Correct The Record Wednesday August 6, 2014 Morning Roundup

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*[image: Inline image 1]* *Correct The Record Wednesday August 6, 2014 Morning Roundup:* [Click here to Watch Sec. Clinton’s Appearance on The Colbert Report from Yesterday Evening <http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/imtefo/-hard-choices----hillary-clinton> ] *Headlines:* *The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Clinton laughs it up in surprise 'Colbert Report' appearance” <http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/214448-clinton-laughs-it-up-in-surprise-colbert-appearance>* “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise appearance on The Colbert Report on Tuesday, engaging the late-night show host in a marathon name-dropping session in a bid to promote her latest memoir.” *New York Magazine blog: Daily Intelligencer: “Hillary Clinton Was Surprisingly Funny in Her Unannounced Colbert Report Appearance” <http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/hillary-clinton-colbert-report-video-surprise.html>* “Clinton tried to look like she was having a good time during her lengthy Daily Show interview last month, but she was funnier and more natural on Colbert, though the material was outside her comfort zone.” *Politico: “Battle of the brag: Hillary Clinton vs. Stephen Colbert” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/hillary-clinton-stephen-colbert-109755.html>* “Hillary Clinton made a surprise appearance on ‘The Colbert Report’ last night, jokingly sparring with host Stephen Colbert in a conversation about her new memoir.” *Time: “Hillary Clinton Drops In on The Colbert Report to Plug Memoir” <http://time.com/3085467/hillary-clinton-drops-in-on-the-colbert-report-to-plug-memoir/>* “Hillary Clinton and Stephen Colbert went head-to-head in the name game on Tuesday night when the former Secretary of State (and U.S. Senator, First Lady, etc.) paid an unannounced visit to the Colbert Report.” *Huffington Post opinion: Jeffrey Marburg-Goodman, legal counsel, former Obama Administration official: “Hard Choices in a Time of Extremism” <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-marburggoodman/another-look-at-hillarys-_b_5649241.html?utm_hp_ref=politics>* “Whether by accident or by design, Hard Choices doggedly makes the case for the person to lead us who is best placed to deliver more democracy, more freedom and more peacefulness the world over -- and it doesn't hurt that this person has the biggest, most diverse rolodex on the planet.” *The Star-Ledger (N.J.): “Hillary Clinton leads Christie for president in N.J., poll finds” <http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/08/hillary_clinton_leads_christie_for_president_in_nj_poll_finds.html>* “The Quinnipiac University survey of 1,148 New Jersey registered voters shows Clinton leading Christie in New Jersey 50 percent to 42 percent.” *MSNBC: “Hillary Clinton gets office upgrade” <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-gets-office-upgrade>* “Hillary Clinton has moved her personal office to a high-rise commercial building in Midtown New York City, a spokesperson for the former Secretary of State confirmed.” *WPRI-12 (R.I.): “Bill Clinton to campaign in RI for Seth Magaziner” <http://wpri.com/2014/08/06/bill-clinton-to-campaign-in-ri-for-seth-magaziner/>* “Clinton is scheduled to headline a rally for Magaziner on Aug. 27 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, a campaign source told WPRI.com. Magaziner is a political newcomer, but his family has close ties to Clinton.” *Washington Post: “On Iowa tour, Rand Paul leans into a presidential run and attacks Clinton” <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/on-iowa-tour-rand-paul-leans-into-a-presidential-run-and-attacks-clinton/2014/08/05/49f42ece-1cb8-11e4-ab7b-696c295ddfd1_story.html>* “Paul went on to blame broader upheaval in Libya on Clinton’s policies, saying: ‘There are some who call Libya ‘Hillary’s war.’ She was all for it. . . . And if you look objectively at Libya now, it’s a jihadist wonderland there.’” *Articles:* *The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Clinton laughs it up in surprise 'Colbert Report' appearance” <http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/214448-clinton-laughs-it-up-in-surprise-colbert-appearance>* By Justin Sink August 6, 2014, 12:30 a.m. EDT Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise appearance on The Colbert Report on Tuesday, engaging the late-night show host in a marathon name-dropping session in a bid to promote her latest memoir. Colbert, who plays a satirically conservative pundit, had criticized Clinton for the sheer number of celebrities and political figures featured in the pages of her book, which chronicles her time as Secretary of State. The comedian bragged he spent time with celebrities, too, noting that he had met actor George Clooney. “Oh, I love George,” Clinton shot back. “I wish you could have joined us when we had lunch with Meryl Streep and Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa.” Colbert shot back that he had gone camping with fellow television personality Oprah Winfrey. “Oh?” Clinton responded. “Oh, does that surprise you?” Colbert retorted. “No, ‘O’ is just what all her real friends call Oprah,” the former first lady responded. Clinton, laughing throughout the spot, was also able to match Colbert’s trump card — having taped a full episode of his show with President Bill Clinton. "I hate to break this two you Stephen, but I've met him too," Clinton joked of her husband. The segment — which saw Clinton field questions about if she would rather fight a horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses — was a rare moment of levity for the former first lady, widely considered the front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. When she appeared earlier this summer on the Daily Show, which precedes Colbert on Comedy Central, host Jon Stewart pressed her on a possible run. “I think I speak for everybody when I say nobody cares they just want to know if you are running for president,” Stewart joked. During that appearance, Clinton did joke she preferred a “home office” and preferably one with “fewer corners.” *New York Magazine blog: Daily Intelligencer: “Hillary Clinton Was Surprisingly Funny in Her Unannounced Colbert Report Appearance” <http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/hillary-clinton-colbert-report-video-surprise.html>* By Margaret Hartmann August 6, 2014, 3:40 a.m. EDT While we thought Hillary Clinton's book tour was finally over, on Tuesday night she turned up on late night again for a name-dropping contest with Stephen Colbert. The appearance was a surprise, and not only because Clinton showed up four minutes into the show and left before Colbert's scheduled interview with director James Cameron. Clinton tried to look like she was having a good time during her lengthy Daily Show interview last month, but she was funnier and more natural on Colbert, though the material was outside her comfort zone. Clinton is the rare human being who can easily give a long-winded answer on how to achieve peace in the Middle East, but Colbert had her do a scripted skit in which she attempted to resolve the "eternal question" of whether it's preferable to fight one horse-sized duck or one hundred duck-sized horses. Clinton emerged as Colbert declared that her book is just "656 pages of shameless name dropping," and the two tried to one-up each other about hanging out with the likes of Bono and Oprah. "I will have you know, madam, I once did an entire show with president Bill Clinton," Colbert declared. "I hate to break this to you, but I’ve met him too," Clinton quipped. Next, Colbert accused Clinton of failing to address any real "hard choices" in the book (mercifully, the book's title was referenced less than a dozen times). Clinton admitted that Colbert had a "valid question" about which bizarrely-sized animal to do battle with. She explained how she'd "find common ground between ducks and horses" in a goofy answer that worked about as well as an elaborate old McDonald's farm joke can. Of course, not everyone was a fan of Clinton's comic stylings. In the ensuing thread on Reddit, one user complained that she never really answered the horse-sized duck question. Another lamented that political candidates shouldn't do silly late-night skits, saying, "I hate stuff like this. I feel like we have turned politicians into pop stars and now we vote for the cool people in hollywood rather than people who represent us well." If a skit this Reddity didn't win them over, Clinton definitely shouldn't let the internet ask her anything. *Politico: “Battle of the brag: Hillary Clinton vs. Stephen Colbert” <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/hillary-clinton-stephen-colbert-109755.html>* By Jonathan Topaz August 6, 2014, 6:31 a.m. EDT Hillary Clinton made a surprise appearance on “The Colbert Report” last night, jokingly sparring with host Stephen Colbert in a conversation about her new memoir. The comedian began a segment on the Comedy Central show by criticizing the former secretary of State for bragging in the book about her personal and professional connections. “This book is 656 pages of shameless name dropping,” he said, while joking about Clinton’s reflections on her personal relationships with various world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “I just don’t buy any of this. There is no way on earth one woman can be in so many places at once,” he said, at which point Clinton came onto the set to applause and chants of “Hillary” from the crowd. Colbert, who plays a conservative pundit on the show, yelled at his crowd for the warm reception for the Democrat, calling them “two-timers.” “Hillary Clinton,” a faux-shocked Colbert said to his guest. “Now who’s a name-dropper, Stephen?” she replied, leading into a long name-dropping contest that invoked the likes of celebrities George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey. “I once did an entire show with President Bill Clinton,” Colbert ultimately said near the end of their game of one-upmanship. “I hate to break this to you, Stephen, but I’ve met him, too,” Clinton responded. In the scripted segment, Clinton ultimately coaxed Colbert into promoting her memoir, “Hard Choices.” Clinton’s summer book tour also led to a July appearance on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.” She continues to mull a potential bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. *Time: “Hillary Clinton Drops In on The Colbert Report to Plug Memoir” <http://time.com/3085467/hillary-clinton-drops-in-on-the-colbert-report-to-plug-memoir/>* By P. Nash Jenkins August 6, 2014, 6:07 a.m. EDT [Subtitle:] Lots of name-dropping, but still no talk of 2016 Hillary Clinton and Stephen Colbert went head-to-head in the name game on Tuesday night when the former Secretary of State (and U.S. Senator, First Lady, etc.) paid an unannounced visit to the Colbert Report. “This book is 656 pages of shameless name dropping,” the faux-conservative pundit said of Hard Choices, Clinton’s recent memoir of her time at the State Department, just before she walked out onstage. The two engaged in a lightheartedly schticky debate over which one of them is better connected in the world — Colbert hangs out with Tom Hanks at George Clooney’s place; Clinton once had lunch with Meryl Streep and the president of Ecuador — but the conversation pretty much stopped there. Clinton’s held a pretty ubiquitous media presence in the two months since she released Hard Choices, and she seems to be having fun with it, if only because every appearance on television or radio further flames the discussion of whether or not she’ll run for president in 2016. *Huffington Post opinion: Jeffrey Marburg-Goodman, legal counsel, former Obama Administration official: “Hard Choices in a Time of Extremism” <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-marburggoodman/another-look-at-hillarys-_b_5649241.html?utm_hp_ref=politics>* By Jeffrey Marburg-Goodman August 5, 2014, 2:05 p.m. EDT [Subtitle:] In a Time of Extremism, Extreme Competence and Perseverance Carry The Day Hillary Clinton could not have known (could she?) when writing Hard Choices that in July 2014 the world would be in a virtual meltdown, with extremists of various stripes on the rise seemingly everywhere. Internationally, there is the dangerous nationalism and ambition for empire-rebuilding being carried out by Vladimir Putin, in ways both coherent and incoherent. Even more frightening -- because we understand it even less well -- are religious zealots and their state sponsors running amok across the Middle East. Meanwhile on the domestic front, extreme elements of one of our two principal national parties have caused dysfunction and the near-breakdown of our polity at a time of unique and pressing challenges: health care, immigration, and the nation's basic infrastructure, to name just three. On top of all this, the emergence of Ebola is a pile-on that, while hardly man-made, appears as a metaphor for a world that seems to have gone mad. Against this backdrop stands the former secretary's book and, with August's arrival (and, if we are lucky, a quieter month of introspection and actual book reading), the chance to assess the strengths of extreme competence and steady-as-she goes perseverance that the author brings to once, and perhaps future, national challenges. Here's what you need to know about Hard Choices, including some tips on how to address this worthy tome. First of all, this reviewer discovered that the book is a much more interesting read than expected. While there is plenty here for policy wonks, there are also gripping tales that have the quality of a page-turner. The lead-up to Osama Bin Laden's death in Pakistan, the rescue of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng in Beijing, that famous first flight from Malta into Tripoli, Libya (immortalized by a Hillary-as-commando meme that went viral), the president and secretary literally crashing a private meeting of dissenting world leaders at the 2009 climate change conference in Copenhagen -- these are all here. But beyond these events, I was impressed by how very accessible this book is. Clinton's prose is simple and matter-of-fact, with complex issues explained in (mostly) plain language. While many Beltway-insiders may roll their eyes at facts and policy arguments they already know by heart, this book wasn't written only for them; rather it was written for Jane Q. Citizen, who reads to learn of recent history, and perhaps to gain insights into a future that may yet be. What Jane Q. will also find in Hard Choices are lesser known, but no less fascinating, foreign policy efforts and events that make equally riveting reading -- like the secret U.S. effort to negotiate peace with the Taliban, the secretary's heart-rending visit with women and children in Eastern Congo, and the extraordinary tale told to her by President Putin about how he came to be born(!) On the "wonk" side there are real serious, cogent explanations of things you may not have quite understood before. This is an evidence-based book, so facts and statistics often come fast: like the fact that the United States spends less than 1 percent of its annual budget on foreign assistance (rather than the "28 percent" that resides in the popular imagination) or that "Secretary of State" is the addressee on each and every one of the millions of cables that come in to Washington from over 270 U.S. embassies and consulates around the world every year -- and that only a tiny, tiny fraction of these ever reach the secretary's own desk (therefore debunking the misinformation spread by political opponents that the secretary was directly apprised of the Libyan security situation, pre-Benghazi). Among many other subjects, Clinton explains the pragmatism that lay behind the Russian "reset" and, in detail, why the reset did not mean capitulation -- far from it. While it's notable that Clinton abstains from using this book to settle old scores, she includes careful explanations of events and decisions small and large that may have caused head-scratching -- or outright dissent -- at the time they happened. For example, instead of squarely laying at least some responsibility for Benghazi's inadequate security at Congress' doorstep, Clinton merely alludes rather softly to her "four years making the case to Congress that adequately funding our diplomats and development experts was a national security priority" at a time of shrinking Congressional appropriations. Clinton also acknowledges her mistake -- in the plainest language possible -- on the subject of her 2002 vote authorizing President Bush to wage war in Iraq, yet also lets us fully understand the context of that vote: one in which a strong majority of then-sitting senators voted "yes" with Clinton on a bill that, by its terms, instructed the president (not yet known, in 2002, for waging preemptive wars) to 'use diplomacy before using force' and 'not to wage war unless U.S. national security is at stake.' Perhaps most importantly for this book, there is heart, soul and emotion. Clinton saves some of the most expansive, lofty language for her worldwide, and life-spanning, efforts on behalf of women and girls, and this reviewer was especially heartened by all the space she devotes to perhaps the final frontier of international human rights: the plight of LGBT people in the developing world, starting with her description of the first time she uttered the words, at a State Department Pride event, "human rights are gay rights and gay rights are human rights, once and for all." A couple of parting tips on how to read Hard Choices, especially if you find its telephone book size to be daunting: you don't have to read it cover to cover. The book is organized like a marvelous worldwide travelogue, so while I highly recommend that you begin by reading "Part One: A Fresh Start" (which contains its own share of riveting stories of the Obama-Clinton 2008 rapprochement that are new or newly told), proceed from there by dipping into the parts of the world -- or towards the end, the international challenges -- that tickle your fancy, and come back to the rest later on. And, oh yes, about that last question you have for Hillary Clinton: will she run for president? Many have quoted the following language from the book's last chapter as a sign that she will: "Never rest on your laurels. Never quit. Never stop working to make the world a better place. That's our unfinished business." But I prefer the following, from the epilogue: “In the coming years, Americans will have to decide whether we are prepared to learn from and call on the lessons of history and rise once more to defend our values and interests. This is not a summons to confrontation or to a new Cold War -- we've learned painfully that force should be our last resort, never our first. Instead, it's an appeal to stand firmly and united in pursuit of a more just, free and peaceful world. Only Americans can decide this.” Clinton then continues by devoting a long paragraph to America's domestic challenges, including rising income inequality, deepening poverty in many quarters, and Washington's increasing dysfunction. And finally, this: "In the end, our strength abroad depends on our resolve and resilience at home." July was a month when at least four separate wars raged across the Middle East and South Asia, an American Embassy was evacuated in North Africa, and a commercial airliner was shot out of the sky over Ukraine -- the deadliest such incident in history. Unfortunately, we can expect to look forward to more rather than fewer months like July. To battle feckless extremism wherever it arises, we need feral competence and discipline and perseverance at our helm. Whether by accident or by design, Hard Choices doggedly makes the case for the person to lead us who is best placed to deliver more democracy, more freedom and more peacefulness the world over -- and it doesn't hurt that this person has the biggest, most diverse rolodex on the planet. *The Star-Ledger (N.J.): “Hillary Clinton leads Christie for president in N.J., poll finds” <http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/08/hillary_clinton_leads_christie_for_president_in_nj_poll_finds.html>* By Matt Friedman August 6, 2014, 6:00 a.m. EDT Hillary Clinton would win New Jersey in a hypothetical 2016 presidential matchup against Gov. Chris Christie, according to a poll released today. The Quinnipiac University survey of 1,148 New Jersey registered voters shows Clinton leading Christie in New Jersey 50 percent to 42 percent. “As Gov. Christopher Christie traipses around the nation, his presidential potential seems alive, but former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the adopted girl next door, easily beats him in his home state,” said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. There is a bright spot for Christie, who is seen favorably by 47 percent of New Jersey voters and unfavorably by 47 percent. He does better against Clinton in his home state than the three other potential Republican presidential contenders tested. Clinton would top former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush 54 percent to 34 percent, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) 55 percent to 35 percent, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee 57 percent to 34 percent. And while New Jersey’s women voters go overwhelmingly for Clinton 54 percent to 38 percent, men slightly prefer Christie 47 percent to 44 percent. Just 39 percent of Garden State voters think Christie would make a good president, while 55 percent said he would not. At the same time, voters are split on whether Christie should run, with 49 percent saying he should stay home and 46 percent saying he should go for it. New Jersey, which used to be a swing state, has been solidly Democratic in recent decades. A Republican presidential candidate hasn’t won the Garden State’s electoral votes since George H.W. Bush in 1988. But President Obama — who easily carried the state in 2008 and 2012 — is not popular. At 44 percent positive to 52 percent negative, Obama's approval rating is, as Carroll put it, "in the swamp," and barely higher than his record low in October 2011. New Jersey has produced two presidents: Woodrow Wilson, who was born in Virginia but became New Jersey’s governor, and Grover Cleveland, who was born in Caldwell but moved to New York as a child. If Christie does run for president, he may decide to resign as governor. And if he resigns, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno would take over for him temporarily. Despite being so close to the governor's office, the poll found that most voters — 66 percent — don't know enough about her to say whether she would be a good governor. Of those who haved heard enough about Guadagno to form an opinion, 16 percent say she'd be a good governor, while 17 percent say she would not. The poll was conducted from July 31 to August 4 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points. *MSNBC: “Hillary Clinton gets office upgrade” <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-clinton-gets-office-upgrade>* By Alex Seitz-Wald August 5, 2014, 7:53 p.m. EDT Hillary Clinton has moved her personal office to a high-rise commercial building in Midtown New York City, a spokesperson for the former Secretary of State confirmed. The entertainment website HollywoodLife.com reported Tuesday evening that Clinton had signed a two-year lease on the property, and cited anonymous sources saying the space will be the site of a future presidential campaign office. But Nick Merrill, Clinton’s spokesperson, told msnbc that the space is the new site of her personal office, not a campaign office. The staff moved in last week. Clinton currently has a small personal staff of less than a dozen, so the new space – which could fit about 25 people – leaves some room for expansion. HollywoodLife did not list the address of the building, but a reporter for the site tweeted last week about running into Clinton in the lobby of the entertainment website’s office building, located on 45th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues. The former secretary of state also has an office at her family’s foundation, which is located nearby in Rockefeller Center. Clinton ran her last presidential campaign from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., but some Clinton allies expect that if she runs again, she’ll locate her campaign headquarters outside of the capital. New York would be an obvious choice, and the city is also vying to host the Democratic National Convention in 2016. It would be highly unusual for Clinton to open a large campaign office so early, as it would effectively declare her candidacy. During her last run, staffers began working in a small space for a few months before moving to a larger office in the spring of 2007, after she declared her candidacy. Clinton has previously said that she’ll decide by the end of the year whether she will run for president in 2016. *WPRI-12 (R.I.): “Bill Clinton to campaign in RI for Seth Magaziner” <http://wpri.com/2014/08/06/bill-clinton-to-campaign-in-ri-for-seth-magaziner/>* By Ted Nesi August 6, 2014, 6:00 a.m. EDT Former President Bill Clinton is set to visit Rhode Island later this month to campaign for Democratic general-treasurer candidate Seth Magaziner, WPRI.com has learned. Clinton is scheduled to headline a rally for Magaziner on Aug. 27 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, a campaign source told WPRI.com. Magaziner is a political newcomer, but his family has close ties to Clinton. Clinton’s campaign stop will come just two days before the current Democratic president, Barack Obama, visits Newport to raise money for House Democrats. Magaziner is battling former Treasurer Frank Caprio to win the Democratic nomination in the Sept. 9 primary. Ironically, the last time Clinton came to Rhode Island to campaign was in 2010 – when he came to support Caprio, who was then the general treasurer and the Democratic nominee for governor. While the Caprio family has long supported the Clintons, the relationship they have with the former president is no match for that of the Magaziner clan. Seth Magaziner is already airing TV ads highlighting Bill Clinton’s endorsement of his candidacy, and he met with Hillary Clinton when she signed books at a Seekonk Sam’s Club last month. Ira Magaziner, Seth’s father, met Clinton when the pair were both Rhodes Scholars at Oxford and later served as a top White House adviser, famously working with Hillary Clinton on an unsuccessful health-care overhaul; he also masterminded Rhode Island’s failed “Greenhouse Compact” plan in the 1980s. Ira Magaziner lives in Bristol and is now CEO and vice chairman of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, a Clinton Foundation project. In June Caprio received the formal endorsement of the Rhode Island Democratic Party, which was chaired at the time by his brother, who has since resigned following controversy over beach-concession contracts. Magaziner has won the endorsement of groups such as the Young Democrats of Rhode Island. Labor unions are split between the two. A third candidate for treasurer, former Auditor General Ernie Almonte, dropped out of the Democratic primary in late June and announced he would instead seek to win the treasurer’s office as an independent in November; Republican leaders are tacitly backing him. The three candidates met for a one-hour televised debate on WPRI 12’s Newsmakers last month. A WPRI 12/Providence Journal poll in May showed Caprio with a double-digit advantage over Magaziner in the Democratic primary. The survey of 506 primary voters found Caprio in the lead at 29%, Magaziner in second place at 11%, and Almonte in third place at 9%. Nearly half of voters were undecided. Magaziner finished the second quarter as the best-funded candidate in the race. As of June 30, Magaziner’s campaign had $245,642 on hand, while Almonte’s had $233,154 and Caprio’s had $195,716. *Washington Post: “On Iowa tour, Rand Paul leans into a presidential run and attacks Clinton” <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/on-iowa-tour-rand-paul-leans-into-a-presidential-run-and-attacks-clinton/2014/08/05/49f42ece-1cb8-11e4-ab7b-696c295ddfd1_story.html>* By Philip Rucker August 5, 2014, 10:09 p.m. EDT OKOBOJI, Iowa — The worst-kept secret in all-important Iowa is this: Rand Paul is running for president. Journeying this week on a 10-stop, 800-mile tour of the state that holds the nation’s first presidential caucuses, the Republican senator from Kentucky has been bold not just in his rhetoric, but in his candor about preparing for a White House bid. Paul is out-organizing his would-be 2016 rivals, building a network of loyalists in Iowa and other early-voting states while others lag behind and visit less often. He also sounds like a candidate, spitting out lines attacking Hillary Rodham Clinton, the potential Democratic nominee. He labeled the conflict in Libya “Hillary’s war,” and said the former secretary of state’s handling of the 2012 terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, should preclude her from becoming commander in chief. Paul, 51, an ophthalmologist-turned-tea party hero, offered himself to Iowans as a Republican standard-bearer who could broaden the party’s appeal to a diversifying electorate. “We should be bigger, bolder and better,” he said at each stop — without being “wishy-washy” or “Democrat-lite.” But his vision of GOP outreach and inclusion clashed awkwardly with the party’s reality Monday night at a lakeside tiki bar here in rural Okoboji, where Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) held a campaign fundraiser. Paul was eating dinner at a small table with King when a self-described “Dreamer” immigration activist introduced herself to them. Paul made a hasty exit — he left his half-eaten hamburger on his plate and was visibly chewing as he stood up — as Erika Andiola, the activist, questioned King about his opposition to immigration reform. King told her, “You’re very good at English,” to which she appeared to take offense. Minutes earlier, the congressman had talked in his speech about a recent trip to the border in Texas: “I planted a flag right out there on the river across from the Mexicans!” Paul, after extricating himself from the situation, talked with a handful of reporters about 10 feet away. The moment underscored the difficulty that Paul and any other Republican presidential aspirant will face in building a diverse national coalition to win a general election, while also incorporating the party’s more extreme elements. The senator’s rhetorical approach to the border crisis was to blame President Obama and focus on his vows to take executive action. “I frankly do think we could do some kind of reform, but you can’t do it by royal edict,” Paul told Republicans at a midterm organizing event in Council Bluffs. “You can’t have a king doing it.” Paul came to Iowa to build relationships with key activists and test his message as he moves toward deciding about a presidential campaign early next year. It is Paul’s 10th visit to Iowa in two years. “I don’t know why Iowa keeps popping up on my calendar, but it seems to be pretty frequent,” he told reporters — a typical wink-wink comment suggesting that his candidacy is all but certain. In an interview, Paul previewed how he would go after Clinton in a general election if he got the chance. He said her summer book tour has shown “how disconnected she is from the middle class.” “To make a comment about how woeful her finances were when she’s worth supposedly between $100 million and $200 million — most of us, myself included, can’t imagine that much money,” he said. Paul brought up the Benghazi attacks, saying he thinks Clinton did not pay enough attention to diplomatic security needs in Libya. “We want the most competent and wise of humans to be in charge of our military,” he said in the interview. “She made a big deal about the 3 a.m. moment with Barack Obama, that she would be the one to be able to handle the 3 a.m. call, but they were calling her repeatedly for six months and she wasn’t even picking up the phone.” Paul went on to blame broader upheaval in Libya on Clinton’s policies, saying: “There are some who call Libya ‘Hillary’s war.’ She was all for it. . . . And if you look objectively at Libya now, it’s a jihadist wonderland there.” A Clinton spokesman did not return a request for comment. In his speeches across Iowa, Paul repeatedly attacked Clinton and tried to connect her to the Obama administration, drawing hearty applause from his crowds of Republican partisans. “It’s sort of like the ‘Old MacDonald’ song — here a scandal, there a scandal, everywhere a scandal,” he said in Okoboji. But Paul largely avoided talking about foreign policy in his speeches. His anti-interventionist views have been the subject of considerable debate among Republicans in Washington. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a potential 2016 GOP primary opponent, has said Paul’s worldview would “endanger our national security.” Some Iowans said they were intrigued by the senator’s potential candidacy, but questioned whether he is commander-in-chief material. “There are a lot of things I don’t know about Rand Paul, like his foreign policy,” said Dan Dennis, 52, a business owner in Marion who described himself as a libertarian. “Right now, our foreign policy is so in the toilet we’ll need somebody strong in that area.” In a state that prizes retail politics, Paul cut a reticent figure on the stump. He often seemed introverted and averse to the kind of glad-handing and back-slapping that is a favorite pastime of some of his potential opponents. But his oddities also help underscore the outsider, anti-Washington posture that many GOP voters find appealing. On Monday, Paul began the day wearing a necktie featuring dozens of miniature profiles of former president James Madison, known as the father of the Constitution. Arriving in Okoboji’s kitschy Barefoot Bar, he changed into a rainbow-striped dress shirt. “My staff’s like, ‘You’re wearing that?’ ” Paul told his supporters. “I’m like, ‘Well . . . this is my choice. Live with it. . . . This is the best party shirt I’ve got.’ ” Republican strategists here said they are impressed with Paul’s organizing. He is working diligently to maintain the libertarian-leaning network of his father, former congressman Ron Paul (Tex.), who ran for president in 2008 and 2012, while also reaching out to evangelical Christians, fiscal conservatives and moderates. Two top Iowa operatives, Steve Grubbs and A.J. Spiker, are working with him. “He’s playing it smart,” said Tim Albrecht, a strategist who has worked for Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) and former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. “There’s a case for him winning the Iowa caucuses. He’s definitely the front-runner now.” Nationally, too, Paul has an early organizational edge. “There are other people running for president, but they’re not organizing the way he is,” said Spencer Zwick, who was Romney’s national finance chairman. “I think some would regret that because they’re going to find themselves not organized and not prepared to run a full-scale primary campaign.” When Paul stopped by a GOP office in Council Bluffs to help boost local candidates, Justin Levins, 37, came up to greet the senator. “Your filibuster last year was so exciting I went out and put on a [bumper] sticker, ‘I Stand with Rand,’ and I drove that car like 100,000 miles,” Levins said. “I appreciate that,” Paul said, quickly turning to meet someone else. *Calendar:* *Sec. Clinton's upcoming appearances as reported online. Not an official schedule.* · August 6 – Huntington, NY: Sec. Clinton signs books at Book Revue ( HillaryClintonMemoir.com <http://www.hillaryclintonmemoir.com/long_island_book_signing>) · 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 13 – Martha’s Vinyard, MA: Sec. Clinton signs books at Bunch of Grapes (HillaryClintonMemoir.com <http://www.hillaryclintonmemoir.com/martha_s_vineyard_book_signing>) · August 16 – East Hampton, New York: Sec. Clinton signs books at Bookhampton East Hampton (HillaryClintonMemoir.com <http://www.hillaryclintonmemoir.com/long_island_book_signing2>) · 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>) · December 4 – Boston, MA: Sec. Clinton speaks at the Massachusetts Conference for Women (MCFW <http://www.maconferenceforwomen.org/speakers/>)