Warren’s Trump Attacks Get Noticed by Clinton

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Huffington Post: “One close Clinton confidant said that she and her aides were ‘thrilled to see Warren get under his skin.’ Another senior Clinton adviser, who is advocating internally for Warren as a vice presidential pick, said the senator has ‘very influential people in the campaign pushing for her.'”

Said one longtime Clinton veteran: “You want a running mate who can take the fight to the other side with relish. Geography does not matter, but attitude and talent and energy and bringing excitement to the campaign, Senator Warren does all that.”

“The attributes that Warren would bring to the VP slot extend beyond vigorous mocking of Trump. Top Democrats increasingly see a dual-female ticket as a potent response to a GOP nominee with a well-documented past of sexist remarks.”

Obama to Order Transgender Access to Bathrooms

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“The Obama administration is planning to issue a sweeping directive telling every public school district in the country to allow transgender students to use the bathrooms that match their gender identity,” the New York Times reports.

“It does not have the force of law, but it contains an implicit threat: Schools that do not abide by the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law could face lawsuits or a loss of federal aid.”

Colorado Candidate Has a Marco Rubio Moment

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Washington Post: “Watch the video above, and try not to cringe. It’s Jon Keyser, Republicans’ preferred candidate to challenge Sen. Michael Bennet (D) in the Colorado Senate race, having what can be charitably described as a brain freeze — or, less charitably, a Marco Rubio moment. And it isn’t good news for Senate Republicans hoping to unseat Bennet in a race that could help them keep the Senate.”

Ryan Goes Slow with Trump

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The Lid: “We don’t know exactly how all this will play out yet, but it’s fair to say that Ryan’s slow-walking to a Trump endorsement could provide him some cover later on if Trump goes down in flames and Ryan wants to pick up the pieces. ”

“Bottom line: Paul Ryan isn’t stepping through the endorsement door yet, but he also certainly doesn’t seem to be positioning himself to lead one side of an intra-party war that would last until November. Plus, when even James Baker and Lindsey Graham are making at least half-hearted movements towards workable relationships with Trump, the name of the game here seems to be putting Humpty-Dumpty back together again when it comes to the fractured GOP.”

Clinton Charity Aided Clinton Friends

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“The Clinton Global Initiative, which arranges donations to help solve the world’s problems, arranged a financial commitment that benefited a for-profit company part-owned by people with ties to the Clintons, including a current and a former Democratic official and a close friend of former President Bill Clinton,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Mr. Clinton talked up the company in public and endorsed it with then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu when the company was in line for a federal grant, which it later won.”

How Trump Avoids Hard Questions

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Todd Gitlin: “Early in this campaign season, Sunday morning network news hosts granted Trump the special prerogative of phoning in for interviews, off camera, making it impossible to know, in real time, if he was consulting notes or advisers during interviews. And because of an early polling lead based in large measure on his near-universal name recognition, Trump was center-stage getting most of the air time during every GOP primary debate.”

“In those debates, and in interviews, Trump regularly runs circles around interviewers because they pare their follow-up questions down to a minimum, or none at all. After 30-plus years in the media spotlight, he knows how to wait out an interviewer, offering noncommittal soundbites and incoherent rejoinders until he hears the phrase, ‘let’s move on.’ He takes advantage of the slipshod, shallow techniques journalism has made routine, particularly on TV — techniques that, in the past, were sufficient to trip up less-media-savvy candidates — but that Trump knows how to sidestep.”

GOP Voters Move Towards Trump

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Amy Walter: “Trump has proven that he can improve his standing with GOP voters – taking his approval ratings from underwater to more than 60 percent in the course of 10 months. Gallup’s Frank Newport penned an article this week arguing that Trump is no more divisive among GOP voters than Clinton is among Democrats. Citing their most recent Gallup tracking polling data (May 2-8), Newport pointed out that Trump’s overall disapproval rating among Republicans at 31 percent was not much more significant than Clinton’s 26 percent disapproval among Democrats.”

“A GOP pollster doing state level survey work also found a rallying around Trump by GOP voters in his most recent data. It will be interesting and important to see if other pollsters are seeing the same thing.”

Another New York Lawmaker Sent to Jail

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Dean Skelos, “the once powerful Republican majority leader of the New York State Senate who was convicted with his son in December on federal corruption charges, was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday,” the New York Times reports.

“The sentencing of Mr. Skelos is the second instance in 10 days in which a former senior New York lawmaker was sent to prison for abusing his office. It concludes an extraordinary chapter during which two trials held a block apart at almost the same time last year exposed a culture of kickbacks, secret deals and nepotism in the State Capital in Albany.”

Trump and Ryan Signal Unity

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Donald Trump and Paul Ryan released a statement meant to signal their unity on following a two-hour meeting on Capitol Hill, The Hill reports.

The statement said the two had a “great conversation” and that they were honest over their “few differences” during two hours of meetings.

It fell short of an endorsement of Trump by Ryan.

Bloomberg quotes RNC chairman Reince Priebus: “The meeting was great. It was a very positive step toward party unity.”