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2016 Election Tag

Elizabeth Warren was too cowardly to endorse a candidate during the 2016 Democratic primary but now that Hillary has safely crossed the finish line and Bernie's revolution is fading in the rear view mirror, Warren is going all in for Clinton. Elizabeth Warren's endorsement of Hillary Clinton proves she is a fraud. This is not a matter of opinion, this is fact. Donald Trump may be a wealthy man but Hillary Clinton is the indisputable candidate of Wall Street in this election. The fact that Warren would stand "with her" is proof that all of Warren's anti-Wall Street rhetoric is nothing more than hot air which disappears in the face of partisanship.

A brand new pro-Trump PAC called Rebuilding America Now has already raised a respectable sum and released its first ad which does a stunning job of tying Hillary Clinton's dishonesty to that of her husband. CNN reports:
Pro-Trump group's first ad uses Clintons' words against them A pro-Donald Trump super PAC ties Hillary Clinton's private email server use to Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal, in its first 30-second advertisement. The spot, from the days-old group Rebuilding America Now -- launched by close Trump associate Tom Barrack with $32 million in commitments -- follows Trump's lead in casting likely Democratic nominee Clinton as untrustworthy.

Hillary Clinton has been endorsed by the Michael Bloomberg affiliated group Everytown which claims she's the only candidate who's serious about the issue. Gun control has never been a winner for Democrats at election time so it's surprising that this is being touted as a win for her. CNN reports:
Gun control group with Bloomberg ties endorses Clinton A major gun safety advocacy organization announced Friday it is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. Everytown for Gun Safety president John Feinblatt said in a statement: "Gun Sense Voters have a champion in Hillary Clinton. Our litmus test is simple: does a candidate side with the public or with the gun lobby? Hillary Clinton passes that test with flying colors -- pushing back against the NRA's extreme 'guns for everyone, everywhere' agenda, and ushering in a new political calculus that saving lives from gun violence is a winning issue."

When it comes to putting Elizabeth Warren on the ticket with Hillary Clinton, the Democrats have a conundrum. On one hand, Warren would excite the party's progressive base and help shore up Sanders supporters. On the other hand, Warren's vacated senate seat could be filled by a Republican appointed by Republican Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. Harry Reid is reportedly looking into ways to get around the senate issue. Politico reports:
Source: Reid promoting Warren for VP Harry Reid is quietly promoting Elizabeth Warren as a top pick to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate, and the Senate minority leader is already looking into Massachusetts law to see how quickly her Senate seat could be filled if Warren were to ascend to the vice presidency, a source close to him said Friday.

This is how much I've been off the grid today while attending to some family medical issues. I was the last person on the internet to find out about David French possibly being a third-party candidate for the #NeverTrump movement. In fact, I didn't even find out about it from the internet. One of the LI authors texted me at 6:30 p.m.: "You must be excited to see the independent candidate could be a National Review guy, lol." My response, word for word, or should I say word: "Wut?" https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/737025756488978432 Here's how the story broke at Bloomberg News, Kristol Eyes Conservative Lawyer David French for Independent Presidential Run:

Now that Donald Trump has acquired the number of delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination, he still has another hurdle to clear. Some conservatives are still saying #NeverTrump and Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard is still pushing for another candidate. FOX News reported:
Trump slams 'spoiler' bid after Kristol says independent candidate to run Donald Trump took to Twitter Sunday night to slam fresh predictions from Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol that an independent candidate would soon be entering the race for president, warning that a 2016 “spoiler” could swing the race to the Democrats.

Amid the cries of #NeverTrump on the right, some conservatives are saying they'll vote Libertarian in 2016. Even conservative pundit Mary Matalin has endorsed Libertarian candidate Austin Petersen. The favorite to win the nomination however, is former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson who made big news last week by selecting former Massachusetts Governor William Weld as his running mate. Having two successful Republican governors on the Libertarian ticket raised expectations in political media circles and the duo was immediately labeled a Libertarian dream ticket, yet a funny thing happened on the way to the nomination.

Earlier this week, I was mulling over whether to go to Donald Trump's rally with my teen son. Based on suggestions from friends and readers (thank you Valerie), I arranged for a security detail in the form of my fellow San Diego blogging group friend and former Green Beret, Barry C. Jacobsen. We headed down to the Convention Center to enjoy the full Donald Trump Experience! IMG_2576 One of the most intriguing aspects of my adventure is comparing what I actually saw to how the mainstream media is reporting it. Questing for some information about the rally, I noticed all the headlines focused on the protesters who assembled outside as if this were the only story:

If you've been watching Twitter for the last few days, you may have seen an ad floating around which features a bearded hipster asking if you're man enough to vote for Hillary. Unfortunately, the ad is fake. The Hill reports:
‘Man enough to vote for Hillary’ ad is fake An ad that asks voters whether they're "man enough" to vote for Hillary Clinton is not from Clinton's campaign, Jezebel reported Thursday. The ad — featuring the slogan “I am man enough to vote for a woman … Are you?” — has been shared on Twitter with the hashtag #ManEnough4Hillary. It also features one of the Democratic presidential candidate’s slogans, “I’m with her.”

Massachusetts Senator and progressive darling Elizabeth Warren has been very vocal in her criticisms of Donald Trump lately. Her latest line of attack was to accuse Trump of being an insecure money grubber. CBS News reported:
Elizabeth Warren trashes Trump as a "small, insecure money-grubber" Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, trashed Donald Trump Tuesday night, calling him a "small, insecure money-grubber" in light of his recently resurfaced comments where he "hoped" for a housing market crash.

Following his massive cat fight redux with Harry Reid, Alan Grayson appeared on MSNBC and . . . things didn't go well. The Tampa Bay Times reports:
In a combative interview this morning, Democratic Senate candidate and current U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson accused MSNBC host Joy Reid of "smearing" him and "spreading lies" about him in relation to a congressional ethics investigation over a once-offshore hedge fund associated with the Orlando congressman. Reid initially wanted to ask Grayson about his confrontation with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this week, but almost immediately after she started speaking, Grayson interjected. He started talking over Joy Reid and demanded she "correct the record" in describing the status of the ethics probe.

Disgraced communist and former Obama "Green Jobs Czar," Van "Cash for Clunkers" Jones, hasn't been resting on his laurels since his abrupt 2009 middle-of-the-night departure from the Obama administration. He was busy serving at the front of the progressive campaign to diminish and demonize the Tea Party into obscurity, and he has now, apparently, turned his attention to Donald Trump's candidacy and is warning progressives not to underestimate The Donald. In a video posted at the MoveOn FaceBook page, Van Jones lists three specific "dumb ideas progressives have about Donald Trump." Via Mediaite: 1. Trump will self-destruct 2. He’s bad on policy, so he will lose 3. Demographics will save us

How bad and lacking in moral fiber must a Democrat be for Harry Reid to accuse him of having "no moral compass?"  Alan Grayson bad. Grayson (D-FL)—who is perhaps best known for his over-the-top statements, unethical campaign ads, and alleged shady hedge fund dealings—is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Marco Rubio (R-FL). Reid, Senate minority leader, is less than enthusiastic about Grayson's bid to leave the House and join the Senate.  Back in February, the two men engaged in a remarkable cat fight . . . that Grayson just can't let drop. In a rather stunning act of insanity, Grayson confronted Reid during a Congressional Progressive Caucus meeting Wednesday morning; he was waving Reid's February statements and demanding an explanation.

As we at LI, like everyone else on both sides of the aisle, absorb the likelihood of a Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton face-off in November, the Military Times conducted its own survey of active-duty military personnel and learned that those in the military, if faced with the choice between Trump and Hillary, choose Trump by a wide margin. Disturbing to the Trump camp, however, is the fact that "more than one in five" of those military members surveyed may not cast a vote for president at all in November if Trump and Hillary are the only two choices and that Trump's troubles with women voters extends to females in the military. The Military Times reports:
In a new survey of American military personnel, Donald Trump emerged as active-duty service members' preference to become the next U.S. president, topping Hillary Clinton by more than a 2-to-1 margin. However, in the latest Military Times election survey, more than one in five troops said they’d rather not vote in November if they have to choose between just those two candidates. But given only those choices, 21 percent of the service members surveyed said they would abstain from voting.More than 54 percent of the 951 troops Military Times surveyed said they would vote for Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, over Clinton, the Democratic front-runner. Only about 25 percent said they would vote for Clinton in that matchup.
Here's the Military Times graphic (via the above link):

I still assert that Donald Trump will vanquish Hillary Clinton in the fall, especially when his likely opposition begins working for him! Via Fox News contributor and talk show host Tammy Bruce comes an ad being put out by the Clinton campaign. The video backfires, because it provides example after example of strong positions Trump offers that appeal to his record-number of primary voters.

Elizabeth Warren's claim to be Native American is an issue that just won't go away. It dogged her during the 2012 Senate run, but she was able to deflect the issue through the help of supportive media and reliance on supposed "family lore," Some of that "lore" was downright laughable, like the "high cheekbones" story which itself was questionable. Much of the "lore," or as much as was capable of being fact checked considering it was based on several decades-old stories, also was questionable. Warren turns questioning of her story into an attack on her family, as a way of shutting down inquiry.

Republican Senator Ben Sasse has written an open letter to America. I agree with a great deal of it, but I wanted to take issue with something. Here's an excerpt:
In the history of polling, we’ve basically never had a candidate viewed negatively by half of the electorate. This year, we have two. In fact, we now have the two most unpopular candidates ever – Hillary by a little, and Trump by miles (including now 3 out of 4 women – who vote more and influence more votes than men). There are dumpster fires in my town more popular than these two “leaders.” With Clinton and Trump, the fix is in. Heads, they win; tails, you lose. Why are we confined to these two terrible options? This is America. If both choices stink, we reject them and go bigger. That’s what we do. Remember: our Founders didn’t want entrenched political parties. So why should we accept this terrible choice?
Sasse goes on to suggest a non-Trump non-Hillary candidate (not himself, by the way), but he doesn't say who that person should be.

As he has repeatedly stated, Obama is confident that a Democrat will win the White House in November, and now Harry Reid is expressing that he is "fairly certain" that Democrats will take back the Senate this year. The Hill reports:
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on Sunday that he thinks his party will win back the majority in the Senate this year. During a radio interview with John Catsimatidis, Reid detailed the Democratic efforts against several vulnerable GOP senators up for reelection this year.
Considering that Democrats need win only five Senate seats (they currently have 46 seats, including the two Independents who caucus with them) to accomplish this goal and given the disarray on the right, Reid's prediction seems far less laughable than it would have only a year ago. The Hill continues:
“We only need four [seats] to take the majority,” he said. “With the numbers I’ve given you, it’s going to be a fairly certain thing that we can do that.”