10:47 AM ET

By Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin

With Candidates Staying Out, Iowa Straw Poll Dies

The Iowa Straw Poll, a Republican Party tradition since 1979 that was cherished by candidates vying to win the nation’s first nominating contest, is dead for the 2016 presidential cycle, party officials said Friday.

The move was made as candidates in one of the largest presidential fields in modern Republican history showed diminishing interest in participating in the August event, in which campaigns would spend lavishly to court local Republicans to emerge supreme in a poll at the carnival-like gathering.

“I’ve said since December that we would only hold a straw poll if the candidates wanted one, and this year that is just not the case,” Jeff Kaufmann, the Republican Party chairman in Iowa, said in a statement emailed shortly after a special meeting of the party’s state central committee.

The termination of the straw poll reflects a trend in Republican campaigning that began in the 2012 presidential cycle toward a contest waged increasingly on the stages of debates and in the confines of Fox News studios. The straw poll’s significance was diminished during that campaign cycle when its winner, Michele Bachmann, finished at the bottom of the pack in the caucuses, and its cancellation in 2015 suggests a nationalized nominating battle may have finally arrived as candidates focus less on early contest states.

The vote to end the event, which was to have been held in Ames, Iowa, was unanimous.

“I see this as entirely a candidate decision,” Mr. Kaufmann said in an interview, adding that many candidates and campaigns had urged the state party, in private conversations, to forgo the poll. He declined to name them.

Dozens of Iowa Republicans mounted a last-ditch effort to save the poll, gathering signatures on petitions and sending letters to the campaigns pleading with them to compete. One county activist even suggested that if a White House hopeful could not make his or her case to Iowans, they might not be able to confront the Islamic State. But once a handful of the top candidates said they would not participate, and were not going to be pressured to change their minds, it was clear that the event had to be ended.

In 2012, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, the eventual Republican nominee, skipped the straw poll, and then-Gov. Rick Perry of Texas announced his presidential candidacy the day of the poll, knocking the wind out of the sails of Mrs. Bachmann, then a Minnesota congresswoman.

This year, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida said he would skip it, and others are more focused on husbanding resources to lift their standings in national polls to make the cut for the early debates, which are being limited to 10 candidates.

The move to cancel the summer rite will also come as a relief to Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin. He is leading in early Iowa polls and had avoided taking a position on whether to compete in the straw poll, not wanting to offend party activists but also concerned about the prospect of jeopardizing his standing by playing aggressively and losing.

The event offered an opportunity for lesser-known candidates to make a splash. In 2008, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas won the caucuses after a surprise showing in the straw poll the previous summer. Yet despite the straw poll’s power to elevate, many establishment figures in Iowa have also resented it for years, believing it amplified the voices of the most conservative, and in some cases most fringe, members of the field.

The party decision, which came after cable television networks declared that a candidate’s standing in national polls would determine their participation in debates, illustrates how the power to winnow the Republican presidential field is flowing away from the states that traditionally played that role with their early nominating contests. Republican hopefuls who did not meet expectations at the summer gathering had often dropped out of the race before the caucuses were held early the next year.

“If there ever was a year that we needed an event to winnow the field, it was this cycle,” said Matt Strawn, a former state party chairman. “Campaigns should not view this as an excuse not to continue organizing throughout the summer.”

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10:01 PM ET

By Ashley Parker

Verbatim: Chris Christie on Senators as Presidents

“Just don’t make the wrong vote on the markup in the subcommittee. Is that really who you want to run the country? Someone who has become an expert in not making the wrong vote on the mark-up on the subcommittee.”

— Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, on why he thinks governors are better prepared to be president than senators

4:16 PM ET

By First Draft

First Draft Focus: The Week in Political Pictures

An Osprey aircraft of the United State Marines landed Monday near the Bavarian town of Krüen, Germany, where the Group of 7 summit meeting was held.
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

3:44 PM ET

By Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Martin

Longtime Bush Adviser Focuses On Jeb’s Messaging

In the last week, there have been numerous news accounts about reassignments and changes in the political team being put together by Jeb Bush.

But when the former Florida governor’s advisers rolled out a list of staff appointments and titles this week, one name that was not on it was Chris Mottola. A veteran political advertising strategist who worked on George W. Bush’s 2004 presidential re-election campaign, Mr. Mottola is said to be an old friend of Jeb Bush’s longtime adviser, Mike Murphy.

Mr. Mottola’s eventual role in the campaign once it begins next week is unclear, and a spokesman for Mr. Bush, Tim Miller, declined to comment. But two people familiar with Mr. Mottola’s current role said that he had been advising the team on messaging and strategy related to Monday’s planned campaign kickoff.

If Mr. Mottola does take an official role with the campaign, among the open questions is whether he would contribute on television ads. That role is currently expected to go to Jon Downs, of FP1 Strategies. Mr. Downs’s colleague, Danny Diaz, was named campaign manager this week. Mr. Mottola did not respond to an email for comment.

Mr. Bush is not expected to actually begin airing television commercials until later in the Republican contest, but his aides confirm that he will spend money on a digital ad purchase pegged to his announcement tour next week. The purchase is aimed at building his list of both grass-roots supporters and small-dollar donors.

“We want to collect as much data and information as possible,” Mr. Miller said.

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12:51 PM ET

By Joshua Jamerson

Roosevelt Island to Shine Under the Hillary Clinton Spotlight

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s decision to use Roosevelt Island, the two-mile sliver of land mashed between Queens and Manhattan, as the backdrop Saturday for her first major stump speech sent a small but noticeable ripple through the island’s previously scheduled weekend plans.

For example, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, where Mrs. Clinton will speak, rescheduled a children’s event that had been set to take place there to accommodate the Clinton team.

“We made the date available by moving one event,” said Sally Minard, president of the park, adding that the Clinton campaign did not request the rescheduling of the children’s event. “Obviously, you can’t do anything in New York City without making someone unhappy.”

Mrs. Clinton’s speech also happens to land on the same weekend as Roosevelt Island Day, an annual block party-type event intended to celebrate the island and its residents.

“They scheduled it when they scheduled it, it happens to be the same day as Roosevelt Island Day, we’ve done this for 18 years, and it is what it is,” said Sherie Helstien, vice president of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association.

Ms. Helstien was recently quoted in The New York Post as saying the Clinton event would be “horrendous logistically” for the community, which has one subway stop, the famed Roosevelt Island Tramway, and one road for vehicular traffic for people to come onto and leave the island.

She suggested a large number of vehicles could be cause for concern.

“We’re going to do what we do and she’s going to do what she does, and we’ll see what happens,” Ms. Helstien said.

Janet Falk, a member of the residents association, said she couldn’t predict if attendance would take a hit at the Roosevelt Island celebration because of the Clinton rally. “Residents of Roosevelt Island and of New York will vote with their feet,” she said.

Still, several community leaders, including Ms. Helstien, say the events have about a mile of distance between them, and there should be enough room for both Roosevelt Island Day and the Clinton speech, which is expected to draw a fair share of news media.

Jeffrey Escobar, the residents association president, said Mrs. Clinton’s event should be good for the island’s reputation to fellow New Yorkers and to tourists.

“If you talk to some people around the city, they might only know Roosevelt Island for the Tramway,” Mr. Escobar said. “Any exposure for us is always good.”

With regard to transportation, the F train will not see a change in service, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman said.

But the Tramway, which usually runs every 15 minutes during off-peak hours, will run about every seven minutes on this particular Saturday. It can carry up to 110 people per ride.

Samir Dagher, 41, moved to Roosevelt Island in September. Though he said the expected influx of people on the island probably won’t affect him, he said he did not understand why Mrs. Clinton’s campaign picked the small island to officially kick off her candidacy.

“Certainly, it’d be nice to do it in a place that doesn’t have only one road in,” Mr. Dagher said, comparing the access with “a big farm in Iowa.”

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10:43 AM ET

By Ashley Parker

For Candidates Like Rick Santorum, the Line Can Be Long to Take Flight

PARK CITY, Utah — The 2016 presidential season may have started early — but expect it to go long.

At least that was the message from Spencer Zwick, who was the finance chairman for former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, at the 2012 Republican presidential nominee’s annual donor retreat in Park City.

Speaking to reporters Thursday night, Mr. Zwick said he did not see the Republican nominee race “as an early knockout.”

The reason? “If you’re at 1 percent in the polls, why would you get out?” he said. “There is no downside to staying in the race. In the worst case, you might get a TV show after it all.”

Look no farther, Mr. Zwick said, than Rick Santorum —a Republican presidential candidate again in 2016 who, despite little campaign infrastructure and money in 2012, forced Mr. Romney into a prolonged primary fight.

Mr. Zwick recalled a moment during the 2012 campaign, when he was waiting to catch a JetBlue red-eye back to Boston after a presidential debate in Las Vegas. The Romney team, he said, was “in full swing” — with a private charter plane and full campaign apparatus.

“And I was waiting in line at the JetBlue red-eye, and about 30 people behind me was Rick Santorum, waiting to get on a middle seat to fly to Boston to be able to go New Hampshire,” Mr. Zwick recalled, shaking his head in mix of awe and admiration. “It dawned on me right there, wow, there is no barrier to entry. As long as you can have enough money to buy a commercial airline ticket to get to the next state, you’ve got a ticket, you can go. It was like this surreal moment I had on the campaign. Here were we, building this massive infrastructure and this political machine, and you know, Senator Santorum is standing there with his carry-on bag, getting in line.”

And, Mr. Zwick added, Mr. Santorum “wasn’t even Group 1. I was at least in the even more space section.”

“This guy was on national TV, debating,” he added, and yet “there was no campaign infrastructure.”

So, Mr. Zwick concluded, expect the JetBlue primary — where just about any candidate, especially one with a wealthy donor and a “super PAC,” can stay in the race — to go on, and on, and on.

9:28 AM ET

By Alan Rappeport

Before Official Announcement, Jeb Bush Shows Off Support Inside Florida

Former Gov. Jeb Bush unveiled a raft of endorsements from Republicans in Florida on Friday, demonstrating support in his home state ahead of next week’s expected announcement that he is running for president.

The endorsements include 11 members of Congress and three state cabinet members. Mr. Bush’s team said the support will help him show how the former governor’s leadership helped make Florida an economic success.

The Miami Herald, which first reported the endorsements, noted that Mr. Bush’s supporters include all three Cuban-American lawmakers from Miami and 6 of the 17 Republican members of the Florida congressional delegation has not endorsed him.

“America needs Jeb’s proven, conservative leadership,” said Representative Daniel Webster.

Others endorsing Mr. Bush included Pam Bondi, the state’s attorney general, and Representative Carlos Curbelo, of Florida’s 26th District.

Gov. Rick Scott has yet to endorse a presidential candidate and additional endorsements in Florida are expected to be hard-fought between Mr. Bush and Senator Marco Rubio, who also hails from the state.

Mr. Bush called it an honor to “receive such a strong show of support from some of Florida’s finest elected officials.” He is expected to announce his White House bid on Monday at Miami Dade College.

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7:00 AM ET

By The New York Times

Today in Politics: In Tight Contest, Trade Deal Heads to the Bottom of the Ninth

Good Friday morning from Washington. The campaign trail leads for the moment through Utah and Mitt Romney‘s candidate summit meeting, but the primary action is in the House, which is scrambling to complete a vote over the trade deal that has aligned President Obama with Republicans and that sent him to a baseball diamond on Thursday to press for the votes he needs.

The monthslong battle over giving Mr. Obama special trade-negotiating power is set to end in a close vote in the House on Friday as both opponents and proponents made an intense last-minute push for support.

After surviving a scare in a test vote on Thursday, Republican leaders were hopeful that they could win approval of a measure to clear the way for expedited trade talks, one of Mr. Obama’s economic priorities, after top administration officials pressed fellow Democrats for help.

Most House Democrats oppose the bill, seeing it as a threat to American workers, and about three dozen Republicans remained unwilling to give such authority to Mr. Obama. But nearly two dozen Democrats and most House Republicans appeared ready to back the measure and put them in reach of the votes they need. The main question was whether Democrats would oppose an assistance program for displaced workers in a separate vote in an attempt to derail the entire package.

If granted, the trade power would represent a victory for the president. But its cost would be the dissatisfaction of House Democrats who would have preferred the White House put its concerted efforts behind initiatives like a highway bill instead. It might be an even bigger victory, however, for Representative Paul D. Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Mr. Ryan, the 2012 vice-presidential nominee whose deal-closing skills have been questioned on Capitol Hill, went all out for the trade bill. He and his team worked his colleagues hard, offering assurances that the bill would not give the president new leeway on other issues like immigration and climate change.

The big loser if the legislation goes through? Organized labor, which pulled out the stops to defeat it and threatened to go after Democrats who defied the unions.

Carl Hulse

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What We’re Watching Today

The Iowa Straw Poll might learn its fate. The state Republican Party is expected to vote on whether to continue the tradition, which began to erode in 2012 when Mr. Romney skipped the poll. This year, Jeb Bush has said he will also bypass the event, and other presidential hopefuls are likely to do the same.If the poll is discontinued, it would be a victory for Gov. Terry E. Branstad, who has long argued that it diminishes the state’s caucuses.

The Republican donor summit meeting, courtesy of Mr. Romney, will continue through the weekend, allowing six presidential hopefuls the chance to mingle with kingmakers and to conduct and engage in early-morning “enthusiast” sessions, like flag football with Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and, on Saturday morning, Pilates with Ann Romney. On Friday, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, among others, will make appearances.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is not among the Romney early-morning enthusiasts, but he will continue his wont for visiting traditionally blue states with an appearance with the Republican Party of Orange County, Calif. Elsewhere on the trail, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont will be in Iowa, where he has been drawing surprisingly big crowds, for a town-hall-style meeting.

A Clinton Orchestra Tunes Up for Its First Big Symphony

The speech is still being drafted, and the staging is being laid out. But in less than 36 hours, Hillary Rodham Clinton will hold her first formal campaign rally.

Mrs. Clinton will use the speech, on Roosevelt Island in New York City, to touch on the policy proposals she’ll unveil in the coming weeks, and on a larger rationale for her candidacy.

She is likely to revisit the themes she has often established in the two years since leaving the State Department, primarily income inequality in the post-recession era.

Mrs. Clinton’s allies have described the speech as among the most important of her life — the chance to provide an underlying message for her second presidential run.

Her choice of site, Roosevelt Island, is also intended to show fidelity to the president, known for a progressive vision, who gave it its name.

– Maggie Haberman

Bulletins: Clinton Challenged; Christie on Education; Pataki’s Family

Both Mr. Sanders and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York criticized the trade bill and again called upon Mrs. Clinton, who has not taken a clear position on the deal, to do so. “Right now,” Mr. Sanders said.

Mr. Christie, whose political action committee is gaining a top state aide, another sign that Mr. Christie is planning to run for president, laid out his education platform in Iowa, delivering blunt warnings in a nearly hourlong speech.

George E. Pataki, the former governor of New York, announced that his son-in-law had suffered a stroke and that he was pausing his presidential campaign to attend to his family.

Other Favorites From Today’s Times

As Mrs. Clinton kicks off her second presidential campaign, she is frequently invoking the tale of her mother, a housekeeper who had a challenging childhood.

In their declarations for the presidency, the candidates so far have both stumbled and sparkled and shown enough to draw some lessons for those with announcements yet to come.

In an attempt to secure those votes he needs on the trade bill, Mr. Obamamade a surprise trip to Nationals Park on Thursday evening for the Congressional Baseball Game for Charity. He visited both dugouts and lobbied Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, on the deal.

And in the latest front in their battle over voting rights, Democrats are challenging Virginia’s voter-identification law, saying that it will suppress turnout, especially among minorities, the poor and the young.

What We’re Reading Elsewhere

Tagg Romney told The Salt Lake Tribune that though his father was hosting the presidential hopefuls, “I think he’ll stay neutral” for now.

Mr. Bush on Thursday defended a position he took in the 1990s criticizing “no-fault divorce,” a view, the Daily Beast says, that Mrs. Clinton has taken as well.

And Carly Fiorina, the former chief executive of Hewlett-Packard and a candidate for president, “champions feminism as Republican cause,” MSNBC says, in an apparent effort to take away that mantle from Mrs. Clinton.

Mrs. Clinton‘s house parties may not raise much money but they are intended to create good will for her, Politico reports.

McCain, on Senate Seersucker Day, Warns of a World in Crisis

Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican at the helm of the Armed Services Committee, sounded dire and desperate on Thursday when he called for quick action on a pending defense policy bill.

“The world has never been in more crises,” he warned his colleagues. “This world’s at risk.”

The Senate, which was observing its traditional seersucker day, responded. After reaching an impasse over combining the Pentagon bill and a cybersecurity measure, and with the Senate taking the day off on Friday, many senators took advantage of the extra time to head for the exits. They will be back next week to resume saving the world.

Carl Hulse

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