Excerpt
There are still roughly 1,000 days before voting gets underway in the 2016 presidential primary process, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the political headliners appearing at dueling Democratic and Republican Party dinners in Columbia, S.C., Friday night.
Vice President Joe Biden will address the South Carolina Democratic Party's annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner and is also expected to attend Rep. Jim Clyburn's "World Famous Fish Fry."
Just two miles away, freshman Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, will speak at the South Carolina Republican Party's Silver Elephant Celebration honoring Jim DeMint, who late last year stepped down from his U.S. Senate seat to become president of the Heritage Foundation.
Cruz's appearance has fueled speculation that he might be lining up a presidential bid for 2016. Last year's keynote speaker at the event was Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., another potential GOP contender.
Earlier this week the National Review's Robert Costa reported that Cruz was considering a possible bid. The senator responded to the story on Facebook, calling it "wild speculation."
An aide to Cruz told the Dallas Morning News that the senator's presence at Friday night's banquet was to honor DeMint.
"This is for Senator DeMint, and that's why he's going," Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said.
Rubio, meanwhile, has raised his profile by championing the bipartisan immigration reform bill that he helped craft with seven other members of the Senate. He defended its elements Friday in the Wall Street Journal's op-ed pages. In the piece, he addresses the criticism coming at him from people who view the measure as offering undocumented immigrants "amnesty":
And for those who believe the road ahead for illegal immigrants is too generous or lenient, Congress will have a chance to make it tougher, yet still realistic. No one has a right to violate the immigration laws and remain here with impunity. Finding a sensible way to resolve our illegal-immigration problem must include penalties that show the rest of the world that it really is cheaper, easier and faster to immigrate to the U.S. the right way.
Of course, there are those who will never support immigration reform no matter what changes we make. Even if we address every concern they raise, they will likely come up with new ones. They have a long list of complaints but typically never offer a solution of their own.
Rubio closes by going after the politics at hand: "[D]efeating it without offering an alternative cannot be the conservative position on immigration reform. That would leave the issue entirely in the hands of President Obama and leave in place the disastrous status quo."
The Washington Post's Philip Rucker raises the curtain on Biden's visit to the Palmetto State, which holds critical early primary contests for both parties.
For Biden, who, his family and advisers say, is weighing whether to run in 2016, several paradoxes are at work. He is beloved by grass-roots Democrats, but mainly as the avuncular No. 2 to Barack Obama. From the South Carolina Lowcountry to the Iowa heartland, there are no signs -- none yet, at least -- of a "Draft Joe" movement. "There just isn't," said Sue Dvorsky, a former head of the Iowa Democratic Party.
The Democratic women's group EMILY's List, meanwhile, is laying the groundwork to make 2016 another history-making election. Enter "Madam President."
As Terence wrote Thursday, the group unveiled its campaign to elect the first female president of the United States, the same morning a new poll found former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic Party's nomination in 2016.
"I have to say, there is one name that seems to be getting mentioned more than others," EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock told reporters. "We do not know if Hillary is going to run, but we are hopeful that she may."
(Speaking of female candidates, Schriock also suggested she might run for the Montana Senate seat being vacated by veteran Democratic Sen. Max Baucus, who is retiring.)
If all this weren't enough, C-SPAN on Friday is starting Road to the White House 2016.
As we've noted a few times, yes, it's early. But when it comes to presidential politics, it's really never too early to speculate.
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