Apr 13, 2016 6 min read

Wake Up To Politics - April 13, 2016

Wednesday, April 13, 2016
6 Days Until the New York Primary
209 Days Until Election Day 2016I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from WUTP world HQ in my bedroom - Good morning: THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!
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Ryan: “I should not be considered” for the GOP nod House Speaker Paul Ryan doubled down Tuesday on his assertion that he will not become the Republican presidential nominee at the party’s convention in July.
Ryan, who announced last year that he would not seek the presidency, reiterated his stance at a news conference on Capitol Hill. “Let me be clear,” Ryan said. “I do not want, nor will I accept, the Republican nomination.”
He continued, addressing the delegates: “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 simply believe if you want to be the nominee…you should actually run for it. I chose not to. Therefore I should not be considered. Period.”
Ryan, the 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, may have delivered a Shermanesque, but some remained in doubt: he did, after all, initially refuse to run for Speaker of the House, before running for that office. Ryan is seen by many as the Republican Party’s best alternative at a contested convention.
Polling Roundup: Maryland A poll of likely Maryland primary voters released by NBC 4/Marist on Tuesday showed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump ahead in the state’s primary. Clinton led Bernie Sanders with a 22-point margin, 58% to 36%. Trump led with 41% to Ted Cruz’s 29% and John Kasich’s 25%. Maryland votes on April 26.
Invisible Primary Who’s endorsing who?
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) become the first sitting U.S. Senator to endorse fellow Sen. Bernie Sanders, with a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday morning. Merkley wrote that his endorsement was made “after considering the biggest challenges facing our nation and the future I want for my children and our country”.
Merkley praised both Hillary Clinton (“would be a strong and capable president) and Barack Obama (“our country is fairer and more prosperous for all than it was seven years ago), but said only Sanders is “boldly and fiercely addressing the biggest challenges facing our country,” pointing to trade deals, global warming, campaign finance reform, and other issues.
Oregon votes on May 17; Merkley is one of the state’s superdelegates.
The New York Daily News endorsed Hillary Clinton in an editorial published Tuesday, which will grace the tabloid’s cover Wednesday, with the headline “Why we choose Hil over Bernie”. The editorial board had much praise for Clinton, calling their candidate a “superprepared warrior realist” who is “supremely knowledgeable about the powers a President can wield” and “possess the strength and the shrewdness to confront the tough politics of advancing an ambitious Democratic agenda”. And Sanders? A “fantasist who’s at passionate war with reality”.
The Daily News is owned by Democratic donor Mort Zuckerman, a longtime friend of the Clintons; Sanders did sit for an editorial board interview with the tabloid, which proved disastrous. The New York primary is April 19.
Link Roundup: Conventionwatch Best stories of the day, focused today on the GOP Convention
“Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz is close to ensuring that Donald Trump cannot win the GOP nomination on a second ballot at the party’s July convention in Cleveland, scooping up scores of delegates who have pledged to vote for him instead of the front-runner if given the chance.”
“The push by Cruz means that it is more essential than ever for Trump to clinch the nomination by winning a majority of delegates to avoid a contested and drawn-out convention fight, which Trump seems almost certain to lose.”
“The GOP race now rests on two cliffhangers: Can Trump lock up the nomination before Cleveland? And if not, can Cruz cobble together enough delegates to win a second convention vote if Trump fails in the first?” (Washington Post)
“Call it the Republican convention's nuclear option: GOP delegates fly into Cleveland and are freed from voting for Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, or even John Kasich.”
“From the first ballot on, the concept goes, delegates simply pick anyone they want to be the Republican nominee.”
“At least one Republican Party player, North Dakota's Curly Haugland, is lobbying to do just that: Free the delegates [by not setting any rules that bound the delegates to candidates when the RNC Rules Committee meets in coming months to decide how the 2016 convention will work].” (CNN)
Today on the Trail Where are the 2016 presidential candidates today?
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are both in New York City. Sanders is holding a large “Future to Believe In GOTV” rally/concert in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, featuring celebrity guests including “Vampire Weekend, Spike Lee, Rosario Dawson, Shailene Woodley, Linda Sarsour, Tim Robbins and Graham Nash,” according to his campaign.
Clinton will speak at the 25^th Anniversry National Convention of the National Action Network, the group founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, in New York City today. Clinton will also hold an Organizing Event in the Bronx, and is expected to receive the endorsement of the New York State Immigrant Action Fund (and announce plans to create a national Office of Immigrant Affairs).
John Kasich will hold a Town Hall in Savage, Maryland. Donald Trump will hold a rally in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and sit for an hour-long event with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. Ted Cruz will take questions from GOP voters with wife Heidi in a Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, and later hold a Rally in Erie, Pennsylvania.White House Watch
The President’s Schedule At 10am, President Barack Obama will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing.
At 12:30pm, Obama will hold his weekly lunch with Vice President Joe Biden.
At 2:15pm, the President will drop in on the White House Science Fair to view student projects, and then speak at the Fair at 2:50pm to “celebrate the student winners of a broad range of STEM competitions from across the country,” according to the White House.
At 3:50pm, he will make the short trip to Langley, Virginia to meet with his National Security Council on ISIS and Syria at CIA headquarters, where Obama will deliver a statement at 5:30pm.
Link Roundup: Obama campaigning “Though he's staying neutral in the Democratic presidential race, Obama is wading deep into Democratic primaries for Congress, state legislature and even mayoral races, cherry-picking candidates he sees as stronger while preparing to campaign in person for Democrats in the fall.” (AP)