Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson took to Twitter yesterday to debunk some of the scientifically unrealistic parts of the new Star Wars movie, which is about as much fun as a serious crosstab analysis of Kanye West’s electoral challenges in 2020.
‘16 from 30,000: Here’s your number of the day: Of the $111 million - yes, million - that’s been spent on 2016 campaign ads so far this year, a THIRD came from Jeb Bush and his super PAC. Right to Rise has shelled out $37 million in ads, and the Bush campaign has chipped in another $1 million. Compare that to 2012, when the TOTAL ad spending at this point in the presidential cycle was $35 million. So Jeb Bush has not only spent nearly twice as much as his nearest competitor this cycle, Marco Rubio and his allies -- he’s also spent MORE than what Mitt Romney, plus Newt Gingrich, plus Rick Perry, plus Ron Paul, plus John Huntsman, *plus* Barack Obama had all doled out at this point four years ago. And his national polling average? Somewhere around five percent. Ouch.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
Mark Murray crunches the numbers and finds that campaign ad spending has topped $111 million for the year.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign called Donald Trump’s comments about the candidate “degrading language.”
Vaughn Hillyard writes on Ted Cruz’s efforts to court voters in the South.
Half of voters say they’d be embarrassed by a Trump presidency, a new Quinnipiac poll finds.
Alex Seitz-Wald writes that - apology aside - the war between the Sanders and Clinton campaigns over last week’s data breach isn’t over yet.
FOR THE RECORD…
“You're looking at somebody who's had a lot of terrible things said about me.”
- -Hillary Clinton at an event in Iowa after a young girl asked her about bullying
TOMORROW’S SKED
Ted Cruz holds rallies in Tulsa and Oklahoma City
Marco Rubio attends a pancake breakfast in Franklin, NH.
Bernie Sanders has a pair of town halls in Iowa.
