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2016 Democratic Primary Tag

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 04, 2016 11 Comments
Something is rotten in Iowa and it's the results of Monday night's Democratic Caucus. Hillary won by the skin of her teeth and with the help of some incredible luck in a half-dozen coin tosses. Thursday, the editorial board of the Des Moines Register called for an audit of Monday night's Democratic Caucus results. It's worth noting the DMR's endorsed Hillary Clinton as their Democratic candidate of choice. "Something smells in the Democratic Party," they wrote.
Once again the world is laughing at Iowa. Late-night comedians and social media mavens are having a field day with jokes about missing caucusgoers and coin flips. That’s fine. We can take ribbing over our quirky process. But what we can’t stomach is even the whiff of impropriety or error.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 04, 2016 22 Comments
The more things change, the more they stay the same. At the Democratic Town Hall on CNN last night, a Hillary supporter asked Hillary about right-wing attacks on her, and Anderson Cooper followed up with a question whether she still believes there is a vast right wing conspiracy against her. Hillary's response will surprise no one (emphasis added):
COOPER: I want you to meet Sean Burke (ph). He's a Democrat from Derry, says he is a supporter of yours. Sean (ph)? CLINTON: Hi, Sean (ph). QUESTION: Hey. Once you become the nominee and got elected, how are you going to defend yourself against right-wing attacks? CLINTON: Well, Sean (ph), I had a lot of practice. (LAUGHTER) (APPLAUSE)

Posted by Mike LaChance on February 02, 2016 29 Comments
Bernie Sanders supporters are very enthusiastic, but seem a little short on political philosophy. A reporter from CNN recently asked attendees at a Sanders town hall event to describe socialism. Josh Feldman reported at Mediaite:
CNN’s Baldwin Asks Sanders Supporters to Define the Word ‘Socialist’ At a recent Bernie Sanders rally, CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin asked some of his supporters to define the word socialism. And, well, some of them didn’t exactly know…

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 01, 2016 32 Comments
Welcome to our Iowa Caucus liveblog. We'll be updating periodically, so be sure to refresh your browser for the latest news. For the skinny on how this whole shindig works, see previous earlier post here.

Watch real time reaction:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 01, 2016 19 Comments
Judicial Watch obtained records that could implicate State Department officials in Hillary Clinton's ongoing email scandal. According to those records, State Department officials planned to provide Clinton with a non-DOS computer.
Judicial Watch announced today that it recently received records from the Department of State disclosing plans by senior State Department officials to set up a “stand-alone PC” so that Clinton could check her emails in an office “across the hall” through a separate, non-State Department computer network system. Referencing the special Clinton computer system, Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy, writes Clinton Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, “The stand-alone separate network PC is a great idea.” The emails are from January 23-24, 2009, a few days after Clinton was sworn in as Secretary of State. The new emails were obtained by Judicial Watch in response a court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for State Department records about Hillary Clinton’s separate email system (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:15-cv-00689)).

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on February 01, 2016 39 Comments
Welcome to our Iowa Caucus open thread. We'll be updating periodically, so be sure to refresh your browser for the latest. Caucus results will posted in a separate thread beginning at 8:00 PM ET, when the Caucus begins.

How does the Iowa Caucus work?

First things first. The Iowa Caucus explained:

Posted by Mike LaChance on February 01, 2016 12 Comments
Back at the first Democrat debate, Bernie famously said people were sick of hearing about Hillary's "damn emails" but now he's acknowledging that it's a serious issue. When CNN's Jake Tapper asked about it, Bernie also insisted that he's not politicizing the issue. David Rutz of the Washington Free Beacon:
Sanders on Clinton Emails: ‘I Think This Is a Very Serious Issue’ Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said he considered Hillary Clinton’s private email server investigation to be “a very serious issue” Sunday on CNN, while also adding there was a legal process taking place that he did not want to politicize. At the conclusion of their interview, State of the Union host Jake Tapper reminded Sanders of his famous remarks at the first Democratic debate in October, when he told Clinton the American people were “sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 31, 2016 10 Comments
With her poll numbers cratering, Hillary Clinton and her team have evidently caved to the reality that the thin debate schedule designed to hide her from the public eye and let her coast to the Democrat nomination is actually, as Kemberlee noted earlier this month, hurting her and her campaign. As a result, the Clinton team and the Sanders team have agreed to four more debates this campaign season, a decision the DNC still has to approve (and likely will). Politico reports:
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders’ campaigns have agreed in principle to attend four more debates, starting with a proposed New Hampshire event next week, a Clinton campaign aide confirmed Saturday.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 30, 2016 5 Comments
Now that the Iowa caucus is getting close, things are starting to heat up between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. In an interview with Lester Holt yesterday, Hillary took a few shots at Sanders. Via NBC News:
Ahead of Iowa, Clinton Says She 'Can Actually Produce Results' Hillary Clinton, locked in a dead heat with Bernie Sanders three days before the Iowa caucuses, betrayed little sign of nerves in an interview with NBC News Friday, saying she relished the scrutiny that a close fight will bring her rival. Clinton also accused Sanders of "trying to go negative" with ads accusing Wall Street of trying to buy off politicians — spots that didn't name Clinton, but aired after she left Iowa Wednesday to raise money at a Philadelphia investment firm.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 29, 2016 18 Comments
Bernie Sanders has done plenty of favors for Hillary in this election cycle but instead of having his good will returned, he's coming up against the Clinton smear machine. A rumor is circulating that Sanders supporters are planning to win the Iowa caucus by flooding it with college students from out of state. The rumor is nothing more than a delivery system for the smear which would give Clinton supporters an opportunity to taint a Sanders win in the state. Chuck Ross reported at The Daily Caller:
Sanders Is Furious At David Brock, Hillary’s Loyal Servant And Spin Master Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders ripped into David Brock, the head of the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, Correct the Record, after being asked about rumors on Thursday that his campaign was planning to bus out-of-state students into Iowa to take part in Monday’s caucuses.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on January 29, 2016 4 Comments
In the wake of the news that Bernie Sanders' "free stuff for everyone" proposals will cost taxpayers $19.6 trillion in new taxes, Nancy Pelosi is distancing Democrats from his massive tax increases. The Hill reports:
Democrats are not on board with the tax hikes Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has proposed to pay for his single-payer healthcare proposal, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Wednesday. "We're not running on any platform of raising taxes," Pelosi said during a press briefing to launch the Democrats' yearly issues conference in Baltimore, Md. "We do want to have a fairer tax system, and … we hope that we can do that this year."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 27, 2016 20 Comments
Hillary has an honesty perception problem, and everyone knows it. That problem surfaced at the CNN Democratic Town Hall the other night, when a young man in the audience questioned Hillary about it: Hey, remember when speaking truth to power was a supposedly liberal ideal? Not in 2016 America. To Joan Walsh, well-known liberal writer and agitator formerly for Salon now for The Nation, the young man's question was pretty impertinent. Particularly since he's male and white. And young. (Admirably, Walsh does disclose that her own daughter works for Clinton.) In an ode to Hillary, Walsh writes, Why I’m Supporting Hillary Clinton, With Joy and Without Apologies (italics in original):

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 27, 2016 18 Comments
For the first time ever, primary voters will be required to furnish identification before voting in New Hampshire's primary elections February 9. First implemented in New Hampshire's 2012 general election cycle, the goal is to crack down on voter fraud.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 26, 2016 15 Comments
One of the most interesting (maybe the only interesting) part of last night's Democratic candidate "town hall" forum was when a young questioner said his friends think Hillary is dishonest. Hillary's answer is irrelevant. Media spin that this shows her strength of durability is nonsense. The questioner reflected a growing public perception that Hillary is corrupt and dishonest, as reflected in this word cloud based on Quinnipiac word-association polling in August 2015. The three most common words used to describe Clinton? “Liar,” “dishonest,” and “untrustworthy.”

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 26, 2016 12 Comments
Barack Obama's greatest fear is being succeeded by a Republican president with a Republican controlled House and Senate. The eight years of his presidency could be virtually erased. The Iran Deal? Gone. Obamacare? Reversed. His executive orders? Over. Knowing that, it's easy to understand why he's starting to sound like a Hillary Clinton supporter. Many high ranking Democrats are encouraged by the enthusiasm surrounding Bernie Sanders but feel he's ultimately unelectable. In an exclusive interview with Politico's Glenn Thrush yesterday, Obama made the case for Hillary:
Exclusive: Obama on Iowa, Clinton, Sanders and 2016 Barack Obama, that prematurely gray elder statesman, is laboring mightily to remain neutral during Hillary Clinton’s battle with Bernie Sanders in Iowa, the state that cemented his political legend and secured his path to the presidency.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 24, 2016 18 Comments
Democratic presidential frontrunner, Hillary Clinton recently co-opted Obamacare. In spite of her criticisms of President Obama's hallmark healthcare legislation, Clinton told supporters that the Affordable Care Act, affectionately known as Obamacare, was "HillaryCare" first. The Hill reported:
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is out with a new defense of her healthcare record — rival Bernie Sanders may have helped write ObamaCare, but it was her idea first. "It was called HillaryCare before it was called ObamaCare,” Clinton told a crowd of supporters at a country club in Vinton, Iowa. “I don't want to start over."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 23, 2016 43 Comments
Author Ta-Nehisi Coates is hot, hot, hot in progressive circles. His demand for Reparations published in The Atlantic pushed him into the stratosphere. But it was an empty, amateurish effort, as I wrote at the time, The dead-end Case for Reparations:
Coates never gives the answer as to who gets what and how. And that’s ultimately the problem with reparations arguments that are not based upon the people causing the harm paying the people directly harmed by specific conduct soon after the conduct is remedied. If you can’t answer the question of why a Vietnamese boat person has to pay reparations for the conduct of white plantation owners more than a century earlier, then you can’t make the argument. If you can’t answer the question of why two successful black doctors living in a fashionable suburb should get reparations paid for by the white children of Appalachia, then you can’t make the argument.
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