May 11, 2015 4 min read

Wake Up To Politics - May 11, 2015

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!

Monday, May 11, 2015
547 Days Until Election Day 2016It's Friday, May 11, 2015, 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!!!
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White House Watch

The President’s Schedule Just one event on President Obama’s public schedule today: 3:30 PM remarks at an event bringing together emerging American and global entrepreneurs to “highlight the importance of investing in women and young entrepreneurs to create innovative solutions to some of the world’s toughest challenges, including poverty, climate change, extremism, as well as access to education and healthcare,” according to the White House.

Capitol Hill News

Schedule: Senate The upper chamber will debate and vote on S.Con.Res.16, a concurrent resolution authored by Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) to implore the Iranian government to release the U.S. citizens being held in Iran and state that the “U.S. government should undertake every effort using every diplomatic tool at its disposal to secure their release.”
Schedule: House The lower chamber is in recess today.

2016 Central

Race to 45: Travel Tracker Iowa (caucus: January 18) Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, a Texas senator, is in Iowa today. He is holding a town hall in Onawa and will attend a house party in Sioux City hosted by the Woodbury County Republican Party and also featuring Rep. Steve King (R-IA).
New Hampshire (primary: January 26) Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, a Texas senator, holds a town hall today in Londonderry.
Texas (primary: March 1) Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, will speak in Houston today to deliver a formal address. In the speech, titled “Fueling American Prosperity,” Huckabee will “outline his plan to shift the global balance of power and fuel domestic economic prosperity for millions of Americans with new federal policies and 21st century reforms designed to achieve energy independence,” according to the 4President blog.
Virginia (primary: March 1) Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, an Independent senator from Vermont, holds a town hall-style event in Charlottesville today on the effect of GOP budget cuts.
NOTE: The dates affixed to the state names are tentative primary dates reported by the Frontloading HQ blog. The earlier a primary is, the more influence it holds over who will become the nominee: Iowa caucuses are first on the calendar, followed by New Hampshire, making them of utmost importance.
The Hillary Link Roundup This weekend, the media focused on Hillary Clinton’s family ties – an issue already causing headaches for her heading into 2016.
Here are links to great reads from the Washington Post on the “What to do with Bill” question and from the New York Times on Hillary’s brother Tony Rodham.
These pieces answer the questions of what Bill will do if Hillary is elected, and whether Tony will join the time-honored tradition of embarrassing presidential siblings (see Carter, Billy and Bush, Neil and Clinton, Roger).

Today In...

1858 Minnesota joins the union as the 32^nd state.
1949 Israel joins the United Nations.

Happy Birthday To...

Irving Berlin The Russian-born composer/lyricist is known as one of the best songwriters in history, the man behind such hits as “God Bless America,” “White Christmas,” and others.
Henry Morgenthau, Jr. As FDR’s Treasury Secretary, Morgenthau was a key author of the New Deal, and of the Morgenthau Plan for postwar Germany.

Question of the Day

Today’s Question The trivia question for today is totally random, and comes with no connection to the news of today: What position did billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates hold on Capitol Hill?
Friday’s Answer As President Obama visited his 50^th state Friday, the question was: what is the only state George W. Bush did not visit as president?
The answer is Vermont… but in all fairness, multiple towns voted to arrest Bush if he stepped foot in the state.
GREAT JOB…Steve Gitnik, Kellie Hynes, Marlee Millman, and Joe Bookman!!! Thanks for answering!