Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… Just hours after opening a personal Twitter account, President Barack Obama had to unfollow Vice President Joe Biden because the Veep would not stop Direct Messaging him about “that really cool idea we talked about.”
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’16 AT 30 THOUSAND
Here are two things we learned in Iowa this weekend: Jeb Bush says he’s going to “campaign hard” ahead of the caucuses and Scott Walker has some significant issues to address with evangelicals. The Bush news gave the political world a little bit of whiplash, given his decision not to participate in the Iowa straw poll and recent reports that his team was considering skipping the Hawkeye State all together. But as First Read noted this morning, it makes sense. With more than a dozen GOP candidates likely competing to win over caucus voters, the ultimate winner come caucus day could scrape by with about one-fifth of the vote. Also, don’t forget that one of Bush’s top advisers is longtime Iowa strategist Dave Kochel. We suspect Jeb Bush will keep popping up in the state throughout the months ahead, even if his version of “campaigning hard” looks pretty different than, say, Rick Santorum’s.
And for further proof of just how wide open the Iowa field is, look no further than NBC’s Perry Bacon’s report from Des Moines. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is frontrunner, sure, but he is viewed more skeptically by evangelical Christians than you might think.. The key voting bloc helped propel Santorum to victory in 2012, and will be heavily courted again in 2016. When evangelical voters are up for grabs, Iowa is anyone’s game.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
Scott Walker may be viewed as an Iowa favorite right now, but he has to face a lot of hurdles in the first caucus state, NBC’s Perry Bacon Jr. writes.
One name you’re just not hearing in the Democratic nomination conversation: Joe Biden. NBC’s Leigh Ann Caldwell set out to figure out why.
One of us(!) writes that Chris Christie says that fears over NSA spying powers are “ridiculous.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham will announce his 2016 presidential decision on June 1.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal formed a presidential exploratory committee, MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt reports.
CAMPAIGN QUICK READS
PAUL: Rand Paul highlighted the divide between the libertarian and more hawkish wings of his party today, msnbc.com writes.
He was asked about abortion and gave an unusual answer, saying “I didn’t run for office” because of the issue.
SANDERS:The New York Times reports that, against the odds, he’s become a social media king.
WALKER: “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a lawsuit seeking to block a secret probe into Gov. Scott Walker's 2012 recall campaign and its dealings with allied groups, effectively ending the appeal in federal court by targets of the investigation,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
FOR THE RECORD…
“I know that people talk about their cats and ‘I’m walking to the grocery [store] and getting a can of chicken soup’ and ‘this is so exciting.’ By and large, we have not done that.”
- Bernie Sanders, on social media strategy (we think)
TOMORROW’S SKED
Hillary Clinton holds a roundtable discussion with small business leaders in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Mike Huckabee continues his “Hope to Higher Ground” tour through Iowa.
Rick Perry holds a meet and greet in DeWitt, Iowa, followed by a town hall in Dubuque.
