podesta_email_00839.txt

podesta-emails 7,075 words email

P22 P20 P18 D4 V11

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- mQQBBGBjDtIBH6DJa80zDBgR+VqlYGaXu5bEJg9HEgAtJeCLuThdhXfl5Zs32RyB I1QjIlttvngepHQozmglBDmi2FZ4S+wWhZv10bZCoyXPIPwwq6TylwPv8+buxuff B6tYil3VAB9XKGPyPjKrlXn1fz76VMpuTOs7OGYR8xDidw9EHfBvmb+sQyrU1FOW aPHxba5lK6hAo/KYFpTnimsmsz0Cvo1sZAV/EFIkfagiGTL2J/NhINfGPScpj8LB bYelVN/NU4c6Ws1ivWbfcGvqU4lymoJgJo/l9HiV6X2bdVyuB24O3xeyhTnD7laf epykwxODVfAt4qLC3J478MSSmTXS8zMumaQMNR1tUUYtHCJC0xAKbsFukzbfoRDv m2zFCCVxeYHvByxstuzg0SurlPyuiFiy2cENek5+W8Sjt95nEiQ4suBldswpz1Kv n71t7vd7zst49xxExB+tD+vmY7GXIds43Rb05dqksQuo2yCeuCbY5RBiMHX3d4nU 041jHBsv5wY24j0N6bpAsm/s0T0Mt7IO6UaN33I712oPlclTweYTAesW3jDpeQ7A ioi0CMjWZnRpUxorcFmzL/Cc/fPqgAtnAL5GIUuEOqUf8AlKmzsKcnKZ7L2d8mxG QqN16nlAiUuUpchQNMr+tAa1L5S1uK/fu6thVlSSk7KMQyJfVpwLy6068a1WmNj4 yxo9HaSeQNXh3cui+61qb9wlrkwlaiouw9+bpCmR0V8+XpWma/D/TEz9tg5vkfNo eG4t+FUQ7QgrrvIkDNFcRyTUO9cJHB+kcp2NgCcpCwan3wnuzKka9AWFAitpoAwx L6BX0L8kg/LzRPhkQnMOrj/tuu9hZrui4woqURhWLiYi2aZe7WCkuoqR/qMGP6qP EQRcvndTWkQo6K9BdCH4ZjRqcGbY1wFt/qgAxhi+uSo2IWiM1fRI4eRCGifpBtYK Dw44W9uPAu4cgVnAUzESEeW0bft5XXxAqpvyMBIdv3YqfVfOElZdKbteEu4YuOao FLpbk4ajCxO4Fzc9AugJ8iQOAoaekJWA7TjWJ6CbJe8w3thpznP0w6jNG8ZleZ6a jHckyGlx5wzQTRLVT5+wK6edFlxKmSd93jkLWWCbrc0Dsa39OkSTDmZPoZgKGRhp Yc0C4jePYreTGI6p7/H3AFv84o0fjHt5fn4GpT1Xgfg+1X/wmIv7iNQtljCjAqhD 6XN+QiOAYAloAym8lOm9zOoCDv1TSDpmeyeP0rNV95OozsmFAUaKSUcUFBUfq9FL uyr+rJZQw2DPfq2wE75PtOyJiZH7zljCh12fp5yrNx6L7HSqwwuG7vGO4f0ltYOZ dPKzaEhCOO7o108RexdNABEBAAG0Rldpa2lMZWFrcyBFZGl0b3JpYWwgT2ZmaWNl IEhpZ2ggU2VjdXJpdHkgQ29tbXVuaWNhdGlvbiBLZXkgKDIwMjEtMjAyNCmJBDEE EwEKACcFAmBjDtICGwMFCQWjmoAFCwkIBwMFFQoJCAsFFgIDAQACHgECF4AACgkQ nG3NFyg+RUzRbh+eMSKgMYOdoz70u4RKTvev4KyqCAlwji+1RomnW7qsAK+l1s6b ugOhOs8zYv2ZSy6lv5JgWITRZogvB69JP94+Juphol6LIImC9X3P/bcBLw7VCdNA mP0XQ4OlleLZWXUEW9EqR4QyM0RkPMoxXObfRgtGHKIkjZYXyGhUOd7MxRM8DBzN yieFf3CjZNADQnNBk/ZWRdJrpq8J1W0dNKI7IUW2yCyfdgnPAkX/lyIqw4ht5UxF VGrva3PoepPir0TeKP3M0BMxpsxYSVOdwcsnkMzMlQ7TOJlsEdtKQwxjV6a1vH+t k4TpR4aG8fS7ZtGzxcxPylhndiiRVwdYitr5nKeBP69aWH9uLcpIzplXm4DcusUc Bo8KHz+qlIjs03k8hRfqYhUGB96nK6TJ0xS7tN83WUFQXk29fWkXjQSp1Z5dNCcT sWQBTxWxwYyEI8iGErH2xnok3HTyMItdCGEVBBhGOs1uCHX3W3yW2CooWLC/8Pia qgss3V7m4SHSfl4pDeZJcAPiH3Fm00wlGUslVSziatXW3499f2QdSyNDw6Qc+chK hUFflmAaavtpTqXPk+Lzvtw5SSW+iRGmEQICKzD2chpy05mW5v6QUy+G29nchGDD rrfpId2Gy1VoyBx8FAto4+6BOWVijrOj9Boz7098huotDQgNoEnidvVdsqP+P1RR QJekr97idAV28i7iEOLd99d6qI5xRqc3/QsV+y2ZnnyKB10uQNVPLgUkQljqN0wP XmdVer+0X+aeTHUd1d64fcc6M0cpYefNNRCsTsgbnWD+x0rjS9RMo+Uosy41+IxJ 6qIBhNrMK6fEmQoZG3qTRPYYrDoaJdDJERN2E5yLxP2SPI0rWNjMSoPEA/gk5L91 m6bToM/0VkEJNJkpxU5fq5834s3PleW39ZdpI0HpBDGeEypo/t9oGDY3Pd7JrMOF zOTohxTyu4w2Ql7jgs+7KbO9PH0Fx5dTDmDq66jKIkkC7DI0QtMQclnmWWtn14BS KTSZoZekWESVYhORwmPEf32EPiC9t8zDRglXzPGmJAPISSQz+Cc9o1ipoSIkoCCh 2MWoSbn3KFA53vgsYd0vS/+Nw5aUksSleorFns2yFgp/w5Ygv0D007k6u3DqyRLB W5y6tJLvbC1ME7jCBoLW6nFEVxgDo727pqOpMVjGGx5zcEokPIRDMkW/lXjw+fTy c6misESDCAWbgzniG/iyt77Kz711unpOhw5aemI9LpOq17AiIbjzSZYt6b1Aq7Wr aB+C1yws2ivIl9ZYK911A1m69yuUg0DPK+uyL7Z86XC7hI8B0IY1MM/MbmFiDo6H dkfwUckE74sxxeJrFZKkBbkEAQRgYw7SAR+gvktRnaUrj/84Pu0oYVe49nPEcy/7 5Fs6LvAwAj+JcAQPW3uy7D7fuGFEQguasfRrhWY5R87+g5ria6qQT2/Sf19Tpngs d0Dd9DJ1MMTaA1pc5F7PQgoOVKo68fDXfjr76n1NchfCzQbozS1HoM8ys3WnKAw+ Neae9oymp2t9FB3B+To4nsvsOM9KM06ZfBILO9NtzbWhzaAyWwSrMOFFJfpyxZAQ 8VbucNDHkPJjhxuafreC9q2f316RlwdS+XjDggRY6xD77fHtzYea04UWuZidc5zL VpsuZR1nObXOgE+4s8LU5p6fo7jL0CRxvfFnDhSQg2Z617flsdjYAJ2JR4apg3Es G46xWl8xf7t227/0nXaCIMJI7g09FeOOsfCmBaf/ebfiXXnQbK2zCbbDYXbrYgw6 ESkSTt940lHtynnVmQBvZqSXY93MeKjSaQk1VKyobngqaDAIIzHxNCR941McGD7F qHHM2YMTgi6XXaDThNC6u5msI1l/24PPvrxkJxjPSGsNlCbXL2wqaDgrP6LvCP9O uooR9dVRxaZXcKQjeVGxrcRtoTSSyZimfjEercwi9RKHt42O5akPsXaOzeVjmvD9 EB5jrKBe/aAOHgHJEIgJhUNARJ9+dXm7GofpvtN/5RE6qlx11QGvoENHIgawGjGX Jy5oyRBS+e+KHcgVqbmV9bvIXdwiC4BDGxkXtjc75hTaGhnDpu69+Cq016cfsh+0 XaRnHRdh0SZfcYdEqqjn9CTILfNuiEpZm6hYOlrfgYQe1I13rgrnSV+EfVCOLF4L P9ejcf3eCvNhIhEjsBNEUDOFAA6J5+YqZvFYtjk3efpM2jCg6XTLZWaI8kCuADMu yrQxGrM8yIGvBndrlmmljUqlc8/Nq9rcLVFDsVqb9wOZjrCIJ7GEUD6bRuolmRPE SLrpP5mDS+wetdhLn5ME1e9JeVkiSVSFIGsumZTNUaT0a90L4yNj5gBE40dvFplW 7TLeNE/ewDQk5LiIrfWuTUn3CqpjIOXxsZFLjieNgofX1nSeLjy3tnJwuTYQlVJO 3CbqH1k6cOIvE9XShnnuxmiSoav4uZIXnLZFQRT9v8UPIuedp7TO8Vjl0xRTajCL PdTk21e7fYriax62IssYcsbbo5G5auEdPO04H/+v/hxmRsGIr3XYvSi4ZWXKASxy a/jHFu9zEqmy0EBzFzpmSx+FrzpMKPkoU7RbxzMgZwIYEBk66Hh6gxllL0JmWjV0 iqmJMtOERE4NgYgumQT3dTxKuFtywmFxBTe80BhGlfUbjBtiSrULq59np4ztwlRT wDEAVDoZbN57aEXhQ8jjF2RlHtqGXhFMrg9fALHaRQARAQABiQQZBBgBCgAPBQJg Yw7SAhsMBQkFo5qAAAoJEJxtzRcoPkVMdigfoK4oBYoxVoWUBCUekCg/alVGyEHa ekvFmd3LYSKX/WklAY7cAgL/1UlLIFXbq9jpGXJUmLZBkzXkOylF9FIXNNTFAmBM 3TRjfPv91D8EhrHJW0SlECN+riBLtfIQV9Y1BUlQthxFPtB1G1fGrv4XR9Y4TsRj VSo78cNMQY6/89Kc00ip7tdLeFUHtKcJs+5EfDQgagf8pSfF/TWnYZOMN2mAPRRf fh3SkFXeuM7PU/X0B6FJNXefGJbmfJBOXFbaSRnkacTOE9caftRKN1LHBAr8/RPk pc9p6y9RBc/+6rLuLRZpn2W3m3kwzb4scDtHHFXXQBNC1ytrqdwxU7kcaJEPOFfC XIdKfXw9AQll620qPFmVIPH5qfoZzjk4iTH06Yiq7PI4OgDis6bZKHKyyzFisOkh DXiTuuDnzgcu0U4gzL+bkxJ2QRdiyZdKJJMswbm5JDpX6PLsrzPmN314lKIHQx3t NNXkbfHL/PxuoUtWLKg7/I3PNnOgNnDqCgqpHJuhU1AZeIkvewHsYu+urT67tnpJ AK1Z4CgRxpgbYA4YEV1rWVAPHX1u1okcg85rc5FHK8zh46zQY1wzUTWubAcxqp9K 1IqjXDDkMgIX2Z2fOA1plJSwugUCbFjn4sbT0t0YuiEFMPMB42ZCjcCyA1yysfAd DYAmSer1bq47tyTFQwP+2ZnvW/9p3yJ4oYWzwMzadR3T0K4sgXRC2Us9nPL9k2K5 TRwZ07wE2CyMpUv+hZ4ja13A/1ynJZDZGKys+pmBNrO6abxTGohM8LIWjS+YBPIq trxh8jxzgLazKvMGmaA6KaOGwS8vhfPfxZsu2TJaRPrZMa/HpZ2aEHwxXRy4nm9G Kx1eFNJO6Ues5T7KlRtl8gflI5wZCCD/4T5rto3SfG0s0jr3iAVb3NCn9Q73kiph PSwHuRxcm+hWNszjJg3/W+Fr8fdXAh5i0JzMNscuFAQNHgfhLigenq+BpCnZzXya 01kqX24AdoSIbH++vvgE0Bjj6mzuRrH5VJ1Qg9nQ+yMjBWZADljtp3CARUbNkiIg tUJ8IJHCGVwXZBqY4qeJc3h/RiwWM2UIFfBZ+E06QPznmVLSkwvvop3zkr4eYNez cIKUju8vRdW6sxaaxC/GECDlP0Wo6lH0uChpE3NJ1daoXIeymajmYxNt+drz7+pd jMqjDtNA2rgUrjptUgJK8ZLdOQ4WCrPY5pP9ZXAO7+mK7S3u9CTywSJmQpypd8hv 8Bu8jKZdoxOJXxj8CphK951eNOLYxTOxBUNB8J2lgKbmLIyPvBvbS1l1lCM5oHlw WXGlp70pspj3kaX4mOiFaWMKHhOLb+er8yh8jspM184= =5a6T -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- *[image: Inline image 1]* *Correct The Record Sunday August 31, 2014 Roundup:* *Headlines:* *The Hill: “Hillary's summer: Five takeaways” <http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/216290-hillarys-summer-five-takeaways>* “Key super-PACs Ready for Hillary and Correct the Record have repeatedly highlighted the work she did for women as secretary of State.” *Los Angeles Times: “Potential GOP presidential hopefuls woo donors, activists at summit” <http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-american-dream-summit-20140831-story.html>* “‘I don't think Perry can win. He's not as good in debates. He's not going to beat Hillary,’ Danson said, alluding to the presumed candidacy of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.” *New York Post: Ed Klein: “Why Mitt Romney may again be the GOP’s next great hope” <http://nypost.com/2014/08/30/why-mitt-romney-may-be-the-gops-next-great-hope-again/>* “Establishment insiders in the GOP tell me that the third time may be the charm.” *Washington Post: “Obama sets his own pace in a world whirling with crises” <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-sets-his-own-pace-in-a-world-whirling-with-crises/2014/08/30/3e4874da-304b-11e4-994d-202962a9150c_story.html>* “Even former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton has expressed skepticism that Iranian negotiations will reach a successful conclusion and has been vocal in disagreeing with Obama’s earlier decisions not to intervene more directly to support rebel forces in Syria.” *The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Celebs gin up votes for midterm push” <http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/216306-celebrities-gin-up-youth-votes-heading-into-midterms>* “Musicians and celebrities often jump into the political game, most often for Democrats. For instance, Katy Perry has already promised to write Hillary Clinton's campaign song if she runs for president.” *Associated Press: “Militia Says It ‘Secured’ US Compound in Libya” <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_LIBYA?SITE=AP>* “The Islamist-allied militia group in control of Libya's capital has ‘secured’ a U.S. Embassy residential compound there, more than a month after American personnel evacuated from the country over ongoing fighting, one of its commanders said Sunday.” *Articles:* *The Hill: “Hillary's summer: Five takeaways” <http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/216290-hillarys-summer-five-takeaways>* By Amie Parnes August 31, 2014, 6:00 a.m. EDT The political world is still waiting for a decision from Hillary Clinton on the 2016 presidential race. But observers have recently got a preview of what would lay in store from, and for, Clinton should she take the plunge. Over the summer months, she released a book, “Hard Choices,” about her time at the State Department and waded into domestic policy for the first time in four years. So, what did we learn? 1) Anything Clinton says is news. So is anything Clinton doesn’t say. When Clinton last week weighed in on the events in Ferguson, Mo. following the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown at the hands of a police officer, her comments drew instant headlines and lit up the Twitterverse. During a paid speech at a tech conference in San Francisco, Clinton said that “we can’t ignore the inequities that persist in our justice system” and referred to how the unrest in Ferguson had made “our streets look like a war zone.” But the silence that preceded those remarks, which stretched out for more than two weeks during a string of book-signing appearances, also became news. MSNBC host Chris Hayes took to Twitter to call her failure to comment “downright bizarre.” Hayes’ tweet followed remarks by civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, another MSNBC host. At a rally, Sharpton had demanded that Clinton, along with potential GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush, should not “get laryngitis on this issue.” “Nobody can go to the White House unless they stop by our house and talk about policing,” Sharpton said. Hillary allies defended her decision to refrain from immediate comment. “I think it was appropriate that she not quickly discuss it, in part because she is not a candidate yet, and she was not out and about giving speeches at the time,” said one former longtime Hillary aide. “She also is appropriately cautious in reviewing developing circumstances. She is aware that anything she says is dissected, debated, supported and attacked so that gives her good reason to be measured in remarks on most anything,” the aide added. 2) The left doesn’t really hate her after all In recent weeks, critics and even some Democratic allies have worried that Clinton has failed to satisfy some on the left. On Vox.com earlier this month, Ezra Klein wrote that “liberals walk away unnerved” after almost every interview Clinton had done around her recent book tour. “She bumbled through a discussion of gay marriage with [NPR’s] Terry Gross. She dodged questions about the Keystone XL pipeline. She’s had a lot of trouble discussing income inequality,” Klein asserted. Other progressives have expressed a desire to see a candidate rooted within the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), challenge Clinton. But poll numbers provide succor to Clinton supporters. A CNN poll conducted in late July showed that there was essentially no difference in the backing Clinton received from self-identified liberal Democrats over Democrats as a whole. Sixty-six percent of liberal Democrats supported her, as did 67 percent of all party supporters. Clinton allies object to the notion that the former secretary of State is in trouble with the left. “She is progressive and has support from the vast majority of progressives, which I would argue spans from the left to the middle, including some conservative Democrats along the way, too,” said one longtime aide. Another ally who has worked for Clinton took it a step further, insisting that the he idea of widespread unease about her on the left was a “fictional plot that people want to believe is true.” 3) She’s learned her lesson with women When Clinton’s campaign ended in 2008, she conducted an unsparing post-mortem on what went wrong, spending meeting after meeting trying to get to the bottom of the matter. One of the biggest takeaways from those sessions was that she had made a fatal flaw in not embracing the historic nature of her campaign as, potentially, the first female president. Senior strategist Mark Penn had discouraged highlighting gender, a tactic other aides came to see as a monumental error. Clinton has already determined not to make the same mistake this time around, even before she has made a formal decision on whether to mount a second presidential bid. Key super-PACs Ready for Hillary and Correct the Record have repeatedly highlighted the work she did for women as secretary of State. And in recent days, it was announced that Clinton will be addressing a women’s forum organized by the DNC next month, further highlighting her interest in appealing to this key constituency. 4) She’ll keep facing questions about Obama Both Clinton and President Obama say they have put the bitterness of their 2008 primary struggle behind them. But more and more, Clinton has distanced herself from the president on issues, including the civil war in Syria. Earlier this month, the separation grew more obvious when Clinton said in an interview that “great nations need organizing principle and ‘Don’t do stupid stuff’ is not an organizing principle.” “Don’t do stupid stuff,” had previously been put forth by Obama as a key rule-of-thumb for his own foreign policy. Clinton ended up having to call Obama to offer an explanation and her spokesman issued a statement pledging that the two would “hug it out” later. Further parsing of her relationship with Obama is sure to be a running theme during any future campaign. 5) People love to hate her (and love to love her.) Alongside, “Hard Choices,” two prominent anti-Clinton books hit the bookshelves this summer:” “Clinton Inc.” by Daniel Halper and “Blood Feud” by Ed Klein. While some criticized Klein’s book as less-than-credible — even Rush Limbaugh publicly questioned some of the dialogue featured in its pages — it sold well and even bumped Clinton’s own tome from the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list. But Hillary supporters say the summer also showed the depth of enthusiasm for a Clinton presidential candidacy. To date, Ready for Hillary reports having more than 100,000 donors, receiving more than 150,000 contributions and attracting nearly two million supporters on Facebook, far outstripping any comparable operation for a potential candidate from either party. The support for a presidential run has to be evident by now, former aides note. “It's gotta be in her head,” one said. *Los Angeles Times: “Potential GOP presidential hopefuls woo donors, activists at summit” <http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-american-dream-summit-20140831-story.html>* By Molly Hennessy-Fiske August 30, 2014, 9:06 p.m. EDT Potential Republican presidential candidates paraded before more than 3,000 conservative activists and donors from across the country here for a two-day summit that ended Saturday, touting their records and trying to look like the future of their party. The eighth annual Defending the American Dream Summit was sponsored by Americans for Prosperity, among the most powerful conservative political groups in the country, backed by GOP donors Charles and David Koch, whose family amassed a fortune in the oil business. It's not clear who the Koch brothers might back, given their support for Republican and libertarian causes. David Koch attended the summit, at one point addressing the crowd and thanking the speakers, in particular Texas Gov. Rick Perry for hosting the summit. Both Perry and junior Texas Sen. Ted Cruz received raucous applause when they appeared, with many chanting Saturday, "Run, Ted, run!" "Oddly enough, that's the same thing my wife, Heidi, says to me when I go to the gym," Cruz quipped, never revealing during his speech or a briefing afterward whether he plans to run — though he presented a pretty clear platform. Cruz vowed to roll back Obamacare and hold the line against "amnesty" for immigrants who entered the country illegally, daring President Obama to "join me at the border." He suggested that the U.S. put more economic pressure on Russia for its actions in Ukraine and attack Islamic State — "bomb them back to the Stone Age." "We need a president who will stand up and use every tool at our disposal," Cruz said to applause and repeated standing ovations. Greg Danson, 30, a conservative from Houston who works in the oil industry, said he was wowed by Cruz, who he said appears more intellectual than Perry, more like the future of the party than the folksy past of George W. Bush. "I don't think Perry can win. He's not as good in debates. He's not going to beat Hillary," Danson said, alluding to the presumed candidacy of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Perry, who has been visiting key primary states, emphasized his tough stance on border security. When Obama refused to send in the National Guard to address the recent border crisis, Perry told the crowd Friday, he sent the troops himself. That earned the governor a standing ovation. Perry said that when Obama stopped in Dallas earlier this summer, he asked the president to come see the border crisis. "He turned me down, saying he doesn't do photo ops," Perry said. A man in the audience shouted, "Shame!" Perry derided what he called Obama's "era of lawlessness," comparing it — in a nod to tea party activists prominently represented here — to British tyranny over American colonists. "We need to make Washington as inconsequential in our lives as we can," Perry said to more applause. He added with a chuckle, "In Texas, we actually do pretty well without Washington's advice." Brandon Rogers, 30, said that out of all the potential candidates, he found Perry most inspiring. Rogers, a filmmaker from Los Angeles, considers himself somewhat libertarian, but not enough to vote for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, whom he saw as an idealist. He liked Cruz, too, but said, "Perry could mobilize a movement and inspire a nation." Few indicated they were put off by Perry's recent indictment on two felony charges that stemmed from his threat to withdraw funding for a public integrity unit. Activists at the summit also heard from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who emphasized his record as a fiscal conservative, promising to reduce the scope of the federal government and taking a swipe at spending under the last Republican in the White House, George W. Bush. "I felt like the Republican Party was a tall ship with a capable captain and a strong crew that was very dangerously off course into the rocky waters of big government," Pence said of the Bush administration. "It's a new season in the Republican Party and the conservative movement." Pence noted: "Some people say our next nominee should be a governor, and I'm certainly sympathetic to that." Carol Jones, 67, of Bastrop, Texas, drew a smile from Pence when she called out: "Would you please run for president?" Jones, a retired field director for Americans for Prosperity, said she had grown disillusioned with Perry and was divided between Paul and Pence. "I just love what he has done in Indiana. My God, if he can do that in Washington — that's what we need," she said. "He stacks up better than a lot of these other candidates, except Rand Paul." Some in the crowd were concerned that Paul, son of longtime libertarian Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, would be unwilling to use U.S. military might overseas, particularly against Russia and in the Middle East. "He's too much of an isolationist," said Doug Vile, 58, a furniture manufacturer from Pauls Valley, Okla., who prefers Cruz and Perry. "One of our responsibilities is to help people all over the world. We're the peacemakers." But Jones said Paul, whom she got to know campaigning for his father, would take action overseas if needed. Paul took the stage here and quickly abandoned the lectern, pacing and addressing the audience in a breezy, conversational style that drew applause. Young attendees clapped and cheered as Paul urged them to join him in recruiting unlikely Republicans — minorities in urban areas, at historically black colleges and, yes, even in Berkeley. "If we're going to be the party that wins, we have to be a bigger party," he said. "We don't need to be Democrat light. We need to reach out to new people." *New York Post: Ed Klein: “Why Mitt Romney may again be the GOP’s next great hope” <http://nypost.com/2014/08/30/why-mitt-romney-may-be-the-gops-next-great-hope-again/>* By Edward Klein August 30, 2014, 4:09 p.m. EDT The most likely Republican presidential candidate for 2016 is . . . Mitt Romney? The former Massachusetts governor has run and lost two bids for the White House — in the 2008 Republican primaries and again in the 2012 general election. What’s more, he proved to be a foot-in-mouth candidate who blew his chances of winning in 2012 by writing off 47% of the electorate and suggesting that illegal immigrants “self-deport.” And yet, establishment insiders in the GOP tell me that the third time may be the charm. “The smart folks in the party are not committed to any presidential candidate this early,” said Scott Reed, the senior political strategist for the US Chamber of Commerce, the powerful business lobby that has scored a string of establishment victories over Tea Party candidates in this year’s Republican primaries. “But Romney can’t be dismissed as the guy who lost last time. “You watch him on TV these days, and he’s a new guy with total command of the issues and a real presence,” Reed added. “He could throw an organization together and get the money.” A wealthy New York-based Republican with close ties to members of the donor class, who spoke to me on the condition of anonymity, wholeheartedly agrees. “Most of the people I talk to who are involved in Republican politics as donors want a winner,” he told me. “And many of these people are talking about Romney because so many of the things he said in 2012 — about Russia being a ‘geopolitical foe’ and people losing their health insurance under ObamaCare — have come to pass.” Until a few months ago, the favorite among establishment Republicans was Chris Christie. And there are still those in the GOP, such as Kenneth Langone, the billionaire co-founder of The Home Depot, who support the New Jersey governor. “To me, politics is practical,” Langone told me. “We Republicans don’t have the luxury any more of having an ideological litmus test in the party. Chris is a candidate who can win. And though he has never given me a definite indication that he is going to run in 2016, in my humble opinion, he’s in.” However, most Republicans think Christie has suffered too many self-inflicted wounds to be considered a front-runner. The list of internal grievances against Christie is long and includes: his hug-a-thon with President Obama after Hurricane Sandy; his it’s-all-about-me keynote address at the 2012 Republican National Convention; his bungled handling of the Bridgegate scandal; and his appointment or reappointment of several liberal judges in New Jersey. With Christie fading in the presidential sweepstakes, many Republican donors and operatives turned, for a while, to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush as the party’s great hope. But Bush is playing Hamlet, unable to make up his mind. “Jeb has several problems that give him pause,” said a major Republican source. “To begin with, he has staked out a position on immigration reform and the Common Core education standards that may make him too moderate for today’s Republican Party. Then there are his family problems to take into consideration. His wife isn’t into being a public figure, and his daughter has had drug issues in the past.” In my conversations with Republican operatives, none could think of a time since the 1980s when there wasn’t an obvious front-runner. This past week, several potential candidates, including Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Ted Cruz, showed up at a presidential cattle call in Dallas that was organized by the conservative billionaire Koch brothers. “We are six months away from when some presidential campaigns in the Republican Party will launch, and it doesn’t appear that the donors are coalescing yet,” said Spencer Zwick, a fund-raising expert who is so close to Romney and his wife, Ann, that he is often described as their “sixth son.” *Washington Post: “Obama sets his own pace in a world whirling with crises” <http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-sets-his-own-pace-in-a-world-whirling-with-crises/2014/08/30/3e4874da-304b-11e4-994d-202962a9150c_story.html>* By Karen DeYoung and Dan Balz August 31, 2014, 10:30 a.m. EDT Short of world war, it’s rare that a chief executive goes through a foreign policy month like President Obama’s August. U.S. warplanes struck in Iraq for the first time in years, as U.S. diplomats struggled to establish a new government in Baghdad. Islamic State militants beheaded an American journalist in Syria and spread their reach across the Middle East. War raged between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In Afghanistan, U.S. plans for an orderly exit at the end of the year teetered on the brink of disaster. Russia all but invaded Ukraine and dared Obama to stop it. Libya descended into violent chaos. As events cascaded, Obama juggled rounds of vacation golf with public statements addressing the conflicts. But his cool demeanor, and the split-screen imagery of a president at play and at work, seemed ill-matched to the moment. Then came a Thursday news conference and a comment that only reinforced criticism of a president neither fully engaged nor truly leaning into world problems. Speaking of the Islamic State, he said, “We don’t have a strategy yet.” The statement may have had the virtue of candor, as Obama weighs the military and diplomatic components of a U.S. response and seeks support from other nations. But it hardly projects an image of presidential resolve or decisiveness at a time of international turmoil. Republicans pounced on the statement. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), speaking Friday in Texas, said, “If the president has no strategy, maybe it’s time for a new president.” He said in a later e-mail that he would call a joint session of Congress to seek authority “to destroy ISIS militarily,” using another name for the Islamic State. Texas Gov. Rick Perry accused Obama of “lurching from crisis to crisis, always one step behind.” On Sunday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said Obama’s comments show that his foreign policy is “in an absolute free fall.” “If you look at China, you look at ISIS, you look at Russia, you look at Iran and North Korea, we have a serious host of problems presenting itself, and our traditional allies are now standing up and saying, ‘Well, maybe America is not the best one to lead us through these troubles,’ ” Rogers said on “Fox News Sunday.” Some Democrats also express dismay at Obama’s pace. “I think I’ve learned one thing about this president, and that is he’s very cautious. Maybe in this instance, too cautious,” Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The Islamic State, she said, is a “vicious, vicious movement. And it has to be confronted.” White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Obama will continue to move at his own speed to respond to these crises, regardless of criticism. “There’s no timetable for solving these problems that’s going to meet the cable news cycle speed,” he said. “It’s not a tenable thing. We’d much rather do this right than do it quickly. We tried the opposite [during the Bush years] and it worked out very poorly.” This week, Obama will have an opportunity to show global leadership at a crisis-packed summit with European allies. Immediately afterward, Secretary of State John F. Kerry will travel to the Middle East, where potential partners, waiting to see whether Obama has the capacity to chart a clear, decisive course, are hoping for direction. As the administration heads into those meetings, Kerry offered crisp and forceful marching orders. “Airstrikes alone won’t defeat this enemy,” he wrote in a Saturday op-ed article in the New York Times. “A much fuller response is demanded from the world. We need to support Iraqi forces and the moderate Syrian opposition, who are facing ISIS on the front lines.” The world Obama now confronts is far different from the one he inherited when he came into office almost six years ago, and it is testing equally whether the style and substance of his leadership can win supporters and prevail against enemies. In the first years of his presidency, Obama’s principal foreign policy goals were far less reactive and were more dependent on his initiative and sense of timing. With a schedule for Iraq withdrawal already set, he developed policies for ending the then-faltering war in Afghanistan. In a pattern that would repeat itself on other issues, he deliberated for months, and then split the difference by simultaneously announcing a surge of troops and the timing of their departure. But as he tried to engage the world on his terms, Obama quickly found out that the world had thoughts and plans of its own. Far from the reset Obama sought with Russia, President Vladimir Putin sought a new balance of power through aggression in Ukraine. While Obama offered a fresh start for the United States in the Muslim world, the Arab Spring headed toward destabilization rather than democracy. Six years later, events seem to have spun out of his control, and Obama must react to the actions of others. Putin’s aggression in Ukraine has sparked the greatest East-West crisis since the Cold War. Islamic State advances have swallowed up a large swath of the Middle East and threaten a global upheaval far beyond the shock of al-Qaeda’s 2001 attacks. Obama now must contemplate what could be a lengthy and messy recommitment of U.S. military might in a region that continues to defy his efforts to create stability. Having promised respectful relations among the big powers, he must prove that the non-military tools of power — diplomacy and economic pressure — will eventually force Russia back within its own borders. Historian David Kennedy of Stanford University noted that Obama has struggled throughout his presidency to articulate a large and integrated vision in both domestic and foreign policy and contrasted that with the rhetorical and communications skills of Candidate Obama in 2008. But he said Obama faces something of “devil’s brew” as he deals with a world of proliferating aggressors and the palpable exhaustion of the American people for military engagement. “There’s an expectation especially since World War II that the United States and president in particular can command events,” he said. “That’s not true and less true today than ever.” Presidential advisers argue that Obama’s foreign policy management has born fruit, from getting the Syrians to give up their chemical weapons to bringing Iran to the negotiating table over its nuclear program to engendering the trust and credibility with other leaders to get European nations to support sanctions against Russia and rebuild a global coalition to deal with the Islamic State threat. A senior official called Obama’s Iranian policy “a perfect example of a disciplined response that potentially leads to a good outcome.” Yet even former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton has expressed skepticism that Iranian negotiations will reach a successful conclusion and has been vocal in disagreeing with Obama’s earlier decisions not to intervene more directly to support rebel forces in Syria. Officials across the government spent Friday trying to clean up after Obama’s Thursday news conference. They insisted that his “no strategy” remark had been misinterpreted and that what was being portrayed as hesitation and delay was instead a sign of due diligence and a sharp focus on developing an effective long-term plan. Earlier statements by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the overall threat posed by Islamic State militants and the necessity of eventually taking the fight into Syria, coupled with reports that the United States had launched surveillance flights over Syria, prompted speculation of potentially imminent military action. White House press secretary Josh Earnest denied a contradiction. “I think the president was pretty explicit that he is determined to make sure that every element of his national security strategy is thought through,” he said. As Obama sought to nudge the debate back into his deliberative comfort zone, others urged him toward action. Ryan Crocker, who has served as U.S. ambassador in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, pleaded with the president to stop deliberating and start acting. “I don’t think we have an alternative to swift, decisive military action to degrade ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. Give them no safe place to plan further attacks,” he said in a CNN interview Friday. U.S. officials rejected the notion that they are not acting. They emphasized that Obama moved quickly in Iraq with airstrikes and said that this month’s operations there are the first step in a larger strategy against the Islamic State. They indicated that they will not be pushed into an immediate response to recent events in Syria. “The dynamic that you want, that I think is possible, is that [Islamic State] has overreached and overextended itself, both in terms of the territory it’s tried to claim, and the number of enemies it’s managed to make,” a senior administration official said. Limited airstrikes in Iraq, and the formation of a more inclusive version of Iraq’s Shiite-led government, will encourage Sunni Arab states to work together, under U.S. leadership, in ways that have eluded them thus far, the official said. He added that the “international outrage in countries like Britain, France, Australia and Canada” over militants’ brutality, and the threat from Western passport holders within the Islamist organization, will make those countries more willing to participate in military and other operations against the militants in response to a patient and well-conceived U.S. strategy. U.S. allies say they have a residual well of confidence in Obama despite what they saw as the failure of U.S. leadership over the past year in Syria. “What I do regret,” said a senior European official, is that the Islamic State organization has become “exactly what we feared” last year, when Obama held back in arming moderate rebel forces in Syria and reversed course on U.S. military action there. The Syria airstrikes, planned last August to punish President Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons and to destroy his weapons program, might have avoided the current mess by sending a message to Syrians and U.S. allies that Obama was engaged and recognized the growing Islamist threat, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid publicly criticizing the president. But the official believes that this summer has been different. Obama’s taking the lead on sanctions against Russia — and pressing reluctant Europeans to join — and the airstrikes this month against Islamic State in Iraq have gone some distance in restoring allied confidence in the president. “It’s not my job to defend the administration,” the official said. “But they have acted, more than I expected.” Obama addressed the global angst during a Friday fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in Purchase, N.Y. He said that anyone watching the nightly news might feel that “the world is falling apart.” He acknowledged these are challenging times and that an unsustainable “old order” that had been in place for decades in the Middle East was destined to come apart. “What we are seeing is the old order not working, but the new order not being born yet — and it is a rocky road through that process, and a dangerous time through that process,” he said. American leadership “has never been more necessary, and there’s really no competition out there for the ideas and the values that can create the sort of order that we need in this world. . . . Our values, our leadership, our military power but also our diplomatic power, the power of our culture is one that means we will get through these challenging times just like we have in the past,” he said. Jim Lindsay, senior vice president at the Council on Foreign Relations, said Obama’s inability to inspire confidence among critics has more to do with the complexity of the problems than the president’s leadership style. “He has a sort of perfect storm of messy problems, lousy options, ambivalent allies and a skeptical public,” he said. Obama’s attempt at reassurance begged the question not only of exactly what course of action he will decide to take, but whether those policies will be too little, too late. The crises in Ukraine and Syria-Iraq have overshadowed equally turbulent situations where the administration’s track record has not been encouraging. This summer’s war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip continued for weeks, despite repeated U.S. efforts to stop it, until a tentative cease-fire was agreed upon under Egyptian auspices last week. Despite two emergency visits by Kerry in the past several weeks, Afghanistan appeared headed toward a political train wreck, as the two candidates vying to replace President Hamid Karzai continued to dispute the results of this summer’s election. With the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces in December fast approaching, it remains uncertain whether there will be a government to agree to Obama’s plan to leave nearly 10,000 troops there for training and counterterrorism missions. Kennedy, the historian, said that Obama, in dealing with multiple crises, also is trying to change perceptions of what U.S. leadership and any president can realistically accomplish. “It’s difficult virtually to the point of impossibility to have a grand strategy in a world that is so fluid and in which we no longer yield the power we once had. In a sense that is Obama’s strategy, a recognition of that fact. So that rhetorically as well as in reality, he’s trying to diminish the expectation that we can control events.” *The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Celebs gin up votes for midterm push” <http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/216306-celebrities-gin-up-youth-votes-heading-into-midterms>* By Jesse Byrnes August 30, 2014, 5:10 p.m. EDT With young voters more apathetic about voting and government than ever, several organizations are trying to woo the “selfie generation” to the polls this fall. "About half of those who vote in presidential elections do not vote in midterms," explained Andy Bernstein, executive director of HeadCount, a non-partisan organization that partners with musicians to get youth engaged in politics. While overall turnout among young voters in presidential elections has grown, turnout for midterms has stagnated, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIVIC). In 2010, the under-30 vote dropped 27 percent since Obama first sailed to victory two years earlier, according to CIVIC analysis of Census data. Bernstein's group hopes to engage these so-called drop-off voters by riding the popularity of musicians. HeadCount will go on tour with the band The Black Keys for 15 shows in more than a dozen cities from Sept. 6 through Nov. 3 registering young voters. The group also plans to drive voter turnout through its Pledge to Vote postcards, which involves celebrities taking photos of themselves holding a sign to register to vote and posting it to social media. During National Voter Registration Day in 2012, for example, HeadCount got about 200 musicians, actors and comics to hold the signs, including Stephen Colbert, Dave Matthews and 50 Cent. Their cause was also cheered by actress Susan Sarandon, Cyndi Lauper and musician Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, among others. As a result, the group registered about 40,000 people in a single day. Musicians and celebrities often jump into the political game, most often for Democrats. For instance, Katy Perry has already promised to write Hillary Clinton's campaign song if she runs for president. Other entertainers were heavily involved in President Obama’s presidential runs, including Beyonce, Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen. While their focus is usually on presidential races, the groups’s uphill task ahead of 2016 is getting youth involved in the elections happening this year. Of likely midterm voters ages 18-29, 44 percent of Mitt Romney supporters in 2012 plan to vote this year compared to 35 percent of Obama voters, according to another Harvard Institute of Politics survey. Still, in an election with Senate control up for grabs, Republicans are unlikely to see much of a bump from young voters – less than one in four (23 percent) will "definitely" be voting in November, according to the spring poll. That's the case in other surveys, too. While 72 percent of those 18-31 said they would "definitely" or "probably" vote in the 2016 presidential election, less than half – 49 percent – said they were likely to vote in the upcoming midterms, according to a poll from Democratic pollster Paul Harstad in early spring. During every election, it's important to use cultural leaders to get young voters interested in the issues, said Ashley Spillane, president of Rock the Vote. Celebrities, artists and musicians help draw young voters interested in other issues, Spillane said, such as voter ID laws, women's health and college affordability. "When you are thinking about this generation, in terms of messaging we are constantly expressing our opinion on a myriad of social platforms," Spillane said, noting the importance of offering tools and meeting the so-called digital natives where they are at to register – online. Have to print a form, find an envelope and put it in the mail? "Most young people can't tell you where to get a stamp these days," she said. Rock the Vote, which works with hundreds of organizations to run events, has a handful of large events to roll out soon. A big push for the youth vote will be National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 23. The day, which started in 2012, became a holiday when the National Association of Secretaries of State designated the fourth Tuesday each September through 2019. This year, more than 300 entertainers and musicians will post photos on social media holding HeadCount's Register to Vote signs linking to their online voter registration page and the group will host events in 20 cities that day. The group will also have young people sign pledges to vote – and get entered for a chance at a musical vacation getaway. Those pledges will get mailed back to them as a reminder, which has been shown to increase participation. Growing the youth vote is critical for both parties. Following the 2012 election, the GOP published its 97-page report on attracting more voters, including youth, and noted it must draw young voters with its message and candidates. The report even recommended establishing an "RNC Celebrity Task Force" to get entertainment folks to highlight fundraisers. Democrats contend, however, that young voters are naturally left-leaning on most issues, putting the focus for Democrats, then, on mobilization. "The message doesn't matter if they're not on the same page ideologically," said Rob Flaherty, youth media director for the Democratic National Committee. Still, young voters, like Americans in general, are mostly concerned about jobs, the economy and healthcare, Republicans argue based on recent polling. "While celebrity endorsements are nice, young Americans are more interested in policies that will benefit them rather than having a famous person tell them who to vote for," Raffi Williams, the Republican National Committee deputy press secretary, wrote in an email. "They fell for the celebrity endorsements when it came to Obama and are not going to fall prey to the same tactic that has left them behind six years later," he added. *Associated Press: “Militia Says It ‘Secured’ US Compound in Libya” <http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_LIBYA?SITE=AP>* [No Writer Mentioned] August 31, 2014, 12:40 p.m. EDT The Islamist-allied militia group in control of Libya's capital has "secured" a U.S. Embassy residential compound there, more than a month after American personnel evacuated from the country over ongoing fighting, one of its commanders said Sunday. The Islamist militia's move likely will reinvigorate debate in the U.S. over its role in Libya, more than three years after supporting rebels who toppled dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It also comes near the two-year anniversary of the slaying of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in Libya's second-largest city of Benghazi. An Associated Press journalist walked through the U.S. Embassy compound Sunday after the Dawn of Libya, an umbrella group for Islamist militias, invited onlookers inside. Some windows at the compound had been broken, but it appeared most of the equipment there remained untouched. The journalist saw treadmills, food, televisions and computers still inside. A commander for the Dawn of Libya group, Moussa Abu-Zaqia, told the AP that his forces had entered and been in control of the compound since last week, a day after it has seized control of the capital and its international airport after weeks of fighting with a rival militia. Abu-Zaqia said the rival militia was in the compound before his troops took it over. The Dawn of Libya militia is not associated with the extremist militia Ansar al-Shariah, which Washington blames for the deadly assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012, that killed Stevens and the three other Americans. A video posted online Sunday showed unarmed men playing in a pool at the compound and jumping into it from a second-story balcony. Voices heard in the video identified it as the U.S. Embassy compound. In a message on Twitter, U.S. Ambassador to Libya Deborah Jones said the video appeared to have been shot in at the embassy's residential annex, though she said she couldn't "say definitively" since she wasn't there. "To my knowledge & per recent photos the US Embassy Tripoli chancery & compound is now being safeguarded and has not been ransacked," she wrote on Twitter. She did not immediately respond to a request to elaborate. State Department officials in Washington also declined to immediately comment. On July 26, U.S. diplomats evacuated the compound and the capital to neighboring Tunisia under a U.S. military escort as fighting between rival militias intensified and thousands fled. The State Department said embassy operations would be suspended until the security situation improved. Typically, local forces provide security for diplomatic posts, but Libya's government has largely relied on militias for law enforcement since Gadhafi's ouster, as its military and police forces remain weak. In the past several weeks, the security vacuum in Tripoli deepened as militia violence worsened. It remains unclear who the U.S. left in control of guarding its facilities after its personnel evacuated. Libya's militias, many of which originate from rebel forces that fought Gadhafi, have become powerful players in post-war Libya. Successive governments have put militias on their payroll in return for maintaining order, but rivalries over control and resources have led to fierce fighting among them and posed a constant challenge to the central government and a hoped-for transition to democracy. Following weeks of fighting that brought the capital to a standstill, the Dawn of Libya militia said last week it managed to seize control of Tripoli's airport and drive a rival militia from the mountain town of Zintan out of the capital. It is now deployed around the capital and has sought to restore normalcy in the city. The group called on foreign diplomats to return now that the fighting has subsided. *Calendar:* *Sec. Clinton's upcoming appearances as reported online. Not an official schedule.* · 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> ) · September 9 – Washington, DC: Sec. Clinton fundraises for the DSCC at her Washington home (DSCC <https://d1ly3598e1hx6r.cloudfront.net/sites/dscc/files/uploads/9.9.14%20HRC%20Dinner.pdf> ) · September 14 – Indianola, IA: Sec. Clinton headlines Sen. Harkin’s Steak Fry (LA Times <http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-tom-harkin-clinton-steak-fry-20140818-story.html> ) · September 19 – Washington, DC: Sec. Clinton fundraises for the DNC with Pres. Obama (CNN <http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/27/politics/obama-clinton-dnc/index.html>) · October 2 – Miami Beach, FL: Sec. Clinton keynotes the CREW Network Convention & Marketplace (CREW Network <http://events.crewnetwork.org/2014convention/>) · October 6 – Ottawa, Canada: Sec. Clinton speaks at Canada 2020 event (Ottawa Citizen <http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/hillary-clinton-speaking-in-ottawa-oct-6> ) · 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 14 – San Francisco, CA: Sec. Clinton keynotes salesforce.com Dreamforce conference (salesforce.com <http://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF14/highlights.jsp#tuesday>) · October 28 – San Francisco, CA: Sec. Clinton fundraises for House Democratic women candidates with Nancy Pelosi (Politico <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/hillary-clinton-nancy-pelosi-110387.html?hp=r7> ) · December 4 – Boston, MA: Sec. Clinton speaks at the Massachusetts Conference for Women (MCFW <http://www.maconferenceforwomen.org/speakers/>)