Clinton said had been deleted raises the possibility that the Democratic presidential candidate’s correspondence eventually could become public. The disclosure of such e-mails would likely fan the controversy over Clinton’s use of a private e-mail system for official business.”
First Read: “This entire story has continued to drip-drip for her, and Clinton’s next best chance to try to completely put it behind her is next month during her testimony before the House Benghazi committee.”
“The complete and utter collapse of Scott Walker’s presidential bid appears to bring to an end the shortest presidential campaign since at least 2000,” the Washington Post reports.
“Walker’s bid began with his announcement July 13 before a fancy backdrop and in front of an energetic crowd in Waukesha, Wis. It ended in Wisconsin on Monday, in front of a drab background and with only a few reporters listening in. From start to end, the campaign lasted 70 days — a shorter campaign than even Rick Perry’s, since Perry started earlier.”
“Looking back at major candidate campaigns since 2000, 70 days appears to be the shortest, by at least a week. Jim Gilmore’s 2008 bid lasted 79 days. Tim Pawlenty hung on for 83 days in 2012.”
In a speech delivered in 2012, Ben Carson said the big bang theory was part of the “fairy tales” pushed by “high-faluting scientists” as a story of creation, BuzzFeed News reports.
He also said he believed the theory of evolution was encouraged by the devil.
Said Carson: “I personally believe that this theory that Darwin came up with was something that was encouraged by the adversary, and it has become what is scientifically, politically correct. Amazingly, there are a significant number of scientists who do not believe it but they’re afraid to say anything.”
Ben Carson “says his controversial comments about opposing a potential Muslim president were taken out of context,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Said Carson: “It seems to be hard for people actually to hear English and understand it.”
Sen. Marco Rubio “is set to inherit about two-thirds of” Gov. Scott Walker’s “big-donor fundraising apparatus,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“A migration of donors, surrogates and perhaps staff to Mr. Rubio would provide momentum for a candidate who performed well in the two televised debates but hasn’t seen a bump in polls.”
“Growing chatter about a possible coup against Speaker John Boehner has set Capitol Hill on edge,” The Hill reports.
“Talk that conservatives might use a government-funding showdown to overthrow the powerful Ohio Republican has triggered a flurry of behind-the-scenes jockeying among lawmakers eager to move up the leadership ladder. And that has lawmakers wondering more than ever if Boehner’s days as Speaker are numbered.”
After months of declining to take a position on the Keystone XL pipeline, Hillary Clinton says she opposes the construction of the project, NBC News reports.
Said Clinton: “I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone XL pipeline as what I believe it is: A distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change, and, unfortunately from my perspective, one that interferes with our ability to move forward and deal with other issues. Therefore, I oppose it. I oppose it because I don’t think it’s in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change.”
First Read: “Consider the political expediency: Had Hillary Clinton supported Keystone, it might have led to a donor meltdown.”
“This year is different, and what is happening now is leaving a searing impression. This is toxic for the Republican Party — potentially lethal for it.”
— Ex-Bush official Peter Wehner, quoted by the Washington Post, on the “shrill rhetoric” of GOP presidential candidates.
Gov. John Kasich is making a more aggressive play in Iowa now that Gov. Scott Walker — “the candidate who pinned his hopes on winning the Hawkeye State — has dropped out of the race,” CNN reports.
“The Ohio governor, who has visited Iowa only twice since announcing his presidential bid, plans to spend more time in the state and build out his political operation there. The goal, campaign aides said, is not to win Iowa, but to notch a strong finish that could help generate momentum and propel him to victory in New Hampshire.”
Washington Post: “Throughout the controversy over her use of a private e-mail system while she was secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has described her decision last year to turn over thousands of work-related e-mails as a response to a routine-sounding records request.”
“But State Department officials provided new information Tuesday that undercuts Clinton’s characterization. They said the request was not simply about general record-keeping but was prompted entirely by the discovery that Clinton had exclusively used a private e-mail system. They also said they first contacted her in the summer of 2014, at least three months before the agency asked Clinton and three of her predecessors to provide their e-mails.”
A new Public Policy Polling survey in Iowa finds Donald Trump leads with 24%, followed by Ben Carson at 17%, Carly Fiorina at 13%, Marco Rubio at 8%, Jeb Bush at 6%, Mike Huckabee at 6% and Scott Walker at 5%.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton leads with 43%, followed by Bernie Sanders at 22% and Joe Biden at 17%.
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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