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Wake Up To Politics - September 21, 2015

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Monday, September 21, 2015
414 Days until Election Day 2016
133 Days until the Iowa Caucuses
37 Days until the Next Republican Debate
22 Days Until the 1st Democratic DebateIt's Monday, September 21, 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!!!
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

  • Candidates Pile On For and Against Trump, Carson Muslim Comments Islam briefly captivated the 2016 presidential race over the weekend. This captivation began with a Friday town hall headlined by Republican Donald Trump, who offered only silence when a man called Obama a Muslim.
  • Then, on Sunday, Trump was asked about the town hall exchange on the Sunday shows. On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Trump told Jake Tapper: “: “You have radicals that are doing things. I mean, it wasn't people from Sweden that blew up the World Trade Center, Jake.”
  • On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Chuck Todd asked Trump if he would support a Muslim president. Trump’s response: “Some people have said it already happened,” referencing the belief (that he may have) that President Barack Obama is Muslim.
  • How many people would not support a Muslim president? 38% of Americans, according to a Gallup poll from June. But the question is…how many presidential candidates would not support a Muslim president. The answer: possibly quite a few. The following are all comments made by candidates Sunday:
  • Would you support a Muslim president?
  • NO – Ben Carson: “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”
  • YES – Bernie Sanders: “In America we should be electing candidates based on their ideas, not on their race, not on their gender, not on their religion.”
  • YES – Ted Cruz: “The Constitution provides there should be no religious test for public office and I’m a constitutionalist.”
  • YES – John Kasich: “That is such a hypothetical question…The most important thing about being president is you have leadership skills, you know what you’re doing, and you can help fix this country and raise this country: those are the qualifications that matter to me.
  • Post-Debate Poll: Trump’s Lead Shrinks, Fiorina Rises Results from the first poll conducted after the 2nd GOP presidential debate were released Sunday, by CNN/ORC.
  • The poll showed Donald Trump remaining in the lead of the GOP primary, with the support of 24% of primary voters – but this is a decrease for him (CNN’s last poll in early September showed him at 32%, eight points up). Carly Fiorina shot to second place, nabbing 15% of primary voters (a 12-point increase), unseating Ben Carson, who got 14% and moved to third place (5-point decrease).
  • Another candidate who rose after the debate: Marco Rubio, who took 11% support – an 8-point increase – and landed in fourth place. Fifth place was Jeb Bush, with 9% – the exact amount he received in CNN’s last poll.
  • It is notable that political outsiders continue to dominate the race. The top three spots are all taken by candidates who have never held political office, with Rubio (#4) the highest-ranked candidate who has held (or currently holds) office.
  • Perhaps the most shocking fall from grace was by Scott Walker. Just months ago, the Wisconsin governor was considered in the top tier of the race, with some polls even granting him frontrunner status. In the post-debate poll, Walker was tied for 12th place – with 0%, meaning not a single GOP voter said they planned to vote for him.
  • Even Rick Santorum, who was in the undercard debate while Walker was in the main debate, at least got 1%. Even “no one” got 1%. In fact, “no opinion” got 3%. But Walker had 0%, tying him with the likes of Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, and Bobby Jindal.

Question of the Day

  • Although he would not support a Muslim president, Ben Carson said a Muslim congressman would be a “different story,” and that it “depends on who that Muslim is and what their policies are, just as it depends on what anybody else says.”
  • “If there's somebody who's of any faith,” Carson continued, “But they say things, and their life has been consistent with things that will elevate this nation and make it possible for everybody to succeed, and bring peace and harmony, then I’m with them.”
  • Unlike the presidency, there actually has been Muslim congressman already.
  • Today’s Question Who was the first Muslim member of Congress?
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For more on Wake Up To Politics, listen to Gabe on NPR's "Talk of the Nation, the Political Junkie podcast, and St. Louis Public Radio; watch Gabe on MSNBC's "Up with Steve Kornacki, and read about Gabe in Politico, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Globe, and the St. Louis Jewish Light