Senate Leadership Fund opens second front in Senate battle, now attacking Roy Moore
Senate Leadership Fund is giving Rep. Mo Brooks something of a break, turning its sights to hard-right social conservative Roy Moore, also in the race for U.S. Senate. On Tuesday, the super PAC linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell began running ads against Moore, essentially launching a second front in the contentious midsummer battle for the remainder of Jeff Session’s Senate seat. SLF is backing Sen. Luther Strange in the Aug. 15 special Senate primary. Strange was appointed to the seat in February by then-Gov. Robert Bentley after Sessions stepped down to become Donald Trump’s Attorney General. With two weeks left in the race, the Washington Examiner reports that SLF is investing more than $435,000 on both television and radio ads attacking Moore, the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice. The ad buy is statewide — except in the Huntsville media market, where ads blasting Brooks will continue. Brooks represents Alabama’s 5th Congressional District, which covers much of Northern Alabama. “Roy Moore; there’s so much more,” the 30-second TV spot — called “Fund” AL — opens with a voice-over. “Despite being one of the highest paid judges in the nation, raking in more than $170,000 a year, Roy Moore, wanted more. So, Roy and his wife took over $1 million from a charity they ran, paying themselves $1 million and spending even more on travel, including a private jet.” Moore has also blasted Strange, accusing him of being a McConnell pawn, which plays well into the anti-establishment trend running through Alabama Republican politics, where Sessions is still beloved. Moore has also been getting some traction with the base voters of staunch social conservatives. Despite being ousted from the Alabama Supreme Court 15 years ago after he installed a Ten Commandments monument at the state court building, voters put Moore back in the same job some 10 years later. Moore was removed again from the Court after he refused to defend the federal law legalizing same-sex marriage. Arguing he did nothing wrong by upholding state law, he claimed to be a victim of a campaign from a variety of liberal-leaning groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Examiner reports on a recent Moore fundraising email, where he says: “My opponent is receiving ‘money by the barrelful’ from Mitch McConnell.” Brooks, who had been the sole target of SLF attacks in Alabama until now, has also bashed McConnell while pushing back on accusations he refused to support Trump in the primaries, and was slow to embrace the nominee in the general election. Other Republicans the 9-person field include Dr. James Beretta, Joseph Breault, Alabama Christian Coalition president Randy Brinson, Mary Maxwell, Bryan Peeples and state Sen. Trip Pittman of Baldwin County. The last day to apply for an absentee ballot for the primary is Aug. 10. If there is no primary winner — with 50 percent plus one — a runoff is Sept. 26; the general election is Dec. 12. Given Alabama’s strong Republican lean, whoever wins the primary — either outright or in the runoff — will most likely represent the state in the U.S. Senate. Both ads are available on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8q2NEZmSAA&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwwujICELGA&feature=youtu.be
Top GOP Senate candidates tout endorsements in final sprint to primary day
The top GOP candidates running to finish out Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ term in the Senate each publicized major campaign endorsements Monday. CD 5 U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks picked up support from conservative commentator Ann Coulter, who said Alabamians have “a chance this year to save the country by sending Congressman Mo Brooks to the US Senate.” “Despite my general policy of not making endorsements in GOP state primaries, this moment in history is too important not to endorse Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks for the Senate seat vacated by the great Jeff Sessions,” she said. Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore sent out an email Monday touting an endorsement from the Alabama Republican Assembly, which announced it would back Moore last week. Don Wallace, who heads up the Southeast Region of the ALRA, said “while there are several good candidates that are running for this position and who would serve Alabama well in the Senate, the Republican Assembly voted overwhelmingly for Judge Moore because of his demonstrable commitment to conservative principles and a willingness to stand up against an out of control Federal Judiciary.” Not to be outdone, sitting U.S. Sen. Luther Strange came out with a new ad highlighting the endorsement he received from the National Rifle Association back in May. In the 30-second ad, titled “Drain the Swamp,” Strange says he’s working with President Donald Trump’s administration to curb illegal immigration and build a wall on the country’s southern border. The ad then displays the NRA seal and he mentions the group’s endorsement over video of Strange firing a handgun at a shooting range. A recent poll from Raycom News Network put Strange and Moore in a statistical tie heading into the final stretch, with Brooks coming in as the only other GOP candidate in the nine-person field with double digit support. Alabama requires a primary runoff election if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, which seems likely given current poll numbers. The primary race is set for Aug. 15. The primary runoff, if necessary, will be Sept. 26; the general election is Dec. 12.
The new civics course in schools: How to avoid fake news
Teachers from elementary school through college are telling students how to distinguish between factual and fictional news — and why they should care that there’s a difference. As Facebook works with The Associated Press, FactCheck.org and other organizations to curb the spread of fake and misleading news on its influential network, teachers say classroom instruction can play a role in deflating the kind of “Pope endorses Trump” headlines that muddied the waters during the 2016 presidential campaign. “I think only education can solve this problem,” said Pat Winters Lauro, a professor at Kean University in New Jersey who began teaching a course on news literacy this semester. Like others, Lauro has found discussions of fake news can lead to politically sensitive territory. Some critics believe fake stories targeting Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton helped Donald Trump overcome a large deficit in public opinion polls, and President Trump himself has attached the label to various media outlets and unfavorable reports and polls in the first weeks of his presidency. “It hasn’t been a difficult topic to teach in terms of material because there’s so much going on out there,” Lauro said, “but it’s difficult in terms of politics because we have such a divided country and the students are divided, too, on their beliefs. I’m afraid sometimes that they think I’m being political when really I’m just talking about journalistic standards for facts and verification, and they look at it like ‘Oh, you’re anti-this or -that.’” Judging what to trust was easier when the sources were clearer — magazines, newspapers or something else, said Kean senior Mike Roche, who is taking Lauro’s class. Now “it all comes through the same medium of your cellphone or your computer, so it’s very easy to blur the lines and not have a clear distinction of what’s real and what’s fake,” he said. A California lawmaker last month introduced a bill to require the state to add lessons on how to distinguish between real and fake news to the grade 7-12 curriculum. High school government and politics teacher Lesley Battaglia added fake news to the usual election-season lessons on primaries and presidential debates, discussing credible sites and sources and running stories through fact-checking sites like Snopes. There were also lessons about anonymous sources and satire. (They got a kick out of China’s dissemination of a 2012 satirical story from The Onion naming Kim Jong Un as the sexiest man alive.) “I’m making you guys do the hard stuff that not everybody always does. They see it in a tweet and that’s enough for them,” Battaglia told her students at Williamsville South High School in suburban Buffalo. “It’s kind of crazy,” 17-year-old student Hannah Mercer said, “to think about how much it’s affecting people and swaying their opinions.” Stony Brook University’s Center for News Literacy pioneered the idea of educating future news consumers, and not just journalists, a decade ago with the rise of online news. About four in 10 Americans often get news online, a 2016 Pew Research Center report found. Stony Brook last month partnered with the University of Hong Kong to launch a free online course. “To me, it’s the new civics course,” said Tom Boll, after wrapping up his own course on real and fake news at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. With everyone now able to post and share, gone are the days of the network news and newspaper editors serving as the primary gatekeepers of information, Boll, an adjunct professor, said. “The gates are wide open,” he said, “and it’s up to us to figure out what to believe.” That’s not easy, said Raleigh, North Carolina-area teacher Bill Ferriter, who encourages students to first use common sense to question whether a story could be true, to look at web addresses and authors for hints, and to be skeptical of articles that seem aimed at riling them up. He pointed to an authentic-looking site reporting that President Barack Obama signed an order in December banning the Pledge of Allegiance in schools. A “.co” at the end of an impostor news site web address should have been a red flag, he said. “The biggest challenge that I have whenever I try to teach kids about questionable content on the web,” said Ferriter, who teaches sixth grade, “is convincing them that there is such a thing as questionable content on the web.” Some of Battaglia’s students fear fake news will chip away at the trust of even credible news sources and give public figures license to dismiss as fake news anything unfavorable. “When people start to distrust all news sources is when people in power are just allowed to do whatever they want, said Katie Peter, “and that’s very scary.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Updates from the 1st presidential debate
The Latest on the first of three presidential debates between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump (all times EDT): 10:45 p.m. Both candidates concluded the first presidential debate by saying they will accept the outcome if the other wins. Hillary Clinton spoke directly to viewers and said, “It’s not about us, it’s about you.” Donald Trump initially dodged the same question, saying he would make a “seriously troubled” America “great again.” He added: “I’m going to be able to do it. I don’t believe Hillary Clinton will.” But Trump finished his answer by saying that if Clinton wins, “I will absolutely support her.” ___ 10:43 p.m. Hillary Clinton is punching back at Donald Trump’s assertions that she doesn’t have the “stamina” to be president. Trump has questioned whether Clinton has the physical fitness to be president and he repeated the criticism to her directly during the debate. Clinton’s response? Trump shouldn’t talk about stamina until he’s tried out the busy schedule she kept up as secretary of state. Trump didn’t answer moderator Lester Holt’s original question about his past comments that Clinton doesn’t have the “presidential look.” Clinton suggested the remarks were about gender, and she reminded the crowd of Trump’s past comments calling women “pigs” and other derogatory names. ___ 10:42 p.m. Donald Trump says NATO needs to “go into the Middle East with us” to combat the Islamic State group. And he is taking credit for NATO focusing resources on combating terrorism. In fact, the alliance agreed in July to contribute aircraft and conduct training in Iraq and has increased intelligence coordination there. And NATO set up an anti-terrorism program in 2004 — years before Trump criticized them as a presidential candidate. Earlier this year, Trump criticized NATO for not focusing on terrorism. He said that afterward, he saw an article reporting that NATO was opening a new, major anti-terrorism division. He said Tuesday that NATO’s action was “largely because of what I was saying, and my criticism of NATO.” ___ 10:40 p.m. Donald Trump is avoiding a specific declaration on how he would use nuclear weapons if he’s elected president. The Republican nominee said during the first presidential debate that he “would not do first strike” because “once the nuclear alternative happens, it’s over.” That statement suggests he would not authorize a nuclear attack unless the U.S. was struck first. But in the same answer Trump said he “can’t take anything off the table.” He mentioned adversary nations such as North Korea and Iran. President Barack Obama has considered changing existing policy to state clearly that the United States would not deploy nuclear weapons without first being attacked by nuclear weapons. But he met resistance and has elected not to make such a shift. ___ 10:38 p.m. Hillary Clinton is accusing Donald Trump of being too easily provoked to keep the United States from going to war — perhaps even one involving nuclear weapons. Trump says: “I have much better judgment than she does. I have much better temperament.” That drew laughs from some in the debate crowd, and prompted Clinton to exclaim: “Woo! OK!” Clinton then pivoted to policy, defending the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. Clinton said Iran was “weeks away” from a nuclear bomb when she became secretary of state — and says the Obama administration thwarted that progress. She continued that Trump didn’t have “good judgment or the right temperament” because he could take the country to war over small issues, like being mocked on Twitter. ___ 10:35 p.m. Donald Trump is continuing to insist he opposed the Iraq War before the U.S. invasion despite evidence to the contrary. Trump says during the debate that he “did not support the war in Iraq,” calling that charge “mainstream media nonsense.” But there is no evidence Trump expressed public opposition to the war before the U.S. invaded. Trump was asked in September 2002 whether he supported a potential Iraq invasion in an interview with Howard Stern. Trump briefly hesitated, then responded: “Yeah, I guess so.” Presented with the comment during the debate, Trump responds: “I said very lightly, I don’t know, maybe, who knows.” He’s also telling reporters to call Fox News host Sean Hannity to confirm private conversations he said they had about the war. Hannity is a top Trump supporter. Clinton voted in favor of the invasion in 2002 while she was a New York senator. She has since said it was a mistake. ___ 10:27 p.m. Donald Trump is interrupting the moderator of the first presidential debate to insist he has the best temperament for the office. Trump repeatedly made the assertion after clashing with moderator Lester Holt over his early support for the Iraq War. Then he segued to his temperament. “I think my strongest asset by far is my temperament,” Trump said. “I know how to win.” Clinton and her allies have repeatedly hit Trump over his temper and inability to take criticism. ___ 10:23 p.m. Hillary Clinton says one key to fighting terrorism in the United States is working closely with Muslims living here. Clinton says Donald Trump has “consistently insulted Muslims abroad, Muslims at home.” She says Muslim people can provide information that law enforcement may not be able to obtain anyplace else. Both candidates were asked to explain how they would combat terrorism in the U.S. Clinton says her plan includes an intelligence surge to obtain “every scrap of information” and to “do everything we can to vacuum up intelligence from Europe, from the Middle East.” ___ 10:20 p.m. Hillary Clinton says defeating the Islamic State group and taking out its leaders would be a top priority as president. Clinton says she’s hopeful the Islamic State group would be pushed out of Iraq by the end of the year. She says the U.S. could then help its allies “squeeze” the terrorist group in Syria. Clinton says she would do everything possible to take out the group’s leaders, and make that one of her administration’s organizing principles
Campaign chair plays down Donald Trump-Paul Ryan rift
The Latest on the U.S. presidential campaign (all times local): 7:55 a.m. Donald Trump‘s campaign chairman is playing down a rift between the Republican nominee and House Speaker Paul Ryan. Paul Manafort acknowledged “a conflict within the Trump campaign” after vice presidential candidate Mike Pence endorsed Ryan a day after Trump declined to do so. Manafort spoke on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” Manafort the campaign has “sort of had a rule of not getting involved in primaries.” He said Ryan’s primary rival “is not going to win,” but noted he has supported Trump. “Of course, he’s going to work with Paul Ryan,” Manafort said Trump has “tried to bridge the party together” with Ryan. 3:20 a.m. Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence has tried to focus on winning over conservatives who are skeptical of the New York billionaire, but his new boss keeps getting in the way. The Indiana governor has been called on several times to do damage control this past week after the Republican presidential nominee made incendiary remarks. Trump feuded publicly with the family of deceased Army Capt. Humayun Khan after they criticized Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric. Trump also refused to endorse Arizona Sen. John McCain and Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. Pence responded by saying Khan’s family should be cherished. He also had a meeting with McCain and publicly endorsed Ryan. There’s no indication Trump is unsatisfied with Pence’s approach. Some supporters hope Pence will counterbalance Trump’s more provocative remarks. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Chuck Yeager “endorsement” of Donald Trump? False, Snopes says
Snopes.com has debunked the recent “endorsement” of presidential candidate Donald Trump by aviation hero and retired Air Force Gen. Chuck Yeager. The latest online legend began as a Nov. 5 post on “conservative strategist” Gary Forbes‘ blog. An about 1,900-word article purportedly written by the 92-year-old former test pilot — famous for the being first person to break the sound barrier — reads as a defense of Trump. For example, “while it may surprise many, he’s actually humble when it comes to his generosity and kindness,” it says. The post also sticks up for Trump as a friend of the military and believer in a strong national security plan, among other things. One problem: Yeager didn’t write it, according to Snopes, a fact-checking website for claims in email chains and on the Internet. This article, titled “Donald Trump — Who He REALLY Is by Chuck Yeager,” was not written by the retired USAF General, nor was it first published on the Gary Forbes website. The article has been posted on a variety of blogs and websites … Chuck Yeager’s name was eventually tacked on to the essay, first by Catholic.org in August, and later by Gary Forbes, but this form of credit was undertaken without the General’s knowledge or approval. As people started to tweet links to the post, Yeager’s personal Twitter account (@GenChuckYeager) tweeted back not to. “Please delete this,” read one tweet. “As a military person, I do not publicly endorse candidates.” Screenshots of the tweets were included in the Snopes post, but it appears they’ve since been hidden from Yeager’s public Twitter account. (Here’s a direct link to one of them.)
