Dems pick Milwaukee for 2020 convention over Miami, Houston
Democrats selected Milwaukee to host their 2020 national convention Monday, setting up the party’s 2020 standard-bearer to accept the presidential nomination in the heart of the old industrial belt that delivered Donald Trump to the White House. Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez chose Milwaukee over Houston and Miami after deliberations lingered longer than party leaders or officials from the three finalist cities had expected. The convention is scheduled for July 13-16, 2020. It will be the first time in over a century that Democrats will be in a Midwest city other than Chicago to nominate their presidential candidate. Instead, the political spotlight will shine for a week on a metro area of about 1.6 million people. Once dubbed as “The Machine Shop of the World,” the famously working-class city also is known for its long love affair with beer and as the birthplace of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Republicans are set to gather in Charlotte, the largest city in battleground North Carolina, on Aug. 24-27, 2020. Democrats see plenty of symbolism in Milwaukee after a bitter 2016 election defined by Hillary Clinton being nearly swept in what her campaign aides had confidently called a “Blue Wall” across the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region. That band of states twice sided with President Barack Obama, but Clinton held only Minnesota, ceding Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania — a combined 64 of the necessary 270 electoral votes — as white working-class voters flocked to Trump. The president won Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes by about 23,000 votes out of almost 3 million cast, the first time since 1984 that Republicans claimed the state in a presidential election. Afterward, Clinton took withering criticism for not once visiting Wisconsin as a general election candidate. Since then, Wisconsin voters have re-elected Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, ousted Republican Gov. Scott Walker in favor of Democrat Tony Evers and the state’s first black lieutenant governor, Mandela Barnes. Wisconsin Democrats pointed to those midterm election results as they lobbied Perez and DNC officials, and presidential candidates already are paying attention. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar came to Wisconsin in one of her first trips as a declared candidate. “A lot people feel that we lost (in 2016) because this area had been ignored — whether it’s from a political standpoint or whether it’s from a governing standpoint,” said Barnes, one of the members of the convention bid committee. Holding the convention in Milwaukee, Barnes added, says “we are ready to reinvest in the Midwest, that the Midwest matters again.” In a political twist, Milwaukee officials have said the Republican Walker was instrumental in winning the convention. Democratic Party proceedings will play out in the new 17,500-seat arena that Walker helped build for the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks by securing public financing from state lawmakers. Walker later lobbied GOP-leaning business leaders and donors to support Milwaukee’s effort to land the DNC. Democratic officials in Washington said picking a convention site is as much about logistics as anything else, even as they acknowledge political optics and potential story lines. On the logistics front, Milwaukee may have pulled somewhat of an upset, given its small footprint compared to Houston and Miami, cities long accustomed to hosting major events. Houston put on the Super Bowl as recently as February 2017. Milwaukee organizers pitched their city — the Democratic stronghold of Wisconsin — as a resurgent downtown beyond just the arena and convention facilities. Home to some of the country’s biggest brewers, including Pabst, Schlitz, Miller and Blatz, the metro area has a redeveloped downtown, a hotel capacity exceeding 17,000 rooms and a new downtown streetcar line that opened in November. Still, the city had to prove it has the overall capacity to satisfy the demands of tens of thousands of delegates, party activists, donors and media that will descend next summer. DNC officials have said that the question wasn’t about hotel rooms, but whether Milwaukee has requisite venues for other convention staples, from daily sit-down breakfast meetings for 57 state and territorial delegations to evening events put on by state parties, corporations, lobbyists and donors. Even as Milwaukee officials insisted they have the venues, some deep-pocketed Democrats in nearby Chicago — a 90-minute drive — stepped in to note their proximity. Houston and Miami, meanwhile, faced their own challenges. Miami has an impressive concentration of luxury hotels, but many are in Miami Beach across bridges from downtown. That raised the prospect of delegates spending hours in traffic jams trying to get to convention facilities. The city’s arena also is not as new as in Milwaukee. Houston had few if any logistical barriers. But according to party officials with knowledge of the process, the city’s organizing committee struggled to come up with the necessary financing without resorting to the oil and gas industry. That’s the city’s bread and butter, but it’s become anathema in Democratic politics because of the fossil fuel industry’s part in climate change. The city’s mayor also is embroiled in a long labor dispute with Houston firefighters — raising worries. Also, though Houston and Miami are Democratic anchors in their states, Texas and Florida have no Democratic governor or senator between them. Barrow reported from Atlanta. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Hacked emails show Hillary Clinton camp discussed ousting Debbie Wasserman Schultz for Jennifer Granholm
In July, Debbie Wasserman Schultz abruptly resigned as head of the Democratic National Committee, after leaked emails showed party officials conspiring to sabotage the presidential campaign of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Now, a new email message from the Gmail account of Clinton campaign manager John Podesta — posted by WikiLeaks Tuesday — indicate Hillary Clinton, the candidate campaign officials were considered to be in the tank for, also had serious issues with Wasserman Schultz. Clinton’s staff even discussed ousting her well before her unexpected midsummer exit. On Dec. 17, 2015, Clinton staffer Heather Stone sent out a memo titled “DNC Leadership,” to Podesta, Robby Mook, and Sara Latham. It explained in part the Clinton campaign had encountered challenges in working with Wasserman Schultz, calling for “systemic shifts at the DNC Leadership Level” to facilitate a better working relationship: Though we have reached a working arrangement with them, our dealings with Party leadership have been marked by challenges, often requiring multiple meetings and phone calls to resolve relatively simple matters. We are frequently caught in the middle of poor communication and a difficult relationship between the Chairwoman and the Executive Director. Moreover, leadership at the Committee has been slow to respond to structural challenges within their own operation that could have real impact on our campaign, such as research. Jen O’Malley Dillon has entered into a contract with the DNC as a consultant for the General Election, which addresses some of these challenges and provides a connection for us within the Party. However, this arrangement does not change the need for systemic shifts at the DNC leadership level — to ensure that we have strategic and operational partners within the Committee that can help drive a program and deliver on our General Election imperatives. The memo also said the intention should be to keep Wasserman Schultz as DNC chair up until July’s National Convention. After the convention, however, “we should consider three models for the DNC chairmanship:” Three options discussed would be: — Keep Wasserman Schultz and “work through a chief of staff.” Wasserman Schultz would have been no more than a figurehead in this capacity, the memo states. — Keep Wasserman Schultz in the position, but select someone like former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as a “General Election Chair.” In that situation, the chief of staff would work with the General Election Chair, while Wasserman Schultz played the role as a chief surrogate. This didn’t seem likely to work, however, as Stone wrote that, “This model has the considerable drawback of creating a two-headed monster with little clarity of who is responsible for different areas of work within the Committee.” — Oust Wasserman Schultz outright for Granholm. “Under this scenario, the convention would represent Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz’s final responsibility to the DNC, and we would use the convention as a clean break between chairs,” wrote Stone. “At the convention, we would honor the Chairwoman’s leadership and service to the Party and introduce the new Chair for the final phase of the campaign.” As it turned out, leaked WikiLeaks emails were released the weekend before the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in late July, prompting an outcry among Sanders delegates who always believed Wasserman Schultz was biased for Clinton in her position at the DNC. The uproar was so great, Wasserman Schultz quit the Sunday afternoon before the convention, ultimately replaced by Donna Brazile. Brazile recently left CNN under dubious circumstances following another WikiLeaks release indicating that, while at CNN, she may have passed along a question to Clinton before a debate.
Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama: First ladies form political odd couple
When Hillary Clinton secured her place in the history as the first woman to win a major-party nomination for president, Democratic politicians around Washington marked the historic moment with barrage of statements, formal endorsements and public cheers. One political figure, however, was notably silent: Michelle Obama. The first lady let her husband speak for her during that moment in June, choosing instead to wait weeks to lend her voice to Clinton’s cause at the Democratic National Convention in what would become one of the most memorable moments in the campaign. It was the sort of careful choice that illustrated the gulf of differences between the current and former first ladies, women who have chartered very different paths through public life and are now locked in marriage of mutual interest. When they campaign together for the first time Thursday, the event in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will bring together one of the least traditional first ladies in modern history with one who has fully embraced tradition. Clinton dove into policy, undertook a massive project and failed under a harsh spotlight. Mrs. Obama largely steered clear and enjoyed quieter, modest success. Both Ivy League-trained lawyers with their own careers, Clinton bridled under the stereotypes associated with the office, Mrs. Obama declared herself “mom-in-chief” (and let it be known she prefers the Mrs. title before her last name). And when her time in the White House was ending, Clinton began plotting her return to Washington. Mrs. Obama hasn’t hid her readiness to leave. Asked if Mrs. Obama would ever consider running for president herself, White House officials who rarely speak for the first lady don’t hesitate. “No,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said flatly. That’s crushing news to the Democrats who have relished Mrs. Obama’s speeches in support of Clinton as high-points of the campaign cycle. Mrs. Obama’s passionate response to Trump’s vulgar comments about women has brought an emotional resonance to Clinton’s bid that the candidate, who rarely gets personal on the stump, doesn’t often deliver. Mrs. Obama’s appearances have become a key part of Clinton’s effort to fire up women, particularly black women for whom she’s a model and a source of pride. (Clinton even quotes Mrs. Obama’s DNC speech on the stump: “When they go low, we go high.”) Mrs. Obama, meanwhile, has her own reasons for stumping for Clinton and campaigning against Republican Donald Trump. “I think Mrs. Obama really wants to make sure her husband’s legacy is maintained and Mrs. Clinton is the way to get there,” said Myra Gutin, a professor at Rider University who has written about first ladies and women in politics. The partnership has on one level made for a striking political odd couple. As first lady, Mrs. Obama has largely dodged controversial issues. She’s stayed focused on her projects involving healthy eating, exercise, support for military families and education for girls – and not publicly expressed opinions on thornier subjects. She’s mastered the art of advocacy through popular culture, while, in recent years, all-but ignoring the possibility of policymaking through legislation. She’s cultivated a brand built on style, glamour and fashion. It’s a tenure that bears little resemblance to her Democratic predecessor in the East Wing. Clinton came in promising, along with her husband, a new kind of partnership in charge at the White House. Hillary Clinton was a veteran of the feminist movement and ready to expand the office of first lady to suit her experience and passion for policy. She had an office in the West Wing, took over the health care overhaul effort and ultimately became a target of investigations and criticism alongside her husband. It was a history Mrs. Obama and her aides sought to avoid. Asked to cite role models, Obama has named Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy. The Clintons and Obamas, of course, have a fraught history, one that includes both spouses. While Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton battled in 2008, Michelle Obama raised questions about her husband’s opponent, framing the choice between the two as “about character.” Since then the women have publicly buried the hatchet. They’ve appeared at countless events together and heaped praised on each other’s work, although there’s little sign they’ve spent time one-on-one. Comparing how first ladies use the office is especially tricky, historians note. Because the office comes with no set of constitutional duties, it is also a reflection of an individual’s style, personality, politics and times. The differences between Clinton and Mrs. Obama’s tenures speak in some ways to the differences in their generations – Clinton representing the first wave of baby boomers eager to push boundaries, while Obama benefited from lessons learned, noted Carl Sferrazza Anthony, a historian at the National First Ladies Library. “Beneath the surface they both brought a sense of rigor and structure and focus,” he said. “They were very objective oriented.” Those objectives were clearly different, he said. “I think Michelle Obama may end up being perhaps one of the most influential first ladies when it comes to influence on the America public, whereas Hillary has been one of the most important in terms of achievement in terms of policy.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump campaign doubles spending, not ground game
Donald Trump‘s campaign expenses more than doubled last month, even as the Republican presidential nominee held his payroll to about 70 employees, aired zero television advertisements and undertook no significant operational build out across the country. Instead, about half of the campaign’s $18.5 million in spending was vacuumed up by Giles-Parscale, a web design and marketing firm new to national politics, Federal Election Commission filings show. It’s a crossover vendor from Trump’s real estate organization. The campaign paid Giles-Parscale $8.4 million in July, about twice what the San Antonio firm had collected from it over the course of the preceding year. Brad Parscale, the president, is the campaign’s director of digital marketing. The big expense came as Trump put a new emphasis on online fundraising, after paying for his primary run mostly out of his own pocket. Millions more went to air travel. The campaign paid about $2 million for private jets other than Trump’s own TAG Air, which also collected $500,000. Some of Trump’s consultants are also mysteriously well-paid. Chess Bedsole, the campaign’s Alabama state director, was paid $64,000 last month for field consulting. His last campaign payment was for $15,000 in December. Yet the campaign’s payroll remained thin, and there did not appear to be much new in the way of office leases across the country, including in critical battleground states such as Ohio. Trump has relied heavily on the Republican National Committee for conventional campaign infrastructure. And he’s boasted of holding the line on his campaign spending. But he’s running critically low on time to build an operation that can compete with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In addition to being ahead of Trump in polls in key states, Clinton has maintained a staff of about 700 for months, opened up offices across the country and already spent $67 million on general election ads. Trump put out his first ads days ago, spending $5 million to air them in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Her campaign spent $38 million in July, about double his spending. Clinton can afford to spend more than Trump, the July campaign finance reports show. Her campaign raised $52 million while his brought in $37 million for the month, including a $2 million contribution from Trump himself. The candidates also raise money for their parties, enabling them to ask for contributions far higher than the $2,700-per-donor limit to the campaigns. Overall in July, Clinton raised $90 million for her campaign and Democratic partners, while Trump raised $80 million for the campaign and Republican groups. Trump did bring aboard some new campaign consultants in July. He paid $100,000 to Cambridge Analytica, a deep-dive data firm that did business with GOP opponent Ted Cruz. Hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, who contributed $2 million to a pro-Trump super political action committee in July, is an investor in Cambridge. The Trump filings also show some old ties. Two weeks after the ouster of campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign cut his firm, Green Monster Consulting, another $20,000 check. That’s about the same amount it had paid him each month while he was running the campaign. At the time of the latest payment, Lewandowski was already on the payroll of CNN, where he is a political contributor. The campaign also paid Trump Organization employee Meredith McIver, who has worked as a Trump ghostwriter over the years. She took credit — and then blame — for writing Melania Trump‘s speech at the Republican National Convention that included similar lines from Michelle Obama‘s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The campaign valued McIver’s time, accounted for as payroll from the Trump Organization, at $356.01. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Steven Kurlander: Feminist ‘Herstory’ and the rigged coronation of Hillary Clinton
The underwhelming Democratic convention in Philadelphia is over and much of the messaging done by a feminist-dominated DNC encompassed that Hillary Clinton was making “herstory” as the first woman to be nominated to run for president in the U.S. In highlighting Clinton’s achievement, an article in USA Today entitled “How it felt when America got a first woman presidential nominee” started off by stating: “Finally. That’s how millions of people felt Thursday night as a woman accepted, for the first time, a major party’s nomination for president. From the floor of the Democratic National Convention to watch parties across the nation, on TVs and laptops and smartphones, Americans beheld history — or, as some feminists would call it, herstory.” As The New York Times reported, Clinton acknowledged breaking the glass ceiling: “If there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch,” she said, “let me just say, I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next.” In real terms, the achievement that meant so much to leftist Democratic feminists momentarily may have touched a majority of American women too — maybe. Despite the achievement, Clinton is a weak candidate who was not supported by probably a majority of her party. The women of America care more about their pocketbooks — and the future of the American dream for their children — than about having a woman in the Oval Office. The reality is that Clinton’s breaking the glass ceiling in 2016 will not lead to her automatically capturing a vote that twice ensured the election of President Obama to the White House. President Obama brilliantly exploited the gender gap in the last presidential cycle. According to Gallup, Obama won the female vote, and a second term, by 12 points, 56 percent to 44 percent. Clinton does not share such support, even given the fact that she made “herstory.” A recent poll indicated that while 52 percent of registered women from both parties supported Clinton, that share fell to 36 percent among white women ages 50 to 64 and to only 34 percent among white women between 35 to 49. As the next phase of the campaign begins, the Clinton campaign will still try to build upon “herstory” to employ a very successful, time-tested Democratic tactic of social distraction that played to great success against Mitt Romney in the last presidential cycle. Clinton has employed this strategy brilliantly before. Remember when she destroyed Republican Rick Lazio in 2000 when he displayed “sexist” behavior during a debate with Clinton? You can bet that Clinton will try to exploit Donald Trump’s propensity to stupidly mock his opponents and members of the press in misogynistic and physically derogatory terms. It’s a matter of time before Trump makes a nasty comment about Hillary’s weight, hairdo, or her past tolerance of her husband’s well-chronicled philandering, and Clinton will be able to capture the hearts and minds of women voters as a victim of sexism. Well, maybe. Trump’s supreme achievement so far is that he is a master of overcoming the power of political correctness on political messaging. Trump too has brilliantly captured the frustration of Americans with their diminished quality of life that has resulted after 16 years of terrible — and very similar — Bush/Obama big government, Wall Street-centric economics and immigration policies that stand as the centerpiece of Clinton policies, too. Given the history of this campaign so far, capturing that frustration will override the significance of his alleged sexism. Trump’s crass brand of reality politics in 2016 has set a stage to diminish Clinton’s and the Democratic Party’s past success of exploiting the gender gap into capturing the votes of American women. Thus, Clinton, who had to rig the primary process to get the nomination to beat back Bernie Sanders, should not count gender politics, particularly “herstory,” to win the votes of American women. In terms of HISTORY that will be learned by today’s young girls, the true significance of the 2016 election will be not that a women won or ran for the White House, but how many disenfranchised Americans, both men and women, stayed home from the polls, fed up with a choice of two terrible candidates and the political parties and process that spawned them. ___ Steven Kurlander blogs at Kurly’s Kommentary. He is a communications strategist and an attorney in Monticello, New York, writes for Florida Politics, and is a former columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He can be emailed at kurly@stevenkurlander.com.
Joe Henderson: Convention wrap up — is it November yet?
A convention two weeks that marked plagiarism from Donald Trump’s wife and a small-but-noisy insurrection by Bernie Sanders’ supporters has concluded with, what? Good question. It appears the American public is flummoxed over the choice of an obnoxious and potentially dangerous billionaire against a scandal-coated representative from the nation’s ruling class. Or, maybe it’s a huuuugely successful businessman against a woman of considerable accomplishment who is shattering the glass ceiling. Definitely one or the other. The most recent Rasmussen poll with a 3-point margin of error showed 28 percent of voters have switched their preferred candidate since the start of the year. Hillary Clinton has a 43-42 percent lead nationally over Trump in that poll, which doesn’t mean squat. It’s all about electoral math and that’s too fuzzy right now to hazard anything more than a guess that’s likely to be wrong. At least the conventions this year were able to clearly present the themes of their respective parties. Republicans seem to be trying to convince voters that we’re all going to die if Clinton is elected because she is weak, crooked and, if Ben Carson is to be believed, a devotee of Satan. Democrats counter with a vision of Donald Trump as a man of with no principles who is campaigning to be dictator-in-chief and will unleash nuclear holocaust while playing footsie with Vladimir Putin. With the trend toward early voting taking hold around the country, neither party has much time to change the negatives about their candidate. That’s why the conventions were perhaps their best opportunity to make an impression. So, let’s go to the tale of the tape. Who won? SIGNATURE QUOTE — Trump: “I alone can fix it.” Clinton: “I will be a president for Democrats, Republicans and independents. … For those who vote for me and those who don’t. For all Americans.” Winner: Draw. Clinton as a unifier is tough to picture, and Trump already doesn’t care if anyone likes him. QUOTE THEY’D LIKE YOU TO FORGET — Trump: “America is far less safe and the world is far less stable than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy. I am certain it is a decision he truly regrets.” Clinton: “The truth is, through all these years of public service, the service part has always come easier to me than the public part.” Winner: Trump. Even after President Obama’s vigorous endorsement of his former secretary of state, Clinton’s renowned penchant for secrecy, right down to her private mail server, makes her quote likely to show up in an attack ad. BEST ACCEPTANCE SPEECH — Trump’s rambling, lengthy and cataclysmic forecast for America may have boosted Xanax sales but it also probably did scare the bejeebers out of at least some people who might vote for him now. Clinton laid out specifics in a speech that was surprisingly liberal but plodding. And like her or not, the speech was history unfolding. Winner: Clinton, for making history while not making viewers crawl under the covers while listening to her. BEST NONCANDIDATE MOMENT — Republicans: Donald Trump Jr. emerged as a possible rising star, both with his impassioned speech for his father and the fact that he got to announce the votes that officially gave his father the nomination. Democrats: Several candidates, starting with first lady Michelle Obama’s landmark speech and including Rev. William Barber’s drop-the-mic firebrand address Thursday and the one-for-the-ages address by Kazir Kahn, father of a Muslim American soldier killed in action. Winner: Democrats, if only for this quote by Kahn directed at Trump: “Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery? Go look at the graves of brave patriots who died defending the United States of America. You will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing.” NEW CAMPAIGN SLOGAN — Republicans: “If Hillary wins, the nation is doomed.” Democrats: “If Trump wins, the nation is doomed.” Americans: “When does November finally get here?” Winner: No one. ___ Joe Henderson has had a 45-year career in newspapers, including the last nearly 42 years at The Tampa Tribune. He has covered a large variety of things, primarily in sports but also 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.
Democrats find a Republican they can cheer for
The Latest on the Democratic National Convention and 2016 presidential campaign. (all times EDT): 8:50 p.m. Doug Elmets is a Republican who Democrats can cheer for. Elmets – who worked in the Reagan White House – earned a roar from the crowd at the Democratic convention Thursday night when he took the stage and said he was backing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Elmets says Clinton will be the first Democrat to get his vote – and he’s blaming Donald Trump for driving him away from the Republican Party. He’s borrowing a line from the late Lloyd Bentsen – the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 1988 – to tweak Trump for likening himself to Reagan. Elmets says: “I knew Ronald Reagan. I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan! 8:25 p.m. They held a political convention and the governor of the host state actually came. And spoke. That was Tom Wolf on the stage Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and he was taking shots at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Wolf’s presence in the convention hall is a reminder that Republicans couldn’t feature a home-state governor at their convention in Cleveland last week. That’s because Ohio Republican John Kasich is a former Trump primary rival and sharp critic. Kasich steered clear of the GOP convention Wolf says, unlike Trump, Hillary Clinton will “reward companies that share profits with their employees.” 8:20 p.m. Chants of “lock her up” are going up at a Mike Pence rally in suburban Detroit. It’s the most raucous scene the GOP vice presidential nominee has faced since going out as a solo campaigner as Donald Trump’s running mate. At times, Pence had to wait for the crowd’s jeers of Democrat Hillary Clinton or chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” to die down. They cheered when Pence criticized Clinton’s handling of the Benghazi attacks in Libya and when Pence praised Trump’s call to build a wall on the border with Mexico. One of the biggest applause lines came when Pence said: “Hillary Clinton must never become president of the United States.” 8:10 p.m. Democrats are targeting Donald Trump in their convention speeches, and the Republican presidential nominee is getting tired of it. He says he wanted to “hit” some of them “so hard their heads would spin.” Trump isn’t identifying any of them. But he tells a crowd in Iowa that one certain speaker – Trump describes him as “a little guy” who he used to work with – particularly bothered him. Might that be former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg? He had some dealings with Trump – a New York real estate developer – as the city’s leader. By the way, Bloomberg is listed as 5-foot-8 inches. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Her turn now: Hillary Clinton makes her case for presidency
It’s Hillary Clinton‘s turn. After three days of Democratic stars, including a pair of presidents, asserting she is ready for the White House, Clinton must make that case for herself on her nominating convention’s final night. The first woman to lead a major U.S. political party toward the White House, Clinton will be greeted Thursday by a crowd of cheering delegates eager to see history made in the November election. But her real audience will be millions of voters who may welcome her experience but question her character. For Clinton, the stakes are enormous. She’s locked in a tight general election contest with Republican Donald Trump, an unconventional candidate and political novice. Even as Clinton and her validators argue Trump is unqualified for the Oval Office, they recognize the businessman has a visceral connection with some voters in a way the Democratic nominee does not. Campaigning in Iowa Thursday, Trump said there were “a lot of lies being told” at Clinton’s convention. In an earlier statement, he accused Democrats of living in a “fantasy world,” ignoring economic and security troubles as well as Clinton’s controversial email use at the State Department. The FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s use of a private internet server didn’t result in criminal charges, but it did appear to deepen voters’ concerns with her honesty and trustworthiness. A separate pre-convention controversy over hacked Democratic Party emails showing favoritism for Clinton in the primary threatens to deepen the perception that Clinton prefers to play by her own rules. Former Oklahoma Sen. Fred Harris said it was important for his party’s nominee to showcase the “original Hillary Clinton, before she became so guarded” when she takes the convention stage. A parade of speakers at the Philadelphia convention vigorously tried to do just that on Clinton’s behalf. First lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden each cast Clinton as champion for the disadvantaged and a fighter who has withstood decades of Republican attacks. Advocates and other Americans who have met Clinton throughout her career spoke of their quiet moments with one of the world’s most famous women. The Clintons’ daughter, Chelsea, will introduce her Thursday night, painting a personal picture of her mother. The week’s most powerful validation came Wednesday night from President Barack Obama, her victorious primary rival in 2008. Obama declared Clinton not only can defeat Trump’s “deeply pessimistic vision” but also realize the “promise of this great nation.” Seeking to offset possible weariness of a politician who has been in the spotlight for decades, he said of Clinton: “She’s been there for us, even if we haven’t always noticed.” Clinton appeared unannounced on the platform as Obama’s closed his remarks to soak up the midnight roar of cheering Democrats. She pointed at the man who denied her the White House eight years ago, smiled wide and gave him a hug. A studious wonk who prefers policy discussions to soaring oratory, Clinton has acknowledged she struggles with the flourishes that seem to come naturally to Obama and her husband. She’ll lean heavily on her “stronger together” campaign theme, invoking her 1996 book “It Takes a Village,” her campaign said. Indeed, the Democratic convention has been a visual ode those mantras: The first African-American president symbolically seeking to hand the weightiest baton in the free world to a woman. A parade of speakers – gay and straight, young and old, white, black and Hispanic – cast Trump as out-of-touch with a diverse and fast-changing nation. Clinton’s campaign believes there are opportunities to woo moderate Republicans who are unnerved by Trump. That effort was hammered home Wednesday by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent, who implored Americans to “elect a sane, competent person with sane, international experience.” Ret. Marine General John R. Allen, a former commander in Afghanistan, will underscore the same point. He’s one of several military leaders and service members who have taken the stage to vouch for Clinton’s national security experience. To Democrats, Trump’s comments this week about Russia underscored their concerns about him becoming commander in chief. Following reports Russia hacked Democratic Party emails, Trump said he’d like to see Moscow find the thousands of emails Clinton deleted from the account she used as secretary of state. The appearance of him encouraging Russia to meddle in the presidential campaign enraged Democrats and Republicans, even as he dismissed suggestions from Obama and other Democrats that Moscow already was intervening on his behalf. Hours later, Trump told Fox News he was being “sarcastic” although shortly after his remarks on Wednesday, he tweeted that Russia should share the emails with the FBI. Thursday night’s convention lineup will also showcase Democratic up-and-comers, including Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro; Katie McGinty, a Senate candidate from Pennsylvania, and Illinois Rep. Tammy Duckworth, also a candidate for the Senate. Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost her legs in combat, took on Trump’s readiness to be commander in chief, saying “I didn’t put my life on the line to defend our democracy so you could invite Russia to interfere with it.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Police and protesters credited with restraint at convention
Bernie Sanders‘ devoted followers were careful to pick up after themselves and wore hats embroidered with a dove to remind everyone to remain peaceful. And the police, instead of hauling demonstrators off to jail, issued them $50 tickets for disorderly conduct and released them with a complimentary bottle of water. As the Democratic National Convention drew toward a close Thursday afternoon, Philadelphia police reported making a four-day total of only 11 arrests, and officers and protesters alike were credited with showing restraint and courtesy. The rallies and marches that some feared would result in violence and mass disruptions instead brought a festival-like atmosphere at times to City Hall and Broad Street. “I’m very happy so far with everyone,” Police Commissioner Richard Ross said. He said his officers “took pride in what they did all week. Very patient, tolerant and courteous is what I was hearing from a lot of people.” Mary Catherine Roper, deputy legal director of Pennsylvania’s American Civil Liberties Union, said the department’s hands-off approach helped keep things calm. “This is what it looks like when you just let people get their message out: lots of expression and very little conflict,” she said. As of Thursday afternoon, in addition to the 11 people arrested, about 100 protesters had been ticketed and fined. The ticketed demonstrators were briefly detained, their hands zip-tied behind their backs, but not technically arrested. Less than two months before the convention, the city passed legislation allowing police to write the equivalent of traffic tickets instead of making criminal arrests for many nuisance crimes, such as disorderly conduct, blocking a street and failure to disperse. “I think it’s helped,” the police commissioner said. “What it does for us is that it gets people in and out of our hands. We’re able to get people back on those lines and keep things moving. I’m sure people appreciate being written up for a citation and handed a bottle of water.” During the Republican convention in Cleveland last week, a heavy police presence and fewer than expected protesters helped authorities maintain order. Only about two dozen arrests were made. In Philadelphia, the number of protesters was likewise much lower than expected. About 35,000 protesters each day were anticipated. But the turnout on Monday was put at about 5,500, and it dwindled to 1,500 by Wednesday. Stifling humidity and temperatures in the high 90s may have kept the crowds down. Also, a severe thunderstorm that rolled through Monday evening scattered protesters gathered outside the Wells Fargo Center on the convention’s opening night, and heavy rain cut short a Sanders rally on Thursday afternoon. Police de-escalated situations by separating groups of opposing protesters but allowing them to continue to express themselves, said Eric Ferrero, an Amnesty International deputy executive director who helped oversee teams of observers in Philadelphia and Cleveland. “What we have seen so far in Philadelphia is largely peaceful protests around the city and police protecting people’s right to protest,” he said. He also gave credit to demonstrators, who are “protesting peacefully and who have a strong point of view they want to get across, but do it (in a) peaceful and orderly fashion.” Andy Billotti, a Sanders supporter from Middletown, Maryland, has been protesting all week and said the police have been excellent. He also said the protesters have been courteous. “Berners are a peaceful group,” he said. He attributed that to their general mindset and a desire not to “put a bad light on Bernie Sanders.” Weeks before the convention, Philadelphia clergy teamed up with a legal collective to hold a series of workshops for demonstrators on protesting nonviolently. Throughout the protests, some demonstrators have urged others to remain calm. It happened Tuesday night near the Wells Fargo Center when one demonstrator was shaking a temporary crowd-control fence and others told him to stop. He did. Police also showed patience with protesters outside the convention hall. Demonstrators climbing the fences Tuesday were helped down safely by police before the officers zip-tied their hands. On Wednesday night, officers smiled and talked with protesters, allowing them to secure their belongings before taking them into custody. Philadelphia wanted to avoid a repeat of 2000, when it arrested more than 400 protesters at the Republican National Convention, only to see most cases end in acquittals. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Lady Gaga hits stage for invite-only show for DNC delegates
Lady Gaga hit the stage at an invitation-only concert Thursday for delegates to the Democratic National Convention, covering classic songs from Woody Guthrie, Neil Young, the Beatles and others. Gaga opened with a jazzy version of Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” and then Young’s “Old Man.” She was introduced by Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, who called her a star who’s not afraid to speak out about sexual violence and mental health. She closed out her set with the Beatles’ “Come Together” and then sang Edith Piaf‘s “La Vie en Rose” as an encore. Lenny Kravitz, who also performed inside the convention on Wednesday night, ended his set Thursday by shouting, “We, the people! We, the people! We, the people!” DJ Jazzy Jeff spun tunes in between their sets. The show gives Camden, one of the country’s most impoverished cities, time in the Democratic convention spotlight. George Norcross and Susan McCue, president of General Majority PAC and a former chief of staff to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, hosted the “Camden Rising” event, held hours before Hillary Clinton formally accepts the Democratic Party’s nomination for president. Norcross is credited with working with Republican Gov. Chris Christie to help in redevelopment efforts in Camden, many partially funded through state grants and tax credits. The insurance executive is a Democratic superdelegate along with his brother, U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross. Both are supporting Clinton. Clinton delegate Suzanne Perkins, 47, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, said she thinks celebrities can help influence delegates and voters. After Kravitz’s set, she said Bernie Sanders supporters in her delegation who like his music and politics heard his support for Clinton and might think, “Maybe I ought to open my mind. Here’s a guy whose politics I agree with and he endorsed her.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Bradley Cooper’s DNC appearance irks conservatives
Bradley Cooper‘s appearance at the Democratic National Convention has irked some conservative fans of the actor’s portrayal of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in 2014’s “American Sniper.” Cooper was spotted by TV cameras Wednesday night seated at the meeting in Philadelphia alongside his Russian model girlfriend, Irina Shayk. Some Twitter users say they plan to boycott Cooper’s future films over his presence at the convention. Another commented that they thought his experience playing Kyle would have rubbed off on him. The complaints have been mocked by others who say Cooper was simply acting a role when playing Kyle and conservatives shouldn’t be surprised. Cooper earned an Oscar nomination for “American Sniper,” which became a blockbuster thanks in part to an enthusiastic reception among conservatives moviegoers. Cooper was born and raised in Philadelphia. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Barack Obama says vote, don’t just boo Donald Trump’s name
The Latest on the Democratic National Convention (all times EDT): 11:33 p.m. President Barack Obama was coming to the part of his convention speech where he’s critical of Donald Trump – and the mention of the GOP nominee’s name caused the crowd of delegates to boo. Obama didn’t miss a beat. He deviated from his prepared remarks to implore his fellow partisans: “Don’t boo. Vote!” 11:31 p.m. President Barack Obama is telling the Democratic convention and voters watching on TV that if they’re “concerned about who’s going to keep you and your family safe in a dangerous world,” then their Election Day choice is clear. Obama says Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is “respected around the world not just by leaders, but by the people they serve.” He says Clinton has worked closely with “our intelligence teams, our diplomats, our military.” He says Clinton won’t relent until the Islamic State group is destroyed. And in a reference to GOP nominee Donald Trump, Obama says Clinton will “finish the job – and she’ll do it without resorting to torture, or banning entire religions from entering our country.” 11:30 p.m. President Barack Obama is blasting Donald Trump’s for trying to scare Americans into handing the GOP nominee the keys to the White House. Obama tells the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia that Trump believes he will win if he “scares enough people” over immigration and crime. Obama says Trump is “selling the American people short” by suggesting “he alone can restore order” as a “self-declared savior.” The second-term president notes that Democrats are meeting in the same city where American founders signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and later wrote the Constitution. He’s quoting words from those documents, and saying it’s “We the people” who “can form a more perfect union.” 11:28 p.m. President Barack Obama is telling the Democratic National Convention that if they believe that there’s too much inequality in our country and too much money in our politics, they need to be as vocal, organized and persistent “as Bernie Sanders‘ supporters have been.” He says they need to get out and vote for Democrats up and down the ticket and then hold them accountable. Obama says politics can be frustrating, but that “democracy works.” He says Americans have to “want it, not just during an election year but all the days in between.” 11:27 p.m. President Barack Obama is trying to make the case for his preferred successor and he says: “Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena.” Obama says the Democratic nominee has been “there for us – even if we haven’t always noticed.” The president tells the delegates at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia that if they’re serious about democracy, “you can’t afford to stay home just because she might not align with you on every issue.” That’s a coy reference to supporters of Clinton’s primary rival, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. He tells activists: “You’ve got to get in the arena with her, because democracy isn’t a spectator sport.” Obama’s also making a reference to GOP nominee Donald Trump. The president says, “America isn’t about, ‘Yes he will.’ It’s about, ‘Yes we can.’” 11:26 p.m. President Barack Obama says Donald Trump “shows no regard for working people.” Obama says he knows plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved success like Trump has. But Obama says they’ve done it without leaving a trail of lawsuits, unpaid workers and “people feeling like they got cheated.” Obama tells Democrats at their convention that “The Donald is not really a plans guy. He’s not really a facts guy, either.” He said anyone concerned about pocketbook issues and who wants a bigger voice for workers should vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. 11:21 p.m. President Barack Obama is criticizing what he says is the “deeply pessimistic vision” of America he says he heard from Republicans at their convention last week. Obama is telling the Democratic National Convention that Republican nominee Donald Trump and his supporters proposed “no serious solutions to pressing problems.” Instead, the president says Republicans spent their time fanning “resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate.” Obama says “that’s not the America I know.” He’s delivering a speech that makes the case for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s election as his successor. Obama says the country is “full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity.” The president is acknowledging that Americans have “real anxieties” and that some have not shared in the economy recovery. 11:17 p.m. President Barack Obama says there’s never been a man or a woman – “not me, not Bill” – who’s more qualified than Hillary Clinton to be president. Obama says at the democratic convention that “nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office.” Obama says Clinton has been in that room and has been part of the decisions that a president makes. He’s vouching for Clinton as someone who listens to people, keeps her cool and treats everybody with respect. Obama says, “that’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
