Dems Battle For Midwest
Democrats lay out their Trump strategies in CNN town hall: "[Clinton] said she's the best bet to stand up to Trump in the general election because the Republicans who have 'been after me for 25 years' have already thrown the entire book at her ... [Sanders] said his ability to bring young people into the political process can counteract the GOP's ability to 'win when voter turnout is low.'"
Clinton slams TPP in Youngstown. W. Post: "...Clinton will voice support or higher 'rules of origin' standards that would prevent cars made mostly of foreign parts from benefiting from claiming to be 'Made in America' under trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 'We are going to enforce trade agreements,' Clinton said in Youngstown to a rowdy crowd at the M7 Technologies manufacturing facility. 'We are not going any longer to be at the mercy of what any country is going to do to take advantage of our markets.'"
Sanders uses Mayor Emanuel to knock Clinton in Illinois. NYT quotes: "Hillary Clinton proudly lists Mayor Rahm Emanuel as one of her leading mayoral endorsers. Well let me be as clear as I can be: based on his disastrous record as mayor of the city of Chicago, I do not want Mayor Emanuel’s endorsement if I win the Democratic nomination.”
Midwest states close in Public Policy Polling poll: "Clinton leads Bernie Sanders just 46/41 in Ohio and 48/45 in Illinois, while narrowly trailing Sanders in Missouri 47/46. Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri are all open primary states and Sanders is benefiting from significant support from independent voters and a small swath of Republicans planning to vote in each state ... Clinton is better positioned in the Southern states voting on Tuesday. She leads 57/32 in Florida, and 56/37 in North Carolina..."
Similar numbers from Quinnipiac, Clinton up 26 in FL, 5 in OH: "[In Ohio,] Sanders has a big 64 - 36 percent lead among 'very liberal' voters and 50 percent of 'somewhat liberal' voters to Clinton's 46 percent. She leads 59 - 38 percent among 'moderate or conservative voters.'"
Sanders tries to limit Clinton's margins in the South. WSJ: "...Sanders late last week expanded his television advertising in certain Florida and North Carolina markets, his advisers said. The idea is to pluck a few extra delegates in the face of an expected Clinton victory in both states."
Clinton campaign stresses delegate math. NYT: "'Even if he won in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois,' Robby Mook, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, said. 'We would still have more delegates on the 15th because of their performance in delegate-rich Florida and North Carolina.'"
"The Era of Free Trade Might Be Over" says Jared Bernstein in NYT oped: "We should no longer buy the statistically strained arguments about F.T.A.s delivering growth and jobs. The evidence just isn’t there, a fact not lost on those campaigning for president ... The question is not whether we can go backward, but could there be a more vibrant manufacturing future here? Can we, for example, build supply chains such that we don’t just design the new goods the world demands, but instead of outsourcing their production, produce them here?"
Trump Violence Roils Republicans
Fears that Trump-led violence could get worse. NBC: "July's Republican National Convention in Cleveland, which could feature a heated floor fight inside and tens of thousands of protesters outside, feels more and more like a ticking bomb waiting to go off."
Trump regrets nothing. Fox News: "Trump told 'Fox News Sunday' and others that Americans are 'angry' about years of stagnant wages ... bad international trade deals and the lack of care for U.S. military veterans ... 'They're not angry about something I'm saying. I'm just the messenger.' 'Nobody’s ever been hurt,' he told Fox. 'Some of these protesters are bad dudes. They swing and they punch.'"
"Have Republicans Already Lost Florida?" asks TNR's Michael Mishak: "...some of the Sunshine State’s most prominent Republicans fear the GOP has already lost this all-important electoral linchpin for November—and, in a close general election, the party’s hopes for the presidency along with it ... Few states make a poorer match for the white-hot immigration rhetoric and bloody fisticuffs that have dominated this GOP primary season."
Republicans Ready Supreme Court Hit
"Conservatives dig for dirt" as Obama narrows Supreme Court list. W. Times: "...a coalition of conservative groups is digging through the backgrounds of potential candidates and developing a strategy to portray the nominee as a liberal who would upset the balance of the court ... Mr. Obama is said to have narrowed his 'short list' to three candidates: Chief Judge Merrick Garland, 63, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Sri Srinivasan, 49, a judge on the same court; and Paul Watford, 48, a judge on the California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ... Srinivasan ... is being scrutinized for rulings that purport to show he is not a 'moderate,' such as his decision not to grant emergency relief to power companies seeking to halt the administration’s Clean Power Plan..."
Sen. Harry Reid prepares for one last fight. NYT: "...each morning he has taken to the Senate floor to excoriate the Judiciary Committee chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, and to demand that Republicans fulfill what Mr. Reid says is their constitutional duty to act on a nominee. But even all this is just throat clearing, with heavier rhetorical firepower to begin when Mr. Obama announces his nominee, expected as soon as this week."
