Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… Everyday Americans were excited to “connect” with Hillary Clinton after she joined LinkedIn on Thursday. Many were even more thrilled to discover that they are already 8th degree connections through a chain that looked something like: You → Video of Hillary ordering at Chipotle → Scooby Van → Secret Service Agent → Clinton Aide → Senior Clinton Aide → Bill Clinton → Hillary.
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’16 AT 30 THOUSAND
The process of announcing a presidential run is starting to get as long and as splashy as David Letterman’s goodbye tour, except without cameos from drunk Bill Murray. Seriously, whether it’s Martin O’Malley using Snapchat to announce the PLACE where he’s going to announce, or Rick Perry using a tweet to announce the DATE he’s going to announce, or Hillary Clinton promising fans a chance to attend the rally she’s going to use to really announce that she’s ALREADY announced -- we should call these news pops what they are: A chance to gather supporters’ data, get some name recognition, and hit folks up for money. And sure, that’s a smart thing to do, and the campaigns can’t be blamed for taking advantage of a news cycle hungry for 2016 tidbits. But it DOES serve to underscore the silliness of candidates manipulating the timing of their entry into the race to delay making their FEC fundraising totals public or to maximize super PAC donations.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
- The New York Times released about a third of the 850 pages of personal emails slated for release by the State Department.
- Jeb Bush distanced himself from his brother on a substantive policy issue for the first time. Spoiler alert: It’s spending.
- Bush also blasted “intellectual arrogance” in the climate change debate, saying that the science about how much is caused by human activity is still very much unsettled.
- Mike Huckabee will skip the Iowa Straw Poll, which could be the event’s death knell.
- After a nail-biter of a vote, the Senate advanced a measure to consider the “fast track,” trade bill.
- A dozen GOP candidates are in oil country today for the Southern Republican Leadership Conference today. NBC’s Leigh Ann Caldwell previews all the excitement here.
CAMPAIGN QUICK READS
CLINTON: The Nashua Telegraph is not very happy with her team’s background briefing style.
SANDERS: The Hill reports that the Vermont senator may have already boxed out Martin O’Malley from the 2016 Democratic field.
CHRISTIE: The New Jersey governor says the media has been tougher on him for Bridgegate than on Hillary Clinton for her email problems.
CARSON: He’s raised $6 million since launching his exploratory committee in March and is hopeful he can raise more than $50 million, the Hill reports.
FOR THE RECORD…
“Where are the apologies pouring in?”
- Chris Christie, on sensationalized coverage of the Bridgegate scandal
TOMORROW’S SKED
The Southern Republican Leadership Convention continues with speeches from Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz
Hillary Clinton has two events in New Hampshire
