Subject: DNC Clips 5.2.2016
From: "Palermo, Rachel" <[email-masked]>
To: "Palermo, Rachel" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 May 2016 04:38:46 -0700

WEATHER: 80F, Thunderstorms

POTUS and the Administration

'Obama out': President ends last 'Nerd Prom' with a bang<http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2016/05/01/president-obama-larry-wilmore-white-house-correspondents-dinner/83784182/>

USA TODAY // JALEESA M. JONES

President Obama literally dropped the mic at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner, where politicians, journalists, stars and even dogs (Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher's, to be exact) gathered. Prior to Obama's customary riffs, guests at Washington's Hilton Hotel ballroom were treated to a blooper reel, splicing the president's various fumbles, including knocking over audio equipment, calling Today show host Matt Lauer "Tim" and branding Kanye West a "jackass" in one infamous, "hot mic" moment. "I was running on C.P.T," Obama explained when he finally took the podium. "Which stands for jokes that white people should not make." The jab was a pointed reference to a recent exchange between Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who attributed his delayed endorsement of Clinton to "C.P. Time" or "Colored People's Time."

Former NSA head: US safer from terrorism than Europe<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/278283-hayden-us-safer-from-terrorism-than-european-countries>

THE HILL // HARPER NEIDIG

Former National Security Agency (NSA) Director Gen. Michael Hayden said on Sunday he believes the U.S. is safer from terrorism than European countries. During a radio interview with John Catsimatidis, Hayden was asked if European nations are becoming larger targets than the U.S. “No question about it,” Hayden responded. “Now, John, that doesn’t mean there’s no threat here. There are a variety of things that actually make us more safe.” The first, Hayden said, is simply that Europe is closer to where groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria operate. “Second is we’re actually pretty good at this, John,” he continued. “Our security services have a pretty good record compared to the European services, or at least to many of the European services.” Hayden also said the U.S. is much more welcoming to immigrants who may be susceptible to radicalization.

CIA tweeting details of bin Laden raid on anniversary<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/278321-cia-live-tweeting-bin-laden-raid>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, the CIA is tweeting it as if it were happening today. "To mark the 5th anniversary of the Usama Bin Laden operation in Abbottabad we will tweet the raid as if it were happening today," the CIA tweeted at about 1 p.m. on Sunday. The CIA tweeted that bin Laden's death "marked significant victory in US-led campaign to disrupt, dismantle, & defeat al-Qa'ida." At 1:25 p.m. the organization had an update, and again at 1:51, detailing what happened on the day 5 years ago. People took to Twitter to question why the CIA was live-tweeting the event that happened five years ago.

Global Flavors and Asides to Obamas at White House Jazz Gala<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/arts/music/international-jazz-day-white-house-concert.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // NATE CHINEN
A few songs into the fifth International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert, on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday night, a pointedly multicultural coalition took the stage. Chucho Valdés on piano and Paquito D’Rivera on clarinet formed an eminent Cuban contingent. India had an ambassador in the tabla master Zakir Hussain. West Africa was represented by the Beninese guitarist Lionel Loueke, while Australia’s envoy was the trumpeter James Morrison. On bass was Ben Williams, from the Michigan Park neighborhood here. They played “Con Poco Coco,” a descarga recorded in the early 1950s by Mr. Valdés’s father, Bebo. Beyond that, this virtuoso assembly embodied a central ideal behind the concert, an edited version of which was broadcast on ABC on Saturday night and will be streaming on jazzday.com for the rest of this month. As the centerpiece of International Jazz Day — presented by Unesco, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — the event was a show of musical kinship across every kind of border.

Why Secrecy Could Kill President Obama’s Big Trade Deal With Europe<http://time.com/4312763/ttip-trans-atlantic-trade-deal-obama/>

TIME // SIMON SHUSTER

One afternoon in early February, Katja Kipping, a left-wing member of the German parliament, finally got a chance to see the free-trade deal that the U.S. and European Union hope to finish by the end of this year. There were just a few preconditions. She would only get two hours to skim through the complex legal document, which is hundreds of pages long. She would have to surrender her jacket, purse, phone and other electronics before entering the sealed-off reading room at the German Economy Ministry. A guard would watch over Kipping the entire time. And she would not be allowed to tell anyone what she would find inside the agreement. “I hope it’s not a crime to speak about this,” she told me recently about the experience. “They didn’t tell me about any clear penalty, but they say it’s forbidden to speak or to write about anything you have read there.” This made our interview feel, at times, like a game of 20 questions, as Kipping would only tell me what she had not seen in the document. Still, it was about as close as a member of the public can get to one of President Barack Obama’s most ambitious pieces of unfinished business, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. Initiated in 2013, this treaty promises to cut the red tape that limits trade between the U.S. and E.U., potentially boosting their economies by a total of more than $200 billion, according to official E.U. projections. When Obama recently paid a visit to Germany to promote the agreement, he urged European leaders to hurry up with the deal, so that he might have a chance of signing it before he leaves office.

Harvard students offer advice to Malia Obama<https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/05/01/harvard-students-offer-advice-malia-obama-who-was-accepted-into-class/kXS2StHRcNLRbRjj3AtwAJ/story.html>

BOSTON GLOBE // DAVID ABEL AND ADAM SENNOTT

Will the aspiring filmmaker haunt the Carpenter Center and major in what Harvard calls visual and environmental studies? Or will she take professor Roger Porter’s famous class on the American presidency, where she might hear some unfavorable critiques of her father’s administration? Whatever she decides to study, President Obama’s daughter Malia will be moving to Cambridge in the fall of 2017 to become a member of Harvard College’s Class of 2021, White House officials announced Sunday. “We can confirm that we have received her acceptance,” said Anna Cowenhoven, a Harvard spokeswoman. “We look forward to welcoming the entire freshman class to campus and seeing all they accomplish in the years ahead.” Malia was one of 2,037 applicants chosen this year from a pool of 39,041 students, but Obama’s eldest daughter will take a year off before enrolling.

For Malia Obama, a study break and time out of the presidential spotlight<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-malia-obama-a-study-break-and-time-out-of-the-presidential-spotlight/2016/05/01/34835b9a-0fc4-11e6-93ae-50921721165d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // JULIET EILPERIN

Malia Obama’s decision to take a year off before attending Harvard University in the fall of 2017 reflects a growing trend among driven teenagers to pursue other interests and get a respite from the academic grind that has come to define high school for many young Americans. But it will also provide her with a chance to experience college as the glare of the presidential spotlight has begun to ease, giving her a level of freedom that the daughters of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did not have on their respective campuses. Malia has not decided what she will do during her year off, according to someone familiar with the process who asked for anonymity to discuss the private decision. “She has yet to even graduate [from high school], so she’s going to take time to think about her opportunities,” the individual said.

Malia Obama Rebels, Sort of, by Choosing Harvard<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/politics/malia-obama-rebels-sort-of-by-choosing-harvard.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS AND NICHOLAS FANDOS
So much for President Obama’s fatherly advice on college. Malia Obama, his older daughter and perhaps the nation’s most scrutinized and sought-after college applicant, has opted to attend Harvard University beginning in the fall of 2017, apparently disregarding her parents’ counsel that she need not choose a school with a big name and reputation. The White House announced Malia’s choice, and her decision to take a gap year, on Sunday in a short statement from the first lady’s office, ending a season of speculation and surveillance on her college search process. She will become the latest in a long line of presidential children to attend the highly ranked Ivy League university. The president suggested that, with his own daughter, he had weighed into the national angst over the increasing difficulty of getting into prestigious colleges, and said that he had made it clear there were other options for Malia, whom he has described as a capable, conscientious student who is ready to make her way independently in the world.

Malia Obama to Attend Harvard, but Not Until 2017<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/politics/malia-obama-to-attend-harvard-but-not-until-2017.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS AND NICHOLAS FANDOS

Malia Obama, the older daughter of President Obama, plans to attend Harvard University beginning in the fall of 2017, the White House announced on Sunday, waiting until her father leaves office to begin her college career. Malia’s much-speculated-upon decision, announced in a news release after months of official silence from the White House about her college search process, will make her the latest in a long line of presidential children to attend the elite university in Cambridge, Mass. Both of her parents attended law school there. “The President and Mrs. Obama announced today that their daughter Malia will attend Harvard University in the fall of 2017 as a member of the Class of 2021. Malia will take a gap year before beginning school,” the White House said in a statement. In deferring her start date until 2017, Malia, 17, is availing herself of the opportunity to take a “gap year,” a popular option for high school seniors who are seeking experiences outside the classroom — some in far-flung parts of the world — before they begin pursuing a degree. Harvard actively encourages admitted students to do so.

Scalia’s death affecting next term, too? Pace of accepted cases at Supreme Court slows.<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/scalias-death-affecting-next-term-too-pace-of-accepted-cases-at-supreme-court-slows/2016/05/01/1d304d1c-0ecb-11e6-bfa1-4efa856caf2a_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // ROBERT BARNES

The ways in which Justice Antonin Scalia’s sudden death are altering the current Supreme Court term have been widely chronicled. But it appears the absence of Scalia will be felt on the court’s work next term, as well. The number of cases the justices have accepted has fallen, meaning that a docket that in recent years has been smaller than what is traditional is shrinking still. The court has accepted only six cases since Scalia died Feb. 13. The number is low compared with the average, Scotusblog.com editor Amy Howe said at an event last week reviewing the Supreme Court’s work. And none of the cases that the court has accepted for the term that begins in October approach the level of controversy that have marked the dramatic rulings of recent years.

Democrats

Reid 'fairly certain' Democrats will win Senate<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/278281-reid-fairly-certain-democrats-will-win-senate>

THE HILL // HARPER NEIDIG

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Sunday that he thinks his party will win back the majority in the Senate this year. During a radio interview with John Catsimatidis, Reid detailed the Democratic efforts against several vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection this year. “We only need four [seats] to take the majority,” he said. “With the numbers I’ve given you, it’s going to be a fairly certain thing that we can do that.” Reid predicted earlier in the interview the Democrats would win, or at least compete for, Senate seats in Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa and Arizona. Reid also made some predictions about the presidential races, blasting Republican front-runner Donald Trump for his harsh rhetoric toward women, immigrants and disabled people.

Stricter Rules for Voter IDs Reshape Races<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/stricter-rules-for-voter-ids-reshape-races.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // MICHAEL WINES AND MANNY FERNANDEZ

In a state where everything is big, the 23rd Congressional District that hugs the border with Mexico is a monster: eight and a half hours by car across a stretch of land bigger than any state east of the Mississippi. In 2014, Representative Pete Gallego logged more than 70,000 miles there in his white Chevy Tahoe, campaigning for re-election to the House — and lost by a bare 2,422 votes. So in his bid this year to retake the seat, Mr. Gallego, a Democrat, has made a crucial adjustment to his strategy. “We’re asking people if they have a driver’s license,” he said. “We’re having those basic conversations about IDs at the front end, right at our first meeting with voters.” Since their inception a decade ago, voter identification laws have been the focus of fierce political and social debate. Proponents, largely Republican, argue that the regulations are essential tools to combat election fraud, while critics contend that they are mainly intended to suppress turnout of Democratic-leaning constituencies like minorities and students.

Republicans

Pennsylvania GOP senator on collision course with Trump<http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/278236-pennsylvania-gop-senator-on-collision-course-with-donald-trump>

THE HILL // JORDAIN CARNEY

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey’s reelection bid is on a collision course with the most dominant force in GOP politics. The biggest challenge to Toomey’s reelection might not be Democrats, but Donald Trump, who is inching closer to the GOP presidential nomination. Toomey has publicly created space between his campaign and Trump. After a local radio host told Toomey that Katie McGinty, his Democratic opponent, said she would be running against a Toomey-Trump “bigotry” ticket, he fired back that her suggestion was “pretty outrageous actually.” He then noted that he initially endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) for the GOP nomination, before voting for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in this week’s Pennsylvania primary after Rubio dropped out of the race. Toomey says he will back Trump if the businessman is the GOP nominee. “Donald Trump was not my first choice. He wasn’t my second choice. But, you know, I don’t want to see Hillary Clinton take this country further to the left,” Toomey told a local radio station this week. A GOP presidential candidate hasn’t carried Pennsylvania since 1988, so Toomey always knew his 2016 bid could be difficult.

Conrad Burns, Former U.S. Senator of Montana, Dies at 81<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/conrad-burns-obituary-former-montana-senator-dies-at-81.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // CHRISTOPHER MELE AND DANIEL VICTOR

Conrad Burns, a former Montana livestock auctioneer with a penchant for speaking plainly who catapulted from county commissioner to United States senator, died on Thursday at his home in Billings, Mont. He was 81. His death was confirmed by Mark Baker, his former staff director and counsel in the Senate. Mr. Burns served three terms in the Senate, where he worked on telecommunications legislation, focusing on access in rural areas, and influenced policies on energy and federal land management. After serving just two years as a commissioner in Yellowstone County, he defeated an incumbent Democratic senator, John Melcher, in 1988. In 1994, Mr. Burns became the first Republican senator in Montana history to be re-elected. His ways might have been out of step with the traditional character of the Senate — The Billings Gazette noted that he would chew tobacco and occasionally pick his teeth with a pocketknife — but that did not stop him from assuming influential positions.

2016 Democrats

Clinton: There are a lot of qualified people for VP<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/278289-clinton-im-going-to-look-hard-at-potential-vps>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton won’t give any clues about who she is considering as her running mate, though she said there are many qualified people for the job. She spoke Sunday with radio host John Catsimatidis about her hope to have a 50-50 divide between men and women in her Cabinet.  Catsimatidis asked if that meant she would choose a man as her vice president. “Well, there are a lot of qualified men for that position,” Clinton said, laughing. “If I’m so fortunate as to wrap up the nomination, I’m going to really look hard at who can do the job.” She said the most important thing to consider when picking VPs is who could do the job and bring people together if something were to happen to the president. Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said recently there is “no question” women will be on the list of running mates, a statement which caused some to speculate that progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) might be considered.

Clinton: I'm happy to work with Sanders on shaping the platform<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/clinton-sanders-democrats-platform-222679>

POLITICO // DANIEL STRAUSS

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she looks forward to working with Sen. Bernie Sanders on a progressive Democratic Party platform in the lead-up to the party's national convention in Philadelphia. Clinton, speaking in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday's "State of the Union," said she is open to working with her rival on a liberal platform. "I certainly look forward to working with Sen. Sanders in the lead-up to the convention, in the lead-up to the platform that will represent the Democratic Party," Clinton said. "It will be a progressive platform. I've run on a progressive agenda. I really welcome his ideas and his passion and commitment, because the most important thing" is winning in November. Clinton's comment comes as Sanders has tacitly shifted the focus of his campaign from winning the nomination (which is increasingly unlikely for the Vermont senator) to pushing Clinton to the left and helping to shape as progressive an agenda for the Democratic Party as possible. Sanders recently ticked off a list of priorities he would like to see the party focus on: open primaries in Democratic elections, automatic voting for anyone 18 or over, and a 50-state-style campaign strategy.

How Hillary Could Win the Election—and Lose the Country<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/04/how-hillary-could-win-the-electionand-lose-the-country-213852>

POLITICO MAGAZINE // TODD S. PURDUM

Hillary Clinton’s all-but-insurmountable delegate lead in the Democratic race, and her strong numbers against any probable Republican opponent in the fall, now pose a paradox: She might win the presidency but lose the country. The reason is that Clinton lacks a big, new animating idea in a year when voters in both parties are so discontented they have embraced some pretty bad ones. Like them or loathe them, Donald Trump's and Bernie Sanders’ messages are crystal clear and call for dramatic change, while Clinton’s remains spread softly all over the map. And her agenda promises less change than continuation—of the centrist Democratic Party policies that her husband pursued and which Barack Obama has largely followed. It’s no surprise that one of Clinton’s biggest campaign themes is to praise both her predecessor Democratic presidents—the one she married and the one she went to work for—effusively.

Clinton on Sanders: 'There comes a time where you have to look at the reality'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278308-clinton-i-look-forward-to-working-with-sanders-ahead-of>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton said on Sunday that she plans to work with rival Bernie Sanders heading into the Democratic National Convention, but refused to call herself the presumptive nominee. "I consider myself as someone who's on the path, and obviously I'm very far ahead in both the popular vote and the delegate count, so I think the path leads to the nomination," Clinton said on CNN's "State of the Union." "But, you know, I'm going to keep competing." Clinton praised Sanders and his supporters, saying the Vermont senator has been a "passionate advocate for positions he cares deeply about. "But there comes a time where you have to look at the reality," she continued. "In fact, in '08 I was much closer in both popular vote and pledged delegates to Sen. Obama than is the case right now, but eventually I just decided that I had to withdraw and support Sen. Obama because the goal was to make sure we had a Democrat in the White House." She said she's going to be "aggressive" in reaching out to Sanders's supporters. "He's brought millions of people into the process," she said. Clinton said she "looks forward" to working with Sanders in the lead-up to the convention, adding she was "pleased" when Sanders said he's going to work tirelessly to ensure Trump is not the nominee.

Issa: Clinton email probe may go past election<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278335-issa-clinton-email-probe-may-go-past-election>

THE HILL // CYRA MASTER

The scale of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails could force the probe past the election, Rep. Darrell Issa told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. "I believe they are going to have to make a summary finding as to her violation of the national records act, her taking of the documents, and of course a classified portion," Issa said, according to the Washington Examiner. But when it comes to investigating "coordinating her activities and President Clinton's activities and Chelsea's activities in the Clinton Foundation, they're probably going to have to leave that until after the election." Earlier this year, the probe into Clinton’s email expanded to possibly investigate if operations at the State Department may have been improperly coordinated with the nonprofit Clinton Foundation. Issa is the former chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which conducted a congressional probe into the Democratic front-runner’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of State.

Clinton challenges Indiana abortion law at campaign stop<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/01/clinton-challenges-indiana-abortion-law-at-campaign-stop/>

WASHINGTON POST // DAVID WEIGEL

Just hours after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against a new Indiana abortion law, Hillary Clinton stumped miles away from the state capitol and filed a sort of amicus brief. “I will defend a woman's right to make her own health-care decisions,” Clinton said to a few hundred supporters packed into a sweltering recreation center. “I’ll tell ya, I’ll defend Planned Parenthood against these attacks. And I commend the women of this state, young and old, for standing up against this governor and this legislature.” She did not mention the details of the legislation, House Bill 1337, which bans abortions for several factors not deemed life-threatening. As enacted, the bill prohibits termination of pregnancy if the woman asking for it is motivated by the “race, color, national origin, ancestry, or sex of the fetus” or “diagnosis or potential diagnosis of the fetus having Down syndrome or any other disability.”

Poll: Clinton, Sanders in statistical tie in Indiana<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278306-poll-clinton-sanders-in-statistical-tie-in-indiana>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has a 4-point lead over rival Bernie Sanders days ahead of Indiana’s primary, within a new poll’s margin of error. Clinton leads the Vermont senator among likely Democratic primary voters, 50 percent to 46 percent, in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Sunday morning. The NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, conducted April 26–28, has a margin of error of 4.6 percentage points for Democrats. Clinton leads Sanders by 6.2 points in Indiana, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls. Among Republicans, Donald Trump holds a 15-point lead over his closest challenger, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, in the new poll. Trump has the support of 49 percent of likely Republican primary voters, compared to Cruz’s 34 percent. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has 13 percent. The margin of error is 3.9 percentage points for Republicans.

Clinton responds to Obama's 'Aunt Hillary' joke<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278325-clinton-responds-to-obamas-aunt-hillary-joke>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN
Hillary Clinton didn’t attend the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday night, but she wanted President Obama to know approved of his joke about her. During his final correspondents’ dinner speech, Obama roasted the 2016 presidential candidates, including Democratic front-runner Clinton’s struggle to appeal to millennials. “Hillary trying to appeal to young voters is a little bit like your relative that just signed up for Facebook,” Obama said. “Dear America, did you get my poke? Is it appearing on your wall? I’m not sure I’m using this right. Love, Aunt Hillary.”

Bernie Sanders’s Fund-Raising Plunges Amid Campaign Woes<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/01/bernie-sanderss-fund-raising-plunges-amid-campaign-woes/?ref=politics>

NE W YORK TIMES // YAMICHE ALCINDOR

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont raised just $25.8 million for his campaign in April, down by more than 40 percent from the previous month, as he faces an increasingly narrow path in the race for the Democratic nomination for president. The April total, released by his campaign on Sunday, brought Mr. Sanders’s cumulative fund-raising haul to $210 million from more than 2.4 million donors. He raised almost $46 million in March, his best month yet in a contest during which he has frequently brought in more money than his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Earlier this week, Mr. Sanders revealed in an interview that he would be laying off some 255 workers, saying he would focus his resources on competing in the remaining 14 contests, particularly in California. Mr. Sanders has faced questions about how much he can continue to raise as Mrs. Clinton has pulled farther ahead in the competition for Democratic delegates. But he is continuing to bring in large sums of money from donors making small gifts.

Sanders on winning nomination: 'It's difficult; it's not impossible'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278312-sanders-on-winning-nomination-its-difficult-its-not>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said he's still fighting to secure the nomination, though he noted it will be an uphill battle. "It's difficult; it's not impossible," he said on CBS's "Face The Nation" on Sunday. He'll need to win 65 percent of the delegates in the remaining contests to win the nomination. "Now 65 percent is a pretty heavy climb, but these are states ... that I think we're going to do very, very well in," the Vermont senator said. Sanders also said he thinks he can garner support from superdelegates in states where he has won the majority of the vote. He also called on voters to look at who the stronger candidate to beat Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump in a general election would be. "We appeal to not only the overwhelming majority of Democrats," he said. "We appeal to independents as well."

Bernie Sanders Says Superdelegates Should Follow Voters’ Will in Landslide States<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/01/bernie-sanders-says-superdelegates-should-follow-voters-will-in-landslide-states/?ref=politics&_r=0>

NEW YORK TIMES // YAMICHE ALCINDOR

Bernie Sanders said on Sunday that he and Hillary Clinton were heading to a “contested” convention this summer because she will need superdelegates to secure the nomination, a claim that clashes with the accepted definition of a contested convention. He also said that superdelegates who have supported her should switch to him instead. At a news conference in Washington, Mr. Sanders said that the Democratic convention in July would be contested because “it is virtually impossible for Secretary Clinton to reach the majority of convention delegates by June 14 with pledged delegates alone,” and that she “will need superdelegates to take her over the top.” He added: “In other words, the convention will be a contested convention.” A convention is typically understood as contested when a candidate cannot reach the necessary delegate count using both pledged delegates and superdelegates, typically party officials and state leaders who are not bound to any candidate.

Sanders supporters hound FCC with complaints about media bias<http://thehill.com/policy/technology/278199-sanders-supporters-hound-fcc-with-complaints-about-media-bias>

THE HILL // MARIO TRUJILLO

Bernie Sanders supporters have hounded federal regulators with allegations about bias in the media, according to records obtained by The Hill through a Freedom of Information Act request. A review of about 850 complaints to the Federal Communications Commission about the three major cable news networks throughout the campaign season found that one of the most popular objections came against CNN in the days after the first Democratic debate last October.  In what looked to be a coordinated effort, more than 160 complaints alleging CNN bias in favor of Hillary Clinton were filed. The complaints pushed a now-debunked story claiming the cable news network deleted favorable polling that showed Bernie Sanders won the debate. “CNN hosting the debate while backing Hillary Clinton. There [sic] phony polls and editing of the debate,” read one October complaint to the FCC originating from Layton Utah. “Bernie Sanders not getting a fair shot!” Though somewhat misguided, the flood of complaints highlights the reach of the digital army of Sanders supporters, who have become a force on Reddit, Facebook and other social media platforms. Sanders supporters more than once have bombarded official government channels to lodge their complaints this election cycle, as Clinton's path to the nomination gets more and more likely.

Sanders: 'The convention will be a contested contest'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278322-sanders-the-convention-will-be-a-contested-contest>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Sunday said there will be a "contested contest." In a news conference from Washington, D.C., on Sunday, the Vermont independent urged super delegates from states where he has won the majority of the vote to reconsider their support. "It is virtually impossible for Secretary Clinton to reach the majority of convention delegates by June 14 with pledged delegates alone," he said. "She will need super delegates to take her over the top. The convention will be a contested contest," he said. Sanders said during the news conference he expects to do well in the upcoming contests. Indiana votes Tuesday, where a new poll shows Sanders tied with front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Sanders: 'It will be a contested convention'<http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-dem-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/05/bernie-sanders-contested-convention-222685>

POLITICO // DANIEL STRAUSS

Bernie Sanders predicted Sunday that Hillary Clinton would not win enough pledged delegates to claim the nomination ahead of the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, and he delivered his most forceful call yet for superdelegates in states he's won to consider throwing their support to him. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the Vermont senator argued that Clinton "will need superdelegates to take her over the top at the convention in Philadelphia. In other words, it will be a contested convention." Sanders said that in the states where he handily defeated Clinton, superdelegates who aren't supporting him should reconsider aligning themselves with the will of voters of those states. "In the state of Washington, we won that caucus with almost 73 percent of the vote there — 73 percent of the vote. In anybody's opinion, that is a massive landslide. But at this point Secretary Clinton has 10 superdelegates from the state of Washington, we have zero," Sanders said, offering an example of a state where he won the popular vote but did not collect any superdelegates. "I would ask the superdelegates from the state of Washington to respect the wishes from the people in their state and the votes they have cast."

Jane Sanders emerges as Bernie's go-to messenger<http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/278235-jane-sanders-emerges-as-bernies-go-to-messenger>

THE HILL // BEN KAMISAR

against the momentum pushing Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton toward the nomination.   She has been an almost constant presence on television this week, exuding confidence in interviews across the three major cable networks and countering speculation about the campaign’s demise.  Her positive approach has worked to steer the campaign back on message, despite signals that the hard-pressed Bernie Sanders campaign may begin to shift focus to ensuring the Vermont senator's message is reflected in the party’s platform under Clinton. “[We are] absolutely in it to win it,” Jane Sanders said Thursday during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”  "In mid-March, after a string of losses, the media wrote his political obituary, and we came back to win eight in a row. So we're expecting to do the same here.”  It’s an unlikely prediction — Clinton’s big Tuesday night brought her even closer to the nomination, while Sanders’s window shrinks toward mathematical improbability.   And his campaign this week has been dogged by a number of storylines that threatened to further throw the campaign off its game.

Sanders makes a public plea for Democratic superdelegates to switch allegiances<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/01/sanders-makes-a-public-plea-for-democratic-superdelegates-to-switch-allegiances/>

WASHINGTON POST // JOHN WAGNER

White House hopeful Bernie Sanders, who has fought the Democratic establishment throughout his campaign, made an extraordinary appeal Sunday for party insiders to help deliver the nomination to him, even if he doesn’t catch rival Hillary Clinton in the remaining primaries and caucuses. Addressing reporters at the National Press Club in Washington, Sanders made a public plea for Democratic superdelegates to reconsider their allegiances to Clinton, particularly those in states where he has won nominating contests or those who committed to Clinton before he entered the race. “They’re going to have to go into their hearts, and they are going to have to ask, do they want the second strongest candidate to run against [GOP front-runner Donald] Trump or do they want the strongest candidate?” Sanders said, suggesting that he is the strongest based on polling data.

Bernie Sanders’s fundraising drops off sharply in April<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/01/bernie-sanderss-fundraising-drops-off-sharply-in-april/>

WASHINGTON POST // JOHN WAGNER

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said he raised $25.8 million in April, well shy of his eye-popping totals of recent months. The figure comes as Sanders’s chance of defeating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination have dwindled, with his loss to her in the New York primary on April 19 widely viewed as a turning point in the race. Sanders’s take, raised almost entirely online, fell about $20 million short of the $46 million he posted in March. His haul was still sizable by some measures: Clinton reported having raised about $27 million in March, not much more than Sanders’s take in April. But Sanders has emerged as the biggest-spending candidate in the race, and his April total is not enough to maintain his pace of spending on television ads and other facets of the race. Last week, the campaign announced that it was shedding 225 staffers to “right-size” its personnel heading into the final nominating contests, including Indiana on Tuesday. The lower haul also comes as Sanders is ramping up to compete against Clinton in California, where there are multiple media markets and the cost of television advertising is very expensive. Sanders has said in recent days that he remains in the race with the intent of winning but that he is also maneuvering to make the Democratic platform as progressive as possible at the July convention in Philadelphia.

Sanders raised over $25 million in April, a steep drop from March<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/bernie-sanders-fundraising-campaign-222682>

POLITICO // DANIEL STRAUSS

Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign raised $25.8 million in April, a notable decline from a month earlier, when he raised $44 million. The Sanders campaign reported the latest fundraising haul on Sunday, noting that it surpassed "the campaign's average monthly total of $17 million." Still, what was far more conspicuous was the decline in the most recent fundraising numbers from a month earlier. The newest fundraising numbers come just a few days after, as first reported by POLITICO, the Sanders campaign made staff cuts across his campaign apparatus. Sanders' campaign also noted that, in total, it had raised $210 million off of 2.4 million donors. The campaign said the average contribution in April was smaller than $26 and that just 3 percent came from donations that maxed out at $2,700. Sanders' campaign has long prided itself in being able to raise large sums of money from small donations. "What our campaign is doing is bringing millions of Americans into the political process," Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement.

2016 Republicans

GOP shuns electronic ballots at open convention<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/gop-convention-ballots-technology-222472>

POLTICO // DARREN SAMUELSOHN

The 2016 Republican presidential campaign has been the definition of an instantaneous digital race, complete with micro-targeted Facebook ads, Twitter tirades and ephemeral Snapchat videos. But the biggest moment of the entire GOP contest, at the party’s national convention in Cleveland, is shaping up to be a decidedly low-tech affair. Senior party officials — worried about hacking and Internet reliability in the overcrowded Cleveland arena and eager to preserve the live television drama surrounding a drawn-out roll call — are ruling out a change to convention bylaws that would allow for electronic voting on the ballots to select the GOP’s presidential and vice presidential nominees. Instead, the most highly anticipated portion of the convention in July will follow the old-fashioned, traditional practice in which each state delegation takes its alphabetical turn calling out its picks.

Poll: Indiana Republicans back Trump, sour on Cruz-Kasich deal<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/01/poll-indiana-republicans-back-trump-sour-on-cruz-kasich-deal/>

WASHINGTON POST // DAVID WEIGEL

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll gives Donald Trump a commanding lead ahead of Tuesday's Republican primary here. Among the problems for his GOP rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich: abject voter disgust with their hasty agreement to carve up three primaries so that each of them could face Trump one on one. The poll, conducted Tuesday to Thursday, finds likely Republican voters opposed to the Cruz-Kasich deal by a 24-point margin: Just 34 percent likes the deal, while 58 percent dislike it. That's higher than the overall support of 49 percent for Trump, who would win most of the state's 57 delegates with a statewide victory of any size. Last Sunday, the campaigns of Cruz and Kasich surprised voters and reporters alike by announcing that the Texan would eschew campaigning in Oregon and New Mexico and that the Ohioan would stay out of neighboring Indiana. As Kasich scrapped public events here (while keeping commitments to meet donors and delegates), Cruz portrayed the Hoosier State as the place where, finally, Republican voters could unite to stop Trump.

Trump rallies leave cities with big security bills: report<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278329-trump-rallies-costing-cities-large-security-bills>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Rallies for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump are costing some cities a large amount to secure and manage, The Wall Street Journal reported. During March, 15 of Trump's campaign events cost local authorities more than $300,000, averaging about $20,000 per event, according to a survey of local police departments and campaign venues. The event sites are reportedly sending bills to the campaign for reimbursement, though communities aren't normally repaid by presidential campaigns for hosting events. The survey by the Wall Street Journal investigated events in Florida, Maine, Illinois and Ohio. It found that during Trump's rally in Tucson, Ariz., the security bill totaled $81,838 for 180 officers to work 1,171 hours. Many of Trump's rallies have drawn large protests, including his rally last week in California. An event he was supposed to have in Chicago earlier this year was canceled after massive protests erupted. There were also protests at his rallies in Hickory, N.C., and Janesville and Appleton, Wis. “We had more officers assigned because we knew we were going to have a protest group,” said Chief Todd Thomas, of the Appleton police department. The department spent $11,830 policing the event.

Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick is anyone’s guess<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trumps-vice-presidential-pick-is-anyones-guess/2016/05/01/b522c77c-0fd3-11e6-81b4-581a5c4c42df_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // CHRIS CILLIZZA

Donald Trump’s victories in a series of northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states over the past two weeks coupled with his lead on the eve of Tuesday’s Indiana’s primary have made one thing clear: He is the unquestioned favorite for the Republican presidential nomination. Which raises the question: Who is Trump going to pick as his vice presidential nominee? The short answer: No one knows. Trump relishes being unpredictable, so trying to game out how this most unconventional of politicians will make up his mind is a bit of a guessing game. Add to that the fact that Trump’s inner circle remains, largely, devoid of establishment types, and you quickly get into a situation where the people talking don’t know much and the people who do know aren’t talking. Trump has been open about the lack of thought he has put into the process. “I just don’t want to think about it right now,” he said of the veepstakes following his five-state sweep six days ago.

On Sunday Talk Shows, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Preview Potential General Election Fight<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/01/on-sunday-talk-shows-donald-trump-and-hillary-clinton-preview-potential-general-election-fight/?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // TRIP GABRIEL

Before the boxing comes the shadow boxing. Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton threw some practice jabs in interviews broadcast on Sunday, signaling a general election that could focus heavily on Mrs. Clinton’s gender and on her more hawkish foreign policy. “The only card she has is the women’s card,’’ Mr. Trump said, continuing to contend that Mrs. Clinton would not have won more than five percent of Democratic primary votes if she were a man. “She’s done a lousy job in so many ways – even women don’t like her,’’ Mr. Trump added in an on-camera interview on Fox News Sunday, his first appearance on a Sunday talk show in almost a month. He said that in a general election he would rerun videotape of Senator Bernie Sanders saying Mrs. Clinton was not “qualified” for the presidency because she supported trade deals and voted for the war in Iraq. “I’m going to use that; we’ll have that teed up,’’ Mr. Trump said, referring to criticism Mr. Sanders leveled at Mrs. Clinton when the Democratic race hit a low point before the New York primary. Mrs. Clinton said she planned to ignore Mr. Trump’s “bullying” and “temper tantrums” and focus on issues if they face off in the general election. “I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave,” she told Jake Tapper of CNN in an interview taped on Friday and shown in full on Sunday.

Poll: Trump has big lead in Indiana<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/indiana-trump-cruz-polling-222680>

POLITICO // KRISTEN EAST

Donald Trump has a double-digit lead over Ted Cruz in Indiana just days before the state’s primary, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll. Trump leads Cruz by 15 percentage points in Indiana, 49 percent to 34 percent. John Kasich is last at 13 percent. Cruz is hoping for a win in the Hoosier State in order to continue preventing Trump from securing the GOP nomination before the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. A win for Trump, however, would kick Cruz’s candidacy when it’s already down. The Democratic race is a bit more competitive. Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders, 50 percent to 46 percent, among likely Indiana primary voters. The poll, conducted April 26-28, included 645 likely Republican primary voters and 449 likely Democratic primary voters. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points and 4.6 percentage points, respectively.

Trump doubles down on Hillary attacks<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278305-trump-doubles-down-on-hillary-attacks>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

GOP front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday denied his comments toward Democratic rival Hillary Clinton are hurting him among female voters and doubled down on saying she wouldn't be in the race if she weren't a woman. "I'm my own strategist, and I like what I said, and it's true. I only tell the truth, and that's why people vote for me," Trump said on "Fox News Sunday." Trump denied that his comments on Clinton have driven down his already extremely low support among women in the polls. "Even women don't like her. They don't like her. It's the woman's card, and she plays it, and I'll let you know in about six months, if she plays it, well. It's true. If she weren't a woman, she wouldn't even be in this race." Trump angered Clinton supporters last Tuesday when he said she is using the "woman card" to get votes in the Democratic primaries. Trump escalated those attacks Thursday in an interview with the "Today" show, saying, "Without the woman's card, Hillary would not even be a viable person to even run for city council positions. "I think the only thing she has going for her is the fact that she's a woman," Trump said. "She has done a terrible job in so many ways."

Former Pentagon chief rips Trump's foreign policy<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/278311-former-secretary-of-defense-rips-trumps-foreign-policy>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Sunday criticized Donald Trump's foreign policy after the Republican presidential front-runner outlined his "America first" model. "I think, based on the speech, you'd have somebody who doesn’t understand the difference between a business negotiation and a negotiation with sovereign powers," Gates said on ABC's "This Week." Gates, who served as secretary of Defense under former President George W. Bush and President Obama, called Trump out for making conflicting statements in last week's speech. "For example, he, on the one hand, says we need to be a more reliable ally to our friends," he said. "And then in the next breath, he basically says we're going to rip up all those burden-sharing agreements that we've had over the decades with them and make them go their own way if they don't pay for everything."

Trump's son: We'll get the last laugh<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/278299-trumps-son-well-get-the-last-laugh>

THE HILL // CATE MARTEL

Donald Trump’s son Eric echoed his father’s confidence while heading into his first White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. When asked whether President Obama would take shots at his father during the president’s final WHCA dinner, Eric Trump said his father would have the last laugh. “We’ll take some shots back next year. He who laughs last laughs longest, right?” Trump said to The Hill in the reception area before the annual dinner event. “I’d be shocked if [Obama] didn’t [take shots at Donald],” Eric Trump’s wife, Lara Yunaska, said. Eric Trump, the executive vice president of development and acquisitions at The Trump Organization, seemed excited for his first visit to the soiree. “I build hotels,” said Trump. “We don’t do politics. This is uncharted territory to me.”  And like the Trumps predicted, President Obama took several shots at the Republican front-runner. “Is this dinner too tacky for the Donald?” said Obama. “What could he possibly be doing instead? Is he at home eating a Trump steak? Tweeting out insults to Angela Merkel? What’s he doing? "The guy wanted to give his hotel business a boost, and now we're praying Cleveland makes it through July," Obama said, referring to the Republican National Convention this summer.

Poll: Trump up by 15 points in Indiana<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278304-poll-trump-up-by-15-points-in-indiana>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has a 15-point lead over his closest rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, just days ahead of the Indiana primary. Trump has the support of 49 percent of likely Republican primary voters, compared to Cruz’s 34 percent, in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll released Sunday morning. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has 13 percent. Trump leads Cruz by just 4 points in the Hoosier State, however, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls. Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton leads Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders by 4 points in the new poll, 50 to 46 percent. The NBC/WSJ/Marist poll, conducted April 26–28, has a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points for Republicans and 4.6 points for Democrats.

Aide: Trump was trying to point out Clinton is a 'failed secretary of State'<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/278316-trump-aide-the-point-he-was-trying-to-make-was-that-shes-a>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Donald Trump's convention manager, Paul Manafort, slammed Hillary Clinton on Sunday after the Republican presidential front-runner said his Democratic counterpart has only come this far because she is a woman. "The point he was trying to make was that she’s a failed secretary of State," Manafort said on CBS's "Face The Nation." Manafort said a Clinton presidency would essentially be a continuation of the Obama administration. "The point he was making is that's the way she needs to be viewed," he said. Manafort said Trump views himself as the "ultimate outsider candidate." "He's not one of the people who have messed up the system," Manafort said.  "The gridlock that exists in Washington is not what he has participated in creating." Manafort said Trump will not be "restricted by the limitations of Washington" on issues important to his presidency.

Graham: 'Lucifer may be the only person Trump can beat in a general election'<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/278314-graham-lucifer-may-be-the-only-person-trump-can-beat-in-a>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said there's only one person Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump can win against in a general election: Lucifer. "I think Lucifer may be the only person Trump can beat in a general election," the former GOP presidential candidate said on CBS's "Face The Nation" in an interview that aired Sunday. "When it comes to women and Hispanics, Trump polls like Lucifer, so this is a contest between conservatism and Trumpism, and Trumpism will get creamed in the ballot box." Former Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) called Trump's rival, Texas senator Ted Cruz, “Lucifer in the flesh” during a speech last week. Graham, who has thrown his support behind Cruz and repeatedly attacked Trump, also slammed Trump's foreign policy after the front-runner made a speech last week advocating for an "America first" approach. He advised his Republican colleagues to distance themselves from Trump. "Be your own person. Reject Donald Trump's approach to solving immigration, because it won't work and it's hateful," he said.

Another delegate rout by Cruz over Trump. But will it matter?<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/01/another-delegate-rout-by-cruz-over-trump-but-will-it-matter/>

WASHINGTON POST // ED O’KEEFE

Supporters of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) routed Donald Trump's campaign — again— this weekend in Arizona, Missouri and Virginia, packing delegations to the Republican National Convention with supporters of the senator even though the New York businessman won those states. But it might not matter if Trump keeps on course to secure the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican presidential nomination before the July convention in Cleveland. He is on course to expand his delegate lead even more on Tuesday by winning the Indiana primary, a contest once seen as an easy win for Cruz. And yet — the weekend's delegate results mean that Trump is likely to accept the Republican nomination in Cleveland in front of an audience packed with supporters of his bitter rival.

Trump: Can't keep allowing China 'to rape our country'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278330-trump-cant-keep-allowing-china-to-rape-our-country>

THE HILL //  JESSIE HELLMANN

GOP front-runner Donald Trump hit the U.S.’s trade deficit with China hard at a campaign event in Indiana on Sunday. “We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country, and that’s what they’re doing,” Trump said. Trump has repeatedly accused China of currency manipulation to make its exports more competitive in the global market, but this is the first time he’s used the word “rape” to describe it. “We’re going to turn it around, and we have the cards, don’t forget it,” Trump said. “We have a lot of power with China.”  Trump’s comments come as he gained the endorsement of boxer Mike Tyson, who was convicted of rape in Indiana.

‘We’re going to have that teed up’: Trump lays out plan to use Sanders’s attacks against Clinton<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/01/were-going-to-have-that-teed-up-trump-lays-out-plan-to-use-sanderss-attacks-against-clinton/>

WASHINGTON POST // ELISE VIEBECK

Donald Trump on Sunday laid out plans to use Sen. Bernie Sanders's attacks to weaken Hillary Clinton in a general-election matchup. Trump, doubling down on his comment that Clinton is succeeding in the Democratic primaries only because she is a woman, said that Sanders has leveled criticism that was "a lot worse" and that he will use it if he runs against Clinton in November. Sanders "said that she almost shouldn't be allowed to run, that she's not qualified to run and she's not capable," Trump said in an interview with "Fox News Sunday." "I'm going to use that. We'll have that teed up ... What he said is incredible. It's a sound bite," Trump said. His plans lend credibility to Clinton's argument that Sanders's refusal to drop out of the Democratic primary race will harm her presumptive general-election campaign. In early April, Sanders repeatedly questioned whether Clinton was qualified for the White House. "I don't believe that she is qualified if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special-interest funds," Sanders said while campaigning in Philadelphia.

Trump on rivals: 'They're hanging by their fingernails'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278326-trump-on-rivals-theyre-hanging-by-their-fingernails>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday said his competitors have no path to the nomination. "They're hanging by their fingernails," he said during a rally in Indiana. "They're just like barely hanging on. So they have no road to victory." Trump slammed rival Ted Cruz for naming a running mate even though his chance of securing the nomination is slim. "He's the first person in the history of the United States who picked a running mate, Carly [Fiorina], even though he has no chance to win," Trump said. "That's the first in the history of our country, folks. Ted, Lyin' Ted. I want to congratulate you. I'd like to congratulate you Lyin' Ted." He also criticized Cruz and rival John Kasich for the joint effort they announced last weekend to deny Trump the nomination by dividing which states they would focus on. "They form the alliance and by the following morning ... the alliance was broken," he said. "Kasich said, 'No, no ,vote for me, thats OK. Cruz said 'You're not supposed to say that.' They're fighting with each other and it was so bad he picked Carly because maybe he can stop the bad press."

Cruz campaign in overdrive in desperate bid to wrestle Indiana from Trump<https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cruz-campaign-in-overdrive-in-desperate-bid-to-wrestle-indiana-from-trump/2016/05/01/7cab0e86-0e52-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // SEAN SULLIVAN

Inside Ted Cruz’s second-floor campaign office here on a recent afternoon, there were telltale signs of an operation in overdrive: dozens of volunteers calling voters and refueling with Mountain Dew, coffee and snacks; staffers busily working on laptops; and an ambitious message on a dry-erase board: “Our Goal Today = 20,000 Calls.” But there were also indications of trouble. Volunteers said they were hearing misgivings from voters — many rooted in insults that front-runner Donald Trump had hurled at Cruz. Most people who express reservations, explained Megan Kerr, 17, of Fishers, Ind., “are concerned with the nickname he’s been given — ‘Lyin’ Ted.’ ” Frank Cerrone, 68, of Perry Township, Ind., also said “there is some idea that Ted Cruz is rigging the system,” another Trump attack.

Cruz takes on Caitlyn Jenner over transgender fight<http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/01/politics/ted-cruz-carly-fiorina-john-boehner/>

CNN // EUGENE SCOTT

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is standing his ground in his belief that allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice "opens the door for predators," dismissing criticism from Caitlyn Jenner, who mocked him over the issue last week. "This is not a matter of right or left, or Democrat or Republican. This is common sense. It doesn't make sense for grown adult men, strangers, to be alone in a restroom with a little girl," Cruz told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union." "This is the height of political correctness," Cruz continued. "And frankly, the concern is not of the Caitlyn Jenners of the world, but if the law is such that any man, if he feels like it, can go in a woman's restroom and you can't ask him to leave, that opens the door for predators."  Jenner, a reality TV star and activist for transgender causes, posted a video to Facebook on Wednesday knocking Cruz for his support of a controversial North Carolina law that requires people to use the bathroom that corresponds with their "biological sex" stated on their birth certificate, rather than how they self-identify.

Pete Wilson of California Backs Ted Cruz and Warns of Donald Trump<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/04/30/pete-wilson-of-california-backs-ted-cruz-and-warns-of-donald-trump/?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // JONATHAN MARTIN

Former Gov. Pete Wilson of California used a surprise appearance before the state’s Republican convention on Saturday to endorse Senator Ted Cruz, warning that the nomination of Donald J. Trump could lead to political ruin for the party’s candidates this November. “My friends, we cannot afford a Republican nominee that brings us down-ticket decimation,” said Mr. Wilson, pointing to Mr. Trump’s weakness among women voters. He also used his remarks to argue that Mr. Trump could not be trusted with Supreme Court appointments, an issue of great importance to the highly engaged conservative activists gathered in a hotel ballroom here near San Francisco. “Heaven knows what justices Donald Trump would pick,” said Mr. Wilson, adding: “We can’t afford a wild card when it comes to the president who will be making critically important Supreme Court appointments.” The Republicans in attendance, many of them supporters of Mr. Cruz, responded warmly. But Mr. Wilson, 82, a former senator as well, has been out of office since 1999 and was raising issues that today’s Republican primary voters have largely dismissed as Mr. Trump has piled up an overwhelming delegate advantage. Traditional Republican leaders and activists are deeply fearful of Mr. Trump’s candidacy, but their arguments against him have largely fallen on deaf ears.

Cruz: It’s ‘evident’ Trump has a problem with strong women<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278301-cruz-its-evident-trump-has-a-problem-with-strong-women>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in an interview broadcast Sunday said it is “evident to anybody watching” that front-runner Donald Trump has a problem with strong women. “Of course he does,” Cruz responded when asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “If you look just this week at the contrast — this week I was proud to announce Carly Fiorina as my running mate,” the Texas senator said. “In the very same week, Donald Trump stood proudly touting the endorsement of Mike Tyson, a convicted rapist who served three years in prison here in Indiana for rape,” he added. “And Donald's explanation is that Tyson's ‘a tough guy.’ You know what? I don't think rapists are tough guys. I think they're weak; I think they're bullies; I think they're cowards.” Cruz said the billionaire’s comments last week that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is playing a gender card are “typical Donald Trump.”  “The only thing he knows how to do in any given circumstance is he yells, he screams, he curses or he insults. So there he's insulting Hillary. Listen, Hillary is a very smart, committed liberal. Her policies are profoundly wrong,” he said. “But, you know, Donald can't criticize her policies. You know why? Because he supports them. Donald and Hillary, they're flip sides of the same coin.”

Trump: Pence basically endorsed me, not Cruz<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278307-trump-pence-basically-endorsed-me-not-cruz>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday called Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's endorsement of rival Ted Cruz "the weakest endorsement anyone has seen in a long time." Pence endorsed Cruz last week but praised Trump while doing it, commending the businessman for giving a voice to frustrated Americans. "If you really take a look at Mike Pence, I think he gave me more of an endorsement than Ted Cruz," Trump said on "Fox News Sunday." "His donors and special interests obviously made him give an endorsement.  "It's over. I think it's over now. Cruz cannot win," Trump added. "I'm leading him by millions and millions of votes, and I'm leading him by 400 delegates. He cannot win."

Pence doubles-down on Cruz endorsement<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278332-pence-doubles-down-on-cruz-endorsement>

THE HILL // CYRA MASTER

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence published an op-ed Sunday in the Indianapolis Star, further explaining his endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP primary. “In making my decision to support Ted, I am guided by the principles best espoused by former President Ronald Reagan,” the Republican governor wrote. “I am a Reagan Republican; drawn to his vision of less taxes, less government, traditional values and a strong military. Ted articulates that same agenda with an unwavering devotion to our Constitution, the sanctity of life, and the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights.” The Indiana primary is Tuesday, and the latest polls show front-runner Donald Trump ahead of Cruz by 15 points. Pence first endorsed Cruz on Friday, but also offered praise for Donald Trump at the time. "I particularly want to commend Donald Trump, who I think has given voice to the frustration of millions of working Americans with a lack of progress in Washington D.C.," Pence said Friday on Greg Garrison’s radio program on WIBC.

Trump pounces on Heidi Cruz’s ‘immigrant’ flub<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/01/trump-pounces-on-heidi-cruzs-immigrant-flub/>

WASHINGTON POST // DAVID WEIGEL

Donald Trump returned to one of his favorite subjects, the Canadian birth of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), at an afternoon rally inside the city's largest sports arena. His cue came from the senator's wife, Heidi, who tripped over a word at a Saturday GOP presidential campaign rally and appeared to say that her husband was an immigrant. "Heidi Cruz -- nice woman," Trump began. "She said this one: 'My husband's an immigrant!' He's an immigrant! That's what I've been trying to say!' " The line got laughs, and Trump seemed to find voters in the crowd who knew what he was talking about. On Saturday, while covering Heidi Cruz's campaign stops around Indiana, Washington Examiner reporter Byron York heard a hiccup in her patter about her husband's appeal.

Before Indiana, Ted Cruz Struggles as Donald Trump Revels in Lead<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/politics/indiana-primary-ted-cruz-donald-trump.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // MATT FLEGENHEIMER AND THOMAS KAPLAN

It almost resembled Iowa, if you squinted. Senator Ted Cruz expressed gratitude for the “common-sense good judgment” of Midwesterners. His stump speech had scarcely changed, from a favorite anecdote about a drawling West Texas farmer to a running countdown of the time remaining before the primary. (“Fifty-one hours,” he said sternly.) He drew a crowd of several hundred at a faith-based community center here, whose cheers at times coaxed the Texas senator to guttural shouts. One woman held a sign: “Pray’n For Ted.” The eyes of the entire country,” Mr. Cruz said, “now rest on Indiana.” Yet two days before what is widely viewed as a must-win primary, Mr. Cruz strained to conceal a grim reality: He is in serious trouble.

Trump on Cruz: 'He was born in Canada'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278328-trump-on-cruz-he-was-born-in-canada>

THE HILL // REBECCA SAVRANSKY

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Sunday reiterated his argument that rival Ted Cruz can't be president because he wasn’t born in this country. “He was born in Canada folks, He was born in Canada,” Trump said during a rally in Indiana on Sunday. “No. 1, he can’t win, he’s got no path to win. And if he had a path to win, which he doesn’t, he has very few votes and he has very few delegates. But, I’ve been saying, he wasn’t born in this country.” Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, referred to her husband as an immigrant during an Indiana campaign stop on Saturday. "Ted is an immigrant," Heidi Cruz said. "He is Hispanic. We can unify this party." The Cruz campaign later said Heidi Cruz misspoke. She meant to call her husband the son of an immigrant. But Trump used the mistake to again make the argument that Cruz can't be president. “His wife just said my husband is an immigrant,” Trump said Sunday. “And I said, when I heard it, 'That’s what I’ve been saying.'” Trump said if Cruz were to get the nomination, the first thing the Democrats would do would be to bring a lawsuit against the Texas senator “saying he’s not a naturalized citizen.”

Cruz denies an Indiana loss would end campaign<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278309-cruz-denies-an-indiana-loss-would-end-campaign>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz said on Sunday he would continue his campaign if he lost the critical Indiana primary on Tuesday. "If you don't win in Indiana under these circumstances, is this race over?" asked "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace. "Of course not," Cruz said. "It's going to be a battle to see who can earn a majority of the delegates elected by the people at the convention. And the reason Donald is so frantic to say the race is over ... is because Donald knows he cannot earn a majority of the delegates that were elected by the people. "I agree that Indiana is incredibly important," Cruz added. Cruz in the days leading up to the primary has announced former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate and gained the endorsement of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R). He also cut a deal with rival Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the hopes of boosting his chances in the Hoosier State. In exchange for Kasich pulling out of Indiana, thus helping Cruz gain more support in the state, the Texas senator would forgo campaigning in New Mexico and Oregon to pave the way for Kasich to best Trump in those states. The deal was struck in an attempt to stop Trump from securing the GOP nomination.

Heidi Cruz: 'Ted is an immigrant'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278323-heidi-cruz-declares-ted-is-an-immigrant>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN
Heidi Cruz referred to husband, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, as an immigrant during an Indiana campaign stop on Saturday, prompting the campaign to say she misspoke. “Ted is an immigrant,” Heidi Cruz said. “He is Hispanic. We can unify this party.” A Cruz aide later told the Washington Examiner that Heidi meant to call her husband the son of an immigrant.  Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump was asked about the statement in an interview Sunday with Fox News's Geraldo Rivera, who is Hispanic.  “It’s just so bad. Let me tell you. I assume she’s saying he’s an immigrant from Canada. Because you know he lived in Canada for the first four years of his life. Not an immigrant like I think she’s referring to,” Trump said. “She’s, I assume, referring to one of your areas of the world. Right, Geraldo?" Cruz is from Canada, but his father, Rafael Cruz, was born in Cuba, coming to the U.S. in 1957 to attend the University of Texas at Austin. Trump brought up the misstep again at a campaign rally on Sunday afternoon.

Needing to Win, Ted Cruz Trails Donald Trump in Indiana by 15 Points, Poll Finds<http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/05/01/needing-to-win-ted-cruz-trails-donald-trump-in-indiana-by-15-points-poll-finds/?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // JONATHAN MARTIN

Donald J. Trump is leading Senator Ted Cruz of Texas by double digits in Indiana, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll, an ominous sign for Mr. Cruz going into the crucial primary there on Tuesday. A loss in Indiana would represent a near-fatal blow to Mr. Cruz’s campaign and would significantly increase pressure on him to withdraw from the race. The new poll, released Sunday, shows Mr. Trump taking 49 percent of the vote to 34 percent for Mr. Cruz. Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who has not been campaigning in the state by agreement with Mr. Cruz, receives 13 percent. If Mr. Trump carries Indiana, which awards its 57 delegates to the statewide winner and to the winner of each congressional district, he will be far better positioned to clinch the Republican nomination on June 7, the last day of primary contests. Mr. Cruz has mounted an all-out fight in Indiana — convincing Mr. Kasich to withdraw from competing there, naming Carly Fiorina as his would-be running mate at a rally in Indianapolis and criss-crossing the state. But on Saturday he gave up a full day of Indiana politicking to appear at California’s state Republican convention with Ms. Fiorina. There, he declared that “California is going to decide this Republican primary.”

Cruz: ‘Donald may do everything he can to encourage riots’<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278303-cruz-donald-may-do-everything-he-can-to-encourage-riots>

THE HILL // KYLE BALLUCK

Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz in an interview broadcast Sunday rejected the notion that the nomination of a candidate other than front-runner Donald Trump would spark riots, but he said the billionaire may try to encourage them. “No, it won't, although Donald may do everything he can to encourage riots,” Cruz said on CBS’s “Face the Nation. “The last contested convention we had in 1976, Ronald Reagan had a million more votes than Gerald Ford. But Gerald Ford got the votes of the majority of the delegates,” he said. “If you look back to the very first Republican convention in 1860, our very first candidate for president, Abraham Lincoln, came into a contested convention, and he was second in the balloting. And on the third ballot, he won a majority. The test is to win a majority.” Cruz said Trump “cannot win a majority.” “Majorities matter. And it's why Donald wants to change the rules and rig the system,” he added. “You know, I'll use a football analogy. If you're on the 30-yard line, it's not a touchdown. Donald right now is on the 30-yard line and he wants everyone to say, ‘Hey, the game is over because, you know, I'm past the 50.’ So what? He cannot earn a majority.”

Cruz: Boehner calling me 'Lucifer' shows I'm the real outsider<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/cruz-boehner-trump-lucifer-222677>

POLITICO // DANIEL STRAUSS

Ted Cruz argued that former House Speaker John Boehner's labeling of him as "Lucifer" shows that the Texas senator is the real outsider to the Washington establishment, not real estate mogul Donald Trump. Cruz made the argument during an interview with CBS' John Dickerson airing Sunday on "Face the Nation." The comment by the 2016 Republican presidential candidate comes after Boehner, during an appearance at Stanford University on Wednesday, called Cruz "Lucifer in the flesh." In the CBS interview, Cruz moved to use the comment to bash Trump. The senator said Trump has been trying to portray himself as "some sort of outsider" but that the Republican front-runner is actually "the essence of the Washington insider." "John Boehner praised Hillary Clinton and he praised Donald Trump. He said Donald was his friend, was his golfing and texting buddy," Cruz said. "If you think John Boehner is the kind of leader you want in the Republican Party, then Donald Trump is your candidate. If you think Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are the kind of leaders you want, Donald Trump is your candidate, because he's contributed heavily to John Boehner, to Harry Reid, to Nancy Pelosi, to Hillary Clinton."

Cruz on Trump's gender card comment: 'It's typical Donald'<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/cruz-clinton-trump-women-gender-222678>

POLITICO // DANIEL STRAUSS

It was just classic Donald Trump when he said Hillary Clinton would be getting only 5 percent support if she were a man, Sen. Ted Cruz said. The Texas senator and 2016 Republican presidential candidate, speaking in an interview with Chuck Todd on NBC's "Meet the Press," said the comment by Trump on the night of the Acela corridor primaries was just the latest in a long list of insulting comments. "It's typical Donald Trump. The only thing he knows how to do in any given circumstance is he yells, he screams, he curses, or he insults. So there he's insulting Hillary. Listen, Hillary is a very smart, committed liberal. Her policies are profoundly wrong," Cruz said in the interview airing Sunday. On Tuesday, Trump said: "If Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she’d get 5 percent of the vote," adding "the beautiful thing is, women don't like her." But the irony, Cruz claimed, is that Trump actually supports the same policies as Clinton.

Cruz won’t say if he would support Trump as Republican nominee<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/05/01/cruz-wont-say-if-he-would-support-trump-as-republican-nominee/>

WASHINGTON POST // ELISE VIEBECK

Sen. Ted Cruz would not say, despite repeated questioning, whether he would support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president. "I believe that if the Republican Party nominates Donald Trump, we will lose to Hillary," the senator from Texas said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press." What followed was a five-minute back-and-forth in which Cruz repeatedly dodged the same question posed by NBC anchor Chuck Todd. "I recognize that many in the media would love for me to surrender to Donald Trump. The media has given $2 billion of free advertising to [Trump]. ... I am going to beat Donald Trump. We are headed to a contested convention, and I am not willing to concede this country," Cruz said. "Let the record show you have not taken a position on whether you can support Trump if he's the nominee," Todd said. Cruz, appearing on all five political talk shows on Sunday morning, argued that his campaign is seeing "incredible" momentum in Indiana, which holds its GOP primary Tuesday, after an endorsement from Gov. Mike Pence (R).

Indiana Economy Offers Caution and Inspiration as Primary Nears<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/politics/indiana-primary-economy.html?ref=politics>

NEW YORK TIMES // TRIP GABRIEL

As the presidential race came to Indiana, candidates of both parties seized on a fresh example in this industrial state of factory jobs being shipped abroad. “Is anyone here from Carrier?” Donald J. Trump called out in Evansville, Ind., last week, referring to the Carrier Corporation’s closing of factories that make heating and air-conditioning units. “They let go of 1,400 people to move to Mexico,” Mr. Trump said. “And you know what? They have to pay a consequence.” At a union rally the next day at the State Capitol, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont thundered a message to the chief executive of United Technologies, Carrier’s parent company. “Stop the greed,” he shouted. “Stop destroying the middle class in America! Respect your workers!” The picture of manufacturing decline and middle-class retreat has become a driving narrative of the presidential race, spawning economic populism on both the left and the right. Yet Indiana, which holds its primary on Tuesday, defies an easy picture of Rust Belt decline. By many measures, the state is humming economically, offering a contrarian reality to the gloomy scenario that the presidential candidates are presenting to motivate voters.

Ted Cruz’s Support Softens Among the Delegates He Courted<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/us/politics/ted-cruz-delegate-count.html?ref=politics&_r=0>

NEW YORK TIMES // JEREMY W. PETERS

Even as Donald J. Trump trounced him from New Hampshire to Florida to Arizona, Senator Ted Cruz could reassure himself with one crucial advantage: He was beating Mr. Trump in the obscure, internecine delegate fights that could end up deciding the Republican nomination for president. “This is how elections are won in America,” Mr. Cruz gloated after walking away with the most delegates in Wyoming. But it turns out that delegates — like ordinary voters — are susceptible to shifts in public opinion. And as the gravitational pull of Mr. Trump’s recent primary landslides draws more Republicans toward him, Mr. Cruz’s support among the party’s 2,472 convention delegates is softening, threatening his hopes of preventing Mr. Trump’s nomination by overtaking him in a floor fight. With each delegate Mr. Trump claims, he gets closer to the 1,273 he needs to clinch the nomination outright, and Mr. Cruz’s chances of stopping him — even if he pulls out a victory in Tuesday’s Indiana primary — shrink.

Kasich helps girl secure prom date<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278327-kasich-helps-girl-secure-prom-date>

THE HILL // JESSIE HELLMANN
Republican presidential candidate John Kasich helped a high school student ask her crush to prom — but it still wasn’t enough for the Ohio governor to secure her vote.  “Hey Nico, it would be ‘Kay-sick” if you would go to the prom with Julia,” the Ohio governor said in an eight-second video with the girl, ABC News reported. Julia later tweeted that the "promposal" was successful. “He said yes!!” she said. But she and her date still plan to vote for Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton in the California primary, she told ABC News.

A Flustered John Kasich Admits People Are “Probably” Born Gay<http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/05/kasich-gay-probably>

VANITY FAIR // CHARLES BRAMESCO

Though the official party nominees for the upcoming presidential election won’t be named until the respective conventions this summer, it appears that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and presumable human man Donald Trump have the game sewn up tight. But even with their nominations all but inevitable, that hasn’t stopped the other nominees from keeping on. Ted Cruz earned a sweetly condescending “alright, li’l guy” from the people of America when he declared earlier this week that Carly Fiorina would be his running mate in the event that he wins the Republican nomination, and John Kasich hasn‘t allowed his nearly inevitable failure to stall him one mite either. Kasich has garnered a slight bump in popularity over the past couple weeks by presenting himself as a slightly cooler-headed, moderate alternative to the sentient orange cyclone and former Munsters cast member against which he’s campaigning. NBC News has the full report from a Kasich appearance on Friday in the queer-rights hub of San Francisco, where the candidate was appropriately questioned about his stance on LGBTQ issues.

Editorials/Op-Eds

Appropriations Trickery in Congress<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/opinion/appropriations-trickery-in-congress.html?ref=opinion&_r=0>

NEW YORK TIMES // EDITORIAL BOARD

It is an old congressional ritual: loading up vital spending bills that are meant to keep the government running with dangerous amendments aimed at satisfying ideological causes and benefiting special interests. The Republicans have become adept at this practice in recent years, and this year is no different. Legislative riders attached to appropriations bills would undermine the Iran nuclear deal, weaken highway safety and reduce the Food and Drug Administration’s authority over tobacco products. These measures would be unlikely to succeed as stand-alone bills, either because they could not get enough votes on their own or because President Obama would veto them. So better to sneak them in without even holding hearings to make a case on their behalf.

Voting Gets Harder in Kansas<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/opinion/sunday/voting-gets-harder-in-kansas.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>

NEW YORK TIMES // EDITORIAL BOARD

Excited to participate in the presidential election, more than 22,000 people in Kansas applied to register to vote in a three-week period in February just days before the state presidential caucuses. It was a reassuring display of democracy — except that two-thirds of that group remain officially held “in suspense,” unregistered and unable to vote. This is because they have not met the draconian requirement of the state law, approved by the Republican Legislature, that they provide a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers. This electoral limbo amounts to crude voter suppression, and no one seems certain whether all qualified citizens in Kansas will be allowed to vote in the primary election in August for state offices and in the November general election. Court challenges are underway, with the American Civil Liberties Union documenting what it calls the “chaos” wrought by the state law. It stands contrary to federal law, which allows people to register when they get a driver’s license or state ID and attest, under criminal threat of perjury, that they are citizens.

Congress should let the IRS do its job, not tie its hands<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/congress-should-let-the-irs-do-its-job/2016/05/01/30090164-0bf0-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // EDITORIAL BOARD

“THE BEATINGS will continue until morale improves,” a famously ironic phrase of unknown origin, aptly describes the Republican House approach to the Internal Revenue Service. The House has passed a series of sniping, counterproductive measures picking on the IRS. One would limit how it spends the user fees it collects. Another would freeze hiring at the understaffed agency until it obtains certification that no one there has major tax debt. The dumbest would mandate that no one at the IRS could get a bonus until customer service improves. But who is responsible for the decline of customer service at the IRS? House Republicans. The IRS budget is $500 million below its level in 2010 , the year that Republicans won control of the House. It has been forced to shed 17,000 workers. Meanwhile, its responsibilities have increased. More people are filing taxes. The agency has to administer key parts of the Affordable Care Act. Cyberthreats have skyrocketed, including instances of identity theft.

Making money on drugs<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/drug-money/2016/05/01/fd9c9d94-0e1f-11e6-a6b6-2e6de3695b0e_story.html>

WASHINGTON POST // EDITORIAL BOARD

EVERYONE COMPLAINS about the high cost of prescription drugs, but not many people try to do anything about it. An admirable exception is the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which recently proposed a pilot program to change the way Medicare reimburses doctors for medications they administer directly to patients, as opposed to those distributed through pharmacies or hospitals. At present, the doctor gets the average price of a drug plus 6 percent, a clear incentive to use higher priced drugs instead of lower priced equivalents. HHS wants to make the reimbursement 2.5 percent plus a flat fee. The idea is to curb Medicare spending on physician-dispensed drugs — which grew from $9.5 billion in 2005 to $22 billion in 2015 — without harming quality of care. Alas, there is now an uproar against the proposal on Capitol Hill, where the two interest groups most affected, the pharmaceutical industry and certain medical specialties such as oncology, have immense clout. All 14 Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are demanding the Obama administration withdraw the proposal — and all 12 Democrats on the committee have signed a letter raising their “concerns.”

Rescue the Supreme Court From Limbo<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/opinion/sunday/rescue-the-supreme-court-from-limbo.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>

NEW YORK TIMES // EDITORIAL BOARD

Eight justices heard oral arguments in the final case of the Supreme Court’s term on Wednesday. When will the court return to full strength? That question is as urgent today as it was immediately after the death two and a half months ago of Justice Antonin Scalia. But the initial wave of outrage at the Senate Republicans’ hard-line refusal to consider replacing Justice Scalia has ebbed, making it that much easier for Republicans to keep the seat empty through the presidential election. If they succeed, the court will go nearly two terms, and possibly longer, without a ninth member. The consequences of the impasse have been growing graver by the day. Already the justices have split 4 to 4 in two cases, leaving important legal issues unresolved. In one, the court failed to decide a major labor case involving the longstanding right of public-sector unions, which represent millions of American workers, to charge collective bargaining fees to nonmembers. By the term’s end in late June, it’s likely that several more cases will have ended in tie votes, including possibly the fights over abortion restrictions in Texas, access to birth control and President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.