Cory Booker makes a forceful debut with Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail in Iowa Washington Post

The 46-year-old lawmaker -- a rising star in his party, and a possible vice presidential pick for Hillary Clinton -- made his campaign trail debut with the former secretary of state in Iowa on Sunday.

As he spoke, it became clear that his remarks were less an introduction and more a homily, with more than a little biography thrown in. He was at times quiet and reflective, and at other times bellowing at the top of his lungs, leaving the crowd cheering, applauding and shouting in agreement.

"I don’t know about you, but I think we just heard a great sermon," Clinton said when some 15 minutes had passed and she was handed the microphone.

The four policy reasons why I support Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary Medium

We have to start with the simple fact that Clinton’s policy agenda is both progressive and aggressive. Some may want her to be even more progressive — a point I will get to in a moment — but don’t for one second allow yourself to believe that there isn’t a giant chasm between what Clinton wants to do and what even the most “moderate” Republican candidate for president wants to do. Clinton wants to raise the federal minimum wage to its highest level in fifty years. Most Republicans want to keep the minimum wage stuck at $7.25, or even scrap it entirely. Clinton wants to close tax loopholes that benefit the very rich and ask the wealthy to pay more into Social Security, whereas it is an article of faith among the GOP that taxes on the rich must always always always go down. Clinton wants to get rid of the Hyde Amendment, while the GOP wants to get rid of Planned Parenthood. If you hear someone say that there’s not enough difference between Clinton and the Republicans, turn and run as fast as you can lest you get some of their stupid on you.

But being way way better than the Republicans is A) not a high bar, and B) not enough to earn my support, especially since every Democratic candidate more than meets this basic standard. Instead, I think Clinton’s policy agenda is superior to Sanders’s for four main reasons:

Clinton’s agenda pushes the boundaries of the possible, making measurable change more likely.
Clinton’s proposals do a far better job of confronting trade-offs and setting priorities.
Clinton’s policies are rooted in evidence and data, even when the more popular position might have been otherwise.
Clinton’s ideas are based on building and improving, ensuring that risks to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged are minimized.

Hillary Clinton Headlines January 24, 2016

Hillary Clinton Says Flint Crisis Is A 'Civil Rights' Issue Bloomberg

Hillary Clinton Cannot Be Stopped Vanity Fair

Clinton Leads Sanders By 22; O'Malley at 10% In Zogby Poll Forbes

Clinton, Trump and Sexism The New York Times

Bernie Sanders and the Realists The New Yorker

'Hillary, can you excite us? The trouble with Clinton and young women by Jill Abramson The Guardian

Hillary Clinton says she'll win the Democratic nomination so Michael Bloomberg won't need to run for president Business Insider

Davod Brock, Ally of Hillary Clinton, Skewers New Bernie Sanders Ad New York Times

Hillary Clinton pins 'establishment' label on Bernie Sanders CNN

1/21/16 Poll: Hillary Clinton leads Bernie Sanders in Iowa by 9 points CBS News

Clinton on anger: 'You have got to do something' CNN

Bill Clinton questions Hillary's Super Tuesday plan Politico

The 2016 Endorsement Primary | FiveThirtyEight

Writing for Nat Silver’s FiveThirtyEight, Aaron Bycoffe explainsThe Endorsement Primary.

In presidential primaries, endorsements have been among the best predictors of which candidates will succeed and which will fail. So we’re keeping track.
Before any votes are cast, presidential candidates compete for the support of influential members of their party, especially elected officials like U.S. representatives, senators and governors. During the period known as the “invisible primary,” these “party elites” seek to coalesce around the candidates they find most acceptable as their party’s nominee. Over the past few decades, when these elites have reached a consensus on the best candidate, rank-and-file voters have usually followed.
Of course, not all endorsements are equally valuable. We use a simple weighting system: 10 points for governors, 5 points for U.S. senators and 1 point for U.S. representatives (there are roughly five times as many representatives as senators and 10 times as many representatives as governors).

Hillary Powers Forward Daily

Bernie Who? Hillary Steams Ahead on Endorsements @ Bloomberg View

Do you think enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton is fading within the Democratic Party? Here’s a list of new endorsements she has gathered just in August:

U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman, Donald Payne Jr., Xavier Becerra and Scott Peters
Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
Former South Carolina Governors Dick Riley and Jim Hodges
Former North Carolina Senator Kay Hagan
From Iowa: former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, state Attorney General Tom Miller and state Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald
Twenty of 21 of New Jersey’s county Democratic chairmen and a bunch of N.J. state legislators
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey
California Assemblyman David Chiu
In New Hampshire, State Senator David Watters
In Connecticut, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch
The Cook County (Chicago) Democratic Party

Clinton Endorsements Cont

Quote: “This month’s haul swamps anything Bernie Sanders or the draft-Joe-Biden effort has rolled out over the entire campaign. And Clinton already had an intimidating number of endorsements, leaving few available for her to add.

Yes, Sanders has now moved ahead of Clinton in New Hampshire polls, and her national polling lead is down from enormous to merely very large. But as long as the party is with her, she isn’t in trouble.

Here’s why we pay so much attention to endorsements.”

Happy Birthday Ann Richards

Gov Ann Richards Keynote Address 1988 Democratic National Convention AOC Hillary Women

Texas governor Ann Richards knew how to inspire a crowd when she went prime time in her 1988 Keynote Address at the Democratic National Convention. Richards had it all: moxie, blunt, clever andwitty, and posessed with a believable unpretentiousness that went far with Democratic voters. Listen up!

Sept 1 2015 Hillary Headlines

What Hillary Clinton Needs To Do To Win Labor @ Bloomberg

Democrats to Win in a Landslide in 2016, According to Moody’s Election Model @ The Street

Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden’s ackward friendship @ Politico

We Got Berned @ FiveThirtyEight

Hillary Clinton to sit down with Ellen DeGeneres @ CNN

Hillary Clinton’s Iowa Campaign Fueled By Female Activists @ Iowa Starting Line

Quote: “While Bernie Sanders has brought out many college-aged students to his rallies, the number of volunteers in their 20’s, particularly young women, who have been activated by Clinton’s candidacy is one of the more under-reported stories of 2016.

The Iowa campaign released the full list of their Women For Hillary organization about two weeks ago, which contained leaders and activists from all 99 counties. It also had numerous names that were with Barack Obama in the 2008 Iowa Caucus.”