Los Angeles Times: “Democrats will be trying to win a third consecutive presidential election, a difficult task made harder by the fact that by almost 2 to 1, Americans continue to believe the country is on the wrong track, polls show.”
“Republicans will be trying to win with a base of supporters that is roughly 90% white in an increasingly diverse country, having failed so far to develop a strategy to attract the growing minority populations who rejected them in 2008 and 2012.”
New York Times: “The two-day event here in New Hampshire, where the nation’s first primary will be held early next year, showcased the talents, tactics and breadth of the Republican field. The 2012 presidential race featured several Republicans who made little impression on the party’s voters, who have typically nominated longtime leaders (Ronald Reagan, the elder George Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain) or high-profile governors with strong networks of donors (George W. Bush, Mitt Romney).”
“The race for the 2016 Republican nomination has a mix of prominent candidates and lesser-known but fiery ones. The critiques here on Friday and Saturday showed the bluntness of some of the candidates, the humor of others and the strategic interests of several — including those who chose not to mention Mrs. Clinton and to introduce themselves to voters in a more positive light. And all of them sought to project the experience, knowledge and steeliness needed to take on a politician of Mrs. Clinton’s stature.”
Mike Huckabee (R) suggested that young Americans planning to join the military should wait until President Barack Obama leaves office to do so because his administration has an “open hostility toward the Christian faith,” the Huffington Post reports.
Said Huckabee: “I’d wait a couple of years until we get a new commander in chief that will once again believe ‘one nation under God,’ and believe that people of faith should be a vital part of the process of not only governing this country, but defending this country.”
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“I’m starting to worry that when Hillary Clinton travels, there’s gonna need to be two planes – one for her and her entourage, and one for her baggage.”
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), quoted by The Hill.
Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “The two factors that might be most vital to Hillary Clinton’s chances—the identity of the eventual Republican nominee and the standing of President Obama—are elements over which she has little influence. It’s the second factor, Obama’s job approval rating, that is especially critical. And the state and national polling numbers present a contradictory story.”
“By our count, so far in 2015 (as of April 13) there have been 52 polls in 21 states that have reported approval and disapproval numbers for Obama. We analyzed those polls and found that, in the majority of them, Obama’s approval rating is worse than one might expect, given his national standing. This under performance appears more pronounced in states with heavily white populations—including key swing states Iowa and New Hampshire.”
“I would love, for a week, to have a Republican legislature or to be the emperor.”
— Gov. Chris Christie, quoted by Politico, while visiting New Hampshire.
“In the history of the New Hampshire presidential primary, there have never been so many potential Republican presidential candidates — 21 — much less a campaign in which nearly all of them showed up on the same weekend,” the Boston Globe reports.
“The result? One after another Friday, the Republicans tried to differentiate themselves as they moved throughout the state for the unofficial kickoff to the presidential primary.”
“After five years and more than 50 votes in Congress, the Republican campaign to repeal the Affordable Care Act is essentially over,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
“GOP congressional leaders, unable to roll back the law while President Obama remains in office and unwilling to again threaten a government shutdown to pressure him, are focused on other issues, including trade and tax reform. Less noted, senior Republican lawmakers have quietly incorporated many of the law’s key protections into their own proposals, including guaranteeing coverage and providing government assistance to help consumers purchase insurance.”
“And although the law remains very unpopular with GOP voters, more than 20 million Americans now depend on it for health benefits, making even some of the most conservative Republicans loath to cut off coverage.”
“Senate Republicans do not want to be held responsible for rejecting the historic nomination of Loretta E. Lynch, the first African-American woman picked to be attorney general. But they also are in no hurry to see her confirmed because of her defense of President Obama’s immigration policies,” the New York Times reports.
“The inert situation shows just how Republican anger and resentment over the president’s immigration actions color issues ranging from Ms. Lynch’s status to trade negotiations to the nuclear talks with Iran. Republicans’ central rationale remains that they cannot trust the president. After months of simmering over the very slow walk of Ms. Lynch’s nomination by the new Republican majority, Democrats unloaded this week.”
Huffington Post: Obama torches Republicans over Lynch delay
Los Angeles Times: “For Jeb Bush, New Hampshire serves as a linchpin of his strategy. Sandwiched between contests in Iowa and South Carolina that draw large numbers of evangelical voters, New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary has served as a firewall of sorts for mainstream, center-right candidates such as Bush. The last two Republican nominees — Mitt Romney in 2012 and John McCain in 2008 — both came in first place here after losing the Iowa caucuses to more socially conservative rivals.”
“As world leaders converge here for their semiannual trek to the capital of what is still the world’s most powerful economy, concern is rising in many quarters that the United States is retreating from global economic leadership just when it is needed most,” the New York Times reports.
“The spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have filled Washington with motorcades and traffic jams and loaded the schedules of President Obama and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. But they have also highlighted what some see as a United States government so bitterly divided that it is on the verge of ceding the global economic stage it built at the end of World War II and has largely directed ever since.”
Gary Hart: “Our Founders created a republic and, being keen students of the history of republics beginning with Athens, they knew that placing special and narrow interests ahead of the common good and the commonwealth was the corruption that destroyed republics. They feared this kind of corruption as the greatest danger to America’s success and survival.”
“By this standard, today’s American Republic is massively corrupt. Every interest group in our nation has staff lobbyists and hires lobbying firms. Thousands of lobbying firms now penetrate the halls of Congress as well as all State capitols and city halls. Those same lobbying firms collect funds for election and re-election campaigns. In exchange, they have access to legislatures and administrations, those who write the laws and make the regulations.”
“If the national presidency were to pass back and forth between two or three families in any Latin American nation we would call it an oligarchy.”
Howard Dean “delivered a stinging critique of modern day capitalism, warning that the economic system is ‘going to fail’ unless substantial efforts are made to regulate the financial industry and reduce income inequality,” the New York Observer reports.
Said Dean: “Actually, capitalism works pretty well–until it doesn’t. Capitalism in this country is going to fail if there’s not a significant, substantial number of people who believe that capitalism works for them and people are beginning to doubt around the world and in this country whether capitalism works for them.”
“I’ll bet $5.38 that if Clinton eventually loses, the first scene from Game Change III is set in a Chipotle.”
— Nate Silver, when asked about the impact of candidates’ food choices in a Q&A on Facebook.
Mike Huckabee is expected to return to Fox News this evening to make his 2016 presidential campaign official, TV Newser reports.
Huckabee said he is “moving toward” announcing a second bid for the White House and will “make a little news” later tonight.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) “is about to launch a national political committee that would allow him to raise money and his profile as he considers a run for president in 2016,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.
“Records show that a nonprofit called New Day for America incorporated this week with the Ohio secretary of state. The name is similar to one Kasich has used for his gubernatorial inaugural committee. The incorporator is listed as E. Mark Braden, an attorney and election-law specialist who has worked for Kasich before and who once served as chief counsel to the Republican National Committee.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel “and a supportive political action committee spent more than $22.8 million in the preliminary and runoff elections en route to the mayor winning a second term,” the Chicago Tribune reports.
“By contrast, challenger Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia and his union allies spent at least $4.6 million, far behind Emanuel, who collected 56 percent of the vote last week.”
“I have to prove that I’m not running for president — if I go beyond the consideration of this to being an active candidate — to try to break the tie between the Adams family and the Bush family. That really isn’t my motivation — but I have to prove that.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by CNN.
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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