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Nevada May Switch Back to Primary

April 27, 2015 at 9:09 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

“Republican leaders in Nevada are moving to junk their presidential caucuses and re-implement a standard primary election for 2016,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Nevada hosts the fourth nominating contest of the 2016 GOP primary and the first out west, making any change to how the contest is conducted potentially significant. Libertarian folk hero and former Texas Rep. Ron Paul finished a close third in the 2012 caucuses, a method of competing for delegates to the GOP presidential nominating convention deemed advantageous to Paul because his band of liberty activist supporters are small but intensely loyal… That’s why the move by Nevada Republicans to go back to a standard primary could be interpreted as a shot at Paul’s son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is running for president in 2016 and whose base of support here consists of the same community of activists who boosted his father to third place in the caucuses three years ago.”

Inside Warren’s Campaign to Influence Clinton

April 27, 2015 at 9:08 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 6 Comments

Ryan Lizza has a must-read piece on Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and what she’s really trying to do in 2016.

“Warren is not running for President. But she is mounting a campaign to insure that Clinton and other prominent Democrats adhere to her agenda of reversing income inequality and beating back the influence of corporate power in politics. These are issues that Warren has pursued for three decades, as an academic, a policy adviser to Democrats, an Obama Administration regulator, and, since 2012, a U.S. senator and the anchor of a progressive wing of the Democratic Party.”

“Clinton has taken notice. Last December, she invited Warren to a private meeting at her Washington home, near Embassy Row, to hear Warren’s advice on issues such as income inequality. In recent months, members of Clinton’s policy team have consulted with Dan Geldon, one of Warren’s closest advisers, about economic policy… Clinton even sounds like Warren these days, evidently hoping to fend off charges that she is a captive of Wall Street money and influence.”

Huffington Post: Warren is still Clinton’s biggest threat even if she isn’t running

Majority of Voters Back Iran Deal

April 27, 2015 at 7:17 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 21 Comments

A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters support the preliminary agreement with Iran to restrict that country’s nuclear program by a wide margin, 58% to 33%.

Bush Tells Donors They’ve Set Fundraising Record

April 27, 2015 at 7:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 11 Comments

Jeb Bush “told about 350 of the top donors to his super PAC on Sunday evening that the organization has raised more money in its first 100 days than any other Republican operation in modern history,” the Washington Post reports.

“Bush did not say how much had been raised, but senior Republicans said they think his super PAC, Right to Rise, is on track to collect $100 million by the end of May. Those who heard Bush speak said it signals that he and his team are confident that they’ve amassed a sizable political fortune that will help bankroll his fledgling presidential aspirations.”

The Polling Roller Coaster Begins

April 27, 2015 at 6:48 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

Nate Cohn: “The wave of candidate announcements that began late last month has set off a new phase of volatile polling, when voters will rally behind news-making candidates and move on as soon as the next arrives.”

“Republican voters are just starting to tune in, and they start with few allegiances to this year’s deep field of candidates. As Republican hopefuls announce their bids and attract media attention, they’ll probably get a bounce in the polls. These bumps could easily be enough to give long-shot candidates the lead. But for now — and for a while — it might be wise to tune out the polls altogether.”

GOP Looks to Undercut Obama’s Climate Talks

April 27, 2015 at 6:04 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

President Obama and Congress “are headed for another power clash on the international stage, as key Senate Republicans challenge his efforts to forge a global pact on climate change,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The White House considers the agreement with nearly 200 nations a historic opportunity to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions world-wide. But some GOP senators view it as executive overreach, and they are quietly considering ways to warn other countries that the president doesn’t speak for them and may not be able to deliver on his promises to slash emissions.”

Wonk Wire: Is the EPA Clean Power Plan a job booster?

Opponents of Iran Deal Take Aim In Senate

April 27, 2015 at 6:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

Sen. Marco Rubio and other foes of a nuclear deal with Iran “are readying several poison-pill amendments — some of which could have broad appeal — aimed at unraveling the bipartisan compromise endorsed by President Obama,” Politico reports.

“The compromise legislation, which would allow Congress to review a nuclear accord and potentially reject it, has already survived one test, passing committee on a surprising 19-0 vote after sponsor Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) offered concessions to Democrats. But opponents say the administration has been too soft on Tehran, and they’re prepping another salvo that could scuttle the measure when it hits the floor this week.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

April 26, 2015 at 9:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 82 Comments

“Today’s Democratic Party has decided there is no room for Christians. There is a liberal fascism that is going after Christian believers.”

— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by The Hill.

Republicans Struggle With Shifts on Gay Marriage

April 26, 2015 at 9:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 12 Comments

New York Times: “Rick Santorum said he would never attend a same-sex wedding. Marco Rubio said he might attend one. Scott Walker actually went to a same-sex wedding reception, not to be confused with an actual same-sex wedding ceremony. Ted Cruz said he is firmly opposed to gay marriage, but would be comfortable if his daughter were gay.”

“Republican presidential candidates are struggling to adjust to a rapidly changing legal, political and cultural landscape this primary season, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments Tuesday on whether same-sex marriage is a constitutionally protected right.”

Russian Hackers Read Obama’s Email

April 26, 2015 at 8:35 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 5 Comments

“Some of President Obama’s email correspondence was swept up by Russian hackers last year in a breach of the White House’s unclassified computer system that was far more intrusive and worrisome than has been publicly acknowledged,” the New York Times reports.

“The hackers, who also got deeply into the State Department’s unclassified system, do not appear to have penetrated closely guarded servers that control the message traffic from Mr. Obama’s BlackBerry, which he or an aide carries constantly.”

John Gruber: “In 2009 it seemed forward-thinking that the president carried a BlackBerry. Now, it feels preposterously behind the times.”

Clinton Foundation Admits Mistakes

April 26, 2015 at 8:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 2 Comments

The Clinton Foundation’s acting chief “acknowledged the organization had made missteps, but defended its transparency efforts amid Hillary Clinton’s nascent presidential campaign,” The Hill reports.

Many GOP Contenders Court Evangelical Voters

April 26, 2015 at 8:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 6 Comments

“An unusually large field of Republican presidential contenders is trying to win the support of evangelical primary voters, worrying many social conservatives that their influence will be diluted in a way that boosts more-centrist candidates,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The crowd of contenders angling for evangelical votes muddies the prospects for a repeat of the two latest Republican primary campaigns, in which Christian conservatives helped catapult dark-horse candidates into the top tier of the field by delivering victories in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.”

New York Times: “Nine Republican candidates descended on a large church in Iowa to court evangelical Christians, the voters who played the starring role in the state’s two most recent caucuses.”

Gillibrand Will Seek National Online Voter Registration

April 26, 2015 at 8:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) “is introducing legislation to expand online voter registration, which would allow all eligible voters across the country to register online,” Capital New York reports.

“The legislation would open online registration to nearly 100 million potential registrants who currently are without it.”

George W. Bush Comments on 2016 Election

April 26, 2015 at 10:30 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 44 Comments

Former President George W. Bush “offered rare, and broad-ranging, remarks Saturday night about current national security threats and the 2016 presidential campaign to a large audience of Jewish donors, suggesting that sanctions on Iran should not be lifted, that his last name was a burden to his brother, the likely presidential candidate Jeb Bush, and that Hillary Rodham Clinton, while ‘formidable,’ was beatable,” the New York Times reports.

“He spoke dismissively of candidates who surrounded themselves with ‘sycophants’ and bemoaned a culture built around a single person, or even a party. The goal, he stressed, should be about serving the national interest.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

April 26, 2015 at 9:41 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 18 Comments

“You can’t let the process numb you to the point where you’re just a robot. Even though all the pressure is ‘Don’t gaffe, don’t deviate, be prepared, give the prepared thing,’ you’ve got to watch that, because you can just be boring and you can be vanilla and you can so sanitize yourself that you’re not yourself.”

— Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), quoted by Politico, on running for national office.

2015 White House Correspondents’ Dinner

April 26, 2015 at 9:27 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 27 Comments

President Obama “came out swinging in his speech at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night, mocking his critics and taking various shots at Republicans and members of the media,” The Hill reports.

CNN compiles Obama’s top ten jokes or you can watch the whole thing here:

Candidate’s Nude Campaign Poster Skirts Japan Election Law

April 26, 2015 at 7:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

“Campaigning for Sunday’s second wave of quadrennial unified local elections has highlighted a legal loophole that allows candidates to go to extremes — including nudity — to gain votes,” the Japan Times reports.

“In contrast with the ubiquitous portrait shots preferred by most candidates, the campaign poster for Teruki Goto, an independent running for the Chiyoda Ward Assembly in Tokyo, went viral after it showed him posing nude against a Rising Sun flag motif while raising a katana over the Imperial Seal, his genitals covered by his name.”

“According to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the use of nudity is not banned because there are no restrictions on poster design in the Public Offices Election Law. All posters are legal as long they bear the name of the candidate and are posted on the designated boards.”

Quote of the Day

April 26, 2015 at 7:36 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 8 Comments

“I’m not sure we’re a party of enough new ideas. I think both parties kind of are married to their constituencies and their powerful interests, and they’re unwilling to challenge them in the way I did as mayor.”

– Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D), quoted by the Los Angeles Times.