Dear Readers,
The great chaos that is the 2016 election season keeps hurtling at us, and I’ll help you make sense of it all.
Remember, all newsletters (and more) are available at www.electreport.blogspot.com
Countdowns:
Days until June 7 (Final Primaries): 2
Days until General Election: 156
TRUMP
The Running Mate Files
-Fmr. Spkr. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) on Trump’s comments about the judge (see below): “It was one of the worst mistakes Trump has made. Inexcusable.” Gingrich hasn’t ever gone this far, and it’s very odd to see him say this - maybe he doesn’t want the job?
-Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) linked Trump-type rhetoric to the Charleston shooting: "I know what that rhetoric can do. I saw it happen," Haley said.
-Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) says that if offered the position, he’ll say no.
Trump on Judge: “Conflict of Interest”
Trump’s “Trump University” case has cast a dark shadow over his campaign, and it’s still to be determined how legitimate the accusations are. The judge of the case, one Gonzalo Curiel, has attracted insults from Trump. According to Trump, he is “a hater”, “unfair” and being “of Mexican heritage” having a “conflict of interest.” Because the best way to win a court case is to insult the judge.
This quote, from that same interview, is perfectly coherent and logical as well:
"But I say he's got bias. I want to build a wall. I'm going to build a wall. I'm doing very well with the Latinos, with the Hispanics, with the Mexicans - I'm doing very well with them, in my opinion."
Trump also later said that a Muslim judge could be biased against him.
Bill Kristol Announces “Renegade Party” Candidate!
Everyone who tuned into Bill Kristol’s announcement of a mystery candidate was wondering - who’s it gonna be? Mitt Romney? Ben Sasse? Tom Coburn? It was... Drum roll, please....
DAVID FRENCH!
Now, who is David French? Why, that’s a very logical question to ask. French is a 47-year-old Iraq War veteran and journalist who didn’t have a Wikipedia page until this week. He’s a generic anti-Trump conservative, and his wife ghost-wrote Sarah (and Bristol) Palin’s book. Does this matter? Of course not!
CLINTON
Clinton Easily Wins in the Virgin Islands
Yesterday, Clinton won 6 (or all 7) of the 7 delegates from the Virgin Islands caucus. She reached 84%, with Senator Sanders getting 12%, failing to reach the threshold. Meanwhile, in Puerto Rico today, results have been slow to report, but Clinton has a comfortable lead. She will likely earn ~40 delegates keeping here about 15 delegates short of the nomination, which she’ll easily clinch this Tuesday.
Clinton Pivots to General
Capitalizing on these results, the Hillary campaign today sent an email to her supporters saying that “Any minute now, Hillary Clinton should become the first woman in the history of our country to win the nomination of any major party.” Either they are looking ahead to Tuesday, or a few superdelegates will endorse her very, very soon.
Hillary also made a speech this Thursday, billed as a foreign policy speech. She used the speech, however, to mock Trump’s foreign policy ideas - with quotes! Hillary repeated some of Trump’s policies word-for-word, letting his “bizarre rants” speak for themselves. Of course, Trump took to Twitter to claim the quotes were doctored - except they weren’t doctored or even taken out of context. This was seen as a major victory for Hillary and reportedly worried the Trump campaign.
FORECASTS
DEMOCRATS:
California: Hillary Clinton 56%, Bernie Sanders 43%
Montana: Bernie Sanders 54%, Hillary Clinton 43%
New Jersey: Hillary Clinton 63%, Bernie Sanders 34%
New Mexico: Hillary Clinton 52%, Bernie Sanders 46%
North Dakota: Bernie Sanders 63%, Hillary Clinton 37%
South Dakota: Hillary Clinton 51%, Bernie Sanders 47%
Note: Hillary will likely be declared the nominee after New Jersey: this may affect turnout or results one way or another, so take later states’ predictions with a small pinch of salt.
This Week In World Elections
Peru: Results are reportedly coming soon. Polls have shown the race between right-wing Keiko Fujimori and centrist Pedro Pablo Kuczynski as very close, and anything could happen.
St. Lucia: The St. Lucian assembly elections for the 17 assembly seats are tomorrow. The leading Labour Party will only run 15 candidates, while the opposing United Workers Party will field a full slate of 17. The Labour Party won last election 11 seats to 6, securing 51% of the vote to the UWP’s 47%.
Thanks for reading! As usual, comments are welcome!
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