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Recent debates and speeches... | |
November Democratic debate (Nov. 20, 2019)
October Democratic debate (Oct. 15, 2019)
CNN GLBT Democratic Town Hall (Oct. 10, 2019)
Republican debate (Sept. 24, 2019)
September Democratic debate (Sept. 12, 2019)
Climate Change Town Hall (Sept. 4, 2019)
July Democratic debate (July 30-31, 2019)
June Democratic debate (June 26-27, 2019)
2019 State of the State speeches (Jan.-March, 2019)
2019 State of the Union speech (Feb. 6, 2019)
2018 State of the State speeches (Jan.-March, 2018)
2018 State of the Union speech (Jan. 30, 2018)
2017 State of the Union speech (Feb. 28, 2017)
Third Presidential debate (Oct. 19, 2016)
Second Presidential debate (Oct. 9, 2016)
Vice-presidential debate (Oct. 4, 2016)
First Presidential debate (Sept. 26, 2016)
Bernie Sanders vs. Hillary Clinton On the Issues (paperback Feb. 2016)
Miami Democratic debate (March 2016)
Miami Republican debate (March 2016)
Republican primary debate in Detroit, Michigan (March 2016)
CNN-Telemundo Republican debate on eve of Texas primary. (Feb. 2016)
2016 CNN GOP Town Hall in South Carolina (Feb. 2016)
2016 CBS News Republican Debate in S.C. (Feb. 2016)
PBS Democratic Primary Debate in Wisconsin (Feb. 2016)
2016 ABC News/IJReview Republican Debate in N.H. (Feb. 2016)
MSNBC Democratic primary debate in New Hampshire (Feb. 2016)
CNN Democratic Town Hall (Jan. 2016)
Fox Iowa GOP debate (Jan. 2016)
NBC/CBC Democratic debate (Jan. 2016)
Fox Business GOP debate (Jan. 2016)
State of the Union address (Jan. 2016)
Hillary Clinton vs. Jeb Bush On the Issues (paperback Feb. 2016)
CNN GOP Nevada debate (Dec. 2015)
Syrian Refugee crisis (Nov.-Dec. 2015)
CBS Democratic debate (Nov. 2015)
Fox Business GOP debate (Nov. 2015)
CNBC GOP debate (Oct. 2015)
CNN Democrat debate (Oct. 2015)
CNN GOP debate (Sept. 2015)
Fox/Facebook GOP debate (August 2015)
Marco Rubio vs. Jeb Bush On the Issues (paperback June 2015)
Hillary Clinton vs. Rand Paul On the Issues (paperback May 2015)
Rand Paul vs. Jeb Bush On the Issues (paperback April 2015)
Jeb vs. Hillary On the Issues (paperback Feb. 2015)
Rand vs. Ron Paul On the Issues (Chart April 2015)
Hillary vs. Bill Clinton On the Issues (Chart Feb. 2015)
Jeb vs. George Bush On the Issues (Chart March 2015)
Excerpts from "Hard Choices" (by Hillary Clinton)
Excerpts from "Immigration Wars" (by Jeb Bush)
Excerpts from "Government Bullies" (by Rand Paul)
Iowa pre-caucus Summits (Jan.-March, 2015)
2015 presidential hopeful excerpts
Senate debates (for Nov. 2014 elections):
Recent books by...
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Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R, MA)
No Apology
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Rep. Paul Ryan (R, WI)
Young Guns
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Pres. Barack Obama
The Audacity of Hope
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V.P. Joe Biden
Promises to Keep
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Former Rep. Ron Paul
End the Fed
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Former Pres. George W. Bush
Decision Points
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Former Gov. Sarah Palin (R, AK)
America By Heart
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Secy. of State Hillary Clinton
Living History
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Former Pres. Bill Clinton
My Life
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Gov. Jesse Ventura
American Conspiracies
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Book Reviews & Excerpts
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(click a book cover for excerpts and a review or other books by or about the presidency from Amazon.com)
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Sixth Democratic primary debate: Dec. 19, 2019
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7 contenders at UCLA, co-hosted by PBS Newshour and Politico.com
The sixth Democratic primary debate, with seven candidates, was held at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles; moderated by Judy Woodruff from CNN; Tim Alberta from Politico Magazine; Yamiche Alcindor and Amna Nawaz from PBS Newshour.
- This debate took place on December 19, 2019, one day after Republican President Donald Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives; we include several excerpts on the lengthy impeachment discussion.
- In order to have qualified for the debate, candidates had to bring in the support of at least 200,000 unique donors and register at least 4 percent support in four qualifying polls or at least 6 percent support in two approved polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, or South Carolina.
- Sen. Cory Booker did not make the debate qualifications; Booker led eight other presidential candidates in a letter asking the DNC to "consider alternative debate qualification standards" for four primary debates scheduled for early 2020.
- In the wake of this debate, and after the announcement of criteria for the January debate, Secretary Julian Castro withdrew from the presidential race, on Jan. 2, 2020.
- The debate criteria for this debate were:
-Over 200,000 unique donors
-And 4% support in four qualifying polls
-Or 6% support in two polls in the early voting states (IA, NH, NV, and SC)
- Sen. Booker ran a TV ad during the debate, which we excerpt below.
Source: Excerpts from Dec. 19th Democratic primary debate.
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Kamala Harris drops out: Dec. 3, 2019
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Also Joe Sestak dropped out on Dec 1; and Steve Bullock dropped out on Dec. 2
Source: See Sen. Harris' main page and Gov. Bullock's main page and Rep. Sestak's main page for full issue stances.
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Fifth Democratic primary debate: Nov. 20, 2019
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10 contenders in Atlanta, hosted by MSNBC
Source: Excerpts from Nov. 20th Democratic primary debate.
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Deval Patrick enters presidential race: Nov. 13, 2019
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Massachusetts Governor to file papers for New Hampshire presidential primary
- Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA) is a late entry to the Democratic presidential primary.
He may qualify for debates in early 2020, but certainly not the debate set for next week (Nov. 20th). His policy stances:
Source: See Gov. Deval Patrick's main page for full issue stances.
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Mike Bloomberg re-enters presidential race: Nov. 8, 2019
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New York Mayor files papers for Alabama presidential primary
- Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) met the deadline today to get onto the Alabama presidential primary ballot (the earliest deadline in the country), implying that he would meet deadlines to get onto other state ballots.
- Bloomberg cited Joe Biden's failure at sparking centrist support, which Bloomberg considers his constituency (as opposed to the progressive constituency sparked by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren).
- Bloomberg is a billionaire, like Tom Steyer (D-CA) and Donald Trump (R-FL), but unlike those two, Bloomberg won election and re-election before running for President.
Source: See Mayor Mike Bloomberg's main page for full issue stances.
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Three gubernatorial races, Nov. 5-16, 2019
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Governors elected in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky
Mississippi gubernatorial race (Aug. 6 primary; Aug. 27 runoff; Nov. 5 final election)
Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, Republican, won on Nov. 5
- Attorney General Jim Hood, Democrat, lost on Nov. 5
Kentucky gubernatorial race (May 21 partisan primaries; Nov. 5 final election)
Attorney General Andy Beshear, Democrat, won on Nov. 5
- Incumbent Governor Matt Bevin, Republican, lost on Nov. 5; but recount pending on Nov. 14
Louisiana gubernatorial race (Oct. 21 jungle primary; Nov. 16 final election)
- CEO Eddie Rispone, Republican
Incumbent Governor John Bel Edwards, Democrat
Source: OTI Archives on 2019-2020 Gubernatorial races.
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Beto O'Rourke drops out: Nov. 1, 2019
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17 Democratic primary contenders still in race
Source: See Rep. O'Rourke's main page and Rep. Ryan's main page for full issue stances.
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Fourth Democratic primary debate: Oct. 15, 2019
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12 contenders in one evening
The top twelve Democratic presidential candidates debated at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, sponsored by CNN and the New York Times.
Changes in the field as a result of this debate:
- CEO Tom Steyer (D, CA) made his first appearance in a debate, after months of TV advertising
- Rep. Tim Ryan (D, OH) dropped out after this debate, on Oct. 25.
- Rep. Beto O`Rourke (D, TX) dropped out after this debate, on Nov. 1.
- CEO Mike Bloomberg (D, NY) re-entered the race, claiming that
V.P. Joe Biden was not capturing the moderate electorate, on Nov. 7.
This debate was preceded by two "CNN Town Halls," focused on one topic, with a half-hour Q&A with each of a dozen candidates:
- LGBT Town Hall in Los Angeles, October 10, with nine candidates on gay rights topics
- CNN Town Hall on Climate Change, September 4, with ten candidates
- Other CNN Town Halls prior to September, on general topics
Source: Excerpts from Oct. 15th Democratic primary debate.
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Republican primary debate, Sept. 24, 2019
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Four presidential contenders invited; two show up
Business Insider Today, a financial news service, hosted the first Republican presidential primary debate (yes, there IS a Republican primary!), on Sept. 24, 2019, and live-streamed on Facebook.
Some highlights:
- Gov. Bill Weld (R, MA) was the Libertarian Party's Vice-Presidential nominee in 2016, but has re-enrolled as a Republican for 2020.
- Rep. Joe Walsh (R, IL) served in Congress but retured and has run a conservative radio talk show ever since. He considers himself a member of the Tea Party.
- Gov. Mark Sanford (R, SC) was invited, but claimed a "scheduling conflict" and did not attend.
- President Donald Trump (R, NY) was invited to the debate but did not respond. He was the major topic anyway, and we include some excerpts from video played during the debate, with opponents' responses.
- The moderators were Business Insider politics editor Anthony Fisher; Business Insider columnist Linette Lopez, and Business Insider editorial director Henry Blodget.
Source: Full excerpts at GOP Business Insider debate page.
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Bill de Blasio drops out: Sept. 20, 2019
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New York Mayor failed to qualify for September debate
- Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) withdrew from the Democratic presidential primary.
- De Blasio said on a morning ralk show today, "I'm gonna end my presidential campaign, continue my work as mayor of New York City and I'm gonna keep speaking up for working people and for a Democratic party that stands for working people."
- De Blasio conceded in an NBC News Op-Ed that he had "reached the point where I feel I have contributed all I can to this Democratic primary."
Source: See Mayor Bill de Blasio's main page for full issue stances.
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Third Democratic primary debate: Sept. 12, 2019
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10 contenders in just one evening
- Sept. 12, 2019, debate at Texas Southern University in Houston; hosted by ABC as "Your Voice, Your Vote," and by Univision with Spanish-language commentary.
- Texas Southern University is an "HBCU", a Historically Black College and University, which was a topic in the debate.
- This debate was the first one-evening-only debate, with just the top ten contenders. The qualifying rules were:
- Candidates must show 130,000 unique donors (double the 65,000 requirement from the June and July debates)
Candidates must poll at 2% or above in four polls (also double the 1% requirement from the June and July debates)
Candidates must accomplish BOTH of the above (EITHER criteria was sufficient for the June and July debates).
Ten candidates met both criteria for the upcoming debate; three additional candidates met one criterion (and hence are excluded from the debate).
If eleven or more candidates had qualified, the debate would have been split into two evenings.
- Three candidates withdrew from the race after failing to qualify for this debate; a fourth candidate withdrew afterwards; details below and above; here are the contenders in the third debate (in polling order):
Source: See full debate excerpts for all issue-oriented excerpts.
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Kirsten Gillibrand drops out: Aug. 28, 2019
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New York Senator fails to qualify for September debate
- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) withdrew from the Democratic presidential primary.
- Gillibrand cited failing to qualify for the third Democratic primary debate as "fatal to her candidacy."
- The criteria for qualifying for the Sept. 12 debate are outlined in our Aug. 15-21 report below (130,000 donors AND 2% in four polls).
- Ten candidates met both criteria for the upcoming debate; three additional candidates met one criterion (and hence are excluded from the debate).
Source: See Sen. Gillibrand's main page for full issue stances.
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Mississippi Gubernatorial Primaries, Aug. 6-27, 2019
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General election nominees selected for November contest
Source: OTI Archives on 2019 Mississippi gubernatorial race.
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Another Democrat out; another Republican in, Aug. 23-25, 2019
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Rep. Seth Mouton (D-MA) withdraws; Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL) enters presidential race
- Seth Moulton, Democratic Representative from Massachusetts, withdrew from the presidential race on Aug. 23.
- Moulton did not make the cut for the September debates, nor had he made the cut for the June and July debates. He will run for re-election for his seat in Congress in 2020.
- Joe Walsh, former Republican Representative from Illinois, announced his entry into the presidential race on Aug. 25.
- Walsh ran for Congress as a Tea Party candidate, and hosted a radio talk-show after leaving Congress.
- We would say "This completes the list of presidential contenders" but we've thought that before and the field has expanded several times this month!
Source: OTI Archives on 2020 Presidential hopefuls.
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Two Democratic governors drop out: Aug. 15-21, 2019
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Inslee (D-WA) to run Governor; Hickenlooper (D-CO) to run for Senate
- Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) withdrew from the Democratic presidential primary on Aug. 15, then announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.
- Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA) withdrew from the Democratic presidential primary on Aug. 21, then announced his candidacy for re-election as Governor.
- Both were facing exclusion from the upcoming September Democratic primary debates, which have a deadline at the end of August to meet....
- Candidates must show 130,000 unique donors (double the 65,000 requirement from the June and July debates)
- Candidates must poll at 2% or above in four polls (also double the 1% requirement from the June and July debates)
- Candidates must accomplish BOTH of the above (EITHER criteria was sufficient for the June and July debates).
- An archive of our coverage of the two candidates, side-by-side:
Source: See Gov. Hickenlooper's main page and Gov. Inslee's main page for full issue stances.
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Second Democratic primary debate: July 30-31, 2019
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20 contenders debate over two evenings
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