Correct The Record Thursday February 12, 2015 Afternoon Roundup

podesta-emails 4,268 words email

D6 P19 P17 V11 P22

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*​**Correct The Record Thursday February 12, 2015 Afternoon Roundup:* *Tweets:* *Pres. Bill Clinton* @billclinton: Jon Stewart's departure raises 2 Qs: 1) Where will I get my news each night? 2) Does this mean he's doing a sequel to Death to Smoochy? [2/11/15, 3:41 p.m. EST <https://twitter.com/billclinton/status/565611596417085441>] *Headlines:* *CNN: “First on CNN: Philadelphia wins bid to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention” <http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/12/politics/democratic-national-convention-2016-philadelphia/index.html>* “Philadelphia will host the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, a source with knowledge of the selection process tells CNN.” *New York Daily News: “Progressive Dems would like the Draft Warren movement to put on the brakes” <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/dems-push-back-draft-warren-fans-article-1.2112839>* “Some progressive Democrats are pushing back against the growing movement to draft Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for President — even if the main goal is to push Hillary Clinton to the left.” *New York Times: First Draft: “New Hampshire’s Wistful Look at Off-the-Cuff Politics” <http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/12/new-hampshires-wistful-look-at-off-the-cuff-politics/?_r=0>* “James Carville, a key figure in Mr. Clinton’s 1992 presidential win, said his advice for Hillary Rodham Clinton would be to assume that the New Hampshire contest has not changed. ‘My strong counsel would be: Stay close to the ground,’ said Mr. Carville, adding that she ought to avoid large entourages and motorcades — what he called ‘an imperial thing.’” *Associated Press: Spat Highlights Jockeying Among Clinton Campaign Surrogates <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/spat-highlights-jockeying-clinton-campaign-surrogates-28910532>* “‘At the end of the day, when we have a candidate that we nominate, Democrats will be together,’ said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers and a Priorities board member, adding that Brock had done ‘terrific work’ and said the kerfuffle would soon pass.” *MSNBC: “Joe Biden: Always the understudy, never the lead” <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/joe-biden-always-the-understudy-never-the-lead>* “Biden wanted to be prepared for a possibility that Clinton might not to run. But as it becomes increasingly clear that Clinton is running, he may have to spend another election cycle as understudy.” *Bloomberg: “Where Do the 2016 Democrats Stand on the AUMF?” <http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-12/where-do-the-2016-democrats-stand-on-the-aumf->* “Webb, said Crawford, did ‘not yet’ have a response to the AUMF. Neither did Clinton, whose spokesman Nick Merrill said that ‘if we have anything on this will pass along.’ (Nothing came.)” *Politico: “David Axelrod: 'Podesta has to get control of the Clinton operation'” <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/david-axelrod-john-podesta-hillary-clinton-campaign-115147.html>* “‘John Podesta has to get control of the Clinton operation. And I think that’s part of his job over there,’ the Obama campaign guru said Wednesday on MSNBC’s ‘Hardball.’” *Articles:* *CNN: “First on CNN: Philadelphia wins bid to host the 2016 Democratic National Convention” <http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/12/politics/democratic-national-convention-2016-philadelphia/index.html>* By Mark Preston February 12, 2015, 9:22 a.m. EST Philadelphia will host the Democratic National Convention in July 2016, a source with knowledge of the selection process tells CNN. While the Democratic National Committee would not confirm Philadelphia's selection, the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the official announcement would be made Thursday. New York and Columbus, Ohio, were the two other cities vying for the right to host the Democratic convention. The event is scheduled for the week of July 25, 2016. Democrats' decision to nominate the party's presidential nominee in Philadelphia is a major win for former Gov. Ed Rendell, who had been spearheading efforts to convince Democrats to choose the city he once led. Rendell served as Philadelphia mayor from 1992 to 2000. The Republican Party previously announced it would hold its presidential nominating convention the week of July 18, 2016, in Cleveland. The last time Philadelphia hosted a presidential convention was in 2000, when Republicans chose then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush as the party's nominee. Presidential conventions are expensive endeavors for cities, which are expected to shoulder more than $60 million in costs to stage the event. But the payout could be triple that investment or more. DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz told local officials last year that past presidential conventions "have injected approximately $150 million to $200 million directly into the host city's economy." Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn told CNN that his city, which hosted the 2012 Republican National Convention, experienced a short term economic impact "well beyond $200 million" And he added the "longer term impact for Tampa and the residual effect in tourism and convention business will be significant." *New York Daily News: “Progressive Dems would like the Draft Warren movement to put on the brakes” <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/dems-push-back-draft-warren-fans-article-1.2112839>* By Annie Karni February 12, 2015, 1:05 p.m. EST Some progressive Democrats are pushing back against the growing movement to draft Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for President — even if the main goal is to push Hillary Clinton to the left. "It is strategically naive for bonafide liberal groups to expend effort recruiting Warren,” said former public advocate Mark Green, a longtime Clinton ally who endorsed activist candidate Zephyr Teachout in the Democratic primary for governor last year. “Warren is a brilliant progressive outsider who has ended up on the inside as about the most influential progressive senator in a generation,” Green said. “Why not let her stay a progressive powerhouse for 20 years and let Hillary Clinton, by far the strongest candidate to stop the Ted Cruzification of America, unite Democrats to win the presidency?” Green said groups like MoveOn.org and the Working Families Party — who are backing the campaign to draft Warren — are wasting resources on a candidate with no interest in running. “These left-labor groups are wasting time and effort by assuming either she's cunningly playing hard to get or they can change her mind,” Green said. President of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten — who also sits on the board of the pro-Clinton PAC Priorities USA — said Warren supporters were not respecting their hero’s own wishes. “Elizabeth Warren has said over and over again she's not running,” Weingarten said Tuesday, after speaking at a Clinton Global Initiative event. “She has an amazing role in the Senate. When someone says over and over again they're not running — I know MoveOn is doing it to raise money — you gotta respect when someone says they're not running.” *New York Times: First Draft: “New Hampshire’s Wistful Look at Off-the-Cuff Politics” <http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/12/new-hampshires-wistful-look-at-off-the-cuff-politics/?_r=0>* By Jonathan Martin February 12, 2015, 8:48 a.m. EST When a group of journalists, New Hampshire pols and former presidential candidates got together Wednesday night to honor the 100th anniversary of the first-in-the-nation primary, there was much yearning for the good old days. Tom Rath, a former attorney general and longtime Republican hand, recalled when an informal dinner could be had without sources having to worry that reporters would tweet something that was said over the meal. Joe McQuaid, the publisher of The Union Leader, lamented the fixation with polls a year before the primary. (“Who the hell cares at this point?” he asked). And Senator Jeanne Shaheen complained about the two T’s — Twitter and (opposition video) trackers — which are part of what she called today’s “gotcha politics.” But the gathering itself, held at the Newseum in Washington, was a reminder of what has not changed about New Hampshire’s quadrennial rite of winter: John McCain recycled the same jokes he has been telling at town-hall-style meetings in the state for years, the inevitable praise was heaped on the state’s civic-minded electorate, and, most notably, a sense of intimacy marked the occasion. At a panel discussion and subsequent dinner — sponsored by Bloomberg News, the Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College and the New Hampshire news network NH1 — the stories and faces were familiar to those who have covered or participated in New Hampshire primaries: The McQuaids, Shaheens and Raths were among the fixtures onstage. Senator Kelly Ayotte, former Gov. John Sununu, Secretary of State William M. Gardner and Raymond Buckley, the state’s Democratic chairman, among many other Granite Staters, were in the audience. Not present, but rendered vividly on screen, were an array of past candidates in famous moments: Edmund S. Muskie shedding angry tears (or was it just snow?), Ronald Reagan fulminating about his having paid for his microphone, and Bill Clinton declaring that New Hampshire had made him “the comeback kid” (for a second-place finish). Amid all the nostalgia, a question loomed: Are such historic moments still possible in an era of politics that is mostly predictable and overwhelmingly scripted? Or will this be the campaign when even the retail-oriented, town-hall-heavy New Hampshire primary becomes homogenized? James Carville, a key figure in Mr. Clinton’s 1992 presidential win, said his advice for Hillary Rodham Clinton would be to assume that the New Hampshire contest has not changed. “My strong counsel would be: Stay close to the ground,” said Mr. Carville, adding that she ought to avoid large entourages and motorcades — what he called “an imperial thing.” Mr. Carville’s admonition, though, was not his most memorable line of the night. That would have been when he began the panel discussion by revealing a bit of “breaking news”: Secretary of State John Kerry had just engineered a major diplomatic breakthrough. Mr. Kerry, Mr. Carville said, “has just announced a cease-fire between Hillary’s ‘super PACs’.” *Associated Press: Spat Highlights Jockeying Among Clinton Campaign Surrogates <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/spat-highlights-jockeying-clinton-campaign-surrogates-28910532>* By Ken Thomas and Philip Elliott February 12, 2015 3:28 a.m. EST The ugly public spat was, perhaps, inevitable. With Hillary Rodham Clinton more or less the only game in town for Democratic talent seeking a piece of the 2016 presidential race, the independent, campaign-like apparatus that has sprung up around her has become an uneasy grouping of longtime loyalists and former rivals. All are looking for a share of the money and prestige that comes as part of working on a presidential election. That jockeying for position burst into public view this week when David Brock, a Clinton critic-turned-defender, dramatically resigned from the board of a Democratic super PAC following a newspaper report that he said rivals helped engineer to make him look like an inefficient manager of donors' dollars. Just a few hours later, and after the intervention of two longtime Clinton allies, Brock issued a statement saying he'd consider coming back. The spectacle was the sort of politics-as-blood-sport relished by some in Washington, but one with the potential for real consequences for the former secretary of state. If she becomes the Democratic nominee, Clinton will need a unified network of such outside groups that can help her official campaign compete with the collection of Republican-aligned outfits poised to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to keep her out of the White House. Who runs them, and who personally profits from doing so, needs to come second, said John Morgan, a Florida attorney and a top campaign donor for former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama. "This can't be about the consultants making money," he said. "This has to be about Hillary Clinton being president." Clinton, who has kept a low profile in recent weeks, is being advised by several longtime aides and veterans of Obama's two winning campaigns. Without much apparent competition for the party's nomination, the former first lady and New York senator has signaled that she may wait until the summer to fully launch her bid. In that vacuum, Democrats involved with super PACs and other such outside groups are taking on a larger role, already helping defend Clinton against Republicans and actively preparing for the campaign. While outside groups, a catch-all term for any political organization that isn't Clinton's yet-to-launch official campaign, cannot coordinate activities with that eventual campaign, they will be crucial to providing technical know-how and deep pockets, while also conducting research, running TV ads and cultivating rank-and-file activists on Clinton's behalf. Jockeying for position inside the unofficial apparatus is underway, and with it comes tensions. The latest rift emerged after The New York Times reported that two firms led by Brock, a powerful Democratic operative, had paid a fundraiser a 12.5 percent commission on large donations to his groups. The commissions led to more than $6 million in fees for the fundraiser and her staff during the past several years, the newspaper reported. While not illegal, that high commission was cash that went to a fundraising consultant — not to the groups' stated mission — and it ran counter to the typical practice of paying a monthly retainer. Calling the newspaper report a "political hit job" orchestrated by his rivals, Brock angrily resigned from the board of Priorities USA, a super PAC that expects to be a major outside advertising partner for Clinton in 2016. The group had expected Brock's organizations to partner with Priorities, and Brock's flare-up threatened to upend the longstanding plans to leave research and fact checking to his orbit. Leaders of the group intervened, spoke with Brock and said they would take his concerns seriously. Brock said later that day he would consider rejoining the board, thus ending a standoff that played out publicly and invoked memories of the infighting that plagued Clinton's campaign in 2008. Priorities essentially sat out the 2014 elections to avoid competing for donations with Democrats running in the midterm elections. The group, which spent more than $70 million on the 2012 election, ended last year with nearly $500,000 in the bank and isn't yet raising money. "We have said from the very beginning that we wouldn't start fundraising without a candidate, and that is still the case," Jonathan Mantz, Priorities' senior adviser for finance, said in a statement. "Make no mistake, we will have the resources we need to be effective and to work with our allies to help elect Hillary Clinton in 2016." Those resources will need to be deep, as Democrats expect to face a tsunami of Republican money. Groups backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch alone want to raise and spend almost $1 billion on elections in 2016, hoping to recapture the White House for the GOP. Since Clinton may not launch her presidential bid until the summer, there could be months of sluggish or stalled fundraising, increasing the competition among the outside groups. Morgan, for example, said former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina, now the co-chair of Priorities, emailed him recently asking him to donate $25,000 to support Ready for Hillary, a separate super PAC promoting a future Clinton campaign. Morgan said he declined because he wanted to devote all of his fundraising energies to an official Clinton campaign, once she announces. "I said to (former President Clinton), 'If she runs and you want me to do a fundraiser ... I'm all-in, just tell me when,'" Morgan said, describing a recent phone call with the former president. By then, some Democrats say, the squabbling will have subsided. "At the end of the day, when we have a candidate that we nominate, Democrats will be together," said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers and a Priorities board member, adding that Brock had done "terrific work" and said the kerfuffle would soon pass. *MSNBC: “Joe Biden: Always the understudy, never the lead” <http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/joe-biden-always-the-understudy-never-the-lead>* By Alex Seitz-Wald February 12, 2015, 10:05 a.m. EST Vice President Joe Biden returns to the early presidential state of Iowa Thursday for two White House appearances on the economy, prompting fresh speculation about whether Biden will follow through on his flirtations with another presidential run in 2016. Biden would very much like to be president. And he’s as qualified for the job as anyone who has ever run — he has served eight years as vice president, 36 years in the Senate, is a former chairman of both the Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committee, as well as a two-time presidential candidate. But Democrats familiar with Biden’s thinking say the vice president is increasingly realizing that 2016 is not his time. Lately, Biden has been telling allies how much he looks forward to reprising his role from the 2012 presidential race — when he was an attack dog against the GOP ticket — which suggests that he’s starting to think less about himself as the party’s nominee. At 72, Biden is five years older than Hillary Clinton, who would tie Ronald Reagan as the oldest president in history if elected. He’s also white and male at a time when the party is hemorrhaging support among white men and dependent on massive turnout from minorities and women to win elections. Many are also eager to make history again by electing the first woman for the job. But even if he decides not to run, Biden still has an important role to play in 2016 — insurance. Democrats have a thin bench, and with all of the party’s eggs in Clinton’s basket, Biden may have to reprise his role as understudy. In case disaster strikes, the vice president would be a ready, consensus replacement. The most recent poll of the 2016 Democratic field, which comes from Fox News, found that Biden is Democrats’ leading second-choice candidate, even edging out Hillary Clinton for the tier-two spot. And in a field without Clinton, Biden would start with a strong lead at 37% support. Sen. Elizabeth Warren came in second at 21% and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in third with 14%. Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley and Jim Webb are in the single digits. “I just had a birthday. Everybody was saying, God,” Biden said during a speech last month at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington. Poking fun at his age, the vice president said he identifies with Satchel Paige, the black baseball player who didn’t make it to the big leagues until he was 45. “[Paige] probably would have the been the greatest pitcher in history had he been able to pitch in the big leagues before segregation was ended,” the vice president said. For Biden, was who was one of the youngest senators elected in U.S. history, it was not segregation but a plagiarism scandal during his first presidential run that held him back. Biden keeps in touch with friends in Iowa he made during his 2008 run, and alerted them that he was coming to town this week, even though it’s not technically a political event. He’s also kept in touch with Democrats in South Carolina, where he vacations, another early presidential state. Biden wanted to be prepared for a possibility that Clinton might not to run. But as it becomes increasingly clear that Clinton is running, he may have to spend another election cycle as understudy. “Welcome to the White House. My name is Joe Biden. I work for President Obama,” Biden told the mayors when they visited his boss’s house. “Best job I ever had.” *Bloomberg: “Where Do the 2016 Democrats Stand on the AUMF?” <http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-12/where-do-the-2016-democrats-stand-on-the-aumf->* By David Weigel February 12, 2015, 11:45 a.m. EST [Subtitle:] Senator Bernie Sanders is against it. No one else has much to say. On Wednesday, after California Representative Adam Schiff and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine praised the White House for sending Congress an authorization of military force against the Islamic State, reporter Todd Zwillich asked the Democrats how many of their colleagues might worry about the political consequences. After all, one reason that President Hillary Clinton was not closing out her second term was that an Illinois senator exploited Iowa caucus-goers' anger at her vote to authorize the Iraq War. "There are going to be members who don't want to vote on this," said Schiff. "These are among the most consequential decisions we make." Kaine, who is often mentioned as a potential vice presidential candidate in 2016, didn't take a run at the question. Of the Democrats considering a 2016 presidential bid, only one, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, is serving in Congress. On Wednesday, he announced that he would not support the AUMF as written: “The Islamic State is a brutal and dangerous terrorist organization which has murdered thousands of innocent men, women and children, including Americans. It must be defeated. “I voted against the war in Iraq because I feared very much the destabilizing impact it would have on the region. Today, after 13 years in Afghanistan and 12 years in Iraq, after the loss of almost 7,000 troops and the expenditure of trillions of dollars, I very much fear U.S. involvement in an expanding and never-ending quagmire in that region of the world. “I have supported U.S. airstrikes against ISIS and believe they are authorized under current law, and I support targeted U.S. military efforts to protect U.S. citizens. “It is my firm belief, however, that the war against ISIS will never be won unless nations in the Middle East step up their military efforts and take more responsibility for the security and stability of their region. The United States and other western powers should support our Middle East allies, but this war will never be won unless Muslim nations in the region lead that fight. “It is worth remembering that Saudi Arabia, for example, is a nation controlled by one of the wealthiest families in the world and has the fourth largest military budget of any nation. This is a war for the soul of Islam and the Muslim nations must become more heavily engaged. “I oppose sending U.S. ground troops into combat in another bloody war in the Middle East. I therefore cannot support the resolution in its current form without clearer limitations on the role of U.S. combat troops.” Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who's moved more aggressively than any other Democrat in building an Iowa network, issued his AUMF thoughts on Facebook. They were less expansive, and less conclusive: “The new AUMF should address ISIS specifically, and mitigate any unintended consequences by including clear language on the use of ground troops and the length and terms of engagement.” That was sort of what the AUMF was written to do. And that, sadly, was all the Democrats looking at 2016 had to say. This was my question to former Virginia Senator Jim Webb's spokesman, Craig Crawford: “Does Sen. Webb have any reaction to the AUMF text presented by the WH? I've heard him talk a lot about the lack of a comprehensive foreign policy strategy. Limiting it just to this -- does he see a strategy here for Iraq? If he was in Congress would he support this version of the bill?” Crawford answered: “He talked a lot of ISIS etc. in the Meet the Press interview last fall, and discussed his views on intervention in his National Press Club speech.” Webb, said Crawford, did "not yet" have a response to the AUMF. Neither did Clinton, whose spokesman Nick Merrill said that "if we have anything on this will pass along." (Nothing came.) After Merrill said that, MoveOn, whose members endorsed Obama over Clinton in 2008, came out against the AUMF: “President Obama’s proposed Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) is a recipe for endless–and costly–war. It does nothing to repeal the sweeping 2001 AUMF, which 14 years later, is still being used to justify ongoing military action. “Congress must not abdicate its responsibility to oversee U.S. war-making by giving the president a blank check to pursue multiple years of war, in Iraq, Syria, or any nation, against an open-ended array of possible targets. And it certainly must not allow the president to leave open the real possibility of deploying U.S. ground troops, as the proposed AUMF does. “MoveOn members call on members of Congress to reject the proposed AUMF — and will mobilize to ensure this message is heard.” MoveOn is currently engaged in a campaign to draft Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren into the race against Clinton. Warren's office did not respond when asked if she would support the White House's version of the AUMF. *Politico: “David Axelrod: 'Podesta has to get control of the Clinton operation'” <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/david-axelrod-john-podesta-hillary-clinton-campaign-115147.html>* By Lucy McCalmont February 12, 2015, 11:46 a.m. EST David Axelrod says likely incoming Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta already has his work cut out for him and needs to get the presumed campaign in order. “John Podesta has to get control of the Clinton operation. And I think that’s part of his job over there,” the Obama campaign guru said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Hardball.” Even though Clinton has yet to announce a 2016 bid, the widely expected campaign has already had its fair share of infighting, specifically among its fundraisers. The Clinton-backing group Priorities USA Action is coming up short on pledged donations as other groups seek to shore up cash for the former secretary of state, POLITICO reported. Earlier in the week, David Brock resigned from the super PAC’s board, implying the leadership has differing agendas. Podesta, a top aide in the Obama White House, is expected to take a leading role in the Clinton campaign. Last month it was confirmed that Podesta would be stepping down from his White House post in February. Clinton is expected to make an announcement in the spring about whether she will run. The infighting is fodder for mocking. During an event in New Hampshire on Wednesday, Democratic strategist James Carville joked that he had some “breaking news” regarding a diplomatic breakthrough. Carville said Secretary of State John Kerry “has just announced a cease-fire between Hillary’s ‘super PACs,’” The New York Times reported.