Top News:
- It's official — he's not running. Joe Biden ended months of speculation today by announcing from the White House he will not be running for president (finally! an answer!). In September, Biden said in an interview with Stephen Colbert he wasn’t sure he was ready to run after losing his son, Beau Biden. Recent polls showed that Biden would have most likely pulled supporters from Hillary Clinton, and he would have faced numerous organizational issues entering the race at such a late date.
- Between Sen. Jim Webb’s pleas for more time to complain about how little time he had, voters watching the first democratic debate last Tuesday saw a more confident Clinton than usual. The former secretary of state has had a damaging summer as far as polls go, but her two dozen debates during the 2008 campaign made her the most experienced debater on the stage.
- And for those of you still asking, "Who is Jim Webb?" never fear — he dropped out of the Democratic primary. No more pretending to care about that guy who
beggedguiltedasked Anderson Cooper for more talking time on-stage.
Democratic Candidate Breakdown:
Hillary Clinton: Post Oct. 13 debate, voters have said things about Clinton not related to her — in the words of fellow candidate Bernie Sanders — “damn emails.”
According to USA Today, a poll released on Wednesday finds that 59 percent of the public is tired of hearing about the issue (me too). Since the debate, polls in New Hampshire have Clinton back in the lead in the state with 41 percent, with Sanders following at 33 percent.
Bernie Sanders: In an interview with Tavis Smiley, Sanders denied the accusation that he is pulling the Democratic party to the left of the American people, thereby dooming whoever wins the nomination. Sanders, who spoke of his plans to create jobs, subsidize costs of college and universities and raise taxes on the wealthy, said he disagrees with that idea, arguing, “virtually every position that I am advocating has the strong support of the American people.”
Joe Biden: (He's not running — we know).
Should Biden have decided to enter the race (see above), he wouldn't have been penalized for his late entrance — if he lived in Canada or Japan. In a recent article, NPR discussed the absurdly long campaign process in the U.S. as opposed to other nations. By the time election day 2016 rolls around, this campaign will have been going on for 568 days. In comparison, Canadians were horrified by their “incredibly long” 2015 campaign of 11 weeks. In Japan, campaigns are limited by law to 12 days.
Meanwhile, I'm horrified that we're already 71 days into the semester.
When your Biden 2016 dreams are crushed:
Martin O’Malley: Unable to think of any other way to make up for his mere 17 minutes and 18 seconds of talking time in the first democratic debate, Gov. Martin O’Malley resorted to stripping off his blazer on The View to the appreciative shouts of the show’s hosts and playing Bad Blood by Taylor Swift on an emerald green guitar.
I guess it pays to be the party hottie.
Other candidates have recently made strides to demonstrate how “hip” and “chill” they are by making surprise appearances as bartenders on Saturday Night Live, like Hillary Rodham “Val” Clinton, or inviting random voters to touch their (totally real) hair at campaign events (I’ll give you three guesses who that was).
Republican Candidate Breakdown:
Ted Cruz: Cruz, who, polling at 8 percent in New Hampshire, still trails behind GOP frontrunners Trump, Rubio, Carson, Kasich and Bush, received a blow on Sunday when former president George W. Bush announced in front of a crowd of Republican donors that he, “just doesn’t like the guy.”
This blow may have fallen extra heavily considering Cruz’s “great respect” for the former president and that he once wrote a 16-page chapter for a 2004 book called, Thank You President Bush. While some of his recent critiques of the Bush administration contradict his commendations from the book, Buzzfeed still called it Cruz’s 16-page love letter to Bush. Ouch.
(Thank you, former President Bush).
Jeb Bush: Jeb, in another attempt to distance himself from Washington in an election where political outsiders are leading the polls, announced his plan to move the Department of the Interior from Washington to the west. He criticized the Obama administration for attempting to “grab state authority and constrain the acceptable uses of federal lands.”
Donald Trump: Meanwhile, Trump seems to know something we don’t. According to an article by the Washington Post, apologizing for an offensive statement may not be the best course of action for a politician. People tend to view overconfidence social risk-taking as positive traits, and that someone who gives up their position in a dispute becomes less likable to voters.
I guess he's doing one thing right?
Quote of the week:
“I have one of the great memories of all time, but I can’t remember.”
— Donald Trump on the last time he apologized.
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