Thursday Reads
Posted: January 14, 2016 Filed under: morning reads, U.S. Politics 22 Comments
Henri Matisse: Winter Landscape on the Banks of the Seine
Good Morning!!
There’s a Republican debate tonight on the Fox Business Channel. We’ll have a live blog as usual. The kid’s table section will start at 6PM and the main event will be at 9PM. I don’t know why they don’t just let all the candidates on the main stage. Actually, I don’t know why the also rans don’t just drop out. Anyway, there could be some fireworks tonight between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. We’ll find out later tonight.
Time Magazine: The Stage Is Getting Smaller at GOP Debates.
The stage is set for Thursday night’s debate in Charleston, South Carolina, and only seven podiums remain for the top-tier candidates.
With the lead-off nominating contests starting in less than a month, it’s fast becoming clear which candidates have a credible shot at winning the Republicans’ presidential nomination and, perhaps more tellingly, which do not.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former tech executive07 Carly Fiorina were bumped from the primetime lineup, and Paul says he’s skipping the earlier undercard debate. Fiorina will face former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, two darlings of Christian conservatives.
Remaining on the main stage are frontrunner Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
With Iowa having the first nominating contests on Feb. 1, the dynamics of the race are incredibly fluid and the candidates’ attacks are getting sharper….
At this moment in the campaign, the biggest question for Republicans is what happens in Iowa. Will the thrice-married Trump keep his advantage in a state ripe with Evangelicals, or will Cruz be able to claim the top spot? Trump’s unconventional campaign is betting his reality star approach can sustain him against Cruz, who has done three times as many events as Trump. If Trump falters in Iowa, can he catch himself in New Hampshire, or will he fade? And will any of it matter for his legions of supporters?
Trump may have “legions of supporters” in Iowa, but will they show up to caucus for him? The New York Times has a really good story today about Trump’s dysfunctional ground game in the state.
Donald Trump’s Iowa Ground Game Seems to Be Missing a Coach.
Mr. Trump, who Iowa polls show is neck-and-neck with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, may well win the caucuses, now less than three weeks away. But if he does, it will probably be in spite of his organizing team, which after months of scattershot efforts led by a paid staff of more than a dozen people, still seems amateurish and halting, committing basic organizing errors….
Compared with the well-oiled machines of other leading candidates in both parties, particularly that of the Cruz campaign, the Trump ground game in Iowa seems partly an afterthought, as if Mr. Trump’s strategy is to leverage his charisma — the appeal that draws thousands to his rallies — to motivate voters.
But the challenge in Iowa is that historically, caucusgoers — only a sliver of registered voters — have had to be coaxed out by a field team, rather than be counted on to show up and vote on their own. This is especially true of the demographic that supports Mr. Trump: younger voters and others with a low propensity to turn out.
As temperatures plunged to single digits over the weekend, canvassers for Hillary Clinton posted photographs of themselves on social media going door to door in the snow. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s volunteers in Davenport, a city where the campaign appears to be better organized than elsewhere, decided it was too cold to go out.
Seven volunteers worked the phones at the Iowa headquarters of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in a Des Moines suburb one night last week. At the state headquarters of Mr. Cruz, there were 24 volunteers in a room beneath a sign proclaiming a daily goal of making 6,000 calls. The Trump state headquarters in West Des Moines were largely deserted.
Wow. If Trump’s organization is that bad in Iowa, what is he doing in later voting states? One fairly serious organizer the Times talked to is a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. Another said he hadn’t yet gotten any fliers from the campaign detailing Trump’s positions on issues, and besides he didn’t plan to make any calls until the last week before the caucuses. At rallies some Trump supporters say they will caucus for him, but most have never done it before and have no idea what it involves.
Yesterday the NYT reported that Ted Cruz had failed to report some large loans he used to help finance his campaign for the Senate in 2012, including one from Goldman Sachs, where Cruz’s wife Heidi was a “managing director” at the time. Cruz thinks it’s no big deal.
The Week: Ted Cruz shrugs off report that he got undisclosed Goldman Sachs loan for Senate campaign.
Confronted with the report late Wednesday, Cruz insisted that he had disclosed the margin loans, but “if it was the case that they were not filed exactly as the FEC requires, then we’ll amend the filing.” …. You can read more about the loans at The New York Times.
Yesterday the Sanders campaign announced that they probably wouldn’t be releasing details about the costs of their health care plan before the Iowa caucuses–after Sander himself had long pledged to do so. The Clinton campaign was high critical, and of course the dudebros were upset that anyone would say anything bad about poor Bernie.
The Des Moines Register: Sanders may not release health plan costs by caucus day (emphasis added).
News that U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders may not release tax details of his universal health care plan before Iowans go to caucus on Feb. 1 sparked a heated back-and-forth between his campaign and that of his chief rival, Hillary Clinton.
As part of his populist campaign focused on working and middle-class Americans, Sanders is calling for a “Medicare-for-all” national health insurance program that would effectively negate the role of private insurers. While he had pledged to release full tax plans before Iowans vote, his national campaign manager on Wednesday told CNN that the specific tax implications of the health care plan may not be released this month.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign wasted no time in pouncing on the announcement, slamming Sanders on Wednesday in a press call on the issue.
“I think one can only draw the conclusion that the Sanders campaign does not want to outline what would amount to a massive across the board tax increase,” said Jake Sullivan, senior policy adviser for Hillary for America. “They want to essentially create a circumstance in which they try to lead voters to believe they can implement single-payer health care at no burden to anyone and everyone would be better off.”
The Sanders campaign shook off the criticism. Sanders’ Iowa Director Robert Becker accused Clinton of a “Republican-style attack” against universal health care, which he called a “core Democratic Party value.” In a statement, Becker said the former secretary of state “has gone into full panic mode over the past few days” as polls are tightening in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“Let’s be clear: Bernie Sanders will put forth details for universal coverage when he is ready and not because Hillary Clinton suddenly realized she is losing,” Becker said.
Very nice. I’ve lost a most of my respect for Sanders at this point, to a large extent because of the people he has working for him.
General Electric announced yesterday that it is moving its headquarters to Boston. From the Wall Street Journal:
General Electric Co. will relocate its headquarters from leafy suburban Connecticut to Boston’s busy waterfront, ending a fierce competition among states to lure one of the nation’s largest companies.
Officials in Massachusetts said Wednesday they had offered incentives worth up to $145 million to the conglomerate. GE, which since 1974 has been based in Fairfield, Conn., promised to bring about 800 jobs to Boston.
The move comes amid a broader effort by GE to cut corporate costs and streamline operations for what it portrays as a new industrial era that will revolve around software innovation as much as bended metal—one that will make it a priority to attract the talented workers who prefer to live and work in cities.
More interesting reads to check out:
FiveThirtyEight is on the ground in Iowa right now, and they have been live blogging their observations. I’ve been finding it fascinating.
The Boston Globe: The expected ripple effect of GE’s move to Boston.
Vox: My husband raped two women — and I had to answer for his crimes.
CBS News: $1.6B Powerball jackpot: 3 winning tickets sold.
Washington Post: Obama to highlight Louisiana decision to expand Medicaid.
Newsweek via Raw Story: Ted Cruz’s birther problem grows as more constitutional law scholars say he can’t be president.
What else is happening? Let us know in the comment thread and have a great Thursday!
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
mablue2
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
To be honest, I am getting very nervous regarding the “Bernie surge” in the polls. It appears that all the “powers that be” are out for Hillary’s throat and in some cases it seems to be working.
I could not care less about the GOP creeps fighting among themselves. Just from watching the news it is clear that there is nothing to stop Trump from gaining the nomination because his idiot supporters have no idea what they are championing and cheering on as this loser insults his way to the nomination.
I fear this upcoming primary more so each day. I also concede that of all the commentators on this blog I have always been the “Debbie Downer” of posters since I really want assurances more than anything that Hillary is going to rise above this mess.
If it is Bernie I may just lose all interest and just stay home come November. He has a good message but he is not for me.
Sad to say.
I guess it depends what you mean by the “powers that be.” The media is rooting for Bernie, but the Democratic establishment isn’t. Hillary already has nearly 500 endorsements by superdelegates and Obama clearly supports her. Eric Holder endorsed her yesterday, and she has most of the union endorsements.
I’m nervous about Iowa too, but she can afford to lose both Iowa and NH and still win. Bernie needs to win both to have any chance. If anyone can explain to me how Bernie will win in the Southern and Midwestern states, I might be more worried. But I just don’t see it happening.
Thanks. Every so often I need somebody to walk me back off the ledge.
Me too!
Pat I am as nervous as you are…especially down here in Trump city. I mean Banjoville. I mean Georgia.
I want you to see this screenshot I took from an AJC poll about Georgia and Trump.
I don’t know where they get the 2/3 rejecting part. it is fucking obvious that Georgians love Trump and all his racist views.
Isn’t that just an on-line poll? That’s not scientific. They got the 2/3 figure from a real poll.
Lovely Matisse painting to lead off with!
If Hillary promised to release details of something, and then didn’t by the promised date, the Berniebots would be jeering and accusing. My, my, but they are so very touchy when it’s pointed out that Sanders is failing on one of his promises.
Their tender feelings are easily hurt. Poor things.
Interesting about Trump’s lack of organization in Iowa. Not too surprising, given his tactics. Why bother planning when you can shout, bluster and point? I look forward to seeing him sputter.
I was so sorry to hear about Alan Rickman’s death from cancer.
I loved him in every one of his memorable movie roles.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/1/13/1469263/-Losing-Bernie-My-Journey-from-FeelTheBern-to-HillYes
Thanks for the link. Sadly that kid will probably be drummed out of dailykos.
Very interesting. Thanks.
Oh, does that sound familiar!
I won’t be here for the live blog because I have dinner/overnight guests arriving later but I’m sure I’ll get the highlights.
The more I see from the Bernie camp, the more I’m convinced that most of the noise we are hearing is from a few passionate followers along with a large number of Republican ratfuckers. We saw this in ’08 with the Obots. The most vicious of them disappeared after Clinton was defeated in the primary. They won’t succeed this time and as I said before, even if Bernie loses in Iowa and or NH he will declare victory because it was so close. She will finish him off on Super Tuesday. As we say in Virginia, we got this.
I agree. Massachusetts will go for Hillary again, just like in 2008.
If the Democrats (and you can define that in any way you like, the establishment, the black vote, the youth vote, the female vote, the liberal media, Franklin and Eleanor’s disembodied ghosts, whomever), if the Democrats stab Hills in the back (AGAIN) they will never get another vote or another dime from me.
I mean that. Sincerely. I dread President Trump too, but too damned bad.
If they nominate anyone other that Hillary Rodham Clinton (including Jesus Christ Almighty himself) I am done with them. FOREVER!
She is brilliant, hard working, experienced, responsible, moderate and genuinely goodhearted.
They Powers That Be smear her constantly and the Dems are slowly to set the record straight.
The lying Republicans have turned me into an Obama defender even though I never wanted him and I think he is STILL after all this time, a little bit in over his head and more than a little weak. They lie and attack and undermine at every turn and call it his failure. Basically they used all the tactics that they perfected against the Clintons on Obama.
But this will be the END. PERIOD! If the Dems waste our time with a old socialist curmudgeon, while turning their backs on THE GREATEST FEMALE POLITICAL FIGURE of the last 25 years, there will be no coming back.
Seriously, you know that Bernie is supposed to be making Harvey Korman crack up and break character, not running the damned country.
I don’t dislike Bernie or what he stands for but Hillary is a Ferrari, Bernie is a unicycle! Waht are these people thinking!
Hillary will be nominated and elected president.
That would make losing the Powerball easier to take.
What Ron said!
Ditto! FYI – I left DKos back in 2007, never go there but some people share on my timeline. BB – I like your optimistic attitude.
I think someone should tell Sanders that he’s supposed to break campaign promises AFTER the election, not before it.