Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos...Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield , the founders of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, will attend the formal kickoff to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign today. Though the pair leaves politics out of its ice cream names we’re suggesting they consider “Socialist Sherbet” to mark the occasion.
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’16 AT 30 THOUSAND
Scott Walker’s admission Tuesday that he may skip Florida’s March 15 primary (if he runs) is significant for a few reasons. For one, you don’t want to start writing off states to compete in BEFORE you’re an actual candidate. Especially if you’re a candidate who has suggested he’s the frontrunner and that state is the all-important Florida.
Walker’s team clarified to NBC News that he would make the decision “at the appropriate time” if he runs. But it would make total sense for him, in terms of campaign strategy, to skip the large, expensive state where a former governor (Bush) and sitting senator (Rubio) will be duking it out. On top of that, there may end up being other March 15 primaries in the Midwest where Walker could have a strong showing. Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, and even Wisconsin could be holding contests that day. Bottom line: It’s unlikely that Walker is the only (potential) candidate thinking about skipping Florida. But it looks bad for any candidate to think about writing off a swing state primary this early on.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
- Sen. John McCain has a Democratic challenger, and it’s a top recruit for the party.
- Our colleague Leigh Ann Caldwell does a deep dive into everything you didn’t know about Common Core.
- In an interview with John Harwood, Bernie Sanders questions whether the current US economy is “moral.”
- The Supreme Court is set to hear a case that could set back Latino voting power, msnbc.com reports.
CAMPAIGN QUICK READS
CLINTON: The Associated Press reports that the Clintons have a financial entity called WJC, LLC, that has no financial assets but is used as “a ‘pass-through’ company designed to channel payments to the former president.”
Buzzfeed profiles Clinton’s political director, Amanda Renteria.
FIORINA: Carly Fiorina says of the Chinese: “I have been doing business in China for decades, and I will tell you that yeah, the Chinese can take a test, but what they can’t do is innovate,” she said. “They are not terribly imaginative. They’re not entrepreneurial, they don’t innovate, that is why they are stealing our intellectual property.”
PERRY: He told reporters of his failed 2012 bid: “I wasn’t healthy.”
WALKER: He’s suggesting that he might sit out the Florida primary: ““If we chose to get in, I don’t think there’s a state out there we wouldn’t play in, other than maybe Florida, where Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are.”
FOR THE RECORD…
“They are not terribly imaginative.”
- Carly Fiorina, on the Chinese
TOMORROW’S SKED
Rick Santorum announces his presidential run in Cabot, Pennsylvania.
Hillary Clinton makes her first campaign visit to South Carolina, making the keynote address to a group of female lawmakers and Democratic activists.
Rand Paul attends a rally at the anti-violence group Project HOOD in Chicago.
