The "Who is running?" tea leaves thread

[Mr. Morden]

At least year's DNC, there was apparently a rumor going around that Delaware Gov. Jack Markell was interested in running for president in 2016.  Well, apparently a few weeks ago (it slipped past my attention because Markell isn't exactly on the national radar) Markell endorsed Biden for president in 2016:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/delaware-governor-endorses-joe-biden-for-president

I guess this is Biden's first endorser.  In any case, this obviously means that Markell won't run unless Biden doesn't.

[Mr. Morden]

Rubio is spending top dollar on A-list political consultants, a clear sign of having national political ambitions.  This is true both of his Senate office and his PAC:

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/marco-rubio-spends-big-on-consultants-89152.html

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/huckabee-presidential-run-not/2013/03/20/id/495520

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[Mr. Morden]

I want to associate myself with this column, "Stop Acting Like Cory Booker Might Run for President in 2016":

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/03/cory-booker-2016-president-run-campaign.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Christie is asked by a third grader if he's running for prez:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/chris-christie-2016-ellen-gallagher_n_2928363.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Hillary Clinton to make first major public appearance since leaving office as SoS:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2013/03/22/hillary-clinton-joins-women-in-the-world-summit.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Some quick hits on a number of candidates:

Biden

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/289851-biden-fuels-2016-speculation-with-fundraisers-in-key-dem-primary-states

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Rubio

http://therun2016.com/rubios-chi-town-swing-2/

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Huntsman/Jindal

http://www.nola.com/business/baton-rouge/index.ssf/2013/03/huntsman_corp_announces_78_mil.html

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Huntsman Sr. was in Louisiana to announce the move, appearing with Bobby Jindal.  He quipped:

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.politico.com/playbook/0313/playbook10282.html?hp=l9

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[Mr. Morden]

Big Politico story on Paul Ryan's potential presidential ambitions today:

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/paul-ryan-disappearing-act-89267.html?hp=t1

The whole thing's worth a read, but the summary is:

-There doesn't seem to be much organic support for Ryan among the movers and shakers in the early primary states.  They like him, but not necessarily as president.  The shiny objects of the moment are Rubio and Paul, which may in itself signal a kind of shift within the GOP, away from going with experience and the "next in line" and more towards whichever candidate generates the most excitement, which doesn't favor Ryan because his style is too vanilla:

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-Ryan himself is doing next to nothing to stoke interest in a potential Ryan 2016 candidacy in the early primary states.  Since the November election, Ryan has gained influence within the congressional wing of the party, but has done little to promote himself outside of Washington.  This has led many to think that he's not really interested in 2016:

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[Mr. Morden]

On Clinton:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/us/25iht-letter25.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Biden's and O'Malley's 2016 politicking in South Carolina involves doing some name dropping for Elizabeth Colbert Busch:

http://atr.rollcall.com/south-carolina-2016-courtship-boosts-colbert-busch-in-special-election/

O'Malley even noted that his daughter, who goes to college in South Carolina, was volunteering for her campaign.

Btw, here's a review of O'Malley's debut in South Carolina:

http://therun2016.com/inside-omalleys-south-carolina-debut/

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Meanwhile, Walker (sort of) says he'd endorse Paul Ryan if Ryan runs for prez:

http://therun2016.com/walker-on-a-ryan-run/

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[Mr. Morden]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/article/2525407#.UVGp9TRjfyU.twitter

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[Mr. Morden]

Bush, still promoting his book, when asked about 2016 says "I'm not going to think about that for another year at least":

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130327/NEWS01/303270023/Bush-No-decision-2016?gcheck=1

Meanwhile, Santorum is getting politically involved in early primary state South Carolina.  He's just endorsed Curtis Bostic in the SC-1 special election, and will appear with Bostic at campaign events today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/03/26/rick-santorum-to-stump-for-mark-sanfords-opponent/

[Mr. Morden]

Clinton will make a public appearance in the early-ish primary state of Michigan this June:

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2013/03/hillary_clinton_coming_to_gran.html

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[Mr. Morden]

More Rand Paul stuff today.

First he says that he's endorsing Mitch McConnell, and will back him over any primary challenger:

http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/27/rand-paul-helps-squash-tea-party-challenge-to-mcconnell/

Then he says that he will not announce anything on 2016 until next year:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130327/NEWS01/303270101/Sen-Rand-Paul-says-he-won-t-make-decision-presidential-bid-year?gcheck=1

and notes that he's spending time in Iowa in order to get national attention:

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[Mr. Morden]

McDonnell is asked a hypothetical about what he'd do if he was president:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/state-regional/government-politics/mcdonnell-demurs-on-defends-roads-deal/article_49d04c68-48ea-5265-a5a1-92d5788158c2.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Biden is spending Easter weekend in South Carolina:

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/b10747b950674556b212e3d12277c93e/SC--Biden-Easter

[Mr. Morden]

This news is a couple of weeks old, but Villaraigosa said in a recent interview that he'd like to run for governor of CA, though "there's not a vacancy" there in the near future.  So he'll wait until 2018 to run for gov I guess, and pass on a 2016 presidential campaign?

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2013/03/08/villaraigosa-signals-future-run-for-california-governor/

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[Mr. Morden]

Ted Cruz makes his first play for 2016 media attention, by making a public appearance in South Carolina next month:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/02/cruz-to-test-2016-waters-with-south-carolina-trip/

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Meanwhile, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton will give duelling speeches in Dallas on April 24:

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/04/jeb-bush-and-hillary-clinton-to-have-dueling-speeches-in-dallas-day-before-george-w-bush-presidential-centers-dedication.html/

and Politico notes that McAuliffe's gubernatorial race in Virginia will be a kind of test run for Clinton 2016:

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/hillary-clintons-2016-campaign-starts-with-terry-mcauliffes-virginia-governor-race-89523.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Rand Paul will be speaking in New Hampshire next month:

http://seattletimes.com/html/politics/2020703109_apusrandpaulnewhampshire.html

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He's also trying to appeal to the future Ben Carsons and Herman Cains of the world by speaking at Howard University next week:

http://au.businessinsider.com/rand-paul-howard-university-2016-2013-4

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[Mr. Morden]

therun2016 notes that Walker is keeping up what's probably the most ambitious national traveling schedule of the likely 2016 candidates, all the more remarkable because he's still in office (unlike, say, Santorum) and still faces reelection next year (unlike, say, Jindal):

http://therun2016.com/walkers-aggressive-schedule/

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[Mr. Morden]

Hillary Clinton signs book deal:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/04/hillary-clinton-book-coming-in-2014/

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[Mr. Morden]

Both Gingrich and Santorum once again suggest that they might run again:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/04/04/gingrich-and-santorum-open-to-running-again-in-2016/

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[Mr. Morden]

Walker's busy pseudo-national campaign schedule keeps getting busier.  Now he has a stop in California coming up in June:

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/541dd5a657eb42be85605afd85028c98/WI--Walker-California

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[Mr. Morden]

More Rick Perry:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/05/perry-indeed-open-to-2016-bid/

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