“We should not be ashamed of the war we conducted in Iraq.”
— Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
Carly Fiorina Stiffed Former Staffers
“Twelve of about 30 people who worked on Fiorina’s failed 2010 California Senate campaign, most speaking out for the first time, told Reuters they would not work for her again. Fiorina, once one of America’s most powerful businesswomen, is now campaigning for the Republican nomination in 2016. The reason: for more than four years, Fiorina – who has an estimated net worth of up to $120 million – didn’t pay them, a review of Federal Election Commission records shows.”
Who’s Standing with Rand?
Rick Klein: “Sen. Rand Paul didn’t get the same backing from his Republican colleagues than the last time he talked his way through legislative deadlines – but that’s part of the point. This was a stunt that was about his 2016 candidacy, if the campaign merchandising push and online trolling of Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton didn’t make that clear. It shows, again, that Paul will inject a strain of national-security thinking into the GOP debates that will push his rivals in uncomfortable ways. It’s possible that his timing is off; the march of ISIS, with scenes of beheadings seared into memories, might change the tone of any discussion inside the Republican Party. But Rand standing alone will make him stand out, for better or worse.”
Sanders Threatens to Crowd Out O’Malley
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “is moving fast to corner the market for a firebrand liberal alternative to Hillary Clinton in 2016 — complicating life for former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D),” The Hill reports.
“O’Malley would like to position himself to the left of Clinton and capitalize on a perceived unease about the former secretary of State among progressives. His problem is that Sanders is already on the battlefield and advancing.”
Bush Says Science Isn’t Decided on Climate Change
Jeb Bush hit back against President Obama’s claim that climate change runs an immediate risk, adding that while it shouldn’t be ignored, it’s still not “the highest priority,” CNN reports.
Said Bush: “For the people to say the science is decided on this is really arrogant, to be honest with you. It’s this intellectual arrogance that now you can’t have a conversation about it, even. The climate is changing. We need to adapt to that reality.”
Huckabee Will Skip Iowa Straw Poll
Mike Huckabee writes in the Des Moines Register that he will not participate in Iowa’s 2016 Republican straw poll because it only “weakens conservative candidates” and strengthens “the Washington ruling class and their handpicked candidates.”
Opposition Research Becomes Huge Business
Los Angeles Times: “Once a dark art that candidates were reluctant to acknowledge even the existence of, political opposition research has lately turned into a garish, multimillion-dollar enterprise complete with logos, marketing strategies and indiscriminate, real-time streaming of the work product onto social media.”
“Many political traditions are being disrupted by the unrestricted cash that today’s lax campaign-finance enforcement allows. But perhaps none more than the time-honored tradition of rifling through an opponent’s background. Never before have there been so many hit jobs peddled to the media, to gadflies, to swing voters – to anyone who might notice – so openly and swiftly.”
Clinton Super PAC Struggles to Raise Money
“The super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid is struggling to raise money and now expects to collect only about $15 million through the end of June,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The group, Priorities USA Action, is shaking up its senior staff in hopes of jump-starting a fundraising operation that, five weeks after Mrs. Clinton entered the presidential race, has garnered only about $5 million in ‘hard commitments’… Even if it meets its $15 million short-term expectation, the pro-Clinton group will raise far less than PACs backing some potential Republican rivals.”
Quote of the Day
“I love my mom and dad. I love my brother, and people are just going to have to get over that. That’s just the way it is.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by the New York Times.
Republicans Push Further Right on Immigration
New York Times: “Staring at startling exit polls after a beating by President Obama in 2012, Republicans vowed they were finally ready to do something about immigration reform or risk further alienating Hispanic voters. But two-and-a-half years later they have seem to have decided to lurch to the right on the issue.”
Republicans Say Obama Caused Rise of Islamic State
Washington Post: “After more than a decade bearing the political burden of Iraq, Republicans are making a dogged effort to shed it by arguing that the Islamic State’s gruesome ascent is a symptom of Obama’s foreign policy, rather than a byproduct of the 2003 invasion they once championed.”
“The rapid move to shift responsibility is at the core of the GOP’s plan to define 2016 as a foreign-policy election. Anxious about demographic trends and the leftward drift of the electorate on social issues, many Republicans hope to seize on global unrest and offer voters a steady hand.”
Fox News Will Limit GOP Debates to 10
“The sprawling field of Republican presidential hopefuls will be abruptly winnowed down to as few as 10 — at least for debating purposes — when the first presidential debate is held in early August, Fox News, the debate sponsor,” the New York Times reports.
“The network’s decision to invite only candidates who hit a certain polling threshold is the first organized attempt to curtail the size of the ballooning field. Presidential debates have proved crucial in recent nominating contests, with little-known candidates propelled to national prominence and experienced candidate thrust out of the race by poor performances.”
Politico: “The first Republican presidential debate would likely exclude two governors, a U.S. senator, and the only woman in the GOP’s presidential field, according to criteria released Wednesday.”
U.S. and Cuba Near Deal on Full Diplomatic Relations
“The United States and Cuba are closer than ever to reaching an agreement to fully restore diplomatic relations and reopen embassies, officials in both countries say, as negotiators prepare to meet Thursday in Washington for another round of talks to iron out remaining details and discuss possible dates,” the New York Times reports.
“The move toward full diplomatic relations broken decades ago during the Cold War has been seen as a key step toward ending hostilities and normalizing ties with a historic opponent that once agreed to allow Soviet nuclear missiles on its soil and repelled an invasion by American-backed insurgents.”
Paul Ends Filibuster After 10 Hours
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) “ceded the Senate floor just before midnight Wednesday after more than 10 hours,” The Hill reports.
New York Times: “The legislation that Mr. Paul hopes to delay, the U.S.A. Freedom Act, would actually overhaul the Patriot Act — curtailing the government’s bulk collection of phone records, for example. But Mr. Paul has cast himself as the lone Republican presidential candidate who would safeguard civil liberties, and he knows that a filibuster is an effective way to spotlight the issue.”
Politico: “People in Paul’s orbit believe that the decision to take to the floor to fight the NSA — via a long, filibuster-like speech — will galvanize the libertarian base that supported his father, Ron Paul, without turning off more mainstream Republicans.”
Gingrich Doesn’t Want to Limit Number of Debaters
With 11 weeks until the first Republican presidential debate, Newt Gingrich told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that “he’s not sure how you fit 16 people on stage — perhaps you have them draw lots and conduct two debates — but he does not want to see an artificial cap.”
Said Gingrich: “I don’t know how you do it early on but I’m very much concerned that we don’t have either the news media or the party institutions kill people before they even get a chance to see the voters. The American people should decide which candidates are real, not some formula designed by people to see the best known.”
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Chelsea Clinton Has a Book Deal
Chelsea Clinton has a book deal for It’s Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!, the AP reports.
The book, which will come out in the fall, aims to “inform and inspire” young people to “change the world” and will cover a range of issues from poverty to gender equality.
Searches for N-Word on Google Maps Show White House
Google was working to fix Google Maps after Twitter users noted that certain searches for the N-word pointed to the White House, the Huffington Post reports.
