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Thursday’s Talking Points – March 31, 2016

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Good Thursday morning from Salt Lake City. Today is the 91st day of the year. There are 275 days left in 2016.

Trump ignites a firestorm with a statement on abortion. Gov. Gary Herbert vetoes six bills. Bernie Sanders officially wins 29 delegates from Utah while Clinton gets eight.

The clock:

  • 23 days to the Utah Republican and Democratic State Conventions (4/23/2016)
  • 39 days to the last day a veto override session may begin (5/9/2016)
  • 89 days to the 2016 Utah primary election – (6/28/2016)
  • 109 days to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland (7/18/2016)
  • 116 days to the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (7/25/2016)
  • 222 days until the 2016 presidential election – (11/8/2016)
  • 298 days until the first day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (1/23/2017)
  • 343 days until the final day of the 2017 Utah Legislature – (3/9/2017)

Ten talking points for Thursday:

  1. Donald Trump had a very, very bad day. Trump came under fire for saying women should be subject to “some sort of punishment” for having an illegal abortion. A few hours later he walked that statement back saying the punishments should be for abortion providers [Washington Post, Politico, New York Times, Bloomberg Politics].
  2. Shockingly, Trump refuses to rule out using nuclear weapons against Great Britain, leading his rivals to pounce and say he’s woefully unprepared when it comes to foreign policy [Huffington Post, Politico].
  3. A new poll shows Trump would be the most unpopular major-party nominee in the modern era. 3/4 of women view him unfavorably, as do 80% of young adults and 85% of Hispanics [Washington Post].
  4. Gov. Gary Herbert vetoed six bills and allowed one to become law without his signature in his final legislative actions [Utah Policy]. Herbert also signed a controversial bill which allows Rocky Mountain Power to pass some renewable energy costs to ratepayers [Tribune, Deseret News].
  5. Bernie Sanders officially wins 29 delegates from last week’s Utah caucuses while Hillary Clinton picks up eight [Utah Policy, Deseret News, Fox 13]. Utah’s final uncommitted superdelegate, Wayne Holland, declares his support for Sanders [Tribune, 2 News].
  6. Rep. Mia Love‘s campaign sends out a fundraising letter claiming her Democratic opponent, Doug Owens, endorsed Hillary Clinton. It turns out, he hasn’t endorsed anyone [Tribune].
  7. Republican gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Johnson is furious someone shared his voter registration form with Sen. Todd Weiler, who posted a picture of it on social media [Tribune].
  8. A new poll shows about 1/3 of Utahns are worried about the Zika virus [Utah Policy].
  9. Utahns paid more than $18 billion in federal income tax last year [Tribune].
  10. Tuition and fees are expected to go up at Utah’s public colleges and universities by almost 4% next year [Deseret News].

On this day in history:

  • 1889 – The Eiffel Tower was dedicated in Paris.
  • 1918 – Daylight saving time went into effect in the United States for the first time.
  • 1948 – Congress passed the Marshall Aid Act to help rehabilitate war-ravaged Europe.
  • 1959 – The Dalai Lama fled Chinese-occupied Tibet and was granted political asylum in India.
  • 1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson made a surprise announcement he would not run for re-election.