Feb 2, 2016 6 min read

Wake Up To Politics - February 2, 2016

To read today's edition of Wake Up To Politics in a PDF format, click here. Continue reading to find the text of the Wake Up in the body of the email!

Tuesday, February 2, 2016
7 Days until the New Hampshire primary
280 Days Until Election Day 2016 I'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!!!
To send me questions, comments, tips, new subscribers, and more: email me at wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com. To learn more about WUTP and subscribe, visit the site: wakeuptopolitics.com, or like me on Twitter and Facebook. More ways to engage with WUTP at the bottom. 2016 Central

Iowa caucuses: Cruz triumphs; Sanders, Clinton Virtually Tie The first votes of the 2016 presidential election were cast Monday, and Iowa caucusgoers delivered a decisive blow to Donald Trump, ushering Ted Cruz to victory on the Republican side, while Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders remained locked in a virtual tie.
With 99% of precincts reporting, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won the Republican caucuses with 27.7% of the vote, more than 6,000 votes ahead of businessman Donald Trump, who took 24.3%. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was close behind, with 23.1% of the total votes.
“Tonight is a victory for the grassroots,” Cruz declared in a speech to Iowa supporters Monday night. “Tonight is a victory for courageous conservatives across Iowa and for courageous conservatives across this great nation.”
Even in third place, Marco Rubio also declared victory Monday. “This is the moment they said would never happen. For months, they told us we had no chance,” Rubio told his supporters. “But tonight, here in Iowa the people of this great state have sent a very clear message after seven years of Barack Obama we are not waiting any longer.”
Donald Trump, meanwhile, gave an uncharacteristically humble speech, congratulating his opponents and thanking his supporters. Trump closed his speech by looking ahead: “On to New Hampshire,” he said. But his once-iron grip on the first-in-the-nation primary could diminish in the coming days, in light of losing Iowa, where his lack of a get-out-the-vote or data operation caught up to him.
In light of Monday’s results, the GOP race heads to New Hampshire a three-man race between Cruz, Trump, and Rubio.
Meanwhile, the state’s Democratic caucuses delivered a virtual tie: with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton taking 49.9% of the vote, to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sander’s 49.6%. 99% of precincts are reporting in that contest as well.
According to the Iowa Democratic Party, Clinton was awarded 699.57 state delegates, while Sanders received 695.49, a close edge for the former in the delegate race, but only barely.
Even still, Clinton told supporters she was “breathing a sigh of relief” at the results, much better than her 2008 Iowa caucus showing – although she wasn’t able to pull out a win in either instance.
Aboard a campaign plane to New Hampshire early Tuesday morning, Sanders told reporters he is “in this for the long haul”. Sanders currently leads Granite State polls by a large margin, although Clinton is forced to compete in the state the next week, which could be wasteful for her – or may allow an underdog victory.
On the Republican side, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson led the lower-tier candidates with 9.3% of the vote, followed by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s 4.5%, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s 2.8%. Businesswoman Carly Fiorina and Ohio Gov. John Kasich tied with 1.9% each, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (who suspended his campaign Monday night) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie both took 1.8%. Finally, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum took just 1% of the vote.
Already, one of these lower-tier contenders left the race (Huckabee, winner of the 2008 Iowa caucuses), with the rest of the candidates hoping to improve their totals in New Hampshire. Carson, however, announced Monday that he would not be heading straight to the Granite State, but would stop in Florida first, setting off mass media speculation that he was preparing to drop out. A Carson campaign statement tamped down the speculation, saying the candidate simply “needs to go home and get a fresh set of clothes.”
On the Democratic side, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley failed to reach viability in most precincts, resulting in 0.5% of the vote total. Due to Iowa Democratic rules requiring candidates to receive 15% support, O’Malley supporters had to pick another candidate in many caucuses, with most going to the Sanders camp. In light of his poor showing, O’Malley suspended his campaign Monday night.
On both sides, Monday night’s caucuses were historic: bringing record turnout for Republicans (benefiting Cruz), as well as the closest margin in Iowa Democratic caucus history (a success for Sanders).

Capitol Hill News

House: Today The lower chamber will vote on three bills today: the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act, which would amend federal housing assistance programs; the Iran Terror Finance Transparency Act, which would prohibit the President from lifting sanctions on Iran financial institutions without certifying that the institution has not financed a foreign terrorist organization or Iran’s nuclear program; and the Restoring American’s Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, which would defund the Affordable Care Act and Planned Parenthood.
That last vote is on a bill already passed by both houses of Congress, the vote is on overriding the President’s veto. House Republicans are expected to fail in getting the two-thirds required to override a veto.
Senate: Today The upper chamber will continue consideration of amendments to the Energy Policy Modernization Act, a wide-ranging energy bill to expand the conservation fund and update the electricity grid, among other new policies.
Nearly 200 amendments have been submitted, including a fix for the Flint water crisis, assistance to Puerto Rico for their financial crisis, and an amendment blocking the President’s halting of coal mining on federal land.

White House Watch

The President’s Schedule President Obama and Vice President Biden will meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan. They will “discuss legislative priorities for the coming months… areas of cooperation for the year ahead, and opportunities for Congress to work together to deliver for the American people.”
Afterwards, Ryan and Obama will have lunch together in the Oval Office, their first one-on-one meeting since Ryan became Speaker last October.
First Lady’s Schedule At 2pm Eastern Time, First Lady Michelle Obama will join actresses Lena Dunham and Julianne Moore for a panel discussion on “the power of the media industry to raise awareness for critical issues such as adolescent girls’ education around the world.”
The panel, moderated by MORE Magazine Editor-in-Chief Lesley Jane Seymour, will take place at the American Magazine Media Conference in New York, New York. Titled “Media with Purpose,” the discussion is part of an attempt by the First Lady (who guest-edited the July/August 2015 edition of MORE Magazine) to raise awareness for her Let Girls Learn initiative.

Question of the Day

Today’s Question In modern primary history, who is the only person to lose both Iowa and New Hampshire but win the Presidency?
Answer by emailing me at wakeuptopolitics@gmail.com; correct respondents will be mentioned in tomorrow’s Wake Up!