The "Who is running?" tea leaves thread (Part 2)

[Mr. Morden]

Previous thread is being locked, as Dave wants us to cap threads at about 2000 replies.  Here's the new thread for you to post any news regarding potential candidate intentions.

The old thread can be found here: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=164982.0

[Mr. Morden]

Christie's been getting foreign policy briefings throughout the year, a strong indicator of his intentions to run:

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/12/22/late-at-night-christie-doing-2016-foreign-policy-homework/21120059/

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[Mr. Morden]

Paul offers some 2015 predictions on Twitter, including a strong hint that he's soon to announce a presidential campaign by tweeting this pic:



And saying this:

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[Mr. Morden]

Sanders says he will make a decision on whether to run for president by March (including a decision on whether to run as a Democrat or an Independent):

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/26/sanders-ill-decide-on-presidential-run-by-march/

Meanwhile, a "senior Rubio advisor" says that he will have an "aggressive travel schedule next month", and…

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/228014-team-rubio-jeb-wont-push-us-out-of-2016

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/jeb-bush-resigns-another-board-n276426

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[Mr. Morden]

Former Romney advisor Kirk Jowers on whether Mitt will run:

http://fox13now.com/2014/12/29/romney-eyes-2016-run-for-president-close-friend-says/

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/02/politics/carly-fiorina-hires-republican-party-spokeswoman/

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/omalley-in-wait-and-see-mode-looks-to-spring-to-assess-chances-against-clinton/2014/12/26/5b28e066-86c3-11e4-b9b7-b8632ae73d25_story.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Carson says he'll announce his decision on whether to run or not "before May 1":

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/228390-ben-carson-nears-presidential-decision

[Mr. Morden]

Huckabee says he won't make his decision until late spring 2015.

https://www.facebook.com/mikehuckabee/posts/10152701857157869

CNN Politics reports he will end his show on Fox News to possibly run.

He announced that he's leaving Fox News altogether:

link

[Mr. Morden]

It was already mentioned in the last thread that Carson would be speaking at the Tea Party convention in South Carolina later this month, but looks like Cruz and Santorum will speak there as well:

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=1143894#.VKn2N1qdt_s

[Mr. Morden]

Christie will attend Kasich's inauguration:

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/01/chris_christie_to_attend_john.html

[Mr. Morden]

Christie will attend Kasich's inauguration:

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/01/chris_christie_to_attend_john.html

Actually, looks like Christie will be attending a number of gubernatorial inaugurations, including (the early primary states) Terry Branstad in Iowa and Nikki Haley in South Carolina:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/chris-christie-to-hit-string-of-inaugurations-113967.html?hp=b2_c1

[Mr. Morden]

Looks like, in addition to the names already announced, Chris Christie and Jim Gilmore will attend Steve King's summit in Iowa later this month.  Gilmore is also said to have a NH trip in the works later this month, and had this to say when asked about another presidential run:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/gilmore-raises-national-profile-wont-rule-out-presidential-bid/2014/12/29/081dadc0-8ac9-11e4-9e8d-0c687bc18da4_story.html?hpid=z3

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[Mr. Morden]

Santorum in final prep stages. Congrats Phil.

Specifically, as detailed in that story, he's inviting his former aides to Washington for  a "private briefing" on his plans:

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[Mr. Morden]

Speculation at Fox News that John Bolton may be the next to leave the network in order to consider a presidential run:

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/john-bolton-may-be-next-to-leave-fox-news-for-2016-bid/article/2558182

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[Mr. Morden]

Jeb allies are about to launch a SuperPAC and leadership PAC.

Details:

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/eye-2016-jeb-bush-launches-right-rise-pac-n280566

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[Mr. Morden]

Looks like, in addition to the names already announced, Chris Christie and Jim Gilmore will attend Steve King's summit in Iowa later this month.  Gilmore is also said to have a NH trip in the works later this month, and had this to say when asked about another presidential run:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/gilmore-raises-national-profile-wont-rule-out-presidential-bid/2014/12/29/081dadc0-8ac9-11e4-9e8d-0c687bc18da4_story.html?hpid=z3

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Does Gilmore really think he stands a chance or is he trying to sell something?

I don't know.  Why did he run in 2008?

[Mr. Morden]

The name of Bush's new PAC is apparently lifted from a Paul Ryan speech:

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/jeb-bush-s-new-pac-name-is-lifted-from-a-paul-ryan-slogan-20150106

[Mr. Morden]

Of course, contrary to the impression you might get from Wikipedia's clueless categorization of the field, plenty of other potential candidates besides Bush have set up PACs, and many of them used those PACs to donate to local candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2014.  Some of the most active:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/upshot/iowa-and-new-hampshire-have-already-seen-cash-from-2016-contenders.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0

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[Mr. Morden]

So separate from the meeting in Washington that Santorum is scheduled to have next week with top advisors, he also apparently held a meeting with Pennsylvania Republicans today, laying out for them "what a 2016 campaign [by him] would look like":

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/big_tent/Santorum-talks-presidential-race-in-Harrisburg.html

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/hillary-clinton-robby-mook-joel-benenson-2016-114024.html?hp=r1_4

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Also:

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[Mr. Morden]

Walker starting to build a team, leadership PAC likely launching soon.

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/marco-rubio-believes-he-can-win-the-presidency/

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[Mr. Morden]

Any news at all on Democrats not named Hillary Clinton?

Not right now, but here's more news on Hillary Clinton….

The week after Easter is being pegged as the likely launch window for Clinton 2016:

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-2016-timeline-finally-comes-focus

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