232 days until Election Day

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

Weekly Headlines:

• California Poll: Trump ahead in GOP primary
• Sanders romps in Washington, Alaska, Hawaii
• CNN/ORC Poll: Clinton tops Trump on presidential traits

Press Clips:

Starbucks CEO Says Presidential Election Will Be a Test of Americans’ Morality (Fortune 3/23/16) 

Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz gave an impassioned plea for civility in the run up to the November presidential election, calling it a critical test of Americans’ morality. Schultz, who is outspoken, progressive, and often controversial on social issues, told an annual meeting of Starbucks shareholders in Seattle on Wednesday that he feels enormous pain at the harsh and coarse tenor of political discourse and growing cynicism among the electorate. “There are moments where I’ve had a hard time recognizing who we are and who we are becoming,” Schultz said. He added: “We are facing a test not only of our character but of our morality as a people.”

Concern for environmental issues rises ahead of 2016 election (MSNBC 3/21/16) 

New polls indicate that concern for environmental issues has risen ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Americans are taking global warming more seriously now than at any period in the last eight years, according to Gallup’s annual environment survey. Sixty-four percent of Americans said that they are either worried a “great deal” or “fair amount” about global warming. At this time in 2015, only 55 percent of Americans said they felt this way. Findings from Gallup also reveal that 63 percent of Americans said the weather in their local area was warmer than usual this winter. When they were asked what they attributed these temperatures to, more Americans ascribed the shift to climate change than normal variation. Gallup’s report noted that “a larger, more regionally and politically diverse group of Americans is reporting warmer temperatures this year.”

Sanders worried Clinton won’t debate (Politico 3/27/16)

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday that he wants to have a debate with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ahead of the April 19 New York presidential primary, but he is worried that Clinton, once the state’s senator, does not. “Yeah, I do have a little bit of concern about that,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” after easily winning Saturday in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington. “But I certainly would like to see a debate in New York state.” Sanders declined to say what his conditions would be to support Clinton as the Democrats’ presidential nominee, telling host Chuck Todd, “I hope very much, Chuck, that you will be asking her that question.”

How YouTube is shaping the 2016 presidential election (Washington Post 3/25/16)

In the years since Sarah Palin’s sound bites and the “Obama girl” cemented 2008 as America’s first “YouTube election,” the world’s most popular video site has proven even more spellbinding — and powerful — than political campaigns ever imagined. In January, a political ad — actually, three — ranked among YouTube’s 10 most-watched ads for the first time in history, delivering millions more views to campaigns than to the best commercials corporate America had to offer. And in the early caucus and primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the streaming giant’s open pool of reserved ad time did something it had never done: It sold out, a sign that candidates yearned so deeply to reach voters’ cell phones that they wanted to snatch up every YouTube second money could buy.

Cruz’s missing Obamacare replacement plan (Politico 3/27/16)

Everyone knows how Ted Cruz feels about Obamacare. He’s the guy who shut down the government in a bid to kill it — and should he reach the White House, he’d take a blowtorch to the law. But Cruz isn’t very clear about what — if anything — he’d do to replace a law covering 20 million people. And some establishment Republicans suggest that he address this head-on before the pivotal April 5 primary in Wisconsin, where Republican leaders have been more aggressive in fleshing out alternative health plans.

What the Brussels attacks mean for the 2016 presidential race (Fortune 3/22/16)

At least 34 people have died in terrorist attacks Brussels, Belgium, one in Brussels’ international airport on Tuesday, and the other in one of the city’s subway stations. The attacks have already resulted in a massive outpouring of sympathy from politicians, world leaders, and others throughout the world. Such a devastating attack is bound to have a profound effect on the political conversation both in Europe and beyond, particularly on matters of security and counterterrorism. And it will surely affect the tone and tenor of the race for the presidency in the United States.

Lindsey Graham On The 2016 Election: ‘My Party Is Completely Screwed Up’ (Huffington Post 3/24/16) 

For Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the only thing worse than the prospect of Ted Cruz as president is the prospect of Donald Trump as president. Graham begrudgingly expressed his support for Cruz in an interview with Trevor Noah on Wednesday night, telling “The Daily Show” host that the Texas senator was his “15th choice” to win the GOP nomination. Graham ultimately concluded that Cruz should be the nominee because “he’s not Trump.” And that’s where things got interesting. “If Donald Trump carries the banner of my party,” Graham said, “I think it taints conservatism for generations to come. I think his campaign is opportunistic, race-baiting, religious bigotry, xenophobia. Other than that, he’d be a good nominee.”

Bernie Sanders Continues To Dominate Caucuses, But He’s About To Run Out Of Them (FiveThirtyEight 3/27/16) 

Bernie Sanders won a trifecta of states on Saturday. He put up big victories in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington, after carrying Idaho and Utah earlier in the week. Sanders beat his delegate targets by a solid margin in all five of these states and closed Hillary Clinton’s pledged delegate lead to just north of 225.1 In doing so, Sanders highlighted an ongoing Clinton weakness: caucuses. All five of Sanders’s wins this week came in caucuses. The problem for the Sanders campaign is that there are only two caucuses left on the Democratic primary calendar.