Today in Campaign 2016
As we ride the rails down the Hudson River valley back from Bernie Sanders’ rally in Poughkeepsie - if you’ve never done it, you are missing out - let’s recap another day in American campaign politics that took us from the Capitol to the Bronx to the hinterlands of upstate New York.
- House speaker Paul Ryan categorically declared that he will not serve as a “white knight” presidential nominee in the increasingly likely event of a contested Republican convention this summer, in a speech aimed at halting speculation that Ryan was positioning himself as a consensus candidate who might win the nomination by acclamation. “Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination,” Ryan said. “If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe [the delegates] should only choose a person who actually participated in the primary. Count me out.”
- Ryan’s office thoughtfully linked to his full remarks, allowing countless political journalists to scour fruitlessly for some glimmer of a loophole.
- Meanwhile, an actual presidential candidate declared that the upcoming convention will practically be a cakewalk. “I’m gonna have a ton of delegates, Donald’s gonna have a ton of delegates. And the question is who can win a majority of delegates,” declared Texas senator Ted Cruz. “Where do the Rubio and Kasich delegates go? And I think they’re going to come to us.”
- Also-running candidate John Kasich told a campaign rally audience that the Republican base’s flirtation with certain other candidates puts the nation on a “path to darkness” which he called “the antithesis of all America has meant for 240 years.”
- Speaking of, billionaire Republican frontrunner Donald Trump angrily declared that his recent delegate snafus aren’t the result of poor ground operations or maladroit backroom maneuverings, but of a “scam” primary system put together by an RNC chair who wants to defraud the voting public. “It’s a disgrace for the party,” Trump said in an interview with the Hill this afternoon “And Reince Priebus should be ashamed of himself. He should be ashamed of himself because he knows what’s going on.”
- At a campaign rally at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders fired up the mostly college-aged crowd by assuring them that “Donald Trump will not become president of the United States.” After declaring that “the American people will not support a candidate who insults Mexicans and Latinos, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults veterans, who insults the African-American community,” Sanders used Trump’s own most valuable asset - his name - against him. “The American people understand that coming together always trumps dividing us up. Supporting others always trumps selfishness! At the end of the day, love trumps hatred!”
That’s it for today from the campaign trail - be sure to tune in tomorrow for more up-to-the-minute campaign coverage from the Guardian’s team of rockstar campaign journalists.
Rome was built in a day - at least if you’re talking about Donald Trump’s rally in upstate New York.
With just 24 hours notice, around 5,000 people turned up into a freezing cold airport hangar at Griffiss International Airport in Rome, New York to hear the billionaire candidate promise to bring jobs back to the struggling town.
This was a supportive Trump audience. Rome is a town in turmoil, its population dropping in recent decades as jobs dry up. Lots of large factory buildings and shops lay empty with for lease signs in the window.
“Is anybody working up here?” asked Donald Trump, just minutes after he appeared on stage. He rattled off the numbers: 60% of manufacturing jobs gone in the county since 1980. The crowd booed. Forty percent of manufacturing jobs gone since 2001. Median household income in New York state is $3700 less than per year than it was in 1989, said Trump.
“What the hell is going on?” he asked. When he spoke about the loss of manufacturing jobs, a supporter yelled out “bullshit!” in anger.
“I agree with you. But I’m not allowed to use that term” replied Trump.
“We’re going to bring our jobs back,” he declared to loud applause.
The airport is a former military base, decommissioned in the 1990s and now used for non combat training. A military plane kept practicing “touch-and-go” landings as the Trump supporters arrived. Trump turned up an hour late, by which time the hangar was completely full.
Unlike last night’s Trump rally in Albany, where around 100 protesters stood outside with posters chanting and fights broke out during the rally, no protesters appeared in Rome and it was a polite, low-key crowd. Even when Trump spoke about the “liars” in the media, and the crowd turned their thumbs down at the media pen, rather than flipping them the bird.
Trump continued his anger from last night in Albany about the “”rigged” Republican electoral process in Colorado, where he said he was the victim of a “crooked deal,” since Ted Cruz won all 34 Colorado delegates on the weekend.
“The RNC, the Republican National Convention, should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this kind of crap to happen,” said Trump. “Because it has nothing to do with democracy.” He said Republicans were burning up their membership cards in anger at the process.
“I think the Republicans have a worse system than the democrats. It’s a crooked system,” said Trump.
Some of his supporters agreed with his claims against the electoral system. Jacob Shade, 60, drove over two hours from his home in Rochester to attend Trump’s rally today.
“The Republican party wants to be controlled by the elite and do what the elite wants. And they don’t want Trump, because Trump is not one of them,” he told The Guardian.
“He’s not a politician, he’s a businessman, and that’s what we need to get us out of debt,” added his friend Valerie Goodhew, 65, a retired B&B operator, also from Rochester.
“I pray every day for this man, because I know the power force in this country does not want to see him as president. So I pray to God and he may be our Sirius. God may have given us another chance to turn around and get away from all the evil we’ve sunken to,” she added.
In an interview with the Hill this afternoon, billionaire Republican frontrunner Donald Trump dissed Reince Priebus, chair of the Republican National Committee, and claimed that the Republican party’s primary process is a “scam” and a “disgrace.”
“It’s a disgrace for the party,” Trump said. “And Reince Priebus should be ashamed of himself. He should be ashamed of himself because he knows what’s going on.”
Trump went on to declare that the Colorado state Republican convention, in which opponent Ted Cruz emerged as the universal victor, was a fraud.
“It should go to a vote in Colorado like other places,” Trump said. “The best way to do it would be just a vote, should be a vote of the people. That’s the way it should be done. The delegate situation is a very unjust way of doing things.”
New Jersey senator Cory Booker has joined forced with senators Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Patty Murray of Washington in writing a letter to NBA commissioner Adam Silver urging him to move the 2017 NBA All-Star game away from Charlotte, North Carolina, after the state’s governor signed a controversial bill stripping all LGBT North Carolinians of protection from discrimination.
“Millions of Americans and millions more people around the world look up to the NBA,” the senators wrote in the letter. “The NBA boasts one of the most multicultural and multiethnic groups of players of any sports league in the world with more than 100 international players on its rosters. The NBA also made history just two years ago this month when Jason Collins became the first openly gay athlete to play in a major American professional sports league.”
The senators’ call for a new location is in response to the passage of HB2, which prevents local governments from passing any ordinances that would give their LGBT residents or visitors non-discrimination protections, and legally bars transgender people from using public restrooms that comport with their own gender identity.
“We hold no ill-will towards the people of Charlotte, who passed an antidiscrimination measure that HB2 overturned, nor towards the people of North Carolina,” the letter continues. “However, we cannot condone nor stand idly by as North Carolina moves to legalize and institutionalize discrimination against the LGBT community. Nor should the NBA allow its premier annual event to be hosted in such a state. Doing so, we believe, would be inconsistent with the NBA’s history and values. Therefore, we echo the words of NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and call on the NBA to move the All-Star game from Charlotte.”
The NBA has not yet commented on the letter.
Updated
Merrick Garland, Barack Obama’s US supreme court selection, has apparently failed to persuade Senate judiciary committee chair Chuck Grassley during a private meeting earlier today to hold confirmation hearings on his nomination.
“As he indicated last week, Grassley explained why the Senate won’t be moving forward during this hyper-partisan election year,” Grassley’s office said in a statement, which described the meeting as “cordial and pleasant”.
The two men met for 70 minutes in the Senate dining room. The Iowa Republican two decades ago also sought to block Garland’s nomination to the federal appeals court on which he currently serves as chief judge.
Garland later met privately with Lisa Murkowski, one of the dwindling number of moderate Senate Republicans. Her office issued a statement that also seemed to close the door on confirming Garland.
Bernie Sanders, in his closing remarks, calls for the assembled fans to push for “the largest voter turnout in New York history.”
“Together we can make it happen! Thank you!”
Bernie Sanders: 'Love Trumps hatred'
In an aggressive push against the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination, Bernie Sanders calls out Donald Trump as a divider - and reminds the crowd that good always trumps evil.
“Let me assure you of something that I know makes millions of Americans very nervous, and that is Donald Trump will not become president of the United States.”
The audience absolutely loses its mind, stamping feet, cheering, whistling, booing and breaking into a “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!” chant.
“And that’s because every national poll has me beating him by double digits!” Sanders continues.
“We will not become president because the American people will not support a candidate who insults Mexicans and Latinos!” The audience cheers. “Who insults Muslims! The audience cheers. “Who insults women!” The audience cheers. “Who insults veterans!” The audience cheers. “Who insults the African-American community!” The audience cheers.
“The American people understand that we are a great nation because of our diversity,” Sanders continues. “The American people understand that coming together always trumps dividing us up. Supporting others always trumps selfishness!”
“The American people understand very deeply what every major religion on earth has told us,” Sanders says. “And what they have all taught is that at the end of the day, love trumps hatred.”
“BERNIE!” “BERNIE!” “BERNIE!” the audience chants.
“I have been criticized throughout this campaign for saying something, so I will say it again: In my view, healthcare is a right of all people, not a privilege,” Sanders says, to more feet-stopming and cheering.
“The Affordable Care Act has done a lot of good things, but we must go beyond the Affordable Care Act,” Sanders continues, “When 29m americans have no health insurance - even more are underinsured with high deductibles - when we are getting ripped off every day by the drug companies who charge us the highest prices, we need to move toward a Medicare for all, single-payer system.”
“This campaign is listening to young people,” Bernie Sanders tells the largely college-aged crowd.
“If you take a deep breath, and you think outside of the box, ask yourselves, why we would be punishing millions of people for getting an education?” Sanders says of student-loan debt. “We should be rewarding people, not punishing them!”
“Today, in many respects, a college degree is the equivalent of what a high school degree was 50 years ago,” Sanders says. “And that is why I believe that in the year 2016, we have got to rethink what we mean by public education. It is no longer good enough to conceive of public education as first grade through 12th grade. We need to make public colleges and universities tuition free!”
The students at Marist, where tuition and fees run $32,590, applaud louder than they have all night.
“I will tell you how we are gonna pay for it,” Sanders says. “We are gonna impose a tax on Wall Street speculation. When Wall Street’s greed nearly destroyed our economy, Congress bailed them out. Now it’s time for Wall Street to help out our working families.”
Bernie Sanders highlights his campaign’s record-shattering number of small donations, and opponent Hillary Clinton’s less sterling, in his view, willingness to accept money from large corporations.
“We are showing that we can run a winning national campaign without powerful special-interest money,” Sanders says.
“Secretary Clinton has chosen another route in terms of how she raises her money. She has several super-PACS,” he says, a fact that is booed loudly. “She spoke to Goldman Sachs on more than one occasion and received $250,000 a speech.”
Huge booing breaks out in the audience.
“What I think is if you get paid $225,000 for a speech, must be a pretty great speech, don’t you think?” he says, as the audience laughs. “I mean, I can’t think of any other reason why they would pay for that! Must be a speech which resolve many of the great international crises that we face. Must be an enlightening speech which clarifies the crises facing our planet. Must be a speech given in Shakespearean prose!”
“I am preparing to release all of the transcripts of all of the speeches that I gave to Wall Street,” Sanders says, a proposition that he calls “a little bit silly” because “as you all know, there were no speeches, so there are no transcripts.”
“My cell phone is on! I’m awaiting an invitation!”
Updated
Bernie Sanders, on super-PACS:
Our job is to take these powerful special interests on - not take their money!
“Why have I bored you with this short historical lesson?” Bernie Sanders asks rhetorically.
“The reason is to show you that when people stand up and fight back, change can and does happen!” The audience leaps to its feet with a “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!” chant as a group of unapologetic #BernieBros hoots.
“People are looking at the status quo, and they are beginning to realize that not only is the status quo not working for ordinary Americans, they are realizing that the status quo has to change, and that change will not come about through establishment politics and economics.”
Bernie Sanders riffs on the theme of expanding equality for people of color, women and LGBT Americans.
“Because of the strong activism of the gay community and their straight allies,” for example, “gay marriage was made legal by a very conservative supreme court, because the American people told them that was the right thing to do.”
“What this campaign is about is not just electing a new president,” Sanders says. “It is about transforming America.”
“Let me tell you what no other candidate for president will tell you: And that is no president, not even Bernie Sanders, can do it alone,” Sanders continues. “The only way we take [Wall Street] on is when millions of people stand up, fight back and demand equality.”
The thousands-strong crowd, stomping its feet in the arena bleachers, chants “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!”
“That is what the political revolution is about,” Sanders continues. “Democracy is not a spectator sport.”
“We do not have to accept the reality of today - that people are working two or three jobs just to bring in enough healthcare and income to support their families,” Sanders says, as a woman in the audience shouts “YES!”
“We have got to fight for a nation in which people can earn enough income without having to work 50, 60, 70 hours a week,” he continues, to loud and sustained whistles and applause.
“Today on Wall Street alone, the six largest financial institutions have assets of over $10 trillion, equivalent of 50% of the GDP of the United States of America,” Sanders says, to loud boos. “FDR wanted to see a nation free of monopoly control, free of outrageous concentration of wealth and power - he gave that speech in 1944. We still have not achieved that goal.”
Bernie Sanders describes to the audience at Marist College “what we are entitled to as members of a civil democratic society: The right to adequate food, clothing and time off from work!”
"There are millions of people struggling hard just to put food on their table." pic.twitter.com/7UE2FlTfKX
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) April 12, 2016
Bernie Sanders begins his speech by highlighting the accomplishment of another president who called the Hudson River Valley home: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose home in Hyde Park is only a few miles away.
“He saw millions of people unemployed and hungry, he saw farmers losing their farms, he saw people struggling every single day to get the health care they needed or education for their kids, and he came forward, and he said, you know what? We are going to transform the way government works in America.”
The crowd cheers wildly.
“And that is what he did!”
Sanders quotes Roosevelt’s so-called “Second Bill of Rights,” in which the president told Congress that the political rights guaranteed by the Constitution had “proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.”
“This is one of the most important speeches ever made by a president,” Sanders says. “‘We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence,’” he quoted Roosevelt.
“That is a very profound thought.”
Bernie Sanders takes the stage in Poughkeepsie, New York
To raucous cheers and almost an hour behind schedule, Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has taken the stage at Marist College’s McCann Arena. Sanders was introduced by Michael Stipe, of REM, as the candidate “on the right side of history.”
“We have the profound capacity to become the great country that we imagine - but to do that, we need a caring, tough and straight-talking leader,” Stipe said.
“This is our time - let’s not blow it!” Sanders declared.
The New York Daily News, an iconic tabloid newspaper in New York City, has endorsed former secretary of state and New York senator Hillary Clinton’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, summing up the reasoning behind supporting the former first lady as a question of economic stewardship.
“She or he must ignite and rebalance the United States economy in favor of the many while also extending an extra helping hand to ease burdens that have grown too heavy for some,” the paper’s editorial board wrote of the qualifications necessary for the next president of the United States, adding that “Clinton is unsparingly clear-eyed about what’s wrong with America while holding firm to what’s right with America.”
“She fully understands the toll that adverse economic forces have taken on the country,” the editorial continues. “She is supremely knowledgeable about the powers a President can wield to lift fortunes in need of lifting. She possesses the strength and the shrewdness to confront the tough politics of advancing an ambitious Democratic agenda in the White House.”
“Still more, she is a cauldron-tested globalist who had the spine to give Obama a thumb’s up for taking out Osama Bin Laden and who is far the wiser about the use of American power, having served as secretary of state and seen the consequences of the war in Iraq.”
Of Clinton’s primary opponent, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, the paper declared that his meeting with its editorial board showed him to be not ready for the presidency.
“Subjected to meaningful scrutiny for the first time, the senator from Vermont proved utterly unprepared for the Oval Office while confirming that the central thrusts of his campaign are politically impossible.”
Not every supporter of Bernie Sanders is a Democrat - although, to be fair, neither is Sanders himself.
Michelle Belanger, a Poughkeepsie local, told the Guardian that she is a registered Republican, but that the combination of dissatisfaction with the makeup of the current Republican field and her outrage over the terrorist attacks at the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 have motivated her to advocate on behalf of Sanders.
Michelle Belanger is a registered Republican who loves Bernie Sanders at least as much as she hates Hillary Clinton: pic.twitter.com/uHpBEFhqJH
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) April 12, 2016
“I’m here because I’m actually a registered Republican, buy I believe in what Bernie believe in,” Belanger said. “Benghazi makes me very angry - she’s all about money in her pocket. Bernie, you can’t buy him.”
Belanger acknoledged that, as a registered Republican, she can’t vote for Sanders in the Democratic primary next week, but she has changed the minds of Democratic friends on Facebook.
“In the presidential election, if it’s [Donald] Trump versus Bernie, Bernie’s got my vote,” Belanger said.
And if it’s Clinton versus Trump?
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she said with a groan. “I still don’t know what to do.”
Now mounting the stage, clad in a New York Yankees cap, anti-fracking activist Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Gasland, who shouts to the audience that “we are here to take our party back!”
Lambasting former secretary of state as a tool of the fossil fuel industry, Fox says that Bernie Sanders is the only candidate who “understands that the anti-fracking movement is the political revolution of today.”
“Bernie Sanders is here to stand up with you against Big Oil for a better future - and he’s the only candidate who had the foresight to stop and protest against the Iraq War,” Fox says.
“[Clinton’s] state department promoted fracking all over the world,” Fox continues, “pushing fracking in 30 countries worldwide.”
“Do we want 30 to 40 more years of frack-gas power plants across the United States?” Fox asks rhetorically. “Do we want hundreds of pipelines criss-crossing the United States?”
The audience shouts “NO!”
“There is only one candidate who is standing up against the frackers. Who is it?”
“Bernie!”
“There is only one candidate who does not take money from the fossil-fuel industry. Who is it?”
“Bernie!”
“What Bernie Sanders does is bring everybody together,” Rice continues. “Whether you’re black, white, latino, straight, gay, male, or female, we’re all in this movement together. We all love Bernie.”
“Even the birds love Bernie!”
Jared Rice, the deputy mayor of New Rochelle, New York, and the first elected official to come out for Bernie Sanders in Hillary Clinton’s native Westchester County, has taken the stage here at Marist College, telling the crowd of Sanders supporters that “this is the reality - and [the establishment] needs to fall in line.”
“It’s not easy to challenge the establishment,” Rice says, “but we have to challenge the establishment to do better, because they have to.”
“This momentum is not just limited today here at Marist College,” he continues. “I’ve been in the Bronx, I’ve been in Harlem, I’ve been in Westchester - and they’re all saying the same thing: We’re tired of establishment politics, and we’re tired of establishment economics!”
The crowd goes wild.
Not everyone who turns up at a Donald Trump rally plans to vote for him.
“I’m a registered Republican, but I won’t vote for Trump. He’s crazy. He sat in there for an hour and made people scream up and down, but he never said anything,” said Pete Palleschi, 19, business management student at Hudson Valley Community College, minutes after the Trump rally in Albany ended.
The Guardian pointed out that Pete is wearing the classic red Make America Great Again hat (which he removed for the photo).
“He’s here for the show,” said his friend Joe Oleynek, 19. Oleynek filmed the Guardian - and the counter protesters outside the Trump rally - live on Periscope throughout the interview.
“I’m going to show this [hat] to my kids one day. Remember that crazy guy Donald Trump who almost won the presidency? They probably won’t even know it because it’ll be forgotten,” said Palleschi.
They were part of a group of 10 college guys who’d come together to soak up Trumpmania.
Palleschi said he was a Rand Paul fan but will probably vote Kasich. Oleynek is a registered Green Party voter, so won’t vote in the primaries but considers himself a combined Bernie Sanders and Trump fan. “If it’s between Bernie and Trump I’ll have to flip a coin. Like a true American,” he quipped.
Many of the spectators at today’s Bernie Sanders rally in Poughkeepsie, New York, are students at Marist College - or, in the case of Renee Springage-Lewis, staff members.
Renee Springage-Lewis and Jackson Rockefeller are all about lowering college tuition, which is "frikken' high." pic.twitter.com/xY66elu2xO
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) April 12, 2016
“I believe in his mission to bring us together - he stands for the people,” Springage-Lewis, who works in the college’s enrollment services department, told the Guardian. “He’s talking about issues that are outside the norm.”
Jackson Rockefeller, a student majoring in political science, agreed. “Free college tuition - who else has mentioned that?” Rockefeller said. “I don’t necessarily agree with it, but he’s getting that conversation started. Tuition is really frikken’ high, and we have to solve it so the next generation can get the ball rolling.”
Updated
“Donald Trump is the father-in-law of the Observer’s publisher. That is not a reason to endorse him. Giving millions of disillusioned Americans a renewed sense of purpose and opportunity is.”
So begins the New York Observer’s endorsement of billionaire Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s candidacy for the party’s nomination, which cites “the profound alienation, anger and disillusionment of millions” as the fuel of Trump’s rabid popularity. The paper’s editorial board cites his putative unpopularity with the news media as evidence of his “optimism.”
“Throughout his career, Donald Trump has demonstrated real leadership,” the editorial continues. “Critics, particularly in the media, are quick to point out Mr. Trump’s less successful ventures: Trump University, Atlantic City casinos, Trump Airlines and branded products such as vodka and steaks. Having tried (and sometimes failed) at our own entrepreneurial ventures, we are far more inclined to put these ventures into perspective. As Robert Kennedy said, ‘Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.’”
We’re coming at you live from Poughkeepsie, New York, home of sterling Gilded Age mansions, the longest footbridge in the world and Marist College, where Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is set to speak to a lively audience of students, faculty and upstate New Yorkers at 7 pm.
The mood is festive here at the McCann Arena, where the crowd - young, diverse and decked out in a wide variety of Sanders swag - has taken to spontaneous chants of “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!” in anticipation of the candidate’s appearance. The rally, billed as a “Future to Believe In Rally” by the campaign, is expected to emphasize college affordability and student-loan debt reduction, topics that the Sanders campaign has brought to the fore of the Democratic race.
Donald Trump probably appreciates the hustle.
Blaine Taylor, 62, was unemployed until he started selling Trump T-shirts and hats outside Trump rallies across the country.
His $10 Trump T-shirts read: “Fire the idiots, help the vets” and “Finally someone with balls.” For $20 you can buy the iconic Make America Great Again red cap.
He got into the Trump merch business after attending a rally. “I saw everybody else selling them and I thought ‘if they can do it, I can too’.”
Now he and his brother drive across the country to Trump rallies, clocking up around 15-20 events so far, he says. Last night they sold 1,000 shirts at the Trump rally in Albany.
“It’s really good cash,” said Taylor, standing in the carpark outside a rally in Rome, New York. He wouldn’t give a figure on how much he was bringing in - and noted that he had to spend money on hotels, gas, etc.
“You’ve got to be on the move. You don’t know much ahead of time,” he said.
While talking to The Guardian, a local sheriff came over. “No more sales, this is a private facility,” said the Sheriff, telling Taylor to move along.
That’s pretty standard says Taylor, who says he’s yet to be arrested. “You’ve got to be very careful. I have been warned as many as three times, I continue to sell but I was looking all the time, one eye open, one eye trying to sell.”
But right now Blaine figures he’s still got a few more months of employment - “until he becomes president.”
And how does it rate as a job?
“It’s pretty good. Better than not having anything!” replied Taylor.
Coffee break!
In a moment, I’ll be liveblogging Vermont senator Bernie Sanders’ rally at the McCann Arena at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where the presidential candidate will be speaking to the kind of young, college-educated crowd with which he has found so much success. I’ll be back online shortly, but in the meantime, here are a few great political reads from our intrepid team of reporters today:
- Cruz Country: who are Ted Cruz’s supporters in New York? The Texas senator alienated voters early on with his ‘New York values’ remark, but some Long Island residents would still prefer him to Trump in the primary.
- North Carolina governor refuses to reverse anti-LGBT law in executive order. Pat McCrory expands equal employment policy to include sexual orientation and gender and says he will ask lawmakers to restore right to sue over discrimination.
- John Kasich urges Republicans to choose him over path of ‘darkness.’ Without mentioning Ted Cruz or Donald Trump by name, Ohio governor condemns ‘path that turns fear into hatred’ in New York City speech.
Here’s full video of Paul Ryan’s press conference this afternoon:
“So, let me say again, I’m not going to be our party’s nominee,” Ryan said. “But I’ll also be clear about something else: Not running does not mean I’m going to disappear.”
In non-speaker-related news, former secretary of state and current Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton is taking a page from Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, telling Cosmopolitan in an interview that if she’s elected, she will appoint a 50%-female presidential cabinet.
“That is certainly my goal,” Clinton said. “A very diverse cabinet representing the talents and experience of the entire country. And since we are a 50-50 country, I would aim to have a 50-50 cabinet.”
Trudeau won praise when he was elected prime minister for making his cabinet 50% female, telling reporters at the time that “It’s important to be here before you today to present to Canada a cabinet that looks like Canada.”
Asked to explain his gender parity promise, he answered: “Because it’s 2015.”
Paul Ryan’s office has thoughtfully linked to his full remarks, allowing countless political journalists to scour fruitlessly for some glimmer of a loophole.
Here’s the key graph:
We have too much work to do in the House to allow this speculation swirl or have my motivations questioned. Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination. So let me speak directly to the delegates on this: If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe you should only choose a person who actually participated in the primary. Count me out.
“I will not allow my name, I am opposed to put my name in place” for the nomination, Ryan says. He says only someone who ran should be nominated. But he stops short of saying it should be one of the three still in the race.
Ryan: 'I do not want nor will I accept the nomination'
Paul Ryan says: “Count me out.”
“I’ve got a message to relay today. We’ve got too much work to do in the House to allow this speculation to swirl...
“I do not want nor will I accept the nomination for our party. Let me speak directly to the delegates...
“If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe that you should only choose from a person who has actually participated in a primary. Count me out.
“I chose not to do this. Therefore, I should not be considered, period, end of story... I am not going to be our party’s nominee.”
Updated
Here comes Ryan.
Ryan to speak
Paul Ryan is scheduled to speak in a few minutes on how much he intends not to be the 2016 Republican nominee.
You can watch here:
When the rap metal band Rage Against Machine recorded its 1992 album Rage Against the Machine, it was not thinking “rage against the machine” like how a billionaire running for president in the future might complain about rules for awarding convention delegates (not that such a person might not be pretty ticked).
That’s what RATM guitarist Tom Morello is now claiming:
This isn't exactly what we were thinking pic.twitter.com/zrkh3OBNyl
— Tom Morello (@tmorello) April 12, 2016
Video: Kasich attacks Republican rivals
Kasich warns against 'path to darkness'
Ohio governor John Kasich issued a sharp rebuke of his rival campaigns’ mud-slinging tactics in an impassioned speech just one week ahead of the New York primary, while outlining his vision of what American values and leadership should look like ahead of one of the most “consequential elections” in recent memory, writes the Guardian’s Raya Jalabi:
Speaking to a polite establishment crowd of roughly 100 people on Tuesday, mostly New York Republicans gathered at the historic Women’s National Republican Club in Manhattan, Kasich reiterated his plea that the US not fall prey to the fear-mongering demagoguery and “hollow promises” of his rivals, who he said “were not worthy of the office they are seeking”.
The event was billed as a cornerstone speech intended to underline Kasich’s experience and even-handed approach as the prospect of a contested convention looms. In it he detailed the two paths he believes lie ahead for the US, which contrasted his own candidacy with the “darkness” of the unpredictable Donald Trump and fiercely ideological Ted Cruz.
“The path that exploits anger, encourages resentment, turns fear into hatred and divides people. This path solves nothing and demeans our history and weakens our country and cheapens each one of us. It has but one beneficiary, and that is the politician who speaks of it,” Kasich said in a reference to the two leading Republican candidates.
This path, he said, “drags us into a ditch and won’t make America great again”.
Read the full piece here:
Ladies and gentlemen, Bono, on Capitol Hill to testify about violent extremists and foreign aid.
Hundreds of voting rights protesters arrested at Capitol Monday
Police arrested more than 400 protesters outside the U.S. Capitol on Monday from Democracy Spring, an organization seeking to remove big money from politics and combat restrictive voter identification laws, Reuters reported:
The mostly calm and orderly demonstration resulted in arrests for what the U.S. Capitol Police called “unlawful demonstration activity” such as crowding and obstruction.
Organizers vowed to repeat the demonstration every day for a week.
The protest was held “to demand Congress take immediate action to end the corruption of big money in our politics and ensure free and fair elections,” Democracy Spring said on its website.
The group lists actor Mark Ruffalo and academic Noam Chomsky and dozens of well-known activist groups among its supporters.
“We believe this is the people’s house, and Congress should be responsive to the people. We need to protect voting rights,” said Peter Callahan, the group’s communications coordinator.
A discourse on hatred and despotism outside Trump rally
The Guardian’s Amber Jamieson is attending a Trump rally in Rome, New York, today after catching a Trump rally last night in Albany, where she met Ron Richards, 27.
Richards proudly wore a T-shirt depicting Hillary Clinton as Hitler, as a middle finger to the Trump protesters who compare the presidential wannabe to the Nazi leader, Amber writes:
“These people over here [points to anti-Trump protests] profiling Trump as racist and like Hitler, it’s just as bad,” said Richards, an electrical engineer from Saratoga Springs.
“Trump hasn’t killed anybody. Hillary has killed many people throughout her offices. It’s crazy. But no I don’t think she’s Hitler, I don’t believe she’s a mass murder. But she’s killed people – just like Obama has killed people, just like Bush has killed people.
“But for someone to say that Trump is Hitler is asinine, he hasn’t killed anybody, he’s not even causing mass genocide or anything like that. It’s insane.”
The Guardian mentioned that Trump was talking about a religious test for entering the United States and had emerged as a favorite among white supremacists.
“Muslim is not a religion,” replied Richards’ friend Cameron, 33, an electrical engineer from Glens Fall, who declined to give his last name. “Islam is. Muslim is not,” said Cameron.
“He’s not the first person to ever do that and/or consider that idea. One of our presidents had actually done a ban on certain race during war time, I can’t remember the name of the president,” said Richards.
“They gathered up people during World War II. Ellis Island used to screen people so they don’t have tuberculosis. I don’t see any reason why you can’t screen people before they come into the country. It’s not being racist. It’s just saying ‘hey look let’s do a background check of where you came from, what your ethics are’,” said Cameron.
Anti-Trump protesters were yelling that a vote for Trump is a vote for the white power movement. Some Trump supporters were yelling “white power” back to them.
“I don’t support that in any way. I believe all lives matter. Humanity in general, no particular race,” said Richards.
Trump's late delegates start may cost him nomination
For months, all Donald Trump was doing was winning. But it turns out those wins didn’t mean all that much, writes Guardian political reporter Ben Jacobs:
The Republican frontrunner has won 21 states so far in the Republican primary but it has slowly dawned on Trump’s campaign in recent weeks that nearly all of those races were just glorified beauty contests, and that winning the most votes in a state primary may be an accomplishment as valueless as a framed degree from Trump University.
Delegates at the Republican National Convention elect the GOP nominee for the presidential ticket and often those delegates aren’t chosen by popular vote. Smart political campaigns, though, have long built delegate operations to prepare for contested conventions. In contrast, Donald Trump has only just started building one in recent weeks and his failure could cost him the Republican nomination.
For months, Trump has coasted by with a campaign based on earning media coverage with minimal grassroots organizing. He holds big rallies that draw crowds of thousands before primary elections and then leaves the state. This means that delegate selection, which usually happens in a series of party meetings after a primary election, has been neglected by Trump’s campaign.
In recent weeks, Trump has tried to turn things around. ...
Read the full piece here:
Updated
Clinton, Trump hold New York leads in poll
A new poll from Quinnipiac University showed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump with undiminished leads in the New York race since the last time the poll was taken before the 5 April Wisconsin primary.
The poll finds Clinton leading Sanders 53-40 among likely Democratic primary voters, and Trump with 55% support among likely Republicans compared with 20% for Kasich and 19% for Cruz:
Today’s results show little movement from a March 31 survey showing Clinton over Sanders 54 - 42 percent and Trump with 56 percent, followed by Cruz at 20 percent and Kasich at 19 percent.
Black Votes Matter For Clinton In #NewYork, Poll Finds; Trump Sweeps All Groups Against Cruz Or Kasichhttps://t.co/TjJPW8nfIg #Election2016
— Quinnipiac Poll (@QuinnipiacPoll) April 12, 2016
Cruz predicts victory at contested convention
Texas senator Ted Cruz is on Glenn Beck’s radio show right now. You can listen live here.
Cruz has just repeated his assertion that rival Donald Trump cannot reach a majority of 1,237 delegates in advance of the July convention.
“I’m gonna have a ton of delegates, Donald’s gonna have a ton of delegates. And the question is who can win a majority of delegates.
“Where do the Rubio and Kasich delegates go? And I think they’re going to come to us.”
Cruz says all the talk of his strong ground game belies the strength of organic voter interest.
“Our staffers couldn’t do this if there was not a grassroots tsunami...” Cruz says.
“Basically what we’re doing is logistics. We’ve got people saying I’m willing to do whatever I can... it is coming from the people.”
Then Cruz handicaps the remainder of the race:
“Donald may well have a good about two weeks... New York is his home state. He ought to win his home state convincingly. If Donald is not significantly above 50% it will be a loss for him.
“There’s states like Pennsylvania, states like Maryland where we have tremendous support. ... Donald could have a good couple of weeks. He could get a pretty decent chunk of delegates.
“But then we’re gonna get into states like Indiana, states like Nebraska, states like Montana.
“The whole race is gonna come down to California.”
Cruz closes by citing fivethirtyeight.com as giving him good odds to win California.
“They’re very good at what they do. 538 currently has the odds of the Cruz campaign at 61%.”
Ryan to rule out White House – report
House speaker Paul Ryan has announced an afternoon news conference, and reports based on leaks say that he will absolutely rule out any run at or drift into the White House via a contested Republican convention in July:
BREAKING: US House speaker Paul Ryan to make a statement at 3:15 p.m ruling himself out as candidate 'once and for all': spokesman
— Reuters Politics (@ReutersPolitics) April 12, 2016
NEWS: Ryan aide: Speaker Ryan will make a statement at RNC this afternoon to to rule himself out (POTUS) & put this to rest once & for all
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) April 12, 2016
Updated
All three morning candidate events have ended.
Kasich has just sent an email fundraising off his speech about “two paths” ahead:
One is espoused by the other candidates- it’s riddled with negativity about America...it drags us into a ditch and it divides us.
The other path is one that I’ve focused my entire campaign on. It’s one that offers American families a positive vision for the future of our country.
Has it only been a year since Clinton announced she was running for president?
One year ago today.https://t.co/DNtMxhzKk3
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 12, 2016
And there are only 209 days to go till the election. This is all happening so quickly.
Here’s a transcript of the section of the Kasich speech in which he attacked rivals Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, via CNN:
.@JohnKasich with a rather extensive policy-by-policy attack on @tedcruz & @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/oU5t1JwQzo
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) April 12, 2016
The three candidate events – Kasich, Sanders, Clinton – currently running have distinct flavors. The Sanders event is clamorous. The Kasich event is a lecture. The Clinton event feels like a tech conference.. with a baby:
the panel on #equalpay interrupted by a gurgling/crying baby
— Jana Kasperkevic (@kasperka) April 12, 2016
“This path to darkness is the antithesis of all America has meant for 240 years,” Kasich says.
“We can’t sit by idly and expect fate or destiny to ... rescue us. We always roll up our sleeves and get to work when the going gets tough. And we have never ever seen America’s spirit fail. ... The spirit of our country rests in us, all of us. America is still great.”
Ohio governor John Kasich has begun his speech laying out “two paths” for America. A live stream is here. The Guardian’s Raya Jalabi is in the room.
Kasich is attacking Trump:
“When we come together, when we unite as a country, America always wins... Some who feed off the angers and fears felt by some of us... feed their own insatiable desires for fame or attention. That could drive America down in a ditch, and not make us great again.”
.@JohnKasich praises history of the National Women's Republican Club as founded by activists for women's suffrage pic.twitter.com/SaTduLi32a
— Raya Jalabi (@rayajalabi) April 12, 2016
Looks like a cozy breakfast this morning between senate judiciary committee chairman Chuck Grassley and judge Merrick Garland, the Supreme Court nominee. Grassley has refused to convene a hearing on Garland’s nomination until the election is over.
Sanders is in the section of his stump speech in which he criticizes US trade agreements which he points out Clinton supported.
Clinton, meanwhile, has taken a seat at the equal pay roundtable, joining six interlocutors. The talk begins.
Clinton has begun her speech on equal pay, to be followed by a roundtable sponsored by Glassdoor, an employment site.
There’s a livestream here. We’re looking for an embeddable one. Clinton is saying that pay inequality women is a persistent problem.
"Last time, I checked there is no discount for being a woman," she says. "Groceries don't cost us less. Rent doesn't cost us less."
— Jana Kasperkevic (@kasperka) April 12, 2016
Clinton says she met a young man who got hired as a cashier at the same store where his mom works ... and he got paid more than his mom
— Jana Kasperkevic (@kasperka) April 12, 2016
Sanders applies the line he’s used in other states to New York: if turnout is high, he says, “we’re going to win here as well.”
Sanders picks up misreported Colorado delegate
Bernie Sanders won one more delegate in Colorado than first projected, the Denver Post reports – and the Colorado Democratic Party has egg on its face.
The party misreported the March 1 caucus results from 10 precinct locations, the Post reports. When the newspaper discovered its error, the party “was shared with... Hillary Clinton’s campaign by party officials but kept from Sanders until the Post told his staff Monday night”:
The revelation that the state party misreported the results to the public March 1 — and kept it quiet to all but the Clinton campaign for five weeks — comes as Sanders promotes his case that he can win the Democratic nomination.
And it arises a day after the Colorado Republican Party faces blistering criticism from Donald Trump and his supporters about how it awarded national delegates in what the candidate called a “rigged” system.
Read the full piece here.
Bernie Sanders has just taken the stage in Rochester – to very big cheers. Here’s a live stream:
Hillary Clinton’s arrival at a roundtable on pay equality in New York City has been delayed by rain.
The Guardian’s Jana Kasperkevic is at the scene, which you can observe for yourself in the video stream below:
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the race for the White House. Hillary Clinton, John Kasich and Bernie Sanders all have morning events we’ll be covering here: Clinton will participate in a roundtable discussion on pay equality in Manhattan; Sanders hosts a rally in Rochester at 10am and Kasich delivers a speech about the “Two Paths” facing America at 10.30am.
Later Donald Trump will appear in Rome, New York, and Bill Clinton is scheduled to pop up at a couple events in the city.
Anyone see today’s NY Daily News?
Today's front page...
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) April 12, 2016
SKIT FOR BRAINS: Hil, Blaz blasted for "colored people time" joke https://t.co/bJANl7NqcR pic.twitter.com/JlLPXJVSDE
The cover refers to a comedy sketch Clinton and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio performed at a weekend charity event in which the candidate gives the mayor a hard time for taking so long to endorse her.
The mayor explains he was on “CPT”, an acronym for “colored people time” that some in the audience were shocked to hear issue from the mouth of the mayor, who is white.
“Cautious politician time,” Clinton replied. “I’ve been there”. Also performing in the skit was Leslie Odom Jr, a star of the hit musical Hamilton who is black.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson extended his reign as Worst Surrogate Ever on Monday by explaining his support for Trump as a blend of pragmatism and desperation:
It was pragmatism, recognizing that John Kasich cannot win without a brokered convention — which would guarantee a Democrat win — and recognizing that Ted Cruz can bring conservatives but will have a very difficult time bringing moderates and Democrats,” Carson said on Kelley and Kafer. “I think that will be pretty much a guaranteed loss also. So in terms of who can potentially win, I think that would be Donald Trump. When I look at the consequences of not winning, it’s too horrible to even think about.”
Thanks for reading and, as always, please join us in the comments.
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