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McCain Criticizes University Donation to Clinton Foundation

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“Arizona State University gave $500,000 to the Clinton Foundation last year, money school officials say represents its investment in the Clinton Global Initiative University event it hosted in 2014,” the Arizona Republic reports.

“While ASU maintains the event provided big benefits for students, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said it wasn’t worth the university spending half a million dollars. McCain participated in a panel discussion moderated by Bill Clinton as part of the event.”

Said McCain: “Frankly, if I had known that that was the situation, that they were being paid $500,000, I would have spoken up at the time that I thought it was outrageous.”

Oklahoma GOP Wants Chairman Out

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“Behind the scenes of a major GOP conference, top Oklahoma Republicans have been plotting to oust their state party’s political director and, if necessary, the chairman of the party for protecting him,” National Journal reports.

“Thomas Clint ‘T.C.’ Ryan, the political director, pleaded guilty in 2012 to domestic-assault charges. Earlier this month, Oklahoma GOP Chairman Randy Brogdon refused calls for Ryan’s resignation, instead shifting him from his newly appointed position of executive director to political director to quiet the critics.”

Ireland Appears Set to Legalize Gay Marriage

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“Ireland appeared poised to become the world’s first nation to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote on Saturday, with early vote counts showing strong and broad support for a measure that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago in what had traditionally been a Roman Catholic stronghold,” the New York Times reports.

London Telegragh: “Votes still being counted but opponents of same sex marriage admit ‘disappointing’ results so far.”


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Senate Blocks Compromise NSA Surveillance Bill

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“After vigorous debate and intense last-minute pressure by Republican leaders, the Senate on Saturday rejected legislation that would end the federal government’s bulk collection of phone records,” the New York Times reports.

“With the death of that measure — passed overwhelmingly in the House earlier this month — senators then scrambled to hastily pass a short-term measure to keep the program from going dark when it expires June 1 but failed. The disarray in Congress appeared to significantly increase the chances that the government will lose systematic access to newly created calling records by Americans, at least temporarily, after June 1.”

Politico: “Mitch McConnell tried to use a time-tested tactic to break his fellow senators’ will and get what he wants: the threat of missing their vacation after a grueling, six-week work period. It didn’t work.”

Clinton Emails Raise Questions on Management Style

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“For those who have worried that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign would be a repeat of the chaotic operation she ran eight years ago, her advisers have often pointed to her time in between at the State Department — which by comparison was an archetype of crisp managerial efficiency,” the Washington Post reports.

“But a trove of newly released e-mails suggests that one of Clinton’s tendencies persisted during her time as secretary of state — an inability to separate her longtime loyalties from the business at hand. The e-mails from her private account reveal that she passed along no fewer than 25 memos about Libya from friend and political ally Sidney Blumenthal. Blumenthal had business interests in Libya but no diplomatic expertise there.”

The Wall Street Journal has made all of the emails available online.

Sanchez Stumbles Again

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Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) is not having the best Senate campaign roll out, Politico reports.

“After having a ‘draft’ of her official launch announcement leak and making a ‘war cry’ gesture while describing Native Americans at a California Democratic convention, Sanchez was caught on camera dancing in front of signs blasting Rep. Ami Bera, a fellow California lawmaker who is facing criticism from progressives and union leaders for his decision to support fast track authority.”

“It’s highly uncommon for lawmakers of the same party to appear at events where their colleagues are being protested but a video dated May 18 shows Sanchez clapping in front of signs blasting pro-trade lawmakers like Bera. One sign slams him directly.”

Fox News Takes Control of the GOP Primary

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Paul Waldman: “Liberals often say that Fox News is the house organ of the Republican Party, but in the 2016 election, the network is becoming something more: a kind of stern boss, setting the agenda, plotting the group’s course, and weeding out the weak performers. As powerful as the network has been within the conservative movement, the 2016 election has given it the opportunity to increase its influence even further.”

“That’s partly because someone has to organize the chaos that is the Republican primary race, and no one’s better positioned to do it.”

Senate Passes Fast-Track Trade Legislation

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The U.S. Senate “passed major trade legislation that would pave the way for President Barack Obama’s signature Pacific trade deal, marking a victory for the Obama administration and Republican leaders in Congress and sending the bill toward an uncertain fate in the House,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Senate voted 62-37 to approve so-called fast track, which would help conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Japan and 10 other countries and ensure that the Pacific deal and others would get an up-or-down vote in Congress without amendments.”

Does Hillary Clinton Fear Marco Rubio Most?

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The New York Times notes an “incipient sense of anxiety is tugging at some Democrats — a feeling tersely captured in four words from a blog post written recently by a seasoned party strategist in Florida: ‘Marco Rubio scares me.'”

“What is so unnerving to them at this early phase of the 2016 presidential campaign still seems, at worst, a distant danger: the prospect of a head-to-head general-election contest between Mr. Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Yet the worriers include some on Mrs. Clinton’s team. And even former President Bill Clinton is said to worry that Mr. Rubio could become the Republican nominee, whittle away at Mrs. Clinton’s support from Hispanics and jeopardize her chances of carrying Florida’s vital 29 electoral votes.”

Lawmakers Tell Jindal to Pay for His Own Travel

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Louisiana legislators clipped Gov. Bobby Jindal’s wings “by inserting wording into the state budget that would require the governor’s office to pay the out-of-state travel expenses of his security detail,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.

“Jindal spent almost 45 percent of 2014 outside Louisiana attending political events. He has kept up the pace so far in 2015 and since forming a presidential exploratory committee early this week, is likely to continue his aggressive travel schedule.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

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“No purpose whatsoever is served by those who are now trying to discredit Josh or his family by sensationalizing the story. Good people make mistakes and do regrettable and even disgusting things.”

— Mike Huckabee, writing on Facebook, on Josh Duggar admitting to molesting children, including his own sisters.

The Death of the Political Campaign Reporter

By 28 Comments

Ryan Cooper: “The 2016 election may be the first one in which the political press is totally sidelined. Politicians now have a professional grasp of social media — Barack Obama just got his third Twitter account — and they don’t need media middlemen to communicate with voters.”

“What’s more, no journalist has the kind of celebrity and cultural credibility (as Tim Russert used to have) that once made interviews mandatory for aspiring presidents.”

Quote of the Day

By 37 Comments

“The idea that a national poll has any relationship to the viability of a candidate—ask Rudy Giuliani that. Ask Phil Gramm that. You can go on down the list of folks who were doing real well in national polls and didn’t win a single state and were not a viable candidate.”

— Rick Santorum, quoted by National Journal.

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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