Joe Biden Is Leaning Toward a 2016 Run

Vice President Joe Biden, who has long been considering a presidential bid, is increasingly leaning toward entering the race if it is still possible he can knit together a competitive campaign at this late date, people familiar with the matter said.

Mr. Biden still could opt to sit out the 2016 race, and he is weighing multiple political, financial and family considerations before making a final decision. But conversations about the possibility were a prominent feature of an August stay in South Carolina and his home in Delaware last week, these people said. A surprise weekend trip to Washington to meet with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), a darling of the party’s liberal wing, represented a pivot from potential to likely candidate, one Biden supporter said.

“The vice president has not made a decision about his political future,” Biden spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said. “Anyone speculating that he has made a decision is wrong.”

Mr. Biden would enter as a clear underdog. Polling shows Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton running far ahead of the vice president, who would be building a campaign team largely from scratch. Mrs. Clinton, who declared her candidacy four months ago, has a robust campaign operation and an outside super PAC raising money on her behalf.

Still, the vice president’s deliberations illustrate how, with just six months before the first presidential nominating contests, both major parties’ campaigns are in a state of flux. Democrats are increasingly insecure about Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy, given her dipping approval ratings and continuing questions about her use of a private email server while secretary of state. Republicans, meanwhile, are struggling to find the proper tone in reacting to Donald Trump, whose no-holds-barred campaign style is dominating coverage of the GOP contest and nudging top contenders into uncomfortable sound bites.

Via: Wall Street Journal

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[VIDEO] Marco Rubio Has a New Answer for His Inexperience Problem

Has Marco Rubio hit on a way to turn two political minuses into a plus? 

The 44-year-old first-term senator is competing for the Republican presidential nomination against a crowded field that includes eight governors or former governors and several more experienced lawmakers. He has also been dogged by questions about his acumen when it comes to his personal finances. In recent days he has come up with an argument that seemingly attempts to handle both potential problems.

At a forum last weekend in Ames, Iowa, Republican pollster Frank Luntz told Rubio that "the single biggest knock on you" is that "you haven't been around long enough." In response, the son of Cuban immigrants from humble beginnings cleverly morphed job "experience" into life "experience," arguing that his makes him the most qualified to understand issues facing ordinary Americans.

"I don't think anybody running for president understands what life is like for people today more than I do," Rubio said, adding that his parents lived "paycheck to paycheck" and that he had student loans until four years ago. His youth and his financial struggles have given him more of kind of experience a president needs, he argued.

"No one running has more experience on the issues we face right now, today, in the 21st century, with a world that's more dangerous than ever and an economy that's changing faster than we've ever seen since the industrial revolution."

The crowd applauded.

Thursday, in another interview, Rubio trotted out a different version of the same line.

"The world is changing, and no one who is running for president has more experience than I do on the issues confronting our country right now," the freshman Florida senator told Fox News in an interview Thursday.

Fox host Bret Baier didn't seem convinced. Why, he asked, is a governor not better positioned for the White House than he is?

Rubio responded that the presidency is a "unique office" that's "not like being a senator, but it's not like being a governor, either," saying that presidents face national security challenges but that they "don't create jobs."

Via: Bloomberg Politics

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Macy’s inundated with complaints from Donald Trump fans as 'tens of thousands of customers cut up their store cards in protest'

Macy's spat with Donald Trump seems to be costing the company dear - sources close to the department store say it is being inundated with complaints by customers.

Apparently the company has already received letters, phone calls and online messages from around 30,000 Trump supporters, many of whom have claimed to have cut up their store card.  

The irate customers are accusing the company of being against free speech after it cut ties with the Republican presidential candidate two weeks ago over his inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants. 

Trump, who called for the boycott of Macy's, has been thanking his supporters over Twitter for doing just that.

'I am so happy that people are boycotting Macy's,' he said in a tweet yesterday.

In an earlier message he wrote: 'Thx [sic] to all the people who called to say they are cutting their Macy's credit card as a protest against illegal immigrants pouring into US.' 

A Macy's spokesman told TMZ: 'Our Facebook page is often times used by our customers to express their feelings or points of view. Many times it does not correlate to any action.'

Trump began his tirade against Mexican immigrants when he announced on June 16 that he would be entering to race to become the Republican presidential candidate.   

Trump tweeted this message a few days ago after calling for his supporters to shun Macy's

He said then: ‘When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.

‘I will built a great wall – and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me – and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.’ 

Macy’s isn’t the only corporation to have severed ties with Trump. Mattress giant Serta, for instance, has said it will stop selling Trump-branded products, while Univision and Comcast’s NBCUniversal have cancelled plans to broadcast Trump’s Miss Universe beauty pageant.

Trump is suing Univision for $500million and has threatened legal action against NBC, among others. 

Via: Daily Mail

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[VIDEO] Scott Walker: 'I'm in'

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is running for president.

In a video shared by his campaign on Monday, Walker touted his experience as a conservative governor in a blue state against his GOP rivals in Washington, D.C.

“America needs new, fresh leadership with big, bold ideas from outside of Washington to actually get things done,” Walker says in the 89-second spot. “In Wisconsin, we didn’t nibble around the edges. We enacted big, bold reforms that took power out of the hands of the big government special interests and gave it to the hard-working taxpayers — and people’s lives are better because of it.”

Walker officially launches his campaign during a speech in Waukesha, Wisconsin, later Monday, becoming the 15th entrant into the Republican field.

“We fought and won. In the Republican field, there are some who are good fighters, but they haven’t won those battles. And there are others who’ve won elections, but haven’t consistently taken on the big fights. We showed you can do both. Now, I am running for president to fight and win for the American people. Without sacrificing our principles, we won three elections in four years in a blue state. We did it by leading. Now, we need to do the same thing for America,” Walker says in the video.

Via: Real Clear Politics

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Hillary Clinton on Her 'Last Rodeo'

July 7, 2015 Before Hillary Clinton spoke to a crowd of roughly 250 supporters in the Iowa City Public Library on Tuesday, a young female campaign staffer had a few requests for the attendees. First, she asked those in attendance to pull out their smartphones and "like" Clinton's local Facebook page for Iowa and Johnson County. Then, she rattled off a phone number for the supporters to text in exchange for "updates" (aka donation pleas) from the campaign, which announced that it added 20 field organizers to its already large Iowa staff Tuesday.

But the actual content of Clinton's speech was refreshingly free of campaign artifice. Yes, she began with her routine spiel about income inequality, health care, and her excitement at becoming a grandmother, but her remarks felt more off-the-cuff than usual. Perhaps in an attempt to embrace her inner nerd, Clinton recalled spending hours in her local library during summer vacations while growing up.

One anecdote from her career as secretary of State in particular stood out as something new not only to the attendees, but to the reporters who obsessively cover the Clinton campaign as well. She told a story about the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. Clinton and President Obama were trying to negotiate terms with India and China—two of the fastest-developing countries in the world—for a climate change agreement.

(RELATED: Here's the Real Reason Hillary Clinton Has a Lock on the Democratic Nomination)

The problem: China and India's leaders were nowhere to be found. Clinton said she and Obama "sent out scouts," who found that the leaders were meeting in a clandestine conference room. Clinton and Obama marched to the room, she said, and pushed past Chinese security guards to confront the heads of state. As a result, the assembled countries signed an accord outlining emissions pledges and other goals for energy use, though much of the text was nonbinding.

Via: National Journal

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Christie unveils 2016 campaign website

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) now has a website to tout his 2016 presidential campaign.

 

Christie’s political operatives launched www.chrischristie.com on Saturday, according to The Associated Press.

 

The site’s landing page reveals Christie’s slogan of “telling it like it is.”

It also says the site was paid for by “Chris Christie for President, Inc.”

 

Christie began promoting the new site on Twitter on Saturday morning. His first tweet shows the site’s banner with a gif revealing the webpage’s address word-by-word.

 

“Hey America, it’s Chris,” he said in his second tweet, again listing the site’s address and hashtagging his new campaign slogan.

 

Christie is widely expected to formally launch his 2016 Oval Office bid Tuesday in Livingston, N.J.

 

He reportedly plans on giving his announcement speech at Livingston High School, his alma mater.

 

Christie is potentially the GOP’s 14th White House competitor next election cycle should he enter the presidential race next week.

 

He has seen his political standing diminish following negativity towards his role in lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in 2013.

 

Christie has repeatedly denied a role in the move, which accusers say was made to exact political revenge on his rivals.

 

He currently places ninth nationally in the RealClearPolitics average of national polls of next year’s GOP White House hopefuls.

 

That ranking is critical, since early GOP presidential debates will separate the top ten candidates from the rest of the field.

 

Christie is planning a New Hampshire town hall after his 2016 entrance Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

Via: The Hill

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[FLASHBACK] Highlights From the New York Times’ 2008 Hillary Clinton Endorsement

AP

In June 2007, just as the Democratic presidential primary was heating up, Bill and Hillary Clinton wrote a $100,000 check to a New York Times charity group. In January 2008, the Times editorial board endorsed Hillary over her much trendier rival, Barack Obama. The endorsement makes for an intriguing read in retrospect. Here are some highlights:

Fawning praise

The Times editor clearly had a difficult time choosing between the “brilliant” Hillary Clinton and the “incandescent” Barack Obama. Ultimately, it seems, it was Hillary’s “abiding, powerful intellect” that won the day. “We are hugely impressed by the depth of her knowledge, by the force of her intellect and by the breadth of, yes, her experience,” the editors wrote.

‘Firstness’ fatigue

The Times was definitely excited to have a choice between two historic candidates, but was getting tired of hearing about it all the time:

By choosing Mrs. Clinton, we are not denying Mr. Obama’s appeal or his gifts. The idea of the first African-American nominee of a major party also is exhilarating, and so is the prospect of the first woman nominee. “Firstness” is not a reason to choose. The times that false choice has been raised, more often by Mrs. Clinton, have tarnished the campaign.

No doubt the Times will maintain its intellectual consistency on the issue of “firstness” throughout the 2016 campaign.

If you like your plan, you can keep it

On the issue of healthcare, the Times favored Hillary because “She understands that all Americans must be covered—but must be allowed to choose their coverage, including keeping their current plans.”

Oops.

Obama’s naivety re: Iraq

Despite Hillary Clinton’s more hawkish voting record, the Times argued she was better equipped to handle the situation in Iraq. Obama, the Times presciently observed, most likely had not thought through his plans for Iraq beyond “end the war,” which could lead to disastrous consequences:

Mrs. Clinton seems not only more aware than Mr. Obama of the consequences of withdrawal, but is already thinking through the diplomatic and military steps that will be required to contain Iraq’s chaos after American troops leave.

Via: WFB

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O’Malley looks for his opening

Martin O’Malley is just looking for a little room to breathe.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is far and away the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) has taken the edge as the liberal insurgent.

O’Malley, days before the Saturday launch of his White House bid at a park overlooking Baltimore’s harbor, is performing dismally in polls despite months of travel to Iowa and New Hampshire.

He regularly pulls just 1 percent nationally, and only does slightly better in the first-in-the-nation caucus and primary states.

O’Malley isn’t well-known nationally, and could soon be competing for money, media and support with a handful of other candidates, including former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee and former Sen. Jim Webb (Va.). 

Yet Democrats interviewed by The Hill insist O’Malley has a chance.

They say there’s still an opening for him to become the alternative to Clinton given his liberal voting record, his youthful good looks — which have helped him win attention from the conservative Drudge Report — and his standing as a Washington outsider.

“There’s a lot of hostility out there towards Washington right now,” said Brad Bannon, a Democratic strategist. “He could run as the anti-Washington candidate, as someone who hasn’t been tainted by Washington politics, while framing Hillary and Bernie as products of D.C. culture.”

If the front-runner implodes, some supporters say he might be best-positioned to step in.

“He’s a legitimate national candidate,” said Democratic strategist Scott Ferson. “If Hillary for some reason doesn’t become inevitable, some candidate will have a shot to step in, and he could be that person.”

But Ferson then acknowledges: “He’s not that person now.”

To get there, outsiders say O’Malley will have to distinguish himself from Clinton and Sanders.

O’Malley is already signaling he intends to play up the generational divide in the primaries. At 52, he’s 15 years younger than Clinton and 21 years younger than Sanders.

He has previously taken swipes at the dynastic elements of Clinton’s candidacy, saying the presidency is not a “crown” to be passed between two families.

This week, O’Malley allies launched a super-PAC called Generation Forward, a not-so-subtle dig that suggests Clinton is the candidate from the past. 

Via: The Hill

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Bernie Sanders Wants To Bring Back A 90 Percent Tax Rate

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wouldn’t mind hiking taxes to an eye-popping 90 percent for wealthy Americans.

The socialist lawmaker — running against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary — told CNBC that he could get behind exploding tax rates back to levels not seen since the 1950s.

“[When] radical socialist Dwight D. Eisenhower was president,” Sanders said in an interview with John Harwood, “I think the highest marginal tax rate was something like 90 percent.”

“It was 90,” agreed Harwood. “When you think about 90 percent, you don’t think that’s obviously too high?”

“No,” Sanders replied. “What I think is obscene, and what frightens me is, again, when you have the top one-tenth of one percent owning almost as much wealth as the bottom 90.”

“Does anybody think that is the kind of economy this country should have?”

Via: Daily Caller

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[VIDEO] Hillary Clinton: I’m ‘Adamantly Against Illegal Immigrants’ 2007

Changing her stance for political expediency.

Via: You Tube

NY GOV. CUOMO: PRO-LIFE, PRO-GUN, PRO-MARRIAGE CONSERVATIVES 'HAVE NO PLACE IN THE STATE'

On Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), who has been widely discussed as a possible 2016 presidential candidate,told Susan Arbetter of The Capitol Pressroom that “extreme conservatives” should leave the state. He said that “extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay” have “no place in the state of New York.”

He began by ripping into the Tea Party without naming it:

You have a schism within the Republican Party. … They’re searching to define their soul, that’s what’s going on. Is the Republican party in this state a moderate party or is it an extreme conservative party? That’s what they’re trying to figure out. It’s a mirror of what’s going on in Washington. The gridlock in Washington is less about Democrats and Republicans. It’s more about extreme Republicans versus moderate Republicans.

He then added:

You’re seeing that play out in New York. … The Republican Party candidates are running against the SAFE Act — it was voted for by moderate Republicans who run the Senate! Their problem is not me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves. Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.

Via: Breitbart

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