Hillary Clinton endorsed by 2 ex-South Carolina governors
Hillary Rodham Clinton is getting endorsements from two former Democratic governors in the early-voting state of South Carolina, including one who helped lead President Barack Obama‘s first campaign. The moves are part of Clinton’s effort to build her organization in South Carolina and Iowa, two early-voting states where Obama defeated her on his way to the nomination in 2008. Jim Hodges, who served as South Carolina’s chief executive from 1999 to 2003, told The Associated Press that he will formally endorse Clinton on Wednesday in Columbia, South Carolina, alongside her current campaign chairman, John Podesta. “We were on the other side, but I developed a hearty respect for Hillary Clinton both as campaigner and a public servant,” said Hodges, who was national co-chairman for Obama’s 2008 campaign. Separately, Clinton’s campaign announced an endorsement from Dick Riley, who served as secretary of education during President Bill Clinton‘s administration after serving as governor from 1979 to 1987. Days ago at the Iowa State Fair, where presidential candidates gather to meet voters in the first caucus state, Clinton garnered the formal backing of former Sen. Tom Harkin. He remains a popular elder statesman in Iowa. The high-profile endorsements demonstrate Clinton’s strengths at a time when Vice President Joe Biden, who has several South Carolina loyalists, is considering whether to seek the 2016 nomination. Biden recently vacationed in the state, where he made calls to aides and supporters about the race. Yet even if the announcements show Clinton’s strength in comparison to Biden, they also highlight that she is anchored in the Democratic Party’s old guard at the same time she faces a challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders, who is running to Clinton’s left by assailing the nation’s political and economic establishment, makes his first extended South Carolina campaign trip this weekend. Hodges acknowledged that Clinton must balance her establishment relationships with an appeal to disaffected voters. “People are hurting,” Hodges said. “Campaigns on the right and the left have had some appeal, but at the end of the day, I think that a campaign like Secretary Clinton’s that’s focused on the problems people face is a winning campaign.” The former governor said he has no long-term worries about the ongoing investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she served as Obama’s secretary of state. “I’m confident that she’s going to come through it fine,” he said. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Fresh from Iowa State Fair, Jeb Bush announces busy multi-state fundraising tour
Now that the traditional Iowa State Fair food fest and political cattle call has concluded, Republican candidate Jeb Bush released his late-summer fundraising schedule. The former governor will be launching a busy multi-state tour through September 15. According to the National Finance Calendar obtained by Florida Politics, Bush and family members – including his brother, former President George W. Bush — will appear at a variety of meet-and-greet receptions starting Tuesday. The tour will include stops in Georgia, Massachusetts, Florida, Alabama, Virginia, the West Coast, both North and South Carolina, as well as several cities in New York State. August 18 – Evening Reception – Atlanta, Georgia. August 20 – Evening Reception – Nantucket, Massachusetts. August 21 — Luncheon with Mrs. Columba Bush — Charleston, South Carolina. August 22 — Evening Reception of Mission Next – Young Professionals with Jeb Bush, Jr. and Woody Johnson, Jeb 2016 National Finance Chairman — East Hampton, New York. August 24 – Luncheon Reception — McAllen, Texas; Evening Reception — Denver, Colorado. August 25 — Luncheon Reception — Salt Lake City, Utah; Evening Reception of Mission Next – Young Professionals with Jeb Bush, Jr. — Jacksonville, Florida. August 26 — Breakfast Reception — Birmingham, Alabama. August 27 — Breakfast Reception — Greensboro, North Carolina; Evening Reception — Richmond, Virginia. August 28 – Luncheon Reception — Virginia Beach, Virginia; Evening Reception — Southampton, New York. August 29 — Breakfast Reception — Sagaponack, New York; Luncheon Reception — Quogue, New York; Afternoon Reception — Wilmington, North Carolina. August 31 — Evening Reception — Miami, Florida. September 9 — Evening Reception — Boston, Massachusetts. September 10 — Luncheon Reception with President George W. Bush — New York, New York. September 14 — Evening Reception — Seattle, Washington. September 15 — Luncheon with Mrs. Columba Bush and Jeb Bush, Jr. — Los Angeles, California; Evening Reception — Portland, Oregon. Additional details on times and locations of any of the fundraising events is available by emailing finance@jeb2016.com. Bush also unveiled a proposed plan to support American veterans once he is elected president, a Veteran Affairs reform effort that includes expanding options for health care outside Veterans Administration without cutting funding for VA hospitals and medical staff. Bush’s proposal would “keep America’s promise to our veterans,” which he believes is the top priority for the next President of the United States. The full plan is online here. Also on Monday, Bush visited Columbia, South Carolina to meet with veterans and attend a town hall presented by the Concerned Veterans for America. Prior to the event, Bush announced the endorsement of 12 individual Medal of Honor recipients, which Fox News called “15 percent of all living recipients of the nation’s highest military honor.”
Donald Trump immigration proposal divides GOP presidential field
Donald Trump is dividing his Republican presidential rivals anew with his call to rewrite the Constitution to crack down on millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, and to force Mexico to pay for a better border fence. Scott Walker embraced some of the plan Monday, but other contenders, such as Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina, dismissed elements as unworkable. Trump’s immigration proposal, his first formal policy plan since announcing his candidacy in June, won praise Monday from the GOP’s conservative tea partyers, some of whom favor changing the Constitution to reverse the “birthright citizenship” guaranteed to anyone born in the United States, no matter the status of their parents. At the same time, surveys show a majority of Americans, including Republicans, support allowing many immigrants in the U.S. illegally to stay. Trump leads his Republican rivals in national polls, and his proposal quickly reverberated within the party, which has struggled with the issue of immigration. Party leaders are determined to expand the GOP’s appeal with Hispanics after the 2012 election in which Mitt Romney won just 27 percent of the Latino vote. But many Republicans have adopted a hardline approach on immigrants, appealing to the party’s core voters who play an oversized role in nominating primaries and caucuses. Asked at the Iowa State Fair on Monday if he supports building a wall along the U.S. Mexican border, as Trump has proposed, Wisconsin Gov. Walker gave a quick “yes,” but he declined to address whether he supports deporting children of parents in the country illegally. “Going forward, the best thing we can do is enforce the law,” he said. Walker, who reversed his position in April on allowing a chance for legal status for those in the country illegally, also gave mixed answers on ending birthright citizenship. Christie said during a CNN interview that a wall or fence along parts of the border, especially in more urban and difficult-to-control areas, was conceivable, but “not the entire border. Doesn’t make any sense.” Likewise, the New Jersey governor is opposed to requiring Mexico to pay for the construction, saying Trump’s suggestion “makes no sense.” “And this is not negotiation of a real estate deal, OK. This is international diplomacy and it’s different,” Christie said, noting Trump’s line of business. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina called Trump’s wall plan, “completely unrealistic.” Trump wasn’t flinching Monday. “The wall will work,” he said when he arrived for jury duty in New York and a passer-by at the courthouse asked about the idea. He spent much of the day like other prospective jurors, filling out forms and waiting to see if he would be picked. In the end, he wasn’t. Like Trump’s early derogatory campaign statements about immigrants, his new plan has lit up angry conservatives. But it also has annoyed Republicans who see the nation’s growing Latino population as an opportunity to demonstrate sensitivity to minorities who have voted overwhelmingly Democratic in recent presidential elections. Tea party movement co-founder Mark Meckler said Trump’s “position on deportation generally reflects what likely voters think. Trump is dealing head-on with the difficult issues while more establishment candidates fret over focus groups and polls.” Trump also is calling for eliminating federal aid to “sanctuary cities,” such as San Francisco, where local officials have decided not to use their police to enforce some federal immigration laws. The position is also supported by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Like Christie, however, Bush differs sharply with Trump on other aspects of immigration policy. Though he didn’t chime in specifically on Trump’s new proposal, Bush supports allowing people in the country illegally who have not committed major crimes, who work and follow a course such as learning English and paying fines, to stay in the United States. In a late July Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, 64 percent of Americans said they support either a path to permanent legal status or citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. According to the poll, a small majority of Republicans fall into the same category. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, also speaking at the fair, called Trump’s proposal “gibberish,” but warned it also sends a hostile signal toward Latinos voters. “You’re not going to get 11 million people and drive them back out of this country,” he said. “That’s just not practical. That’s going to kill the Republican Party.” Though Ohio Gov. John Kasich supports building a wall, he, like Bush supports maintaining birthright citizenship and allowing a pathway to legal status for immigrants. “They are a very important part of most of our communities,” Kasich said in South Carolina. “For the bulk of them, they are God-fearing, good, hardworking people, and they are a part of our country now.” Fiorina said to change birthright citizenship would be rigorous. “It would take passing a constitutional amendment to get that changed. This is part of our 14th Amendment, and so honestly I think we should put all of our energies, all of our political will over finally getting the border secured and fixing the legal immigration system.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Presidential Primary Brief: 448 days until Election Day
194 days until AL Presidential Primary 448 days until Election Day Convention Dates: Republican July 18-21 2016, Democratic July 25-28 2016 Weekly Headlines: Poll: Hillary Clinton leads in Iowa, but majority not firmly decided Donald Trump dominates Iowa in CNN poll Al Gore not planning to run against Hillary, advisors say Press Clips: Four ways Biden could upend the 2016 race for everyone (USA Today 8/16/15) This is one way to spend your summer vacation: Vice President Joe Biden, ensconced at a South Carolina resort, was calling old friends and potential allies to discuss the possibilities and problems of jumping into the Democratic presidential race after most pols assumed the field was complete. If he did, what would it mean for him, for Hillary Clinton, for the Democratic Party — and for the Republican opposition. History says he’s likely to run. “Since 1940, only three vice presidents did not either run for president or become president: Alben Barkley, Spiro Agnew and Dick Cheney,” Democratic strategist Peter Penn notes. Trump: I’ll face Biden in general election after Clinton unravels (The Hill 8/14/15) GOP presidential front-‐runner Donald Trump predicts he will face Vice President Biden instead of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election. Trump said on Friday he believes Biden will edge out Clinton once her campaign is undone by the controversy over her use of a private email server while secretary of State, according to Breitbart. “I think so,” Trump said when asked if he can picture a Bight with Biden in next year’s general election. “It just looks like Hillary is going to not be able to run,” he said. “It looks to me like that’s what’s going to happen. 2016 candidates try to connect with voters at Iowa state fair (WKYT 8/14/15) It is an important rite of passage for the people aiming for the White House. The big destination is the state fair that started this week. The candidates are working to turn this famous event into one big photo op. Over the next 10 days, more than 1 million people will descend on the Iowa State Fair, where they will have a chance to hear from 19 presidential contenders on the official stage known as the “soapbox.” Kasich putting the squeeze on Jeb (Politico 8/13/15) There’s a fresh face in New Hampshire and his name is John Kasich. The Ohio governor is no political newbie, having Burst made his way into national politics in the early 1980s as a freshman congressman, but he was a late entrant to the 2016 Republican race with limited name recognition and plenty of ground to make up against Jeb Bush, whose establishment lane Kasich has been trying to horn in on. Talk of Biden presidential run heats back up (Politico 8/13/15) Donald Trump thinks he would do “very well” in a potential general election against Vice President Joe Biden, as the chatter about a Biden presidential run ratcheted back up this week. “I think I’d match up great. I’m a job producer. I’ve had a great record. I haven’t been involved in plagiarism,” Trump said on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” late on Wednesday. “I think I would match up very well against Biden.” Walker offers self as alternative to Trump to suburban GOP (Chicago Tribune 8/13/15) Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker campaigned in the GOP stronghold of DuPage County on Thursday, offering himself as an experienced alternative to front-‐ running Donald Trump and others surging because they express voter anger at Washington. Speaking for 20 minutes at the county GOP’s summer reception at a Downers Grove restaurant, Walker also pledged to challenge the Republican establishment overseeing Congress. King Coal’ could swing the 2016 election (Business Insider 8/12/15) The Obama Administration carefully calibrated its final version of the Clean Power Plan to placate the concerns of some major coal producing states, especially in setting deadlines for achieving long-‐term reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Some states like Kentucky and North Dakota, which heavily rely on coal for power, saw their mandated carbon emissions reduction targets actually jump by as much as 22 percent. Bernie Sanders Overtakes Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire (U.S. News 8/12/15) Bernie Sanders has overtaken Hillary Clinton in the first-‐in-‐the-‐nation presidential primary state of New Hampshire, marking his first polling advantage over the former secretary of state of the campaign. The Vermont senator tracks 7 points ahead of Clinton in a new Franklin Pierce University/Boston Herald survey of the Democratic primary there, taking 44 percent to her 37 percent. It polled 442 likely Democratic primary voters in the Granite State last Friday through Monday and has a 4.7 percent margin of error.
Fair time in Iowa! A chance to heckle would-be presidents
Sampling the pork chop on a stick. Snapping a selfie with the butter cow. Taking questions about foreign policy from hecklers. For those who would be president, a visit to the Iowa State Fair may be the purest distillation of the campaign experience in the state that starts the voting in the race for the White House. The 11-day event starts Thursday, and most of the 2016 hopefuls will pass through, pausing to chomp on deep-fried snack foods, visit with locals out for a day of fun and spend some time on the political soapbox to talk with voters. If all goes well, the fair provides an opportunity for a candidate to have candid interaction with voters and shows off a side of him or her not often seen on TV. People fondly remember Barack Obama‘s ride on the bumper cars with his family in 2007. But in the increasingly stage-managed world of presidential politics, awkward moments and ill-timed soundbites can flow from this unscripted setting. “It’s an important thing for candidates to do,” said Tom Henderson, chairman of the Democratic Party in Iowa’s Polk County. “The pitfall is that in prior years, the real news story has been hecklers, which leads to quotes the candidates have to answer for.” Consider the case of Mitt Romney, who during the last campaign said atop The Des Moines Register‘s soapbox: “Corporations are people, my friend.” The comment dogged Romney, the former private equity executive, for the rest of his campaign. This year, more than a dozen candidates for president are scheduled take their turn on the soapbox, among them Republicans Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio. Democrats Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley will, too. Will Hillary Rodham Clinton? She’s coming to the fair, but hasn’t yet said if she’ll take a turn on the box. Iowa is already a place where even the most cautious-minded and carefully managed political candidate can have unexpected, intimate and sometimes just plain weird moments with the public. At campaign stops in recent months, Bush held hands and prayed with a flower-laden man in a top hat, Walker embraced a sobbing homeless military veteran and Clinton graciously accepted garlic pills from a supporter concerned for her health. The fair only amplifies the Iowa experience. Will Rogers, GOP chairman of Polk County, called it “the Iowa culture crammed into 10 days.” For Republicans, the cancellation of the traditional Iowa Straw Poll makes the fair an even more important destination. The poll had been a mainstay of the GOP presidential primary since 1979, raising money for the state party and culling the field of candidates. It was a weak predictor of candidate success in Iowa’s caucuses, however, and some major candidates skipped it. The Iowa GOP decided in June to drop the poll. “Not all candidates are going to appear natural and comfortable at a state fair. There is an element here of being able to interact with an average person on a hot August day,” said Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. A cheerleader for all things Iowa, Republican Gov. Terry Branstad waxed poetic about the benefit of a good fair appearance, remembering his trip to the event last year with Joni Ernst, then a state senator, now a U.S. senator. “I can tell you, she really connected,” Branstad said. “People were coming up to Joni and hugging her. I think that was a precursor to what happened in the election.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
