Top News:
- House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., left the race for House Speaker on Thursday — some speculate because of damaging comments he made about Clinton and the House Select Committee on Benghazi. "Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she's untrustable, but no one would have known any of that happened unless we fought and made that happen," he said. *Drops mic* *Drops out*
- The Oct. 1 shooting on Umpqua Community College's campus left ten dead and has prompted debate from both sides of the aisle about gun control. Ben Carson received criticism for his comments in particular: "I would say, 'Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can't get us all,'" he said.
- The first Democratic debate is scheduled to air on CNN at 8:00 pm on Oct. 13 — Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will finally go toe-to-toe, while Lincoln Chaffee, Martin O'Malley and that other guy
stand theretalk about the issues.
Democratic Candidate Breakdown:
Hillary Clinton: Clinton released a plan detailing how she will crack down on Wall Street misconduct, though stopping short of Bernie Sanders bold proposal to break up the banks altogether.
Following McCarthy's comments linking the House Select Committee on Benghazi to her falling poll numbers, Clinton ran an advertisement attacking the committee (and the Republican party), called "Admit." Kinda sounds like the Jordin Sparks song that was meant to be but never was.
Bernie Sanders: Need a little ice on that #Bern? Sanders continues to climb in the polls, now up to 24.8 percent of Democratic primary voters — compared to Clinton, whose numbers have dropped to 43.9 percent of Democratic primary voters.
Joe Biden: Experts say should Biden enter the race (he hasn't), he could be a serious force to contend with — particularly where minority voters are concerned. Though Bill and Hill remain popular among blacks and Hispanics, Biden's role in the Obama administration could appeal to nonwhite voters.
Clay Aiken — former "American Idol" star and also that guy who ran against Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., in 2014 — dropped his support for Clinton in favor of Biden.
Republican Candidate Breakdown:
Jeb! Bush: Jeb, I feel like one day, we'll look back on 2016 and laugh. Or maybe not. Bush's polling numbers have dropped again, this time to the single digits. He's now polling at about 9.1 percent of Republican primary voters — behind Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio.
He also recently came out against reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, which his brother (you remember George W., right?) reauthorized in 2006. He said he doesn't believe in reauthorizing the legislation "as is," since much has changed since the landmark legislation was originally enacted in the sixties. Say reauthorizing five times fast.
Donald Trump: If you have $70 and a can-do attitude, the 'sexy Donald Trump' Halloween costume is here and, yes, I am seriously considering it.
Trump is still at the top of the polls — polling at 28.2 percent of Republican primary voters. No new Trump-isms to report this week, but he did make this face a lot:
Carly Fiorina: Apparently, Fiorina has been tapped for support from the Koch brothers. Fiorina — worth an estimated $58 billion, according to Forbes — is being considered by the brothers' network of donors, meaning she is officially a serious contender in the race (analogous to "Facebook official" a lá high school dating). Other candidates on the short list include Bush, Sens. Cruz, Paul and Rubio.
Ben Carson: In important political news, Carson reportedly likes playing pool, watching True Lies and listening to Baroque music.
He also recently said he would support raising the debt ceiling — breaking from Republican tradition — as doing so would allow the federal government to cover the costs of its various obligations. However, he said the more important issue is curbing our national debt in general.
In related news, I'm looking to hire a Carson translator. In your application essay, define the following phrase and use it in a sentence please: "Get on the stick guys" (It's okay Ben, words are hard).
Marco Rubio: Rubio is the target of a new website — called "Marco 'Amnesty' Rubio — attacking his brand of conservatism, particularly where immigration is concerned. The site is thought to have been created by a Trump aide; however, it lacks the required disclaimers, opening the site up to action from the Federal Elections Commission.
Rand Paul: Rand is still standing (get it? #StandWithRand) — a little to the right, in the back row, way behind that guy in the toupee, kind of hard to spot. Paul is polling at just over 3 percent of Republican primary voters and has shifted his attention from the presidential race to his senatorial reelection campaign instead.
For the book nerds (me! me! pick me!): last week Clinton sent GOP candidates a copy of her book, "Hard Choices," to illustrate her accomplishments as secretary of state (all hail the queen of the not-so-humble brag). In a twist, Paul put the book up for auction on his campaign website and bidding has now topped $8,000. Other candidates might want to take a page out of Paul's book — or maybe I'm just reading too much into this (heh).
Others: Still in the race. Maybe. I don't know. I can't keep track.
Halloween is around the corner, can I recommend a great fictional book that has some scary ideas? https://t.co/vpFcoYXB8A
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 8, 2015
Quote of the week:
"I'll get on a leaky boat going in the right direction before I'll get on a strong boat going in the wrong direction. But I really want a strong boat next year on the Democratic side and I think Joe Biden is a better candidate."
— Clay Aiken, on Clinton (codename: leaky boat) and Biden
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