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Democrats' big guns court women voters

With little more 40 days until voters head to the polls, the 2014 midterm election cycle marks the first in modern history in which Democrats find themselves scrambling to reclaim the lion’s share of the female vote in such elections.
Women tilted Republican in 2010, an unprecedented development since exit polling for congressional races began in 1992, and both parties recognize the critical role women will play in determining whether the GOP regains control of the Senate.
With such concerns in mind, the Democratic Party’s biggest guns – President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the party’s putative frontrunner if she runs in 2016, as many expect – descended on Washington’s Marriott Marquis Hotel, site of the 21sr annual conference of the Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum.
The event represented a homecoming of sorts for Clinton, who co-founded the group back in 1993, when she was First Lady. Conceding that midterm elections are not as “glamorous” as presidential contests, Clinton urged the several hundred people in attendance to vote in November, singling out a number of female candidates locked in tight House and Senate races across the country. “This election is a crucial one,” she said.
While touting her own record on women’s issues – a term Clinton herself discounted, preferring instead “family issues” – the potential 2016 contender also praised the records of Obama and Biden, who has made no secret of his interest in pursuing the Democratic presidential nomination.
Following the rocky rollout for her book this spring, when Clinton’s comments about her finances prompted criticism that she has lost touch with ordinary Americans, she used the DNC event to emphasize that she understands the challenges faced by working mothers. 
She recounted her own days as a young attorney in Arkansas, when her husband, the future president, was the state’s governor, and the couple occasionally had problems lining up day care for their daughter Chelsea.
Obama argued that America is “better off” now than when he became president, and that “strong women” will help the nation reach its best days in the years to come. He also rose to the defense of the embattled DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida. Published reports over the past week have alluded to dissatisfaction with Wasserman-Schultz within Democratic ranks – alternately linked to the White House and the Clinton camp – and suggested that some party activists are angling for her replacement.
“Nobody, anywhere, works harder than Debbie Wasserman Schultz,” the president said in comments that followed the congresswoman’s staunch defense of the Obama administration’s record on issues of concern to women.
Biden also defended the DNC chair, saying, “If we want anybody to do that 60 seconds or 120 seconds we get to respond to some attack on the president or on the administration, the best person…is always Debbie.”
As the principal architect of the Violence Against Women Act, a landmark law enacted 20 years ago, Biden enjoys a solid reputation among women voters. However, he committed a gaffe Friday when, in his remarks before the mostly female crowd, he praised the moderation of a number of Republican senators with whom he used to collaborate on legislation – and specifically named former Sen. Bob Packwood of Oregon, who was forced to resign in 1995 amid multiple allegations of sexually harassment.
Polls show no clear trend lines for women voters in key races for the Senate, where Republicans need to win six seats to reclaim majority control of the chamber. Some analysts argue that that bodes well for the GOP, because it shows Democratic candidates are not enjoying the kind of lopsided support from women that they may need in order to offset traditional Republican strength among male voters.
With videos of the beheadings of two American journalists driving fears about the deteriorating state of the Middle East, and U.S. military forces preparing for war against the terrorist army known as ISIS, one female conservative suggested this election cycle will witness the return of “security moms” – female voters distrustful of Democrats on national security issues.
“After all of the unraveling around the world this summer with President Obama’s foreign policy – in the Middle East, with ISIS, in Russia, new relationships with China – we see that unraveling is unsettling to women,” said Gayle Trotter,an attorney and senior fellow with the Independent Women’s Forum in Washington. “More women are saying now that foreign policy is something that they’re very concerned about for the midterm elections.”

Goodell says NFL got it 'wrong,' announces partnerships with anti-violence groups

NEW YORK –  Commissioner Roger Goodell says the NFL wants to implement new personal conduct policies by the Super Bowl.
Goodell was short on specifics at a news conference Friday, his first public statements in more than a week about the rash of NFL players involved in domestic violence. More defiant than contrite as he was hammered with questions, Goodell said he has not considered resigning.
"Unfortunately, over the past several weeks, we have seen all too much of the NFL doing wrong," he said in his opening statement. "That starts with me."
The league has faced increasing criticism that it has not acted quickly or emphatically enough. The commissioner reiterated that he botched the handling of the Ray Rice case.
"The same mistakes can never be repeated," he said.
Goodell said he would meet with NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith next week, and they would work with outside experts to evaluate the league's policies.
Among the areas that will be examined is Goodell's role in discipline. The commissioner now oversees all personal conduct cases, deciding guilt and penalties.
"Nothing is off the table," he said.
Goodell said he believes he has the support of the NFL's owners, his bosses.
"That has been clear to me," he said.
The commissioner and some NFL teams have been heavily criticized for lenient or delayed punishment of Rice, Adrian Peterson and other players involved in recent domestic violence cases. Less than three weeks into the season, five such cases have made headlines.
Vikings star running back Peterson and Carolina defensive end Greg Hardy are on a special commissioner's exemption list and are being paid while they go through the legal process. Arizona running back Jonathan Dwyer was placed on the reserve/non-football illness list, meaning he can't play for the team again this season. Ray McDonald, a defensive end for San Francisco, continues to practice and play while being investigated on suspicion of domestic violence.
As these cases have come to light, such groups as the National Organization of Women and league partners and sponsors have come down hard on the NFL to be more responsive in dealing with them. Congress also is watching to see how the NFL reacts.
Rice was initially suspended for two games. After defending the punishment at first, Goodell admitted more than a month later that he "didn't get it right" and announced tougher penalties for future domestic violent incidents.
Then when a video emerged of the assault on his then-fiancee, the Baltimore Ravens cut the star running back and the league banned him indefinitely.
Goodell reiterated Friday that he didn't believe anybody at the NFL had seen the video before it was published by TMZ. The Associated Press reported last week that a law enforcement official says he sent the video to a league executive five months ago.
Citing Rice's appeal of his indefinite suspension, Goodell declined to specify Friday how the player's description of what happened was "inconsistent" with what the video showed — the commissioner's reason for changing his punishment.
The NFL asked former FBI director Robert Mueller to conduct an investigation into the league's handling of the Rice case. The law firm where Mueller is now a partner, WilmerHale, has connections to the NFL. Goodell insisted Friday that it wasn't a conflict of interest because Mueller himself has not previously worked with the league.
Goodell acknowledged he has learned that interviewing Rice and his now-wife together is an inappropriate way to handle a domestic violence case.
The commissioner declined to address whether any women were involved in the decision to suspend Rice for two games, but conceded that's "exactly what we're concerned about."
"We didn't have the right voices at the table," he added.
The NFL has since added domestic violence experts as consultants. It also announced it is partnering with a domestic violence hotline and a sexual violence resource center.
Goodell said Friday that he will establish a conduct committee. One of the key questions is how to balance the league's desire to take a stance against violent acts with the due process of the legal system.
In a memo to the clubs late Thursday, Goodell said that within the next 30 days, all NFL and team personnel will participate in education sessions on domestic violence and sexual assault. The memo said the league will work with the union in providing the "information and tools to understand and recognize domestic violence and sexual assault."
The league will provide financial, operational and promotional support to the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

49 Turkish hostages held by ISIS freed, prime minister says

ANKARA, Turkey –  Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Saturday that 49 hostages who were seized by Islamic militants in Iraq have been freed and safely returned to Turkey, ending Turkey's most serious hostage crisis.
The hostages were seized from the Turkish Consulate in Mosul, Iraq on June 11, when the Islamic State group overran the city in its surge to seize large swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Their release contrasts with the recent beheadings of two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker by the Islamic State group, but it wasn't immediately clear what Turkey had done to secure the safe release of the hostages.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the hostages are 49 Turkish consulate employees — 46 Turks and three local Iraqis — including Consul General Ozturk Yilmaz, other diplomats, children and special forces police.
The hostages were released early on Saturday and had arrived in Turkey, Davutoglu told Turkish reporters during a visit to Baku, Azerbaijan. He said he was cutting his visit short to meet them in the province of Sanliurfa, near Turkey's border with Syria.
He didn't say where the release took place, but the arrival of the hostages in Sanliurfa indicates they may have been moved from Iraq to Syria, demonstrating the Islamic State group's cross border reach.
Turkey had been reluctant to join a coalition to defeat the Islamic State group, citing the safety of its 49 kidnapped citizens. The United States had been careful not to push Turkey too hard as it tried to free the hostages.
The extremist group beheaded two U.S. journalists and a British aid worker who were working in Syria as payback for airstrikes that Washington has launched against them in Iraq.
Leaders gave only limited details of the release and it wasn't clear if Turkey had paid ransoms to have the hostages released, or what other method had been used to avoid their hostages meeting a similar fate.
Davutoglu said the release was the result of the intelligence agency's "own methods," and not a "point operation" involving special forces, but didn't elaborate.
"After intense efforts that lasted days and weeks, in the early hours, our citizens were handed over to us and we brought them back to our country," Davutoglu said.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turks were freed through "a successful operation."
"I thank the prime minister and his colleagues for this operation which was pre-planned, whose every detail was calculated, which lasted through the night in total secrecy and ended successfully this morning," Erdogan said in a statement.
Thirty-two Turkish truck drivers who were also seized in Mosul on June 6 were released a month later. Turkey did not provide information surrounding their release.

White House fence jumper sparks evacuation

Bailey: "This just shows how weak and stupid Democrat elected Obama's Regime has become. It's really scary as this is the government that is suppose to protect us!"

WASHINGTON –  A man jumped over the fence of the White House on Friday and made it through the front door before officers managed to apprehend him, the Secret Service said. President Obama had departed the White House just minutes earlier.
The rare security breach was likely to renew intense scrutiny of the Secret Service, an agency whose storied history has been marred in recent years by multiple allegations of misconduct by officers. It was unclear whether a fence-jumper has ever made it into the White House before.
After scaling the fence on the north side of the White House, the intruder darted toward the presidential residence, ignoring commands from officers to stop, said Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan. He was ultimately apprehended just inside the North Portico doors — the grand, columned entrance that looks out over Pennsylvania Avenue.
Donovan said the man appeared to be unarmed to officers who spotted him climbing the fence, and a search of the suspect turned up no weapons. The suspect was transported to a nearby hospital for examination after complaining of chest pain. He was charged with unlawful entry into the White House complex.
The Secret Service identified the suspect as Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas. Attempts to reach Gonzales or his relatives by phone Friday evening were unsuccessful.
The incident prompted a rare evacuation of much of the White House. Inside the West Wing, White House staffers and Associated Press journalists were rushed into the basement and out a side exit to a nearby street by Secret Service agents — some with their weapons drawn.
Although it's not uncommon for people to make it over the White House fence, they're typically stopped almost immediately and rarely get very far. Video from the scene showed the suspect, in jeans and a dark shirt, sprinting across the lawn as Secret Service agents shouted at nearby pedestrians to clear the area.
"This situation was a little different than other incidents we have at the White House," Donovan said. "There will be a thorough investigation into the incident."
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who chairs the House Oversight Committee's subpanel on national security, said it was "totally unacceptable" that the fence-jumper made it inside the White House. Chaffetz said he's been investigating the Secret Service for more than a year and that there have been many security breaches that were never publicly reported.
"Unfortunately, they are failing to do their job," Chaffetz said in an email to the AP. "There are good men and women, but the Secret Service leadership has a lot of questions to answer."
The incident occurred shortly after 7 p.m., only minutes after Obama and his daughters, along with a guest of one of the girls, left the White House aboard Marine One on their way to Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland where Obama and his family were to spend the weekend. First lady Michelle Obama had traveled separately to Camp David and was not at home.
The Secret Service's elite reputation has suffered a succession of blows in recent years, and Friday's breach marked yet another setback in the agency's efforts to rehabilitate its image.
In 2012, 13 agents and officers were implicated in a prostitution scandal during preparations for Obama's trip Cartagena, Colombia. The next year, two officers were removed from Obama's detail after another alleged incident of sexually-related misconduct. And in March, an agent was found drunk by staff at a Dutch hotel the day before Obama was set to arrive in the Netherlands.
Obama appointed the agency's first female director last year as a sign he wanted to change the culture and restore public confidence in its operations. An inspector general's report in December found no evidence of widespread misconduct.
The Secret Service has struggled in recent years to strike the appropriate balance between ensuring the first family's security and preserving the public's access to the White House grounds. Once open to vehicles, the stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House was confined to pedestrians after the Oklahoma City bombing, but officials have been reluctant to restrict access to the area further.
Evacuations at the White House are extremely rare. Typically, when someone jumps the White House fence, the compound is put on lockdown and those inside remain in place while officers respond to the situation. Last week, the Secret Service apprehended a man who jumped over the same stretch of fence on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, prompting officers to draw their firearms and deploy service dogs as they took the man into custody.