Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos…. The Federal Election Commission is reportedly swamped with fake presidential campaign filings after “Deez Nuts” became an Internet sensation, which has us wondering how candidates like Captain Crunch, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bippy The Clown are impacting Biden’s thinking on entering the 2016 race.
’16 AT 30 THOUSAND
It became clear the Bush campaign had abandoned any hope that Donald Trump was just a summer blockbuster destined to fade from theaters when the former Florida governor recently began directly hitting Trump -- specifically on the issue of immigration. Bush has called Trump’s plan to deport undocumented immigrants “wildly unrealistic” and “not conservative” given the costs that would accompany deporting an estimated 11 million people.
Going on the offensive against the GOP presidential frontrunner may soothe the concerns Bush supporters have had over their candidate’s willingness to fight. But the more Bush has gone on the offensive, the more he has ended up on defensive. It is no longer Trump, but Bush, who is now defending his immigration rhetoric. Bush, who is married to a Mexican-American, is bilingual and who once marked “Hispanic” on his voter registration form, was once branded as too moderate on immigration to appeal to strongly conservative voters. Now Hillary Clinton and others are painting him as an extremist for use of the term “anchor babies” and his defense that tied the issue to Asian immigrants. No Republican has proven able to play on Trump’s level, and Bush’s attempts so far have made his brand of compassionate conservative look …well…not so compassionate.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
- Jeb Bush on Tuesday said he was referring to "a very narrowcasted system of fraud" when he suggested that Asian immigrants are most responsible for "anchor babies."
- Donald Trump reignited his feud with Fox News, and this time it doesn’t seem like it will end in the type of truce that halted it earlier this month, one of us writes.
- Vice President Joe Biden is slated to lobby members of the Democratic National Committee on the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday, according to an invitation to a conference call for DNC members obtained by NBC News.
- Two of Hillary Clinton's top aides will sit for interviews before the House Benghazi Select Committee next week, NBC’s Alex Moe reports.
- Martin O’Malley went after his Democratic rivals for skipping an upcoming immigration forum, NBC’s Suzanne Gamboa.
CAMPAIGN QUICK READS
BIDEN: Hedge fund chief and big donor Jim Chanos is ready for Biden, reports Bloomberg.
BUSH: POLITICO reports that his fundraising operation might be losing some steam.
CHRISTIE: He called on New Jersey’s Congressional delegation -- particularly Democratic Sen. Cory Booker -- to opposed the Iran deal, the National Journal reports.
CLINTON: A Suffolk University survey finds Clinton with a solid lead in Iowa, despite her campaign’s recent stumbles.
TRUMP: A new Gallup poll shows that he has a 65 percent unfavorable rating with Hispanics.
FOR THE RECORD…
“Come to South Carolina and I’ll beat his brains out.”
-- Sen. Lindsey Graham on the prospects of facing off against Donald Trump in the South Carolina primary.
TOMORROW’S SKED
Hillary Clinton holds three campaign events in Iowa. Scott Walker also makes a stop in Missouri Valley, Iowa.
Marco Rubio holds a town hall in Littleton, New Hampshire.
Jeb Bush holds a town hall meeting in Pensacola, Florida.
