“There’s only one Chris Christie. This is it. I’m not gonna be someone else if I run for president.”
— Gov. Chris Christie, on the Tonight Show.
Archives for April 23, 2015 at 7:03 am EDT
Clinton Wealth Intertwined with Foundation
Washington Post: “Bill Clinton was paid at least $26 million in speaking fees by companies and organizations that are also major donors to the foundation he created after leaving the White House, according to a Washington Post analysis of public records and foundation data. The amount, about one-quarter of Clinton’s overall speaking income between 2001 and 2013, demonstrates how closely intertwined Bill and Hillary Clinton’s charitable work has become with their growing personal wealth.”
“The multiple avenues through which the Clintons and their causes have accepted financial support have provided a variety of ways for wealthy interests in the United States and abroad to build friendly relations with a potential future president. The flow of money also gives political opponents an opportunity to argue that Hillary Clinton would face potential conflicts of interest should she win the White House.”
Meanwhile, the Clinton Foundation is refiling “at least five annual tax returns after a Reuters review found errors in how they reported donations from governments.”
Obama Picks Up Pace of Executive Actions
“President Obama never used the words ‘executive action’ until nearly three years into his presidency. Now announcements of executive actions have become a routine, almost daily occurrence,” USA Today reports.
“Indeed, the actions have a political component, part of a White House strategy to work around Congress and force Republicans to respond to the president’s agenda.”
Clinton Has Used Many American Accents
“During her tenure in politics, Hillary Clinton has shifted between several distinct versions of American English. This is not terribly unusual. President Obama has been known to change his pronunciation according to region and audience. But the thing about Clinton is that she’s been in the game for so long, and has had so many different jobs and lived in so many different places, that her various accents wind up mapping her career,” Bloomberg reports.
“During the 2008 campaign, Clinton called herself ‘multilingual,’ because she’s spent so much time in the South, the East Coast, and the Midwest. But the different accents don’t seem to appear randomly—they seem to come out based on where Clinton is, what role she has, or what office she’s running for.”
Secret Service Had Another Security Lapse
“The Secret Service took more than a year to replace a broken alarm system at former president George H.W. Bush’s home, raising concerns within the agency about the safety of the Houston residence and the Bush family,” the Washington Post reports.
Benghazi Report Will Be Pushed Into Election Year
“The findings of a Republican-led committee investigating Hillary Clinton’s response to the deadly 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, likely will not be released until next year, just months before the 2016 presidential election,” Bloomberg reports.
“Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, chairman of the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi, has been emphasizing a desire for the panel to finish investigative work by the end of 2015, including its review of Clinton’s e-mail practices as secretary of state. Now that seems less likely.”
Huffington Post: Clinton’s attorney puts ball in Gowdy’s court
2016 Rookies Stumble Out of the Gate
The Hill: “Many of the White House hopefuls are showing they are rookies on the presidential campaign trail. None of the early mistakes, gaffes or lapses in judgment so far are bid-killers, but they do highlight candidates who are adjusting to the brightest spotlight in politics.”
We Could Elect the 2nd Oldest or 3rd Youngest President
“If she receives the Democratic presidential nomination (which she will) and wins the presidency (which she might), Hillary Clinton will be the second-oldest person ever to be inaugurated as president. When Bill Clinton was inaugurated, he was third-youngest, and the second-youngest ever to be elected. (Teddy Roosevelt became president when William McKinley was assassinated.) Bill Clinton could enter the White House first as one of the youngest presidents and again as one of the oldest first spouses,” the Washington Post reports.
“The youngest possible president in 2017 is Marco Rubio (currently 43 years old). He could enter as the 3rd youngest president ever.”
Bush and Rubio Can’t Count on Florida
National Journal: “One of the biggest political stories of the coming 2016 presidential election happened in Florida last week via an explosion that didn’t happen. President Obama notified Congress that he intended to take Cuba off a list of state sponsors of terrorism, another step toward normalizing relations with the island nation. One or two decades ago, such an act would have unleashed storms of protest in Miami, with bipartisan outrage among Florida’s elected leaders.”
“The response last week? Almost nothing. No marches on federal buildings. No mass demonstration on Calle Ocho. What was one of the most reliable voting blocs for Republican candidates in Florida is no longer unified on what once had been an organizing principle—Cuban regime change. A Florida International University study last year shows that a majority of Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County are in favor of ending the embargo, with the younger generations overwhelmingly supportive.”
