Donald Trump immigration proposal divides GOP presidential field
Donald Trump is dividing his Republican presidential rivals anew with his call to rewrite the Constitution to crack down on millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, and to force Mexico to pay for a better border fence. Scott Walker embraced some of the plan Monday, but other contenders, such as Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina, dismissed elements as unworkable. Trump’s immigration proposal, his first formal policy plan since announcing his candidacy in June, won praise Monday from the GOP’s conservative tea partyers, some of whom favor changing the Constitution to reverse the “birthright citizenship” guaranteed to anyone born in the United States, no matter the status of their parents. At the same time, surveys show a majority of Americans, including Republicans, support allowing many immigrants in the U.S. illegally to stay. Trump leads his Republican rivals in national polls, and his proposal quickly reverberated within the party, which has struggled with the issue of immigration. Party leaders are determined to expand the GOP’s appeal with Hispanics after the 2012 election in which Mitt Romney won just 27 percent of the Latino vote. But many Republicans have adopted a hardline approach on immigrants, appealing to the party’s core voters who play an oversized role in nominating primaries and caucuses. Asked at the Iowa State Fair on Monday if he supports building a wall along the U.S. Mexican border, as Trump has proposed, Wisconsin Gov. Walker gave a quick “yes,” but he declined to address whether he supports deporting children of parents in the country illegally. “Going forward, the best thing we can do is enforce the law,” he said. Walker, who reversed his position in April on allowing a chance for legal status for those in the country illegally, also gave mixed answers on ending birthright citizenship. Christie said during a CNN interview that a wall or fence along parts of the border, especially in more urban and difficult-to-control areas, was conceivable, but “not the entire border. Doesn’t make any sense.” Likewise, the New Jersey governor is opposed to requiring Mexico to pay for the construction, saying Trump’s suggestion “makes no sense.” “And this is not negotiation of a real estate deal, OK. This is international diplomacy and it’s different,” Christie said, noting Trump’s line of business. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina called Trump’s wall plan, “completely unrealistic.” Trump wasn’t flinching Monday. “The wall will work,” he said when he arrived for jury duty in New York and a passer-by at the courthouse asked about the idea. He spent much of the day like other prospective jurors, filling out forms and waiting to see if he would be picked. In the end, he wasn’t. Like Trump’s early derogatory campaign statements about immigrants, his new plan has lit up angry conservatives. But it also has annoyed Republicans who see the nation’s growing Latino population as an opportunity to demonstrate sensitivity to minorities who have voted overwhelmingly Democratic in recent presidential elections. Tea party movement co-founder Mark Meckler said Trump’s “position on deportation generally reflects what likely voters think. Trump is dealing head-on with the difficult issues while more establishment candidates fret over focus groups and polls.” Trump also is calling for eliminating federal aid to “sanctuary cities,” such as San Francisco, where local officials have decided not to use their police to enforce some federal immigration laws. The position is also supported by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Like Christie, however, Bush differs sharply with Trump on other aspects of immigration policy. Though he didn’t chime in specifically on Trump’s new proposal, Bush supports allowing people in the country illegally who have not committed major crimes, who work and follow a course such as learning English and paying fines, to stay in the United States. In a late July Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 64 percent of Americans said they support either a path to permanent legal status or citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. According to the poll, a small majority of Republicans fall into the same category. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, also speaking at the fair, called Trump’s proposal “gibberish,” but warned it also sends a hostile signal toward Latinos voters. “You’re not going to get 11 million people and drive them back out of this country,” he said. “That’s just not practical. That’s going to kill the Republican Party.” Though Ohio Gov. John Kasich supports building a wall, he, like Bush supports maintaining birthright citizenship and allowing a pathway to legal status for immigrants. “They are a very important part of most of our communities,” Kasich said in South Carolina. “For the bulk of them, they are God-fearing, good, hardworking people, and they are a part of our country now.” Fiorina said to change birthright citizenship would be rigorous. “It would take passing a constitutional amendment to get that changed. This is part of our 14th Amendment, and so honestly I think we should put all of our energies, all of our political will over finally getting the border secured and fixing the legal immigration system.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Fair time in Iowa! A chance to heckle would-be presidents
Sampling the pork chop on a stick. Snapping a selfie with the butter cow. Taking questions about foreign policy from hecklers. For those who would be president, a visit to the Iowa State Fair may be the purest distillation of the campaign experience in the state that starts the voting in the race for the White House. The 11-day event starts Thursday, and most of the 2016 hopefuls will pass through, pausing to chomp on deep-fried snack foods, visit with locals out for a day of fun and spend some time on the political soapbox to talk with voters. If all goes well, the fair provides an opportunity for a candidate to have candid interaction with voters and shows off a side of him or her not often seen on TV. People fondly remember Barack Obama‘s ride on the bumper cars with his family in 2007. But in the increasingly stage-managed world of presidential politics, awkward moments and ill-timed soundbites can flow from this unscripted setting. “It’s an important thing for candidates to do,” said Tom Henderson, chairman of the Democratic Party in Iowa’s Polk County. “The pitfall is that in prior years, the real news story has been hecklers, which leads to quotes the candidates have to answer for.” Consider the case of Mitt Romney, who during the last campaign said atop The Des Moines Register‘s soapbox: “Corporations are people, my friend.” The comment dogged Romney, the former private equity executive, for the rest of his campaign. This year, more than a dozen candidates for president are scheduled take their turn on the soapbox, among them Republicans Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio. Democrats Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley will, too. Will Hillary Rodham Clinton? She’s coming to the fair, but hasn’t yet said if she’ll take a turn on the box. Iowa is already a place where even the most cautious-minded and carefully managed political candidate can have unexpected, intimate and sometimes just plain weird moments with the public. At campaign stops in recent months, Bush held hands and prayed with a flower-laden man in a top hat, Walker embraced a sobbing homeless military veteran and Clinton graciously accepted garlic pills from a supporter concerned for her health. The fair only amplifies the Iowa experience. Will Rogers, GOP chairman of Polk County, called it “the Iowa culture crammed into 10 days.” For Republicans, the cancellation of the traditional Iowa Straw Poll makes the fair an even more important destination. The poll had been a mainstay of the GOP presidential primary since 1979, raising money for the state party and culling the field of candidates. It was a weak predictor of candidate success in Iowa’s caucuses, however, and some major candidates skipped it. The Iowa GOP decided in June to drop the poll. “Not all candidates are going to appear natural and comfortable at a state fair. There is an element here of being able to interact with an average person on a hot August day,” said Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. A cheerleader for all things Iowa, Republican Gov. Terry Branstad waxed poetic about the benefit of a good fair appearance, remembering his trip to the event last year with Joni Ernst, then a state senator, now a U.S. senator. “I can tell you, she really connected,” Branstad said. “People were coming up to Joni and hugging her. I think that was a precursor to what happened in the election.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
GOP steels itself for uncertainty in White House race
Republicans are steeling themselves for a long period of uncertainty following a raucous first debate of the 2016 presidential campaign. There are no signs that Thursday’s debate will winnow their wide-open field anytime soon. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Before the campaign got underway, Republican Party leaders developed a streamlined set of debates and a nomination calendar that aimed to avoid a messy fight. But few envisioned a field of 17 candidates, the explosion of outside money that appears ready to keep second-tier candidates flush with cash, and the rise of Donald Trump. “I don’t think we have to have total clarity,” said Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman. “I think clarity is boring. I think what we have right now is some excitement, intrigue, and that’s great, as long as you can contain it.” He said “containment means jabs and a few elbows are great, but I think beyond that it can be problematic.” Rival camps do not expect Trump to be a serious contender for the nomination when voting starts early next year. But they also cannot predict what might drive him from the race. So far, he has proved to be immune from what would be viewed as missteps by any other candidate. But those missteps are piling up. Trump was disinvited from a prominent conservative forum Saturday in Atlanta because of disparaging comments he made about Megyn Kelly, the Fox News moderator who had asked him tough questions in the debate. For now, Trump’s unexpected summer surge has vaulted him to front-runner status. It will be several days before public polling shows whether he was damaged by his caustic debate comments about women and refusal to rule out a third-party run. Most GOP strategists expect little shake-up in the rest of the field before the second debate next month. “The electorate is going to take time to think through this,” said David Winston, a Republican pollster. “So I think everybody else is going to have to have patience.” Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the two candidates closest to Trump in early polls, escaped the first debate without damage, but also without any breakthrough moments. Ohio Gov. John Kasich capitalized on a home-state crowd at the Cleveland debate to exceed expectations with an upbeat and optimistic performance. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was praised for a substantive showing. The candidates made their case before a prime-time television audience of 24 million people, making the debate the biggest nonsports cable broadcast history. During the tumultuous 2012 Republican primary, a series of 13 debates before the kickoff Iowa caucuses kept the race in flux through its early months. Four years later, party leaders have cut in half the total number of approved debates — just six before the Iowa caucuses in February. So fewer debate chances for breakout moments or disqualifying stumbles. On top of that, Iowa canceled its famed summer straw poll — a death knell for candidates in the past. The growth of super political action committees, which can collect unlimited donations, means fewer candidates are at risk of having to shut down because they are out of money. “At this point in past cycles, there would be death watch coverage of a couple of the candidates,” said Fergus Cullen, the former New Hampshire Republican party chairman. “That’s not going to happen this time.” Bush maintains a massive financial advantage over his rivals, having raised more than $114 million in the first half of the year between his campaign and super PAC. Despite that haul and his political pedigree, he has not broken away from the pack as some thought he might. “You’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to earn it,” Bush said Friday during a campaign stop in New Hampshire. “A well-funded campaign is important — it’s better than a nonfunded campaign — but it’s not the only thing that matters.” Bush allies privately concede he underperformed in the debate. He appeared even-keeled but unremarkable amid Trump fireworks and showed signs of nerves in the opening moments of his first debate in more than a decade. Suggesting many voters still do not know Bush well, the son and brother of former presidents will devote much of the summer is to highlighting his accomplishments while governor of Florida, said campaign spokesman Tim Miller. Bush will pay particular attention to New Hampshire, where his brand of politics is likely to play the best among the four early voting states. It’s also where he will face increased competition from Kasich, a lesser-known Republican presidential contender who exceeded modest expectations in the debate. The next debate is Sept. 16 in California. Host CNN has said it will use a similar model to select the candidates on stage as Fox News did for the first one: a grouping of the top 10 candidates, according to public polling, and a second that includes lower-ranked candidates. One of the biggest questions to emerge is whether Carly Fiorina, the only woman in the GOP race, will break into the top tier. The former technology executive impressed many in the party with her sharp, forceful performance before the prime-time debate, but it’s not clear who she might dislodge from the top 10. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Presidential TV ad roundup: Debate day edition – August 6
Earlier this week, Fox News set the line-up for the first Republican presidential debate of the election season. In just a few hours, real estate mogul Donald Trump; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio; Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul; New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; and Ohio Gov. John Kasich will square-off center stage in Cleveland, OH as they make their cases for the Republican nomination. Leading up to the debate, several candidates on both side of the aisle have taken to the airwaves with their messages in hopes of reaching voters before tonight’s primetime showdown. Here’s what the candidates are saying this week: Jeb Bush Title: The power of Christianity Published: August 4, 2015 Tone: Uplifting and committed Chris Christie Title: Secretary Clinton, Answer The Question Published: August 4, 2015 Tone: Feisty Bobby Jindal Title: Evolved again Published: August 5, 2015 Tone: N/A Rand Paul Title: #StandWithRand: The First Debate Published: August 5, 2015 Tone: Determined Hillary Clinton Title: Hillary Clinton: Support and Stand with Planned Parenthood Published: August 3, 2015 Tone: Heavy and frustrated Be sure to check back, as we will continue to add videos as they come in leading up to the debate.
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.
Debate stage drama: GOP awaits top 10 announcement
They crowded the stage in New Hampshire for a debate-style faceoff. But the jam-packed Republican field will be narrowed considerably for the first formal debate of the 2016 primary season later in the week. On Tuesday, Fox News announces which 10 presidential hopefuls can participate and the exclusive club will feature notable omissions. All but three of the 17 major Republican candidates for president participated in a New Hampshire forum Monday night that was essentially a “debate lite.” Unlike Thursday’s nationally televised debate in Cleveland, the gathering didn’t have a cut-off for participation. In their upcoming Ohio meeting, only the GOP’s top 10 candidates in national polling will be allowed on stage. “We never ever envisioned we’d have 17 major candidates,” said Steve Duprey, New Hampshire’s representative to the Republican National Committee, who helped create the GOP’s 2016 debate plan. “There’s no perfect solution.” Without exception, the candidates on Monday aimed their criticism at Democrats instead of each other in a two-hour face-off where Republicans had more in common than not. Not mentioned was the one candidate making the most news headed into Thursday’s meeting: Donald Trump. The billionaire businessman who declined to participate in Monday’s gathering is poised to take center stage later in the next meeting. Trump’s place is assured, having surged into the lead in most recent polls, yet several high-profile Republicans are on the bubble. They include the party’s only female presidential candidate, Carly Fiorina, a former technology executive whose brief surge earlier in the summer has been wiped out by Trump’s rise. And with Republican primary voting set to begin in six months, those who don’t qualify for Thursday’s nationally televised debate may struggle to stand out in the extraordinarily packed GOP contest. “Thursday’s debate will be the first debate, not the last debate,” said Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who all but conceded he wouldn’t qualify for Thursday’s affair. “We’re getting larger and large crowds, we’re moving up in the polls,” he told reporters after the New Hampshire forum. “We’re building a movement, our strategy is working — talking directly to voters.” Jindal’s fate, like that of several Republican rivals, will rest in which polls Fox uses to determine the top 10 candidates. Several surveys have been released in recent days, with more expected Tuesday, whose margins could make a difference for candidates separated by 1 or 2 points. For example, in Monmouth University’s survey released Monday, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, at 3.2 percent, was the 10th candidate, just above the cutoff. 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 than him could be that high or higher. Monmouth found that only five candidates — Trump, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee — are definitely in the top tier of candidates, while just two — former New York Gov. George Pataki and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore — would not make it into the top 10 even when margin of error is taken into account. Meanwhile, Monday’s meeting offered a prime-time practice round for most of the would-be debaters, who addressed several contentious issues, immigration topping a list that also included abortion and climate change. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another who may not qualify for the upcoming debate, called the flow of immigrants crossing the border illegally “a serious wound.” “You want to stanch the flow,” he said as his Republican rivals watched from the front row of the crowded St. Anselm College auditorium. On those immigrants who have overstayed visas, Perry charged, “You go find ’em, you pick ’em up and you send ’em back where they’re from.” Monday’s participants included seven current or former governors, four senators, a businesswoman, a retired neurosurgeon and one former senator. While Thursday’s debate will be broadcast on Fox News, Monday’s event was aired on C-SPAN and local television stations in Iowa and South Carolina — states that, along with New Hampshire, will host the first contests in the presidential primary calendar next February. After the forum, Kasich was asked about Trump’s absence. “I never thought about him,” the Ohio governor said. “It’d have been great if he’d have been here.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Data: Nearly five dozen given a third of all 2016 campaign cash
It took Ted Cruz three months to raise $10 million for his campaign for president, a springtime sprint of $1,000-per-plate dinners, hundreds of handshakes and a stream of emails asking supporters to chip in a few bucks. One check, from one donor, topped those results. New York hedge fund magnate Robert Mercer‘s $11 million gift to a group backing the Texas Republican’s White House bid put him atop a tiny group of millionaires and billionaires whose contributions already dwarf those made by the tens of thousands of people who have given to their favorite presidential candidate. An Associated Press analysis of fundraising reports filed with federal regulators through Friday found that nearly 60 donations of a million dollars or more accounted for about a third of the more than $380 million brought in so far for the 2016 presidential election. Donors who gave at least $100,000 account for about half of all donations so far to candidates’ presidential committees and the super PACs that support them. The review covered contributions to outside groups that can accept checks of any size, known as super PACs, and to the formal campaigns, which are limited to accepting no more than $2,700 per donor. The tally includes donations from individuals, corporations and other organizations reflected in data filed with the Federal Election Commission as of Friday, the deadline for super PACs to report for the first six months of the year. That concentration of money from a small group of wealthy donors builds on a trend that began in 2012, the first presidential contest after a series of court rulings and regulatory steps that created the super PAC. They can openly support candidates but may not directly coordinate their actions with their campaigns. “We have never seen an election like this, in which the wealthiest people in America are dominating the financing of the presidential election and as a consequence are creating enormous debts and obligations from the candidates who are receiving this financial support,” said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a Washington-based group that wants to limit money in politics. Others see an upside to the rainmakers. “Big money gives us more competitive elections by helping many more candidates spread their message,” said David Keating, director of the Center for Competitive Politics, which advocates for fewer campaign finance limits. For any number of reasons, these donors are willing to give so generously. Some may have a business that stands to gain from an executive branch that changes how an industry is regulated, while others hope for plum administration assignments, such as a diplomatic post overseas or a cabinet position. Many say their contributions, which the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized as equivalent to free speech, merely reflect their intense belief in a particular candidate – and in the political system in general. “I’d think that the fact that I’m willing to spend money in the public square rather than buying myself a toy would be considered a good thing,” said Scott Banister, a Silicon Valley investor who gave $1.2 million to a super PAC helping Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul in the Republican presidential race. “The voters still, at the end of the day, make the decision,” he said. “You can spend $1 billion trying to tell the voters to vote for a set of ideas they don’t like, and they will still vote against the candidate.” For Florida developer Al Hoffman, financial support of the state’s former governor, Jeb Bush, is personal. A longtime friend and political contributor to the Bush family, he gave $1 million to Bush’s super PAC, contributing to its record-setting haul of $103 million in the first six months of the year. Hoffman was ambassador to Portugal during former President George W. Bush‘s second term. He said he sometimes offered Bush advice during his time as Florida’s governor, but doesn’t expect to influence a Jeb Bush administration. “I’d just like to see one,” he said. While the existence of high-dollar donors is more pronounced on the Republican side, they’re also among those giving to the super PAC backing Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton. Seven donors of at least a million dollars accounted for almost half of the total collected by Priorities USA Action. Entertainment mogul Haim Saban and his wife, Cheryl, led with a $2 million gift, and hedge-fund billionaire George Soros, historically one of the Democratic Party’s biggest givers, donated $1 million. But no one has capitalized on the new era of big money like Bush. After announcing plans to explore a presidential run in December, Bush embarked on a nearly seven-day-a-week travel schedule to raise money for his Right to Rise super PAC. Bush navigated limits on how candidates can raise money for super PACs by playing coy about his intentions. Now that he is officially a candidate, he has left Right to Rise in the hands of his trusted strategist and friend, Mike Murphy. He’s not alone in the use of super PACs to fuel a presidential run. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker are too new to the presidential contest, announcing only weeks ago, to have filed any reports about their campaigns’ finances. Yet super PACs that sprang up months ago to support them show their efforts will be financially viable: A group backing Christie raised $11 million, while two supporting Walker brought in $26 million. Such totals put them well ahead of Paul, former technology executive Carly Fiorina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum – who all began their presidential campaigns in the spring. Cruz’s super PACs, meanwhile, didn’t just get the $11 million from Mercer. They also received a $10 million donation from Toby Neugebauer, an energy investor in Texas, while the Texas-based Wilks family pooled together a $15 million gift. Super PACs will spend as campaigns do, investing in polling and data sets, hiring employees in key states and buying pricey television and digital advertising, direct mailings and phone calls to voters.
Walker says EPA should be limited “umbrella organization”
Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker said Monday he would shift most of the responsibilities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to state-based regulators, leaving the EPA to serve as an “umbrella organization” that would resolve disputes among them. Like many Republicans, the Wisconsin governor is a vocal critic of the agency charged with enforcing the nation’s laws against pollution. While Walker said he would not eliminate the EPA if elected president, he would shift its powers and resources to state environmental agencies such as Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, and later during a campaign stop in Chicago, Walker said the proper role for the EPA is to serve as a mediator to resolve disputes between such state agencies. The EPA, Walker said, should become “an umbrella organization that really is limited to mediating interstate conflicts over, say, where a body of water or a piece of land goes through multiple states.” The EPA currently has the primary responsibility for enforcing many of the nation’s federal environmental laws and regulations, such as the Clean Water Act, and sometimes issues policy or guidance to encourage states to comply with those laws. For example, the EPA says its proposed rule that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emission from coal-fired power plants gives states flexibility to come up with their own plans to meet the targets set by the EPA. Lisa Heinzerling, a law professor at Georgetown University and former EPA associate administrator, said Walker’s approach would instead result in 50 different air quality standards and 50 different states conducting basic scientific research to support environmental protection. “If Gov. Walker really does desire meaningful environmental protection in this country, taking power from EPA and giving it to all 50 states is a very silly way to achieve it,” she said. “His idea is a really inefficient, and almost certainly ineffective, way of protecting the environment.” Proposals to dramatically scale back the EPA, its duties and responsibilities have been popular with Republicans for years. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 2011 was one of the first Republicans to call for an outright elimination of the agency, and former GOP presidential candidate and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann called it a “job-killing organization.” Wisconsin is one of 15 states suing the EPA over a proposed plan that requires states to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Walker sent a letter to President Barack Obama in May calling the proposed rule “unworkable,” “riddled with inaccuracies” and “questionable assumptions” that made it unworkable for Wisconsin. The EPA has accused Walker’s administration of failing to adequately protect air and water quality since 2011, when he became governor. The EPA said last year that it would impose rules for limiting fine particle pollution in Wisconsin if the state didn’t submit overdue plans for controls on smokestack emissions. Walker’s campaign spokeswoman, AshLee Strong, said he would release more details about his plans for the EPA – along with other ways he wants to empower states – in the coming months. George Meyer, who served as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources between 1993 and 2011, said the agency he led – and to which Walker proposes giving more power – would be unable to fill the role now played by the EPA. “There was constant pressure on states to lower environmental regulations and enforcement because of competition between states,” said Meyer, who is now the executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and among Walker’s vocal critics in Wisconsin. A strong federal EPA is needed, he said, “to keep a level playing field between the states, otherwise it becomes a race to the bottom.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Presidential primary brief: 470 days until Election Day
216 days until AL Presidential Primary 470 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21 2016, Democratic July 25-28 2016 Weekly Headlines: John Kasich becomes 16th Republican to announce presidential bid Donald Trump surging in New Hampshire, Iowa AFL-CIO may delay endorsement of Clinton as 2016 presidential candidate Press Clips Clinton in trouble in Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia (Quinnipiac University Poll 7/22/15) Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is behind or on the wrong side of a too-‐close-‐to-‐ call result in match-ups with three leading Republican contenders, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today. Perhaps the biggest loser, however, is Donald Trump, who has negative favorability ratings of almost 2-‐1 in each state, the independent Quinnipiac University Poll Ninds. The Swing State Poll focuses on key states in the presidential election. In several matchups in Iowa and Colorado, another Democratic contender, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, runs as well as, or better than Clinton against Rubio, Bush and Walker. Vice President Joseph Biden does not do as well. C-‐SPAN scoops Fox News for First GOP candidates encounter (Latin Post 7/20/15) Three days before 10 Republican presidential hopefuls are scheduled to debate on Fox News, many of them will participate in a nationally televised forum hosted by C-‐SPAN. Steve Scully, C-‐SPAN’s politics executive producer, was not shy about touting his network’s scoop, AdWeek noted. “This event is significant” Scully said, “because it will afford the public its first opportunity to hear all of the Republican presidential candidates answer questions on one stage.” So far, the Washington-‐based network has received confirmations from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Hewlett‐Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki. 126 things to know about the 21 candidates running in 2016 (USA Today 7/20/15) With John Kasich’s campaign launch on Tuesday, that’s a whopping 21 candidates who have formally entered the 2016 race. (Still to come? An early August announcement by Republican Jim Gilmore, and a decision by Vice President Biden on the Democratic side.) The parade of contenders into the White House race began in March, when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced his bid. Since then, USA TODAY has been compiling facts and tidbits about the large presidential field to help you get to know the men and women seeking the nation’s highest office. Here are the 126 things you should know about 21 presidential candidates: #BlackLivesMatter is winning the 2016 Democratic primary (Time 7/23/15) When Black Lives Matter protestors stormed a room at a meeting in Phoenix and demanded that the 2016 presidential candidates say the names of black people killed by the police, the response was swift: Bernie Sanders did it the next day. “I wish that in the year 2015, I could tell you we have eliminated racism in this country, but you all know that is not true,” said Sanders, to a crowd of more than 11,000 in Houston on Sunday, and then listed the names: “Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray and many, many others.” Donald Trump’s cash will only take him so far in 2016 (Politico 7/23/15) Donald Trump made a bold pledge during his rambling presidential announcement inside the brass-‐laden, marble-‐filled lobby of Trump Tower. “I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich,” he said. While it’s true that Trump is really rich, the real estate mogul’s Financial disclosure made public this week casts doubt on the idea that he has access to enough cash right now to spend the $1.5 billion or more it’s expected to cost to reach the White House in 2016. Brace yourself, the presidential election is going to be all about anger (NPR 7/26/15) Hillary Clinton laid out some lofty goals for her presidency in a speech on Friday. “My mission from my Nirst day as president to the last will be to raise the incomes of hardworking Americans so they can once again afford a middle-‐class life,” she said. “This is the defining economic challenge not only of this election but our time.” So, she has her work cut out for her. But interestingly, that line came not from a populist barn burner of a speech, but from a policy-‐focused address about ending “quarterly capitalism” — the tendency for businesses to focus on short-‐term shareholder gains over long-‐term investment.
New WaPo-ABC News poll shows persistent resistance from conservatives for Jeb Bush
Although the big headlines coming out of the Washington Post/ABC News poll released Monday afternoon were all about Donald Trump leading the rest of the GOP presidential field by double digits, it also indicates that Jeb Bush‘ month-long momentum may be ebbing slightly. Trump leads the field with 24 points in the national survey, Scott Walker is second with 13 percent, and Bush is third at 12 percent. Mike Huckabee is fourth in the race with 8 percent, Marco Rubio is fifth at 7 percent, Ben Carson and Rand Paul are at 6 percent, Ted Cruz and Rick Perry are at 3 percent, and John Kasich and Bobby Jindal are at 1 percent. An important caveat on the Trump rating. The poll was taken for four days last week: Thursday through Sunday. On Sunday, the day after Trump’s comment on John McCain not being a war hero went viral to a slew of negative commentary, his numbers slumped to single-digits. The poll also brings down Bush a notch. The former Florida governor has been polling strong the past month, in the weeks since his June 15 presidential candidacy announcement. In most national surveys for the past couple of weeks, he has been 1-2 with Trump. His drop to third place in this survey may indicate less a reduction in popularity for Bush than with the explanation that Walker is enjoying a bump after his official entrance into the race last week, with the poll taken just days later. Looking deeper into the poll, however, conveys some concern for Team Bush. He is still viewed skeptically by some Republicans. Twenty-two percent of Republicans say Bush’s views on most issues are too liberal for them. In comparison, only 17 percent of Republicans say Trump’s views are too liberal for them. And while a majority (62 percent) of Republicans polled say they definitely would not vote for Trump in the general election, an alarming 44 percent say they would not vote for Bush in the general election. The poll was taken before Bush’s Tallahassee speech Monday that had to warm the hearts of conservatives everywhere. Among the bullet points was a recommendation for swift and permanent cuts to federal agencies, specifically endorsing a “three out, one in” policy of replacing only every third federal employee who exits the government with the exception of “vital” areas such as national security. The Post-ABC News poll was conducted July 16-19 among a random national sample of 1,002 adults, including landline and cellphone respondents. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Presidential TV ad roundup: July 17 edition
Here’s a roundup of all the Presidential TV ads from this past week. Jeb Bush: Title: 4 Percent Published: June 13, 2015 Tone: Realistic and hopeful Title: Clinton Twists Published: July 17, 2015 Tone: Informative Mike Huckabee: Title: Reconciliation Published: July 16, 2015 Tone: Encouraging Scott Walker: Title: Recall the recall Published: July 7, 2015 Tone: Powerful and capable Title: Scott Walker for America Published: July 13, 2015 Tone: Authentic Hillary Clinton: Title: Healing Wounds Published: July 10, 2015 Title: Sueños (ad in partial-Spanish) Published: July 15, 2015 Tone: Hopeful Martin O’Malley: Title: Why Maria supports immigration reform (ad in Spanish) Published: July 16, 2015 Tone: Hopeful
In South Carolina, Confederate flag not an issue for Scott Walker
Republican Scott Walker pledged Wednesday to scrap the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran if elected president. The Wisconsin governor also vowed to repeal the federal health care law, mocked climate change and railed against “union bosses” in a visit to South Carolina. But Walker did not mention the Confederate battle flag, even as he praised South Carolinians for their response to the murders of nine worshipers at a historic black church. Welcome to the new paradigm for the South’s first 2016 primary. Walker is the first high-profile presidential candidate to campaign in South Carolina since the Civil War era battle flag was removed from the Statehouse grounds this past Friday. The result of an emotional vote in the Republican-controlled Legislature, the withdrawal of the flag from the premises came in response to the killings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church; pictures of the accused gunman showed him displaying the banner that is still commonly seen throughout the Old Confederacy. Walker praised the assembly for how South Carolinians have reacted. “You all showed how to bring people together for this region, this state and, in turn, you did it for the country,” said Walker, who formally entered the Republican presidential contest earlier in the week. He is among many Republican White House hopefuls who have tread cautiously on the flag issue, a political flashpoint for years. The state’s influential conservatives have long viewed it as a symbol of Southern pride, while many minorities viewed the banner as a symbol of hate. The debate played out most conspicuously in the bitter 2000 primary between George W. Bush and John McCain. South Carolina leaders struck a compromise that year to move the flag from atop the Capitol dome to a ground-level pole where it remained until last week. Bush and McCain both declared that flying the banner was an issue of “states’ rights,” a buzz phrase that traces back to the pre-Civil War debate over slavery. Bush won that primary and the nomination; McCain later went on to disavow his position, writing in a memoir that he should have opposed its public unfurling. As Gov. Nikki Haley — a politician who once avoided questions on the flag as well — pushed for the flag’s removal in recent weeks, presidential candidates including Walker avoided taking a firm position. Walker’s stock answer was to say he wouldn’t address it until after the victims were properly mourned. Cindy Costa, a Republican National Committee member from Charleston, said Wednesday it is “absolutely a good thing” that the flag is down. She called it “the right thing to do” at “a sensitive time in our state’s being,” but she also celebrated that the removal dulls a political attack “that Democrats used against us.” The debate comes as the GOP works to win over minority voters who are becoming a more powerful voice in national politics. A Democratic leader in the Legislature summed up the GOP challenge. Haley did “the right thing,” said state Rep. Todd Rutherford of Columbia, adding that she is “saving the Republican Party from itself — stopping all the presidential candidates from sounding silly saying the flag is a states’ rights issue and not a human rights issue.” For her part, Haley even gives a nod to the politics. Recalling a recent conversation she had with Walker, she said, “I said if you have any uncomfortable things (regarding the flag), we’ll help you get through it, but I’m going to take care of this.” Walker supporters Wednesday said they were more excited to hear the Wisconsinite’s pitch on national issues anyway. “He’s a fighter, not an establishment Republican, and that will play very well here,” said Edward Lynch, a self-employed security contractor. Walker was thin on details, including offering no explanation of how his promise of “crippling economic sanctions” on Iran would differ from the sanctions that have been in place for years leading up to the Obama administration’s Iran deal. The pact offers trade aid and sanctions relief in exchange for Iran giving up most of its enriched uranium and granting inspections of its nuclear operations. But Lynch said those details don’t matter. “I’m tired of the go-along-get-along politicians,” he said. “He’s got guts.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
