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“Republican leaders are formally asking their rank-and-file members to propose changes to the rules governing the House GOP conference,” Politico reports.
“A broad swath of the conference, led by a group of hardliners in the House Freedom Caucus, have pushed for a party that operates in a more bottom-up manner. They want larger say for rank-and-file members in selecting chairman and more seats on key committees.”
“I look at a lot of these people that are running against me– they all have pollsters. They pay these pollsters tremendous amounts of money… sometimes $100,000 a month to pollsters. And I watch them, and I listen to ’em, and they’re afraid to say anything. I mean, they’re petrified. I watch some of the people I’m competing against. They’re petrified. They don’t want to do anything to insult their pollster. Everything they say is polled.”
— Donald Trump, in an interview with NBC News.
Donald Trump plans to start attacking Ben Carson because he has risen in the polls, CNN reports.
When asked if he would attack, Trump said, “At some point, yes, which I actually look forward to doing,” but added that at the moment, “I can’t do it. He’s been so nice to me.”
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The first Democratic presidential debate averaged 15.3 million viewers, easily making it the highest-rated Democratic debate ever, CNN reports.
“The total viewer number was much lower than the totals for both recent Republican debates, but there was still a surprising surge of interest.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign said that it brought in just over $1.4 million from the Vermont senator’s performance at the first Democratic presidential debate the night before, Politico reports.
“Hillary Clinton’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to inquiries on Wednesday about its fundraising haul after the debate.”
The Hill: “Prolonged turmoil within the House GOP is driving up anxiety that Washington will have real trouble raising the debt limit by Nov. 5. People aren’t jumping out of windows yet, but those following the matter closely see plenty of reason to believe Congress could miss its deadline — raising the risk of a default.”
“Republicans control both chambers of Congress for the first time in a debt-limit standoff with President Obama. That puts more pressure on the GOP to come up with a plan, but it has not presented one so far. The White House insists Obama will not negotiate on raising the debt limit.”
A new CNN/ORC poll in South Carolina finds Donald Trump leading the GOP presidential race with 36%, followed by Ben Carson at 18%, Marco Rubio at 9%, Carly Fiorina at 7%, Jeb Bush at 6%, Ted Cruz at 5%, Lindsey Graham at 5%, Rand Paul at 4%, and Mike Huckabee at 3%.
A new CNN/ORC poll in Nevada finds Donald Trump leading the Republican presidential race with 38%, followed by Ben Carson at 22%, Carly Fiorina at 8%, Marco Rubio at 7%, Jeb Bush at 6%, Ted Cruz at 4% and Mike Huckabee at 4%.
Atlanta radio host Steve McCoy told BuzzFeed News that Donald Trump’s campaign wouldn’t let him ask about specific policies during a brief interview.
Said McCoy: “They said they wouldn’t take questions about his policy because his policies, they weren’t set in stone… It came with some restrictions: I couldn’t ask anything about his current policies. And they had the right to x out any questions that I did ask and we got through about three minutes of it.”
Here’s what’s trending on Wonk Wire today:
Jimmy Kimmel asked people on Monday what they thought of the Democratic debate that wouldn’t occur until Tuesday.
First Read: “The Democratic Party, right now, is much more unified than the Republican Party is. Sure, there were disagreements and jabs last night. But when you take a step back, it’s striking how often the five Democratic candidates agreed. And with just a few exceptions, the candidates weren’t running away from President Obama — certainly not to the extent we saw the GOP field run away from George W. Bush in 2007-2008. The general election is 13 months from now, and that contest promises to be a close one. But there is little doubt that the Democratic Party is healthier than the Republican Party.”
First Read: “If Clinton was last night’s big winner, the big loser was … Joe Biden. If he was looking for a Clinton mess-up as a rationale to get into the race, he didn’t get it. What’s more, by hugging Obama as closely as she did, Hillary also closed off an important lane for Biden. And as Politico writes, Biden wasn’t even a presence at last night’s debate. ‘Over the course of two full hours of debate, no one even mentioned Joe Biden’s name.'”
“If Biden is still truly thinking about a run, he made a big mistake by not being on that stage. He didn’t get the kind of moment he might have been looking for — other than maybe realizing Hillary needs a better sparring partner. At this point, Biden might as well wait until after the Benghazi hearing, because his asset is as the guy warming up in the bullpen. The final word on a Biden candidacy might rest in Trey Gowdy’s hands.”
Kyle Kondik: “There is another possibility, however remote. What if Biden doesn’t announce for president, but doesn’t announce that he’s not running, either? What if he just hangs around the periphery, waiting for a Clinton collapse to activate his candidacy? “
Washington Post: “Sanders repeatedly saw spikes in Google interest after he spoke. After his intro. After he talked about guns. After basically everything else he said. About an hour after the debate began, Jim Webb attracted some attention after he complained about not having an opportunity to speak. But it was Sanders that drew attention the whole time.”
“What’s more, Sanders actually overpowered the long-term king of Google, Donald Trump. During the debate, Sanders continually attracted more Google interest than Trump.”
Donald Trump told The Hill that “the Secret Service should be giving him protection — and he suggested partisan politics might be why the agency isn’t providing it.”
Said Trump: “I want to put them on notice because they should have a liability. Personally, I think if Obama were doing as well as me he would’ve had Secret Service [earlier]. I have by far the biggest crowds.”
Amy Walter: “Bernie Sanders wants to run on issues, not on electability, and that is great news for Hillary Clinton. On the campaign trail, Sanders has never explicitly criticized Clinton, even when provided ample opportunities to do so. Tonight, he went even further when he declared that Clinton’s greatest weakness — her email server and the questions it raises about her honesty and trustworthiness — was irrelevant.”
“But, by not making the case for why this issue could come back to haunt her, and the Democratic chances for holding the White House in 2016, Sanders confirmed that his candidacy is more about promoting his views on economic and social inequality in America, than it is to seriously challenge Clinton for the nomination. His performance tonight was sure to make his supporters happy, but he did nothing to expand that base of support.”
“I would have taken her to task for that, and if she wins the nomination and if I win the nomination, trust me, this is not going to end.”
— Jeb Bush, quoted by The Hill, complaining that Democrats did not go after Hillary Clinton’s email problem.
Jonathan Chait: “Clinton easily lapped the field. None of her opponents can plausibly imitate the public’s conception of a presidential nominee. Lincoln Chafee looked like he wandered into the building after his yacht had been lost at sea for weeks. Jim Webb snarled angrily about obscure obsessions. Martin O’Malley seemed to crave consideration as her vice-presidential nominee. Bernie Sanders is running for co-op president.”
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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