Alabama joins Florida to request cap on Georgia water use
Alabama filed a brief Friday supporting Florida’s federal lawsuit to cap Georgia’s water use from federal reservoirs that terminate in Apalachicola Bay. The state cited its “long experience combating Georgia’s excessive withdrawals” and said Georgia “has largely chosen not to invest its resources in reservoirs and other infrastructure” as the population of Atlanta has outgrown its water supply. Florida filed the suit in 2013, arguing that Georgia’s excessive water use has been damaging the seafood industry in Apalachicola Bay, and Alabama is one of several parties to file a brief in support of Florida’s case ahead of the Oct. 21 deadline set by the court. In addition to Alabama, the National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Florida Wildlife Federation, and Apalachicola Riverkeeper filed a joint brief in support of Florida’s suit. Those groups said the “long-term ecological sustainability of this vital and vibrant ecosystem depends, critically, on freshwater flows moving through the system at the right times” and that Georgia’s increased water consumption from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint system have dried out the Apalachicola River, “threatening the survival of numerous species and jeopardizing the economic vitality of local communities.” Georgia has its share of supporters as well, including Colorado, which argued in a brief that Florida must not only prove it has been damaged by the increased water use, but be able to show that the damage incurred is greater than the benefit received by Georgia. The case is set to go to trial Oct. 31 in Portland, Maine.
Polls are ‘phony,’ Donald Trump insists; ‘we are winning’
A defiant Donald Trump blamed his worsening campaign struggles on “phony polls” from the “disgusting” media on Monday, fighting to energize his most loyal supporters as his path to the presidency shrinks. Just 14 days until the election, the Republican nominee campaigned in battleground Florida as his team conceded publicly as well as privately that crucial Pennsylvania may be slipping away. That would leave a razor-thin pathway to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House on Nov. 8. Despite continued difficulties with women and minorities, Trump refuses to soften his message in the campaign’s final days to broaden his coalition. The strategy leaves no margin for error. Yet Trump offered an optimistic front in the midst of a three-day tour through Florida as thousands began voting in person. “I believe we’re actually winning,” Trump declared during a round table discussion with farmers gathered next to a local pumpkin patch. A day after suggesting the First Amendment to the Constitution may give the press too much freedom, he insisted that the media are promoting biased polls to discourage his supporters from voting. “If you read some of these phony papers, these are phony, disgusting, dishonest papers, if you read them, it’s like, ‘What are we doing? What are we wasting our time for?’” he said. “But the truth is we’re winning.” With Trump on the defensive, Democrat Hillary Clinton worked to slam the door on his candidacy in swing state New Hampshire while eyeing a possible Democratic majority in the Senate. The former secretary of state campaigned alongside New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is running for the Senate, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who was merciless as she seized on Trump’s history of predatory sexual language and several allegations of misconduct. “He thinks that because he has a mouth full of Tic Tacs, he can force himself on any woman within groping distance,” Warren charged. “I’ve got news for you Donald: Women have had it with guys like you.” Trump has denied a pile of recent allegations, and he addressed a new one Monday in an interview with WGIR radio in New Hampshire. He called the allegations “total fiction” and lashed out at former adult film performer Jessica Drake, who said Saturday that he had grabbed and kissed her without permission and offered her money to visit his hotel room a decade ago. “One said, ‘He grabbed me on the arm.’ And she’s a porn star,” Trump said. He added, “Oh, I’m sure she’s never been grabbed.” With Election Day two weeks away, Trump’s electoral map looks bleak. The Republican National Committee ignored him altogether in mailers to New Hampshire voters set to be distributed later this week, according to material obtained by The Associated Press. The mail focuses instead on Clinton’s credibility, featuring a picture of her and former President Bill Clinton and the words, “No More of The Lying Clintons.” Trump’s team has publicly acknowledged in recent days that he’s behind. His campaign manager Kellyanne Conway outlined a path to 270 electoral votes on Sunday that banks on victories in Florida, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina along with New Hampshire and Maine’s 2nd congressional district. Assuming Trump wins all of those – and he currently trails in some – he would earn the exact number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency and no more. Noticeably absent from the list was Pennsylvania, a state that a top adviser privately conceded was slipping away despite Trump’s aggressive courtship of white working-class voters. The adviser spoke on the condition of anonymity to share internal discussions. Florida was largely the focus on Monday as in-person early voting began across 50 counties, including the state’s largest: Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach. Remaining counties will start in the coming week. Early voting by mail has been underway for weeks. Nearly 1.2 million voters in Florida have already mailed in ballots. Clinton plans to visit Tuesday and Wednesday, while her running mate, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, was making two Florida appearances on Monday. He took a shot at Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in the first, a reminder that Clinton’s team is fighting to retake a Senate majority. Kaine noted that Rubio previously called Trump a dangerous “con artist,” though the senator currently supports him. If someone can’t condemn Trump, Kaine said, “you’ve got to ask the question whether they’re the right person to represent you.” Democrats would take the Senate majority if they pick up four seats. Trump’s final-weeks schedule reflects his narrow path to victory. After three days in Florida, he plans to make stops in North Carolina on Wednesday. He will spend all day Thursday in Ohio with other stops in the Midwest – Iowa and Wisconsin – the next day before a Western swing to Colorado and Nevada this weekend. Trump’s difficulties are evident on that Western swing. His team is mulling a stop in Arizona. A Democratic presidential candidate hasn’t won there in 20 years, yet polls show Trump in a close race. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Democrats, GOP think Donald Trump could cost GOP House seats
Clasping the $4,000 check that Orlando area real estate agents handed him, Rep. John Mica stood in the F&D Cantina restaurant and described his pathway to a 13th term in Congress. “We’ve got to get everybody out to vote,” the Florida Republican told supporters last week. “Don’t let it get caught up in any of the other races or issues.” That seemed code for Donald Trump, whose flagging, insult-hurling GOP presidential run carries mixed blessings for Mica in his closely divided, freshly redrawn district. Mica, 73, says Trump’s recorded comments about groping women were “vulgar and unacceptable” but still supports him. Yet in central Florida, a pivotal state in presidential and congressional elections, it’s not just the polarizing Trump who’s threatening Mica’s political career, after few serious challenges before. In a classic battle of old school vs. new, Mica – known for bringing federal transportation dollars back home – faces Democrat Stephanie Murphy, a political newcomer at 38. Her backstory includes her family’s harrowing seaborne escape from Vietnam as an infant, degrees from William & Mary and Georgetown University, positions in the Pentagon and the worlds of finance and academia. She even holds a patent for women’s softball pants made by a company her husband runs. Mica and Murphy live blocks apart in Winter Park but say they’d never met until this campaign. Now, they’re vying for one of many suburban districts that Democrats must win to achieve what seemed unthinkable until recently – House control. With only several dozen of the House’s 435 seats competitive, Democrats need a daunting 30-seat gain to take over. But with Trump sputtering in the polls and Election Day barely two weeks off, Democrats say and Republicans fear he’ll take some congressional Republicans down with him. “I think we’ll be within single digits either way,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said last week. President Barack Obama endorsed 30 House Democratic candidates Monday, mostly challengers and including Murphy, as his party sought to use his popularity to gain and hold competitive seats. Republicans expect to lose seats, and some say privately it’s possible but unlikely that Trump will cost them their House majority. Some fault GOP incumbents like Mica for failing to react to the hostile political environment by raising more money and defining their opponents early. While Republicans are pursuing Democratic seats in California, Florida, Minnesota, Nebraska and New York, most GOP money is focused on protecting vulnerable incumbents. The Congressional Leadership Fund and American Action Network recently announced plans to defend 15 Republican districts from coast to coast, and there are new ads in 11 Republican districts by the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP’s political organization. Democrats buoyed by Hillary Clinton‘s rising prospects are pouring money into Republican-held districts, including some around New York City, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and even in some GOP-leaning states. The House Majority PAC, which helps Democrats, is spending in a vacant Republican-held district in southern Indiana and reserved $451,000 in TV advertising time against Montana’s at-large freshman GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, House Democrats’ campaign arm, plans to spend $1 million to try ousting a Republican in Kansas City’s Kansas suburbs. In Orlando, Mica has raised nearly double Murphy’s take. But Democratic groups have spent $1.6 million to help her and plan an additional $2.5 million – compared with virtually nothing yet backing Mica from the GOP side. One Republican said the NRCC plans to start spending for Mica soon. Still, the discrepancy in outside spending has been striking. Mica said he’d told the committee to stay out unless he needs it. “Right now, my ship is still afloat,” he said. Mica has huge name recognition advantage over the little-known Murphy. As former House transportation committee chairman, he’s credited for guiding money home to improve Interstate 4 and the region’s airport and commuter rail system. Making her first run for public office, Murphy seemed slightly uneasy addressing the elderly and veterans at a senior center in Altamonte Springs. She attacked Mica for not fully disavowing Trump, cautiously answered a question about the federal gasoline tax and got her biggest applause for embracing a bill blocking lawmakers’ salaries if no budget is passed. Her TV ad this month links Mica to a yelling, gesticulating Trump and says they “share the same harmful policies” on women’s health and guns. Murphy considers firearms a major concern. Just outside the district is Orlando’s Pulse nightclub, where a gunman killed 49 people in June, and it now includes Sanford, where unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin was fatally shot in 2012. Asked if gun control is an issue, Mica gestured at the crowd attending a barbecue benefit for student scholarships at a vast Harley-Davidson dealership in Sanford and said: “Talk to these people. I don’t think so.” Court-ordered redistricting has left roughly 4 in 10 voters in the district new to Mica, including slightly more Democrats, younger voters from downtown Orlando and Hispanics and blacks. It’s now around 30 percent minority. “He’s productive,” said Tim Whitefield, 55, a Lake Mary banker. “But if this election is about ‘throw the bums out,’ he could be gone.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
First transgender soldiers seek formal Army recognition
Within weeks of the Pentagon allowing transgender service members to serve openly, Army officials said 10 soldiers have formally asked to be recognized as their new, preferred gender. The small number represents only those who have publicly said they are transgender, and doesn’t include soldiers who may be considering or beginning gender transition or those who don’t yet want to make an official paperwork change. Gen. Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army, said the key now is to educate the force, particularly commanders who will have to make decisions about soldiers in their units who request a gender change. “Is the army ready? Well, we are educating ourselves, and we are trying to get ready,” Milley said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We’re well-past the issue of debating and arguing about transgender. We are now into execution, to make sure the program is carried out with diligence, dignity, respect.” The Pentagon policy took effect Oct. 1, and Army Secretary Eric Fanning approved the service’s new transgender guidelines earlier this month. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced in June that he was ending the ban on transgender individuals serving openly in the military. Transgender troops are now able to receive medical care and begin changing their gender identifications in the Pentagon’s personnel system. Next year, the military services will begin allowing transgender individuals to enlist, as long as they meet required standards and have been stable in their identified gender for 18 months. “We’re monitoring implementation closely, and everything we’ve seen so far points to a military organization fully committed to treating everyone equally and providing medically necessary care to all troops, not just some,” said Aaron Belkin, director of the California-based Palm Center, an independent research institute. “My conclusion, so far, is that implementation has proceeded smoothly and successfully.” Milley and other military leaders expressed concerns that the department was moving too fast. “The issue to do it or not to do it, to me is not an issue – the answer is yes,” Milley said. “The question of how to do it so that it is deliberate, well thought out, executed with professionalism – that’s a horse of a different color. Frankly I asked for more time.” Milley said he did a lot of “self-education,” meeting with transgender individuals, both military and civilian, as well as other groups. Now, he said, the Army is getting education programs out to the force to make sure troops and commanders know the new rules, process, medical criteria and who has the authority to make decisions on a service member’s gender change. Under the new Army guidelines, training must be developed by Nov. 1, and it must be completed throughout the force by next July. “It’s going to take a little bit of time, but there are some things I don’t think you need to necessarily be trained on,” Milley said. “Rule One is treat your soldiers, your subordinates, your peers and your superiors as you want to be treated. Treat everybody with dignity and respect. Period. Flat out. Full stop.” Transgender troops currently serving can request that their gender be officially changed, and they can submit required documentation, including medical approval saying the person has been stable in his or her preferred gender for 18 months and a driver’s license showing the preferred gender. Commanders will have 30 days to respond for active duty troops and 60 days for soldiers in the National Guard and Reserve. The transgender service members will be able to use the bathrooms, housing, uniforms and fitness standards of their preferred gender only after they have legally transitioned to that identity and it’s documented in their military personnel records. The new policy, however, gives military commanders some flexibility, noting that not all gender transition cases are the same. Commanders will have the discretion to make decisions on a case-by-case basis, including on job placement, deployments, training delays and other accommodations, based on the needs of the military mission and whether the service members can perform their duties. According to the Army guidelines, commanders can allow “reasonable accommodations” including changes to housing, bathroom and shower use to respect the modesty or privacy interests of soldiers and maintain moral, order and discipline. But, it prohibits creating transgender-only areas and says that any privacy accommodations that are made must be open for use by all soldiers, not just transgender individuals. And commanders can’t force a soldier to use a bathroom or shower of the person’s preferred gender before their legal transition. According to Carter, a RAND study found that there are between 2,500 and 7,000 transgender service members in the active duty military, and another 1,500 to 4,000 in the reserves. Milley said the Army numbers so far are low, but the service doesn’t track the number of soldiers who may be starting the gender transition process. “We may not know the full scope yet,” said Milley. “Others that may consider themselves as transgender but haven’t self-identified publicly may be holding back because they want to see how things progress.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Robert Bentley announces members of Alabama Advisory Council on Gaming
Gov. Robert Bentley on Friday announced the appointments for his newly-created Alabama Advisory Council on Gaming. Bentley’s appointments come three weeks after he announced the formation of the council earlier this month by signing Executive Order Number 24. The Council has been tasked with examining both state and local laws on gambling, taxes generated, and evaluate the best practices on gambling in other states, as well as compare Alabama to federal legislation governing gaming. “I am looking forward to the recommendations presented by this 11 person Advisory Council,” Governor Bentley said in a news release. “In recent years, a considerable amount of time and resources have been spent debating gaming in Alabama; however I am hopeful this group will present some new ideas or solutions that can help resolve this ongoing dispute and provide a clear direction going forward.” Finance Director Clinton Carter has been named chairman of the Advisory Council by the Governor’s Office. The appointments are as follows: Governor’s appointments: Jim Byard, Jr.: Director of Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Clinton Carter: Director of Finance Department Curtis Stewart: Deputy Commissioner of Alabama Department of Revenue Carrie McCollum: General Counsel for Alabama Credit Union Administration Connie Rowe: State Representative Pro Tem’s appointments: Bobby Singleton: State Senator Greg Albritton: State Senator Speaker’s appointments: Jim Carns: State Representative Craig Ford: State Representative District Attorneys Association: Barry Matson: Deputy Director Sheriffs Association: Bobby Timmons: Executive Director All appointments are effective immediately. The Council will be meeting through the remainder of the year and will present their findings and make recommendations to the Governor, the President Pro Tem of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House on Jan. 31, 2017.
New study looks at tornadoes on Alabama’s Sand Mountain
Researchers are trying to determine why the Sand Mountain area of northeast Alabama seems so prone to tornadoes. The University of Alabama in Huntsville says scientists and students will spend the next year studying the role that the region’s mountains and valleys play in twister formation. The work is being performed with a nearly $250,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A release from the school says the area was affected by 49 tornadoes in the last decade. Thirty-two of those formed atop Sand Mountain, which is about 15 miles wide and at one point rises 700 feet over the Tennessee Valley. Scientists suspect that geography combined with air flow play a part in tornado formation. They’re using radar and atmospheric profiling with computer simulations in the study. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
WikiLeaks is testing the power of full ‘transparency’
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange first outlined the hypothesis nearly a decade ago: Can total transparency defeat an entrenched group of insiders? “Consider what would happen,” Assange wrote in 2006, if one of America’s two major parties had their emails, faxes, campaign briefings, internal polls and donor data all exposed to public scrutiny. “They would immediately fall into an organizational stupor,” he predicted, “and lose to the other.” A decade later, various organs of the Democratic Party have been hacked; several staffers have resigned and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has seen the inner workings of her campaign exposed to the public, including disclosures calling into question her positions on trade and Wall Street and her relationship with the party’s left. Many of these emails have been released into the public domain by WikiLeaks. Some see the leaks as a sign that Assange has thrown his lot in with Republican rival Donald Trump or even with Russia. But others who’ve followed Assange over the years say he’s less interested in who wins high office than in exposing – and wearing down – the gears of political power that grind away behind the scenes. “He tends not to think about people, he thinks about systems,” said Finn Brunton, an assistant professor at New York University who has tracked WikiLeaks for years. “What he wants to do is interfere with the machinery of government regardless of who is in charge.” WikiLeaks’ mission was foreshadowed 10 years ago in “Conspiracy as Governance,” a six-page essay Assange posted to his now-defunct blog. In the essay, Assange described authoritarian governments, corporations, terrorist organizations and political parties as “conspiracies” – groups that hoard secret information to win a competitive advantage over the general public. Leaks cut these groups open like a double-edged knife, empowering the public with privileged information while spreading confusion among the conspirators themselves, he said. If leaking were made easy, Assange argued, conspiratorial organizations would be gripped by paranoia, leaving transparent groups to flourish. When the group published 250,000 U.S. State Department cables in 2010, it helped launch a multimillion dollar quest to unmask insider threats at home while causing problems for U.S. diplomats overseas. The recent leaks have affected the Democratic National Committee in much the same way, with staffers advised to use caution when communicating about sensitive topics. Clinton supporters say Assange is targeting her out of partisan bias. U.S. intelligence officials believe Russia is behind the hacks to interfere in the U.S. election. “Wouldn’t it be good reading to see internal discussions (about) Trump’s taxes?” Clinton Press Secretary Brian Fallon tweeted recently. “Wikileaks isn’t targeting Trump. That tells you something.” It’s possible that malicious sources are using WikiLeaks for their own ends, said Lisa Lynch, an associate professor at Drew University who has also followed Assange’s career. But she noted that a lifetime far from public service and an aversion to email make Trump a more difficult target. “If Trump had a political career, he’d be more available for Wikileaking,” she said. Assange did not return messages seeking comment, but he has described allegations that he’s in the service of the Kremlin as a conspiracy theory and has denied picking sides in the U.S. electoral contest. “Mr. Assange has not endorsed any candidate,” the group said in a statement Monday. He has targeted Republican politicians in the past; in the run-up to the 2008 election his group published the contents of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s inbox. Her reaction at the time anticipated the Democrats’ outrage today. “What kind of a creep would break into a person’s files, steal them, read them, then give them to the press to broadcast all over the world to influence a presidential campaign?” Palin wrote in her autobiography, “Going Rogue.” In fact, Assange has long tried to influence presidential campaigns. In 2007, WikiLeaks published a long-suppressed corruption report ahead of Kenya’s national elections. It unleashed a wave of anger and, Assange often boasts, swung the vote. In reality, the publication barely played a role in Kenya, according to Nic Cheeseman, an associate professor of African politics at the University of Oxford. And it’s not clear whether the recent WikiLeaks revelations will fare differently. Clinton has a commanding lead in the polls despite the leaks. Still, Assange appears game to try. Between the DNC emails and the inbox of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta‘s messages, his organization has published 46,000 messages from some of the most powerful people in Democratic politics. More is coming. When one Twitter user noted that WikiLeaks had not published any of Podesta’s emails dating past March 21, WikiLeaks responded . “Well spotted,” it said. “Something to look forward to.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Joe Henderson: Hillary Clinton, Citizens United and ‘never-ending’ thirst for cash
One of the themes of Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the presidency has been her opposition to Citizens United. From the podium, she preaches that she doesn’t like the idea of the wealthy few using their money to buy influence over policies that determine the future for the rest of us. She says he wants to overturn that controversial ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that has allowed our politics to be bartered out to the uber rich. Well, OK. She says all that, but then The Washington Post reported Sunday that her campaign raised $1.14 billion by the end of September. More than a fifth of that came from just 100 donors. The top five donors, the Post reported, included two hedge fund managers and one venture capitalist. Combined, they have contributed one out of every $17 Clinton raised. And as you read on SaintPetersBlog.com, Hillary will be in Florida Tuesday for what has been billed as “the largest fundraising event” in Florida’s history. Got $100,000 laying around? Donate it, and you can take part in a special host reception with HRC For a mere $5,000, you get dinner and reception. With two weeks to go and Hillary way out in front of Donald Trump in the polls, this might seem like the political equivalent of running up the score on an overmatched opponent. The bigger question is, how much is enough to quench Clinton’s never-ending thirst for money? And the biggest question is, what does that money buy? Look, the news business has allowed me to get to know some really rich people, and they have one thing in common: When they invest this kind of money, they expect something in return. Just follow the trail of breadcrumbs or, in this case, the dollar bills and see where it leads. Trump’s donors are the same way, of course, so let’s not pretend Clinton’s voracious appetite for dollars is unique. But whether he actually believes his words or not, Trump has made a good case with the “quid pro quo” label he has tried to stick on Clinton. Trump rose to the Republican nomination on the winds of disgusted Americans who feel locked out of the political process by the wealthy. They believe the game is rigged against them. That same theme inspired Bernie Sanders’ campaign. That attitude isn’t likely to change after the election. Clinton’s supporters squirm a little uncomfortably when the subject is money. No one is being naïve, though. It takes a lot of cash to run a national campaign. She is running for president of the most powerful nation on earth, not a seat on the county commission or school board. The great Bobby Bowden once said of a freshman player who leaped into his arms on the sideline during an over-exuberant moment, “Recruiting season is over. He’s got to stop calling me Bobby.” Hillary Clinton is recruiting America now, and by most accounts, she is doing such a good job that even Trump’s closest surrogates concede she is likely to win. But next Jan. 20, when we start calling her Madam President instead of Hillary and it comes time to make good on her posturing against Wall Street and Citizens United, the big players will be in the background, expecting the return on their investments. What then? Too often in politics, the answer is that you get what you pay for. ___ Joe Henderson has had a 45-year career in newspapers, including the last nearly 42 years at The Tampa Tribune. He covered a large variety of things, primarily in sports but also including hard news. The two intertwined in the decade-long search to bring Major League Baseball to the area. Henderson was also City Hall reporter for two years and covered all sides of the sales tax issue that ultimately led to the construction of Raymond James Stadium. He served as a full-time sports columnist for about 10 years before moving to the metro news columnist for the last 4 ½ years. Henderson has numerous local, state and national writing awards. He has been married to his wife, Elaine, for nearly 35 years and has two grown sons – Ben and Patrick.
Hacked trove shows Hillary Clinton aides suggesting email jokes
Hacked emails from the personal account of Hillary Clinton‘s top campaign official show her aides considered inserting jokes about her private email server into her speeches at several events – and at least one joke made it into her remarks. “I love it,” she told a dinner in Iowa on August 14, 2015, noting she had opened an online account with Snapchat, which deletes posts automatically. “Those messages disappear all by themselves.” The crack scored a laugh from the audience, but the issue was plenty serious. About a month earlier, news broke of an FBI investigation into whether some of the emails that passed through Clinton’s unsecured server contained classified information. Ultimately, the agency criticized Clinton for being reckless with classified information but declined to prosecute her. But hacked emails of John Podesta, Clinton’s top campaign official, show the Democratic candidate and her team were slow to grasp the seriousness of the controversy, initially believing it might blow over after one weekend. It did not, and became the most recent example of a penchant for secrecy that has fueled questions about Clinton’s trustworthiness, which she has acknowledged has been a political challenge. The joke was included in hacked emails that WikiLeaks began releasing earlier this month, saying they included years of messages from accounts used by Podesta. Podesta warned that messages may have been altered or edited to inflict political damage, but has not pointed to any specifics. Almost from the moment The Associated Press on March 3, 2015, called the campaign for comment on its breaking story that Clinton had been running a private server to five months later, campaign aides sought venues on Clinton’s schedule where she could show some humor over the issue, according to the hacked emails. In a series of emails on March 3, 2015 – the same day The Associated Press called for comment – staffers tossed around the idea of making jokes about the emails at a dinner hosted by EMILY’s List, a political action committee, that evening. “I wanted to float idea of HRC making a joke about the email situation at the EMILY’s List dinner tonight,” Jennifer Palmieri, director of communications for Clinton’s campaign, wrote at 2:37 p.m., using the candidate’s initials. “What do folks think about that?” The idea got a mostly favorable response at first. “I don’t think it’s nuts if we can come up with the right thing. But it could also be nuts,” replied campaign spokesman Nick Merrill a couple of minutes later. “I think it would be good for her to show some humor,” added Kristina Schake, now a deputy communications director. “…More jokes are welcome too.” But political consultant Mandy Grunwald nixed the idea after speaking with Jim Margolis, a media adviser to the campaign. “We don’t know what’s in the emails, so we are nervous about this,” Grunwald wrote to Merrill and Schake at 6:09 p.m. that night. “Might get a big laugh tonight and regret it when content of emails is disclosed.” Clinton’s campaign aides also considered using Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe‘s 2015 appearance at the Gridiron Dinner, an annual Washington joke-fest involving journalists and politicians, to try and defuse the email issue. McAuliffe is a longtime confidante and fundraiser for Clinton, and was chairman of her unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid. “Anyway what do we think about using gridiron to puncture the email story a little,” wrote Palmieri, who suggested possible joke topics, including one involving Jeb Bush. Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook expressed concern, saying reinforcing the idea that Clinton and McAuliffe are close “conjures the 90s stuff” – a reference, to Bill Clinton‘s two turbulent terms in office. McAuliffe’s routine at the Gridiron did not ultimately include the discussed email routine. Five months later, Hillary Clinton’s director of speechwriting, Dan Schwerin, shared a draft of a speech for the annual Iowa political event known as the Wing Ding dinner in an email to colleagues, asking for input. “I look forward to your feedback. (Also, if anyone has a funny email/server joke, please send it my way.),” he wrote on August 13. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Bradley Byrne: A recap from the road
What do dehydrated fruits and vegetables, a new workforce training center, six town hall meetings, and the University of Alabama have in common? They were all a part of my busy week on the road in Southwest Alabama. Some of my most valuable time is spent traveling across the First Congressional District talking directly to the people I represent in Congress. With the House out of session until after the upcoming election, there have been many great opportunities to listen to the ideas and concerns of my constituents. I kicked things off Monday morning with a visit to Spring Hill College in Mobile to speak with students, tour the campus, and meet with President Christopher Puto. Spring Hill is an important part of the education system in Southwest Alabama, and its impact is felt all across the United States. Next, I headed to Mobile’s Providence Hospital to meet with community partners who serve those with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. We had an important conversation about the ways federal policy can help those with Alzheimer’s, as well as family caregivers. I finished the day with a Veterans Town Hall Meeting at Battleship Memorial Park. I heard from a number of veterans who are still frustrated with the quality of care they are receiving from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). I outlined my support for the new VA clinic in Mobile and explained why I believe every veteran should be given a card to receive care from private doctors and hospitals in their local community instead of being forced into the failed VA bureaucracy. On Tuesday morning, I headed to Foley to celebrate the grand opening of Bon Secour Valley Ingredients. The new operation will bring a state-of-the-art fruit and vegetable dehydration and roasting facility to Baldwin County. This is just the latest in a long line of businesses George Woerner and his family have brought to our area. After having lunch with some members of the Gulf Coast News Today team in Summerdale, I headed up to Flomaton in Escambia County for a town hall meeting. We discussed a range of topics including health care, immigration, and the role of the media in politics. On Wednesday, I headed up to Clarke County for a number of meetings and events. I started off in Grove Hill with a visit to Clarke County High School. I enjoyed speaking with some of their students and checking out the new Clarke County Regional Workforce Training Center. Next, I held a town hall meeting in Jackson. Before the meeting, I had the opportunity to honor Jackson Mayor Richard Long for his over 20 years of service to the local community. His work has made a huge impact. Next, I went over to McIntosh in Washington County for a town hall meeting. At both the town halls in Jackson and McIntosh, I took questions on Social Security, foreign policy, religious freedom, and more. On Thursday, I held two more town hall meetings, in Mobile County’s Turnerville community and Uriah in Monroe County. Questions at these meetings covered everything from the presidential election to Obamacare to workforce training. I wrapped things up in Tuscaloosa on Friday with a visit to the University of Alabama. As our state’s only member on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, I believe it is important to understand the challenges and opportunities facing all of our institutions of higher education. Needless to say, it was a busy but successful week on the road. • • • Bradley Byrne is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
Candidates clash in battleground states, as Donald Trump’s path narrows
Election Day just 15 days off, Donald Trump is fighting to preserve his narrow path to the presidency in must-win Florida on Monday as Hillary Clinton tries to slam the door on her Republican opponent in battleground New Hampshire. At the same time, Democrats continue to get help from President Barack Obama, whose high job approval numbers have made him a political force in the sprint to Nov. 8. The president lashed out at Trump and praised Clinton as he campaigned Sunday in Nevada, a competitive state in the race for the White House and the Senate. Obama told Nevadans they have a winning hand in Clinton and Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto, who is locked in a tight race to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Harry Reid. Democrats need to retain the Nevada Senate contest and pick up four new seats elsewhere to claim the Senate majority if Clinton wins. Many Republicans fear that Trump’s struggles could drag down his party’s chances in competitive House and Senate elections across the nation. The president was unsparing Sunday in his criticism of Trump, describing the billionaire businessman as unfit to be president. Obama also railed against Republicans and conservative media outlets for promoting “all kinds of crazy stuff” about him and his party’s leaders. He cited as an example the years-long questions from Trump and others about whether he was born in the U.S. “Is it any wonder that they ended up nominating somebody like Donald Trump?” Obama said. Trump, meanwhile, lashed out at his Democratic opponent on Twitter on Monday, claiming that “Crooked Hillary” wants the United States to accept “as many Syrians as possible” from the war-torn region. Clinton has said Obama’s plan to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees this fiscal year is a good start, but that the nation “needs to do more.” Trump was campaigning Monday in Florida, a state his advisers concede he must win to have any chance at becoming president. The spotlight on Florida shined brighter on Monday also because in-person early voting was beginning across 50 counties, including the state’s largest: Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach. The remaining counties will start in the coming week. Early voting by mail has been underway for weeks. Nearly 1.2 million voters in Florida have already mailed in ballots. The state has nearly 13 million registered voters. Clinton’s running mate, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, was set to make two campaign stops in Florida on Monday. Clinton plans to visit the state Tuesday. Clinton’s focus on Monday was New Hampshire, a state that offers just 4 electoral votes compared to Florida’s 29, but marks a key piece to Trump’s increasingly narrow path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. The Trump campaign acknowledged its challenge in a Monday fundraising email, conceding that victories in tossup states like Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Nevada and North Carolina wouldn’t be enough to reach 270. “Polls show us close in New Hampshire, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. Winning just any one of those states would lead us to victory,” the campaign wrote. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Martin Dyckman: Supreme Court vacancy makes GOP Senate just as bad as Donald Trump
It’s in our genes here in America that the losers of an election congratulate the winners and we all move on. That’s more than good manners. It’s the survival instinct of any democracy. Donald Trump‘s contempt for that disgusts Republicans as well as Democrats and independents. But look closer. There are 54 members of his party who are already denying the outcome of an election — the last one. And, like Trump, they’re threatening to defy the results of the next one. I’m talking about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the 53 sheep in his fold, Although President Obama was re-elected for a four-year term, the Party of No declared it over three years, one month and 25 days after his inauguration. That’s when Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court vacancy, and the Republicans refused even to give him a hearing. The Republicans, frustrated and embarrassed by the failure of McConnell’s pledge to make Obama a one-term president, now hold that Supreme Court vacancies during a president’s last year are for the next president to fill. That is unfounded anywhere in the Constitution or Senate rules, and it’s in direct conflict with the most recent precedent. Justice Anthony Kennedy was confirmed in February 1988, the last year of Ronald Reagan‘s term, by a unanimous vote. Now, the Republican senators are making a threat scarcely less irresponsible than Trump’s. They’re saying they won’t confirm any Hillary Clinton nominee to the Supreme Court. This is how John McCain put it in an unguarded moment during a talk show interview on behalf of Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who’s in well-deserved danger of losing his seat. “I promise,” McCain said, “that we will be united against any Supreme Court nominee that Hillary Clinton, if she were president, would put up. I promise you. This is where we need the majority, and Pat Toomey is probably as articulate and effective on the floor of the Senate as anyone I have encountered. “This is the strongest argument I can make to return Pat Toomey, so we can make sure there are not three places on the United States Supreme Court that will change this country for decades.” To put it the other way, it’s the strongest argument for subtracting Marco Rubio in Florida, Richard Burr in North Carolina, Toomey in Pennsylvania and every other Republican incumbent — including, sad to say, McCain himself — from any future Senate majority. I have always respected McCain for his service and suffering as a prisoner of war, as a senator who often sought bipartisan compromise on campaign reform and other issues, and — until his inexplicable choice of a running mate — as a candidate for president. But this is too much. He’s saying that even if a majority of the American people elects Hillary Clinton, the Senate owes those voters no respect. That’s power politics at its worst. It didn’t take McCain, and others, very long to see that they needed to pull the foot from his mouth. He’s now promising to consider any nominee she sends up fairly. But not necessarily to vote for him or her, no matter the qualifications. What they’re really saying is that if she doesn’t send them more Antonin Scalias, they’ll let the court stay short-handed. “There is talk,” writes Joe Klein in TIME, “of blocking all Supreme Court nominees until the court withers down to a seven-person bench with a conservative majority.” The Republicans have controlled the Supreme Court since Ronald Reagan, and the country is worse off in many ways for it. This election is indeed a referendum on the court. Since the Republicans are preparing to ignore it, they deserve to forfeit the Senate as well as the presidency. The Democrats will pick up Senate seats, perhaps enough for a majority, but not enough for the 60 to break a filibuster. So there’s talk of using the so-called nuclear option, a loophole in Senate rules, to eliminate filibusters against Supreme Court nominees. This has already been done with respect to lower-ranking judicial vacancies, although senators can still single-handedly block nominees from their states. To do that for the Supreme Court will require a Democratic majority or at least 50 seats with Tim Kaine casting the vice president’s tiebreaker. Since both parties have used — and abused — the filibuster, neither is comfortable about trashing it. But a less drastic remedy is possible. At the outset of the next term, when a simple majority can change Senate rules, the Democrats could — and should — provide that the Senate would be deemed to have consented to a nomination once 60 or 90 days have passed without an up-or-down vote. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” wrote the former British Parliamentarian Lord Acton in 1887. American conservatives are particularly fond of that familiar phrase, but those in the U.S. Senate don’t seem to think that it applies to them. It’s time for the voters to remind them that it does. ___ Martin Dyckman is a retired associate editor of the newspaper formerly known as the Tampa Bay Times. He lives in suburban Asheville, North Carolina.
