Subject: POLITICO's 2016 Blast: T-Ryan Real Hard — The rest of Trump’s day on the Hill — Democrats’ fading debate — 5 Things You Need To Know
From: "POLITICO's 2016 Blast" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 15:35:53 -0600

By Henry C. Jackson | 05/12/2016 05:33 PM EDT

LET'S DO THIS AGAIN SOMETIME: PAUL RYAN and DONALD TRUMP met today and the outcome was - they decided to have more meetings. 

As POLITICO's Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan report, the much-hyped summit between the Republican House Speaker and the presumptive GOP nominee produced everything you thought it would - a swirling media scrum, soundbites, hullabaloo - but, as yet, nothing tangible.

Ryan did not endorse Trump. And there was no evidence that major policy fissures had been rectified. Instead, Ryan and Trump displayed the closest thing to unity they could muster. 

"The United States cannot afford another four years of the Obama White House, which is what Hillary Clinton represents. That is why it's critical that Republicans unite around our shared principles, advance a conservative agenda, and do all we can to win this fall," Trump and Ryan said in a joint statement following their hour-long meeting. Read more here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52afb91788c99b2d6a58585bb82bb24a0c7cbaa3d926fa9abd 

BLAST RECOMMENDS: For a must-read on the details that led up to the meeting, including how Ryan and Trump determined who was in the room, check out Bresnahan and Sherman here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52e29bb5042d2fad8d4e455f4a979d7315818f1e71a682d6cd 

TGIT. It's like we always say here at the 2016 Blast: lets meet again. And again. And again and again ... Henry C. Jackson (@henrycjjackson) is here to guide you through the day's campaign news, so send your tips, complaints and thoughts on Smashing Pumpkins (keep reading) to: [email-masked]. 

2) HILL DAZE: PAUL RYAN wasn't DONALD TRUMP's only appointment during a frenzied trip to Washington today. He also met with Senate Republican leaders, none of whom had expressed public misgivings about him. Trump and the GOP Senate braintrust logged what Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called a "good, constructive" meeting. Trump also received warm-ish regards from Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim report. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c520aeabb6df3c964cc5634180ed80f42479ed745ca24430af0 But all was not precisely kumbaya: POLITICO's Rachael Bade reports some of Trump's earliest congressional endorsers were unhappy he did not find time to meet with them. Rep.
 Duncan Hunter: "There is no reason not to have as many people on your side as you can ... and he missed a real opportunity here." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c525173c2b74ec9c02860388cc697fa5dc69eed4bbd7484384b And a call with LINDSEY GRAHAM did not change the South Carolina senator's mind: He's still firmly, avowedly Never Trump. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52d6c81e68f1fbecd7304073d6ff7c6851a425475e73e8e3a7 

3) THIS IS THE WAY THE DEBATES END, NOT WITH A BANG BUT A WHIMPER: There was supposed to be one more. But, it seems, California will not get the Democratic debate it was promised. POLITICO's Hadas Gold reports there seems little momentum for a final tete-a-tete between HILLARY CLINTON and BERNIE SANDERS. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52c88d90cc6bb688a8920f41aebc45fee57a81dcd81dff516b But that doesn't exactly mean the Democrats are done sparring - they're just going to keep doing it from afar. Sanders repeated that he was "fighting for the soul of the Democratic party." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c528eec5f6239a1a6725bb5cdd7abd5baf8a2892860bcabba0f That sentiment comes even as some Sanders aides looks at what is next, POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti reports.
 A group is circulating a draft proposal that calls for him to drop out of the race after June 7 primaries and focus on defeating DONALD TRUMP. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52e3e15fc37f592cbf6def5324df741bf7d909f9d916940489 

Blast Note: As to the real question - whether Sanders' prolonged campaign hurts HILLARY CLINTON - former John Kerry aide David Wade offers his take in POLITICO Magazine: Yes. Sanders' "zombie" campaign, he argues, is squandering a resource Clinton can't replenish: time. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52ed1d34addce59972b0e73f64757576f397431e63d92c8e00 

4) THE ANTI ANTI-TRUMP MOVEMENT: MITT ROMNEY made waves Wednesday when, in a Facebook post, he ripped DONALD TRUMP for refusing to release his tax releases. He called it a "disqualifying" decision. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c5220138643ff29c282dd1f613eb0a3b9c063860eb3c5c65913 What followed, though, was almost as interesting: A ferocious, closing of ranks by Trump's allies, who ripped Romney for taking on the party's presumptive nominee. This was typified by MIKE HUCKABEE, who pilloried Romney for his sanctimony: "He's not only trying to sink his own party's presumptive nominee, but he's factually incorrect and he's making the same unfair attack on Trump that was launched against him in 2012," Huckabee said. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52ec1e59b3d68104a7b7317f056d209ef0c38776b76a0553e2 

5) OF ALL SAD WORDS OF TONGUE OR PEN: This is what might have been: JOE BIDEN and ELIZABETH WARREN. POLITICO's Glenn Thrush and Annie Karni report Joe Biden was quickly sold on the populist Massachusetts senator as a running mate - and he has told associates he still thinks Warren would be HILLARY CLINTON's best choice to replace him. Biden liked Warren, Thrush and Karni report, because he needed a partner to capture the wave of anti-bank, anti-establishment anger raging to his left. Characteristics that might also serve HILLARY CLINTON well. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52fbfa2497a156c85ddd78d483d8255bf7986abb90ab0fb97b 

TRAIL MIX: Elsewhere on the campaign trail, John Boehner thinks DONALD TRUMP can win. George Clooney thinks he can't. (But what does Johnny Depp think?) Democrats look at North Dakota. Arkansas is a long way from home for HILLARY CLINTON these days and Billy Corgan says today is the greatest ... day to chime in on BERNIE SANDERS. 

SPEAK(ER) YOUR MIND: John Boehner thinks DONALD TRUMP can win. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52372faf2683753eb9af755e48732092116ec214ca04eac2d9

OCEANS 14?: George Clooney says DONALD TRUMP can't win. (ABC) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c5251ffc495fa5d6f56678b1b8cb9f6bc9ca0bb63b490e7d5d3 

SOMEBODY PLEASE, PLEASE ... FIND JA RULE: Were you wondering what Johnny Depp has to say about the election? Fine. He says if DONALD TRUMP's elected president, he'll be the last U.S. president. Yikes. (EW) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c525c0456aef2c58776ff0ed50d2917170b451011b67ab0fe9a 

ARKANSAS (NO LONGER) HOME: The Atlantic looks at the once strong, now deeply diminished ties between the Clintons and Arkansas. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52d7cce176bae1969e97d74480b7c408d476f3fbb521163a4a 

FARGO NO DELEGATE: HILLARY CLINTON is staffing up in North Dakota. The state caucuses in June. (Bismarck Tribune) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c5279505b66d7776cc4efc18b134faa0bcaa2f162b3de16504d 

META TROLLING: The Washington Post picks apart and trolls a Wall Street Journal editorial that asserts BERNIE SANDERS would be winning the Democratic nomination minus superdelegates, a piece that was, itself, probably an act of trolling. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52050fef33aaecfc8f8bc0f767bebe217547920abcd880a544 

DISARM YOU WITH A SMILE: And, if you're Billy Corgan, cut BERNIE SANDERS like you want to, on Alex Jones' radio show, no less. (Pitchfork) http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52985680b63d1d2ba616b3f5fd2afcae6038dfe86a76352585 

BLAST NOTE: This is the best Smashing Pumpkins song, and it's not particularly close. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c5281f53d3867b90159ab87ef83b0dc3a217f4d111401ac8970 

EDITOR'S NOTE: That's nonsense. This is it, and it's not close, at all: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52cd2db255ca806ff80cc14a99765d390b742b2025857fd295 (- PR)

THEY SAID IT: "Anyone who thinks DONALD TRUMP can't win, just watch." - former House Speaker John Boehner. 

MAGIC NUMBER: 15 million. That's how much GOP Sen. Rob Portman is spending on his Senate race in Ohio so far - a big spend, in part, dictated by fears about what DONALD TRUMP could mean at the top of the ticket. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c52b6c93f8309e3cf7302a16d03889b9205e1e4cf5ae6e1e624 

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There you go - now you're caught up on the 2016 race. If you made it this far, we'll share that this is the second best Smashing Pumpkins song. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c529342a079f3f75c790a2d646c77418ff8b7b3d135b5b6c39f (Eds note: nope, it's http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=257ab96b1f963c5216ab935ea2cc035ce6c93dd12ecb7b6268b402075293d2fa TBNR. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

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