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2016 Democratic Primary Tag

Posted by Amy Miller on October 14, 2015 6 Comments
Hillary Clinton's performance in last night's debate set off a maelstrom of media filings questioning everything (apparently) we thought we knew about the Democratic primary. Is Joe Biden finished? Did Hillary Clinton just knock Biden out of the running? Is Joe Biden even relevant now? Personally, I think many of these writers are overstating Clinton's performance. She sounded strong, but also rehearsed; that being said, nothing we saw last night should shock us. For all her crimes (give it time,) Hillary Clinton was a First Lady, a Senator, and Secretary of State. She knows how to handle herself. Should we use her lack of meltdown as evidence that Biden 2016 is a lost cause? On the whole, I think not. It's still too early---and Americans still like Joe Biden. A Gallup poll released today shows that 49% of Americans still have a favorable view of Biden; this is his best polling performance since Obama's 2009 "honeymoon" period. biden favorable unfavorable october 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 14, 2015 12 Comments
The challengers to Hillary Clinton in the debate last night made Republican undercard competitors seem downright impressive. Martin O'Malley has the vocal quality of elevator music. It reminds me of another voice, I just can't place it. But there's not much there there. Jim Webb seemed off-kilter, complaining endlessly about not getting enough time, and not really scoring any points with Democrats by invoking concepts like love of country and a strong military -- that will not fly in today's Democratic Party. What can we say about Linc Chafee? I thought he had the potential to be aggressive. Those of us who know him from Rhode Island know that while he comes across as a doofus, he can be quite nasty and acerbic. I thought we might get that from him when his opening statement emphasized that he's never had a scandal and is honest -- but he didn't take the shot directly at Hillary and seemed lost on stage. In short, none of the three lower-tiered Democrats scored any points and all seemed afraid to confront Hillary. Hillary was, as Mark Steyn puts it, The Alpha Female of a Beta-Male Debate:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on October 14, 2015 20 Comments
Hillary Clinton supporters understandably are happy after last night's debate. The motley crew of challengers on stage were incapable of stringing sentences together, much less taking on Clinton directly. Bernie Sanders' demand that the media leave Hillary alone on her server also was a boost to her narrative of "nothing to see here, move along." But that good night masked the fact that in the real world, the server is a serious problem legally and politically. When Obama was interviewed on 60 Minutes last Sunday, he seemed to be signaling there was nothing to Hillary's server problem, Obama pretty much signaled Justice to lay off Hillary:
Steve Kroft: Did you know about Hillary Clinton’s use of private email server– President Barack Obama: No. Steve Kroft: –while she was Secretary of State? President Barack Obama: No. Steve Kroft: Do you think it posed a national security problem? President Barack Obama: I don’t think it posed a national security problem....
That was a fairly outrageous statement to make considering the FBI is still investigating, and could be seen as an interference in DOJ evaluation of the case. Did Obama know something the rest of us don't know? Were the FBI and DOJ sharing information about the investigation with Obama? Now Obama is walking it back:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 13, 2015 23 Comments
Howdy and thanks so much for joining us tonight! You can watch the first Democratic presidential debate live on CNN and CNNgo. This will be the first of six DNC sanctioned debates. The meager number of Democratic debates is a contentious issue for Democratic delegates and candidates who believe the debate schedule has been rigged to favor Hillary.
Five Democratic presidential candidates are about to try their luck at the first Democratic debate of the 2016 election in Las Vegas on Tuesday night. But the spotlight is largely on two: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. The former secretary of state needs to remind viewers of the debate sponsored by CNN and Facebook about why she began the year as the overwhelming front-runner and is best able to take the torch from President Barack Obama. Sanders has the opportunity to prove to millions of voters why a 74-year-old self-described democratic socialist can take on both Clinton and Republicans. There's also a lot at stake for the three lesser known underdogs, particularly former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, whose stalled campaigns could benefit from an "all in" performance Tuesday.

Watch real time debate reaction:

To providing a wide array of real time reactions, we've included a few different Twitter feeds for your entertainment. You'll find those beneath. Are you ready? Let the games begin!

Legal Insurrection Authors:

Posted by Amy Miller on October 13, 2015 51 Comments
Legal Insurrection will be covering tonight's Democratic debate...but I'm willing to bet we won't have nearly as much fun as this guy: Achievement unlocked: Master Troll.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 13, 2015 76 Comments
Despite the crowds of devoted followers who show up at his campaign events, not everyone on the left is convinced that Bernie Sanders could close the deal with America, should he somehow beat the Clinton machine. Bernie's biggest problem, according to Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, is the way Sanders describes himself in political terms:
Why Bernie Sanders isn’t going to be president, in five words Here's an exchange from Bernie Sanders's appearance on "Meet the Press" on Sunday: And, in those five words, Sanders showed why — no matter how much energy there is for him on the liberal left — he isn't getting elected president.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 13, 2015 12 Comments
On the eve of their first presidential primary debate, the Democratic primary drama rages on. According to Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) vice chair of the DNC, she was disinvited from Tuesday's Democratic primary debate after publicly calling for more primary debates. The number of primary debates has been a contentious issue for Democrats this election cycle. DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman Shultz struggled to gain control of an auditorium of delegates chanting "we want debates!" in New Hampshire last month. Morgan Chalfant of the Washington Free Beacon reported Monday that Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders' campaign has invited the supposedly dejected Gabbard to Tuesday's debate.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 11, 2015 6 Comments
Hillary Clinton struggles to get her campaign on track, lurching to the left on a variety of issues near and dear to the hearts of the progressive base and facing the fallout from her decisions as Secretary of State as her poll numbers tank. Here's a chart via Hot Air that shows the trend of her and other Democrat candidates' polling (Real Clear Politics has an interactive version, if you're interested): rcp-dems According to Fox News' Special Report, the coming few weeks will be key to determining the success of these attempts.  Watch:

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 10, 2015 14 Comments
CNN's Ashleigh Banfield spoke to Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman about the upcoming Democratic primary debate yesterday. They considered the unthinkable possibility that Bernie Sanders will bring up Hillary's email scandal, which Banfield quickly suggested isn't really a scandal. Matthew Balan of NewsBusters reports (emphasis is his):
CNN's Banfield: Hillary E-Mail Scandal 'Not Even A Scandal' On Friday's Legal View, CNN's Ashleigh Banfield did her best to downplay Hillary Clinton's ongoing e-mail scandal. Banfield asked Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman if Bernie Sanders would bring up the issue at the upcoming Democratic presidential debate.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 09, 2015 13 Comments
Hillary Clinton's campaign is encouraging those digitally inclined to join their digital grassroots army. The process is pretty simple. The first step to joining the astroturf grassroots gang, entering your email address and zip code: Tweet for hillary clinton campaign grassroots digital media sign up scandal email benghazi 2016 democrat Almost instantly, you'll receive an email promising you all kinds of "goodies." We're not entirely sure what "goodies" we might get and we're afraid to ask.

Posted by New Neo on October 09, 2015 7 Comments
Hillary Clinton's opponents in the race for the 2016 Democratic nomination are against the TPP deal, unions are against the deal, and now she's against it too although previously she was one of its strongest supporters. It's hard to imagine that a single thinking human being would be convinced that her change of heart on this issue is on the merits rather than merely politically expedient. For example, even Ezra Klein finds himself a mite perturbed by her reversal on this and other matters:
Of late, Clinton is again looking like the kind of candidate who puts polls in front of policy. First, she came out against Obamacare's Cadillac tax — a policy that enjoys wide support among health economists... ...What I have trouble believing is that Clinton and her policy advisers really think the Cadillac tax is a bad idea. Her past policies embrace its theory, her past advisers helped pass it into law... On Wednesday, Clinton came out against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, saying that she's concerned with the provisions around pharmaceuticals and the absence of provisions around currency manipulation. But as Tim Lee notes, Clinton strongly supported early versions of the deal — she called the TPP "the gold standard in trade agreements" — that were worse on pharmaceuticals and identical on currency manipulation...

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 08, 2015 14 Comments
Former Rhode Island Senator and Governor Lincoln Chafee is a confirmed participant in the first Democratic primary debate next Tuesday on CNN. The debate will be shorter than the last Republican event but the smaller number of people on stage means even lower tier candidates like Chafee will get ample time to speak. As a man currently polling at less than one percent, Chafee has nothing to lose. Chafee also is notoriously unfiltered. Expect him to come out swinging at Hillary Clinton. Hard. Chafee has already indicated that he intends to go after Hillary for her Iraq War vote. CNN reported in July:
Lincoln Chafee needles Clinton: Iraq war vote 'created all the problems' Former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee said Tuesday he's seeking the Democratic nomination to keep the question of the Iraq War alive, one which implicitly haunts Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 08, 2015 18 Comments
When CNN hosted the Republican primary candidates, the candidates got 3 hours in which to make (or sink) their case for the White House. It was a long affair, but some good came from it---Marco Rubio distinguished himself on foreign policy (whether you agree with his approach is a different story entirely,) Carly Fiorina shifted from "dark horse" to budding household name, and Ted Cruz was afforded more of an opportunity to get in on the conversation. The Democrats won't be afforded that same luxury. Next week's CNN debate---this time, hosting the Democratic primary contenders---will afford the Dems' 5* candidates just two hours to make their initial splash in the primetime media pond. *Will Joe Biden debate? We're still not sure:

Posted by Amy Miller on October 07, 2015 11 Comments
On Monday, American officials announced that they had finally reached an accord on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an east-meets-west free trade deal that has been in the works for nearly a decade. TPP languished under "classified" status, irking both Republicans and Democrats who publicly lashed out against the Obama Administration for keeping the details of the trade deal secret, and that frustration has now boiled over as legislators and other officials get their first look at the 1000+ pages of negotiated regulations. What have we learned so far? Not much, but the Trans-Pacific Partnership was and will remain controversial. High-powered Democrats are pitted against each other---and the president---over concerns that an emphasis on free trade could alienate powerful workers' unions and other interest groups. Today, Hillary Clinton formally came out against TPP, citing concerns about job creation, wage levels, and national security, saying, "I don't believe it's going to meet the high bar that I have set." Watch:

Posted by Amy Miller on October 06, 2015 20 Comments
After Beau Biden died in late May, Republicans and Democrats alike offered a sincere (although brief) reprieve from politics to the grieving Vice President and his family. Joe Biden, for his part, didn't attempt to hide the pain he and his family shared; he talked about it. He even offered an interview to Stephen Colbert, which has since been lauded as a true glimpse into the mind and heart of one of the most powerful men on the planet.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 05, 2015 23 Comments
Since news first broke about Hillary Clinton's "home-brew" email server, conservatives and transparency advocates have run a full-court press against Clinton's efforts to keep prying hands off of her official and personal communications. What should have been a simple (if massive) request for transparency has ballooned into a legal and political nightmare, leaving investigators open to a barrage of accusations claiming that, when it comes to Clinton, former Secretaries of State should remain virtually untouchable. The idea is nonsense, not only because it ignores the law, but because it ignores the question anyone with a brain and common sense has been asking since day one, but no one with a big enough megaphone has asked. Finally, someone asked it. During a town hall-style interview for the Today Show, Savannah Guthrie went there, asking Clinton, "do you know how bad it looks?" Watch:
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