MORNING MESSAGE
Paul Ryan Is Not The One To Save The GOP From Donald Trump
One anonymous Republican insider told Politico that there’s a 60 percent of convention deadlock, an 90 percent chance that the delegates will unite around Ryan, and a 54 percent chance that Ryan will end up the party’s nominee. Here’s a reality check: Paul Ryan won’t save the Republican party from what having Donald Trump as its nominee would do to the party. Beneath his cool, less orange exterior, Ryan isn’t all that different from Trump.
BURNING ISSUES: KEEPING THE TERROR THREAT IN CONTEXT
Paul Pillar, a former U.S. intelligence official cautions, in this installment of the Burning Issues video series, against overreacting to ISISand against reacting without a long-term plan for addressing the effects of an intervention.
RHETORIC INTENSIFIES IN NY
Clinton campaign rips Sanders as shallow. Reuters:“The two-pronged attack … focused on Sanders’ wide-ranging and policy-heavy interview with the New York Daily News. The Super PAC, Correct the Record, circulated a mash-up of television pundits criticizing Sanders’ perceived missteps … In an email to supporters, a senior Clinton campaign aide said ‘even on his signature issue of breaking up the banks’ Sanders had been ‘unable to answer basic questions’ … ‘If you are going to be a single-issue candidate, at least know your single issue,’ Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said on Twitter.”
“Let’s Dispel Once and for All With This Fiction that Sanders Doesn’t Know How to Break Up Banks”writes Roosevelt Institute’s Mike Konczal
Sanders argues Clinton “not qualified” to be president. Bloomberg:“‘She has been saying lately that she thinks I am not quote unquote qualified to be president,’ Sanders told a [Philadelphia] crowd of approximately 9,000. ‘Let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton: I don’t believe that she is qualified if she is, through her super-PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special interests funds.’ … [Earlier on MSNBC] Clinton was asked if she believed Sanders was qualified to be president … Clinton said it seemed like Sanders ‘hadn’t done his homework’ but declined to directly answer the question, saying it was up to voters…”
Battle for upstate NY. NYT:“…16 years later, Mrs. Clinton is again promising to bring jobs back to the region as she courts the people who helped secure her first election victory … critics say that she failed to deliver on the centerpiece of her 2000 push — a promise to bring 200,000 jobs to New York … Unlike voters in other primary states, many people in upstate New York have met Mrs. Clinton.”
Democrats hit Wisconsin congressman for boasting about voter suppression. The Hill:“‘I think Hillary Clinton is about the weakest candidate the Democrats have ever put up,’ Grothman told an NBC affiliate in Milwaukee. ‘And now we have photo ID, and I think photo ID is going to make a little bit of a difference as well.’ The Democrats pounced, with [Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Martha] Laning saying Grothman ‘slipped up last night and accidentally told the truth.'”
CRUZ GETS RUDE NY WELCOME
“Bronx residents blast Ted Cruz” reports NY Daily News:“Cruz was crucified during a stop in the Bronx, where residents and elected leaders derided him for insulting the city and the borough, only to come crawling back begging for money and votes … ‘You’re running on an anti-immigrant platform, and you’re speaking in the Bronx,’ Rodrigo Venegas told Cruz. ‘You should not be here.'”
Arrests at Long Island Trump rally. NY Daily News:“Several elderly supporters were taken from the packed event on stretchers and at least two people were arrested when a fight broke out inside the hall, police said.
More Republicans think Trump will be blocked at the convention. The Hill:“If Trump doesn’t win on the first ballot, a growing number say, he’s likely to lose the nomination to Cruz or someone else … More than 90 percent of the delegates at the convention will be bound to various candidates — largely based on their performances in the primaries and caucuses —but more than 50 percent become unbound and will be free to vote for whomever they support on a second ballot. About 80 percent of the delegates would become unbound on a third ballot.”
Trump faces myriad of convention challenges. Politico:“Every aspect of the Republican National Convention is a potential tripwire … from major processes to invalidate whole slates of delegates to minor inconveniences, like seating arrangements for delegates inside the arena, which could complicate negotiations if the convention becomes a free-for-all.”
Trump seeks to beef up staff. W. Post:“Donald Trump’s campaign will soon announce the hiring of several ‘seasoned operatives’ and ‘well-known, established names’ to help the Republican front-runner quickly grow his operation and prepare for a likely contested convention, his campaign manager said Wednesday.”
Rubio allies hesitate to back Cruz. W. Post:“While Cruz has won the support of five former candidates, Rubio has held out. So have many of the donors and elected officials who backed him … in a chamber where Cruz has irked his colleagues, the firebrand Texan is proving to be a hard sell.”
OBAMA STUMPS FOR GARLAND
Obama to make the case for his SCOTUS nom in Chicago today. NYT:“…he will return to the law school for the first time as president, using the backdrop of his academic life to underscore his demand that Republicans follow the letter of the law by agreeing to hold a hearing and a vote on his nominee…”
WH plans for lame-duck fight to confirm Garland. Politico:“Administration officials and Obama supporters hope they can capitalize on the president’s climbing poll numbers and their success among Democrats and independents in portraying the Republican blockade of Garland as an insult to the president … Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and her staff have stepped up White House meetings with liberal activist groups to keep them engaged…”
No “dirt” finds Mother Jones:“Conservative groups have hired teams of opposition researchers to rifle through Garland’s past. But the dirt-diggers—and most media outlets, too—are coming up dry.”
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