Lawmakers struggling to develop a response to Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin
Congress is producing an unusual outpouring of bills, resolutions and new sanctions proposals to push back at President Donald Trump’s approach to Vladimir Putin, shore up relations with NATO allies and prevent Russian interference in the midterm election. But it remains uncertain if any of their efforts will yield results. Lawmakers are struggling with internal party divisions as well as their own onslaught of proposals as they try to move beyond a symbolic rebuke of Trump’s interactions with the Russian president and exert influence both at home and abroad. And while many Democrats are eager for quick votes, some Republicans prefer none at all. As Trump and Putin weigh another face-to-face meeting, lawmakers in both parties — particularly in the Senate — appear motivated to act. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a rare warning that Russia “better quit messing around” in U.S. elections as he tasked two Senate committees to start working on sanctions-related legislation and other measures to deter Russia. In the House, Speaker Paul Ryan joined McConnell in saying that Putin would not be welcome on Capitol Hill, though he did not push forward any Russia-related legislation before his chamber recessed for August. Still, the past few weeks have been one of the rare moments in the Trump era that Republicans and Democrats have jointly asserted the role of Congress as a counterweight to the administration. “You look at the action of Congress since the summit in Helsinki, you find Democrats and Republicans both standing up and saying no,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., in an interview on C-SPAN with The Associated Press and The Washington Post. For starters, there’s a bipartisan push from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and others to “explicitly prohibit” the president from withdrawing from NATO without Senate approval. Other senators are debating action to prevent meddling in the midterm election. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., call the protection of the election system a “national security priority.” Graham said it’s “extremely important that Congress recognize the threat to our electoral system coming from Russia and act in a decisive way.” In addition, legislation from McCain and Cardin would require approval from Congress before Trump could reverse sanctions issued under the Sergei Magnitsky Act, which bans visas for travel and freezes assets of key Russians involved in alleged human rights abuses. Russia’s displeasure at the 2012 Magnitsky Act played into what Trump initially called an “incredible offer” from Putin at the summit to allow U.S. questioning of Russians indicted by the Justice Department for hacking Democratic emails. In return, Putin requested the ability to investigate Americans involved in the Magnitsky Act. McCain called it a “perverse proposal” and Trump has since backed away from it. With some 100 days before the midterm election, some say Congress is not acting fast enough. One bill that has been given a go-ahead nod from McConnell is legislation from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., that attempts to warn Putin off more election interference by setting up tough new sanctions on Russia if it does try to intervene. The measure is slowly making its way through the Senate Banking Committee, but some lawmakers in the House and Senate have raised concerns it casts too wide a net and could cause problems for allied nations that do business with Russia. Rubio says he’s willing to adjust the legislation to meet concerns, but says the goal is for Russia to understand there will be a price to pay for further election interference. He adds the legislation was introduced months before the Helsinki summit and isn’t intended to embarrass or attack the president. “I’m deeply concerned about their ability to interfere in our politics,” Rubio said in an interview. “We want them to know what the price is going to be to make that choice.” The legislation would likely see overwhelming support, lawmakers in both parties say. But a vote is not scheduled. Some symbolic measures on Russia have failed to make it out of the starting gate. Already, the Senate has blocked a symbolic resolution from Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., to reaffirm the findings of the American intelligence community that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Twice over the past two weeks, Republicans objected to motions to advance the measure, saying they prefer a more strategic approach that goes beyond symbolic resolutions. House Democrats were similarly thwarted in their attempts to slap new sanctions on anyone who has interfered in U.S. elections and bolster election security funds to the states as Republicans blocked those votes. Key Republicans are panning more federal spending on election security. The GOP chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, said Monday that he worried federal funds would come with “strings attached” that would interfere with elections operations he believes should be left to the states. Ryan says the U.S. has “learned a great deal” about Russian interference. “So, I think we’re far better prepared today than we were just a couple of years ago.” But the Speaker added there’s more for Congress to do. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Senate panel divided over Mike Pompeo for secretary of state
President Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, is facing so much opposition from Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the panel could be forced to take the unusual step of sending the nomination to the full Senate without a favorable recommendation. Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire on Tuesday became the latest member of the committee to announce her opposition, and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., recently said he would vote no. Both supported Pompeo as CIA director last year. Pompeo is still expected to have enough votes in the full Senate to replace Rex Tillerson, who was fired by Trump. But as support peels away, his confirmation may come down to a handful of senators. The backlash ahead of the panel’s vote is a rare rebuke for such a high-profile Cabinet pick, and sets Pompeo on a potentially uneven path for the new job. “I continue to have deep concerns regarding Mr. Pompeo’s past statements and policy views, particularly in regards to the LGBTQ community, American Muslims and women’s reproductive rights,” Shaheen said in a statement, after calling the former Kansas congressman Tuesday to tell him she would be opposed. Shaheen said Pompeo’s previous roles “are fundamentally different from that of Secretary of State, who represents American values around the world.” A sign of the important role Pompeo plays in the Trump administration: The CIA director traveled to North Korea for a secret meeting with leader Kim Jong Un, two U.S. official say. The meeting came as U.S. and North Korean officials plan a summit between Trump and Kim. The officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the trip publicly. Rarely has the Senate panel failed to back a nominee, and some said not since President George W. Bush nominated John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has the committee declined to recommend a White House pick. Republicans have a narrow Senate majority, which gives them a single-vote advantage on the panel. But with stiff opposition from Democrats — and at least one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, opposed — the committee may have few other options when it convenes as soon as next week. “We’ll see,” said the committee’s chairman, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. Under Senate rules, if the nominee does not have support in the committee, the panel could report to the full Senate unfavorably, which would send a strong rebuke to the White House, or simply report without a recommendation. It also could take no action. One top committee Democrat, Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, said he was still reviewing his decision. Senators submitted more than 100 questions for the nominee after his initial hearing, and many are waiting for those responses. Trump initially tapped Pompeo as CIA director, one of his first Cabinet nominees in 2017, and they became close allies. But some Democrats have faced resistance for their votes, and Pompeo is having a tougher path as the nominee for secretary of state over his hawkish foreign policy views and comments about minorities, having suggested that Muslims should denounce extremism and gay people should not be able to marry. During his confirmation hearing last week, Pompeo told senators it’s unlikely he’d resign if Trump fired special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Of the more than a dozen Democrats who supported Pompeo’s nomination as CIA director in 2017, at least four, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii, now oppose his nomination for State. “The Secretary of State is a very different role than CIA director, and it’s not the kind of position you learn on the job,” Feinstein said in a statement Tuesday. “I sense a certain disdain for diplomacy in Mike Pompeo that I believe disqualifies him from being our next senior diplomat.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who also backed Pompeo earlier, declined to say Tuesday how he would vote. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Despite lingering questions, Luther Strange gets warm greeting in Senate
Republican U.S. Sen. Luther Strange is getting a warm reception in Washington despite lingering questions about his appointment in his home state of Alabama, according to a profile by USA Today. The national paper got the obvious out of the former Alabama Attorney General: he is supporting the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare and he’s an advocate for Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. Strange said his former duties as AG made him particularly passionate about Gorsuch. “I’ve got that hands-on experience with federal judges and how important it is to have judges like Neil Gorsuch, who will take a rule of law approach to the decision-making process,” he said. “I think he’s eminently qualified. My hope is that I’ll be able to vote to confirm him on the Supreme Court before we get to the Easter recess.” The junior senator also seems to be fitting in with his colleagues on both sides of the aisle. “They’ve made it very easy for me to fit in,” he said. “The welcome has been bipartisan across the board. I really appreciate that.” But he chuckled, “Give it some time.” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican leader, joked that the 6-foot-9-inch lawmaker was “head and shoulders above the rest of us,” and Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine said he was “pleasantly impressed so far” adding that “any guy who is a former tenant of Mark Warner’s deserves great sympathy and affection.” But beyond the new-guy pleasantries, Strange has been able to lean on fellow Alabama U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby during his transition. “He’s been tremendous in sort of taking me under his wing and showing me the ropes,” Strange said. “I seek his advice at every turn. You’ll probably see me with him a lot. Whenever I can spend time with him I always learn something.” Strange said Shelby and his staff have also been gracious in putting up with the dust while Strange got situated. “We’re going to buy pizza for his office to thank them for putting up with all the mess they had out there in the hallways,’’ Strange said. “He’s been great. He’s really nice.’’
Tim Kaine says he’s not going to run for president in 2020
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine says he’ll seek re-election in 2018 but is ruling out a presidential bid in 2020. The former Democratic vice presidential nominee said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that his place is in the Senate and his decision not to run in 2020 is final. “Period. Full stop,” Kaine said. With a heightened national profile after campaigning across the country for more than three months as Hillary Clinton‘s running mate, Kaine could have chosen to pursue his own White House ambitions or tried and play a leading role charting a reeling Democratic Party’s direction in the Donald Trump era. But the first-term senator and former governor said he belongs in the upper chamber, where he will be part of a Democratic minority whose ability to filibuster will be “the only emergency brake there is” on Trump and the GOP-controlled Congress. Kaine has already been a vocal critic of Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon as a senior advisor. Kaine said Bannon’s ties to white nationalism and anti-Semitism disqualify him from a senior role in the White House. Kaine said he would continue to guard against the “normalization” by Trump of what Kaine said were un-American values, but he added that he’s keeping an open mind about the billionaire businessman’s presidency. “I have a lot of concerns, but I don’t think it’s fair to the administration to just assume everything that was said during the campaign will be done,” Kaine said, noting that Trump had already shown some post-Election Day flexibility on issues like gay marriage and the Affordable Care Act. Kaine said there were some issues Democrats could work with Trump on, including increased infrastructure spending and raising the tax rate on carried interest, which is often used by managers for private equity firms and hedge funds to reduce tax payments. Kaine said he plans to use his higher national profile to continue to advocate for issues he’s long cared about, notably on increasing Congress’ role in war-making powers. “I’ve been willing to stand up and do that with a president of my own party and I tell you, I’m sure going to be willing to stand up to President Trump,” Kaine said. Kaine has twice come close to being vice president. He was on President Barack Obama‘s shortlist in 2008 and many expected Clinton to win this year. On the campaign trail this year, the deeply spiritual Kaine often told supporters that the election would work out the way things are supposed to. Kaine said Clinton’s loss was “hard” to take, but didn’t shake his faith that the outcome was for the best. “Maybe the whole reason I’m in the Senate was less being in the Senate when there was President Obama, who was a friend of mine. Maybe the reason I’m in the Senate is for the next four years,” Kaine said. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
It’s likely to be a close election in Florida, again
Another close election in Florida? Count on it. Through Friday, 2,268,663 Democrats and 2,261,383 Republicans had cast ballots by mail or at early voting sites – a difference of 7,280 in favor of Democrats. Overall, more than 5.7 million Floridians have voted, or nearly 45 percent of those registered. That far surpasses 2012 totals, when 4.8 million Floridians cast ballots before Election Day. As early voting was set to end in 51 of Florida’s 67counties Saturday, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump once again were campaigning in the Sunshine State. Their running mates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence and other top surrogates have been frequent visitors in the state that’s a must-win for Trump’s presidential campaign. “How many of you have already voted?” Clinton asked a crowd in Broward County. The response was enthusiastic cheers. “OK, so that means you’ve got time to get everybody else to get out and vote, right?” Earlier in Tampa, Trump told supporters at a rally that 66 of the state’s 67 counties supported him in Florida’s primary last March. “Florida is just a place I love – my second home, I’m here all the time. I might know Florida better than you do,” Trump said. “I see maybe more enthusiasm right now than I did (in March).” Florida’s 29 electoral votes are the biggest prize in Tuesday’s presidential election among states that could swing to either candidate. In 2000, Florida set the standard for close presidential elections when George W. Bush beat Al Gore by 537 votes out of about 6 million cast. It took five weeks to call the election in the state that determined the presidency. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio was campaigning across north Florida Saturday, starting with an event at a Pensacola Beach bar. He’s being challenged by Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy. Unlike Murphy, Rubio has avoided campaigning with his party’s presidential nominee. While he supports Trump, he has condemned his words and behavior. Murphy attended a Broward County rally with Clinton and later planned to attend a St. Petersburg concert with singer Jon Bon Jovi and Kaine. While only 16 counties will continue early voting on Sunday, they are some of the state’s largest, including Democratic strongholds of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Democrats were planning “souls to the polls” events encouraging African-American churchgoers to take advantage of the last day of early voting in the counties where polls will be open. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
For Hillary Clinton, struggle to change public perception persists
Hillary Clinton bested Donald Trump in three debates. She leads in many preference polls of the most competitive states. Barring a significant shift in the next two weeks, she is in a strong position to become the first woman elected U.S. president. But Clinton will end the campaign still struggling to change the minds of millions of voters who don’t think well of her, a glaring liability should the Democratic nominee move on to the White House. While many see her as better prepared to be commander in chief than Trump, she is consistently viewed unfavorably by more than half of the country. Most voters also consider her dishonest. Clinton’s advisers have spent months trying to erase that perception. They’ve set up small events where she had more intimate conversations with voters. They’ve tested a seemingly endless stream of messages aimed at assuring the public that the former secretary of state was in the race to do more than fulfill her own political ambitions. As Clinton starts making her closing argument to voters, her team appears to have come to terms that the mission remains unfulfilled. “Honest and trustworthy has become our most talked about metric because it’s not great,” said Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton’s communications director. “But we’ve never thought it’s the metric people make a decision on.” If Clinton wins, that theory may be proven true. Just 36 percent of voters believe Clinton is honest and trustworthy, according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll. That’s compared with about 60 percent who believe she has the qualifications and temperament to be commander in chief. The public’s perception of Clinton has bounced up and down throughout her time in public life. Her favorability rating fell below 50 percent at times during her years as first lady, but rose to its high water mark then and while she was as secretary of state under President Barack Obama. Democrats blame some of the current negative personal perceptions of Clinton on the hard-charging tactics she’s used to try to discredit Trump, though they believe her sustained assault on Trump’s character and temperament has been crucial. Party operatives also say Trump’s personal attacks on Clinton have made it all but impossible for more positive messages to break through. He’s called her a “liar,” a “nasty woman” and pledged to put her in jail. “When you’re under relentless assault from a reality TV star, it’s hard to come out of that with anybody feeling good about anyone,” said Bill Burton, a former Obama aide. Still, Clinton’s advisers acknowledge that some of her troubles have been of her own making, including her penchant for privacy. She’s spent nearly the entire campaign struggling to explain why she used a private email server in the basement of her home while she led the State Department. She hid a pneumonia diagnosis this fall from nearly all of her senior staff, then left the public unaware of her condition and whereabouts for 90 minutes after the illness caused her to rush out of a public event in New York. “She is a politician that does not seek to be the center of attention and is inherently more private than most politicians, certainly presidential candidates,” Palmieri said. “That doesn’t always serve you great in a campaign for president.” Clinton frequently shoots down questions about the public’s negative perceptions by saying she’s viewed more positively when she’s doing a job rather than running for one. There’s some evidence to back that up. When she ran for re-election to the Senate from New York in 2006, she won with 67 percent of the vote, a big jump from the 55 percent share from her first race in 2000. Her approval rating when she left the State Department, where her job kept her out of day-to-day politics, sat at an enviable 65 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. But if Clinton is elected president, she won’t have the luxury she had as secretary of state to stay away from the political fray — with Republicans in Washington in the opposition, and possibly Trump, too. The businessman keeps flirting with the idea he could contest the election results if he loses. There are also persistent rumors that, if he loses, he might try to harness the enthusiasm of his millions of supporters into some type of media venture. “The notion that Trump is going to go quietly into the night and wish her Godspeed is highly unlikely,” said David Axelrod, another former Obama adviser. “She’s going to have to contend with that and whatever it is he chooses to make his vehicle.” Clinton has begun acknowledging the challenge that could await her in the White House, if she wins, centering her closing argument to voters on a call for unity after a bitter campaign. “My name may be on the ballot, but the question really is who are we as a country, what are our values, what kind of a future do we want to create together,” she said Friday at a rally in Ohio. Some Democrats see the transition — the two-month-plus stretch between the Nov. 8 election and the Jan. 20 inauguration — as a crucial opportunity for her to signal, if she wins, that a Clinton White House would be different from a Clinton campaign. In a nod to bipartisanship, she could nominate a Republican for her Cabinet. Clinton could start moving on some of her more broadly popular policy proposals as a way of boosting her appeal, assuming no crisis demands immediate action. Still, Axelrod said changing the public’s view of Clinton will be a “long-term project.” “There’s no silver bullet to turn around years of wear and tear on her image,” he said. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Tim Kaine already reaching out to GOP
Tim Kaine is sounding a hopeful note that a Democratic White House could work with Republicans to bridge deep divides laid bare by this bitter presidential campaign. The vice presidential candidate told The Associated Press on Saturday that he and Hillary Clinton have already spoken about how to heal the nation if they should win. He said tackling economic anxieties, finding common policy ground with the GOP and perhaps bringing Republicans into the administration would be elements of unity, though he added that he and Clinton did not discuss Cabinet positions. “We have not run this campaign as a campaign against the GOP with the big broad brush — we’ve run it against Donald Trump,” Kaine said. He predicted: “We’re going to get a lot of Republican votes and that will also be part of, right out of the gate, the way to bring folks back together.” Clinton’s campaign has been preparing for the possibility that Trump won’t concede the election if he loses, based on his assertions that the contest is rigged. Kaine said he hasn’t talked with Clinton about that scenario. A self-described underdog, Kaine said he only recently began acknowledging the real possibility of victory. He’s hired Wayne Turnage, a former chief of staff, as his transition director and is considering issues he’d pursue as vice president. “It’s probably only been in the last couple of weeks that I’ve started to think about, OK, the prospect of winning is such that we better start doing some thinking about practicalities,” Kaine said. As vice president, Kaine said he would hope to be central in forging relationships between the administration and mayors and governors. Kaine served as the mayor of Richmond and governor of Virginia before winning his Senate seat in 2012. He also wants to help shape U.S. policy in Latin and South America, due to his fluency in Spanish and experience as a missionary in Honduras. Kaine still remains somewhat of an outsider in Clinton’s world. She has developed trusted relationships with several aides over decades and Kaine is a new addition to the mix. He’s at times been out of the loop on major developments, such as not knowing about Clinton’s pneumonia diagnosis in September until days later. The two campaign together infrequently, but communicate by text message, email and phone. Sometimes they talk every few days, but it could be as infrequent as once a week, Kaine said. Their scheduled joint appearance in Pennsylvania on Saturday was their first event together since Labor Day. But Kaine said he’s not worried about lacking a voice in a Clinton administration and expects to be a principal adviser to her on the most difficult issues if she wins. He said he thinks Clinton picked him over longtime confidants specifically because he was not a member of the inner circle from way back. “I’m not worried about, you know, getting my two cents in,” he said. Kaine said his experience as Virginia’s lieutenant governor and as Democratic National Committee chairman during President Barack Obama‘s first term has showed him how to be a strong adviser and asset for Clinton. Kaine might be well-positioned to work with Republicans, having won three statewide races — lieutenant governor, governor and senator — in historically Republican Virginia, although the state has started going Democratic in presidential contests. Now in his fourth year as a senator, he said he’s already talking with Republicans about working together after the election. Clinton is stepping up efforts to help Democrats recapture Senate control but Kaine didn’t make a specific pitch for a Democratic Senate. He said he’s more focused on finding policies Republicans and Democrats can agree on. “I have very good relations with Republicans in the Senate,” Kaine said. “There’s some people who really want to get some good work done.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren considered as Hillary Clinton’s vice president
Hillary Clinton‘s campaign circulated an initial list of nearly 40 elected officials, military leaders and corporate CEOs to be considered for vice president last spring. The list was included among hacked emails from Clinton’s campaign chairman disclosed Tuesday by WikiLeaks. The list emailed from John Podesta to Hillary Clinton last March included several Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tim Kaine of Virginia, who was eventually picked by Clinton. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Clinton’s opponent in the hotly contested Democratic primary, also made the list – at the very bottom. Podesta organized the list into “rough food groups” including blacks, women, and Hispanics such as Obama administration Cabinet members Julian Castro of Housing and Urban Development and Labor Secretary Tom Perez. African-Americans who made the list included Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., former Attorney General Eric Holder, and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Besides Warren, women on the list of possibilities included Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., who is openly gay. Another group of possibilities that appeared to represent “outside-the-box” options included former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Tim Cook of Apple, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, Howard Schultz of Starbucks and retired Marine Corps Gen. John Allen. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Guest lineups for Sunday news shows
Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows: ABC’s “This Week” — Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; former CIA Director David Petraeus. ___ NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Vice President Joe Biden; Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence. ___ CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Pence, Kaine ___ CNN’s “State of the Union” — Rep. Nancy Pelosi; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. ___ “Fox News Sunday” — Pence, Kaine ___ Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Hillary Clinton says video of Donald Trump is “horrific”
Hillary Clinton is responding to a video of rival Donald Trump making lewd comments about women in 2005. The Democratic presidential candidate said on Twitter, “This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president.” Trump issued an apology after the video emerged of him making sexually charged comments. He called it “locker room banter.” Clinton has said that Trump has shown a lack of respect for women, noting during the first presidential debate that he insulted a former Miss Universe. She has said it’s a reason why he’s unfit to be president. *** Earlier, Trump issued a rare apology after a video showed him making lewd, sexually charged comments about women in 2005. He called it “locker room banter.” The Republican nominee said that “I apologize if anyone was offended.” He issued the statement after The Washington Post revealed the video of Trump caught on a hot mic while talking with Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood.” Trump is heard saying he “did try and f— her,” referring to an unknown woman. He also used graphic terms to describe the woman’s body and said he frequently tried to kiss beautiful women. He boasted that “when you’re a star they let you do it.” He said: “You can do anything.” Trump has a long history of making crude comments about women. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Joe Henderson: Tim Kaine, Mike Pence clash in downcard, ‘diluted’ debate
About halfway through the vice presidential debate Tuesday, I wonder how many Republicans were secretly (or maybe not so secretly) wishing Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was at the top of their presidential ticket. On my scorecard, Pence was the clear winner over Democrat Tim Kaine – not on policy so much, as I doubt the debate changed many minds on the major issues that divide us all. But Pence was polished, poised and focused most of the time and, dare I say it, looked presidential. Kaine? Not so much. He was so loud, rude and frenetic that I almost wondered he hadn’t looked at Howard Dean’s epic meltdown after he was routed in the 2004 Iowa caucuses and thought, “Hey, that looks like a good plan.” Yo Tim? One word: decaf. But let’s be honest: I doubt any of this will really matter much for this election. I can’t imagine any undecided voter looked at Pence or Kaine and made up their mind based on that 90-minute exchange. Let’s put it another way: Last week’s Clinton-Trump debate drew comparisons to the Super Bowl. By that reckoning, Pence-Kaine would be along the lines of a late-season Bucs and Cleveland Browns game. I doubt it had any impact in Florida, especially since I wouldn’t be surprised if folks all along the east coast of the state were more focused on hurricane preparations than a faceoff between the No. 2 people on the presidential ticket. It’s likely the audience was further diluted by the baseball playoff game between Baltimore and Toronto. Full disclosure: During one of the many times Kaine was going full-Dean and interrupting Pence (who didn’t get flustered; respect for that), I switched over briefly to catch a score on the game. Being dutiful, though, I quickly switched back. Kaine was still yelling. The person I felt sorriest for, besides the viewers, of course, was moderator Elaine Quijano, a CBS News correspondent. She lost control of the debate shortly after the introductions and never got it back. The candidates ignored her most of the night and just kept on talking over each other. One of the more humorous twists came when the Republican National Committee released a prepared statement declaring Pence the clear winner. What’s the big deal? Someone took “rapid response” to warp speed by sending the statement out 90 minutes before the debate started, even declaring Pence’s top moments included comments about the economy and Hillary Clinton’s scandals. Oh well. The night needed a little levity anyway as we wait for Sunday and Round II of Clinton-Trump. ___ Joe Henderson has had a 45-year career in newspapers, including the last nearly 42 years at The Tampa Tribune. He covered a large variety of things, primarily in sports but also including hard news. The two intertwined in the decade-long search to bring Major League Baseball to the area. Henderson was also City Hall reporter for two years and covered all sides of the sales tax issue that ultimately led to the construction of Raymond James Stadium. He served as a full-time sports columnist for about 10 years before moving to the metro news columnist for the last 4 ½ years. Henderson has numerous local, state and national writing awards. He has been married to his wife, Elaine, for nearly 35 years and has two grown sons – Ben and Patrick.
Mike Pence, Tim Kaine to make the case for running mates in VP debate
In their only debate faceoff, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine will try Tuesday night to carry forward a fresh burst of Democratic momentum in the presidential campaign while Indiana Gov. Mike Pence seeks to steady Donald Trump‘s White House bid after one of the Republican’s worst stretches of the race. Pence and Kaine, Hillary Clinton‘s running mate, seem unlikely to dramatically change the way voters view the top two, who are among the most well-known figures in the country. Still, the nationally televised debate will be a spotlight opportunity for the longtime politicians to introduce themselves to Americans, energize party loyalists and potentially sway the shrinking pool of undecided voters. For the earnest and easygoing Kaine, that means defending Clinton’s character and reputation, her Achilles’ heel throughout the campaign. And it means blocking any attempts by Pence – an equally genial politician – to make Trump’s controversial statements and policy proposals seem more palatable. “When it comes to the issues, it’s hard to tell them apart,” Hillary Clinton’s campaign said of Trump and Pence in a video released ahead of the debate. “From the alt-right racists supporting their ticket to women’s health to immigration to LGBT equality to global warming to the minimum wage, it’s no wonder that Donald Trump picked Mike Pence.” The 90-minute showdown at Virginia’s Longwood University will be moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News. While last week’s first presidential debate was watched by a record-setting television audience of 84 million people, Tuesday’s contest is expected to have smaller viewership given Pence and Kaine’s lower profiles in the campaign. In a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, more than half of registered voters said they didn’t know enough about Kaine to venture an opinion about him and about 44 percent said the same for Pence. Clinton was widely viewed as the winner of her opening debate with Trump, rattling the real estate mogul with jabs about his business record and demeaning statements about women, and responding to his attacks with calm rejoinders. New public opinion polls have showed her improving her standing in nearly all battleground states. At least some of Clinton’s bounce is likely attributable to Trump’s conduct coming out of the debate. He redoubled his criticism of a beauty queen and her weight, one of the topics Clinton raised in the debate, and went on a pre-dawn Twitter tirade trying to disparage the former Miss Universe. That firestorm was deflected only by revelations that Trump suffered more than $900 million in losses in 1995 that could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years, according to records obtained by The New York Times. In Tuesday’s debate, Pence will likely find himself trying to clean up Trump’s controversies, as has often been the case since he joined the GOP ticket this summer. The governor signaled that he would frame the matters as attempts by Clinton to obscure her own record. “The media is so busy parsing every word that Donald Trump said in the past 30 minutes, they’ve been ignoring what the Clintons (have) been up to the last 30 years,” Pence said during a campaign stop Monday night. “Hillary Clinton’s record on foreign affairs alone could take up the whole 90 minutes, and it wouldn’t be a pretty picture.” Pence was picked as Trump’s running mate in part because he has the conservative credentials the businessman lacks. His addition to the ticket was cheered by conservative leaders in Washington, and Trump’s supporters are hoping his debate performance will be similarly appealing for Republican voters who may still be skeptical of Trump’s ideology. “There’s Pence speak and there’s Trump speak – Mike Pence using the language of conservative orthodoxy and Donald Trump using the language of a brash businessman,” said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union. Kaine, who served as Virginia’s governor before becoming senator, is largely in step with Clinton on key issues. While he voted to give President Barack Obama fast-track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership, he’s since joined Clinton in opposing the final version of the trade pact. Both Pence and Kaine are deeply religious, which could bring faith to the forefront of the debate, a rarity in this campaign. Pence was raised Catholic, but is now a Protestant evangelical. His signature line is: “I’m a Christian, a conservative and a Republican – in that order.” Kaine speaks frequently about how his Jesuit mission work in Honduras shaped his life. At times, his Catholicism has run up against his governing choices. After opposing gay marriage in his 2005 gubernatorial run, he later broke with the church to support it. He says he’s personally against abortion but has consistently voted in favor of abortion rights. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
