Donald Trump urged to keep his cool during next week’s presidential debate
Donald Trump‘s advisers are urging him to keep his cool during next week’s presidential debate and resist attempts by Hillary Clinton to provoke him with questions about his business record, wealth or controversial comments about minorities. The focus underscores the campaign’s concern that too many Americans still don’t believe the Republican has the temperament to be president, which could be a difference-maker in a close race with Clinton. “He can’t let Hillary get under his skin,” said Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and Trump adviser. Gingrich is part of a rotating cast of politicians and policy experts traveling with Trump on his private plane for mid-flight debate preparations, according to Republicans familiar with the preparations. Others include retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, who is advising Trump on national security, and economist Peter Navarro. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a loyal Trump supporter, has been helping on issues such as the federal government’s relationship with the states. Trump has eschewed the kind of mock debate setups candidates traditionally use to get ready for the high-pressure events and hasn’t tapped anyone to play Clinton in his prep sessions. But aides say he is studying written briefing material on domestic and international issues and is also talking through topics with advisers. “He’s a formidable, well-prepared candidate with a formidable, well-prepared team,” said Navarro, a professor at the University of California, Irvine. Some Trump aides are more concerned about Trump’s disposition on the debate stage than his command of the issues, according to Republicans who insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the private debate preparations. In particular, Trump advisers are trying to steel him for the likelihood that Clinton will aim to get a rise out of him on live television in front of what both campaigns expect to be a record-setting audience. The Republican has long lashed out at critics in deeply personal ways, especially after a perceived slight. Clinton has raised that habit as evidence that Trump is too thin-skinned to be trusted with nuclear weapons and other life-and-death decisions that cross a president’s desk. Voters seem to share Clinton’s concerns. According to a new AP-GfK poll, just 30 percent of registered voters say they consider Trump at least somewhat qualified to be president. Only 24 percent consider him at least somewhat civil, while half consider him at least somewhat racist. It’s unclear how aggressive Clinton will be in trying to bait Trump during Monday night’s faceoff at New York’s Hofstra University. On the campaign trail and in television ads, she’s targeted Trump’s criticism of a U.S.-born judge of Mexican descent, his feud with an American-Muslim family whose son was killed in Iraq while serving in the Army and his mocking of a disabled reporter. She’s also challenged his business success and suggested he isn’t releasing his taxes to the public because he’s not as wealthy as he contends. “We have no doubt that his handlers are prevailing on him to arrive at the debate more subdued and to try to suppress his true self,” said Brian Fallon, Clinton’s spokesman. “Clearly his advisers agree that that is not a very presidential image.” Trump backers say the real estate mogul is prepared to stay steady no matter what Clinton throws at him. “We’re going to see the debate prep making sure that she’s not going to be able to pull him somehow off the message,” said Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican who is one of Trump’s most loyal backers in Congress. He spoke shortly after joining other supportive lawmakers for a meeting Thursday with Trump political director Jim Murphy. Collins said the Republican nominee understands the importance of presenting “President Trump to the American public.” Trump has had more success staying on message following an August campaign shakeup and he’s given in to his new senior team’s insistence that he stick to a more scripted message during campaign rallies. The debates will be the biggest test of whether he can keep that up for 90 minutes of live television with his political opponent standing just a few feet from him. In an interview Thursday morning on “Fox and Friends,” Trump said he would “stay cool” in the debate. “I’m going to be very respectful of her,” he said. “I think she deserves that and I’m going to be nice. And if she’s respectful of me, that’ll be nice.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Presidential Primary Brief: 280 days until Election Day
28 days until AL Presidential Primary 280 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21, 2016, Democratic July 25-28, 2016 Weekly Headlines: Skipping debate, Donald Trump gambles with Iowa Pressure grows on Paul to ditch presidential bid Poll: Sanders and Clinton in tight battle for Iowa Press Clips: Sanders challenges Clinton to 3 new debates (Politico 1/27/16) Hours after Hillary Clinton ratcheted up her pressure on him to accept an invitation to an unsanctioned debate on Feb. 4, Bernie Sanders escalated the debate by calling for three new debates. “From the beginning of this campaign Sen. Sanders has called for more debates. Secretary Clinton has not. Now she is asking to change the rules to schedule a debate next week that is not sanctioned by the DNC. Why is that? The answer is obvious. The dynamics of the race have changed and Sen. Sanders has significant momentum,” said Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver in a statement on Wednesday night, while Sanders was speaking to a packed audience here. Trump gets backing of S.C. lieutenant governor (Politico 1/27/16) South Carolina Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster has thrown his support behind Donald Trump and will appear alongside him at a rally Wednesday .In a statement from the Trump campaign, McMaster said he is “delighted” to support the businessman. “He is a man of accomplishment and speaks the truth in words everyone can understand, instills confidence in the people about our country’s bright future, and reflects and believes in the strength and determination necessary for success,” McMaster said. “These qualities — and his quiet compassion for those in need — are essential to ‘making America great again.’” Faith and the 2016 campaign (Pew Research Center 1/27/16) The conventional wisdom in American politics has long been that someone who is not religious cannot be elected president of the United States. Most Americans have consistently said that it is important to them that the president have strong religious beliefs. And a new Pew Research Center survey finds that being an atheist remains one of the biggest liabilities that a presidential candidate can have; fully half of American adults say they would be less likely to vote for a hypothetical presidential candidate who does not believe in God, while just 6% say they would be more likely to vote for a nonbeliever. Jeb Bush super PAC cash plummets (Politico 1/31/16) The super PAC dedicated to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s flagging campaign for the GOP presidential nomination raised $15 million in the second half of the year ― a massive drop- off from the $103 million it raised in the first half ― according to a report filed Sunday night with the Federal Election Commission. The super PAC, Right to Rise, spent $54 million between the beginning of July and the end of last year, leaving it with $59 million in the bank at the beginning of this year, according to the report. Donald Trump reclaims lead in latest Iowa poll (USA Today 1/30/16) Donald Trump has muscled ahead in Iowa, regaining his lead on the brink of the first votes being cast in the 2016 presidential race. Trump stands at 28 percent, while rival Ted Cruz has slid to 23 percent. But there’s still a strong case for Cruz in this race — he’s more popular and respected than Trump, the final Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll shows. “The drill-down shows, if anything, stronger alignment with Cruz than Trump, except for the horse race,” said J. Ann :, the pollster for the Iowa Poll. Fact check: The seventh Republican debate (USA Today 1/29/16) The Republican presidential candidates debated in Iowa Jan. 28 and stretched the facts: Sen. Marco Rubio went too far in claiming that Hillary Clinton “wants to put Barack Obama on the Supreme Court.” An Iowa resident suggested such an appointment to Clinton, and she said she’d take it “under advisement.” Rubio also said that the White House “still refuses to acknowledge” that the shooting of a Philadelphia police officer on Jan. 7 “had anything to do with terror.” DNC expected to sanction Feb. 4 debate in New Hampshire (Politico 1/31/16) The Democratic National Committee will formally sanction the Feb. 4 debate in New Hampshire, hosted by MSNBC, the network announced on Sunday. The debate will be held at University of New Hampshire in Durham at 9 p.m. ET and will be moderated by MSNBC anchors Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow. All three Democratic presidential candidates, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Gov. Martin O’Malley are expected to attend. Email issues dog Hillary Clinton on eve of Iowa caucuses (New York Times 1/31/16) This is not what Hillary Clinton wanted to discuss the morning before the Iowa caucuses. But, in her brief appearance on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, Mrs. Clinton found herself defending her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state and reinforcing that she did not knowingly send or receive classified emails. “She lied about the fact that there is nothing classified on my server. Why as long as you can get away with it?” Carly Fiorina says in ABC’s introduction of Mrs. Clinton, who appeared on the show right before her main rival, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. “She put our national security at risk for her convenience,” Chris Christie says.
At 3rd GOP debate Jeb Bush’s comeback strategy backfires
Jeb Bush sought to calm anxious donors with a comeback strategy focused on taking down rival Marco Rubio. But Bush’s plan backfired badly on national television in the third GOP presidential debate. Instead of generating much needed momentum, Bush’s attack on his onetime protege raised new questions about his underwhelming candidacy in the primary contest he was once expected to dominate. And Bush’s continued struggles highlight a deepening sense of uncertainty settling over a 2016 Republican presidential race that remains crowded and without a clear front-runner. Even with an estimated $100 million in the bank, Bush headed into Wednesday’s prime-time debate at the weakest point of his campaign. Just five days earlier, the son and brother of former presidents announced deep campaign spending cuts designed to salvage his floundering bid. He slashed salaries by 40 percent and shifted staff from his Miami headquarters to early voting states. With his powerful family on hand, Bush spent much of the weekend huddling behind closed doors outlining a strategy that depended, above all else, on challenging Rubio. Bush appeared to get the perfect opportunity to test his strategy when he was positioned right next to Rubio on the debate stage. The mild-mannered Bush mustered up an attack on Rubio for missing so many votes in the Senate. “Marco, when you signed up for this, this was a six-year term, and you should be showing up to work. I mean, literally, the Senate – what is it, like a French work week? You get, like, three days where you have to show up? You can campaign, or just resign and let someone else take the job.” It was the moment Bush’s supporters had been waiting for. But so, apparently, was Rubio. The first-term senator, Bush’s junior by 18 years, quickly charged that Bush had praised Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has missed many votes as well. “I don’t remember you ever complaining about John McCain’s vote record,” Rubio said. “The only reason why you’re doing it now is because we’re running for the same position, and someone has convinced you that attacking me is going to help you.” The fresh-faced senator then pivoted beautifully: “My campaign is going to be about the future of America, it’s not going to be about attacking anyone else on this stage.” The crowd cheered. Bush’s team did not. Ari Fleischer, who worked in the George W. Bush administration, said Bush should have attacked Donald Trump instead of Rubio. “Mistake going after Rubio,” Fleischer tweeted. Bush never seemed to recover from the exchange, which took place just minutes into the debate. He almost completely disappeared for long stretches. In fact, Bush had the least speaking time of anyone in the debate, by some counts. Despite his challenges, there is no sign that Bush is close to abandoning his campaign. An allied super PAC has raised more than $100 million on his behalf. Yet if Bush World was worried heading into the debate, they felt no better Thursday morning. Rubio, who has been showing signs of momentum recently, shone for most of the night. He continues to face questions about his ability to build a national organization and raise the money necessary to support it, a problem Bush does not have. Yet his fundraising should improve coming off a strong performance on national television. “This is all part of slowly moving up in the process,” Rubio’s campaign manager, Terry Sullivan, said after the debate. Asked about Bush’s performance, Sullivan said, “There’s no need to pile on Gov. Bush.” The other candidates had varied performances. The soft-spoken retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has led recent polls, flashed his personality at times, but struggled to articulate his policies at others. Trump was on the attack early and often, but also was silent for long stretches. And Texas Sen. Ted Cruz earned top marks from the audience and on social media for attacking the media and defending single mothers. Yet nearly three months before the Iowa caucuses, the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination is as unsettled as ever. Bush’s team conceded that Rubio had a strong night. “No one is going to argue Sen. Rubio is an outstanding performer,” Bush campaign manager Danny Diaz said. “But there’s a difference between an outstanding performer and someone who has delivered over and over again.” He said Jeb was able to talk about issues, and if he keeps doing that he will win over voters. Meanwhile, Bush retreats to New Hampshire on Thursday for a two-day campaign swing in a state that increasingly looks like a must-win. Bush’s team circulated talking points shortly before the debate noting he has more paid staff in New Hampshire than any of the four states set to hold primary contests in February. And further increasing expectations, the talking points note that “we are placing a special focus on increasing our New Hampshire operation.” Rubio is scheduled to visit New Hampshire next week. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Nielsen says 15.8 million watched first Democratic debate
They aren’t quite Trump numbers, but the 15.8 million people who watched the Democratic presidential debate on CNN was still the biggest TV audience ever for a Democratic debate. The Nielsen company said Tuesday’s debate audience exceeded the 10.7 million people who watched Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama debate on ABC in April 2008. Buoyed by the television-friendly candidacy of Donald Trump, the two Republican presidential debates were record-setters. The first debate, on Fox News Channel in August, was seen by 24 million viewers and the second, on CNN last month, had 23.1 million viewers. CNN also showed the Democratic debate online, with usage peaking at 980,000 concurrent streams. The point in the debate where Bernie Sanders said he’d had enough of talk about Clinton’s emails was the most-watched moment for DVR users who rewound to see it over, according to the digital video recorder maker TiVo. Besides Trump, one clue to the lower ratings for Democrats may be the audience composition. The research firm Samba TV noted that 48 percent of the people who watched the Democratic debate said they’d seen at least one of the Republican candidates’ forums. Meanwhile, only 21 percent of the Republican debate audience tuned in to watch the Democrats, the company said. The debate also stacks up well compared to television entertainment. The Democrats drew more viewers on CNN Tuesday than a number of popular shows, including last week’s episodes of “Empire,” ”The Voice” and “The Walking Dead.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Email Insights: Alabama GOP Chairman Terry Lathan responds to the Democratic debate
Tuesday night the the Democratic presidential hopeful took the stage for their first nationally televised debate. Hosted by CNN in Las Vegas, the debate — featuring Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and Jim Webb — gave the candidates an opportunity to stand out, share their opinions on major issues, and with any luck increase their poll numbers. Wednesday morning, Alabama Republican Party chairman Terry Lathan sent the following email in response to the debate: “I was pleased to see the liberal and progressive Democrat candidates on display yesterday evening for all of America to witness. The candidates’ mindsets, thoughts and words were divisive and harmful to our nation. They did not speak on the economy or the flat-lined job growth that citizens desperately need addressed. Contrasted with the Republican presidential candidates, many of whom have released or are soon to release their economic growth plans, the Democrats are stuck in the ditch of no ideas, are playing the blame game and have a bankrupt vision for our nation. “Barack Obama said he would fundamentally transform America, and he did just that. Unfortunately, he has taken us down a road that is destructive and harmful. The Democrats displayed in last evening’s debate that they are walking along that same path. “We look forward to November 2016, when we will take our nation back from the lines of thoughtless and reckless actions that have been thrust upon us.”
Scorecard: How the Democrats fared in their 1st debate
Here’s a look at how the five Democratic presidential candidates performed in Tuesday’s debate at the Wynn Las Vegas resort-casino. — HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON Standing center stage, Clinton went on offense against Bernie Sanders over his views of the economy and record on gun control. She had to defend her shifting views of the Keystone XL oil pipeline and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But questions about her private email server ended with a shared laugh with Sanders. — BERNIE SANDERS Sanders had to answer for his record on gun control, perhaps the one policy area where he’s at odds with liberals in the party. He faced questions about his electability and his approach to the economy. But he gave Clinton a big reprieve when he groused that the “American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.” — MARTIN O’MALLEY O’Malley introduced himself as a can-do former governor, pointing to his work to raise the minimum wage, support gay marriage and address gun control in Maryland. He faced questions about whether his policies as Baltimore’s mayor had sown the seeds of the city’s riots last spring. And when he told Clinton a no-fly zone in Syria would be a mistake, she said she was “very pleased” when he endorsed her presidential campaign in 2008. — JIM WEBB The former Virginia senator tried to tap into the anti-establishment fervor in the country, speaking out against the role of money in politics and Wall Street’s influence. He said his military experience and work in the Pentagon would make him the most qualified commander-in-chief. He complained that he didn’t get the same amount of time to talk as his rivals. — LINCOLN CHAFEE The former Rhode Island governor and senator called himself a “block of granite” when it came to issues and said he was most proud of his judgment, particularly in his vote against the Iraq war. But he clocked in at slightly more than 9 minutes, giving him the least amount of airtime on the debate stage, and was largely an afterthought during the evening. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
GOP debate lineup: Trump and Bush in, Fiorina and Perry out
Ten candidates have made the cut for the first Republican presidential debate Thursday, with polling front-runner Donald Trump hoping for a civil evening but ready to pounce if attacked. The seven others lagging in the polls and relegated to an afternoon forum? Call them the not-ready-for-prime-time players, at least in the eyes of debate organizers. Sharing the Cleveland stage with the billionaire businessman will be former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Candidates with time to watch that debate are former tech executive Carly Fiorina, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. The largest field of contenders in modern memory challenged debate organizers. Fox News relied on an average of five national polls to decide the lineups for the prime-time debate and the forum four hours earlier. “We never ever envisioned we’d have 17 major candidates,” said Steve Duprey, New Hampshire’s representative to the Republican National Committee who helped craft the debate plan. “There’s no perfect solution.” Republican officials were particularly concerned about Fiorina’s status, hoping she would help balance Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s push to rally women. Trump’s recent surge in the polls, a surprise to many Republican officials, damaged Fiorina’s chances. Some Republicans fear that Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and other issues could hurt the party. “I probably am the target,” he said Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” He said he did not want to attack any of his rivals and preferred to “just discuss the issues” in the course of a “very civil” debate. Still, he made clear that if attacked, he would have “to do something back.” Trump was far and away the front-runner in the five most recent national polls that determined the debate lineup. Several candidates were grouped together in the single digits, most separated by a number smaller than the margin of error. For example, in a Monmouth University survey released Monday, Kasich was the 10th candidate with the support of 3.2 percent of voters. But after taking the margin of error into account, Monmouth noted that Kasich’s support could be as low as 1.5 percent, while almost any of the candidates who polled lower could be that high or higher. Five more party-sanctioned debates are scheduled before primary voting begins in February. “This first debate is just one opportunity of many,” Amy Frederick, an aide to Fiorina, wrote supporters. “With many more debates to come, we fully expect that Carly will soon stand on the stage and show America what real leadership looks like.” Jindal spokeswoman Shannon Dirmann issued a challenge of sorts: “The governor will debate anyone anywhere at any time.” Candidates already began to turn their attention toward Trump. Asked about Trump while courting religious conservatives on Tuesday, Bush said the businessman’s rhetoric on immigrants is “wrong.” `’We have a different tone and a different view,” he said. “I respect the fact that he’s the front-runner for the Republican nomination,” Bush continued. “This is a serious thing. But I think to win and govern the right way – we have to unite rather than divide.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
