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2016 Election Tag

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 09, 2016 8 Comments
A new survey shows that Donald Trump has bipartisan appeal and that some Democratic voters would abandon Hillary to vote for him in a general election match-up. If you enjoy imagining nightmare scenarios for Democrats, you'll love this. James Warren of U.S. News and World Report has the story:
Trump Could Win It All So if Donald Trump proved the political universe wrong and won the Republican presidential nomination, he would be creamed by Hillary Clinton, correct? A new survey of likely voters might at least raise momentary dyspepsia for Democrats since it suggests why it wouldn't be a cakewalk. The survey by Washington-based Mercury Analytics is a combination online questionnaire and "dial-test" of Trump's first big campaign ad among 916 self-proclaimed "likely voters" (this video shows the ad and the dial test results). It took place primarily Wednesday and Thursday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 07, 2016 24 Comments
Hillary Clinton has a big problem. As a candidate, she wants to be seen as an advocate for women but her husband's past and her defense of it conflicts with that message. She simply can't have it both ways. To make matters worse, some of Bill Clinton's accusers are starting to come forward. Mark Hensch and Jonathan Easley report at The Hill:
Bill Clinton rape accuser: Hillary 'tried to silence' me A woman who publicly accused former President Bill Clinton of raping her in 1978 is resurrecting her claims on social media. “I was 35 years old when Bill Clinton, Ark. Attorney General raped me,” Juanita Broaddrick tweeted Wednesday.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 21, 2015 13 Comments
In early October 2015 we wrote about an academic study showing Democrats Moving Left Faster Than Republicans Moving Right:
The meme we’ve been hearing for years is that radical right-wing “hard liners” are hijacking the Republican party and forcing it to the right; however, an interesting new study argues that Democrats are moving more quickly to the left than Republicans are moving to the right. It also indicates that the Democrats’ move leftward has had the unintended consequence of moving state legislatures to the right.
A Gallup survey released today confirms that Democrats are moving left
Democrats' desire for a "liberal" or "very liberal" candidate has grown, from 30% in 2007 to 36% now. However, the largest share of Democrats and Democratic leaners -- 40% -- still mostly prefer a moderate candidate. This desire has shrunk somewhat from 48% in 2007. Because of these shifts, Democrats are now about as likely to say they prefer a liberal nominee (36%) as a moderate nominee (40%), while in 2007, they had a clearer preference for a moderate (48%) than for a liberal (30%)....

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 15, 2015 13 Comments
Howdy and thanks so much for joining us tonight! CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LIVE REACTIONS FROM THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE CNN, host of tonight's Republican debate, has a lifestream available to here. If you'd prefer to listen, Salem Radio Network is airing the debate here. Welcome to the main stage! Tonight’s debate will feature…
  • Carly Fiorina
  • Jeb Bush
  • Donald Trump
  • Ben Carson
  • Marco Rubio
  • Ted Cruz
  • Rand Paul
  • John Kasich
  • Chris Christie

Watch real time debate reaction:

To providing a wide array of real time reactions, we've included a few different Twitter feeds for your entertainment. You'll find those beneath.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 30, 2015 26 Comments
It's been a great year and a half for me here at Legal Insurrection---but it's time to say goodbye. I've accepted a position in a law firm, which means its back to the real world, and away from the wonderfully bizarre world of full-time conservative journalism. I say "wonderfully bizarre," and I truly mean it. The internet is a weird place, but I like to think that Legal Insurrection kicks up its political commentary more than a few notches above the rest. Of course, with a great platform comes great responsibility...and exposure...and criticism. On more than one occasion, Taylor Swift served as a terribly relevant addition to my workday playlist.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 28, 2015 9 Comments
If current fundraising totals are any indication of the 2016 election, and they should be, the Republicans are in much better shape than the Democrats. The Republican National Committee is flush with cash, while the Democratic National Committee is mired in debt. This news doesn't apply to any single presidential candidate at this point but it's still important because these organizations fund congressional races. FOX News reports:
DNC deep in debt as RNC builds up $20 million war chest The Republican National Committee keeps building its cash advantage over its Democratic rivals, strengthening the party’s position going into the election year – with the latest monthly reports showing the DNC with a major debt, while the RNC has accrued a $20M war chest. The Republicans announced last week that they had raised $8.7 million in October, which they say broke a record for presidential off-year fundraising record.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 06, 2015 17 Comments
Substance abuse and addiction have always been an issue in America but these problems have never figured as largely in a Republican primary as they do now. According to a recent poll in New Hampshire, drug addiction was the number one concern of respondents, topping even jobs and the economy. Heather Haddon reports at the Wall Street Journal:
Drug Deaths Becoming a 2016 Presidential Election Issue New Hampshire poll participants put it above jobs and economy as something candidates should address Buddy Phaneuf, owner of New Hampshire’s largest funeral home network, has overseen burials and cremations in more than 50 heroin-related deaths this year. The average age of the decedent: 32. Christopher Stawasz, manager of an ambulance service in Nashua, said the city set a record of 28 overdoses in September, then topped it with 37 in October. “It’s surreal,” he said. “It’s just day after day.”

Posted by New Neo on November 06, 2015 12 Comments
Obama likes to mock the opposition:
"Have you noticed that everyone of these candidates say, 'Obama's weak. Putin's kicking sand in his face. When I talk to Putin, he's going to straighten out,'" Obama said, impersonating a refrain among Republican candidates that he's allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin too much leeway. "Then it turns out they can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators at the debate. Let me tell you, if you can't handle those guys, then I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you," Obama said.
Of course, Obama has never had to handle anything even remotely like the questions at that CNBC debate, since the MSM is respectful to him to the point of obsequiousness, and debate moderators have gone so far as to carry his water when he seems about to falter. In 2007, he and Hillary Clinton boycotted a debate that had been scheduled to be co-hosted by Fox News; the other co-host was the Congressional Black Caucus, but apparently even that hosting balancing act wasn't quite friendly enough.

Posted by New Neo on October 29, 2015 70 Comments
It turns out that instead of a snoozefest, the third debate was fascinating. And it was all thanks to the incredibly clear anti-GOP bias of CNBC. What am I talking about? Group dynamics, that's what. I've studied groups and I've run groups. Groups don't happen just because you get a bunch of people together in a room, even if they're sitting in a circle, holding hands and singing "Kumbaya." There comes a time in the life of a collection of people when they become a group, even if only temporarily---even a group of people that's pitted against each other in competition, like the candidates last night. If you give them a common enemy against which to unite, they sometimes become a group, and that's what happened Wednesday evening. It took a little time. Even though the candidates knew they were in enemy territory with these moderators, I think even they were surprised at the extent of the bias and the sharpness of the "gotcha" questions. So it took a while to know how to react. Trump had already called one question "not nicely asked," but Cruz was most definitely the leader, the first to go on a lengthy offensive against the moderators. And what an attack it was! Take a look:

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 24, 2015 37 Comments
Democrats are are gleeful over Hillary Clinton's performance at the Benghazi hearing on Friday. Her fundraising is up, she's received a big labor union endorsement and two of her Democratic rivals have dropped out of the race. Even so, their enthusiasm smacks of overconfidence. Jordain Carney of The Hill:
Senate Dems rally around Clinton after Benghazi hearing Senate Democrats are rallying behind Hillary Clinton after her marathon appearance before the House Select Committee on Benghazi, suggesting Republicans have only helped bolster the former secretary of State's presidential bid. "I had somebody come to my home this morning and say, 'You know, I think that put her in the White House,'" Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told reporters Friday.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 21, 2015 207 Comments
Through the spring and summer, many pundits and politicians dismissed Donald Trump's campaign for president as a flash in the pan. Large crowds at his events were explained away by dissatisfaction with the establishment. Now that his lead in the polls has held for so long, people are singing a different tune. Howard Kurtz of FOX News:
The media establishment finally admits Trump could win this thing I remember shaking my head, on the day that Donald Trump announced, when NPR’s Mara Liasson declared that this would be the best day of his campaign and it was downhill from there. Liasson cheerfully admitted she was wrong on my show, but she had plenty of company. Most of the media establishment seemed to fall into two camps: those who were skeptical that Trump was anything more than a sideshow, and those who attacked him as a clown and a charlatan. Fast-forward to this past weekend when Chris Wallace, having just interviewed Trump for “Fox News Sunday,” said: “I know all of us dismissed Trump, early on, all of the so-called experts.” But after their sitdown, Wallace said, “I am beginning to believe he could be elected president of the United States.”

Posted by Amy Miller on October 14, 2015 6 Comments
Hillary Clinton's performance in last night's debate set off a maelstrom of media filings questioning everything (apparently) we thought we knew about the Democratic primary. Is Joe Biden finished? Did Hillary Clinton just knock Biden out of the running? Is Joe Biden even relevant now? Personally, I think many of these writers are overstating Clinton's performance. She sounded strong, but also rehearsed; that being said, nothing we saw last night should shock us. For all her crimes (give it time,) Hillary Clinton was a First Lady, a Senator, and Secretary of State. She knows how to handle herself. Should we use her lack of meltdown as evidence that Biden 2016 is a lost cause? On the whole, I think not. It's still too early---and Americans still like Joe Biden. A Gallup poll released today shows that 49% of Americans still have a favorable view of Biden; this is his best polling performance since Obama's 2009 "honeymoon" period. biden favorable unfavorable october 2015

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 13, 2015 76 Comments
Despite the crowds of devoted followers who show up at his campaign events, not everyone on the left is convinced that Bernie Sanders could close the deal with America, should he somehow beat the Clinton machine. Bernie's biggest problem, according to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, is the way Sanders describes himself in political terms:
Why Bernie Sanders isn’t going to be president, in five words Here's an exchange from Bernie Sanders's appearance on "Meet the Press" on Sunday: And, in those five words, Sanders showed why — no matter how much energy there is for him on the liberal left — he isn't getting elected president.

Posted by New Neo on October 09, 2015 7 Comments
Hillary Clinton's opponents in the race for the 2016 Democratic nomination are against the TPP deal, unions are against the deal, and now she's against it too although previously she was one of its strongest supporters. It's hard to imagine that a single thinking human being would be convinced that her change of heart on this issue is on the merits rather than merely politically expedient. For example, even Ezra Klein finds himself a mite perturbed by her reversal on this and other matters:
Of late, Clinton is again looking like the kind of candidate who puts polls in front of policy. First, she came out against Obamacare's Cadillac tax — a policy that enjoys wide support among health economists... ...What I have trouble believing is that Clinton and her policy advisers really think the Cadillac tax is a bad idea. Her past policies embrace its theory, her past advisers helped pass it into law... On Wednesday, Clinton came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, saying that she's concerned with the provisions around pharmaceuticals and the absence of provisions around currency manipulation. But as Tim Lee notes, Clinton strongly supported early versions of the deal — she called the TPP "the gold standard in trade agreements" — that were worse on pharmaceuticals and identical on currency manipulation...

Posted by Amy Miller on October 05, 2015 23 Comments
Since news first broke about Hillary Clinton's "home-brew" email server, conservatives and transparency advocates have run a full-court press against Clinton's efforts to keep prying hands off of her official and personal communications. What should have been a simple (if massive) request for transparency has ballooned into a legal and political nightmare, leaving investigators open to a barrage of accusations claiming that, when it comes to Clinton, former Secretaries of State should remain virtually untouchable. The idea is nonsense, not only because it ignores the law, but because it ignores the question anyone with a brain and common sense has been asking since day one, but no one with a big enough megaphone has asked. Finally, someone asked it. During a town hall-style interview for the Today Show, Savannah Guthrie went there, asking Clinton, "do you know how bad it looks?" Watch:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 04, 2015 22 Comments
As the Hillary campaign tries to rally in the face of favorability numbers that must be causing more than a few sleepless nights at Camp Hillary and new financial boosts to Bernie Sanders' campaign, the news for Democrats is not all discouraging.  Apparently, there is a way that whomever the Democratic nominee, a Democrat can win the White House . . . with the help of illegal immigrants and a "glitch" in the Electoral College system. Paul Goldman and Mark Rozell, writing at Politico, have put forth an interesting premise:  "noncitizens decrease Republican chances of winning the White House next year."  In their article, entitled "Illegal Immigrants Could Elect Hillary," Goldman and Rozell explain:
The right to vote is intended to be a singular privilege of citizenship. But the 1787 Constitutional Convention rejected allowing the people to directly elect their President. The delegates chose instead our Electoral College system, under which 538 electoral votes distributed amongst the states determine the presidential victor. The Electoral College awards one elector for each U.S. Senator, thus 100 of the total, and D.C. gets three electors pursuant to the 23rd Amendment. Those electoral numbers are unaffected by the size of the noncitizen population. The same cannot be said for the remaining 435, more than 80 percent of the total, which represent the members elected to the House.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 03, 2015 8 Comments
A new Pew poll dropped on Friday and told us what we already know about this election cycle: American voters are ready for something different. We could have told you that months ago, citing the popularity of candidates like Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina as a prime example of been-there-done-that fatigue. The latest polling data (1,502 adults were surveyed, including 1,136 registered voters) serves to validate those candidates' rising stars More from Pew:
Since March, the share of all registered voters who say it is more important for a presidential candidate to have “new ideas and a different approach” has surged – with virtually all of the increase coming among Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Today, by more than two-to-one (65% to 29%), Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say it is more important that a candidate have new ideas than “experience and a proven record.” Just five months ago, GOP voters valued experience and a proven record over new ideas, 57% to 36%.

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 26, 2015 1 Comment
Despite pleas from numerous high level progressives over the last few years, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren is still insisting that she will not run for president in 2016. In an appearance on the Late Show this week, Stephen Colbert gave Warren celebrity treatment and asked her the question one more time. Curtis Houck of NewsBusters has the story:
Stephen Colbert Cozies Up to Elizabeth Warren, Pleads with Her to Run for President Near the tail end of his opening monologue, Colbert hyped that Warren “has launched a one-woman crusade against the billionaire class” and is “like Batman, but her enemy is Bruce Wayne.” Later in the September 24 program, Colbert introduced her as “the sheriff on Wall Street” and admitted to her that “you’ve come a long way, baby, if I may coin a corporate phrase.” Reminiscing about the first time he met her, Colbert hyped that she serves as “one of the household names in American politics and yet you are one of the few household names that is not running for president of the United States.” He then pleaded: “Are you sure you're not running for the president of the United States?
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