Correct The Record Sunday July 20, 2014 Roundup

podesta-emails 8,739 words email

P22 P17 V11 D6 V14

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*[image: Inline image 1]* *Correct The Record Sunday July 20, 2014 Roundup:* *Headlines:* *The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “The GOP's 2016 Hillary paradox” <http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/212740-the-gops-2016-hillary-paradox>* “One thing is obvious, Republicans don't want to run against Hillary Clinton. That's why they are running a full campaign, now, to stop her from entering the race," said Adrienne Elrod of American Bridge's "Correct the Record," a group already established to defend the former first lady from GOP attacks. "Republicans know she will win. You don't expend that kind of money, capital and time unless you are scared. Republicans are well aware that her forward thinking vision for the middle class and the record of accomplishment she has built can't be stopped," she continued. *Telegraph (U.K.): “Hillary Clinton, interview: 'Forgiveness is hard'” <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/hillary-clinton/10977169/Hillary-Clinton-interview-Forgiveness-is-hard.html>* Sec. Clinton: “What stayed with Clinton was a respect for those who got up after being knocked down. No matter how rejected, betrayed or mistreated you feel, you don’t become a whiner.” *CBS (Minnesota): “Hillary Clinton Signing Books In St. Paul Sunday” <http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/07/20/hillary-clinton-signing-books-in-st-paul-sunday/>* “Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be in St. Paul this afternoon. Clinton will be signing copies of her memoir ‘Hard Choices’ at Common Good Books on Snelling Avenue from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m.” *New York Daily News: “James Carville mocks anti-Clinton book” <http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/james-carville-mocks-anti-clinton-book-blog-entry-1.1873660>* “He [Carville] dismissed suggestions that Clinton could face a serious challenge from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.” *New York Times column: Maureen Dowd: “A Popular President” <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-a-popular-president.html?emc=eta1&_r=1>* “As Hillary stumbles and President Obama slumps, Bill Clinton keeps getting more popular.” *Politico: “What we learned from liberals at Netroots Nation” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/netroots-nation-2014-hillary-clinton-elizabeth-warren-109138.html>* “At a high-profile gathering of progressives this week, Hillary Clinton was tolerated, Barack Obama was pitied, and Elizabeth Warren was treated like a hero.” *Politico: “Dean recounts time on the trail” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/howard-dean-recounts-time-trail-109136.html>* Dean: “‘I don’t think she’s [Sen. Warren’s] going to get in unless Hillary doesn’t run,’ he said. ‘In which case I know you’re going to do everything you can to make sure she goes in, whether she likes it or not.’” *Washington Post: “Clinton, despite stratospheric poll numbers, is very likely to face primary opposition” <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/despite-stratospheric-poll-numbers-clinton-is-very-likely-to-face-primary-opposition/2014/07/20/aa9502d6-100a-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9_story.html>* “Despite those stratospheric numbers, it’s a near-certainty that Clinton will face some sort — or sorts — of primary opposition. Which begs the question: Why?” *Washington Free Beacon: “Riley: Paul, Obama Have Similar ‘Disengagement’ Foreign Policies” <http://freebeacon.com/politics/riley-paul-obama-have-similar-disengagement-foreign-policies/>* “Wall Street Journal editorial board member Jason Riley said Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and President Obama had similar foreign policies of disengagement Sunday on Meet the Press.” *Articles:* *Telegraph (U.K.): “Hillary Clinton, interview: 'Forgiveness is hard'” <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/hillary-clinton/10977169/Hillary-Clinton-interview-Forgiveness-is-hard.html>* By Chrissy Iley July 20, 2014, 8:00 a.m. EDT It has been said many times that Hillary Clinton’s lack of warmth and empathy cost her the 2008 Democratic candidacy. A friend of mine who is a respected editor told me that she finds her smug and cold. Before our meeting, I watched her appearance on BBC One’s magazine programme The One Show, a televisual happening that was described as “Einstein doing Play School”. I’d go one step further: it was Einstein loving every second of being on Play School. Everything Clinton was asked she responded to with charm, apparent sincerity and, most surprising of all, firecracker wit. When asked if she prefers the dress sense of Dolly Parton or Angela Merkel she replied: “Dolly for night time, Angela for day.” And when asked who was her favourite president, Bill Clinton or Barack Obama, she said that she was glad to have served Obama, who had taken the US out of the worst recession since the Great Depression and introduced universal health care, and glad to be married to Bill who rebooted the economy and created 23 million jobs. When Rylan Clark, the television presenter most famous for crying hysterically on The X Factor, referred to her on ITV as “babe”, she beamed. She can take anything in her stride. But strength doesn’t mean froideur in her case. When she arrives for our meeting in a suite at Claridge’s, there’s none of the pushy, sullen security that’s been described in the press and on Twitter. She enters with her aide, smiling. She is wearing black trousers and a white jacket patterned with tiny black and yellow flowers, pointed flats. She is curious: why is [the Telegraph magazine] Seven called Seven? Why have I flown in from LA? It’s as if she’s trying to feel her way around me, make a connection. She admires my necklace, a gold chain with charms, and while you could think this was a politician’s ploy to get me on side, she’s wearing a more dainty version of the same necklace herself, so it seems genuine. She has huge eyes; blue, round, inquiring. She’s here, of course, to promote her memoir, Hard Choices, in which she chronicles her exhilarating and gruelling life as Secretary of State, the world’s number-one diplomat, visiting 112 countries in four years. A life of tough decisions and minimal sleep. She tackled it with gusto and seems to have derived great satisfaction from the job. David Miliband, when he was Foreign Secretary, said, and I paraphrase, that you could have a laugh with Hillary. Does she really think it’s important to trade jokes when the agenda is so serious? “Oh, Chrissy, it’s so important, I mean really. National security is serious and dangerous. If you don’t have time to be a human being and let your hair down, have a joke, you can lose perspective on what you are doing. And so I have had fun with David, and others.” “Fun” is not the first adjective most people would attach to Hillary Clinton and there is not much “fun” in her memoir. The most moving part of the book is when she talks about her mother, Dorothy Rodham, who had a cruel, abusive and neglected upbringing. Dorothy, who died in 2011, was rejected by her own parents and sent from Chicago to California when she was eight to live with strict disciplinarian grandparents who showed her no love. Dorothy went out trick or treating one Hallowe’en without permission and as punishment was confined to her room for an entire year. Yet she took solace in the comfort of strangers and any small acts of decency. She became a lifelong campaigner for social justice, as well as a caring wife and mother. How did Dorothy influence the person Hillary became? “When I was a very little girl, all I knew was that she was my mother. As I got older, probably into my teen years, I could reflect. She was devoted and she was fun. She was an active, involved person in our church and in our school. When I learnt about the terrible set of issues and challenges she faced as a child, my admiration for her grew. I didn’t know how she did it; how she came from what she experienced to be what I experienced. It was extraordinary.” What stayed with Clinton was a respect for those who got up after being knocked down. No matter how rejected, betrayed or mistreated you feel, you don’t become a whiner. Dorothy never did. If you are a victim, you never move on. Much has been made of the fact that Monica Lewinsky’s visit to London briefly coincided with Clinton’s. In a recent Vanity Fair article, Lewinsky described herself as “arguably the most humiliated woman in the world”. That is taking the victim role by storm. One could argue that in that particular three-way it was Hillary Clinton who was the most humiliated. The man she loved and stood by cheated on her and it all played out in public. How did she take that humiliation and turn it around so dramatically? “I moved on,” she says simply. Judging from her Vanity Fair interview, Lewinsky hasn’t moved on. Does she feel a little sorry for her? "I think she is someone who has to express her own feelings. I can’t characterise her, that wouldn’t be right. I’m just grateful that I made the choices I made, to move forward and from that I’ve had an extraordinary set of opportunities and experiences.” In her book she also talks about the necessity for forgiveness. Did she find it easy? “No, no,” she says emphatically. “Forgiveness is a hard choice. It’s liberating to be able to reach the point in your life where you feel you can forgive. Everybody feels they have been trespassed upon and nearly everybody has trespassed on somebody else, maybe not intentionally.” Did the Lewinsky scandal make her and Bill stronger as a couple? “I feel that we always had a close relationship. It doesn’t mean that we haven’t disappointed each other or fallen short in some way because, of course, we each have in everyday life. There are things that you do or fail to do. I feel very blessed to have a partner in life who supports me, who is enthusiastic about what I want to do, who has been a great father and who will be a fabulous grandfather.” Throughout the interview there is direct and indirect clucking about the advent of her first grandchild; Chelsea is to give birth in the autumn. But I don’t think for a minute that her new role as a grandmother – however longed for – would interfere with any decision to run for the presidency. Hard Choices is full of vivid descriptions of dramatic events – the killing of Osama bin Laden being the most dramatic of all – that leave the reader in no doubt that Clinton loved the adrenalin of her job at the heart of government. Was it hard to keep the bin Laden operation secret from Bill? “It was hard in two ways,” she says. “Hard because I had to keep it from everybody. I had to do the work, the analysis and the recommending based on my own efforts, and I had to keep it from my husband because of the admonition we couldn’t tell anybody. I’d have loved to have talked it over with him because I value his advice and experience, but I didn’t. And when President Obama called him and the other living presidents about what had happened, he said to Bill, ‘I assume Hillary has told you.’ He said, ‘No, she hasn’t told me anything.’ I laughed about it with him later and he said, ‘Well good, people will know you can keep a secret.’ ” Did Bill keep (non-sexual) secrets from her when he was in office? “Yes, he did. I don’t think very many, but there are some things that you are expected to keep secret. Even though in our cases we could add value in thinking through these decisions together, we didn’t.” How does she think the dynamic of their relationship has changed since she stepped out of his shadow and became a powerful figure in her own right and his public profile has declined? “I don’t think he will ever be anything but a public person, especially in our country. He has his work with the [Clinton] Foundation, his special envoy work with the UN, some of the work that President Obama has asked him to do, and he has an enormously high profile. So I view it as a conversation we started many years ago in law school [both went to Yale], where we each tried to support and really listen to each other. "When I was Secretary of State, there were many things we could talk over, and we did. We view ourselves as being very much partners in our marriage.” I interviewed Bill Clinton once, briefly, and found him to be hugely charismatic. What’s he like around the house? Is he electric all the time? She guffaws. “I know that when I see it! No, he is very much an around-the-house husband; let’s clean up the kitchen, let’s take the dogs for a walk, what are we going to do with our garden? Very matter-of-fact, everyday issues.” Was she aware that, thanks to her image as a strong woman, she has become something of a gay icon? “Really?’ she purrs. “That is so touching to hear that. I have a chapter called ‘Unfinished Business’ about women’s rights and gay rights. To me you cannot be fully human, fully civilised, unless you recognise humanity in everyone. Our country has made a lot of progress in issues of racism and sexism and homophobia, but many places around the world are dangerous for women and dangerous for gays, and we have to keep working.” As a feminist, Clinton is unswerving. On Twitter, she describes herself as “wife, mom, lawyer, women and kids advocate, US senator, Sec. State, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD”. She says she was thinking of naming her book “The Scrunchie Chronicles” because of all the attention paid to her hair. Did she feel, being a woman in power, she had to modify the way she dressed? “When I was younger and women first started to get in public positions, in my case the law, we went through a period where we wore those little ribbon ties, little bows. We tried to figure out what was our appropriate dress. Now you can be aware of conventions but not be a slave to them. I wear pants of various kinds because it solves a lot of problems. Different jackets, heels of different heights, but I also like to wear something that is more fun, more happy, not be so predictable.” Her coat today is a happy coat. If it were a cocktail, it would be a margarita. “Yes, thank you. I happen to love margaritas and it was my mother’s favourite drink. It’s a happy drink.” Nevertheless, her clothes in the past have been criticised. Combined with all the other criticism that has come her way, particularly the on-going furore surrounding her handling of the 2012 assault on the US consulate in Benghazi, in which the US ambassador died, it has, she says, forced her to develop the skin of a rhinoceros. Is there any criticism that still hurts? “I feel like I’ve run the gauntlet. When somebody is saying something about another person that is unfair, it’s not that it’s about me so much as the meanness that can be displayed towards people. I don’t like that. It used to bother me and I would get frustrated and then I didn’t have the energy for it any more. And I also thought, ‘If I’m spending energy worrying about what somebody is saying about me, then how am I ever going to make the point I want to make?’ "So now I wear my hair how I want it. I’ll wear my glasses if I want to. Women should not be entrapped by those expectations. This book is to encourage young women, in particular, to find their style, their identity and their voice.” I wonder if she is referring to what has been dubbed “the Beyoncé voters” – single women who have been categorised as a new demographic of potential voters who Clinton will need if she decides to run for president. “I think what you have to do is make the case that Congress has an enormous impact on matters that are important to you. If you are worried about your student loan, saving for a house, worried about the conditions in the workplace, it’s not just the president you elect, it’s who you elect to Congress. Single women have not been a target for that kind of message.” Much has been made of the fact that she would be quite an old president (she would be 69). She has also had a health scare – a blood clot that caused her to collapse in 2012. Today, however, she appears healthy and full of brio. Does she have a fitness regime other than the yoga I’ve read about? “Clearing closets makes my head fitter,” she says. “I love a project that has a beginning, middle and end.” She feels liberated from the throwing away of old clothes. “I love the letting go,” she says, laughing. What will she do if she decides not to run? “Work in the foundation that Bill and I started and that my daughter is also a member of, the three of us together. I’m going to keep fighting for women’s full participation, their equality and opportunity in every society. I have more than enough to do, it’s just a question of making these hard choices of where I want to put my energy and emphasis.” Does Bill want her to run? “He wants me to do whatever I decide to do.” Having seen the job first-hand, what is the best and worst thing about being president? “The best thing is you can help people solve their problems and manage difficult situations. The worst thing is it’s a never-ending daunting set of responsibilities that 24/7 is not enough time to deal with.” She described her campaign for the Democratic candidacy as physically and emotionally exhausting, which is surely nothing compared to the stress of being the actual president. Hasn’t she noticed how quickly and dramatically they age? “Yes. Just look at them, they go in young and vigorous and go grey.” Does that worry her? “No, because I can colour my hair!” She caused brouhaha by announcing how, when they left the White House at the end of the Clinton presidency, they were completely broke. Yet she makes vast amounts from public speaking and book deals and, together, they are estimated to be worth around $55 million. Can she remember what it was like to really be poor? “Absolutely, yes. Bill and I started off scraping our way through law school. We each had to work several jobs to get through and each had student loans to pay off.” When they got married, there was no money for a proper wedding reception. They had a do at home and she wore an off-the-peg dress she bought the day before. What does she like spending her money on these days? “Experiences. Going to the theatre. Going on vacations to new places.” What keeps her awake at night, apart from jet lag? “I sleep very well, but I do worry about violence from extremists, rogue states that have nuclear weapons. We all worry about that.” Towards the end of the book, when she talks about her mother’s death, she quotes Inayat Khan, founder of the Sufi order: “I have loved and been loved.” “I love that quote,” she says. “I think it describes any long-term relationship because clearly sometimes you are in greater need than your partner and sometimes it is reversed.” She doesn’t think that women love doing the loving? “That’s not been my experience. I think there are different phases in men’s and women’s lives. I know a lot of men who are now retired who are much more loving now than when they were working 16-hour days.” Who could she possibly have in mind, I wonder? For the first time in our interview, the possible future leader of the Free World, is not in the mood for jokes. Finally, there is that flash of steel everybody talks about. *CBS (Minnesota): “Hillary Clinton Signing Books In St. Paul Sunday” <http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/07/20/hillary-clinton-signing-books-in-st-paul-sunday/>* [No Writer Mentioned] July 20, 2014, 10:15 a.m. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be in St. Paul this afternoon. Clinton will be signing copies of her memoir “Hard Choices” at Common Good Books on Snelling Avenue from 2:15 to 4:15 p.m. The store’s event manager said that Clinton asked for “a comfy chair” and a slightly higher platform if she wants to stand for a while. He said she’s bringing her own pen. Tickets for this event are sold out. Clinton will also be one of the speakers at the annual Starkey Hearing Foundation Gala Sunday evening. “Hard Choices” reached the top of the New York Times’ bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction. *The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “The GOP's 2016 Hillary paradox” <http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/212740-the-gops-2016-hillary-paradox>* By Alexandra Jaffe July 20, 2014, 10:30 a.m. EDT The GOP can’t live with Hillary Clinton running for president, but they can’t live without her either. Most Republicans see the former secretary of State as a formidable challenger, albeit a flawed one. Her sheer presence does perhaps more to excite the GOP base than any other Democratic Party figure alive today, aside from President Obama. It’s the Clinton paradox: The candidate they’re most worried about beating is also the candidate they may most want to run against in 2016 to both draw out their voters and open up donors’ pocketbooks. "If Hillary Clinton runs, she brings a such a questionable record with plenty of old and new baggage that her candidacy will likely light up Republicans’ intensity to keep her out of the White House. Everything from strong Republican fundraising numbers and tremendous grassroots support will be aided by a Clinton candidacy,” said Ron Bonjean, a GOP strategist and former congressional leadership staffer. From Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) to Ted Cruz (Texas) to, most recently, Ron Johnson (Wis.), Republican presidential prospects have knocked her as eminently beatable to rev up their own base But that boast is more than just bluster — it’s an assertion that’s based in the facts of the past few months as she stumbled through her book tour rollout and revealed she still has many of the same flaws that tanked her unsuccessful bid in 2008. Over the past two months, Clinton has often come across as stiff or combative in media interviews, especially over the fallout from the 2012 terrorist attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Never comfortable with the press and skeptical of journalists, she’s made repeated gaffes on the issue of her wealth that have contributed to the perception of her as out-of-touch, one of Republicans’ favorite volleys against her in advance of 2016. Matt Beynon, an adviser to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who’s considering a 2016 bid, noted she may not deserve the reputation she has as a gifted politician. “President Clinton was probably the best politician of his generation and far too much of his aura is automatically transferred to her,” he said, noting that she’s lost the only truly tough high-profile race she faced, against President Obama in 2008. Her husband has indeed defended her on the wealth issue, but Hogan Gidley, a longtime adviser to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Santorum, both of whom are considering 2016 bids, said that may have made it even worse. “She doesn’t have the same credibility with blue-collar workers that Bill Clinton does, because Bill Clinton lived it. Bill Clinton grew up poor. She’d have trouble making that case against someone like a Mike Huckabee, like a Rick Santorum, who have lived it, who can speak to middle-class, blue-collar workers,” he said. That lack of credibility could undermine her ability to engage in what’s expected to be the key debate of the next presidential election: How to improve the economy and help the middle class succeed. And on the likely second and third issues — health care and foreign policy — she would arrive on the stage with considerable baggage as well, having led the failed 1994 health care reform effort and presided over a largely unremarkable period as secretary of State. Indeed, Beynon also knocked her “less than stellar record as Secretary of State, where opportunities to make a major impact in Iran, Syria, Libya and a half dozen other hot spots were spoiled,” and her tenure as a senator from New York was “devoid of any major legislative accomplishment.” His critiques are old ones, because Republicans already have much of the Clinton playbook written — in part by President Obama’s team. But they’re no less potent than they were in 2008, and Republicans have the next two years to build a narrative around her before Election Day. While that record offers the GOP a trove of comments and policy issues to mine for attacks, it’s also one that uniquely fires up the GOP base. The other potential Democratic presidential contenders have flaws, but none have the ties to such hot-button issues among the GOP grassroots as the attacks on the consulate at Benghazi, the 1994 health care reform effort and Bill Clinton’s impeachment as Clinton. In order to remain competitive on the national stage, Republicans need to turn their base out. Clinton could be the rare Democrat that creates enthusiasm among the bases of both parties. “There’s no one that quite excites the Democratic base like Bill and Hillary Clinton — but there’s no one that quite excites the Republican base like the Clintons, either,” Gidley said. Republicans also say she’s a fundraising draw like no other Democrat, both within the grassroots and big-dollar donors. Tim Miller, executive director at GOP opposition research shop America Rising, said while the group doesn’t do a significant amount of small-dollar fundraising, “to the extent that we do, Hillary is by far the biggest draw.” “I think there is lots of passion on our side in trying to stop Hillary, looking forward to a 2016 campaign, and I think certainly she is going to inspire a high level of intensity from our members,” he said. That’s true for bigger donors too, Miller noted: “All across the board, nobody likes her.” The fundraising draw is twofold: Donors contributing because of a concern over what a Clinton presidency would mean for the nation, but also because she is seen as so formidable, and her political machine is expected to be so strong. Other potential rivals who are seen as less of a threat to the seemingly inevitable Clinton may be less convincing for donors to open up their pocketbooks for 2016. Democrats laugh off the GOP's apparent quandary, saying they're just running scared of their own highly fluid and somewhat controversial field of possible candidates. “One thing is obvious, Republicans don't want to run against Hillary Clinton. That's why they are running a full campaign, now, to stop her from entering the race," said Adrienne Elrod of American Bridge's "Correct the Record," a group already established to defend the former first lady from GOP attacks. "Republicans know she will win. You don't expend that kind of money, capital and time unless you are scared. Republicans are well aware that her forward thinking vision for the middle class and the record of accomplishment she has built can't be stopped," she continued. Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) top 2008 campaign advisor Charlie Black, however, cautioned Republicans to “be careful what you wish for” with a Clinton nomination. ‘She will be extremely organized and well-funded — a lot of the Obama team that defeated her and defeated us twice will be working for her. She’s not a charismatic politician, but I think she’s basically solid. The appeal of having a woman president is significant,” he said. But Black admitted that narrative has played out before, prior to Clinton’s implosion last time. “If you asked us a year out, we said we’d rather run against Obama than Clinton,” he said of Team McCain, “but we didn’t realize how his charisma and his story would catch on, and we didn’t realize she would turn out to be somewhat of a plodder as a candidate.” Could it happen again? “I’m not saying it couldn’t,” said Black. “But I don’t think we ought to pull for her to be the candidate.” *New York Daily News: “James Carville mocks anti-Clinton book” <http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/james-carville-mocks-anti-clinton-book-blog-entry-1.1873660>* By Joel Siegel July 20, 2013, 10:43 a.m. EDT Former Clinton strategist James Carville mocked the new Bill and Hillary-bashing book "Blood Feud," saying "a Bugs Bunny comic book has more reality to it." "It's not only me that feels that way," Carville said in an interview broadcast Sunday on 970 AM The Answer. Blood Feud's author, Edward Klein, "is a man who is not taken seriously by literally anyone. Not even the right wing," Carville said. Carville, the Democratic strategist who made his name helping Bill Clinton win the White House in 1992, suggested listeners "just spend about 90 seconds on their computers and just Google Ed Klein." "This guy claims Bill Clinton raped Hillary Clinton .. and that is how Chelsea is born," Carville said, dredging up a claim in Klein's 2005 book, The Truth About Hillary. "It's just insane stuff!" "If any of your listeners want to waste their time and money (buying the book), go ahead," Carville added. Carville was interviewed by John Catsimatides, the billionaire who unsuccessfully ran for New York City mayor in 2013 and now hosts an hour-long radio interview show every Sunday morning. Asked by Catsimatides whether he thought Hillary Clinton would make another try for the White House, Carville said, "I think she's gionna run. No one has told me, let me be clear. (But) usually when somene runs for President once, they do it again." He dismissed suggestions that Clinton could face a serious challenge from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. "You look at Democrats across the board, they are very happy with Hillary," said Carville, now a paid analyst for Fox News. "Certainly the Democratic voter is very happy and content for her to be our party's nominee." *New York Times column: Maureen Dowd: “A Popular President” <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/20/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-a-popular-president.html?emc=eta1&_r=1>* By Maureen Dowd July 19, 2014 The thing about him is, he just keeps going. At 67, he continues to be, as Anna Quindlen once wrote, like one of those inflatable toys with sand weighting the bottom — you knock him over and he pops back up. As Hillary stumbles and President Obama slumps, Bill Clinton keeps getting more popular. The women, the cheesy behavior, the fund-raising excesses, the self-pity, the adolescent narcissism, the impeachment, the charges of racially tinged insults against Obama in 2008, the foundation dishabille — all that percussive drama has faded to a mellow saxophone riff for many Americans. A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Annenberg center poll showed that Clinton was, by a long shot, the most admired president of the last quarter-century. A new YouGov poll finds that among the last eight elected presidents, Clinton is regarded as the most intelligent and W. the least. (Clinton and W. both should have been more aggressive in catching Osama. But certainly, if Clinton had been president post-9/11, there would have been no phony invasion of Iraq, and Katrina would have elicited more empathy.) A Washington Post/ABC News poll in May found Bill’s approval ratings rebounding to the highest they had been since early in his presidency. Even some who used to mock his lip-biting have decided that warmth, even if it’s fake at times, beats real chilliness. Speaking at the 92nd Street Y last month, Bill O’Reilly was asked by Geraldo Rivera whether the country would have been better off electing Hillary instead of Barack Obama. “With Hillary you get Bill,” O’Reilly replied. “And Bill knows what’s going on. You may not like him but he knows what’s going on. Hillary doesn’t understand how the world works.” Except for L.B.J. and Nixon, ex-presidents tend to grow more popular. Yet Bill Clinton, wandering the global stage as a former president who may return to the White House as the husband of a president, plays a unique role in American history. (Newly released Clinton library documents revealed that Bill, believing it punchier, preferred to use “America” and “Americans” in speeches rather than “the United States” and “people of the United States.”) But why is he burning brighter now, when the spotlight should be on his successor and his wife? Do we miss the days when the National Debt Clock was retired? Are we more accepting that politicians have feet of clay? Are we tired of leaders who act as burdened as Sisyphus? Do we miss having a showman and a show? “Maybe they admire his vegan body,” said David Axelrod impishly, before replying seriously: “He’s the most seductive character that we’ve seen in American politics in our lifetime. He just has this unbelievably resilient and seductive personality.” James Carville noted dryly: “People are confused. They don’t know which one they like more, the peace or the prosperity.” He calls Clinton the “anti-Putin,” someone who did not exercise power to harm people but to help them. 42 had greater strengths and greater weaknesses than the average pol. Rand Paul accused Clinton of “predatory” behavior. Liz Cheney told Politico’s Mike Allen that she trusts Hillary more than she trusts Bill, implying that was because of Monica Lewinsky. And Todd “legitimate rape” Akin defended himself on Fox News this past week by hitting Clinton’s “long history of sexual abuse and indecency.” But G.O.P. pollster Kellyanne Conway said the words “Monica” and “liberal” rarely come up when she polls about Bill Clinton. The words “global” and “philanthropic” come up. She said that after Clinton, people “shrugged their shoulders at what had once made them raise their eyebrows.” “He was a good ambassador for the baby boomer generation,” she said. “Who hasn’t screwed up? Who hasn’t had a third and fourth chance?” Perhaps, given the tribal wars in Washington and dark tides loose in the world, there’s a longing for Bill’s better angels: the Happy Warrior desire to get up every day and go at it, no matter how difficult; the unfailing belief that in the future things will be better; the zest in the hand-to-hand combat of politics and policy, the reaching out to Newt Gingrich and other Republicans — even through government shutdowns and impeachment — and later teaming up with Bush Senior. “There’s a suspicion among a lot of people that Obama doesn’t much care for politics,” Carville said. “It’s amazing that a man can be so successful at something he really doesn’t like. It’s like if you found out that Peyton Manning didn’t like to play football.” Mike Murphy, the Republican strategist, said that Obama’s fade has been “the best Clinton rehab.” Murphy noted the irony that first, Bill had to use his extroverted personality, his talent as Explainer in Chief and his “empathy ray gun” to help Obama get re-elected, and now he will need to use those skills to push another clinical, cerebral candidate — his wife — up the hill. “The one guy he can’t help elect is himself because of that pesky Constitution,” Murphy said. “But of course, that’s what he’d love to do.” *Politico: “What we learned from liberals at Netroots Nation” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/netroots-nation-2014-hillary-clinton-elizabeth-warren-109138.html>* By Katie Glueck July 20, 2014, 6:58 a.m. EDT DETROIT — At a high-profile gathering of progressives this week, Hillary Clinton was tolerated, Barack Obama was pitied, and Elizabeth Warren was treated like a hero. The annual liberal confab known as Netroots Nation brought together around 3,000 activists converged for several days of campaign training, a protest or two, and speeches from Warren, Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats. And while the 2014 election is just months away, many in this crowd were far more focused on the 2016 race for president, a contest they hope will allow for a showdown between the pro-business and populist strains of the Democratic Party. Here are six takeaways from the gathering in the Motor City: Warren will be a factor, even if she’s not on the ticket. Elizabeth Warren stole the show this week with her tough messages to Wall Street and Republicans. The Massachusetts senator insists she’s not running in 2016, but the conference made clear that progressives will hold midterm and presidential candidates to the populist standard she has set. A case in point: the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, an activist group that touts itself as being from the “Warren wing of the Democratic Party,” is seeking to organize in New Hampshire and Iowa,”to make sure every presidential candidate is asked whether they agree with Warren on key economic populist issues like expanding Social Security benefits, taking on Wall Street, and eliminating student loan debt,” spokeswoman Laura Friedenbach said. Activists here nearly all called Warren a “fighter” — a label she embraced in her speech Friday — and signaled they want other Democrats to get aggressive with banks, corporations and lobbyists to tackle income inequality. Warren has charged that the economic system is “rigged” in favor of the rich and powerful. Candidates hoping to harness this crowd’s enthusiasm will need to embrace that pugnacious stance toward big business, not just talk about creating more opportunities for the middle class. Attendees here see Wall Street as a deeply damaging force in American politics and they want the kind of retribution Warren promises. There is hope for Hillary Clinton … Netroots attendees hail from the most liberal corners of the Democratic Party. To them Clinton is simply too conservative on fiscal and foreign policy matters. They see the former New York senator as tight with Wall Street, and she doesn’t strike them as willing to fight for working people the way Warren does. Yet interviews with several attendees suggest it’s not a lost cause for Clinton. If she distances herself from big business, highlights her support for labor — a point that came up several times here, given the big union representation at the conference — and demonstrates she cares about the struggles of ordinary Americans, she could go a long way with this group. What it really comes down to, activists say, is a shift in what Clinton emphasizes. “She would have to have Elizabeth Warren’s message,” said Cindy Pettibone, an activist from the Washington, D.C., area. “Against big banks and corporations, for the little guy, restoring the middle class and unions.” Clinton, who is touring the country to promote her new memoir about her time as secretary of state, appears to have already started adjusting for this. She told PBS’s Charlie Rose this week that, if she runs, it would be on a “very specific campaign that talks about the changes you want to make in order to tackle growth, which is the handmaiden of inequality.” Of course, if Clinton goes too far in embracing Warren’s tough-on-Wall Street message, it could hurt her fundraising and dampen her appeal among conservative Democrats. Another hopeful sign for the likely 2016 Democratic candidate: At a party Friday night hosted by Ready for Hillary — the grassroots-focused organization urging her to run — some people showed up wearing “Elizabeth Warren for President” stickers, to sip drinks, snack on pizza and listen to some Motown music. … but there is plenty of space for a 2016 candidate from the left. Even though grassroots activists acknowledge that Clinton is the most electable Democrat on the radar right now, they don’t want a Clinton coronation. And if Warren doesn’t run, they are hoping another left-leaning candidate will challenge Clinton so that the party will have to engage in a full-throated debate about where it stands on economic issues. They also believe that regardless of whether other candidates are viable, a contested primary would push Clinton to the left. Potential alternatives some cited include Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-described socialist. There’s also Vice President Joe Biden, whose keynote speech Thursday was well-received. Though some activists said they don’t view Biden much to the left of Clinton, they love that he pushed (if only inadvertently) President Barack Obama to endorse gay marriage in 2012. And they perceive him as slightly less hawkish than the president. As one national Democrat with close ties to the grassroots put it, activists are “venting” while they can, even if they ultimately rally behind Clinton. “No one, especially Democrats, no one likes a frontrunner” — at least not at this stage, this person said. National Democrats’ midterms messaging is on point with the base. Party leaders have been pushing messages about economic fairness as they look ahead to what will drive midterm turnout — and with this crowd, at least, it’s resonating. Issues such as raising the minimum wage, ensuring “equal pay” for women and, more broadly, reducing income inequality all played well here. In an interview, Mary Burke, who is running for governor against Scott Walker in Wisconsin, also pointed to reproductive and voting rights as issues that could drive Democrats to the polls in an off-year. Perhaps the biggest applause line in Warren’s speech came when she melded anti-Wall Street talk with blasting the Supreme Court’s recent decision on the Hobby Lobby case, which will allow some private companies to opt out of covering birth control. Foreign policy isn’t much of a factor. Netroots Nation started in 2006 and has deep roots in the anti-war movement: the conference rose to prominence as progressives grew increasingly angry about the war in Iraq. The gathering this year comes amid renewed chaos in Iraq, the downed airliner over the Ukraine that killed nearly 300 people and an Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. But you’d hardly know that foreign policy issues were dominating national and international news. Many attendees are certainly deeply anti-war; they want to see reduced military spending and are concerned about Clinton’s record of backing a more assertive foreign policy (some also questioned in interviews whether she would be, in their view, too pro-Israel should she run for president). And a handful of panels addressed national security issues. But in interviews and in speeches, the topic of international affairs rarely came up. Polls indicate that Americans are increasingly looking inward on foreign policy. The low-key reaction to major global events suggests that attitude also applies to the progressive base. They’re not mad at Obama, just disappointed. The president has had a tumultuous relationship with the Netroots crowd. They loved him during his nomination fight ahead of the 2008 election, but many of these activists have grown disillusioned at seeing the White House fail to produce much of the change they felt they’d been promised. Nonetheless, many said Obama has done what he could given the gridlock in Washington. “He’s doing all right, he could be doing better,” summed up Antonio Leonard, 26. “But with this Congress, you can’t get anything done.” Pettibone, the activist from Washington, added, “If we don’t get Democrats out and get a better Democratic Congress in Obama’s last two years, he won’t be able to accomplish anything.” *Politico: “Dean recounts time on the trail” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/howard-dean-recounts-time-trail-109136.html>* By Katie Glueck July 19, 2014, 2:33 p.m. EDT DETROIT — About ten years after badly losing the 2004 Democratic presidential primary, Howard Dean on Saturday offered a rollicking reflection on his time in politics. Speaking at Netroots Nation, the annual progressive gathering, Dean — also a former governor of Vermont and chair of the Democratic National Committe — regaled a friendly audience with stories from his time on the trail. Here’s a sampling of his most eyebrow-raising lines: • “The biggest problem was me, of course, because I was saying what I thought.” • Ahead of the Iraq war, former Vice President Dick “Cheney was trying to make out they had an atomic weapons program, which turned out to be complete horse****.” • On getting back into the presidential ring: “Once you’ve done this, to get back in you definitely need a long period of psychotherapy… When I first got in, I had no idea how mean everybody was going to be.” • “I think Jesus was a left-wing Democrat, if not a progressive.” But he also dealt with weightier topics, including the 2016 Democratic field. He predicted that there will be a primary “no matter what,” including if Hillary Clinton — the presumptive Democratic frontrunner — decides to run. Many in the crowd here are hoping that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who is famous for her populist, anti-Wall Street positions, will also compete, though she has said she’s ruled that out. “I don’t think she’s going to get in unless Hillary doesn’t run,” he said. “In which case I know you’re going to do everything you can to make sure she goes in, whether she likes it or not.” The room applauded. *Washington Post: “Clinton, despite stratospheric poll numbers, is very likely to face primary opposition” <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/despite-stratospheric-poll-numbers-clinton-is-very-likely-to-face-primary-opposition/2014/07/20/aa9502d6-100a-11e4-98ee-daea85133bc9_story.html>* By Chris Cillizza July 20, 2014, 10:23 a.m. EDT With every passing week, one thing becomes ever clearer: Hillary Rodham Clinton is going to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016. This past week’s evidence came in the form of two polls — conducted by NBC and Marist College — of Democratic voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. In Iowa, Clinton led Vice President Biden 70 percent to 20 percent. In New Hampshire, Clinton led Biden by 74 percent to 18 percent. (That’s not to pick on Biden; he was the strongest of Clinton’s possible challengers.) Despite those stratospheric numbers, it’s a near-certainty that Clinton will face some sort — or sorts — of primary opposition. Which begs the question: Why? To answer that, it’s important to remember that not everyone runs for president to win. Some run to promote a cause or a set of beliefs. Others run because timing dictates that they have to. Still others run in hopes of improving their chances of winding up on the ticket alongside Clinton or with a prominent spot in her administration. When it comes to 2016, the largest group of potential challengers to Clinton come from the “cause” category. Socialist Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) seems intent on running, largely to push his belief in the need for serious campaign finance reform. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is term-limited, with his second term ending in January, and undoubtedly thinks a credible run for president might bolster his chances of a spot in a Clinton administration. Former Montana governor Brian Schweitzer just seems to want to be back in the political game. Below are my rankings of the 2016 field. Remember that if Clinton runs, she wins. Tier 1 (The Clinton wing.) Clinton: Still think she hasn’t made up her mind about running? Check out what Clinton told Charlie Rose in an interview this week: “We have to make a campaign about what we would do. You have to run a very specific campaign that talks about the changes you want to make in order to tackle growth, which is the handmaiden of inequality.” Tier 2 (If she doesn’t run, these are the front-runners.) Biden: The vice president badly wants to run. Just look at his travel schedule, which this week included a keynote address at Netroots Nation, an annual gathering of liberal online activists. And his allies insist that his decision on the race has nothing to do with what Clinton decides. But Biden didn’t get this far in politics by being dumb; a race against Clinton is damn close to unwinnable for him — and he knows it. O’Malley: The Maryland governor is getting some nice press in early primary states. And he is working those states like no one else in the Democratic field. Because O’Malley can’t really afford to wait four (or eight) years to run, I expect him to be in the race no matter what Clinton does. Elizabeth Warren: The senator from Massachusetts is the only person who could credibly mount a challenge to Clinton. But she’s not going to do it. Although Warren is on the record saying she will serve out her six-year Senate term, which expires in 2018, I am hard-pressed to see how she would forgo a run if Clinton took a pass. Tier 3 (Maybe running. But not winning.) Howard Dean: Dean has the presidential bug. In 2004, he looked as if he was going to be the Democratic presidential nominee — until people started voting. In 2013, Dean predicted that Clinton would have a primary opponent, and he may see himself as that person. Sanders: Of everyone not named Clinton (or O’Malley) on this list, the senator from Vermont is doing the most to get ready for a presidential bid. No one — including Sanders — thinks he will win, but his liberal positions could make things uncomfortable for Clinton. Schweitzer: The former Montana governor proved in a recent interview with National Journal’s Marin Cogan that he isn’t yet ready for prime time, making impolitic comments about Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Schweitzer apologized, but the damage was done. He effectively doused any momentum he had built for a presidential bid. Tier 4 (The four-or-eight-more-years crowd.) Andrew Cuomo: The New York governor has a presidential bid in him, but it’s not going to be in 2016. If anything, he has moved farther away from a bid rather than closer to one. In 2020, Cuomo will be 62 — right in the sweet spot when it comes to presidential bids. In 2024, he will be 68, the age Clinton will be in 2016. Kirsten Gillibrand: Like Cuomo, Gillibrand is an ambitious New Yorker who almost certainly will run for president at some point. At 47, she has plenty of time to wait and, as she has done over the past few years, use her perch in the Senate to build her liberal résumé for an eventual national bid. Deval Patrick: Patrick raised some eyebrows a few months back when he had this to say about Clinton’s coronation as the Democratic nominee: “She’s an enormously capable candidate and leader. But I do worry about the inevitability thing, because I think it’s off-putting to the average . . . voter.” It seems very unlikely that the Massachusetts governor will take the plunge against Clinton, but his résumé in the Bay State could make for an intriguing profile in four or even eight years. *Washington Free Beacon: “Riley: Paul, Obama Have Similar ‘Disengagement’ Foreign Policies” <http://freebeacon.com/politics/riley-paul-obama-have-similar-disengagement-foreign-policies/>* By Washington Free Beacon July 20, 2014, 12:14 p.m. EDT Wall Street Journal editorial board member Jason Riley said Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and President Obama had similar foreign policies of disengagement Sunday on Meet the Press. Riley was part of a panel discussing MSNBC host Chuck Todd’s report on NBC/Marist poll numbers from Iowa and New Hampshire showing, among other revelations, Paul polling closely with 2016 Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. “It is striking, particularly his views on foreign policy [which] I think don’t sit well with a lot of Republicans, so I’m a little surprised,” Riley said. “Rand Paul’s views on foreign policy are not all that different from President Obama’s in terms of disengagement. He doesn’t like it put that way, but that’s the reality there.” *Calendar:* *Sec. Clinton's upcoming appearances as reported online. Not an official schedule.* · July 20 – St. Paul, MN: Sec. Clinton makes “Hard Choices” book tour stop at Common Good Books (AP <http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2014/07/08/hillary-clinton-plans-st-paul-stop-on-book-tour/> ) · July 20 – St. Paul, MN: Sec. Clinton visits Minn. Gov. Mark Dayton at the Governor's Mansion (Twitter <https://twitter.com/danmericaCNN/status/490172158510112768>) · July 21 – Menlo Park, CA: Sec. Clinton visits Facebook headquarters and holds live Q&A online (Twitter <https://twitter.com/gdebenedetti/status/490269389640720384>) · ~ July 23-27 – Boston, MA: Sec. Clinton speaks at the Ameriprise Financial Conference (Politico <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/george-w-bush-hillary-clinton-substitute-speaker-109010.html> ) · July 29 – Saratoga Springs, NY: Sec. Clinton makes “Hard Choices” book tour stop at Northshire Bookstore (Glens Falls Post-Star <http://poststar.com/news/local/clinton-to-sign-books-in-spa-city/article_a89caca2-0b57-11e4-95a6-0019bb2963f4.html> ) · August 9 – Water Mill, NY: Sec. Clinton fundraises for the Clinton Foundation at the home of George and Joan Hornig (WSJ <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/06/17/for-50000-best-dinner-seats-with-the-clintons-in-the-hamptons/> ) · August 28 – San Francisco, CA: Sec. Clinton keynotes Nexenta’s OpenSDx Summit (BusinessWire <http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140702005709/en/Secretary-State-Hillary-Rodham-Clinton-Deliver-Keynote#.U7QoafldV8E> ) · September 4 – Las Vegas, NV: Sec. Clinton speaks at the National Clean Energy Summit (Solar Novis Today <http://www.solarnovus.com/hillary-rodham-clinto-to-deliver-keynote-at-national-clean-energy-summit-7-0_N7646.html> ) · October 2 – Miami Beach, FL: Sec. Clinton keynotes the CREW Network Convention & Marketplace (CREW Network <http://events.crewnetwork.org/2014convention/>) · October 13 – Las Vegas, NV: Sec. Clinton keynotes the UNLV Foundation Annual Dinner (UNLV <http://www.unlv.edu/event/unlv-foundation-annual-dinner?delta=0>) · ~ October 13-16 – San Francisco, CA: Sec. Clinton keynotes salesforce.com Dreamforce conference (salesforce.com <http://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF14/keynotes.jsp>)