Updated for a McClatchy article suggesting the Republicans should nominate John Kasich for the best chance of success in November.[1] Whether Republicans would have the courage to defy their authoritarian populist and social conservative base remains to be seen.
Steven Salaita
The Chronicle of Higher Education article seems a bit more clear about what’s hopefully going on: “[Fadlo R. Khuri, the university’s president] said he had met with Mr. Salaita to explain the flawed search and advised him to reapply for a permanent position at the university.”[2] What remains to be explained is 1) how “a search for a director of the Center for American Studies and Research” came to be so flawed in the first place, and 2) who you get to sit on a search committee if, indeed, you exclude “lower-ranked faculty members voting for a higher-ranked [director] position.”[3]
Scott Jaschik, “Another Lost Job for Salaita,” Inside Higher Ed, April 14, 2016, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/14/reports-circulate-american-beirut-has-blocked-permanent-appointment
Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz, “American U. of Beirut Denies That It Blocked Center’s Hiring of Salaita,” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 14, 2016, http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/american-u-of-beirut-denies-that-it-blocked-centers-hiring-of-salaita/110386
The Horse Race
It is unclear here whether Nancy Pelosi really wants the Democratic nominee to run against Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, or if she’s (intentionally) oblivious to the manipulations of the Democratic Party establishment in her own party’s nomination process,[4] or both. One thing she might be reacting to is a study suggesting that John Kasich would be the strongest candidate against Hillary Clinton.[5]
David Lightman, “Analysis: Kasich would change election map, win White House,” McClatchy, April 13, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article71423157.html?rh=1
Lindsey McPherson, “Democrats Win If GOP Bucks Voters’ Choice, Pelosi Says,” Congressional Quarterly Roll Call, April 14, 2016, http://www.rollcall.com/news/democrats-win-gop-bucks-voters-choice-pelosi-says
Hillary Clinton
This isn’t really further evidence of a rigged process, but it sounded like it. Hillary Clinton’s press secretary predicted that with superdelegates, she “will lock up the Democratic nomination ‘possibly by the end of May, if not after California.’” He later denied saying she would need the superdelegates to win, which is to say he thinks Clinton will ultimately have won enough pledged delegates to prevail at the convention (in July, if memory serves). Nonetheless, “[t]he Republican National Committee blasted out the comments, characterizing it as a concession on Fallon’s part that the campaign is relying on superdelegates to clinch the nomination.”[6]
Nick Gass, “Clinton press secretary: Superdelegates can help Clinton clinch nomination by early June,” Politico, April 14, 2016, http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/04/hillary-clinton-needs-superdelegates-221943
Footnotes
- [1]David Lightman, “Analysis: Kasich would change election map, win White House,” McClatchy, April 13, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article71423157.html?rh=1↩
- [2]Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz, “American U. of Beirut Denies That It Blocked Center’s Hiring of Salaita,” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 14, 2016, http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/american-u-of-beirut-denies-that-it-blocked-centers-hiring-of-salaita/110386↩
- [3]Scott Jaschik, “Another Lost Job for Salaita,” Inside Higher Ed, April 14, 2016, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/14/reports-circulate-american-beirut-has-blocked-permanent-appointment↩
- [4]Ryan Cooper, “Hillary Clinton and the awful risk of winning ugly,” Week, December 21, 2015, http://theweek.com/articles/595141/hillary-clinton-awful-risk-winning-ugly; Christian Drake, “New Information Shows DNC Violated Its Own Rules When It Shut Down Sanders Campaign Data Access,” Addicting Info, December 19, 2015, http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/12/19/new-information-shows-dnc-violated-its-own-rules-when-it-shut-down-sanders-campaign-data-access/; Jonathan Easley, “Dem rivalry takes nasty turn,” Hill, December 19, 2015, http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/263784-dem-rivalry-take-nasty-turn; Ben Kamisar, “Sanders sues Democratic Party,” Hill, December 18, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263779-sanders-sues-democratic-party; Lauren McCauley, “Thumb on the Scale? DNC Backs Off Bernie But Questions of Neutrality Linger,” Common Dreams, December 19, 2015, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/12/19/thumb-scale-dnc-backs-bernie-questions-neutrality-linger; Michael Sainato, “The Countless Failings of the DNC,” Observer, March 27, 2016, http://observer.com/2016/03/the-countless-failings-of-the-dnc/; Greg Sargent, “The DNC needs to restore Bernie Sanders’ access to voter data — fast,” Washington Post, December 18, 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2015/12/18/the-dnc-needs-to-restore-bernie-sanders-access-to-voter-data-fast/; Wall Street Journal, “Bernie Sanders Gets No Respect,” March 27, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-gets-no-respect-1459117222; Megan R. Wilson, “DNC rolls back restrictions on lobbyist donations,” Hill, February 12, 2016, http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/269266-dnc-rolls-back-restrictions-on-lobbyist-donations; Caitlin Yilek, “Ex-Obama adviser: DNC ‘putting finger on scale’ for Hillary,” Hill, December 18, 2015, http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263792-ex-obama-adviser-on-sanders-scandal-dnc-putting-finger-o↩
- [5]David Lightman, “Analysis: Kasich would change election map, win White House,” McClatchy, April 13, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article71423157.html?rh=1↩
- [6]Nick Gass, “Clinton press secretary: Superdelegates can help Clinton clinch nomination by early June,” Politico, April 14, 2016, http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/04/hillary-clinton-needs-superdelegates-221943↩