Presidential Primary Brief: 273 days until Election Day

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21 days until AL Presidential Primary
273 days until Election Day

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

Weekly Headlines:

Primary Brief_GOP Polls_8 Feb 2016 Primary Brief_Dem Polls_8 Feb 2016

Press Clips:

5 takeaways from the GOP debate (Politico 2/7/16)

Here’s what everyone is supposed to write: Marco Rubio, the communal target of the GOP field looking to knock him down, stumbled badly, reciting his pre-scripted pablum of a soulless establishment-candidate cyborg. Meh. Rubio wasn’t great. The morning-after narrative is Marco the Rube — and his weird triple talking-point repeat just might be enough to slow down the young man in hurry, even though the polls have shown him only modestly rising into second place here behind Donald Trump.

Marco Rubio slams Obama’s speech on Fighting Islamophobia (Huffington Post 2/3/16)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) somehow found a way to criticize President Barack Obama’s speech on Wednesday denouncing anti-Muslim bigotry. Rubio, who often stresses religious liberty and his own faith on the campaign trail, said Obama’s words at a Baltimore mosque were intended to divide, rather than unite, the American people. “I’m tired of being divided against each other for political reasons like this president’s done,” Rubio said at a Wednesday campaign stop in Dover, New Hampshire. “Always pitting people against each other.

Clinton’s margin of victory shrinks to 0.25 after Iowa audit (Politico 2/7/16)

Hillary Clinton still has defeated Bernie Sanders in the Iowa Democratic caucus, but an internal party review released Sunday found new errors in the original count that further narrowed her margin of victory — a result that’s likely to keep scrutiny on the caucus state while the rest of the country looks to New Hampshire. The audit by the Iowa Democratic Party discovered errors in five of 14 precincts across the state from Monday’s caucuses that shrink Clinton’s overall advantage in the key delegate results to a 0.25 percent lead over Sanders, down from 0.27 percent.

Martin O’Malley to drop out of Democratic presidential race (The Wall Street Journal 2/2/16)

The first casualty of Iowa’s caucuses is former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who announced Monday night that he was dropping out of the Democratic presidential race after a disappointing showing. Mr. O’Malley told supporters at a Des Moines bar that he was suspending a campaign that never gained traction against rivals Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. He did not endorse either of the two. With about 90% of the Iowa caucus results reported, Mr. O’Malley stood at less than 1%.

Mike Huckabee suspends his 2016 campaign (Politico 2/1/16)

 Mike Huckabee suspended his bid for the Republican nomination, ending a second run that overshadowed by other candidates in the former Arkansas governor’s social-conservative lane. Huckabee’s announcement concludes a campaign that was not nearly as prominent as his previous run at the Republican nomination in 2008, where he won eight states, including the Iowa caucus.

Rand Paul ends presidential bid (USA Today 2/3/16) 

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who had hoped to ride libertarian support to the Republican presidential nomination, withdrew from the race after a fifth-place showing in the Iowa caucuses. “It has been a privilege to give voice to the liberty movement in this race, and I believe we have broadened the debate by being part of it,” Paul said on Fox News. “Although today I will suspend my campaign for the presidency, I will continue to fight on for liberty, for the Constitution, for justice in the United States Senate.” Paul, 53, is running for re- election in November to a second Senate term. Wednesday morning, he posted this video thanking his supporters on Twitter.

Kasich wraps himself in Reagan (Politico 2/7/16)

The Ohio governor, who’s fighting to win over more moderate New Hampshire Republicans not enamored of Ted Cruz or Donald Trump, compared himself twice to Ronald Reagan within a few minutes on Sunday in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Tapper asked Kasich about a remark he made on Saturday, when a Democratic voter told Kasich on the trail that Kasich was the only Republican he’d consider supporting.

Kasich joked that maybe he “ought to be running in a Democrat primary.”

Rick Santorum drops presidential bid, endorses Marco Rubio (CNN 2/3/16)

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum ended his presidential bid on Wednesday, throwing his support behind Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Santorum made the announcement Wednesday night on Fox News’ “On the Record,” saying he spoke with Rubio “for more than hour” Tuesday before making up his mind. Santorum won the 2012 Iowa caucuses and ended that race with the second-most number of delegates to eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney. But he was unable to capture any momentum this year despite extensive barnstorming efforts in Iowa. He is the third Republican presidential candidate to drop out after Monday’s caucuses. Mike Huckabee ended his campaign that night, and Rand Paul suspended his campaign Wednesday morning.

Trump stands by proposal to revive waterboarding (Politico 2/7/16)

Donald Trump, who vowed to bring back waterboarding and “a hell of a lot worse than waterboarding,” stood by his proposal on the Sunday shows, while refusing to say exactly how he’d reinstate the harsh and controversial interrogation technique banned during President George W. Bush’s second term. Trump vowed during the Republican debate on Saturday night to bring back waterboarding and “a hell of a lot worse that waterboarding.

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