Today in campaign 2016
Today is the day that the presidential campaign jumped more sharks than exist in all the oceans of all the world. Starting off with the early morning release of a tabloid magazine’s unsourced, unverified accusations of marital infidelity against Texas senator Ted Cruz, the Republican primary quickly became a badminton game of escalating insults between Cruz and billionaire Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, except instead of a shuttlecock, it was the American public’s dignity being batted back and forth.
Without further ado, here’s a roundup of the biggest stories in American political news today:
- Ted Cruz called out the National Enquirer story that alleges he had affairs with five different women as “garbage.” Speaking to reporters after a campaign event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Cruz said the story is full of “complete and utter lies” and is a “tabloid smear” that has come from rival frontrunner Donald Trump and his former political adviser Roger Stone.
- In a statement, Donald Trump said he had “absolutely nothing to do with” the National Enquirer story. Using a nickname he has given Cruz on the campaign trail, Trump added: “Unlike Lyin’ Ted Cruz I do not surround myself with political hacks and henchman and then pretend total innocence. Ted Cruz’s problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while [the National Enquirer was] right about OJ Simpson, John Edwards and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin’ Ted Cruz.”
- Former defense secretary Leon Panetta blasted Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for what he called their “deeply reckless” responses to the terror attacks in Brussels. After the the attacks, Trump repeated his call for a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the United States and for the expanded use of torture – “a lot more than waterboarding,” he called it – on detainees. Cruz called for emboldening law enforcement to “patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods”.
- Top John Kasich adviser John Weaver has raised the curtain on backstage dealings between the Kasich and Cruz camps on the topic of stopping Trump. Publicly, Cruz has called Kasich a “spoiler” in the race and claimed that he, Cruz, could get to 1,237 delegates if Kasich weren’t around. But privately, Weaver says, the Cruz camp acknowledges that it cannot hit the delegates goal, and yet refuses to work with Kasich to divvy up turf where each has the best chance of beating the frontrunner.
- The Daily Beast is reporting that although Donald trump’s campaign may be reveling in unsubstantiated tabloid gossip about rival Ted Cruz’s marriage, the rumors have been peddled for the past six months by allies of a different rival entirely. “A half-dozen GOP operatives and media figures tell The Daily Beast that Cruz’s opponents have been pushing charges of adultery for at least six months now - and that allies of former GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio were involved in spreading the smears,” The Daily Beast’s Asawin Suebsang and Betsy Woodruff write.
- Bernie Sanders, speaking in Portland, put a bird on it - literally.
That’s it for today - tune in tomorrow for our live coverage of the Washington, Hawaii and Alaska Democratic caucuses!
Until then:
Best. GIF. Ever. pic.twitter.com/4Xpau23MRE
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) March 25, 2016
Updated
A tiny bird interrupted Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ rally in Portland, Oregon on Friday afternoon. It flew up to the Democratic presidential hopeful’s podium, “I think there may be some symbolism here,” the Senator said, adding although it didn’t look like it, the bird was a dove “asking us world peace.”
The crowd erupted into thunderous applause.
Or, it could be symbolic of something else. Welcome to Portland, Sen. Sanders, where the sketch comedy Portlandia popularized the refrain, “put a bird on it” as a way to describe the city’s aesthetic.
Thousands listened Sanders speak in Oregon on Friday afternoon. Large crowds have turned out for Sanders’ rallies throughout the Pacific Northwest this week.
The Senator is on a mission to capture delegates from his rival and Democratic frontrunner Clinton. This Saturday, Washington state will hold its caucuses, with 101 delegates at stake. Oregon’s primary is in May.
Sanders hit familiar themes during the Portland rally; he spoke of making college and universities tuition free by taxing Wall Street speculation, he mentioned taking on the fossil-fuel industry, and of raising the national minimum wage to $15.
“The truth is, if you work 40 hours a week, you should not be living in poverty,” he said.
He spoke of the Iraq war and noted Clinton’s vote in favor of the war.
“She was wrong. I was right,” he said.
When he spoke of universal health care, saying health care is a right for all people, the crowd broke into chants of, “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!”
Sanders also touted paid family leave, demilitarizing the police and respecting people’s choices to love whomever they choose.
Retired millworker Gary Johnston attended two Sanders’ rallies this week. He noted the Clinton campaign’s criticism of Sanders, calling him a single-issue candidate. But Johnston, 71, said its the presidential hopeful’s commitment to his message the country needs right now.
“He’s what you might call anti flip-flop,” Johnston said of the presidential candidate.
Sanders closed the rally urging people to vote.
“It is my hope and my belief both Washington and Oregon are prepared to help lead this country into a political revolution,” Sanders said.
The city’s famous Voodoo Doughnut shop had a large doughnut made in Sanders’ likeliness, presumably for him to enjoy after the rally.
Actress Rosario Dawson has taken to task workers rights activist Dolores Huerta – who Dawson once played in a movie – over comments she made about Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.
In an open letter to Huerta, who is campaigning for Hillary Clinton, Dawson methodically picks apart a piece Huerta wrote for Medium titled: On Immigration, Bernie Sanders Is Not Who He Says He Is.
“I, too, believe in the American ideal of reasonable and robust debate between opposing viewpoints in order to move a discussion forward and ultimately arrive at a sensible resolution,” Dawson, a Sanders supporter, wrote. “This becomes impossible, or at least unnecessarily difficult, when one of the parties involved is purposefully trying to obfuscate the facts. I recognized that very same tactic that the mainstream media has been using when I read your opinion piece, where the details of Bernie Sanders’ voting record and positions were misrepresented.”
In her Medium post, Huerta argued that as a United States senator, Sanders was no friend to the Latino community. His positions, she said, have shifted now that he’s running for president and seeking support from Latino voters.
“From the letter he sent to Barack Obama last week, to the work he, his campaign, and surrogates have done attacking other candidates’ positions, you would think that he has been a lifelong champion on issues that matter to Latinos and immigrants,” Huerta wrote in the piece, which was published in February. “But here’s the truth: Candidate Bernie Sanders, advocate for immigrants, is not the same as Senator Bernie Sanders.”
Both Clinton and Sanders have been vying for support from the Latino community. They both recently attended a debate in Florida hosted by Univision, where the candidates clashed over their records but mostly agreed on immigration policy.
Bernie Sanders, speaking in Portland, put a bird on it - literally.
Billionaire Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has now retweeted a follower who believes that Texas senator Ted Cruz is mentally ill.
"@11phenomenon: #LyingTed blames @realDonaldTrump for so many things I am starting to think he is having a mental health crisis."
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2016
Trump’s habit of retweeting acolytes has gotten him in trouble before, although on the scale of previous incidents - which have included sexist characterizations of other candidates’ spouses and statistics proffered by white supremacists - this may not draw the same amount of fire.
At the close of one of the most bizarre days in a bizarre campaign, however, there’s little that Trump could do to top what has been a trying Friday in American democracy.
The Daily Beast is reporting that although Donald trump’s campaign may be reveling in unsubstantiated tabloid gossip about rival Ted Cruz’s marriage, the rumors have been peddled for the past six months by allies of a different rival entirely.
“A half-dozen GOP operatives and media figures tell The Daily Beast that Cruz’s opponents have been pushing charges of adultery for at least six months now - and that allies of former GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio were involved in spreading the smears,” The Daily Beast’s Asawin Suebsang and Betsy Woodruff write.
“For months and months, anti-Cruz operatives have pitched a variety of #CruzSexScandal stories to a host of prominent national publications, according to Republican operatives and media figures,” the article claims. “The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, Politico, and ABC News - reporters at all those outlets heard some version of the Cruz-is-cheating story.”
Even Breitbart News, which has been accused of being in the billionaire’s corner in recent controversies, declined to report on the rumors. “We got it from a Rubio ally,” a source told The Daily beast. “It was too thin, so [political editor Matt Boyle] decided not to run it. There was no way to verify the claims.”
A new ad from a conservative super-PAC associated with former UN ambassador John Bolton has supporters of Hillary Clinton asking: What’s new, Buenos Aires?
The ad superimposes Clinton’s head on the body of a tango dancer who joined Barack Obama on the dance floor during a state dinner in Argentina this week, accusing the former secretary of state of being entwined in her former boss’ foreign policy.
“Barack and Hillary practice their presidential transition,” the ad’s text states. “Hillary Clinton: Obama’s third term.”
A strategist for Ohio governor John Kasich’s longshot campaign for the Republican presidential nomination says that Kasich’s supporters are pressuring fellow candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump to join him on Fox News in a town hall-style debate on April 3, two days before the high-stakes Wisconsin primary:
Working with @FoxNews for a Town Hall style debate April 3rd. Hope Cruz & Tump accept. We have. #Popcorntime
— John Weaver (@JWGOP) March 25, 2016
Trump had backed out of a previous debate scheduled on Fox News, citing prior commitments. That debate was later cancelled when Kasich said that he was the only candidate willing to appear.
North Carolina’s new discrimination law could be violating the US constitution, in addition to dealing a serious blow to LGBT people by preventing any city from creating anti-discrimination protections, experts have warned.
The law, which was rushed through on Wednesday, requires public institutions to designate bathrooms and locker rooms to only be used by people in accordance with their biological sex, which violates constitutional privacy protections.
“If they [transgender people] comply with the law every time they use the bathroom they will be outed because their outward gender expression conflicts with the gender assigned at the bathroom and that could expose them to violence and discrimination,” said Scott Skinner-Thompson, an acting assistant professor at New York University’s School of Law.
The US constitution prevents the state from disclosing information such as a person’s LGBT identity, which is why similar laws are now being challenged in court.
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In linking to a Facebook post denying his involvement in the publication of a National Enquirer story accusing Ted Cruz of multiple affairs, Donald Trump even managed to sneak “Lyin’ Ted” into the URL:
Response to the cover story in this week's National Enquirer about Lyin' Ted Cruz: https://t.co/FRFN9JC1QJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 25, 2016
Updated
Kasich adviser: Cruz camp has taken 'no action' on plan to stop Trump
Top John Kasich adviser John Weaver has raised the curtain on backstage dealings between the Kasich and Cruz camps on the topic of stopping Trump. Publicly, Cruz has called Kasich a “spoiler” in the race and claimed that he, Cruz, could get to 1,237 delegates if Kasich weren’t around.
But privately, Weaver says, the Cruz camp acknowledges that it cannot hit the delegates goal, and yet refuses to work with Kasich to divvy up turf where each has the best chance of beating the frontrunner.
Here’s how that divvying could look, by the way:
If Kasich & Cruz really want to stop Trump, here's how they need to divvy up remaining turf. https://t.co/aGkgdwoWf6 pic.twitter.com/oTInKHBz1q
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) March 25, 2016
Cruz camp is disingenuous about division of targeting re: Trump. On multiple levels, Cruz camp has reached out to us (and vice versa) 1/5
— John Weaver (@JWGOP) March 25, 2016
to ensure Trump is denied 1,237. They know what we know: only path to nomination for Cruz or us is through open convention. Only action 2/5
to date has been unilateral by us re: AZ (which they knew in advance). Even Mitt has urged Cruz to work with us! To no avail. As usual, 3/5
they want it both ways, appearance of attempt to work together/victim, but no action. To question @JohnKasich motivation is underhanded, 4/5
and opposite of what they say in private. Facts are JK best positioned in most states moving forward & in general election. #stopvicitimact
Ted Cruz’s campaign manager does his best Donald Trump impersonation:
MISSING #SleazyDonald: Why no events in 4 days; none planned for 8. Ever had psychological eval? What is hiding in medical records! Release!
— Jeff Roe (@jeffroe) March 25, 2016
Panetta blasts GOP candidates' replies to Brussels: 'deeply reckless'
Former defense secretary Leon Panetta blasted Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for what he called their “deeply reckless” responses to the terror attacks in Brussels.
After the the attacks, Trump repeated his call for a temporary ban on Muslims from entering the United States and for the expanded use of torture – “a lot more than waterboarding,” he called it – on detainees. Cruz called for emboldening law enforcement to “patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods”.
Panetta said the suggestions weakened relationships with allies in the Muslim world and threatened national security.
“Sometimes these candidates think that they’re just talking to their voters in this country,” Panetta said on a conference call organized by Hillary Clinton’s campaign. “That’s the worst mistake they can make. The rhetoric they’re using is damaging the United States abroad and creating real concerns about where this country is going in the future.”
Panetta was joined on the call by retired Major General Tony Taguba, who led the investigation into the abuses at Abu Ghraib, as well as by deputy homeland security adviser Rand Beers. All three men have endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.
Earlier this week, Clinton laid out her counterterrorism strategy in a speech at Stanford University, where she targeted Trump and Cruz for their “dangerous” national security agendas.
Trump: 'I had absolutely nothing to do with' Enquirer story
Trump has responded to Ted Cruz’s accusation that he, Trump, had a role in the National Enquirer publishing a story based on unnamed “sources” alleging that Cruz has had extramarital affairs.
The statement was obtained by the Guardian (thx @bencjacobs).
“I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this week’s issue of the National Enquirer is true or not,” Trump begins,
but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it. I have nothing to do with the National Enquirer and unlike Lyin’ Ted Cruz I do not surround myself with political hacks and henchman and then pretend total innocence. Ted Cruz’s problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while they were right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin’ Ted Cruz. I look forward to spending the week in Wisconsin, winning the Republican nomination and ultimately the Presidency in order to Make America Great Again.
- Donald J. Trump
Campaign update: pic.twitter.com/nkyIXJgbHY
— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) March 25, 2016
Updated
Cruz on Trump's 'consistently disgraceful behavior'
Cruz has posted a statement on Facebook saying that Trump had “enlist[ed] his friends at the National Enquirer and his political henchmen to do his bidding.”
“Donald Trump’s consistently disgraceful behavior is beneath the office we are seeking and we are not going to follow,” the statement says.
snivelingcoward.com. Guess what happens when you type that in a browser?
(h/t @thehill)
There’s a Batman vs Superman movie out and now there’s this:
Cruz is asked again whether he would support Donald Trump should Trump be the Republican nominee. In the last two days Cruz has called Trump a “petty little man” and “sniveling coward” whose conduct is “unbefitting the president.”
Cruz replies:
.@TedCruz: "I don't make a habit out of supporting people who attack my wife and family, and Donald Trump is not going to be the" nominee.
— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) March 25, 2016
Here’s how he answered yesterday:
.@tedcruz calls @realdonaldtrump "sniveling coward" - but won't say he won't back him as GOP nominee. Our exchange: pic.twitter.com/ACZMBvr4aS
— Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) March 24, 2016
Have we hit rock bottom yet?
— David Nather (@DavidNather) March 25, 2016
Updated
Cruz: Trump conduct 'unbefitting the president'
Ted Cruz "The conduct of Donald Trump is unbefitting the president of the United States "
— Ginger Gibson (@GingerGibson) March 25, 2016
Meanwhile, on the Supreme Court front... shocking allegations that president Obama’s nominee cheated at a junior high relay footrace:
Junior high classmate of Merrick Garland still mad at him for allegedly cheating in relay race https://t.co/65USH9JCG9
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) March 25, 2016
This Cruz news conference, for which we have yet to locate a live video stream, is a doozie. Here’s the Washington Post’s Dave Wiegel:
Cruz also navigates around the term ratf**ker: "Donald may be a rodent but I have no desire to copulate with him."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) March 25, 2016
What does that even mean?
On Edwards the Enquirer had photos, reporters willing to vouch for sketchy behavior firsthand, and hotel bookings. Here they have "sources."
— Popehat (@Popehat) March 25, 2016
Further reading: Donald Trump’s Alliance With the National Enquirer
Updated
Cruz calls tabloid report 'garbage'
Ted Cruz has appeared before the press and called the National Enquirer report that Donald Trump’s spokeswoman denied earlier “garbage.”
Cruz says National Enquirer story is "garbage," blames "Donald Trump and his henchmen."
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) March 25, 2016
Cruz on Enquirer piece: "It is garbage, complete & utter lies. It is a tabloid smear and it has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen."
— Alexandra Jaffe (@ajjaffe) March 25, 2016
Updated
We’re about to hear from Senator Ted Cruz, who is actually out campaigning today, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin:
.@tedcruz about to hold press avail in Oshkosh - more formal setup than for his usual gaggles (see: podium, chairs) pic.twitter.com/BjujV9ADm7
— Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) March 25, 2016
Tulsi Gabbard, the US representative from Hawaii, combat veteran and Bernie Sanders surrogate, has cut a poignant ad for Sanders in which she reflects on what it means to be a warrior and says that Sanders is one.
The Vermont senator understands the costs of war, she tells the camera, and would keep the country safe without committing to foolish military expeditions.
It starts with surfing footage:
Trump’s spokeswoman tweets about “tabloid trash.” She’s referring to a National Enquirer report making a SHOCKING CLAIM about Ted Cruz. Google will get you there #godspeed
What's worse? People who actually believe the trash in tabloids, or the ones who know it's false &spread it anyway? #stupidity on all levels
— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) March 25, 2016
We think this national campaign spokesperson is using a wrong preposition here:
Of course the National Enquirer story is 100% FALSE!!! I only speak to myself, however.
— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) March 25, 2016
Carry on...
Updated
Share the wealth, but hands off my fries!
Best. GIF. Ever. pic.twitter.com/4Xpau23MRE
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) March 25, 2016
Christie fills key roll in Trump campaign - report
New Jersey governor Chris Christie, whose designs on the presidency did not go according to the original plan, and whose scramble to endorse Trump quickly morphed into a gloomy sidekick role, is wielding influence behind the scenes in the Trump campaign, NJ Advance Media reports:
Christie is becoming a key conduit to [Donald Trump] for policy experts, donors and potential backers who now believe he will be the Republican nominee...
A member of Christie’s inner circle confirmed the governor took time from his 30th wedding anniversary vacation in Florida to help Trump with “debate prep” at the real estate mogul’s Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach on March 9, a day ahead of the last Republican debate in Miami.
Read the full piece here. In other Christie news, he autographed a pair of gym shorts, and you can bid for them on eBay, for what looks like at least 200 actual US dollars.
(h/t: @batterdippin)
Updated
Don’t look now, but Ted Cruz is in your kitchen, and he has made himself coffee:
That’s one of three new video spots up on Cruz’s YouTube channel (if you don’t have it bookmarked it’s here). In the ad, Cruz says he’s running for president to address worries about jobs and wages. In a second ad he touts his tax plan (abolish the IRS / institute a flat tax with a VAT) and in a third ad he features a mechanic who has nearly lost his small business to the taxman and who says “Donald Trump’s empty promises won’t cut it.”
We need Deepak Chopra to tell us this?
Deepak Chopra: Donald Trump brings out our "dark side" https://t.co/oyGdgqWWba pic.twitter.com/CmLnyNUtU1
— The Hill (@thehill) March 25, 2016
Announcing a new delegate tracker toy
Regular readers (we’re not calling you regular, we just mean those who read us regularly) are familiar with our delegates tracker widget, below.
Now we’d like you to try out a new elections-tracking tool: a state-by-state delegates tracker that uses color coding to illustrate intensities of victory (bold is a lot of delegates; faint is fewer).
Updated
A Muslim community where Cruz's 'patrol' plan sounds like more of the same
Few communities in the US should be as concerned about Ted Cruz’s proposal to aggressively surveil Muslims than Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge, writes the Guardian’s Jamiles Lartey:
The neighborhood is home to one of the largest Muslim enclaves in the country, estimated at over 30,000. A walk down Fourth Avenue will turn up as many shop awnings in Arabic as in English, and women in hijab and niqab are as common a sight as business suits in Manhattan’s financial district.
But here, perhaps as much as anywhere, the reaction for many is closer to apathy.
Cruz’s comments “seem like a revelation to everyone else and my response is that it’s already been happening,” said Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab-American Association of New York. Sarsour, a lifelong Brooklynite and Bay Ridge resident added: “Muslim communities around the country have been under constant surveillance for the past 15 years.”
Read the full piece here:
After Cruz called Trump a “sniveling coward” yesterday, Trump said he started it.
–30–
I didn't start the fight with Lyin'Ted Cruz over the GQ cover pic of Melania, he did. He knew the PAC was putting it out - hence, Lyin' Ted!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2016
Statement I just sent to media re: Trump's continuing temper tantrum. pic.twitter.com/jyQmglwEmK
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) March 25, 2016
Updated
Cruz operatives are anti-Muslim extremists, watchdogs warn
Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign is drawing extreme anti-Muslim propagandists into the mainstream of US politics, academics and Muslim civil rights groups are warning, writes Guardian chief reporter Ed Pilkington:
[...] Yet by rushing to Cruz’s aid, the Republican leadership is in danger of embracing a candidate who is even more extreme in his Islamophobic posturing than the current frontrunner. Cruz’s foreign policy team includes people who have called for all mosques to be shut down across America, claimed the country is being subverted by the Muslim Brotherhood and decried all followers of the Islamic faith as jihadists.
“This is more than worrying, it is terrifying,” said Nathan Lean, a specialist in Islamophobia at Georgetown University’s Bridge Institute. “Bringing such views into a presidential campaign inflames the anxieties of ordinary Americans and gives them license to amp up scrutiny and skepticism towards the Muslim community.”
Read the full piece here:
From the comments / here comes chaos
Our lone commenter so far sees whitewater ahead for the national raft.
Ron Fournier’s piece in the Atlantic yesterday on “Trump’s Ponzi scheme” is exactly the supplemental reading on this topic you’re looking for:
But if you take a closer look, I think you’ll find that Donald Trump’s presidential record is just like his actual business record: exploiting the hopes and fears of Americans by promising huge rewards, without any practical plan for delivering them. It’s a political Ponzi scheme.
Read the full piece here.
Clinton gets mansplaining lesson
Hillary Clinton got a lesson in mansplaining when she stopped by the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live in Los Angeles on Thursday night.
In the appearance, Kimmel asks the former secretary of state whether she’s familiar with “mansplaining”.
“That’s when a man explains something to a woman in a patronizing way,” she replies.
“Actually, it’s when a man explains something to a woman in a condescending way,” he corrects her. “But you were close.” Kimmel then offers to helps her improve her delivery on the stump.
Kimmel’s assistant Guillermo brings out a podium affixed with a “Fighting for US” campaign sign. Clinton steps behind it and begins a speech but it almost immediately interrupted.
“It’s just – maybe – something a little more fun next time, but not too fun,” he suggests. “Serious but not too serious. You want to be stylish but not looking like you’re trying to be stylish. And also presidential.”
The skit poked fun at the reoccurring criticism – almost singularly from male journalists and pundits – of Clinton’s voice and facial expressions. She was most recently accused of “shouting” while she spoke over a crowd of screaming fans during her victory speech at a primary night party in West Palm Beach. Male pundits also wondered why she wasn’t more smiley.
Kimmel tells Clinton to smile while she speaks. She smiles widely and takes another stab at it.
“Don’t smile like that because it’s too forced, it looks like you’re faking it. You know what you have to do? Ask yourself, ‘do I want to be president or do I want to be a Lakers girl?’”
Clinton turns away from the podium to stare down Kimmel. “Is that a real choice?”
The skit ends with Kimmel still not satisfied with Clinton’s delivery.
“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Kimmel says, “But something is, you’re not...”
“A man?” Clinton offers.
Exactly!
Hello and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House.
Three far western states – Alaska, Hawaii and Washington – will hold Democratic caucuses tomorrow.
On the Republican side, they’re gearing up for a fight over votes already cast. Donald Trump has recruited a team to lead a battle over delegates at the party’s convention in July, NBC News reported. The team includes Barry Bennett, the former Ben Carson campaign manager, plus:
Trump’s general counsel, former FEC commissioner Don McGahn, former Carson aides such as Jason Osborne, who handled floor operations at past conventions, and Ed Brookover, a former RNC political director with deep ties to Washington Republicans.
The operation seems to have its work cut out for it, as they’re getting a late start and, according to a new report by the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs, facing a lack of organization on the state level.
...then you're missing a pretty valuable strategic step in the contested nomination process.
— Josh Putnam (@FHQ) March 25, 2016
In Illinois, delegates elected to represent Donald Trump have voiced fears about chaotic organization and a lack of leadership in their state as Republicans prepare for what could be the first contested convention in decades, Ben writes:
During a torturous two-hour conference call on Thursday night, the delegates struggled to figure out how to help the frontrunner at the Republican National Convention in July, wondering how best to contact the campaign in Wisconsin for tips.
Anxiety was mounting throughout the conference call about the lack of organization in the Land of Lincoln for Trump. As one person said “There is no Trump team in Illinois, it’s us”, a statement echoed by pro-Trump activist Doug Ibendahl when he pointed out on the call “we don’t have any leader, it’s just us.”
Read more here:
A certain other Republican campaign, meanwhile, seems to have the delegates-trapping process down to a science. Guess whose? Ted Cruz lost Louisiana to Trump 38-41 – but it appears that he will come away with 10 more delegates, the Wall Street Journal reported.
There’s a lot cooking today – thanks for reading and as always join us in the comments!
Updated
Get used to The Lord of Chaos.