August 13, 2016

Hillary Clinton Looks Poll Strong In Battleground States | RuPaul Talks Truth For Hillary

August 13, 2016/ Anne Enke

Hillary Clinton Widens Lead Over Donald Trump in Battleground States Wall Street Journal

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is increasing her lead in three battleground states, while maintaining an advantage over Republican rival Donald Trump in Florida, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll has found.

In Colorado, Mrs. Clinton leads Mr. Trump 46% to 32%— up six pts from a July poll taken before the parties' conventions.

Mrs. Clinton also gained support in two Southern battleground states: Virginia, where she now leads 46% to 33%, and North Carolina, where she is ahead 48% to 39%. Mitt Romney won NC in 2012. In Florida the poll finds a tighter race, with Clinton at 44% and Trump at 39%.

Trump campaign launches drive to recruit 'election observers' Politico

In a move that's unprecedented in a presidential election, Donald Trump's campaign is seeking to recruit 'election observers'. Trump's website proclaims, "Help Me Stop Crooked Hillary From Rigging This Election! " as a followup to his assertion that he will win Pennsylvania unless Hillary Clinton steals his victory.

Those who wish to be a Trump "observer" are asked to fill out information on the website that should match their voter registration. Next step, voters are directed to a donation page.

Trump backs off his backpedal on Obama terror claim Politico

Trying to follow Donald Trump's constantly flipflopping positions can give one a whiplash. Om Friday in Erie, Pa the Republican candidate went full throttle after President Obama, again accusing him of founding ISIS.

Friday morning Trump had eased up on his claim, suggesting that it was a 'sarcastic comment'. “Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) ‘the founder’ of ISIS, & MVP,” Trump tweeted. “THEY DON'T GET SARCASM?”

Fully absorbed in his own ego, Trump was bemused about the media and their studying of his personality. “I love watching these poor, pathetic people (pundits) on television working so hard and so seriously to try and figure me out. They can't!” Trump declared.

“So I said the founder of ISIS,” Trump explained to the Erie, Pa crowd, because the president is “so weak and so bad” that he allowed the Islamic State to grow. “Obviously I’m being sarcastic. Then — but not that sarcastic, to be honest with you.”

The Republican presidential nominee’s swerving attempt at damage control came after doubling down, if not tripling down, on his “founder” claim Thursday. It also came ahead of what one person characterized as a “come-to-Jesus” meeting between Trump’s campaign and Republican Party officials in Orlando, Florida, on Friday morning, as dozens of prominent members of the GOP pressed the Republican National Committee to dump Trump and redirect its funds downballot to save Republican majorities in Congress.

Bernie Sanders's Plan for Perpetual Revolution The Daily Beast

Senator Sanders has launched a new organization, Our Revolution. His first big target is former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who defends her House seat in an Aug. 30 primary against Sanders-backed Tim Canova.

Hillary Clinton detoured her campaign in Florida this week to endorse Wasserman Schultz, at a time when Sanders is determined to remake the Democratic Party in his own image, even wielding more power than the future president. Canova's own poll done after the Democratic convention shows him trailing Wasserman Schultz in the 23rd district by 8 points. Clinton won the primary big in Broward and Palm Beach counties, which comprise the district.

Many hoped that Sanders’s Our Revolution could form a new, effective third party able to make a coalition with Democrats on key issues. As an Independent, Senator Sanders has operated in this way for years. But many fear that Our Revolution will operate as an angry Tea Party type or organization focused on taking out Democrats not to their liking -- making it a feared organization and not one interested in coalition building.

RuPaul on His First Emmy Nomination. Donald Trump, and Hillary Clinton Vulture

Asked what he thinks about Hillary Clinton and the Democrats, Ru Paul let it rip.

[Laughs.] I fucking love them. I have always loved them. And let me just say this: If you're a politician — not just in Washington but in business and industry, you have to be a politician — there are a lot of things that you have to do that you're not proud of. There are a lot of compromises you have to make because it means that you can get this other thing over here. And if you think that you can go to fucking Washington and be rainbows and butterflies the whole time, you're living in a fucking fantasy world. So now, having said that, think about what a female has to do with that: All of those compromises, all of that shit, double it by ten. And you get to understand who this woman is and how powerful, persuasive, brilliant, and resilient she is. Any female executive, anybody who has been put to the side — women, blacks, gays — for them to succeed in a white-male-dominated culture is an act of brilliance. Of resilience, of grit, of everything you can imagine. So, what do I think of Hillary? I think she's fucking awesome. Is she in bed with Wall Street? Goddammit, I should hope so! You've got to dance with the devil. So which of the horrible people do you want? That's more of the question. Do you want a pompous braggart who doesn't know anything about diplomacy? Or do you want a badass bitch who knows how to get shit done? That's really the question.

Hillary Clinton Headlines August 13, 2016

Donald Trump is exhausting. That doesn't mean the media -- or America -- can ignore him VOX

Feds debate releasing Clinton's FBI Interview Politico

A massive new study debunks a widespread theory for Donald Trump's success The Washington Post

What a Clinton Landslide Would Look Like FiveThirtyEight

Donald Trump's new tax plan could have a big winner: Donald Trump's companies The Washington Post

May 01, 2016

Bernie Sanders Outspends HIllary Clinton As Donations Plummet 40 Percent

May 01, 2016/ Anne Enke

Membership Has Its Privileges: Donald Trump's Man Card Pays Off The Daily Beast

"Meanwhile Trump’s entire appeal is based on hyper-masculinity and machismo. He critiques Clinton, saying it’s “always drama” with her and she “doesn’t have the strength” for the job while he calls his Republican opponents names like “little Marco” and “low energy” Bush. He brags about his hot wife and how rich he is. Hand size innuendo aside, Trump is literally and figuratively boasting that he is the biggest guy in the room and as president will be the biggest guy in the world and will “Make America Great Again” because he’s great.

To buy into Trump’s candidacy, you have to buy into the Trump persona— because, let’s be honest, there’s nothing much else to go on there.

And his appeal is most directly to those who feel they have nothing else to go on themselves—mostly working-class white men who feel somehow that the ever-so-modest increase in rights for women and people of color in America has somehow meant less rights and opportunity for white men such as themselves. These voters would not, very simply, vote for a woman or person of color because that’s who they implicitly blame for their lot in life. Data have shown that, among white voters, higher levels of racial resentment correspond with higher support for Trump."

Sanders Money Machine Takes A Dip

Sanders is biggest spender of 2016 so far -- generating millions for consultants Washington Post

The Sanders campaign raised $25.8 million in April, down 40% from March.

The self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont had spent nearly $166 million on his campaign thruogh the end of March — more than any other 2016 presidential contender, including rival Hillary Clinton.

More than $91 million went to a small group of admakers and media buyers who produced the steady stream of commercials and placed them on television, radio and online, according to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Election Commission reports. While the bulk of these $$ went to TV stations and websites, three top consultants including Tad Devine have done particularly well, reports the Washington Post.

Because Bernie Sanders has little experience in the financial structures of successful campaigns, he had no cap on consulting revenues in place, as does the Hillary Clinton campaign. The sky is the limit for Bernie's consultants.

Note that Bernie also has FEC issues impacting $10-20 million worth of donations. A significant percentage of these donations is subject to being in excess of $2700 -- both lump sums in excess of $2700 and numerous individual repeating donations that have exceeded the limit. Those lists are public and have been posted by HWN. There is no doubt that money will be returned.

Bernie Sanders Vows Contested Convention, Makes Case for Superdelegate Flips Bloomberg Politics

Bernie insists that he's the man to take on Trump. Ignoring all polling history for a candidate without one negative ad run against him -- I heard not one from Hillary -- Bernie insists the popular vote means nothing. He will persuade the superdelegates.

"The evidence is extremely clear that I would be the stronger candidate to defeat Trump or any other Republican," Sanders said of the Republican front-runner Donald Trump. He cited several polls showing him doing better than Clinton in a hypothetical head-to-head contest against the real estate magnate.

The Bloomberg Politics delegate tracker shows Hillary with 2,156 delegates, including 520 super delegates, while Bernie has 1,357 delegates, 39 of whom are super delegates. A candidate needs 2,383 delegates to win the nomination.

Sanders predicts a strong win in Indiana's Democratic primary on Tuesday. Opinion polls show Clinton holding a lead in there, 50 percent to 44 percent, according to an average compiled by RealClearPolitics.