USA Today
Super PACs have started to raise money in support of Donald Trump’s presidential bid. The Committee for American Sovereignty, recently announced plans to raise $20 million in support of the presumptive Republican nominee. The group’s spokesperson and executive director, Doug Watts elaborated: “It is clear we need to ramp up major donor fundraising efforts, unify Republicans and take on the Clinton machine.” Great America PAC is also raising money on behalf of the only Republican left in the primary race.
The Wall Street Journal
Donald Trump consistently said throughout the primaries that he was self-funding his campaign. Adding that his wealth kept him insulated from private interests, which corrupt our political candidates. It has now become clear that while Trump may not have raised much money to date, he will have to do so if he wants to keep pace with expected spending on the Democratic side. In financial disclosures last summer, Trump had between $78 million and $232 million in cash or liquid assets, nowhere near enough to fund a presidential campaign.
The Hill
Less than one month before the all-important California primary, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign has replaced its California director. Michael Ceraso has been replaced by former Iowa director Robert Becker. The disagreement within the team seemed to relate to the strategy that Ceraso wanted to implement. Namely, Ceraso wanted to focus more on field organizing and digital platforms than TV advertising.
CNN.com
Last year, before VP Joe Biden made his decision not to run for president, he met with Massachusetts Sen.Elizabeth Warren to discuss a possible ticket. A source close to the VP said that Biden and Warren met “several times” and that Biden was aware that “he needed to build his credibility on the left, and she knew he would need her blessing.” The news comes as talk about a Clinton-Warren ticket has been making the rounds.
Politico
Incumbent Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) has made the largest ad buy in any Senate race so far this cycle. The buy reserves $14 million for statewide television advertising and $1 million for advertising on YouTube. Sen. Portman has been one of the strongest fundraisers in the country, with $13.4 million on hand at the end of March, compared to $2.7 million that his opponent held.
Politico
The details of a new super PAC run by top labor unions are being finalized. The PAC will focus its efforts on defeating the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. The PAC is headed by officials at the AFL-CIO, as well as from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. The fundraising goal of the PAC is $50 million.
The New York Times
House speaker Paul Ryan and Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump met this morning to discuss the unification of the GOP. Once Trump was effectively the Republican nominee following the primary in Indiana, Ryan failed to endorse the candidate, saying that he was not yet ready to do so. No endorsement came after this morning’s meeting, but both men released a statement saying that the meeting was positive and a step in the right direction.
Politico
Nate Silver, editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight, went on a Twitter rant earlier this week lambasting the recent excitement over general-election polls. According to Silver, Clinton has a 6 point lead over Trump nationally, adding for good measure: “It’s early. Trump could win. Also, he could lose in a landslide. We’ll know more in June.” He also said that there wouldn’t be polls for each state for at least “a few months.”
AdExchanger
Bots and fraudsters have been making the rounds in the political advertising sphere. As Mark Schlosser of White Ops explained: “All the ingredients that typically happen for fraud are a part of the political marketplace.” Collective’s Peter Pasi elaborated: “The more demographic targeting there is, that’s where fraudulent activity and bots come in.”
Politico
Speaking with ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Vice President Joe Biden said: “I had planned on running. It’s an awful thing to say: I think I would have been the best president.” Using similar arguments he had made when his candidacy was still in question, Biden said that only someone who is completely committed should run for president. Following the passing of his son Beau, the vice president and his family decided against a presidential run.