Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos…Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan told reporters Monday that he would introduce Donald Trump at a rally taking place in the city later this evening. It strikes us as a curious choice given Ryan’s longtime problems winning in New York.
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‘16 from 30,000
Here at The Lid, we occasionally kid about the preponderance of candidates who have run for president this cycle despite the fact that being the Leader of the Free World seems like it’s maddeningly frustrating 99.9 percent of the time. But our latest NBC/WSJ poll outlines in pretty stark terms just what a grim task will likely lie ahead for the next president. Majorities of voters say they can’t imagine themselves supporting the three candidates with the best chance at this moment of winning their party’s nomination - Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. (Yes, fans John Kasich and Bernie Sanders, those candidates do far marginally better, but nearly half of voters still say they can’t picture themselves backing each man.) As our colleague Mark Murray writes, both Clinton and Trump have dismal favorability ratings among all voters and have been bruised badly even within their respective party’s typical bases. And it’s worth noting that the two candidates with a net favorabile rating - Kasich and Sanders - would almost certainly see those numbers fall drastically if they were subjected to the scrutiny that comes with being a frontrunner. In a year of great uncertainty on both sides of the aisle, the survey gives us at least one thing we can probably count on: A very divisive presidency, no matter who holds the job next. So.. Happy Monday, everybody!
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
- Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders nationally by just two points in the Democratic race, according to results from a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
- Also per the poll: Americans have a grim outlook on the 2016 presidential field. And Trump has extended his support in the 2016 presidential race among GOP primary voters to a record 40 percent as the field has narrowed, but he is still locked in a tight battle with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for dominance.
- The GOP frontrunner held a hectic first meeting of his new “diversity coalition” at Trump Tower today, NBC’s Ali Vitali reports.
- There are few places on the planet outside Vermont that have known Bernie Sanders better than three counties in the far northern tip of New York State, MSNBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald reports.
- Hillary Clinton said the White House should “take a hard look” at the 28 classified pages from a Congressional 9/11 report.
- The NBC News embeds take on one the hottest political issues of our time -- Just how should you eat a slice of pizza?
- And from First Read: How tomorrow's New York primary can change the delegate math.
FOR THE RECORD…
“if it works for me then I will say it was a great process and if it doesn't then I'll probably complain with Donald.”
John Kasich talking to reporters about the delegate allocation process
TOMORROW’S SKED
Hillary Clinton speaks to the Building Trade Unions Conference in Washington.
John Kasich campaigns in Maryland, while Bernie Sanders is in Pennsylvania.
PRIMARY DAY! New York votes.
