Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos…Rapper and cannabis enthusiast Snoop Dogg took a moment Tuesday to get his mind off his money and his money off his mind to endorse Hillary Clinton, we assume to curry favor for his eventual request for a top administration post. No one has the heart to tell him that “Green Jobs Czar” does not mean what he thinks it means.
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’16 AT 30 THOUSAND
You can set your “Days Since Hillary Clinton Has Taken a Question” calendar back to zero: She held a kinda-awkward, semi-impromptu press conference after a reporter had to resort to shouting a question about whether she’d finally address the press. Clinton responded “I have to ponder it. I will put it on my list for due consideration.” The whole thing, encompassing six(ish) questions in total, reminded us why her relationship with the press is so awkward. With 100% name recognition and exhaustive coverage of her every move, she doesn’t stand much to gain politically from taking questions. (Is there evidence that her press-shyness has moved voters’ opinions yet? And she’s managed to avoid having to lay out where she stands on issues like trade, which COULD actually hurt her with her base.) But when she does take questions after a long period of avoiding them, the disorganized scrums and torrent of pent-up questions underscore the tension between her and the press corps, which even a much more skilled campaigner would have trouble navigating without appearing defensive. We totally come down on the side of more access, all the time, to any candidate of any party. But you gotta wonder if the Jeb Bushes of the world - especially last week - were getting a little jealous of Hillary’s silence earlier this month.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
Hillary Clinton took questions from the press and said that she wants the State Department to “please move as quickly as they can” to release her emails.
But we still don’t know where she stands on trade, NBC’s Leigh Ann Caldwell reports.
NBC’s Luke Russert reports that Scott Walker tried to woo Republican members of Congress during a DC appearance today.
How do you solve a problem like 18 people who want to be president? NBC’s First Read takes a look at the GOP’s, er, logistical challenge.
CAMPAIGN QUICK READS
CLINTON: National Journal’s Ron Fournier isn’t buying Hillary Clinton’s explanations.
The Washington Post’s Dan Balz gets a round of applause for getting to write under this headline today (and the story is good too!): “Money, money, money, money, money, money, money”
GRAHAM: Some Republicans who are no fans of Lindsey Graham have been passing around this takedown today.
PAUL: Rand Paul had a snarky welcome for Hillary Clinton after she said that felons should be able to get voting rights back, but she’s actually supported that position for quite some time.
O’MALLEY: He Snapchatted and Tweeted more details on his expected presidential announcement May 30.
FOR THE RECORD…
“I’ll say that I would love to see a woman in office because I feel like we’re at that stage in life to where we need a perspective other than the male’s train of thought.”
Snoop Dogg, endorsing Hillary Clinton
TOMORROW’S SKED
Bernie Sanders will unveil legislation called “The Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Exist” bill.
Jeb Bush holds a business roundtable luncheon in Portsmouth, NH, at noon followed by a meet and greet in Bedford.
Rick Perry campaigns in Winterset and Des Moines, IA.
