Political Junkie: 3 things to watch this week
Political Junkie Ken Rudin joins MPR News to give his perspective on the national political scene.
What the Political Junkie is watching this week:
"This country is so helplessly divided; there is so little of a middle"
1. Obama in the Alps
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In the Bavarian Alps for the G7 Summit meeting, President Obama spoke this morning on a range of domestic and international issues, like U.S. health care and the strategy against the ISIS terrorist organization.
2. Not the same old GOP on gay marriage?
Gay marriage is becoming more and more accepted, even by political leaders who have opposed it in the past. Republican voters show that they are more supportive of gay marriage than before.
Scott Walker, described by Rudin as the "darling of conservatives," said he's leaving the idea of a constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage on the table.
3. Poll: Clinton not trustworthy
An article in the New York Times examines Hillary Clinton's national strategy of planning to mobilize likely voters instead of trying to change the minds of undecided voters. Democrats in more conservative areas are concerned they will be marginalized should Clinton win the Democratic nomination.
Clinton had some disappointing numbers on the topic of the public's trust in a Washington Post poll; 52 percent say she is not honest and trustworthy. According to the poll, in March she had a "favorable view" among 45 percent of independents, but now that number has declined to 37 percent. Her favorable rating among Democrats has dropped from 78 percent to 72 percent. And her favorable rating among Republicans has stayed relatively low, with no significant change.
MPR News intern Destanie Martin-Johnson contributed to this article.