Presidential primary brief: 505 days until Election Day

0
17
2016 Presidential Primary Brief_15 June Update

252 days until AL Presidential Primary

505 days until Election Day

Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21 2016, Democratic July 25-28 2016

Weekly Headlines:

 

Republican_PP_Polls

 

Dem_Pres_Primary

Polling data as of June 21, 2015. For more polling data visit RealClearPolitics.

Press Clips:

Republicans tread carefully in criticism of Confederate Flag (NY Times 6/21/15)

The massacre of nine African-Americans in a storied Charleston church last week, which thrust the issues of race relations and gun rights into the center of the 2016 presidential campaign, has now added another familiar, divisive question to the emerging contest for the Republican nomination: what to do with the Confederate battle flag that flies on the grounds of the South Carolina Capitol.

Walker wows social conservatives with attacks on Obama, puts GOP rivals on notice (Washington Times 6/20/15)

Just weeks away from likely entering the 2016 presidential race, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is putting his Republican rivals on notice that he plans to position himself as a get- it-done governor in a field with several members of Congress and former chief executives. Mr. Walker’s latest audition came Saturday night when he keynoted the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Patriot’s Gala in Washington, carefully mixing withering attacks on President Obama with folksy Midwest humor and a healthy touch of faith and support for Israel.

John Bolton to push GOP foreign policy discussion (International Business Times 6/21/15)

John Bolton wants the Republicans to talk about foreign policy this year. And he’s building a trifecta political operation — a PAC, a super PAC and a foundation — to push foreign policy into the forefront of the coming presidential primary. Bolton — who served as the ambassador to the United Nations for a little more than a year under President George W. Bush — said he isn’t picking favorites at this point in the GOP Field, though he’s publicly ruled out Sen. Rand Paul as an option. But with so many foreign policy neophytes, Bolton wants to push for them to begin thinking through where they stand on international issues.

Many in GOP wary of Donald Trump’s entry into race (CNN 6/17/15)

Steer clear of the “stupid zone.” That’s how one Republican consultant is telling the GOP Field to react to Donald Trump’s explosive entry into the White House race. The real estate mogul, Clinging insults and bombast while announcing his run Tuesday, is threatening to upend the party’s singular focus on a primary process that yields the strongest possible nominee and avoids some of the farcical scenes that tarnished candidates in 2012’s circus- style debates.

Republican National Committee building its Latino, millennial engagement outreach for 2016 (Latino Post 6/16/15)

Recognizing that 60,000 Latinos turn 18 years old every month in the U.S, the Republican National Committee (RNC) has been building its Latino and millennial engagement efforts ahead of the 2016 election. CRNC Deputy Political Director Jennifer Sevilla Korn, who oversees the committee’s strategic initiatives — which includes the Latino, Asian and African American, veterans and faith-community’s vote, recognized that campaigns cannot be won approximately five months before an election and more grassroots efforts are required to gain better relationships with the electorate.

Confederate Flag sets off debate in GOP 2016 class (Yahoo News 6/20/15)

Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for president in 2012, called for the immediate removal of the Confederate battle flag from outside the South Carolina Statehouse, scrambling the 2016 GOP presidential contenders into staking a position on a contentious cultural issue. Some still steered clear from the sensitive debate, even after the shooting deaths of nine people in a historic African-American church in Charleston further exposed the raw emotions about the flying the Flag.

Ted Cruz: ‘2016 will be the religious liberty election’ (Washington Times 6/18/15)

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said Thursday that religious liberty is under assault at home and aboard, and he said that the 2016 presidential race will be “the religious liberty election.” Mr. Cruz is among a handful of GOP candidates who are trying to court evangelical Christians in the run-up to the nomination contest. He told the religious conservatives who turned out for the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference here in Washington, D.C., that they are key to the GOP’s hopes of capturing the White House and turning the country around.

Rick Perry describes Charleston shooting as an ‘accident’ (CBS News 6/19/15)

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry characterized the recent shooting in Charleston as an “accident” during an interview on Friday, accusing President Obama of using the massacre, which claimed nine lives, as a pretext for pushing a gun control agenda. “This is the MO of this administration anytime there is an accident like this,” Perry said during an appearance on Newsmax TV. The former Texas governor said the president “doesn’t like guns,” so “he uses every opportunity” to tighten restrictions on gun ownership. Video of the appearance was posted on YouTube by Right Wing Watch.

Poll: Clinton’s honesty and trustworthy problem extends to swing states (CNN 6/17/15)

A majority of voters in three key presidential swing states view Hillary Clinton as not honest and trustworthy, according to a new poll out Wednesday. The Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll finds that by margins of 8 to 14 percentage points voters in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania are skeptical of Clinton’s trustworthiness. In Florida, 51% of voters hold the negative view of Clinton, compared to 43% who feel she is trustworthy. In Ohio, 53% of voters find Clinton not trustworthy, compared to 40% who do. And in Pennsylvania, 54% of voters don’t find her honest, while 40% do.