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What Does Joe Biden Know About Hillary Clinton?

August 28, 2015 at 3:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 67 Comments

National Journal: “As Joe Biden edges closer to a presidential run, there’s no shortage of theories as to what he’s up to. Former secretary of State Hillary Clinton has built a commanding lead in the national polls, giving Biden little apparent space to gain traction. Perhaps he’s counting on the early-primary state of South Carolina to provide a critical boost. He might be banking on appearing as a stronger general-election candidate than any of his potential rivals in the primary race. Maybe after spending the past 42 years of his life running for elective office, he just can’t stop.”

“But there’s one intriguing theory that has so far garnered little attention: What if Biden knows something about Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton that the rest of us don’t?”

Fox News reports an FBI “A-team” is leading the “extremely serious” investigation into Clinton’s email server and the focus includes a provision of the law pertaining to “gathering, transmitting or losing defense information.”

Clinton Claims She Has One-Fifth of Delegates Needed

August 28, 2015 at 3:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

“As Hillary Clinton’s campaign seeks to project dominance in a field that could soon include Vice President Joe Biden, her top advisers are touting a decisive edge on a little-discussed metric: superdelegate commitments,” according to Bloomberg.

“At the Democratic National Committee meeting… senior Clinton campaign officials are claiming that she has already secured one-fifth of the pledges needed to win the Democratic presidential nomination. They come from current and former elected officials, committee officeholders, and other party dignitaries.”

Clinton’s Support Continues to Erode Among Democrats

August 28, 2015 at 3:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 45 Comments

“Hillary Clinton’s support among Democrats has dropped to its lowest point since Reuters/Ipsos began polling on her chances of winning the party’s nomination for the 2016 election almost three years ago.”

Sarah Palin Will Interview Donald Trump

August 28, 2015 at 3:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 40 Comments

Sarah Palin announced on Facebook that she will be interviewing Donald Trump at 10 p.m. ET tonight on the One America News Network.

Trump at Wharton

August 28, 2015 at 2:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

Boston Globe: “His former classmates said he seemed to them a student who spoke up a lot but rarely shined in class, who barely participated in campus activities, shunned fraternity parties, and spent most of his weekends and spare time pursuing his dream: using his advantages as the son of a prominent New York real estate developer to get an early start on the business career that would make him very, very rich.”

“Unlike many of the privileged students around him, who expected to leverage their pedigrees to enrich themselves the old-fashioned way — that is, quietly — Trump had an in-your-face attitude about his quest for money from his first day on campus, said his former classmates.”

U.S. Economic Growth Quickens

August 28, 2015 at 1:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 36 Comments

New York Times: “Not long ago, the United States was considered the tortoise of the world economy, at least in comparison to emerging powers like China and Brazil. Lately, however, slow but steady seems to be winning the race. The American economy continues to chug along, while the onetime hares in Asia, South America and elsewhere are flagging.”

“The latest evidence of this shift came on Thursday, as the Commerce Department revised sharply upward its estimate of economic growth in the second quarter to a healthy annual pace of 3.7 percent, from an initial estimate of 2.3 percent. At the same time, the Labor Department, in reporting another drop in weekly unemployment claims, provided further evidence that the job market was on the mend.”

2016 Campaign Television Tracker

August 28, 2015 at 12:58 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

This is pretty great: The 2016 Campaign Television Tracker records how many times each presidential candidate was mentioned on each of the major television networks.

Bonus Quote of the Day

August 28, 2015 at 12:37 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

“Look, nobody knows the tax code better than I do. OK. I know it better. I’m the king of the tax code.”

— Donald Trump, in an interview on MSNBC.

A Perfect Ad for Donald Trump

August 28, 2015 at 12:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 1 Comment

Jimmy Kimmel imagines what Trump’s first commercial might look like.

The Latest on Wonk Wire

August 28, 2015 at 12:02 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Here’s what’s trending on Wonk Wire today:

Jeb Bush Has a Foot-In-Mouth Problem

August 28, 2015 at 10:51 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 29 Comments

Dana Millbank: “Jeb Bush established his inheritance of the family trait earlier this year, with his kick-off foreign policy speech. He confused Iraq for Iran, said Islamic State had 200,000 fighters instead of 20,000, and referred to the Islamic State leader as ‘the guy that’s the supreme leader, whatever his new title is, head of the caliphate.’ He said immigration should be ‘a catalytic converter for sustained economic growth.'”

“But Jeb Bush’s slips tend to be different from those of his kin. His are more Freudian, involving accidental truths.”

Quote of the Day

August 28, 2015 at 10:47 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 85 Comments

“There is no war on women – there may be a war on what’s inside of women, but there is no war on women in this country.”

— Ben Carson, quoted by The Hill.

Cruz’s Embrace of Trump Is Key to His Strategy

August 28, 2015 at 10:34 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 28 Comments

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is stalking Donald Trump — “if not geographically (the Alabama trips were coincidence) then ideologically and rhetorically, making sure the two stay in lockstep on issues of the day so that voters who are energized by Trump’s message but looking for a more polished messenger discover a natural transition to Cruz,” National Journal reports.

Trump Quote of the Day

August 28, 2015 at 9:59 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 5 Comments

“We need some unpredictability, we really do.”

— Donald Trump, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on the advantages of running an unorthodox campaign.

Trump Explains Why He’s Attacking Bush

August 28, 2015 at 9:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 24 Comments

Donald Trump explained his attacks toward Jeb Bush, saying that he had taken for granted that the former governor of Florida was going to be his chief rival, Politico reports.

Said Trump: “Well I don’t want to be nasty, and I don’t want to say that. But I will tell you that if you look at the polls, he isn’t really second anymore. He’s fourth and fifth in a lot of the polls. And I have, you know, I’ve always assumed that he was going to be a primary competitor, and I guess that’s why I’m hitting him harder than others.”

Does Biden Have an Opening?

August 28, 2015 at 9:35 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 14 Comments

Rick Klein: “It’s a version of speed dating, except one party is already sort of engaged. And it wouldn’t take Ashley Madison to find another just-maybe willing prospect outside the room. The Democratic National Committee is converging in Minneapolis just in time to take some private frustrations over Hillary Clinton’s candidacy public. But as Clinton herself and her announced rivals zip through the room, making condensed versions of their pitches, all eyes of course remain on Vice President Joe Biden and a team that’s actively drumming up interest in that third Biden run.”

“The challenge for them is to be clear about the circumstances: disappointment and even anger at Camp Clinton is not necessarily the same as a groundswell for the vice president. Biden insiders think they’ve gotten President Obama’s go-ahead this week, yet that’s not an endorsement. It’s also not a replacement for the grassroots eruption Biden would have to position himself to tap into if a late-starting candidacy will go anywhere. Clinton may well be vulnerable, and those in the room in Minneapolis may want her to face a more substantial challenge. That’s not the same, though, as wanting to break up with Clinton in favor of Biden.”

Trump May Soon Rule Out Third Party Bid

August 28, 2015 at 6:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 24 Comments

Donald Trump told the New York Times that he “would soon decide whether to sign a pledge to support the ultimate Republican presidential nominee, something the South Carolina Republican Party is requiring to compete in the state’s critical primary.”

Trump said that he expected his showing in polls to “go up 10 or 15 percent” if he signs the pledge. He added that if he did sign but lost the nomination, he would not run as an independent, a concern among many Republicans.

Said Trump: “I don’t make commitments and break them.”

Pollsters Dumbfounded by Trump

August 27, 2015 at 8:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 37 Comments

“Polling experts agree on one thing when it comes to Donald Trump’s presidential run: They’ve never seen anything like it. The billionaire businessman’s dominance of the Republican presidential race is forcing experienced political hands to question whether everything they know about winning the White House is wrong,” The Hill reports.

“The shocks have come in quick succession, with Trump first rocketing to the top of national polls, and then taking double-digit leads in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.”

“In another act of political magic, Trump managed to flip his favorability rating from negative to positive in one poll during the span of a month — a feat that Monmouth University’s Patrick Murray called ‘astounding.’ Trump’s favorability rose from 20 percent to 52 percent among Republican voters between July and August, Monmouth found.”