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GOP Candidates Woo Evangelical Voters

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“The annual Faith & Freedom Coalition Policy Conference kicks off Thursday in Washington, giving top-tier presidential contenders as well as long shots such as Rick Santorum and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal a chance to compete for the large evangelical Christian base in the crowded Republican primary contest,” Bloomberg reports.

“For the Republicans preparing to address the conference, it presents a quandary: Whether to go all in with an evangelical base that remains opposed to gay marriage and risk alienating a growing majority of the country.”

“Among those scheduled to attend the conference are Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, at this point the three strongest contenders for the Republican nomination in polls. Walker, the son of a Baptist preacher, in particular is making an aggressive play for the evangelical vote.”

Democrats Look for Pelosi Backed Successor

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National Journal: “At the beginning of the 114th Congress, a group of seven House Democrats came together and made a plan: They would back Rep. Chris Van Hollen to serve as the party’s next leader. Then Van Hollen decided to run for Senate instead, and those members were left looking for a Plan B. They don’t have one yet. Neither does the caucus.”

“That matters because House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is 75 years old and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer is 76. Pelosi has yet to telegraph when she plans to leave office, nor does she have a favored successor in place—though she was widely thought to be grooming Van Hollen for that role. She has also never gotten along well with Hoyer.”


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Trump Paid $50 for Actors to Cheer for Him

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Donald Trump’s big presidential announcement “was made a little bigger with help from paid actors — at $50 a pop,” according to Hollywood Reporter.

“New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump’s event… The pay was listed as $50 for fewer than three hours of work. According to the email, Extra Mile was reaching out to potential extras in partnership with Gotham Government Relations and Communications, a New York-Based political consulting group that has worked with Trump in the past.”

Just One GOP Candidate Showed for Latino Convention

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More than 1,200 Hispanic leaders have gathered in Las Vegas “for, among other things, a presidential candidates forum. Yet out of the GOP’s 16 declared or likely presidential candidates, only one — retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson — bothered to show up,” the Washington Post reports.

“Many campaigns cited ‘scheduling conflicts’ for skipping the 32nd annual convention of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Instead, at least 13 GOP candidates plan to be in Washington this week to address the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s ‘Road to the Majority’ conference, the latest in a busy series of presidential cattle-call events for social conservatives.”

Jeb Won’t Commit to Campaigning with George

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Jeb Bush won’t commit to campaigning alongside his brother, former President George W. Bush, the Washington Post reports.

Said Jeb: “He’s been helpful already. He’s helped — in gatherings where it wasn’t inconvenient for him. And I — sure I’d love to have his help. But — by the way — the last time I saw my brother’s approval rating, or favorability rating, it’s higher than that of President Obama’s. He’s — he’s had a pretty good post-presidency.”

He added: “I’m– you know, I’m George’s brother, I love him. I know for me to be successful, this has to be about my ideas and about my life experience and about the future.”

Obama Huddles with Pro-Trade Democrats

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President Obama and pro-trade House and Senate Democrats “were planning to huddle Wednesday afternoon at the White House to consider ways to get stalled fast-track legislation through Congress,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“House Republican leaders were considering a floor vote as early as Thursday on a new plan to move a stand-alone trade bill that would give Mr. Obama fast-track trade negotiating authority, the power to send trade deals to Congress for an up-or-down vote, without amendments. Still unclear Wednesday was whether enough Democrats were on board with the plan, especially in the Senate.”

Quote of the Day

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“Mr. Trump should know he’s doing something right when the malcontents go ballistic in the press!”

— Sarah Palin, on Facebook, praising Donald Trump for getting into the GOP presidential race.

Rand Paul to Unveil Flat Tax Plan

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “will reveal his plan to overhaul the tax code on Thursday. Expect Steve Forbes to be pleased,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Paul, who is hoping his small-government, libertarian-inspired approach to governing will translate into support as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination, will call for a flat tax in the midteens… That would appear to be an even lower rate than Mr. Forbes proposed in 1996 when he ran for president on a platform of lowering the rate for everyone to 17 percent. Mr. Forbes is now credited with popularizing the term ‘flat tax’ in the country’s campaign vernacular.”

Clinton Softly Pushes Away from Obama

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New York Times: “Senior White House aides, in their calmer moments, say they understand Mrs. Clinton’s need to occasionally disagree with the president. They noted that Mr. Obama and his onetime secretary of state remain closely aligned on many issues. Even on the trade pact, Mrs. Clinton did not say she flatly opposes the trade deal, leaving herself room to endorse it later.”

“But as she pursues the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton is confronting a stark reality: Building support for her candidacy must sometimes come at the expense of Mr. Obama, and sometimes even at the expense of the policies they had both pursued in the White House.”

Trump Says Clinton Was His Favorite Recent President

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Donald Trump (R) told Morning Joe that his favorite president of the last four is Bill Clinton, Politico reports.

Said Trump: “There was a little spirit. Frankly, had he not met Monica, had he not met Paula, had he not met various and sundry semi-beautiful women, he would have had a much better deal going.”

He added: “He was destroyed by that. He was really hurt very badly by it.”

Walker’s Foreign Trips Under Scrutiny

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As an “intense standoff” over Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) program-slashing budget drags on, Walker is taking another taxpayer funded foreign trip, the Washington Post reports.

“It was not an ideal time for Walker, a likely GOP presidential candidate, to leave town, and it provided yet another opportunity for Democrats to criticize him for spending tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars on foreign trips while preaching budget frugality.”

“Walker has been governor for 4 1 / 2 years, but up until this year, he had taken only two foreign trade trips — traveling to China and Japan in 2013. Now a potential GOP contender with a lack of foreign policy expertise, Walker in recent months booked three taxpayer-funded trips in quick succession: Four days in the United Kingdom in early February, followed by a week in April in Germany, France and Spain, and now this journey to Canada.”

Fact Checking Donald Trump

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Washington Post: “Donald Trump is a fact checker’s dream … and nightmare. He spouts off so many ‘facts,’ often twisted or wrong, that it takes a lot of time to hack through the weeds. So here are some of the highlights — and lowlights — of Trump’s announcement on June 16 that he will seek the Republican nomination for president.”

“As is our practice, we do not award Pinocchios when we do a roundup of facts in a major speech. But astute readers should be able to figure out the Four-Pinocchio whoppers.”

Bernie-mentum!

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First Read: “The biggest development in the presidential campaign so far this month? It’s not Jeb’s or Trump’s announcements, or Hillary Clinton’s re-announcement. Rather, it’s the faster-than-expected rise of Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton still has maybe the clearest path that any non-incumbent has had to win a party’s presidential nomination in modern times. But you also can’t ignore the momentum — Bernie-mentum! — that Bernie Sanders seems to have in the Democratic race right now. Sure, it’s just two polls (one phone survey, another that’s partially online) that show him within 10-12 points of Clinton. And sure, they’re both in New Hampshire, which is right next door to Sanders’ Vermont.”

“But they could also be a canary in the progressive coal mine. And they tell us three things: One, the Elizabeth Warren supporters have seamlessly moved over into Sanders’ corner. Two, Sanders’ momentum suggests that there might not be breathing room for other Democratic challengers like Martin O’Malley, Lincoln Chafee, and Jim Webb. And three, as political scientist Jonathan Bernstein points out, it’s also a reminder on the GOP side ‘that any candidate can benefit from a public opinion surge.'”

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan 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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