podesta_email_20980.txt

podesta-emails 3,302 words email

P18 P19 D6 P23 D8

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*​**Correct The Record Sunday November 30, 2014 Roundup:* *Headlines:* *Washington Post editorial board: “Benghazi debunked” <http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/benghazi-debunked/2014/11/29/876ff67e-751f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html>* "Members of the Republican Party have made the Benghazi disaster even more difficult to comprehend by advancing a series of bizarre conspiracy theories intended to besmirch the Obama administration." *MSNBC: “Charlie Cook: Hillary Clinton unlikely to run in 2016” <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/charlie-cook-hillary-clinton-unlikely-run-2016>* “Veteran political analyst Charlie Cook said at a speech in Kansas City, Missouri that he thinks Hillary Clinton is highly unlikely to run for president in 2016.” *Politico: “Deval Patrick talks 2016, Hillary Clinton” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/deval-patrick-2016-hillary-clinton-113217.html>* “Asked about the likelihood of Hillary Clinton running in 2016, Patrick cautioned that the assumption she’s the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee may cause her some problems.” *Salon: “Chuck Todd: ‘I wish we didn’t focus on the individual personalities of journalists’” <http://www.salon.com/2014/11/29/chuck_todd_i_wish_we_didnt_focus_on_the_individual_personalities_of_journalists/>* NBC’s Chuck Todd: "But the history of the Democratic Party is that even when they have a powerful front-runner, somebody nips at their heels in a semi-significant way, so I just hesitate to make that assumption. Can I envision the people we talk about now being that candidate? Martin O’Malley? Not really. Bernie Sanders? Probably not. Jim Webb? He doesn’t strike me as having the hunger to do the campaigning you need to do." *The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Former Clinton pollster: Hillary lacks 'new car smell'” <http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/225526-former-clinton-pollster-hillary-lacks-new-car-smell>* “Hillary Clinton has lost the ‘new car smell’ she might need to win the presidency in 2016, said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen on Sunday.” *Articles:* *Washington Post editorial board: “Benghazi debunked” <http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/benghazi-debunked/2014/11/29/876ff67e-751f-11e4-bd1b-03009bd3e984_story.html>* By The Washington Post editorial board November 29, 2014, 7:22 p.m. EST THE FOG of war is no fiction. Anyone who has ever experienced spasms of violent conflict can attest to the draining uncertainty and bewilderment that often come with it. When armed attackers mounted an assault on the U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, at 9:40 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2012, confusion reigned. Four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, died in the hours that followed, but the way the attack unfolded, and why, was opaque. Members of the Republican Party have made the Benghazi disaster even more difficult to comprehend by advancing a series of bizarre conspiracy theories intended to besmirch the Obama administration. At first, they charged the White House with whitewashing a terrorist attack, then moved on to even more outlandish claims of a stand-down of military aid to the besieged facility or claims that the CIA was using Benghazi for running guns to Syria. Now, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, chaired by outgoing Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and with Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) as ranking minority member, has published a sober report after a two-year investigation. The report looks primarily at the performance of the intelligence community, but it also concludes that many of the Republican accusations are simply not true. Rather than malfeasance or incompetence, the House intelligence committee says that many Americans performed courageously in the attack. Officials from State, Defense and the CIA did what they could to save lives, making “reasonable tactical decisions about how to respond to the attacks.” After the first assault on the facility, a team rushed from the CIA base about a mile and a half away to help; another CIA-military team was dispatched from Tripoli; a Predator drone was in the air above the scene in 90 minutes. “There was neither a stand down order nor a denial of available air support, and no American was left behind,” the panel concluded. The panel found that there was “no evidence of an intelligence failure” prior to the attack — the CIA did not have tactical warning that it was imminent. The CIA base in Benghazi was collecting intelligence about groups running weapons to Syria but was not itself running guns, the report says. The panel confirms that diplomatic security at the Benghazi mission was ill-prepared and that the agents knew they could not defend the compound from an attack. The panel also criticizes the CIA’s “flawed” handling of talking points that contributed to possibly incorrect statements Sept. 16, 2012, by Susan Rice, then U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. But the House panel noted that even today, “significant intelligence gaps regarding the identities, affiliations and motivations of the attackers remain.” The House is planning yet another investigation, which will be the eighth into these events. This seems superfluous. The big mistake in Libya policy, the consequences of which are more apparent today than ever, was President Obama’s refusal to support the new government’s attempt to build security after he helped topple the nation’s longtime dictator. Unfounded conspiracy theories on Benghazi only distract from this crucial, and largely unlearned, lesson. *MSNBC: “Charlie Cook: Hillary Clinton unlikely to run in 2016” <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/charlie-cook-hillary-clinton-unlikely-run-2016>* By Alex Seitz-Wald November 30, 2014, 12:12 p.m. EST Veteran political analyst Charlie Cook said at a speech in Kansas City, Missouri that he thinks Hillary Clinton is highly unlikely to run for president in 2016. Most observers consider a Clinton candidacy an almost forgone conclusion, but Cook gave her only a 25-30% chance of entering the race to succeed President Obama, according to the Kansas City Star. Clinton has stumbled on the promotional tour behind her memoir “Hard Choices”, which was released this summer, leading Cook to believe she’s either “rusty” or “has lost her fastball.” Previously, Cook has speculated that Clinton may be “too old” to run for president. “How many 67-year-olds make nine-year commitments, and what concerns have to be addressed if they do?” the 61-year-old wrote in February. That same month, Cook pegged Clinton’s chances of running at “maybe 70%.” He suggested there was only about a “30% chance that she doesn’t throw her hat in the ring.” That’s an almost perfect inverse of his current prediction. His new estimate counters conventional wisdom and considerable evidence. Clinton has said publicly several times that she’s thinking about running for president, her husband has joked about her impending run, and dozens of friends and advisors are gearing up for a seemingly inevitable run. While Clinton insiders insist she hasn’t made up her mind, they also say that something something catastrophic would likely have to happen to keep her from getting into the race. Even some in her orbit who are encouraging Clinton not to run think she probably will. Clinton has also done nothing to tamp down the outside groups that have sprung up to pave the way for a future run. Cook is the publisher of the Cook Political Report, a highly respected nonpartisan venue of electoral prognostication, data, and analysis that’s been a gold standard in Washington for almost 30 years. Meanwhile, Cook said former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has little chance of making it out of a Republican primary, if he decides to run. “Bush has two issues working against him to win the Republican primary for the 2016 presidential election,” Cook said at the private event in Kansas City. “One is immigration reform, which he favors; and two, is his advocacy of education reform.” *Politico: “Deval Patrick talks 2016, Hillary Clinton” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/deval-patrick-2016-hillary-clinton-113217.html>* By Jennifer Shutt November 30, 2014, 11:43 a.m. EST Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick says he’s not ready to launch a 2016 bid for president, but does have a suggestion for Hillary Clinton. Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, the outgoing Democratic governor acknowledged he’s considered running for president, but isn’t ready yet. “I’ve thought about it, but I can’t get ready for 2016,” he said. “This is the first elected office I’ve held, and it has been two really challenging, fun terms… But I didn’t run for the job to get another job, just to do this job.” Asked about the likelihood of Hillary Clinton running in 2016, Patrick cautioned that the assumption she’s the inevitable Democratic presidential nominee may cause her some problems. “I think the narrative that it’s inevitable is off-putting to regular voters. I don’t think this is a criticism of her, but people read inevitability as entitlement,” Patrick said. “The American people want their candidates to sweat for the job and to make a case for why they are the right person for the job.” *Salon: “Chuck Todd: ‘I wish we didn’t focus on the individual personalities of journalists’” <http://www.salon.com/2014/11/29/chuck_todd_i_wish_we_didnt_focus_on_the_individual_personalities_of_journalists/>* By Scott Porch November 29, 2014, 2:00 p.m. EST [Subtitle:] Salon talked to the "Meet the Press" host about cable news, Hillary fatigue and his beef with media writers In his new book, “The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House,” Chuck Todd digs into the day-by-day of President Obama’s White House and finds the chief executive at times disengaged with Republicans in Congress (both when he didn’t need them in 2009 and 2010 and when he did in the four years since) and often inept when he did engage with them. “They were terrible negotiators,” Todd said of the White House team that pushed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act through Congress in 2009. “They didn’t know how to play hardball.” The NBC News political director and moderator of “Meet the Press” sat down with Salon to discuss the book, the present and future Obama, the public’s fascination with celebrity journalists, and his plan to retool and revive NBC’s franchise Sunday show. Did you go into “Meet the Press” with the attitude that the format was broken and you needed to do something different? I didn’t think the format was necessarily broken, but I thought it couldn’t be just a better-produced cable show. I think people are worn out of the daily news cycle. Monthly magazines are having a bit of a revival, and I’d like to think theSunday news shows could be that for politics. I want to do healthcare in multiple segments, do a status update, try to be less political and less Washington about it, and I think Sunday shows have that luxury again. Do you think you’re already doing that, or is that a direction you want to go? It’s a direction I’m trying to go. When we did an Ebola show, we brought in experts and the politicians were secondary. We had doctors — specialists in the field. I want to do that more on big issues. What do you think ratings for a Sunday show correlate to: the better interviews, the better host, the topics? I think it’s habitual. If you look at the history of all of television news, it’s habitual. People are NBC families or ABC families or CBS families. Tim Russert was in third place, and it took him four or five years to catch David Brinkley. I’m really trying to keep our P.R. people from trumpeting short-term rating success. It’s more like building a football program; it’s a three-year plan. In three years, I’d better be in the top spot or they should think about a new head coach. Do you think delivering ratings are part of your job? Yeah, whether I like it or not. If a year from now you’re happy with the quality of the journalism and the news division is happy with what’s going on the air but you don’t have the ratings, then what do you have? I assume if the quality is there that the ratings will follow. They have followed quickly in D.C. That to me is an important metric; if Washington cares about the show, that’s a start. If you look at the rings of opinion leaders, that’s ring No. 1. If you’re doing a quality show, then the ratings will follow. My beef with media writers is that they only cover the ratings. I hope we have the guests and are asking the questions that make news. If we have more clips that are generated by what people are saying on the show, that tells me we’re doing our job. The show’s iPhone app got folded into the NBC News app. Is the digital strategy for the show to be more a part of NBC News? We’re trying to meld the “Meet the Press” and our politics into one brand, which is easier to do now because I have both titles — moderator and political director — so we’re trying to meld those two worlds together. The gold standard in politics is the “Meet the Press” brand, so we should be embracing the “Meet the Press” brand. Isn’t it a little icky that corporate media companies are polling on how much viewers like you? Let me say this: I don’t like it when journalists become part of a story. We have a culture in social media that wants to make journalists as big a part of the story as politicians themselves. That’s not good. People say, “Oh, you’re trying to insert yourself into a story.” I’m not. I’m trying to be a conduit, to be a challenge or a devil’s advocate for the public. I wish there wasn’t as much focus on the individual personalities of journalists. The people we cover should be the focus. I say this, and I’m going on “Conan” to sell my book. I think that’s different. That’s publicity in an effort to sell a book. You would expect to do interviews when you’re selling a book. I guess. The journalists shouldn’t be the focal point. Whenever I have moderated a debate, it’s just like a football game. If people are talking about the officiating at the end of a game, that’s not good. You want people to talk about the game. The moderator shouldn’t be the story; the candidate should be the story. The Washington Post said the book is “all microscope and zero telescope” in your focus on individual White House decisions. Do you think you could have connected the dots better, or is the Post missing the point of the book? I wrote a book about Obama in Washington — his battle to change Washington. It’s going to be insular. That’s the nature of it. If we do not see evidence of another serious Democratic primary candidate by the end of June, will that be it? Hillary is the nominee? I guess. But the history of the Democratic Party is that even when they have a powerful front-runner, somebody nips at their heels in a semi-significant way, so I just hesitate to make that assumption. Can I envision the people we talk about now being that candidate? Martin O’Malley? Not really. Bernie Sanders? Probably not. Jim Webb? He doesn’t strike me as having the hunger to do the campaigning you need to do. But Democrats do like to shop. You just can’t help but wonder if someone will have a why-not-let’s-see-what-happens kind of moment. I understand Hillary getting in early because you’ve got to start an infrastructure and have it ready to go because the Republicans will do whatever they can to weaken her from the beginning. And what living American politician can wear well after two straight years of campaigning. I already have Hillary fatigue. The biggest problem she has is that a ton of people in the media have Hillary fatigue. I don’t know if the grass-roots Democrats do; eight years ago they did, which is why they looked to Obama. People had Hillary fatigue — really Clinton fatigue — and were looking for a new direction. Now in the grass roots there’s some Clinton nostalgia, especially as Obama’s presidency looks shaky. But the Hillary fatigue in the press corps is going to be a challenge. How does the White House talk about the popularity problem? Do they say don’t care about popularity, that they’ve got a job to do? They want the ratings to improve. They know better approval ratings gets you more political capital to do things. Their post-election attitude is that they have freedom now. They said they made a lot of decisions based on what Senate Democrats claimed was in their own interest. For instance, the decision not to go ahead on immigration, which I think the White House regrets. Do you see Obama writing a Churchill-style multi-volume history of his White House years? Do you see him spending years bolstering his presidency, or will he move on to other things? I think he likes writing and will look for opportunities to do that. I don’t expect him to write multiple books that are attempts to defend his legacy. If he writes multiple books, they’ll be more in the Nixon style — different topics where he has some expertise. I wouldn’t be surprised if he became a columnist somewhere. Writing 800-word Op-Ed columns? I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a place where he could write a monthly column. Who was the last president to do that — Herbert Hoover? You got me. I’ll put it this way: If he chose another career, I think he would be a David Brooks. *The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Former Clinton pollster: Hillary lacks 'new car smell'” <http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/225526-former-clinton-pollster-hillary-lacks-new-car-smell>* By Kristina Wong November 30, 2014, 7:00 a.m. EST Hillary Clinton has lost the "new car smell" she might need to win the presidency in 2016, said Democratic pollster Doug Schoen on Sunday. “The president said [last week] that the next president needs … a new car smell, and it’s pretty hard for me to say … that she [Hillary] has a new car smell," Schoen told radio host John Catsimatidis in an interview to air Sunday on New York's 970 AM. Schoen, who worked on Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign and is now a Fox News contributor, said he expects Clinton to run, but that she will face challenges having served in Obama's administration as secretary of State. “The real question is how does she separate herself from Obama, yet not get so far away from him that she alienates his base constituency?” he said. Schoen said recent polls suggest 2016 is shaping up to be a tough fight. A Nov. 26 poll by Quinnipiac University showed Republican Mitt Romney ahead of Hillary Clinton 45% to 44% in a theoretical matchup. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush trails slightly behind, at 41%. “We’re in a real barn burner. The race hasn’t even begun, and it’s tied ostensibly between Hillary and Mitt Romney," Schoen said. "We’re in a statistical tie here. It’s anyone’s to be won." Another potential challenge for Clinton is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is gaining prominence within the Democratic Party and is seen as a possible 2016 contender, Schoen said. “I think she’s a strong candidate, if she runs," he said. "It's undeniable that the Democratic political base wants the kind of populism that she's been offering the electorate." *Calendar:* *Sec. Clinton's upcoming appearances as reported online. Not an official schedule.* · December 1 – New York, NY: Sec. Clinton keynotes a League of Conservation Voters dinner (Politico <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/hillary-clinton-green-groups-las-vegas-111430.html?hp=l11> ) · December 1 – New York, NY: Sec. Clinton hosts fundraiser for Sen. Mary Landrieu (Times-Picayune <http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/11/hillary_clinton_hosting_new_yo.html> ) · December 4 – Boston, MA: Sec. Clinton speaks at the Massachusetts Conference for Women (MCFW <http://www.maconferenceforwomen.org/speakers/>) · December 16 – New York, NY: Sec. Clinton honored by Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (Politico <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/hillary-clinton-ripple-of-hope-award-112478.html> ) · February 24 – Santa Clara, CA: Sec. Clinton to Keynote Address at Inaugural Watermark Conference for Women (PR Newswire <http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hillary-rodham-clinton-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-inaugural-watermark-conference-for-women-283200361.html> )