Tonight’s Debate: The how, when and who
This is the last Democratic debate before the all important Iowa caucuses.
Takeaways from the democratic presidential debate
Democratic presidential candidates offered two very different debates during their final forum of 2019. In the first half, they spent much of their time making the case for their electability in a contest with President Donald Trump. The second half was filled with friction over money in politics, Afghanistan and experience. MONEY TALKED The candidates jousted cordially over the economy, climate change and foreign policy. But it was a wine cave that opened up the fault lines in the 2020 field. That wine cave, highlighted in a recent Associated Press story, is where Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, recently held a big-dollar Napa Valley fundraiser, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren — who along with Sen. Bernie Sanders has eschewed fundraisers in favor of small-dollar grassroots donations — slammed him for it. “Billionaires in wine caves should not pick the next president of the United States,” Warren said. Buttigieg struck back, noting that he was the only person on the stage who was not a millionaire or billionaire. He said that if Warren donated to him he’d happily accept it even though she’s worth “ten times” what he is. He also added that Warren had only recently sworn off big money donations. “These purity tests shrink the stakes of the most important election,” Buttigieg snapped. It was an unusually sharp exchange between Warren and Buttigieg. The two have been sparring as Warren’s polling rise has stalled out and Buttigieg poached some of her support among college-educated whites. And Warren was not the only one going after Buttigieg. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota hit him on another front, namely what she said was his lack of experience compared to her Senatorial colleagues on stage. Still, the divide is about more than Warren and Buttigieg. It’s about the direction of the party — whether it should become staunchly populist, anti-corporate and solely small-dollar funded, or rely on traditional donors, experience and ideology. IMPEACHMENT AS PROXY The first question in the debate was about impeachment. But the answer from the Democratic candidates was about electability. Most candidates had no answer to their party’s biggest challenge — getting Trump’s voters to abandon him over his conduct. Warren talked about one of her favorite themes, “corruption” in Washington. Sanders talked about having to convince voters Trump lied to them about helping the working class. Klobuchar, a former prosecutor, laid out the case against Trump as if she were giving the opening statement in his Senate trial. Buttigieg said the party can’t “give into that sense of hopelessness” that the GOP-controlled Senate will simply acquit Trump because Republican voters aren’t convinced. But Buttigieg didn’t provide any other hope. Only businessman Andrew Yang gave an explanation for why impeachment hasn’t changed minds. “We have to stop being obsessed about impeachment, which strikes many Americans like a ball game where you know what the score will be.” Instead, Yang said, the party has to grapple with the issues that got Trump elected — the loss of good jobs. BIDEN STEADY Former Vice President Joe Biden has held steady throughout the Democratic race as one of the top two or three candidates by almost any measure. He has done that with debate performances described as flat, uneven, and uninspired. He had a better night Thursday, even on a question about of one of his views that causes fellow Democrats to groan: that he can work with Republicans once he beats Trump in November. “If anyone has reason to be angry with the Republicans and not want to cooperate it’s me, the way they’ve attacked me, my son, my family,” Biden said, a reference to Trump’s push to investigate his son Hunter that led to the president’s impeachment. “I have no love. But the fact is we have to be able to get things done and when we can’t convince them, we go out and beat them.” Unlike others on the stage, he said pointedly that he doesn’t believe it’ll be impossible to ever work together with the other party. “If that’s the case,” Biden said, “we’re dead as a country.” He came close to trouble by initially saying he would not commit to a running for a second term, them quickly said that would be presumptuous to presume a first one. AMERICAN ROLE IN THE WORLD Is the greatest danger to America’s foreign interests and alliances coming from within the White House? Democratic presidential candidates faulted Trump on multiple fronts for his failure to lead in key disputes and areas of international friction, including in the Middle East and China. Buttigieg said Trump was “echoing the vocabulary” of dictators in his relentless attacks on the free press. Klobuchar said the president had “stood with dictators over innocents.” And Tom Steyer warned against isolating the U.S. from China, saying the two nations needed to work together on climate change. On Israel, Biden argued that Trump had played to fears and prejudices and stressed that a two-state solution was needed for peace to ever be achieved. The former vice president said Washington must rebuild alliances “which Trump has demolished.’” With China, “We have to be firm. We don’t have to go to war,” Biden said. “We have to be clear, “This is as far as you go, China,” he added. YANG’S PRO MOVES In June, Yang was a political punchline. During the first few Democratic debates, the entrepreneur, who has never before run for office, looked lost onstage, struggling to be heard over the din of nine other candidates. But on Thursday night, Yang looked like a pro. When the candidates debated complex foreign policy, Yang talked about his family in Hong Kong, the horror of China’s crackdown there and how to pressure them to respect human rights. When some candidates equivocated over whether nuclear energy should be used to combat climate change, Yang had the last word when he said: “We need to have everything on the table in a crisis situation.” And when a moderator noted that Yang was
7 questions heading into the 2020 democratic debate
New uncertainty hangs over the Democratic presidential primary as 10 candidates meet on the debate stage once again. No longer is there a clear front-runner. The fight for African American voters is raging. And there are growing concerns that impeachment may become a distraction from the primary. Those issues and more will play out Wednesday night when the Democratic Party’s top 10 face off in Atlanta just 75 days before primary voting begins. Seven big questions heading into the debate, to be carried on MSNBC: WHO IS THE FRONT-RUNNER? Turbulent polling across the early voting states has created a murky picture of the top tier of the 2020 class. As much as Joe Biden is still a front-runner, so are Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders. The question is who gets the front-runner treatment in Wednesday’s debate. Warren was under near-constant attack last month as a new leader. Will Warren continue to face the heat, or will the ascendant Buttigieg or weakening Biden take more hits? HOW WILL OBAMA PLAY? Former President Barack Obama, the most popular Democrat in America, inserted himself into the 2020 primary in recent days by warning candidates against moving too far to the left. His comments create a challenge for Warren and Sanders and an opening for moderates Buttigieg, Biden and Amy Klobuchar to attack. At the same time, Obama’s involvement offers a powerful reminder of the massive role African Americans will play in the presidential nomination process. As we know, all candidates not named Biden have serious work to do when it comes to winning over the black vote. Race and Obama’s legacy could play a major role in shaping the action. WHAT SAY YOU, IMPEACHMENT JURY? They have all come out in favor of impeachment — some more aggressively than others — but it’s noteworthy that five of the 10 Democrats onstage will serve as jurors in the Senate impeachment trial should the House vote to impeach President Donald Trump. It’s a complicated topic for Democrats. Some senators worry that a prospective impeachment trial will interfere with their ability to court voters early next year. Others fear that impeachment could hurt their party’s more vulnerable candidates in down-ballot elections next year. Either way, what the prospective jurors do or don’t say on the debate stage could be relevant if and when the Senate holds an impeachment trial, which is increasingly likely. WILL THEY BASH THE BILLIONAIRES? Never before has wealth been under such aggressive attack in a presidential primary election. And with one billionaire onstage and another likely to join the field in the coming days, the billionaire bashing could reach new heights. Tom Steyer has largely gone under the radar, but the even wealthier Michael Bloomberg has generated tremendous buzz as he steps toward a run of his own. Of the two, only Steyer will be onstage, but expect Bloomberg’s shadow in particular to generate passionate arguments about wealth and the role of money in politics. WILL SOMEONE STAND UP FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT? Biden continues to be the favorite of many establishment Democrats, but his underwhelming candidacy has created an opening for another pragmatic-minded Democrat to step up. That’s why former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Bloomberg are moving into the race. Buttigieg stepped aggressively into the establishment lane in the last debate, but many donors and elected officials remain skeptical of the 37-year-old small-city mayor’s chances. The opportunity is there for lower-tier candidates including Kamala Harris, Klobuchar and Steyer. DOES SHE HAVE A PLAN FOR THAT? No single issue has dominated the initial Democratic primary debates more than health care, and it’s safe to assume that will be the case again Wednesday night. And no one has more riding on that specific debate than Warren, who hurt herself last month by stumbling through questions about the cost of her single-payer health care plan. Given that policy specifics make up the backbone of her candidacy, she can’t afford another underwhelming performance on the defining policy debate of the primary season. Expect the policy-minded senator to have a new strategy this time around. CAN THEY SAVE THEMSELVES? New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, businessman Andrew Yang and Steyer are under enormous pressure to break out given their status as the only candidates onstage who haven’t yet qualified for the December debate. They likely won’t have the same number of opportunities to speak as their higher-polling rivals, but these are dire times for the underdogs. They need to do something if they expect to stay relevant in the 2020 conversation. By Steve Peoples AP National Political Writer. Catch up on the 2020 election campaign with AP experts on our weekly politics podcast, “Ground Game.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Debate Takeaways: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders show their fighting side
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders let loose with a series of combative accusations on Wall Street, the minimum wage and guns in a rough-and-tumble debate Thursday at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The contentious, fast-paced back-and-forth between the two Democratic presidential candidates was proof of how much is at stake entering Tuesday’s New York primary. For Sanders, a loss in New York would narrow his already difficult path to the nomination. For Clinton, anything less than victory in the state she represented in the Senate would be an embarrassment and would make nervous Democrats even more anxious. Here are the top takeaways from Thursday’s debate: — TOUGH TONE Clinton and Sanders did little to hide their annoyance with each other. Sanders was often caustic as he questioned Clinton’s credibility on super PACs, the Iraq War and Wall Street. “My goodness! They must have been really crushed by this,” Sanders said in a mocking manner about Clinton’s response to financial executives after the 2008 financial crisis. Clinton suggested Sanders didn’t have the judgment to be both president and commander in chief and implied he had cut a deal with the National Rifle Association to get elected to Congress in 1990. “He kept his word to the NRA,” she said. Both talked over each other at times, their voices rising. At one point, CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer said if they continued “screaming at each other,” no one would be able to hear either of them. — WALL STREET Sanders hoped to use the debate just miles from Wall Street to portray his opponent as insufficiently tough on corporate greed. When Sanders played the Wall Street card, Clinton tried to turn it around as an attack on President Barack Obama – among the party’s most popular figures. Clinton said Obama and the groups that supported his candidacy received “tens of millions of dollars” from the financial industry, but he still steered the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul through Congress. “This is a phony attack,” she said. Sanders pointed to the Wall Street-backed donations filling the coffers of a pro-Clinton super PAC. And he dismissed Clinton’s contention that she had told Wall Street firms to reform their ways before the financial crisis in 2008. “They must have been very, very upset by what you did,” he said sarcastically. — MINIMUM WAGE Sanders tried to paint Clinton as a johnny-come-lately on hourly wages, expressing surprise when he thought Clinton said she was supportive of a $15 an hour federal minimum wage. Clinton has supported the “Fight for $15” push by labor unions, but backed a more incremental approach in a Senate bill that calls for an increase in the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour. Cities and states, Clinton argues, should be free to go further. But Sanders said he was surprised to hear that Clinton might support the $15 threshold, telling the audience, “I think the secretary has confused a lot of people.” Clinton said she was being consistent and in the eight previous encounters, “I have said the exact same thing.” — SANDERS’ TAKE ON MIDDLE EAST PEACE In standing by his past criticism of Israel, Sanders delivered some straight talk that might cost him some voters in New York – but highlighted Clinton’s rigid orthodoxy on the issue of Middle East peace. Sanders wasn’t fazed when asked whether he believes Israel has acted disproportionately in responding to attacks from Hamas. He said the devastation to schools, hospitals and infrastructure in Gaza has not matched the threat. “That does not make me anti-Israel,” Sanders said. Clinton stuck to the pro-Israel hard line. In war, leaders must take “appropriate precautions,” she said – but Israelis “did not seek this kind of attack, they do not invite rockets raining down on their towns and villages.” Sanders, she said, was again describing a problem without proposing a solution. Sanders came back by accusing Clinton of evading the question. “We are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all the time,” he said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Long-term, there will never be peace in that region unless the United States plays a role – an even-handed role.” — TRANSCRIPTS OR TAX RETURNS? Clinton was pressed again to release the transcripts of her paid private speeches to Wall Street executives after she departed the State Department in 2013. The ex-secretary of state again demurred, saying Republican candidates should also be forced to comply. But this time she pointed out that Sanders hadn’t released his recent tax returns, which she said was a basic standard for any presidential hopeful. Sanders announced that he would release his 2014 tax return on Friday and he would release others in due time. The senator said his wife, Jane Sanders, handled the family’s taxes but offered this excuse: “We’ve been a little bit busy lately.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
10 must-read quotes from Wednesday night’s Univision Democratic debate
Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders took center-stage in Miami Wednesday night where the two clashed dramatically over a variety of hot-button issues as they both tried to woo Hispanic voters and outdo each other in attacking Republican candidate Donald Trump, in yet another contentious Democratic debate. Hosted by Univision and The Washington Post, the two-hour debate was the candidates’ final opportunity to make televised cases to voters in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and Illinois who will cast their ballots in primary contests on Tuesday. Below we’ve rounded up 10 of the most significant quotes from the debate: On Donald Trump: BERNIE SANDERS: I think that the American people are never going to elect a president who insults Mexicans, who insults Muslims, who insults women, who insults African-Americans and let us not forget that several years ago, Trump was in the middle of the so-called birther movement trying to delegitimize the president of the United States of America. My dad was born in Poland. I know a little bit about the immigrant experience. Nobody has ever asked me for my birth certificate. Maybe it has something to do with the color of my skin. On the Clinton email scandal: HILLARY CLINTON: There’s a lot of questions in there. And I’m going to give the same answer I’ve been giving for many months. On deporting undocumented immigrants: HILLARY CLINTON: I will not deport children. I would not deport children. I do not want to deport family members, either. I want to prioritize who would be deported: violent criminals, people planning terrorist attacks, anybody who threatens us. On Sanders vs. Clinton’s political record: BERNIE SANDERS: I will stand — my career, political career fighting for workers, fighting for the poorest people in this country. Madam Secretary, I will match my record against yours any day of the week. On Benghazi: HILLARY CLINTON: This is not the first time we lost Americans in a terrorist attack. We lost 3,000 people on 9/11. We lost Americans serving in embassies in Tanzania and Kenya when my husband was president. We lost 250 Americans when Ronald Reagan was president in Beirut. At no other time were those tragedies politicized. Instead people said let’s learn the lesson and save lives On interventions with Latin America: BERNIE SANDERS: The United States was wrong to try to invade Cuba. The United States was wrong trying to support people to overthrow the Nicaraguan government, the United States was wrong to try to overthrow the democratically elected government of Guatemala. Throughout the history of our relationship with Latin America we’ve operated under the so-called Monroe doctrine, and that said the United States had the right do anything they wanted do in Latin America. On Clinton’s relationship with Wall Street: BERNIE SANDERS: Secretary’s words to Wall Street has really intimidated them, and that is why they have given her $15 million in campaign contributions. On Trump’s Mexican wall proposal: HILLARY CLINTON: I understand him, he’s talking about a very tall wall, right, a beautiful tall wall, the most beautiful tall wall, better than the Great Wall of China. He would somehow magically get the Mexican government to pay for, and, you know, it’s just fantasy. On college tuition: HILLARY CLINTON: The government has to quit making money off of lending money to young people to get their education. BERNIE SANDERS REBUTTAL: What secretary Clinton said is absolutely right. I think I said it many months before she said it, but thanks for copying a very good idea. On George W. Bush: HILLARY CLINTON: I wish he would criticize – and join me in criticizing – President George W. Bush,” she said. Bernie is, in fact, a staunch and outspoken Bush critic. The folly of Bush’s Iraq war – which HRC voted for – is a staple of his stump speech. BERNIE SANDERS REBUTTAL: I gather Secretary Clinton hasn’t listened to too many of my speeches.
Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders tangle on economy in Democratic debate
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders tangled aggressively on economic issues in a Democratic presidential debate over trade, Wall Street influence and more. Clinton accused him of turning his back on the auto industry and Sanders countered in the Sunday night debate that Clinton’s friends on Wall Street had “destroyed this economy.” It was a marked change in tone for the two Democrats, signaling Sanders’ increasingly difficult effort to slow the momentum of the party’s front-runner. Both candidates frequently interrupted one another and accused each other of misrepresenting their records. “Let’s have some facts instead of some rhetoric for a change,” Clinton snapped at Sanders at one point. “Let me tell my story, you tell yours,” Sanders shot back at another. “Your story is voting for every disastrous trade amendment and voting for corporate America.” More than once, Sanders chafed at Clinton’s interruptions, saying, “Excuse me, I’m talking” or “Let me finish, please.” Their disagreements were clear, but still the debate’s tone was nothing like that of the Republican debate in Detroit just three days earlier, a four-way faceoff that was marked by a steady stream of personal attacks, insults and even sexual innuendo. The Democrats’ faceoff, in comparison, was a more civil, if heated, affair. Clinton said that while she and Sanders have their differences on policy, “compare the substance of this debate with what you saw on the Republican stage last week.” Sanders chimed in, “We are, if elected president, going to invest a lot of money into mental health and when you watch these Republican debates you know why.” Both had a good laugh at that. Each made a case for being the best candidate to defeat GOP front-runner Donald Trump in a November matchup. Clinton said she’s gotten more votes than Trump in the primaries, and predicted that his “bigotry, his bullying, his bluster are not going to wear well on the American people.” Sanders declared: “I would love to run against Donald Trump,” adding that polls show “Sanders vs. Trump does a lot better than Clinton vs. Trump.” Sanders, who argued with considerably more edge than in past debates, pounced early when Clinton spoke about a need to keep jobs from shifting overseas. “I am very glad that Secretary Clinton has discovered religion on this issue,” he said, then went on to criticize her past support for trade deals that he maintained had “disastrous” consequences. Clinton, too, took the offensive early on but more often found herself fending off Sanders’ criticism. In her most pointed thrust, she said Sanders had voted against a 2009 bailout of carmakers, adding, “I went with them. You did not. If everybody had voted the way he did, I believe the auto industry would have collapsed, taking 4 million jobs with it.” Sanders countered that the money for the auto industry was part of a larger bailout package for Wall Street, adding, “I will be damned if it was the working people of this country who have to bail out the crooks on Wall Street.” He referred to the overall package as “the Wall Street bailout where some of your friends destroyed this economy.” Ultimately, President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson agreed to provide $23.4 billion for the auto industry from the federal bailout money for the financial sector. The debate started on a conciliatory note, with Clinton joining Sanders in calling for Michigan’s Republican governor to resign over his handling of the Flint water crisis. An emotional Sanders said he felt “literally shattered” by the toxic tap water in Flint and renewed his call for Gov. Rick Snyder to resign. Clinton, who had not previously made that call, added emphatically: “Amen to that,” and then said that Snyder should “resign or be recalled.” Snyder quickly tweeted that “political candidates” will be leaving Flint and Michigan in a few days after the state’s primary but he is “committed to the people of Flint.” In the race for the Democratic nomination, Clinton has at least 1,130 delegates to Sanders’ 499, including superdelegates – members of Congress, governors and party officials who can support the candidate of their choice. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the nomination. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
10 must-read quotes from Sunday night’s fourth Democratic debate
Hoping to win their Party a third consecutive term in the White House, presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley faced-off Sunday night in the fourth Democratic debate vying for their party’s nomination. Hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus on NBC, the debate took place in Charleston, SC — just blocks away from blocks from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church where nine parishioners were killed during Bible study in a mass shooting last summer — where the candidates went head-to-head on a variety of hot-topic issues. Below we’ve rounded up 10 of the most significant quotes from the debate. On gun control: MARTIN O’MALLEY: I’ve listened to secretary Clinton and senator Sanders go back and forth on which has the most inconsistent record on gun safety legislation, and I would have to agree with both of them. They’ve both been inconsistent when it comes to this issue. On fundraising: BERNIE SANDERS: Well, the first difference is I don’t take money from big banks. I don’t get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs… I have doubts when people receive huge amounts of money from Wall Street. I am very proud, I do not have a super PAC. I do not want Wall Street’s money. I’ll rely on the middle class and working families. On the GOP: BERNIE SANDERS: It is beyond my comprehension how we can elect as president of the United States somebody like Trump who believes that climate change is a hoax, invented by the Chinese. On Obamacare: HILLARY CLINTON: I don’t to want see us start over again with a contentious debate. I want us to defend and build on the Affordable Care Act and improve it. On the criminal justice system: HILLARY CLINTON: There needs to be a concerted effort to address the systemic racism in our criminal justice system. And that requires a very clear agenda for retraining police officers, looking at ways to end racial profiling. More on the criminal justice system: BERNIE SANDERS: We have a criminal justice system which is broken. Who in America are satisfied that we have more people in jail than any other country on Earth, including China? Disproportionately African-American and Latino. Who is satisfied that 51 percent of African-American young people are either unemployed or underemployed. Who is satisfied that millions of people have police records for possessing marijuana when the CEOs of Wall Street companies who destroyed our economy have no police record. On polls: BERNIE SANDERS: Secretary Clinton well knows, when this campaign began, she was 50 points ahead of me. We were all of 3 percentage points. Guess what? In Iowa, New Hampshire, the race is very, very close. In terms of polling, guess what, we are running ahead of Secretary Clinton in terms of taking on my good friend, Donald Trump. On drug abuse: HILLARY CLINTON: We have to move away from treating the use of drugs a as crime and, instead, move it to where it belongs, as a health issue. And we need to divert more people from the criminal justice system into drug courts, into treatment, and recovery. On privacy vs security: MARTIN O’MALLEY: I believe whether it’s a back door or front door, that the American principle of law should still hold that our federal government should have to get a warrant. Whether they want to come through the back door or your front door On Wall Street and big banks: MARTIN O’MALLEY: Look, if a bank robber robs a bank and all you do is slap him on the wrist, he’s just going to rob banks again. The same thing is true with people in suits.
Presidential Primary Brief: 357 days until Election Day
104 days until AL Presidential Primary 357 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21 2016, Democratic July 25-28 2016 Weekly Headlines: Al Gore declines to endorse Hillary Clinton for President Postal workers union backs Bernie Sanders Fack Check: The second Democratic debate Press Clips: Bush urges U.S. declaration of war against ISIL (Politico 11/15/15) Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush said on Sunday, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Paris, the U.S. should “declare war” on the Islamic State, which is blamed by the French for the deadly attacks. “We should declare war, and harness all of the power that the United States can bring to bear, both diplomatic and military, of course, to be able to take out ISIS,” the former governor of Florida said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” charging the Obama administration viewed the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as a “law enforcement exercise. Debate exposes Clinton’s Wall Street underbelly (Politico 11/15/15) The widespread expectation was that Saturday evening’s Democratic debate would revolve around the Paris attacks. But it turned out Wall Street policy ended up driving the most striking moments here — painting a picture of a party animated most by its antipathy toward big banks, but divided over how to handle them. Accordingly, a discussion of bank regulation led to the sharpest clashes between the candidates — not to mention accusations of dirty tactics — and it was Hillary Clinton’s relationship with the financial community she once represented that provided perhaps the most memorable, and questionable, moment of the evening, when she invoked the terrorist attacks of September 11. Rubio, Kasich are biggest threats to win 2016 presidential election, AP survey of Democratic insiders says (NewsDay 11/14/15) Bring on Donald Trump, and Ben Carson, too. That’s what Democratic insiders are saying about the Republican outsiders who sit solidly atop preference polls in the race for the GOP nomination for president. They are far more worried about GOP candidates who have experience in office, with Marco Rubio cited most often as the strongest potential competition for their overwhelming choice for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton proposes $30B aid plan for coal communities (Politico 11/12/15) In a move that could help stem the Democrats’ declining fortunes in coal country, Hillary Clinton Thursday unveiled a $30 billion package of proposals to insulate coalfield workers and their families from economic upheaval amid a transition to cleaner sources of energy. The plan comes as Clinton and Bernie Sanders, her top challenger in the Democratic presidential primary, have both sought an edge with aggressive policies to confront climate change. But they acknowledge that doing so will require dramatically reducing consumption of coal, which has helped drive economies in key swing states including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado, and elsewhere around the country. Takeaways from the Republican debate (CNN 11/11/15) As the first primaries creep ever closer, candidates are feeling the pressure to rise above the pack and prove their electoral viability. Each candidate came in with different marks to hit. Jeb Bush needed a game-changing performance. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz wanted to maintain their momentum. And Rand Paul wanted to get into the act. Here’s how they fared: Kasich faces conservative backlash over debate performance (Politico 11/11/15) John Kasich, already on the ropes in the GOP primary with his low polling numbers, is now confronting the fallout from the fourth Republican debate, with conservative media thrashing the Ohio governor for soft positions on immigration and bank bailouts. Kasich has made no bones about his strain of compassionate conservatism that can ring hollow to evangelical voters and those looking for a true political outsider. Western Illinois University Predicts a Bernie Sanders Victory in 2016 (NBC Chicago 11/11/15) The results are in for one Illinois university’s famous mock presidential election, but the clear winner may surprise some. Western Illinois University’s mock election predicted a landslide victory for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, with running mate Martin O’Malley, in 2016. The predicted Sanders-O’Malley ticket garnered 404 electoral votes to Jeb Bush-Marco Rubio’s 114 votes. In the popular vote, Sanders earned 741 votes (49 percent) to Bush’s 577 (38 percent). Rubio on Bush criticism: ‘If we’re attacked, we’re going to respond (Politico 11/11/15) The tension between Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush may have been muted during Tuesday night’s debate, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. During back-to-back morning show appearances Wednesday to tout his strong debate performance, Rubio addressed the report that Bush’s super PAC would be spending $20 million for an assault on his campaign. “Obviously if we’re attacked, we’re going to respond. But ultimately we can’t control other people’s campaigns if they decide that attacking us is the way forward, they have a right to make that decision,” Rubio said on “The Today Show.” “It’s wrong. It’s not going to change my campaign.”
Hillary Clinton’s invoking of 9/11 to defend donations draws ire
Hillary Rodham Clinton defended her campaign contributions from Wall Street by invoking her work to help the financial sector rebuild after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, raising eyebrows among her Democratic challengers and Republicans alike. During Saturday’s second Democratic debate, Clinton was put on the defensive by rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders when he said Wall Street had been the major contributor to her campaigns. “Now maybe they’re dumb and they don’t know what they’re going to get, but I don’t think so,” he said. Clinton responded that she was representing New York in the Senate when downtown Manhattan was attacked and noted that she helped the city’s financial hub rebuild. “That was good for New York and it was good for the economy and it was a way to rebuke the terrorists who had attacked our country,” she said, her voice rising. Her response drew an incredulous response on social media sites like Twitter, and the debate’s moderators asked Clinton to respond to one Twitter user, who took issue with her mention of 9/11 to justify the contributions. “Well, I’m sorry that whoever tweeted that had that impression because I worked closely with New Yorkers after 9/11 for my entire first term to rebuild,” Clinton said. “I had a lot of folks give me donations from all kinds of backgrounds, say, ‘I don’t agree with you on everything. But I like what you do. I like how you stand up. I’m going to support you.’ And I think that is absolutely appropriate.” The exchange highlighted one of Sanders’ main critiques of Clinton: That she has maintained close ties to Wall Street executives during her political career and would be less forceful in policing the risky behavior of financial firms that Sanders says led to the economic downturn in 2008 and 2009. Both Sanders and ex-Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley support reinstating the Glass-Steagall law which once separated commercial and investment banking but was repealed in 1999 under her husband, President Bill Clinton. The former secretary of state says repealing Glass-Steagall wouldn’t go far enough to curb risks pushed by a shadow banking system. When Clinton raised Wall Street donations along with 9/11, her Democratic rivals quickly bounced. In the post-debate “spin room,” former O’Malley told reporters, “I’ll let her answer that gaffe. I think it was one of the biggest ones of the night.” Mark Longabaugh, a top Sanders’ adviser, said, “Do I think it’s a legitimate defense? No. I don’t see how you can make those two pieces go together.” He called the exchanges over Wall Street the “pivotal moments of the debate.” Republicans said Clinton had shamefully hid behind the 9/11 attacks to deflect attention from her ties to her wealthiest donors. And they signaled that the response would likely find its way into advertising if Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee. “It’s an intersection between stupid and offensive, and I think that’s going to be a big problem as the campaign heads into the general election,” said Sean Spicer, the Republican National Committee’s chief strategist. Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta told reporters the Clinton’s “integrity was impugned and what she was saying was that she was proud to represent the state of New York, to help rebuild lower Manhattan.” “When people attack her and call her quote-unquote the ‘Senator from Wall Street,’ they ought to remember that she was instrumental in trying to rebuild an important part of the New York economy,” he said. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Bernie Sanders has most to prove as Democrats gather for 2nd debate
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders faces the biggest test yet of his insurgent presidential campaign on Saturday night, when he faces off with Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton in the party’s second primary debate. His goal is clear: Reset a contest that increasingly looks like little more than a march to the nomination for Clinton. That effort will be complicated by fresh terrorist strikes that have captured the world’s attention. Despite Sanders’ focus on domestic issues, national security and foreign policy will play prominent roles in the debate, with the string of deadly attacks in Paris that killed more than 120 people front and center. All the candidates quickly denounced the attacks in statements on Friday night. Party officials said the forum will continue as planned. Foreign relations is an area where Clinton, a former secretary of state, is in the strongest position to talk about the attacks and the U.S. effort to dismantle the Islamic State group. But her tenure is tied to that of Obama, who’s struggled to contain the threat from Islamic militants in Syria and associated terror attacks across the globe. Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, accompanied her to Des Moines on Saturday but will not be in the hall for the debate, spokesman Angel Urena said. A spate of good news for Clinton since the party’s first debate a month ago has helped her rebuild a lead in the early voting states, an uptick that comes amid other signs the party is coalescing behind her. An Associated Press survey of superdelegates published Friday found that half of the Democratic insiders are publicly backing Clinton. Sanders may have inadvertently facilitated some of her progress in the first debate, when he seemed to dismiss the controversy over her use of a private email account and server by saying Americans are tired of hearing about her “damn emails.” Since then, he’s given her no more passes. Though careful never to mention Clinton by name, Sanders has drawn a series of contrasts with the former secretary of state on issues that include her backing of the war in Iraq, trade and the minimum wage. Sanders’ advisers say he plans to discuss the email issue only if the moderators of the debate in Des Moines, Iowa, bring it up. That could be a signal to organizers that he’s is open to the topic. “He’s definitely going to cut a harder contrast on core issues,” said Larry Cohen, a senior adviser to Sanders. “But it’s not going to be over personal style.” The problem for Sanders is that Clinton agrees with him on some of the core domestic issues of his campaign, having shifted to the left in recent weeks to oppose construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. “It’s really tough for him,” said Gina Glantz, manager of Bill Bradley‘s 2000 presidential campaign, which posed a primary challenge to then-Vice President Al Gore. “He’s in a difficult position where his current arguments aren’t enough to get beyond his core voter.” While Sanders aides bragged about their candidate’s lax preparation for the last debate, they shuttled him to his campaign headquarters in Burlington, Vermont, for mock sessions before this match-up. Clinton, too, has kept her schedule relatively clear over the last several days, leaving plenty of time for rehearsals. “They are absolutely prepared for the fact that Bernie’s going to come out swinging,” said Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist who worked for Clinton’s failed 2008 White House campaign. “The question is how it’s going to happen.” Clinton supporters say their candidate will remain focused on laying out her vision for the future rather than striking back at Sanders. Her campaign has about $15.2 million in television advertising planned through mid-February, compared with a $3.2 million Sanders ad buy that ends next week, according to Kantar Media’s CMAG advertising tracker. The Service Employees International Union, an influential force in Democratic politics, is expected to issue their endorsement on Tuesday, according to people knowledgeable about the union’s process. Clinton has been backed by more than 72 percent of members in all their internal polling, including the most recent survey conducted a few weeks ago. Her team is hoping to notch another win after a series of strong moments since the first debate. Clinton has benefited from Vice President Joe Biden‘s decision to forgo a run and well-received testimony before a Republican-led congressional panel investigating the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. They’re also trying not to alienate the Sanders backers whose support they’ll need should Clinton win the nomination. “As a front-runner your job is to do no harm,” said Cardona. “She’s going to want to be a comfortable home for the Bernie supporters toward the end of this process.” Sanders, too, may face tougher attacks. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who’s struggled to break 5 percent in national preference polls, has questioned Sanders’ commitment to the Democratic Party and President Barack Obama, still a popular figure among Democrats. A more aggressive tone would mark a shift for a race that has so far been notable for its civility. Democrats have spent months boasting about the substantive tone of their contest, attempting to set-up a favorable early contrast with the often carnival-like insults of the crowded Republican primary. Their bragging may come to an end after Saturday night. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Hillary Clinton’s strong debate is general election warning for GOP
Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s polished performance in the first Democratic debate did more than send a message to her primary rivals. It was a warning to the chaotic Republican field about her likely strength in a general election. Clinton solidified her shift toward more liberal positions on trade, gun control and immigration, but still stayed largely in step with the battleground state voters she’ll need in November 2016. She also positioned herself as heir to the coalition of women, Hispanics and black voters that propelled Barack Obama to the White House, and she potentially held off a late challenge from Vice President Joe Biden. “I’m a progressive,” she declared before a television audience of more than 15 million people. “But I’m a progressive who likes to get things done.” The Republicans’ raucous first two debates, meanwhile, exposed the party’s deep divisions and the pressure on GOP candidates to appease conservative primary voters. That could again leave the eventual nominee scrambling to recalibrate on issues including immigration and women’s health in order to win over a national electorate that is more racially and ideologically diverse than primary voters. It’s a familiar conundrum for the party, yet one potentially deepened by the rise of Donald Trump and Ben Carson, candidates whose inflammatory comments seem to only boost their standing in the primary. Candidates who are favored by more traditional Republicans, like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, risk being associated with the rhetoric of their rivals — or never find a way to overtake them. The GOP contenders scrambled Wednesday to blunt the notion that Clinton has positioned herself as a general election force. Rubio said Clinton was locked in “a race to the left to see who could be the most radically liberal, the most big-government.” And Bush cast Clinton as the beneficiary of a Democratic field that sidestepped confrontations over her private email use, a controversy that has dogged her campaign for months. “In a partisan crowd you could see how that would work out, but I don’t think Mrs. Clinton’s been forthcoming and I think she has created a problem for herself by not being forthcoming,” Bush said Wednesday night while campaigning in New Hampshire. “It is a big deal, and there needs to be some clarity on it.” Added Trump, “I think the Democrats, frankly, I think they are protecting her.” Clinton aides insist the former secretary of state isn’t taking the Democratic nomination for granted. While her strong debate performance may have hardened her standing as the party’s front-runner, she still faces tough competition from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent and self-proclaimed democratic socialist. Yet Clinton left no doubt that she’s setting her sights on the GOP field. “I can take the fight to the Republicans, because we cannot afford a Republican to succeed Barack Obama as president of the United States,” she said. She referenced Republicans a dozen times during the two-hour debate, even putting the party alongside the Iranians and National Rifle Association on a list of enemies she was proud to have made. David Plouffe, an architect of Obama’s two campaigns, wrote on Twitter that Clinton looked like a candidate who could win the general election. “That is a test for GOP,” he added, questioning who in the party can attract voters in Ohio, Colorado, Virginia and other general election battlegrounds. To be sure, Clinton remains a flawed candidate. Her evolving policy positions leave her open to charges that she shifts with the political winds. She’s a Washington insider in an election cycle where voters have shown more interest in outsiders. And she continues to grapple with questions about her email practices at the State Department. Yet Clinton has been handed two gifts on the email issue from her political opponents. She often brings up Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy‘s boast about the political damage to her campaign caused by the congressional panel that uncovered her email practices, citing it as evidence of partisanship. And the frustration Sanders expressed in the debate with the amount of attention focused on the emails blunted the prospect that she’ll be challenged on the issue from within her own party. Republicans argue that Clinton still has vulnerabilities that would hurt her in the general election, including shifts to the left on major issues — a version of the problem the GOP contenders could face after focusing on the right for their primary. “She is now firmly outside the mainstream of the American electorate as part of her calculating efforts to satisfy the liberal base of her party,” said Kevin Madden, who advised 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney‘s campaign. Democratic strategists, however, argue that what were once viewed as liberal policies are increasingly becoming mainstream. Public polling supports that assertion on some issues. On immigration, a CBS News/New York Times poll last month showed 58 percent of Americans said people living in the U.S. illegally should be allowed to stay and apply for citizenship, a position Clinton supports. On the contentious issue of gun control, Americans overwhelmingly support expanding background checks for ownership, a proposal Clinton touted in the debate. A Pew Research Center poll from July showed 85 percent — including 87 percent of respondents in gun-owning households — support broader background checks. Majorities of Americans also support government efforts to combat climate change, and they approve of gay marriage, positions backed by Clinton and other Democratic presidential candidates. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
