Hillary Clinton’s road to nomination paved with grit
I didn't describe it that way, but....
"Another defining moment for Clinton" by Victoria McGrane and Annie Linskey Globe Staff July 23, 2016
WASHINGTON — Lock her up! Guilty!
The prime-time refrain all week at Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland had the subtlety of a freight train rumbling along Lake Erie. And for Democrats fretting about the vulnerabilities of their own presidential nominee, it served as a Klaxon warning.
These were not just ravings from diehard Clinton haters. They were the over-the-edge manifestation of a real problem Democrats face: The former secretary of state must strive at her own convention, beginning Monday in Philadelphia, to win the trust of middle-of-the-road voters from Ohio to Florida.
That may be too high a mountain.
Polls show that Clinton heads into the Democratic National Convention this week with a wide swath of Americans saying they don’t trust her, or particularly like her. There’s the private e-mail server. Her career as a Washington embed. The big-money influence of the Clinton Foundation. Her struggles to connect on a human level.
It's being held, appropriately enough, at the Wells Fargo Center!
The Clinton campaign now has a four-day prime-time opportunity to shine up her image, while showcasing a party that’s united and on message, in contrast with the discord and disorder Republicans regularly displayed in Cleveland.
Related:
Cleveland Trump Stop
Clinton Lynching in Cleveland
Cruzing Out of Cleveland
Trump was stuck for one more debate before moving on.
People who have worked with the Clintons for years say the former secretary of state and her team know exactly how to use a forum like this to present a carefully curated story aimed at drawing in skeptical voters.
I won't be watching much of it.
“The Clintons have been on a talk show set their whole professional lives,” said Josh King, a former Clinton aide who helped organize the 1992 and 1996 Democratic conventions and did advance work for major Clinton trips during a two-decade-long career producing political events.
“They realize that the convention is a forum that is about having other people tell great stories, and allowing other people’s stories to do the work for you, instead of telling your own story,” King said.
Democrats have assembled a list of speakers dotted with people who can highlight Clinton accomplishments and causes that may not immediately spring to mind for the average voter.
The list of “everyday Americans” who will speak includes some higher-profile figures who will take the podium to help the country get to know a better side of Clinton, people like President Obama and Michelle Obama, both very popular among Democrats and those likely to vote Democratic.
I'm going to skip over him for now and move on to the next speaker.
On Tuesday, Bill Clinton — a.k.a. the “communicator-in-chief” whose 2012 speech is credited with helping make the case for Obama’s reelection — gets a prime-time speaking slot. Their daughter, Chelsea, will speak before Hillary Clinton delivers her own acceptance speech Thursday.
I know BLM isn't feeling the love, and I don't know how you defend that.
She talks of a dual presidency.
That is supposed to be a selling point?
His Starr is on the rise?
He gets booed everywhere he goes.
Better hammer the floor to order.
Order!!
Through it all, insiders say, expect to hear a lot of personal testimonials about Clinton’s character, leadership, and experience — punctuated with heavy sprinkling of the phrase: “I know Hillary.”
Party analysts insist there’s still room — with so many eyeballs trained on this event — to tell voters a new story about someone who has been in the national eye for nearly 25 years.
Joe Trippi, a Democratic strategist who was 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean’s campaign manager, said, “There’s a real opportunity to introduce her to the country in ways that will surprise” voters and could get the skeptics to “open up a bit and consider her,” he said.
While last week’s GOP convention was messy, with party divisions front and center, Republicans nonetheless got a lot of airtime to bang away at one of Clinton’s biggest vulnerabilities: her trustworthiness. Recent Quinnipiac polls in battleground states of Virginia, Colorado, and Iowa found a majority of voters there do not think Clinton is honest and trustworthy, and only about half of voters in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania say they trust her.
Thus the reasons Kaine and Vilsack were the final two in the running.
Throughout the week, Republican speakers blasted her record as secretary of state, arguing her decisions sowed violence and instability around the world; they accused her of breaking the law and lying over the use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state, which earned Clinton a harsh rebuke from the FBI but no criminal charges.
I'm still transcribing the platform.
“This is the theme that Republicans are hammering on. The Democrats have to really be concerned that this will get more and more traction,” Columbia University political scientist Gregory Wawro said of the message that Clinton is untrustworthy. “It’s a very simple frame that voters can grab on to.”
Democrats want to draw a contrast not just between a Trump they view as dangerous and divisive and a steady, unifying Clinton, but also between the Democratic Party and the version of the GOP Trump now leads.
The speaker list of political figures, average Americans, and even Hollywood stars seeks to play up themes of diversity, with an array of races, genders, and walks of life featured on stage.
I checked the list and noticed these names:
Matt Damon Explains Why He's Endorsing Hillary Clinton for President
"The protest over posters promoting the new movie “Jason Bourne” has a high-profile supporter. “Girls” writer/actress Lena Dunham has endorsed the idea of vandalizing the posters, which are plastered all over New York City subway stations. Why? Because the posters for the Matt Damon film feature a giant gun....."
Matt Damon and Julia Stiles respond to ‘Jason Bourne’ poster controversy
The Martian just lost me.
Why can't he be more like Ben?
Quote of the day: Kelly McGillis
That's quite different than dippy Matt Damon.
She must be a Sanders delegate.
Back to the floor....
The week ahead is not without potential pitfalls. Some supporters of Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who mounted a surprisingly strong challenge to Clinton for the Democratic nomination, remain suspicious at best of Clinton. Nineteen hundred of them are delegates to the Democratic convention, and it is entirely possible that procedural skirmishes could erupt in Philadelphia as they did in Cleveland.
Exacerbating ill-will on the left was a one-two punch Friday. First, e-mails from top DNC officials leaked by hackers inflamed feelings among Sanders supporters that the Democratic Party did not treat their candidate fairly.
That was known going and and was part of the campaign that was uncovered by the pre$$. Then you add the volatile super delegate issue that is the only reason she is going to be nominated. They flip and Bernie gets it.
Then Clinton announced she had chosen Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate, a trade-supporting, centrist pick that many progressives viewed as a slap in the face.
He will have his time to speak.
On Monday, the Democratic platform, which became a focus for Sanders and his followers, goes to the convention floor for a vote.
It will be here.
Sanders extracted some key concessions — the platform now includes support for a $15 per hour minimum wage and a call to break up banks that are “too big to fail,” and embraces a modern-day version of the Glass-Steagall Act that would constrain what banks can invest in. All were issues Clinton was resistant to during the primaries.
What he didn't extract was a rejection of the TPP.
Sanders is set to meet with his 1,900 delegates at the convention center on Monday afternoon — and later he will deliver a speech he spent the weekend crafting, according to his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver. Sanders likes to write them out longhand on yellow legal pads, he said.
“It’s the first night of the convention. It will be the start of it, and I think it will really set the tone,” he said.
First night?
No one's watching!!
Another slap in the face!
See: "Clinton’s speaking program isn’t without its snags. There’s no public sense yet of what role she’ll give to Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator whose surprisingly strong challenge in the Democratic primary has yet to officially end. Sanders says he’ll vote for Clinton, but he’s yet to formally endorse her and is pushing for changes to the Democratic platform."
The rumor mill is saying he is going to retract his endorsement, throw down the gauntlet, and challenge the super delegates to unbind themselves.
Also on the program that night is Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who withheld her endorsement of Clinton for months and was passed over for vice president.
She got Kained, so to speak.
Throughout the week, Sanders has a number of other forums planned — with 500 to 700 expected at each. They’ll include a meeting designed to encourage progressives energized by the Sanders campaign to run for office.
“What the Democrats need to do is put forward a message that resonates with working people in this country,” Weaver said. “People don’t want to hear name-calling.”
But he had a warning: “If it’s a flat centrist presentation, I don’t think it is going to move any voters.”
The Clintons have been here before, confronting image issues, starting with the 1992 convention. That event became part of an ultimately successful strategy to overhaul voters’ negative impressions of then-candidate Bill Clinton as a shifty, philandering draft-dodger. A centerpiece of this was a biographical video, “A Man from Hope,” shown at the convention that emphasized Clinton’s dirt-poor beginnings and his determined hard work to achieve the American Dream, and help others to do the same.
They have switched sides now, and voters are still negative about Bill.
I wonder if Hillary's bio reference her time working with Goldwater.
Hillary Clinton got a lot of screen time in that film, sharing humanizing anecdotes of her husband as an idealistic young law student and a doting father.
What else is on?
Bill Clinton emerged from the convention with a 16-point boost in the polls....
I'll take a look after it's over.
--more--"
I know who will not be speaking at this week's convention.
Back to who will be:
Obama and Clinton’s foe-to-friend story to get the spotlight
That might upstage her nomination.
What if the delegates start wishing they were renominating him instead?
"Improved economic outlook boosts Obama’s approval rating in new poll" by Kathleen Hennessey and Emily Swanson Associated Press April 09, 2016
FUCK OFF!
WASHINGTON — Obama’s numbers remain modest. Compared with his predecessors, he’s well above Republican George W. Bush, who had about a 30 percent approval rating at this point in his presidency, but below Democrat Bill Clinton’s roughly 60 percent, according to polls conducted by Gallup.
That's not saying much (even if you do believe their numbers; my rule of thumb is half it and that's the true approval rating).
Still, where each of those second-term presidents largely sat on the sidelines during the races to replace them, Obama is poised to stay in the game.
Approval ratings generally are tied to how people feel about the economy. Obama has enjoyed and promoted a steady trickle of positive economic news. Still, 54 percent characterize the economy as poor.
UNREAL!
Government lies about the stuff then waves it front of you!
Same thing with the Iraq loop during the run-up to the invasion.
While the poll found an increase in approval among Democrats and with people under 50, there is no evidence that Republican opposition is thawing or that the president has become a less polarizing figure. Only about 1 in 10 Republicans expressed a positive opinion of Obama or the job he’s doing.
If you judge by last week's convention it's the exact opposite.
Still, the numbers may help explain some of Obama’s recent swagger and why it’s likely to continue as he tries to rally his party behind its eventual 2016 nominee — Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.
Is that why I can't stomach him anymore?
The cocky swagger as the pre$$ lets him sail into the sunset?
The White House says Obama always planned to squeeze every last minute out of his two terms, regardless of his popularity. Also, he probably will be a force in the campaign, working to fire up his core coalition of young, African-American and Hispanic voters, and backers in Rust Belt states, where he has continued to show strength.
Showing strength where he is waging a war on coal?
Eighty-one percent of those questioned in the poll say the economy is a very or extremely important issue to them personally, compared with the 74 percent who say that about health care or the 69 percent about the threat posed by the Islamic State group.
People were split 49 percent to 49 percent, in their approval or disapproval of Obama’s handling of the economy. But that divide was a slight improvement over the 44 percent approval in February.
On other issues, views of Obama are not as rosy. More in the survey disapprove than approve of his handling of world affairs, the threat from IS, immigration, and health care. But on each measure, Obama has improved at least slightly since February....
That is now DROPPING by the DAY because of all the false flags!
--more--"
You know, crowd reaction could convince him to run again.... or at least hold on to the presidency for a while longer (as some fear).
"Obama embracing role as Trump denouncer in chief" by Josh Lederman Associated Press April 07, 2016
WASHINGTON — President Obama has opened his final presidential campaign — against Donald Trump.
Though his name won’t be on November’s ballot, Obama is slowly embracing his role as the anti-Trump, using the contrast between himself and the boastful billionaire to paint Trump as anything but presidential.
A Trump victory in the presidential race would mark an overwhelming rebuke to Obama and the likely demise of many of his policies. So with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders still fighting it out in the Democratic primary, it’s fallen increasingly to Obama to take on Trump in ways no other Democrat can.
For months, Obama and his aides mostly avoided getting dragged into the fray or letting the campaign din distract from Obama’s agenda. The White House would sidestep questions about the latest Trump controversies, refusing to turn Obama into a pundit on the race to replace him.
When Obama waded in, it was only to offer implicit rebukes of the Trump phenomenon, such as Obama’s assertion in September that “America is great right now” — a not-so-veiled reference to the business mogul’s campaign promise to “make America great again.”
Now the Trump critique is coming with increasing frequency and ease. Asked Tuesday whether Trump’s proposals were already damaging US relations, Obama answered unequivocally: “Yes.”
“I am getting questions constantly from foreign leaders about some of the wackier suggestions that are being made,” Obama said. “They don’t expect half-baked notions coming out of the White House. We can’t afford that.”
We have survived eight years of it under you.
The Democratic National Committee quickly circulated video of Obama’s remarks, arguing they illustrated how Trump “simply doesn’t have the temperament necessary to be commander in chief.”
Americans like a tough talker. Like W. Bush!
Yet by calling attention to Trump’s positions, the White House risks further elevating him, while giving Obama’s critics a fresh reason to get behind the billionaire businessman.
Obama has said repeatedly he doesn’t believe Trump will win, and White House officials said there was no concerted effort to insert Obama more visibly into the election debate. After all, every minute Obama spends talking about Trump is a minute wasted when it comes to Obama’s many unfinished pieces of business.
Still, the president in recent days has rarely passed up a chance for a Trump takedown — especially on foreign policy, where Obama’s status as commander in chief gives him a unique perch to besmirch Trump’s approach. Closing out a nuclear security summit last week, Obama said Trump’s suggestion that South Korea and Japan develop nuclear weapons “tell us that the person who made the statements doesn’t know much about foreign policy, or nuclear policy, or the Korean Peninsula.”
I moved on from that above.
“Or the world generally,” Obama added wryly.
And in his latest rebuke, Obama unloaded on Trump’s proposal to compel Mexico to pay for a border wall by threatening to cut off remittances that Mexican immigrants in the United States send back home. Asked about that idea, Obama issued a point-by-point rebuttal, arguing that would actually increase the flow of immigrants into the United States and that tracking huge numbers of remittances was impossible.
“Good luck with that,” Obama said.
And good luck to you. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
Obama’s public scolding of Trump, who for years peddled inaccurate claims about Obama’s birth certificate, dates back to 2011, when Obama roasted him at the glitzy White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Trump was visibly humiliated as Obama lobbed joke after joke at him on national television.
I'll bet Trump never forgot that.
Having Obama have to stand there while the oath of office is given and power transferred would be the sweetest revenge, wouldn't it?
Trump, meanwhile, held a massive rally in New York Wednesday evening, shrugging off a defeat in Wisconsin a day earlier and predicting victory in his delegate-rich home state.
I already covered his road.
“I love these people. These are my people,” he said to thunderous cheers.
Dozens of police officers amassed outside the soundstage venue on Long Island as protesters chanted “your hats are made in China” and “dump Trump.”
Trump supporters retaliated, declaring “socialism sucks!” and “leave this country!”
The rally comes as the GOP front-runner signaled a shift toward “more meat on the bone” in his policy speeches amid new signs of campaign discord after his stinging Wisconsin loss to rival Ted Cruz emboldened his critics and pushed the GOP closer to its first contested national convention in four decades.
Both parties shifted toward New York’s April 19 primary elections, where Democrat Hillary Clinton and Trump hold big leads in early polls.
Clinton embraced a tougher approach with liberal rival Bernie Sanders on Wednesday after her defeat in Wisconsin. Still, Sanders’ string of recent primary victories has done little to erode the former New York senator’s delegate lead in the 2016 primary season.
“The core issue in his whole campaign doesn’t seem to be rooted in an understanding of either the law or the practical ways you get something done,” Clinton declared in an interview on MSNBC. She suggested Sanders “hadn’t done his homework” on specific prescriptions needed to address economic inequality.
--more--"
Her turn now:
"Clinton condemns killing of Baton Rouge police officers" by Lisa Lerer Associated Press July 18, 2016
CINCINNATI — Hillary Clinton acknowledged that the violence has gone both ways, pointing out the socioeconomic disparities that have plagued the African-American community to the nearly uniformly black audience.
‘‘Another hard truth at the heart of this complex matter is that many African-Americans fear the police,’’ she said. ‘‘I can hear you.’’
Even gave 'em a hug.
Clinton has proposed a series of changes in the criminal justice system, including developing national guidelines on the use of force by police, new investments in bias training, legislation to end racial profiling, and funding for body cameras.
That's odd, seeing as it was her husband and tough-on-crime '90s Democrats that set up the very policies now causing the trouble.
An unintended consequence of the prison-industrial complex?
Clinton poked at Republican nominee Donald Trump’s decision not to speak at the NAACP convention.
The black vote was a critical part of President Obama’s two national victories, and no state — perhaps other than Florida — demonstrates why better than Ohio, where black voters produce troves of Democratic votes in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, among a few other smaller cities.
Trump’s strategy in Rust Belt states like Ohio is to maximize both white turnout and his share of that vote, while presuming that Clinton simply cannot match Obama’s performance in the black community.
Clinton’s campaign is launching a major voter mobilization drive during the Republican National Convention, with a goal of getting more than 3 million to register and commit to vote in the 2016 election.
‘‘It’s not enough to yell at your TV screen. It is not enough to send a nasty tweet,’’ Clinton told supporters at the University of Cincinnati. ‘‘You’ll have to get registered and get out to vote in November.’’
Clinton was introduced by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, rumored to be under consideration as a potential vice presidential pick. Clinton is expected to introduce her running mate as early as this week and has been interviewing potential White House partners in recent days.
Last paragraph makes you laugh.
--more--"
She really shot things up, huh?
As for the state delegation:
Mayor Walsh, Joe Kennedy to speak at Democratic convention
I'll be sure to miss those.
"Boston was the latest stop on a 23-city, 13-state tour led by about 20 Catholic nuns from various orders. They began their journey in Janesville, Wis., on July 11 and will end their trip Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia."
Where they will meet up with some Muslims, and that is sure to cause division.
We have a delegate on hand to issue regular reports.
"Clinton says veep pick Kaine is everything GOP ticket isn’t" by Ken Thomas and Lisa Lerer Associated Press July 23, 2016
MIAMI — Hillary Clinton debuted her running mate, Senator Tim Kaine, on Saturday as a can-do progressive committed to social justice and equality — ‘‘everything Donald Trump and Mike Pence are not’’ — at a boisterous rally ahead of next week’s Democratic National Convention.
What?
‘‘He is qualified to step into this job and lead from Day One. And he is a progressive who likes to get things done,’’ Clinton declared at Florida International University.
She means progre$$ive, right?
Kaine, a bilingual former Virginia governor, detailed his life in public service. ‘‘I like to fight for right,’’ he said.
He's anti-abortion.
And, as Clinton smiled broadly at her choice for vice president, Kaine greeted the largely Hispanic audience in Spanish. ‘‘We’re going to be ‘compañeros de alma,’ in this great ‘lucha’ ahead,’’ he said, or ‘‘soul mates in this great fight ahead.’’
Trump, in a text to his own supporters, said President Obama, Clinton, and Kaine were ‘‘the ultimate insiders’’ and implored voters to not ‘‘let Obama have a 3rd term.’’
At the splashy rally, Democrats sought to offer a contrast with Trump and Pence, whose first appearance together in a New York City hotel ballroom included a lengthy speech by the GOP businessman and much more limited remarks from Pence, the Indiana governor. The two only briefly posed for photos at their campaign kickoff.
Clinton chose to introduce Kaine as her running mate in the battleground state of Florida, waving to the large crowd of cheering supporters as they bounded on stage with their hands raised in the traditional sign of unity.
I used to love the "Hey!!" of the campaign.
Clinton sought to present the partnership as one built in optimism, panning the Republican convention, which ended two days earlier, as a display of ‘‘fear,’’ ‘’anger and resentment.’’
She noted that Kaine had taken a year off from Harvard Law School to do missionary work in Honduras and had worked as a civil rights attorney specializing in equal housing. Clinton said Kaine as governor worked with Republicans and helped his home state navigate the recent recession without sacrificing funding for education.
What his missionary work says to me was he was a CIA asset.
When was that? 30 years ago during Iran-contra?
She also pointed to his work on gun control after the deadly Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, praising his efforts to curb gun violence before a nation still reeling from a series of shootings and violence against police.
‘‘Behind that smile, Tim also has a backbone of steel. Just ask the NRA,’’ Clinton said.
Choking up, Kaine described the Virginia Tech shooting as the ‘‘worst day . . . of my life.’’
Gees, they are bringing up the mother of all false flag shootings.
Kaine, 58, was long viewed as a likely choice because of his resume in government and his time as chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He also had a particularly powerful backer in Obama, whom Kaine endorsed in 2007. Obama considered him for vice president a year later.
Kaine showed a willingness to mix it up with the Republican ticket, assailing Trump as someone who had left ‘‘a trail of broken promises and wrecked lives wherever he goes.’’
He also vouched for Clinton’s trustworthiness, a major liability with voters, telling the crowd, ‘‘She has always delivered.’’
Big whoop.
He pointed out that his father-in-law was a Republican governor of Virginia who had integrated the public schools. He called marrying his wife, Anne Holton, ‘‘the best decision of my life.’’ The couple planned to be back in Richmond on Sunday for 9 a.m. Catholic Mass.
Holton, who wiped away tears during the speech, is the state’s education secretary and a former state judge. The couple have three adult children, including a son, Nat, a Marine who is going on a deployment on Monday, aides said.
Kaine is likely to be a valuable asset for the Democratic ticket in appealing to Hispanic Americans turned off by Trump’s harsh rhetoric about immigrants.
Trump was not making public appearances on Saturday but took to Twitter to seek to undercut Clinton’s new addition, pointing to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and Wall Street as areas where supporters of one-time Clinton rival Bernie Sanders might split with Kaine.
Trump tweeted that Kaine ‘‘has been praising the Trans-Pacific Partnership and has been pushing hard to get it approved. Job killer!’’ In a tweet earlier in the day, Trump wrote that Kaine was ‘‘owned by the banks. Bernie supporters are outraged, was their last choice. Bernie fought for nothing!’’
It's beginning to look that way in a big way.
Is it too late for a Sanders-Stein (or vice-versa) ticket?
Kaine is viewed skeptically by some liberals, who dislike his 2015 vote to provide the president with ‘‘fast-track authority’’ on trade deals and recent stances on Wall Street regulations, including rules governing regional banks.
Clinton opposed the TPP during the primary against Sanders, citing concerns about job protections and national security. A Clinton campaign aide said Kaine made clear ‘‘in the course of discussions’’ that he shares Clinton’s opposition to the TPP in its current form.
Only problem is the platform they stand behind has endorsed it.
But progressive groups said they want more assurances that the White House, which has pushed the trade deal, won’t try to ram it through after the November election.
That's what Congre$$ does.
‘‘The selection increases the burden on Hillary Clinton to pressure the White House to take TPP off the table in a lame-duck Congress,’’ said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
But Larry Cohen, a former president of the Communications Workers of America union and a top Sanders adviser, said Kaine’s record needed to be considered in its totality.
‘‘Most Harvard Law graduates don’t go into civil rights work in the South,’’ said Cohen, who first met Kaine when he served as Richmond’s mayor. ‘‘His life has been those kinds of choices. He’s never run after big money. He’s always run after ‘How can I make a difference?’’’
Put that on hold for a second, will ya'?
--more--"
See: Clinton Chooses Kaine
I was told he will HELP with the MONEY!
"For Clinton, tiny fundraisers equal big campaign money" by Julie Bykowicz Associated Press July 01, 2016
WASHINGTON — A single elevator could have accommodated the donors who recently gathered with Hillary Clinton at the Pritzker family home in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. Small in number, the group was big in largesse, contributing at least $1 million to help elect her and other Democrats this fall.
It's a $how of biparti$an$hip.
It would have taken a 37,000-seat stadium of Bernie Sanders fans each chipping in the campaign’s self-described average donation of $27 to raise that much money.
That's one of the measures I use to select a candidate. Which one is either poorer or gets smaller contributions by more people.
Too bad those people don't go vote.
In her bid for the White House, Clinton is using every fund-raising technique at her disposal, including salon-style gatherings with elite donors.
Do they also cut a check to the Foundation just in case she loses?
Alongside small-donor efforts like e-mail marketing and happy hours for young professionals, these intimate events are helping Clinton collect as much as $1 billion to battle Republican Donald Trump.
Clinton’s micro-fund-raisers have landed big money: At least $19.5 million has flowed from 16 of them over the past two months, according to an Associated Press review.
But they also may open her up to criticism. Like her Democratic opponent Sanders, Trump eagerly depicts Clinton as bought and paid for by her wealthy contributors.
Both Clinton and Trump can solicit checks of $350,000 or more from a single donor thanks in part to a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that lifted an overall per-person cap on political contributions. That’s roughly triple what the individual donor limit was in 2012.
The resulting money flow could help the presidential candidates build robust on-the-ground voter contact and turnout operations, and pay for costly advertising.
It's to provide a narrative for a possible rigging.
That is in addition to money that can be raised by super PACs. Those groups cannot directly coordinate their spending with the candidates and face no contribution limits whatsoever.
Clinton has made high-dollar fund-raisers a staple of her campaign financing plan, frequently pairing a small pricey event with a larger one that has a lower entry fee. It’s similar to what President Obama did in 2012, when he held small roundtables with big donors, sometimes just a few blocks from the White House at the Jefferson Hotel.
During a mid-May spree of intimate donor gatherings in and near New York City, Clinton scooped up at least $4 million. Her schedule included stops at hedge fund manager Orin Kramer’s home and financier Steven Rattner’s place.
Donors at the smallest events typically were asked to give at least $100,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund. Clinton also has entertained 50 or fewer donors at six more events where the minimum contribution generally was $33,400.
For average Americans struggling to make ends meet, politics and the whole political cla$$ is $ickening.
The campaigns can accept only $2,700 per donor for each election, but a victory fund allows candidates to ask for more and then parcel out the money to the campaign, national political party and dozens of state parties. Both Trump and Clinton have set up these kinds of accounts.
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What's odd is now Kaine is overshadowing Europe:
Munich gunman was obsessed with mass killings
Someone else noted the timing, and the cover story crapola is the lone gunman was a 18-year-old, and this is reading more like a crisis drill hoax by the day.
Then I got to thinking, E.U. is tough on Israel, Israel befriends Turkey, Turkey turns toward Russia, coup in Turkey, Brexit, E.U falling apart, E.U. under daily terror threat, return to beginning.
Who benefits?
French leader to eye security all summer
"Spanish police say they have arrested the leader and eight other members of an international ring allegedly involved in extortion and illegal arms sales. Spanish police say a raid on an upscale house on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza led to the arrest of nine suspects, including "a Polish multimillionaire and former soldier" who allegedly led the ring. The ringleader is alleged by Spanish police to have been involved in the sale of over 200,000 AK-47 assault rifles, missile launchers and tanks to South Sudan during the armed conflict in the African country."
Globe left us hanging when it comes to Sudan.
"Turkey seizes more than 2,250 institutions in crackdown" by Christopher Torchia and Cinar Kiper Associated Press July 23, 2016
ISTANBUL — In a new tactic against suspected coup plotters, Turkey on Saturday announced it had seized more than 2,250 social, educational, or health care institutions and facilities that it claims pose a threat to national security.
A top Turkish official also accused some European countries of downplaying the grave danger posed by the failed insurrection, an apparent response to Western concerns about possible human rights violations in the government’s crackdown.
‘‘Some European colleagues think this is a Pokemon game, this coup attempt,’’ said Omer Celik, Turkey’s minister for EU affairs. ‘‘Come here and see how serious this is. This is not something we play in a virtual game. This is happening in real time in Turkey.’’
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also sharply criticized concerns that the large-scale purges, which have left at least 10,000 people in jail and about 50,000 fired or suspended, could jeopardize basic freedoms. ‘‘We are duty-bound to take these measures. Our Western friends fail to see it that way. I cannot understand why,’’ Erdogan said.
Turkey has imposed a three-month state of emergency and detained or dismissed tens of thousands of people in the military, the judiciary, the education system, and other institutions....
My printed paper ended there and omitted the name Gulen.
--more--"
Time to gavel my day to an end.
NDUs:
"Turkish opposition party assails coup attempt" Associated Press July 24, 2016
ISTANBUL — Tens of thousands of supporters of Turkey’s main opposition group, joined by some ruling party members, rallied Sunday in Istanbul to denounce a July 15 coup attempt, a rare show of unity that belies opposition unease over President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crackdown since the failed uprising.
The flag-waving demonstrators in the city’s Taksim Square reflected widespread rejection of the coup attempt in a NATO country that has endured several coups in past decades.
Even so, these are tense times in Turkey, which has declared a three-month state of emergency and detained more than 13,000 people in the military, judiciary, and other institutions.
Related:
"Erkut Gömülü, the president of the Turkish American Cultural Society of New England, said the United States would do the same if its elected leadership were threatened in such a way. “Many measures they’ve taken, it’s a defense of the republic and a defense of the democracy,” Gömülü said. “We may have many problems, but I think true democracies are looking for the solutions.”
Check out Smedley Butler, War is a Racket, and his blowing the whistle on the cusp vs. Roosevelt.
Steel barriers were erected around the square to protect the marchers, who entered through security checkpoints. In addition to the violence during the insurrection, Turkey has been hit by deadly bombings and other attacks blamed on the Islamic State group and Kurdish rebels.
The rally was organized by the opposition Republican People’s Party, which was close to secularist generals who used to control the military. The party has lost clout since Erdogan came to power more than a decade ago with votes from a pious Muslim class that was sidelined under Turkey’s past secular rulers.
‘‘The coup attempt was done against our democratic, secular, social state, governed by rule of law,’’ Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the Republican People’s Party, said in a speech.
Kilicdaroglu did not directly criticize Erdogan, though he stressed the importance of a free press and freedom of assembly and the dangers of dictatorship and authoritarianism. The remarks partly echoed his recent criticism that Turkey’s state of emergency jeopardizes democracy by granting extra powers to Erdogan.
It's end of print to web additions.
Despite Turkey’s deep political divisions, Istanbul’s mayor and other leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party joined the opposition demonstrators to denounce military intervention in politics.
Posters at the rally proclaimed ‘‘No to coups’’ and ‘‘We’re standing up for the republic and democracy.’’
More than 13,000 people, including nearly 9,000 soldiers, 2,100 judges and prosecutors, and 1,485 police, have been detained in Turkey’s post-rebellion crackdown, according to the president. In addition, some 50,000 workers have lost their jobs, suspected of possible ties to the coup plotters.
Erdogan said the government has also closed and seized the assets of 15 universities, 934 other schools, 109 student dormitories, 19 unions, 35 medical institutions, and over 1,100 other associations and foundations.
All those institutions are suspected of links to Fethullah Gulen, a US-based cleric accused by Turkey of directing the insurrection that left about 290 people dead and was put down by loyalist forces and progovernment protesters. Gulen denies any prior knowledge of the plot.
He's the fall guy for U.S. and NATO policy.
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"Munich shooter planned attack for a year" Associated Press July 24, 2016
MUNICH — The teenager behind the deadly shooting rampage in Munich planned the attack for a year, German authorities said Sunday.
‘‘He had been planning this crime since last summer,’’ said Robert Heimberger, Bavaria’s top law enforcement official, citing a ‘‘manifesto’’ linked to the shooting found in the gunman’s locked room in the apartment he shared with his parents and brother.
PFFFFFFFFFFT!
The 18-year-old German-Iranian, identified only as David S. because of German privacy laws, was a withdrawn loner obsessed with playing ‘‘killer’’ video games, and a victim of bullying who suffered from panic attacks set off by contacts with other people, investigators said
In a separate development in the southern German city of Ansbach on Sunday, police said a man was killed when an explosive device he was believed to be carrying went off near an open-air music festival, injuring 10 people. The motive was not immediately known.
Oh, man, the mind-f***s are coming fast and furious over in Germany.
Law enforcement officials piecing together a portrait of the shooter said he was seeing a doctor as recently as last month for treatment of depression and psychiatric problems that began in 2015 with inpatient hospital care and then was followed up with outpatient visits.
They said medication for his problems had been found his room.
It's always the same damn script and innuendo, and the agenda is obvious. Disarm the people and force them into state-evaluated mental screens.
But toxicological and autopsy results were still not available, so it’s not yet clear whether he was taking the medicine when he went on his shooting spree Friday. The suspect killed nine people and wounded dozens more before killing himself.
The gunman had earlier been described by investigators as being bullied by schoolmates at least once four years ago and being fascinated by previous mass shootings. None of the bullies were among his victims, however; in fact, none of those killed were known to him, investigators said.
I've actually started to skip past the crisis drill psyops or gone live false flags, sorry. The resulting script cover stories have reached the point of comedy.
Heimberger said he could not reveal details of the manifesto yet because there were ‘‘many more terabytes’’ of information to evaluate, but described the gunman as a ‘‘devoted player’’ of group Internet ‘‘killer games’’ pitting virtual shooters against each other.
They are still writing it.
Weapons are strictly controlled in Germany and police are still trying to determine exactly how the shooter obtained the Glock 17 used in the attack.
Heimberger said it’s ‘‘very likely’’ the suspect purchased the weapon illegally online on the ‘‘darknet,’’ a restricted-access computer network often used by criminals. He said the weapon had been rendered unusable and sold as a prop before being restored to its original function.
Or covert operators or contractors hired by government.
The shooter’s father saw a video of the start of his son’s rampage on social media and went to police as it was taking place, Heimberger said, adding that the family was still emotionally not up to questioning by police.
Witnesses say the gunman shouted slurs against foreigners, even though he himself was the German-born son of Iranian asylum-seekers.
LOL!
Heimberger said the McDonald’s restaurant were most of the victims died was a hangout for youths of immigrant backgrounds, and the dead included victims of Hungarian, Turkish, Greek, and Kosovo Albanian backgrounds, and a stateless person.
That last one must have been Palestinian.
In the aftermath of the attack, Bavaria’s top security official urged the government to allow the country’s military to be deployed in support of police during attacks. Germany’s postwar constitution allows the military to be deployed domestically only in cases of national emergency.
Yes, that is what is AT THE BOTTOM OF ALL THIS, and it really makes you question what is really going on around here.
Governments seem to be moving things into place for something really big, with protected lists and everything.
It's looking like a stormy rest of the summer and it's time to lock things down and evacuate.
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Hey, I gave it a shot.
Post-Brexit, World Bank chief sees disappointing growth
That's now a dead issue.
"Liberal dissatisfaction with Hillary Clinton lingers on eve of convention" by Annie Linskey Globe Staff July 25, 2016
PHILADELPHIA — The Democratic Party’s top official resigned Sunday amid e-mail revelations that national committee staffers had tried to undermine Bernie Sanders, Hillary’s Clinton’s spirited rival, during the primary election season.
The one good thing this does is take attention away from Hillary's e-mails.
The departure of Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who has weathered a long list of controversies during her more than five-year tenure leading the Democratic National Committee, marked a chaotic start to a convention week intended to display unity for Clinton’s White House bid. Wasserman Schultz will leave her post after the convention ends on Thursday.
In other words, mission accomplished, saw her to the finish line.
I say unbind yourselves, super delegates, and switch!!
Her resignation statement made no reference to DNC e-mails, published last week via WikiLeaks, that revealed staffers’ condescending and combative posture toward Sanders, the progressive Vermont senator who provided an unexpectedly strong challenge to Clinton deep into the primary season. The party apparatus is expected to remain neutral until the primary season ends.
This has been known the whole campaign.
As news of the e-mails spread over the weekend, Wasserman Schultz came under increasing fire, especially from progressives. In her statement Sunday, she said only that stepping down is the best way for her to “accomplish” the goal of electing Clinton.
“It’s definitely unfortunate that we have to start the convention like this,” said Jim Manley, a veteran Democratic strategist and former staff member to Senate minority leader Harry Reid.
“I’m a little surprised she didn’t do this earlier. But it was probably the right thing to do because the Sanders folks weren’t going to let go of the issue,” said Manley.
Why is he blaming the victim?
What is it with that wing of the Party?
Longtime Democratic operative Donna Brazile will replace Wasserman Schultz until a new DNC leader is selected.
The vast disagreements within the Democratic coalition have been largely underplayed this year as Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has supplied an endless list of inflammatory comments causing open revolt in the GOP. But there has been real anger roiling on the Democratic side as well, with many of the same populist themes that have captured the Republicans.
I want to see half the hall start chanting "Bernie, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie!"
Democrats have carefully scripted this week’s convention in hopes of focusing not on division within the party, but on the unity needed to send Clinton to the White House.
The perfect convention for the perfect candidate!
Quick, name the last Democratic convention not nominating a sitting president that had a united convention.
Monday has been carefully cordoned off as “progressive day,” with a slate of prime-time speakers from the left wing of the party who have only reluctantly embraced Clinton.
Oh, what a further slap in the face to the progressives.
Monday is the least-watched night, and Bloomberg will be speaking on Wednesday(??)!
Sanders is set to speak, as is Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who many liberals hoped would be picked as Clinton’s running mate. She was passed over for Tim Kaine, a centrist senator from Virginia.
And that's a good thing!
Also on the roster is Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the only senator to endorse Sanders, and AFL-CIO chairman Richard Trumka, a close Warren ally.
Democratic insiders are hoping that the resignation of Wasserman Schultz will quell some of the anger that has been mounting as reporters and activists have sorted through the leaked DNC e-mails. The messages have revealed that Wasserman Schultz’s organization worked against Sanders, including suggestions to focus on Sanders’ faith just before contests in Southern states.
“I think I read he is an atheist,” Brad Marshall, the DNC’s chief financial officer, wrote in one e-mail. “This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.”
Oh, wow! They cannibalized one of their own did Wasserman-Schultz, and played up to southern prejudice!
Talk of the e-mails dominated Sunday morning news programs, short-circuiting what Clinton’s team had hoped would be a period focused on Kaine, her newly minted vice presidential candidate.
“Nobody’s talking about Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine’s debut yesterday,” said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic strategist. “Everyone is talking about this. Unfortunately she had to go, to start this convention the way it should be, without controversy.”
The Clinton campaign tried to draw attention to the alleged source of the leaked e-mails: Russia.
C'MON!
“Experts are telling us Russian state actors broke into the DNC, stole these e-mails, and other experts are now saying that the Russians are releasing these e-mails for the purpose of actually helping Donald Trump,” Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Trump's plumbers!?
So what did Trump have to say in response?
Trump has put forward a series of Russia-friendly foreign policy statements, including casting doubt on whether the United States would honor its NATO commitment to defend small Baltic nations if Russia invades.
Russia isn't talking not invading anyone; it's NATO that moving forces closer to the eastern front.
But blame for the Russians was getting little traction Sunday among some delegates, who have a long list of grievances against Wasserman Schultz and appeared more interested in focusing on her shortcomings.
The e-mail controversy, meanwhile, fueled the liberal wing’s anger over Clinton’s choice of Kaine, a moderate, as her vice presidential pick. Making matters worse, many of them view the choice as the first real indication of how Clinton would govern if elected in November.
I wonder if we will hear chants of "Lock Her Up!" coming from the floor.
“Would I have preferred to see somebody like an Elizabeth Warren selected by Secretary Clinton?” said Sanders on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday. “Yes, I would have.”
As if to make the left’s case, a smattering of centrists, and even Republicans, praised Kaine.
I mean.... what's the damn difference then?
On Sunday, Sanders delegates held a news conference in Philadelphia where they blasted the choice. “The selection of Kaine will make defeating Donald Trump that much more difficult,” predicted Sanders delegate Norman Solomon.
Some progressive leaders were a bit heartened that Kaine made a screeching left turn in recent days on trade, which they hope shows that Clinton won’t tack too hard to the center.
PFFFFFFFFT!
AFL-CIO chairman Richard Trumka released a statement Saturday praising Kaine for his recent change of heart on the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, saying Kaine’s new opposition “signifies the beginning of a new era” in Democratic politics.
Stephanie Taylor, a cofounder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal group, pushed Kaine to be outspoken on other progressive issues.
“We hope Tim Kaine soon joins Hillary Clinton in calling for breaking up Too Big To Fail banks and prosecuting Wall Street bankers who break the law,” she said in a statement.
TALK is CHEAP, and there is a record!
Enjoying the spectacle of discord among Democrats were the Republican Party leaders who hosted a reception for journalists in Philadelphia Sunday night.
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Related:
"The festive atmosphere jived with themes of party unity and contrasted with last week’s Republican National Convention, which at times was overshadowed by controversy; however, on Sunday, a trove of leaked e-mails forced Democrats to remove party leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the convention chair, a move State Senate President Stanley Rosenberg called “odd.” Later in the day, Wasserman Schultz announced she will step down as the party’s leader after this week. Regardless, Rosenberg and others expressed confidence the convention would reflect a unified front."
Also see: Few states match Mass. in income inequality
If it goes according to $cript, and that's good government!
