Subject: Too close to call: 'Trump vs. Clinton' tightens up
From: CNN Politics Nightcap <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 22 May 2016 22:42:30 +0000
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CNN Politics: Nightcap
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May 22, 2016
by Gregory Krieg
Welcome to the CNN Politics Nightcap and good Sunday evening from New York. Two big presidential polls broke out while you slept in this morning, and they brought some uninspiring news for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. So what does it mean for a tightening race? Bernie Sanders weighs in. Your bartender is Greg Krieg, (http://www.cnn.com/profiles/gregory-krieg) filling in for Eric Bradner (http://www.cnn.com/profiles/eric-bradner?cid=nl_pol_071915_profile?sr=nl_pol_072215_bradner) . The tip jar: [email-masked] (mailto:[email-masked]) .

** Sanders is itching to shed DNC chair
------------------------------------------------------------

The fact of it? Not much of a surprise. Bernie Sanders and his supporters have been critical of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic National Committee from the drop.

The superdelegate surge to Clinton, those oddly timed debates ... the senator from Vermont has all but accused Wasserman Schultz of rigging the race.

But he went a step further this weekend, telling CNN's Jake Tapper he will, if elected, effectively remove her as DNC chair and would, in the meantime, openly support and raise money (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/politics/bernie-sanders-debbie-wasserman-schultz/index.html) for her Democratic primary challenger, Tim Canova.

"Well, clearly, I favor her opponent," Sanders said during an interview on "State of the Union." "His views are much closer to mine than as to Wasserman Schultz's."

** Settle in -- this could take awhile
------------------------------------------------------------

Democrats who rooted for a Donald Trump takeover of the GOP with the idea that it would pave Hillary Clinton's road to the White House are getting nervous. Recent polling is putting a damper on the schadenfreude, as Trump increasingly looks the part of a formidable opponent.

A couple of new polls out Sunday show Trump and Clinton in a statistical dead heat (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/22/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-polls/index.html) , further validating concerns recently voiced by angsty liberals, such as Clinton's own 2008 press secretary, Jay Carson.

"I hear far too many of my liberal friends calling (Trump) a 'joke' and acting like the general (election) is in the bag, which is nuts because he's dangerous and he has a path to victory," Carson wrote on Instagram.

As CNN's Stephen Collinson reports, the nail-biting has begun (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-nailbiter/index.html) .

** Time to call up the reinforcements?
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With Trump and Clinton carrying significant negatives into the general election contest, this could be the year that running mates make a real impact on the outcome in November.

CNN's Will Cadigan took a look at the candidates' respective weaknesses and put together a list of potential vice presidential picks who could help satisfy, reassure or energize unenthusiastic and anxious
voters.

Here (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-vice-presidential-picks/index.html)  is the list. (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-vice-presidential-picks/index.html)  Note: One of the names floated by Cadigan -- Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee -- has plans to meet with Trump on Monday in New York, CNN's Jim Acosta confirms.

(Oh, and while we're talking running mates, former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, now seeking to become the Libertarian Party's vice presidential candidate, said Trump's plan to deport an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants reminded him of Nazi terror tactics (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/22/politics/bill-weld-holocaust-donald-trump/index.html) .
Buzzing

Larry David and Kate McKinnon reprised their roles as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, tossing back a couple drinks before sashaying through another killer cold open on NBC's "Saturday Night Live." Enjoy their two-step in its entirety right now (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRqZhJcae3M) .

Last Call

** The party warms up ... but the cash stays cold
------------------------------------------------------------

Trump has opened the door to significant outside donations, but traditionally big GOP spenders aren't walking through -- at least not yet. In The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-fundraising.html?ref=politics) , Alex Burns and Jonathan Martin asked the deep-pocketed holdouts why they planned to sit this one out.

And while some indicated they could still come around to the presumptive nominee, Connecticut investor Michael Vlock seems unlikely to budge: "He’s an ignorant, amoral, dishonest and manipulative, misogynistic, philandering, hyper-litigious, isolationist, protectionist blowhard." (Sooo you're telling me there's a chance?! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCKOI24k_UY) ) But really, check out the story (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/us/politics/donald-trump-republican-fundraising.html?ref=politics) .

** Constitutional crisis averted
------------------------------------------------------------

On Thursday, the Oklahoma Legislature passed a bill to criminalize abortion procedures in the Sooner State, sending it to Gov. Mary Fallin for final approval.

But the anti-abortion rights Republican -- and Trump veepstakes contender (http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/politics/vp-possibilities/) -- balked, vetoing the legislation Friday, and heading off an avalanche of lawsuits and a likely Supreme Court showdown.

How high were the stakes? Steve Vladeck, a CNN contributor and law professor at the American University Washington College of Law, put it this way: "This bill is as direct an assault on Roe v. Wade -- and the Supreme Court's subsequent jurisprudence -- as anything we've seen before. If this law is upheld, then (the Roe decision) is meaningless." CNN's Theodore Schleifer, Will Cadigan and Kristen Holmes recount the close call. (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/20/politics/oklahoma-governor-vetoes-bill-that-would-criminalize-abortion/index.html)

** Is Graham about to board the #TrumpTrain?
------------------------------------------------------------

In December, the senator from South Carolina called Trump a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot." But less than six months later, Lindsey Graham is quietly urging his fellow Republicans to back the presumptive nominee.

The news -- as reported here (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/22/politics/donald-trump-lindsey-graham-republican-party/index.html) by CNN's Jeremy Diamond -- represents a big step toward a thaw in the former primary rivals' once icy relationship. They recently enjoyed what Graham described as a "cordial, pleasant phone conversation," and now a prominent GOP fund-raiser in Florida tells CNN that the senator told donors at a private event Saturday "that we need to get behind (Trump)."

** Inside Politics: About that 'Trump Effect'
------------------------------------------------------------

Trump's ability to connect in a general election campaign certainly worries many in the Republican establishment. But what about those more measured GOP officials seeking re-election in the House and Senate? The conventional wisdom is that a sinking nominee could drag down anyone with an R next to their name.

But new research suggests that the so-called "Trump effect" isn't materializing. CNN's John King explains here (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/22/election-center-2016/ip-forecast-michelle-obama-hillary-clinton/index.html) .
Straight Up

** "I don't want to have guns in classrooms, although in some cases teachers should have guns in classrooms, frankly."
------------------------------------------------------------

**
-- Donald Trump, twisting himself into a rhetorical pretzel on the question of allowing firearms in schools (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/21/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-nra/index.html) during a morning chat with "Fox and Friends."
------------------------------------------------------------

Tipsy

Presidential historian (and Twitter savant) Michael Beschloss (https://twitter.com/BeschlossDC/) turned up these 34 precious words of advice former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt graciously offered a young John F. Kennedy in early 1959.

Closing Time

Does Trump have mob ties? Did he ever? Politico asked and this is what it found. (http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/05/donald-trump-2016-mob-organized-crime-213910)  ... Tenth time's the charm? President Barack Obama takes another whack at his long-desired "pivot" to Asia as his visit count reaches double-digits (http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/22/politics/obama-asia-trip-vietnam-japan-hiroshima/index.html) . ... The Texas GOP's attempt to enshrine anti-LGBT language into its platform is upended by the might of the Oxford comma. The Guardian explains (http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/21/texas-republican-party-gay-grammar-wording?CMP=fb_us) .
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