podesta_email_00468.txt

podesta-emails 5,143 words email

P17 D6 P22 P20 P23

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*​**Correct The Record Tuesday September 30, 2014 Afternoon Roundup:* *Tweets:* *Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@HillaryClinton <https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton> launched education initiatives to raise the status of girls around the world #HRC365 <https://twitter.com/hashtag/HRC365?src=hash> http://correctrecord.org/hillary-clinton-education-for-girls-futures … <http://t.co/Nirv28P4Vn> [9/29/14, 1:45 p.m. EDT <https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/516644889300185088>] *Headlines:* *Politico: “Bill Clinton to sub for Hillary Clinton at Brown event” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/bill-clinton-anthony-brown-111465.html>* “Hillary Clinton has bowed out of a fundraiser for Maryland gubernatorial hopeful Anthony Brown scheduled for Tuesday after the birth of her granddaughter — but Bill Clinton will be there in her place, it was reported Tuesday.” *Baltimore Sun: “Hillary Clinton cancels Brown fundraising appearance, sends Bill Clinton” <http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bal-hillary-clinton-cancels-brown-fundraising-appearance-sends-bill-clinton-20140930,0,3769007.story>* “New grandmother and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to stay home in New York with daughter Chelsea today, skipping a planned high-dollar fundraiser for Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown.” *Public Policy Polling: “Iowa Senate race remains close, slight edge to Ernst” <http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/09/iowa-senate-race-remains-close-slight-edge-to-ernst.html>* "Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush are tied in a hypothetical 2016 match up in Iowa at 43%. Clinton leads the rest of the Republican field by 4-8 points. It's 45/41 over Chris Christie, 46/42 over Mike Huckabee, 47/42 over Rand Paul, and 47/39 over Ted Cruz." *New York Times: “Mitt Isn’t Ready to Call It Quits” <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/magazine/mitt-isnt-ready-to-call-it-quits-just-yet.html?_r=0>* “He [Gov. Mitt Romney] called Hillary Clinton an ‘enabler’ of Obama’s foreign policy and said he was concerned by the isolationist inclination of likely Republican presidential candidates like Rand Paul." *BuzzFeed: “The ‘Totally Ridiculous’ Romney Boomlet” <http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/the-totally-ridiculous-romney-boomlet#2wwn3q7>* “This is, they say, not a thing.” *Associated Press: “Eying 2016, Rand Paul Courts Young Voters” <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RAND_PAUL_YOUNG_VOTERS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>* “Paul says the Republican Party has a big opportunity to attract more young voters - a group that fueled President Barack Obama's success and could prove critical to Hillary Rodham Clinton should she seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.” *Articles:* *Politico: “Bill Clinton to sub for Hillary Clinton at Brown event” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/bill-clinton-anthony-brown-111465.html>* By Maggie Haberman September 30, 2014, 11:20 a.m. EDT Hillary Clinton has bowed out of a fundraiser for Maryland gubernatorial hopeful Anthony Brown scheduled for Tuesday after the birth of her granddaughter — but Bill Clinton will be there in her place, it was reported Tuesday. “I am very grateful to President Clinton for changing his schedule to travel to Maryland and attend our event this evening,” Brown, Maryland’s lieutenant governor, said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun. “I appreciate and respect Secretary Clinton’s decision to stay and spend time with her daughter and new granddaughter, Charlotte. I appreciate both of the Clintons’ commitment to the Brown-Ulman campaign.” Bill Clinton’s appearance falls on the same day as two other events Hillary Clinton canceled, both in Washington — one a conference by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute and the other a fundraiser for a New Hampshire state legislator. Brown would become the third African-American official in the country to be elected governor, and could be a key surrogate for Hillary Clinton among black voters if she runs for president, as expected. *Baltimore Sun: “Hillary Clinton cancels Brown fundraising appearance, sends Bill Clinton” <http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bal-hillary-clinton-cancels-brown-fundraising-appearance-sends-bill-clinton-20140930,0,3769007.story>* By Erin Cox September 30, 2014, 10:30 a.m. EDT New grandmother and former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to stay home in New York with daughter Chelsea today, skipping a planned high-dollar fundraiser for Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown. Instead, former President Bill Clinton will headline the event in her place. "I am very grateful to President Clinton for changing his schedule to travel to Maryland and attend our event this evening," Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown said in a statement. "I appreciate and respect Secretary Clinton's decision to stay and spend time with her daughter and new granddaughter, Charlotte. I appreciate both of the Clintons' commitment to the Brown-Ulman campaign." This will be the second fundraiser Bill Clinton has attended for Brown. The last one in May raised nearly $1 million for the Democrat's bid. Campaign organizers expected tonight's event at a wooded, 2.8-acre private home in Potomact to raise even more. The Clintons curtailed their busy election season schedules after Charlotte was born Friday. Bill Clinton has long been scheduled to headline a fundraiser in North Carolina today for the re-election of U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, a first-term Democrat. This morning, Clinton added a stop in Maryland to his schedule accommodate the Brown fundraiser, Brown's campaign said. *Public Policy Polling: “Iowa Senate race remains close, slight edge to Ernst” <http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2014/09/iowa-senate-race-remains-close-slight-edge-to-ernst.html>* [No Writer Mentioned] September 30, 2014 PPP's newest Iowa Senate poll continues to find a tight race with Joni Ernst slightly ahead of Bruce Braley. Ernst is ahead 44/42 when all the third party candidates are included, and 45/43 in a straight head to head. The 45/43 advantage for Ernst is identical to what we found on our last poll of the race in late August. Even though the horse race numbers haven't changed much, this is the first time we've found Ernst with a better net favorability rating than Braley. Ernst is at -4 with 42% of voters rating her favorably to 46% with a negative opinion, numbers that are up from a -10 spread at 36/46 in August. Meanwhile Braley's numbers continue their slow decline- he has a -7 rating with 37% rating him favorably and 44% holding an unfavorable opinion, down from -4 at 37/41 last month. Braley's favorability has dropped a net 17 points from where it was when we first polled a Braley/Ernst match up in July of 2013 and he was at +10 (34/24). Both candidates have a pretty good lock on their party base. Only 5% of Democrats are crossing over to support Ernst, and just 8% of Republicans are crossing over to support Braley. The key for Ernst is with independent voters- she has a 45/35 advantage with them. The Governor's race in Iowa does not appear to be making any move towards being competitive. Terry Branstad leads Jack Hatch 50/36 with the full field of candidates and 52/38 in a straight head to head. Branstad is up 20 points with independents at 51/31, and is winning over 17% of the Democratic vote while losing just 6% of Republicans. The horse race numbers pretty closely track with Branstad's approval numbers at 53/38. Feelings about Hatch are divided three ways with about a third rating him favorably, a third unfavorably, and a third having no opinion either way. The closest race down ballot continues to be the one for Secretary of State. Republican Paul Pate leads Democrat Brad Anderson 36/33, with 25% of voters remaining undecided. Also in the range of being competitive is the race for Auditor- Republican Mary Mosiman has a 41/35 advantage over Democratic challenger Jonathan Neiderbach there. The other three statewide contests don't appear they'll be competitive this year. Democrat Tom Miller leads 53/33 for reelection as Attorney General, Republican Bill Northey is up 49/29 in his bid for another term as Agriculture Commissioner, and Michael Fitzgerald has a 47/35 advantage in his run at keeping the Treasurer's job. Other notes from Iowa: -Charles Grassley remains easily the state's most popular politician with 57% of voters approving of him to only 29% who disapprove. He would lead a hypothetical reelection contest against former Governor Tom Vilsack (also generally popular with a 46/36 favorability rating) 51/42. Tom Harkin is on positive ground with a +10 net approval rating at 47/37 as well. The only states besides Iowa in recent years where we've found the Governor and both Senators in a state all with +10 net approval ratings are Mississippi and Wyoming. -Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush are tied in a hypothetical 2016 match up in Iowa at 43%. Clinton leads the rest of the Republican field by 4-8 points. It's 45/41 over Chris Christie, 46/42 over Mike Huckabee, 47/42 over Rand Paul, and 47/39 over Ted Cruz. We'll have early numbers on who Democrats and Republicans want as their 2016 nominees tomorrow. *New York Times: “Mitt Isn’t Ready to Call It Quits” <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/magazine/mitt-isnt-ready-to-call-it-quits-just-yet.html?_r=0>* By Mark Leibovich September 30, 2014 “Hey, Ann, can you come here a sec?” Mitt Romney called out, sinking into the cushions of a walnut-colored easy chair, his legs outstretched on a matching ottoman. Romney’s blue work shirt was tucked into faded jeans; sockless ankles peeked out from his New Balance sneakers. He paused as Ann Romney entered from the kitchen, where she was baking chocolate-chip cookies. “Sweetie,” he continued, “what are some of the items we gave away at the Yankee swap?” It was a September morning, and the Romneys were closing up their summer house in Wolfeboro, N.H. The place, which is vast and uncluttered, had a decidedly empty-nester vibe. Framed family photos were clustered on shelves; half-packed bags were strewn around the kitchen. The silence in the living room was accentuated by the distant whine of motorboats on Lake Winnipesaukee. After years of traveling entourages, the Romneys now live alone. There were no staff members or aides or handlers; no phones rang. Nothing announced the presence of an almost-president, other than a sign on the porch: “Ann and Mitt Romney: Tennis, Volleyball, Water-Sports.” A single Cadillac SRX was parked in the driveway as a flock of geese orbited overhead. “Darn geese,” Romney said, “keep pooping all over the lawn.” The Romneys are in downsizing mode. They have sold their Belmont, Mass., townhouse, and they also might sell the villa in La Jolla, Calif., which they purchased for $12 million in 2008 — the one with the zoning and renovation troubles, the disdainful Democratic neighbors and the much-derided plans for a car elevator. On a lark, they recently decided to make their permanent home in Utah, where they are building a house adjacent to one of their five sons’ 2.5-acre property. The relocation has not been without its practical concerns. When you run for president twice, you tend to accumulate huge amounts of campaign souvenirs, gifts and other detritus. However elusive the ultimate prize, the trunkloads of consolation trophies endure: There are the plaques, the awards and the occasional engraved glass eagle (“I got it for a speech or something”). Then there are the homemade portraits of the candidate, sent in by supporters. The Romneys have also saved 22 of each campaign T-shirt, button and poster — one for each of their grandchildren. From Ann’s $1,000-a-plate birthday luncheon in April 2012, they have saved the cake topping of her on horseback that was commissioned by Donald Trump. Had the election turned out differently, these tokens might have found a nice home in some government facility, en route to a presidential library. Instead, Romney was forced to cram them into his garage in Wolfeboro. When he began to worry that the snowy winters would foster mold, he loaded what he could into a horse trailer and paid a guy named Poppy to drive it across the country. Before he left, the Romneys hosted a giveaway party, or Yankee swap, for the things they didn’t want. “What about that elephant purse?” Ann said, arriving from the kitchen in a light blue blouse and jeans. “Did you mention the elephant purse?” “Ah, the elephant purse,” Mitt said, nodding. A very nice woman had given it to him, perhaps in Iowa, or maybe Ohio or Nevada. “She made it with that puff paint,” Mitt said. “It had those, what do you call them, bedazzle beads.” Ron Kaufman, a longtime adviser, snared this particular keepsake at the Yankee swap. “Very appropriate,” Ann said. “Ron is the king of tchotchkes.” “The best was the bust of Ronald Reagan,” Romney continued. “It was plaster but bronzed. Or it looked like it was bronzed. It said, ‘Governor Mitt Romney, the Reagan Freedom Award,’ or something of that nature.” His tone had hardened a little, acquiring the edge of a sarcastic boast. “I actually have several busts of Ronald Reagan that have been presented to me,” he said. Then the room fell silent as Ann returned to the kitchen to set out a small buffet of sliced turkey, corned beef, two loaves of Pepperidge Farm bread (white and wheat) and a selection of both mayonnaise and Miracle Whip. Romney, sinking back in his chair, looked out the window as more geese flew by. After losing the presidential election to Barack Obama in 2012, Romney expected to become a political empty-nester of sorts — a “loser for life,” as he predicted in “Mitt,” the Netflix documentary about his two presidential campaigns. (“Mike Dukakis, you know, he can’t get a job mowing lawns,” he remarked at the time.) Unlike John McCain and John Kerry, Romney didn’t have a job to return to in the Senate. Unlike Al Gore, he had already amassed extraordinary wealth. Romney, who is 67, was left to confront the vacuum of a long retirement, come what may. Being the first nominee to nurse his defeat fully in the social-media age brought its own indignities. Gore could go away and grow a beard, then get rich, fat and separated from his wife, all in relative obscurity. Romney, by contrast, has posed dutifully for Instagram photos with commercial-airline companions (“airports are the worst”), supermarket employees and staff members at Wahoo’s Fish Taco. He briefly inspired a hashtag, #SelfiesWithMitt. Recently he was taking an early-morning jog in Arkansas, where he was campaigning for the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Asa Hutchinson, when a woman accosted him. “You’re John Kerry! You’re John Kerry!” she yelled. He tried to correct her, but she wasn’t buying it; she kept running alongside him. “I said, ‘I’m not John Kerry — I’m Tom Brady,’ ” Romney recalled. At that, she left him alone. As a candidate, Romney often appeared as if he were bracing for a light fixture to drop on his head. On this September morning, though, he seemed far more at ease. No doubt some of his buoyancy could be ascribed to a postdefeat surge of popularity. G.O.P. candidates had been begging him to campaign and raise money for them; polls had found that he would defeat Obama in a rerun of 2012. A number of Romney’s seemingly askew assertions during the campaign — like identifying Russia as the United States’ greatest geopolitical threat — now looked prescient. An online “Draft Mitt” petition had already accumulated more than 120,000 votes of support. Romney shrugged off the recent attention, citing the natural human tendency to covet the unavailable. (“If you live in the mountains, you long for the trees and the lakes,” he said. “If you live in the trees and the lakes. . . .”) And yet a confluence of political realities has created a genuine opening for a Romney third act. As Obama struggles through a difficult final term, there is a lack of a clear Republican heir apparent. Presumptive early front-runners, like Chris Christie and Jeb Bush, have shown themselves to be flawed or reluctant or both. A splintering of possible movement candidates (Rand Paul, Ted Cruz) could beget a need for a default consensus choice. Romney, for his part, is noticeably playing along. He recently told a radio host that he was not planning on running for president but allowed that “circumstances can change.” A recent column by the conservative pundit Byron York noted that Romney had kept in close contact with many of his advisers and aides. As we spoke, Romney compared the barrage of 2016-related questions to a scene in the film “Dumb and Dumber.” After Jim Carrey’s character is flatly rejected by Lauren Holly, she tells him that there’s a one-in-a-million chance she would change her mind. “So,” Romney told me, embodying the character, “Jim Carrey says, ‘You’re telling me there’s a chance.’ ” This was the obvious opening for me to ask if there was a chance. Romney’s response was decidedly meta — “I have nothing to add to the story” — but he then fell into the practiced political parlance of nondenial. “We’ve got a lot of people looking at the race,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.” As deftly as Romney plays the self-deprecating bridesmaid, he is open about his dread of becoming irrelevant. After his father, George Romney, a three-term Michigan governor, lost the state’s primary in 1968, he struggled to get meetings. “I remember my dad becoming quite frustrated,” Romney said. “He used to say that Washington is the fastest place to go from ‘Who’s Who’ to ‘Who’s That?’ ” In the saturated media landscape of today, the son has been luckier. “I have been able to get on TV, get key interviews, get op-eds published,” Romney said. When I showed up in Wolfeboro, as Romney led me to the living room, he made sure we were on the record. “You have a tape recorder? Notebook?” he asked me as he was describing the potential mold problems of New Hampshire storage. He wanted to make sure I got this. Romney also seemed eager to put much less frivolous points on the record. He spoke dismissively about his visit to the White House shortly after the 2012 election — the cursory meeting in which the former combatants are supposed to play gracious, take pictures together and make noises about issues on which they might work together in the future. “It was intended to check a box,” Romney said of the president’s invitation. He was not offered any follow-up, which was typical, Romney said, according to what he heard from some of his executive friends. “No one gets the impression that what they are saying is being incorporated,” he told me. “I won’t mention who it was, but I met with one of the nation’s top Republican leaders, and he said, ‘You know the strange thing is that the president seems to answer to only two people — Valerie Jarrett and Michelle Obama.’ ” Romney derided Obama for his continual complaints about Republican intransigence. “That’s the nature of democracy,” he said, shaking his head with an exaggerated grimace. He contrasted this with the exemplary bipartisan record of, for instance, himself. When he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney reminded me, he always worked with the state’s liberal stalwart, Ted Kennedy. “Ted Kennedy would do the work,” Romney said, in contrast to the state’s other longtime senator. “John Kerry was always in front of the camera but not out doing the hard work.” He called Hillary Clinton an “enabler” of Obama’s foreign policy and said he was concerned by the isolationist inclination of likely Republican presidential candidates like Rand Paul. Romney told me that he was more passionate about foreign affairs than he showed in the 2012 campaign, which was largely given over to domestic affairs. It went without saying that this probably wouldn’t be the case in 2016. “Mitt,” which was released in January, portrayed the candidate as a family man — vulnerable, funny and cognizant of the absurdity of his undertaking. “One of the big frustrations a lot of us had on the campaign is that people weren’t seeing the guy we all know in private,” said Representative Paul Ryan, Romney’s running mate in 2012, offering a familiar complaint. “The ‘Mitt’ documentary was a very good picture of that guy.” I asked Ryan if the film’s warm portrayal might argue for a looser, less scripted approach to campaigns. “The pressure you get from the consultant class to conform to the norm and do these stock standard things drives me nuts, personally,” he said. When I asked Romney the same question, however, he said the exact opposite. “There will be no free time in the back of the plane where you’d just go back and shoot the breeze with the media,” he told me. He would do this occasionally, but his aides argued against it. “They were always afraid that, you know, I’d make some little joke or someone would ask some question that couldn’t be answered — you know, ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’ ” Romney told me that during the campaign, the F.B.I. informed him that a foreign government — he wouldn’t say which — was reading his emails. This was another reminder that there could be no safe zone, no such thing as an unplugged candidate. “The era of spontaneity in politics is over,” he declared, as I immediately wondered when it had started. “I was talking to one of my political advisers,” Romney continued, “and I said: ‘If I had to do this again, I’d insist that you literally had a camera on me at all times” — essentially employing his own tracker, as opposition researchers call them. “I want to be reminded that this is not off the cuff.” This, as he saw it, was what got him in trouble at that Boca Raton fund-raiser, when Romney told the crowd he was writing off the 47 percent of the electorate that supported Obama (a.k.a. “those people”; “victims” who take no “personal responsibility”). Romney told me that the statement came out wrong, because it was an attempt to placate a rambling supporter who was saying that Obama voters were essentially deadbeats. “My mistake was that I was speaking in a way that reflected back to the man,” Romney said. “If I had been able to see the camera, I would have remembered that I was talking to the whole world, not just the man.” I had never heard Romney say that he was prompted into the “47 percent” line by a ranting supporter. It was also impossible to ignore the phrase “If I had to do this again.” Romney’s camera-at-all-times plan, however, reflected his own limitations as a candidate. By the same token, it was quite an indictment that “Mitt” — made by a little-known filmmaker on a shoestring — created a more palatable rendering of Romney than his campaign, which spent hundreds of millions on genius operatives and image makers. Romney, for his part, seemed to understand this. No matter how content he appeared, when the conversation turned to his disappointment in losing, his voice dropped. “It really kills me,” he said. “It really kills me.” He became inaudible, and it seemed as if he might tear up. As if to rescue him, Ann called out from the kitchen that lunch was ready. Mitt remained in the living room, now staring at the floor. “The consequences of my loss are very clear to me and to a lot of people,” he said. “And that’s really hard.” His voice dropped to nearly a whisper, before he caught himself and quickly pivoted. “Let’s get a sandwich!” he bellowed. Following behind, I informed the defending Republican nominee that I would now be turning off my tape recorder and that he could relax. “Oh,” he said, “you can keep recording.” Mark Leibovich is the magazine’s chief national correspondent and the author of the forthcoming book “Citizens of the Green Room.” *BuzzFeed: “The ‘Totally Ridiculous’ Romney Boomlet” <http://www.buzzfeed.com/bensmith/the-totally-ridiculous-romney-boomlet#2wwn3q7>* By Ben Smith September 30, 2014, 12:15 p.m. EDT [Subtitle:] Kristol is queasy. This is not a thing. There’s only one false note in Mark Leibovich’s wonderful visit to Mitt Romney’s quite nice new life, in which the former Republican nominee — rather than having the letter “L” for “loser” branded on his forehead — is enjoying the low-level celebrity of airport selfies and ongoing flattery of sycophants who say they want him to run for president. The false note: “a confluence of political realities has created a genuine opening for a Romney third act.” There are a few people who think this is the case: true Romney loyalists and believers, Republicans like Emil Henry, Robert O’Brien, and Hugh Hewitt, who just love the guy and write about it in Politico. They are all but family; I’m not sure what the actual family thinks. Members of his former political staff — people who talk to Romney regularly, and regard him highly — saidTuesday morning that they didn’t actually think he’d run, and viewed it, at best, as not a great idea. Indeed, some of his real admirers (and most people who worked for Romney do admire him) were trying out their eye-rolls Tuesday morning at this feeblest of boomlets. This is, they say, not a thing. “I respect Romney, but have the queasy feeling that Romney ‘16 would be a reprise of Dewey ‘48,” Weekly Standard editor and former Romney champion Bill Kristol said in an email. One top former Romney aide, who likes and respects Romney and thinks he would make a great president, agreed to speak on the condition of not being named or identified, and to outline the broad sense in what’s left of Romneyworld. “It’s ridiculous — totally ridiculous,” the former aide said. The core flaw is a kind of cluelessness about how this is going to work, a bit of wishful thinking indulged by a handful of donors who love Romney — but not actually much on the minds of the top Republican fundraisers now thinking about Paul and Cruz, Rubio and Bush, and the other more plausible candidates for president. “Here’s the problem with the theory of the Romney candidacy, as much as I love the guy and as much as I think he’d be a good president,” the former aide began. “The problem with the way these [Romney donors and friends] are treating a potential Romney candidacy is that they act as though Romney, if he were to get into the race, picks up where he gets off. As though, because he was the last Republican nominee, he’s still the Republican nominee unless he decides to bequeath it to someone else.” “The field is not going to be nearly as weak as it was last time and nobody in the field, including the potential establishment candidates — Jeb or Chris Christie or Scott Walker — believe they should step aside for Mitt Romney,” the former aide predicted. “So Romney gets into the race and he’s suddenly competing with heavy-duty candidates who have as much claim on the mainstream donor base as he does, and suddenly he’s in a messy primary where these people will be going at him in a very nasty way.” And here is the thing that Leibovich’s piece really gets at: Mitt Romney has been surprised by his life since the defeat. He predicted he’d be branded a “loser for life” after 2012, his name — like Mike Dukakis’ — synonymous with defeat. Instead, he’s regarded with warmth, if not passion, by people who still think he would have made a decent president, and don’t all blame him for blowing it. “I think Romney really likes where he is right now,” said the former aide. “He’s saying, ‘Wow — I ran and I lost and I’m still held in high esteem’ … He’s really taken aback by that. He wants to bottle that.” And to run would, probably, be to give that up for good. “Wouldn’t it be truly pathetic if on his third time he doesn’t even win the nomination?” asked the former aide. “Then he does have the ‘L’ and he’s truly truly a diminished figure. “I think he personally has thought that through more than the people who are pushing him to run.” *Associated Press: “Eying 2016, Rand Paul Courts Young Voters” <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RAND_PAUL_YOUNG_VOTERS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>* By Steve Peoples September 30, 2014, 3:00 a.m. EDT Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is working to improve the Republican Party's image among young voters as he visits South Carolina, a key state in the presidential primary calendar. The tea party favorite, who hopes to strengthen his national network ahead of a likely White House bid, was set to appear at the University of South Carolina and at the College of Charleston on Tuesday before addressing the Horry County GOP. Paul says the Republican Party has a big opportunity to attract more young voters - a group that fueled President Barack Obama's success and could prove critical to Hillary Rodham Clinton should she seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. Polls suggest Obama's standing with younger voters has slipped significantly in recent months. "Young people aren't so wedded to party," Paul, 51, said in an interview with The Associated Press. "The kids are probably adrift somewhat. And I don't think someone who is an authoritarian, or comes from a much more authoritarian point of view like Hillary Clinton, will attract them." While the next presidential primary season won't begin in earnest until next year, Paul already has established himself as among the most active prospective candidates. His South Carolina visit marks his fourth appearance in the state this year, according to his office. But he disputed a recent report that he had decided to seek the presidency as long as his wife agreed. "There has been no final decision," Paul said, noting that his wife's support is "a big part" of that decision. "But you can tell obviously by my travels and by the people who have come to work for our organization that there is an interest. We're not sitting passively by and doing nothing. We're building a nationwide organization." Perhaps best known for his libertarian positions on civil liberties and foreign policy, Paul is casting himself as an anti-establishment conservative eager to repair what he called the Republican Party's "tattered" image. He is critical of the GOP's push to require voters to present photo identification at the polls and reduce early voting in some states, moves criticized as efforts to suppress participation by minority voters who typically support Democrats. Republican-led legislatures in North Carolina and South Carolina in recent years passed Voter ID laws that were challenged by the Justice Department as discriminatory. Paul said he doesn't think Republicans are trying to suppress the minority vote, but acknowledged that many African-Americans believe that to be the case. "I've cautioned Republicans, `You need to be aware of peoples' perceptions,'" he said. "If the perception is out there, why don't you start talking about something good, like restoring peoples' right to vote?" Paul is scheduled to spend Wednesday campaigning alongside Senate candidate Thom Tillis in North Carolina, where the Republican-led legislature has voted to limit early voting and end same-day voter registration. "I think it's a dumb idea to spend a lot of time on Republicans trying to change early voting," Paul said, citing a similar law in Texas. "My position is I want more people to vote, not less."