Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos….NBC announced Monday that Arnold Schwarzenegger will be the new host of Celebrity Apprentice, a traditional stepping stone for Republicans exploring possible presidential runs.
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’16 AT 30 THOUSAND
While Round Two of the GOP presidential debate circuit will captivate the political press’s attention this week, it’s a good day -- especially with some new polling of the Democratic field out there in the last few days -- to pause to look at some of the important intra-party divides on the OTHER side of the political spectrum. Against the backdrop of new polls showing some further erosion in Hillary Clinton’s support, our colleague Dante Chinni asks - not “WHY?” - but what took so long? That’s because there are significant splits in the Democratic electorate that map pretty obviously on to the divides we see reflected in Clinton’s poll numbers. Chinni notes that data from Experian Marketing Services shows that “conservative” Democrats are much more likely to be African-American or Hispanic, and they tend to be on the lower end of the income scale. “Liberal” Democrats, on the other hand, tend to have a higher average household income and are overwhelmingly more likely to be white.
While the two groups might support similar candidates in a general election, they live in very different worlds when it comes to day-to-day interactions. (Liberal Democrats are 116 percent more likely than Americans as a whole to shop at Whole Foods, for example, while conservative Democrats are 30 percent less likely.) So – even controlling for the damage the email flap has done to Clinton - it’s still no surprise that the party is splitting right now between its candidates. The question is which one can build the most solid coalition. At least right now, party elites still mostly appear to believe that’s HiIlary Clinton.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
Our colleague Dante Chinni writes about the major demographic divides in the Democratic Party.
Worlds collided in Lynchburg, Virginia, on Monday when Bernie Sanders spoke at the evangelical Liberty University.
NBC’s Monica Alba reports on Clinton’s plan to combat campus sexual assault.
Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis returned to work Monday and said she won’t stand in the way of deputies who had started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in her absence.
The Pentagon acknowledged Monday that Russia has been building up a military base in Syria.
ICYMI, check out Danny Freeman’s look at how Democrats are wooing Iowa’s small Latino community.
In NBC’s First Read: Here’s what’s changed since the first Republican debate.
CAMPAIGN QUICK READS
The New York Times writes that Democrats are trying to reorganize their network of superPACs by using loopholes already being exploited by Republican candidates.
BUSH: He’s releasing a plan to strengthen cybersecurity.
CLINTON: The Washington Post dives into the erosion of Clinton’s support among Democratic women.
CRUZ: The Washington Post has a good look at how Ted Cruz’s wife Heidi is working to get him elected.
FIORINA: Her PAC is up with a web video that hits back at Donald Trump’s “look at that face!” jab.
O’MALLEY: He’s unveiling a proposal to reach a goal of cutting deaths from gun violence in half within 10 years.
FOR THE RECORD…
“Spotted in Miami - horribly dressed @JebBush! Does this guy not own an iron? Boring AND poorly dressed. #nostyle”
- Tweet by former Donald Trump strategist Roger Stone Jr.
TOMORROW’S SKED
Donald Trump delivers the keynote address at a Veterans for a Strong America event in Los Angeles.
