Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… Twitter has dubbed this weekend’s high-stakes, big-money “fight of the century” between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao as #MayPac, which will make history as the only time most Americans will care how much money a PAC actually made. (Sorry, FEC nerds. We know it hurts.)
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’16 AT 30 THOUSAND
We’re barely off the blocks in this 2016 presidential marathon, but we can’t help but think that we’ll look back at this week as a pretty significant political moment. The fallout from Baltimore’s violence tripped up two hopefuls in non-trivial ways; Rand Paul’s efforts at minority outreach took a hit from his tone-deaf-sounding quip about avoiding the city, and Martin O’Malley’s efforts to appear like a hometown hero morphed into coverage of how his past policing strategy might be anathema to the very liberals he hopes to win over. In her first policy speech, we got a sense of how Hillary Clinton will frame inequality as a root cause of social ills like the broken criminal justice system. (And the dripdripdrip of Clinton Foundation conflict-of-interest stories continued.) In a series of speeches to Hispanic groups, we got some apples-to-apples comparisons of how Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are talking about immigration policy to a coveted demographic group. And today, a Bridgegate plea deal and two more indictments just might have moved Chris Christie from the “really in trouble” column into the “dead in the water” one.
GET EXCITED!
Our next NBC/WSJ poll is coming soon! NBC’s Meet the Press will preview some of the data on Sunday morning, and the full poll will be released Monday at 6:30pm ET.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
NBC’s Leigh Ann Caldwell looks at Chris Christie’s bleak 2016 prospects on the day two of his former allies were indicted and another pleaded guilty.
Perry Bacon Jr. reports on the three biggest challenges that face Jeb Bush right now.
“The United States Capitol Police are under scrutiny again after reports surfaced Friday that officers have left their guns unattended at the Capitol Complex at least three times this year,” NBC’s Alex Moe reports.
House Speaker John Boehner told Chuck Todd that, if true, the actions of the six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray "outrageous and unacceptable." Tune in to Meet The Press on Sunday for the full interview.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Friday that he is undecided on a 2016 bid, NBC’s Mark Murray reports.
CAMPAIGN QUICK READS
HUCKABEE: He previewed his presidential announcement with a video that included his critiques of “Bill Clinton’s Arkansas.”
PAUL: Bloomberg asks why Rand Paul keeps missing his moment.
BUSH: He hired Rubio’s 2010 campaign manager as Hispanic outreach adviser, Politico reports.
RUBIO: A bad Iran deal “almost guarantees war,” he said on CNN.
SANDERS: US News and World Report’s Dave Catanese examines the ways in which Bernie Sanders resembles Larry David and finds the Vermont senator is “curbing Hillary’s enthusiasm.”
FOR THE RECORD…
“Any drunken redneck can walk into a bar and start a fight.”
- Mike Huckabee, in a video previewing his presidential announcement next week
THE WEEKEND SKED
Jeb Bush, Lindsay Graham, Rick Perry,and Rick Santorum are all in South Carolina for the state GOP convention.
Bernie Sanders campaign in Manchester and North Conway, New Hampshire.
Lindsay Graham fundraises in New Hampshire.
