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I would not want to be responsible for electing some right-wing Republican president.
— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), saying he “will not run for president as an Independent if he falls short in his bid to secure the Democratic 2016 nomination,” The Hill reports.
I think that I would be a great uniter. I think that I would have great diplomatic skills. I think that I would be able to get along with people very well. I’ve had a great success in my life. I think the world would unite if I were the leader of the United States.
— Donald Trump, quoted by The Hill.
14%
Percentage by which the Army fell short of the recruits it needs to fill its ranks, “marking the first time in six years — and only the third in the last 20 — that it may fall short of its recruiting goal for the year,” USA Today reports.
To what do we owe this bumper crop of candidates? There are three main reasons. 1. This year there is no obvious front-runner; it’s no one’s turn (in stark contrast with the Democratic primary). 2. The outside groups known as ‘super PACs’ make it easier to fund campaigns — and while they guarantee that more money is spent, they also make it easier to raise that money. 3. Republicans believe the next president may very well be a Republican and the nomination is worth winning. While being near the back of the pack in a large field might seem hopeless, strange things happen in politics, and the odds of being the next president are definitely worse if you don’t run.
— Stuart Stevens, writing in the New York Times.
8 to 1
Odds of winning the Republican presidential nomination the political betting markets give Donald Trump, behind only Jeb Bush (8-5), Marco Rubio (7-2) and Scott Walker (4-1).
I think this is a temporary sort of loss of sanity, but we’re going to come back to our senses and look for someone serious to lead the country at some point.
— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is attributing GOP presidential rival Donald Trump’s rise in the polls to a momentary “loss of sanity,” The Hill reports.
What does worry me is that Trump really is a proven visionary. He’s brilliant at seeing the next ego-leveraging opportunity. He’s the first interloping network star to jolt a presidential race, but no way is he the last… What Trump is doing, and it’s a twisted kind of public service, is showing all of us how easy it is now to successfully manipulate a media in economic distress and a presidential process that caters, more and more, to an ever-dwindling bloc of extremists on either side.
$11 million
Amount Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s super PAC has raised, Politico reports. “Kasich’s super PAC haul places him in the middle tier of candidates, behind Jeb Bush ($103 million), Ted Cruz ($37 million), Scott Walker ($20 million), Rick Perry ($16.8 million), and Marco Rubio ($16 million). Chris Christie’s super PAC has also reportedly raised around $11 million.”
If this deal is consummated, it will make the Obama administration the world’s leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism. Billions of dollars under control of this administration will flow into the hands of jihadists who will use that money to murder Americans, to murder Israelis, to murder Europeans.
— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), saying that President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran is essentially financing terrorism. Cruz didn’t back down after the president called his comments “outrageous,” Politico reports.
As a businessman and a very substantial donor to very important people, when you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do. As a businessman, I need that.
— Donald Trump, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, explaining campaign donations he once made to Hillary Clinton.
