The Washington Post
Environmentalist and billionaire Tom Steyer announced yesterday that his super PAC plans to spend $25 million in 2016 to energize young voter turnout. With a focus on battleground states, Steyer hopes to harness the issue of climate change as a rallying point for young voters on college campuses.
BuzzFeed
While Prince was an amazing performer, he also wrote many songs for other artists. One of those songs, "Donald Trump" (black version), was written for the group The Time. It appeared on their “Pandemonium” album in 1990. The lyrics are kind of incredible, considering the current election cycle: “Donald Trump (black version), maybe that’s what you need. A man that fulfills your every wish, your every dream.”
The New York Times
Despite his waning chances of winning the Democratic nomination, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and his allies are gearing up to use his popularity to influence the party in a post-Obama era. Sanders’ aides are pressing DNC officials for an increased role in defining the party platform at the Democratic convention in July. Big issues the Sanders team will lobby for include a $15/hour minimum wage and a complete ban on fracking.
The Washington Post
In an incredible move of political posturing, the campaigns of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have agreed on a joint plan of action to stop Donald Trump from securing the Republican nomination. Within minutes of each other, the two campaigns released written statements Sunday night saying that Kasich would leave Indiana to Cruz, instead focusing his efforts on New Mexico and Oregon. The two campaigns also called on non-candidate groups backing the two candidates to follow suit.
The Huffington Post
In an interesting development in the Koch universe, billionaire Charles Koch has compared Trump’s policy on Muslims to policies espoused by Nazi Germany. Koch said that the ban on Muslims entering the United States is “antithetical to our approach,” adding that the move is “reminiscent of Nazi Germany. I mean that’s monstrous.” The Kochs, however, will not spend any money on the stop-Trump movement, raising the question: if Trump wins the nomination, where will the Koch’s spend all the money they’ve set aside for the 2016 election?
The Washington Post
While the Sanders team has remained on message, saying that their candidate still has a chance to pry the nomination away from Hillary Clinton, Sanders himself seems to be wavering. During an interview with NBC News, the Vermont Senator acknowledged that his is “a hard path” to the nomination, and that it is unlikely that he will be able to flip the superdelegates he needs to have a convincing shot at the convention in July.
USA Today
Donald Trump has reenergized interest in all things politics, particularly on the Republican side. RNC member from Arizona, Bruce Ash, has proposed selling rights to debates, conventions and even primary results to TV networks. Television networks “have made bundles of money on us,” says Ash in an interview. “You’re damn right it’s lucrative. It’s a total missed revenue stream.”
The New York Times
Breaking from the Republican party line, Donald Trump has said that he disagrees with the North Carolina law banning transgender people from using the bathroom of the sex they identify with. Trump told NBC’s “Today Show” that when people have to use the restroom, they should “use the bathroom they feel is appropriate.”
eMarketer
Despite TV still being the biggest driver of political ad spend in the 2016 cycle, digital advertising is expected to increase four-score, compared to spending in 2014. Digital advertising will make up 9.8% of total spending; it will reach a total of about $1 billion. Spending on radio will also increase significantly, expected to make up about 8.1% of total ad spend.
The Washington Post
The Bernie Sanders campaign has apparently spent $46 million in March. Through February, the campaign had spent $122.6 million. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, spent $32.3 million in March, and ended the month with $29 million still in the bank. Sanders, whose road to the nomination is looking increasingly narrow, has $17 million stashed away. Both Democratic campaigns have raised an incredible amount of money overall this cycle: $185.5 million for Sanders from 2.2 million donors, and $191 million for Clinton from more than 1.1 million donors.