Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/665896
PRESIDENTIALRACE SANDYHUFFAKER—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to supporters during a campaign event Monday in the San Diego. By Emily Swanson TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON Most Re- publican voters think the candidate with the most delegates heading into the party's convention in July should ultimately emerge as the GOP's presidential nom- inee, regardless of whether he holds the majority of all delegates needed to secure the nomination, according to a new Associated Press- GfK poll. The survey finds Republi- cans are more likely to think of Donald Trump as a possi- ble general election winner than either of his current GOP rivals. Here are some things to know about opin- ions on a contested conven- tion and which Republican candidates could win a gen- eral election from the latest AP-GfK poll: Notlookingfor alternatives According to the new poll, nearly 6 in 10 GOP vot- ers — 58 percent — think the candidate with the most delegates after all the state contests are finished should be the nominee, even if he doesn't have a clear major- ity. Just 40 percent think it would be acceptable for the delegates to pick a different candidate. That's true even though slightly fewer have a favorable opinion of Trump, who will likely go into the convention with more dele- gates than any other candi- date. Just 53 percent of Re- publican voters have a fa- vorable opinion of Trump, while 46 percent have an unfavorable opinion. Divided over Trump Within the Republican Party, opinions of Trump draw a dramatic divide in terms of how the convention should work out. Eight in 10 Republican voters who have a favorable opinion of Trump think the party should nominate the ultimate delegate leader. But among GOP voters with an unfavorable opin- ion of Trump, two-thirds think it would be acceptable for the delegates to choose someone else. Another third of those who don't like Trump nonetheless think the party should nominate the delegate leader in the end. America divided Among all Americans, nearly half think it would be acceptable for the dele- gates at the GOP convention to choose a different nom- inee, while about as many think the candidate in the lead should be the nominee. Democratic voters think by a 63 percent to 35 percent margin that it would be ac- ceptable for the Republican delegates to nominate an- other candidate if the leader doesn't have a majority of delegates.Picking a winner? Although some Republi- can leaders have expressed concern that a Trump nom- ination would lead to a loss in November, that's not a concern most Republican voters share. Eighty-one percent think Trump could possibly win a general elec- tion, versus those who say so of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (66 percent) or Ohio Gov. John Kasich (just 41 percent). Poll:Republicansarenot itching for a convention fight By Erica Werner The Associated Press WASHINGTON House Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday definitively ruled out a bid for president this year, insisting that the party's choice should emerge from the group of candidates who pursued the GOP nomination. "Count me out," he told reporters. In a statement at the Re- publican National Com- mittee headquarters, the Wisconsin Republican sought to tamp down ram- pant speculation that he would emerge as the party standard-bearer from a po- tentially contested conven- tion. "We have too much work to do in the House to allow this speculation to swirl or have my moti- vations questioned," said Ryan, who was the 2012 vice presidential nominee. "Let me be clear: I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination." Ryan's comments come as a contested convention looks likelier by the day. Ryan and his aides have continually denied the speaker has presidential ambitions this year, but their statements have not put the issue to rest. That's partly because Ryan also denied he wanted to be speaker last fall after then- Speaker John Boehner an- nounced his resignation, but ended up with the job anyway. Tuesday's appearance was an attempt to shut down the speculation once and for all. Yet it may not be enough to quiet the talk about Ryan, given the un- predictable twists of the GOP presidential primary. "So let me speak directly to the delegates on this: If no candidate has a ma- jority on the first ballot, I believe you should only choose a person who actu- ally participated in the pri- mary. Count me out," Ryan said. "I simply believe that if you want to be the nom- inee — to be the president — you should actually run for it. I chose not to. There- fore, I should not be con- sidered. Period." Front-runner Donald Trump looks unlikely to accumulate the neces- sary delegates to clinch the nomination ahead of the July Republican con- vention in Cleveland. That would allow his lead chal- lenger, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, to make a play for the job. Yet party leaders fear neither the erratic Trump nor the polarizing Cruz could beat likely Demo- cratic nominee Hillary Clinton in November. And if neither Trump nor Cruz can get the delegate votes necessary as balloting pro- gresses at the convention, chaos could result and along with it the potential for some other Republican who's not currently run- ning to emerge. As a young and charismatic conserva- tive, popular with donors and with some conserva- tive activists, Ryan's name has been at the top of that list for months. Ryan is also seen as a possible candidate in 2020. Early in the cam- paign season he an- nounced he would not be making a run in 2016. Removing the presiden- tial speculation puts Ry- an's focus squarely on his day job as the leader of the House, and he faces sev- eral key tests soon. In a long-brewing em- barrassment, it's become plain that Ryan has all but given up hope of passing a budget for the upcoming budget year. Ryan orches- trated four budget efforts as chairman of the Budget Committee over 2011-2014 but now can't produce one as speaker. Boehner, his predecessor, presided over five successful budgets. POLITICS House Speaker Ryan rules out presidential bid By Eric Tucker The Associated Press WASHINGTON FBIDirector James Comey said Tuesday he was glad a court fight in California over access to a locked iPhone had ended because it "was creating an emotion around the is- sue that was not produc- tive," likening the emotion and passion around the dis- cussion to the debate over gun control. Comey told an audience of Catholic University law school students that the FBI was correct to ask a judge to force Apple Inc. to help it hack into the phone used by a gunman in the December mass killing in San Bernardino, California. "That litigation," he said, "had to be brought, in my view, because that case had to be investigated in a rea- sonable way." But generally speak- ing, Comey said, lawsuits and court fights won't re- solve the broader collision between privacy and na- tional security. He said he regretted that the San Ber- nardino case in particular had "created an emotion around the issue that was not productive." "We can't resolve these really important issues that affect our values — technol- ogy, innovation, safety and all kinds of other things — in litigation," he said. The Justice Department last month told a magis- trate judge that it had man- aged to access the phone of Syed Farood — though it didn't say how — effec- tively ending the case. The FBI is examining the de- vice, but officials have not revealed whether any use- ful information has been recovered, and they have not said whether they will share with Apple the method they used to break into the phone. Comey said one "unin- tended benefit" of the Apple case has been greater pub- lic dialogue and engage- ment about the balance be- tween privacy and security. But he said he hoped "some of the emotion would come down" and that the dia- logue was not well-served by "being tweeted about" or being spoken of in ab- solutes. "Some of the emotion that I've received around this issued remind me sometimes, in the absolut- ist and slippery slope argu- ments, reminds me of some of the rhetoric we hear in the gun debate," he said. Comey said the debate would continue given that there are "plenty" of cases affected by encryption. The Justice Department last week said that it would con- tinue trying to force Apple to reveal an iPhone's data in a New York City drug case. ENCRYPTION Comey: FBI, Apple court clash created unproductive 'emotion' By Michael Biesecker The Associated Press WASHINGTON Acoalitionof environmental groups sued federal regulators Tuesday over long-sought pollution standards for airliners and cargo planes. The Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washing- ton. The groups allege the Environmental Protection Agency has unreasonably delayed for years using the Clean Air Act to enforce lim- its on heat-trapping green- housegasemissionsfromair- craft.AUnitedNationspanel in February proposed an av- erage 4 percent reduction in fuel consumption during the cruise phase of flight start- ing in 2028 when compared withplanesdeliveredin2015. However, planes burn the most fuel during takeoffs and landings, while cruising at high altitudes is already the most fuel-efficient phase of flight. Environmentalists havecriticizedthatproposed reduction as too modest to significantly curb climate change, and are pushing the EPA to enact more stringent standards for domestic air- craft. Jet engines have a dis- proportionateeffectonglobal warming compared to other pollutionsourcesbecausethe harmful gasses are released at high altitude. Aviation accounts for about 5 percent of global carbon emissions, with U.S.- owned airliners emitting about 30 percent of all air- craft pollution worldwide. While carbon emissions from land-based sources are largely in decline, pollution from airplanes is projected to triple by 2050 without stricter limits, the environ- mental groups say. "Airplanes' skyrocketing climate pollution requires urgent action, not more foot dragging from the Obama administration," said Vera Pardee, a lawyer for the Cen- ter for Biological Diversity. "The EPA has dawdled for almost a decade, even as air- plane emissions are on track to spiral out of control. We can't afford more denial and delay in tackling this high- flying threat to our climate." EMISSIONS Environmental groups sue over pollution from airliners | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2016 8 A