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2016 Election Tag

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on August 22, 2016 38 Comments
Will Hillary Clinton's latest ad, which attempts to scare people about Donald Trump when it comes to national security, actually wind up winning him votes? Today's Morning Joe opened by playing the ad, which features clips of Trump making various bellicose statements, e.g., "I would bomb the s--- out of them." Mika Brzezinski found the ad "very strong: it tweaks on every level." Better than twerking on every level, we suppose. "It's scary," said Mika as, in a bit of unintentional humor, she imitated the "whoosh" sound of the fighter jet at the end of the ad. But query: could the ad wind up winning more votes than it loses him? After eight years of "leading from behind," of foreign policy disasters from Russia to Syria to Libya to Iran, could America be ready for a blunt-talking president? Remind me: who was the president who, speaking of the Cold War, said "we win, they lose?"

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 22, 2016 16 Comments
A week before the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in September, the Clinton Global Initiative is holding an event which will be attended by many of Hillary's favorite one percenters. Democrats are concerned because the optics of this will play right into Trump's narrative about Hillary being an entrenched DC insider and influence peddler. Politico reports:
Democrats fret over timing of Clintons’ charity fete Hundreds of corporate executives, foreign dignitaries and celebrities will pile into a Manhattan ballroom to hobnob with Bill and Chelsea Clinton next month at their charity’s keynote annual event — just days before Hillary Clinton defends herself against pay-to-play accusations from Donald Trump in their first debate.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 21, 2016 31 Comments
The rise of Donald Trump has divided the GOP more than ever, leading many to worry if the party could maintain their majority in Congress whether he wins or loses the presidency. The Democrats have noticed and now Politico reports that Hillary Clinton plans to raise $1 billion to defeat the vulnerable GOP members of Congress:
The new concern inside the highest levels of Republican politics is that Hillary Clinton will raise $1 billion for Democrats and the party will train some of their efforts -- and that money -- on defeating House and Senate Republicans. Party leaders privately concede that the Senate could be lost either way. But senior House Republicans say they’re in good shape across the country, and see no evidence that the control of the chamber is in play.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on August 19, 2016 21 Comments
Earlier this morning Donald Trump's campaign manager, Paul Manafort, resigned from his post. Speculation Manafort was entangled in a pro-Russian lobbying scheme made headlines earlier this week and was cited as a possible reason for his campaign resignation. That speculation has turned into a full-on federal investigation.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 19, 2016 31 Comments
Former President Bill Clinton told staffers at the Clinton Foundation if Hillary wins the presidency they will stop accepting foreign and corporate donations. From Fox News:
While Hillary Clinton stepped down from its board after launching her 2016 campaign, her husband and daughter have remained in leadership roles, leading to questions about the ability of the organization to continue its work should Clinton win the White House.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 19, 2016 29 Comments
I didn't watch Donald Trump's speech last night, but I saw Twitter blow up but not in the usual way. The speech was being received by all but the most diehard #NeverTrump-ers as the long-awaited "pivot," a reasonable policy and campaign speech read from a teleprompter. The prepared text of the speech is here. It's quite good. But .... It's not exactly the "Let Trump be Trump" pivot we all were expecting with the naming of Breitbart News Chairman Steve Bannon to lead the Trump campaign. With Paul Manafort resigning from the campaign this morning, one would have expected Trump's pivot to be more aggressive. The speech, however, appeared to be the opposite of letting Trump be Trump, at least if Trump being Trump was what we have seen the past year on the campaign trail. Here's an excerpt from the opening [quotes from speech below from prepared text]:
I’d like to take a moment to talk about the heartbreak and devastation in Louisiana, a state that is very special to me. We are one nation. When one state hurts, we all hurt – and we must all work together to lift each other up. Working, building, restoring together. Our prayers are with the families who have lost loved ones, and we send them our deepest condolences. Though words cannot express the sadness one feels at times like this, I hope everyone in Louisiana knows that our country is praying for them and standing with them to help them in these difficult hours.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 19, 2016 18 Comments
The 2016 primaries and election so far has rattled the GOP, leaving many to wonder if the political party can hold their majority in the House and Senate. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's numbers aren't helping:
But, as Trump's numbers — nationally and in key swing states — continue to tank, a creeping fear has taken root within the Republican establishment that maybe, just maybe, a landslide loss at the top of the ticket could cost the party not only the upper chamber of Congress but the lower one, too.

Posted by New Neo on August 18, 2016 41 Comments
Donald Trump made a speech recently in an appeal to black voters. I've noticed many pundits on both left and right treating this as a very unusual thing for a Republican to do (see this, for example). And here's how one commenter on my blog described it:
Trump makes the best speech of the campaign, and is the one of the first, if not the first, Republican to reach out to the black community in 50 years, a brilliant move both substantively and strategically...
Let's put aside for a moment the question of how much difference a speech can make, and treat the question of whether this sort of outreach in a speech is unusual for a Republican. On what is that assertion based? Memory? But memory can play funny tricks; that's why Google is our friend.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on August 17, 2016 74 Comments
Numerous news outlets are reporting that Donald Trump has shifted leadership of his campaign, and named Breitbart News Chairman Steve Bannon and pollster Kellyanne Conway as de facto leaders of his campaign. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news:
Stephen Bannon, executive chairman of Breitbart News LLC, an outspoken Trump supporter and a former Goldman Sachs banker, will assume the new position of campaign chief executive. At the same time, Mr. Trump also is promoting Kellyanne Conway, a veteran GOP pollster and strategist, to become campaign manager. Ms. Conway has been a campaign adviser for several weeks. Longtime Republican operative Paul Manafort, who joined the campaign late in the primary season, remains campaign chairman. But the reset is designed to bulk up a structure that many Republicans have complained wasn’t adequate for the rigors of the general-election campaign.... “I want to win,” Mr. Trump said in an interview Tuesday night in which he disclosed his hires. “That’s why I’m bringing on fantastic people who know how to win and love to win.”
WaPo added:

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 12, 2016 20 Comments
Senator Rand Paul has said lock her up, but not as a campaign rally chant. He really means it. Paul shares the feeling of many Americans that Hillary Clinton got a free pass for something that would have sent other people to jail. The New American reports:
Rand Paul Launches Effort to "Hold Hillary Accountable" Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is marching on in his quest to hold Hillary Clinton accountable for her misuse of classified material while serving as secretary of state in the Obama administration.

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 11, 2016 10 Comments
Hillary Clinton was rushed by an animal rights protester during a campaign event in Iowa this week. The protester, who was a young woman, was taken down by Secret Service and carried out of the venue by police. CBS News New York reports:
VIDEO: Animal Rights Protester Tackled By Security Trying To Rush Stage At Hillary Clinton Rally A woman was tackled by security as she was trying to rush the stage at a Hillary Clinton rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on August 09, 2016 45 Comments
Late in the 2008 primary season, Hillary Clinton justified her refusal to drop out when it appeared impossible for her to win the nomination by saying "we all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California” during the 1968 primary. On today's With All Due Respect, host Mark Halperin asked Hillary surrogate Neera Tanden whether there was a parallel between Hillary's remark and that of Donald Trump today, who said "Second Amendment people" maybe could do something about a President Hillary trying to abolish the Second Amendment. Predictably, Tanden said there was "absolutely no parallel." Why? Because Hillary was "talking about a person she had deep respect for." Right, but on whose possible assassination she was hanging her nomination hopes.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on August 09, 2016 16 Comments
Kathy Shelton was twelve years old when she was raped by a drifter in 1975. Thomas Alfred Taylor, her attacker, served less than a year in prison thanks to his defense attorney, Hillary Clinton. Watching Hillary paint herself as a candidate that advocates on behalf of women and children was too much for Shelton who broke her decades-long silence to speak to The Daily Mail.

Posted by Mike LaChance on August 09, 2016 86 Comments
It's hard to argue with Rudy Giuliani on this point. Democrats have embraced the Black Lives Matter movement which has an open dislike of police officers. He also points out that Hillary Clinton snubbed the largest police officer union in the country. The FOX News Insider has the details:
Giuliani: 'The Democratic Party Has Become an Anti-Law Enforcement Party' Rudy Giuliani joined the "Fox and Friends Weekend" co-hosts today to react to the revelation that Hillary Clinton has "snubbed" the largest police union in the country. Giuliani said the fact that Clinton isn't seeking the endorsement of the National Fraternal Order of Police is indicative of a shift among Democrats.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on August 08, 2016 76 Comments
Mike Murphy — who ran Jeb's Super PAC — says that "if it came down to just my vote and I had to decide, I'd probably vote for Hillary and then jump in a lake out of massive depression." Appearing on With All Due Respect, Murphy added that he hopes Trump doesn't win because he's "a demagogue and a neo-racist." Murphy gave Trump a 10% black-swan shot of winning. Murphy says he can't vote for Trump because "I love my country."
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