A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds Donald Trump’s popularity has surged among Republicans after dominating several news cycles with his anti-illegal immigration rhetoric.
“Nearly six in 10 — 57% — Republicans now have a favorable view of Trump, compared to 40% who have an unfavorable one. That marks a complete reversal from a late-May Post-ABC poll, in which 65% of Republicans saw Trump unfavorably.”
However, among Latino voters Trump’s unfavorability has risen to 81% from 60%.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney said that not since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly 70 years ago has the world been closer to the use of nuclear weapons, Politico reports.
Said Cheney: “What Obama has done, has in effect sanctioned, the acquisition by Iran of nuclear capability. And it can be a few years down the road. It doesn’t make any difference. It’s a matter of months until we’re going to see a situation where other people feel they have to defend themselves by acquiring their own capability. And that will, in fact, I think put us to closer to use — actual use of nuclear weapons than we’ve been at any time since Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.”
Wall Street Journal: “On Wednesday, the public will get its first look at the donors bankrolling 2016 candidates’ campaigns and how the campaigns are spending that money, as of the end of the second quarter. Campaigns are required to file disclosures with the Federal Election Commission providing details of their quarterly fundraising, many of them for the first time. The only candidate who launched his campaign early enough to file a first-quarter report was Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who at the time was eight days into his campaign.”
“Many candidates have already released their fundraising totals and other selected figures, which starts to form a picture of who’s leading the race for each party’s nomination — in terms of money, Hillary Clinton leads Democrats, and Jeb Bush leads Republicans. But many other details haven’t been disclosed.”
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Politico: “Concerns are mounting among top donors and party elites that an influx of huge checks into the GOP primary will hurt the party’s chances of retaking the White House. Long-shot candidates propped up by super PACs and other big-money groups will be able to linger for months throwing damaging barbs at establishment favorites who offer a better chance of victory, the thinking goes. Already, big-money groups have raised about $86 million to support a handful of second- and third-tier candidates.”
“Republican leaders in Congress are crafting their attack plan against the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran,” The Hill reports.
“Lawmakers will have 60 days to review the deal after the White House delivers the text of the historic agreement to Capitol Hill. The GOP could seek to move a measure of disapproval, but it will be difficult to win a filibuster-proof 60 votes, much less the 67 required to overcome a presidential veto. But Republicans believe they will win the public relations battle on the deal, which largely unites the GOP and threatens to divide the Democratic Party.”
New York Times: “For the White House, selling the deal to Congress, including doubters in the president’s own party, may prove almost as difficult as reaching agreement with Iran.”
“The 2016 presidential contest is barely underway, and already donors have poured some $377 million into it,” an Associated Press review shows.
“Almost half of the money disclosed so far will benefit just two of the expected 22 candidates — both of whom have former presidents in the immediate families: Hillary Rodham Clinton and Jeb Bush.”
“Many members of Congress remain deeply skeptical of the landmark deal announced Tuesday to halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions but are unlikely to have the votes to stop it,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“While Democrats largely back President Obama’s pursuit of an agreement to lift sanctions on Iran in return for measures to prevent the country from building nuclear weapons, Republicans, who have the majority in the House and Senate, say the administration should walk away from a deal they fear concedes too much.”
“But in a promising sign for Obama, few Democrats stood up publicly Tuesday to oppose the deal and the party’s presidential front-runner, Hillary Clinton, expressed support.”
Washington Post: “Clinton’s endorsement also underscores the degree to which her political fortunes have been joined with Obama’s legacy.”
President Obama defended his nuclear deal with Iran in an interview with Thomas Friedman, who concluded the president “is a man who evinces no second thoughts whatsoever about the deal he struck.”
“In a 45-minute interview in the Cabinet Room, the president kept stressing one argument: Don’t judge me on whether this deal transforms Iran, ends Iran’s aggressive behavior toward some of its Arab neighbors or leads to détente between Shiites and Sunnis. Judge me on one thing: Does this deal prevent Iran from breaking out with a nuclear weapon for the next 10 years and is that a better outcome for America, Israel and our Arab allies than any other alternative on the table?”
“A trio of Republican financiers—including Paul Singer and Ken Griffin, two of the most prominent GOP donors in the country—has formed a new federal committee focused on the 2016 presidential race and seeded it with $600,000,” National Journal reports.
“The new group is called Future45, a play on the fact that President Obama is the 44th president and that his successor will be the 45th.”
Former Harrisburg, PA Mayor Stephen Reed (D) was charged with dozens of counts “for allegedly using city money to fund obsessive buying sprees of artifacts that helped plunge the state capital into debt,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Reed was also charged “with running a corrupt organization, bribery and multiple counts of theft… Reed served as Harrisburg’s mayor for 28 years, leaving in early 2010.”
PennLive has the long list of criminal charges.
“Why would I be doing this? I take abuse from everybody, and I’m doing this for fun? This isn’t fun — I want to make America great again.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by CNN.
A new Suffolk University/USA TODAY national poll finds Donald Trump leading the Republican presidential field with 17%, followed by Jeb Bush at 14%, Scott Walker at 8%, Ted Cruz at 6%, Marco Rubio at 5%, Ben Carson at 4%, Mike Huckabee at 4% and Chris Christie at 3%.
Said pollster David Paleologos: “Trump is making daily headlines in advance of the primary season. This has vaulted him to the top of the pack on the backs of conservative voters.”
Boston Globe: “Beth Myers, who was Romney’s chief of staff when he was governor of Massachusetts and campaign manager for his 2008 presidential run before serving as senior adviser on his 2012 bid, and Peter Flaherty, a State House aide who was deputy campaign manager in 2008 and a senior adviser in 2012, will endorse Bush and work as advisers, said the people briefed on the decision. The two are expected to help Bush prepare for the series of candidate debates that begins next month.”
“Hours after the world’s most infamous drug lord, Joaquín ‘Chapo’ Guzmán Loera, escaped Mexico’s highest security prison over the weekend, the United States offered everything it has — Marshals, drones, even a binational task force — to help find and recapture the kingpin,” the New York Times reports.
“But the Mexicans have kept the Americans at bay, without giving an answer on the extra help, according to Mexican and American officials, confounding law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border and undermining efforts to recapture Mr. Guzmán, the billionaire head of the Sinaloa Cartel, before his wealth and global connections help him disappear.”
Chris Cillizza points out that Jeb Bush’s $114 million fundraising haul during the last six months was impressive, but that Sen. Ted Cruz’s fundraising totals we’re more important.
“Cruz raised $14 million through his campaign committee and another $37 million through a constellation of super PACs set up to aid his campaign. That total of $51 million raised put him second behind Bush in total fundraising.”
“Cruz’s ability to raise large amounts of money — through both a campaign account and super PACS — not only differentiates him from other ideological warrior candidates of the past but also gives him a real chance at breaking into the top tier of candidates as the race continues.”
“The last person she wants to face is Donald Trump.”
— Donald Trump, quoted by the Washington Times, saying that Hillary Clinton’s criticism of him is “desperate” and “sad.”
In a Facebook post, the Oklahoma Republican Party says it’s ironic that the federal government distributes food stamps to 46 million people while at the same time discourages national park visitors from feeding the animals.
“One topic that often comes up in serious conversations about 2016 presidential politics is whether questions about Hillary Clinton’s trustworthiness will be her undoing. Not surprisingly, many of her fiercest critics passionately want this to be the case, but even some of her closest advisers are known to be very concerned about it,” National Journal reports.
“There is no doubt that voters want to be able to trust a president, but it should be remembered that Bill Clinton won an election in 1992 with large deficits in the honesty department…. Four years later, when Clinton was seeking reelection, he was underwater on the ABC/Post honesty question… In October—before his reelection by a margin of more than 8 percentage points and 200 electoral votes—22 percent of respondents said the president was more honest, and 52 percent said he was less. People had doubts—but elected and reelected him anyway.”
A new Morning Consult poll shows just 19% of voters say Clinton is honest and trustworthy.
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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