CNN has found 45 instances when Hillary Clinton “approvingly invoked the trade bill about which she is now expressing concerns.”
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Trump Expected to Enter GOP Race
Donald Trump “is expected to launch his presidential campaign Tuesday, ending more than two decades of persistent flirtation with the idea of running in the Oval Office,” CNN reports.
Bloomberg: “As with all things Trump, this will be a ridiculous, absurdist exercise in media manipulation that will, as always, work magnificently. Reporters will snort and snicker, but they will trudge over to the press conference anyway; Trump will say something outlandish and unreasonable; reporters will gleefully blast out every word of it (‘Trump Says Obama Is Cheering For ISIS!’); we will shake our heads, that crazy Trump, and then we will all talk about Trump for a few more news cycles, whether he runs for president or not. Donald Trump often appears to be living in a loopy, cartoon world of his own imagining. He is also the foremost expert in how to drive the public conversation in America today, the pioneer of human being as #brand. We’ve spent years mocking Trump. (The late Phil Hartman lampooned him on Saturday Night Live 25 years ago). But he’s still here.”
“Trump’s signature achievement is to make certain, no matter what, that we are constantly talking about Donald Trump.”
Sanders Drawing Large Crowds
“It’s the sort of problem many candidates would envy. Sen. Bernie Sanders is drawing large, ebullient crowds that are taxing an upstart presidential campaign that wasn’t expected to go very far,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“This Bernie boomlet is forcing the campaign to improvise. Aides have set up loudspeakers for people left outside Sanders events, and scrambled to find larger venues to accommodate unexpected crowds who relish his attacks on what he calls the ‘cocky billionaire class.'”
Sidney Blumenthal Emails Raise New Questions
“Emails that a longtime confidant to Hillary Clinton recently handed over to the House committee investigating the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, raise new questions about whether the State Department and Mrs. Clinton have complied with a series of requests from the panel,” the New York Times reports.
“It is not clear whether the State Department possesses the emails between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Blumenthal and did not hand them over. It is also possible that Mrs. Clinton never provided them to the department and deleted them off the server that housed the personal account she used exclusively when she was secretary of state.”
House GOP and Obama Try to Revive Trade Deal
“Congressional Republican leaders and White House officials on Monday explored ways to resurrect trade legislation that stalled last week when House Democrats objected and dealt President Obama an embarrassing defeat at the hands of his own party,” the New York Times reports.
“In meetings at the Capitol and in telephone conversations with Mr. Obama and administration officials, lawmakers ticked through a list of complicated procedural options that could circumvent House Democratic opposition to granting the president the power to expedite trade deals.”
Washington Post: “No one is declaring the trade agenda dead, but as long as Clinton and Pelosi — two of the most influential voices with the party’s base — decline to help the president secure the votes, its prospects are pretty dim.”
Obama Holds Secret Party for 500 People
On Saturday, President Obama and his wife, Michelle, invited about 500 guests to a private party where Prince and Stevie Wonder entertained guests for two hours of dancing, the New York Times reports.
“While the party had been rumored for days, it was not mentioned on the president’s official schedule, and it managed to come off with almost no publicity. Until the White House news briefing on Monday afternoon, Twitter posts by attendees offered among the few public acknowledgments of the event and its highlights.”
Kirk Finally Apologizes for Comment
Four days after touching off a firestorm of criticism by describing a fellow senator as a “bro with no ho,” Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) apologized in a brief statement issued by his office, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Said Kirk: “I apologize to the people of Illinois for my inappropriate remarks last week.”
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who is challenging Kirk for Senate, told the Chicago Sun Times: “I think every woman in Illinois needs to hear an apology from Senator Kirk personally.”
Clinton and Bush Have Similar Political Challenges
“While their visions for America couldn’t be more different, the dueling kickoff rallies of Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush — coming just 52 hours apart after years of anticipation in both parties — served to underscore a striking fact: Their political problems are remarkably similar,” Politico reports.
“A central struggle for both is escaping their famous families — and their political operations have accordingly marketed the candidates around their first names only: Clinton’s logo is a squat blue “H” pierced by a red arrow, while Bush’s is a big red “Jeb” punctuated by an exclamation point. And while neither has created much distance from his or her family, both have inched away from their kins’ policy legacies.”
Jeb Bush Runs as a Political Outsider
Jeb Bush, “heir to one of American’s most successful political dynasties, sought to jump-start his presidential campaign Monday as a scrappy political outsider after failing in recent months to emerge as the undisputed front-runner for the 2016 Republican nomination,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Washington Post: “With his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush, sitting in the front row, Jeb Bush directly confronted the family history that is both an asset and a liability. His father and brother, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, were not present, but he invoked them by saying that he met his first president the day he was born and his second when he was taken home from the hospital.”
Politico: 5 takeaways from Jeb’s announcement
Spitzer Takes Over Family Business
After a failed political comeback in 2013, former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) “has found himself unexpectedly embracing a role he has largely sought to avoid all his life: assuming stewardship of Spitzer Enterprises, the family real estate business,” the New York Times reports.
Said Spitzer: “Politics is in my rearview mirror. This is exciting.”
“In customary fashion, Mr. Spitzer — who once, as governor, famously threatened to roll over a state lawmaker — has tackled his new career much like a steamroller, in overdrive. He signed a contract to buy nearly three acres on the Brooklyn waterfront last August, closed on the deal in February and got his building permits on June 8.”
Distracted Lawmaker Accidentally Approves Budget
California Assemblyman Scott Wilk (R) accidentally cast his party’s first vote for the California budget in years because he was distracted by Facebook, the AP reports.
Wilk posted on Twitter “My wife is right — I can’t multitask!”
Blogger Who Taped Senator’s Wife Sentenced
“A Mississippi man who last week pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for videotaping the ailing wife of Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) has been sentenced to five years in prison, though he will be released after two-and-a-half years,” Politico reports.
Booker Is Writing a Memoir
Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) is set to release a memoir entitled United in January, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The book will trace the New Jersey native’s life from Rhodes Scholar and two-term mayor of Newark to the U.S. Senate. He will also discuss policy issues such as overhauling the criminal justice system, an issue on which he has partnered with Republican Sen. Rand Paul.”
Trump Will Claim $9 Billion Fortune
Donald Trump “will release a summary of assets that total about $9 billion as part of his likely entry into the race for the Republican presidential nomination,” the Washington Post reports.
“The two-page document — which will be published after he holds a political rally at Trump Tower in New York — will provide a valuation of his hotels and other properties. It will also show hundreds of millions in cash on hand and an outline of his debt… The details he will reveal Tuesday will provide one of the first looks at the worth of the real estate and television empire that the colorful impresario has amassed — one whose value has been avidly debated.”
McClatchy: “He’s flirted with running before, but this time he appears to be taking the steps needed to formally enter the Republican race.”
What’s the Best Political TV Show?
Dan Pfieffer: “House of Cards, Scandal, State of Affairs, and Madam Secretary all tell stories about Washington. But only one show gets it right…”
“Veep is the most authentic because it understands the three most important things about life in Washington: the humanity, the banality, and the absurdity. On its face it’s just another workplace comedy — the White House as Dunder Mifflin — but it dissects D.C. with a finely honed satirical scalpel. The characters stand out for their raw humanity… The characters are all recognizable not because they are modeled on real people, but because they are real people: human beings filled with insecurities, ambitions, and flaws — oh so many flaws! — just like the folks on the Hill.”
Pope Blames Global Warming on Humans
“Pope Francis said global warming is due mainly to human activity and is a major threat to life on the planet, and he called the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels an ‘urgent’ matter,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The pope’s words appear in a draft copy of his long-awaited encyclical on the environment. The draft was published online Monday by the Italian magazine L’Espresso, three days ahead of its scheduled publication date.”
Wonk Wire: Future climate uncertainty necessitates action
Illinois Governor Targets Speaker in $1 Million Ad Blitz
Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) is launching a much-anticipated $1 million TV ad blitz aimed squarely at the governor’s prime antagonist: House Speaker Mike Madigan (D), according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Will Jeb Bush Benefit from More Exposure?
Gerald Seib: “In that six-month stretch, Mr. Bush has borne the brunt of his two biggest problems—the fact that his famous name has become as much burden as asset, and the antipathy of many conservatives toward his immigration and education positions—without the ability to fully counter them. Convincing voters he isn’t just another guy named Bush requires offering the kind of fully formed rationale for a candidacy that only a real campaign can provide; easing conservative concerns requires the kind of extended conversation in the party’s trenches that a primary debate requires.”
“It’s also possible, of course, that Mr. Bush simply can’t overcome those two obstacles—that the time isn’t right, or has passed him by. Yet it seems likely that he is a better marathon runner than a sprinter, somebody who benefits from more exposure rather than less, and who has the money to endure a race that figures to be stretched out simply because of the time needed to winnow an extraordinarily large field.”
