Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos... New video today showed a staffer to Rand Paul licking the lens of a Democratic tracker’s camera. We’re hoping that this was just straight-up weird behavior and not some new fad the kids like nowadays, like emojis or whatever the hell a dadbod is.
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’16 AT 30 THOUSAND
Even if Bill Clinton won’t be on the campaign trail in 2015, he’ll still be one of the world’s most recognizable political figures and a magnet for media coverage wherever he goes. And that will inevitably mean he’ll remain in the news, with plenty of cameras around if he’s tempted to weigh in on the state of play.. (Also, as we learned today, Bill isn’t the only male relative the Hillary campaign needs to figure out what to do with. A New York Times report about how Tony Rodham used his connections to his sister and brother-in-law to enhance his business career is another invitation for Clinton’s opponents to scrutinize her candidacy.) So far, any negative press involving Bill Clinton hasn’t dinged Hillary’s standing with Democrats at all, which probably informs the campaign’s decision to keep him out of the official mix during the Democratic primary (such as it is.) But it’ll be interesting to see when the man often referred to as “the Big Dog” goes on the offensive, and against whom.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
Unlike most of the other Republican 2016 hopefuls, Jeb Bush has pointedly refused to rule out raising taxes on the wealthy, NBC’s Perry Bacon Jr. reports.
Carly Fiorina defended her record as head of Hewlett-Packard during her appearance Sunday on “Meet the Press,” NBC’s Dan Cooney writes.
The White House is hoping to tamp down concerns that the administration’s relationships with the leaders of Gulf nations are strained.
First Read outlines how and why GOP presidential hopefuls are staying focused on foreign policy.
CAMPAIGN QUICK READS
BUSH: GOP comms guru Michael Steel, known as House Speaker John Boehner’s spokesman and for his role as a top outside arbiter of the success of the opening line of each day’s The Lid, is headed to Jeb Bush world.
He’s suggesting that he would wait for a new immigration law to be in place before overturning Obama’s executive actions.
PAUL: He says he’s ready for a filibuster fight over the reauthorization of the Patriot Act.
A Rand Paul staffer licked the camera lens of a Democratic tracker for some reason and Twitter, as you might imagine, got very excitable about it.
CHRISTIE: The New Jersey governor spent more than $360,000 of his state allowance during his first five years in office, with 80 percent of it going towards food, alcohol and desserts, according to New Jersey Watchdog.
FOR THE RECORD…
“I’d love him to be debating my wife, Jane.”
-- Sen. Bernie Sanders on MSNBC talking about Bill Clinton’s expected absence from the campaign trail in 2015.
TOMORROW’S SKED
Chris Christie gives a speech on economic growth at the University of New Hampshire and later holds a town hall meeting in Pembroke.
Ted Cruz’s book is released
Marco Rubio holds a fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida.
Carly Fiorina headlines a Michigan Chamber of Commerce fundraiser in Lansing.
