Trump jumps into iPhone security row, calls for boycott of Apple products

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has called for a boycott of Apple products until the tech giant complies with a judge’s order to help hack the phone of a shooter in the deadly San Bernardino terror attack.
Apple announced Wednesday that the company will fight a federal magistrate's order to help the Obama administration break into an encrypted iPhone belonging to one of the shooters in last December's attack that killed 14 people.
Related: Apple ups the ante in Silicon Valley's encryption battle with government
“I like the idea of ‘boycott Apple’ until such time as they give that information, I think that’s a great idea,” Trump said, during a rally at Pawley’s Island, S.C.
“First of all, the phone is not even owned by this young thug that killed all these people – the phone’s owned by the government,” he said, aiming a jab at the Apple CEO. “Tim Cook is looking to do a big number, probably to show how liberal he is.”
Related: Why Apple's security battle with the FBI is a PR masterstroke
Citing Trump's spokeswoman Hope Hicks, Reuters reports that Trump does not use an iPhone.
Social media giants Facebook and Twitter have backed Apple in its dispute with the FBI, as has Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Experts have also lauded Apple’s move as a PR masterstroke.
Related: John McAfee vows he can break iPhone encryption, promises to eat his shoe on live TV if he can't
This not the first time that Trump has weighed in on technology issues. Last year he surprised his rivals during a debate when he suggested clamping down on Internet connectivity as a way to limit ISIS’ ability to recruit and raise funds online.

Vatican Wall Cartoon

Trump punches back against Pope just before crucial primary: Who does that?

Maybe Donald Trump was bored by boxing with Cruz, Rubio and Jeb and decided to punch up.
Maybe it was a heavenly gift that enabled Trump to hijack the news cycle once again.
Maybe it’s that the Pope landed the first blow.
Whatever the case, the Republican presidential front-runner is now engaged in a war of words with the leader of the Catholic Church.
I was stunned by this turn of events, which instantly blew other political stories off the media radar. Let’s put it this way: Suddenly, there’s not that much chatter about Nikki Haley endorsing Marco Rubio.
My initial reaction was to ask a question that’s been repeatedly raised since Trump got into the race. Has he finally, this time, gone too far?
Who picks a fight with the pontiff two days before a South Carolina primary in which you’ve got a big lead?
But it’s a little more complicated than that.
When Pope Francis visited America last fall, some conservatives objected to the way he injected himself into U.S. politics with what they view as left-of-center views on climate change, divorce and abortion. While the Pope also made comments that lean to the conservative side, he is identified with a message of tolerance as summed up in his response to a question about gays: “Who am I to judge?”
He is, apparently, willing to judge Donald Trump.
The stage was set when the Pope visited the Mexican side of the U.S. border and what he called a humanitarian crisis. When a Reuters reporter on the flight back to the Vatican asked about Trump, the pontiff declined to say whether Americans should vote for him, but added:
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the gospel.”
The Pope said he would give Trump the benefit of the doubt until he saw what the billionaire has said. “I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that.”
Trump did not turn the other cheek.
In a statement that he read in South Carolina, Trump said:
“If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president because this would not have happened.”
Blaming disparaging remarks by the Mexican government, Trump said: “The Pope only heard one side of the story - he didn’t see the crime, the drug trafficking and the negative economic impact the current policies have on the United States.”
And then there was this: “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian.”
Let’s just say Trump didn’t tone down his comments in taking on the world’s most famous religious leader. He stuck to his mantra of hitting back harder whenever he is hit.
On the other hand, Pope Francis did take a pretty hard shot in suggesting that Trump is “not Christian.” He could have taken issue with the candidate’s stance on immigration, or lack of charity toward the less fortunate, without challenging his religion—one of the strongest things a pope can say.
Since the other leading Republican candidates have similar policies on protecting the border, one could infer that Francis, who got along well with President Obama, has a particular dislike for Trump.
The worst interpretation for Trump: He alienated some Catholic voters (who are in a minority in South Carolina), and perhaps raised questions among evangelicals, among whom he is leading Ted Cruz in the state--although some may not be fans of the Vatican. Trump seems disrespectful in squaring off against a moral leader.
The best interpretation for Trump: He showed strength by not backing down, even against a pope. He reinforced his signature stance about building a wall at Mexico’s expense. And he stomped on any news that Rubio, Cruz or Bush might make in the closing days.
How will this play out in Saturday’s voting? Only heaven knows.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz. 

Fox News Poll: Trump still leads national race for GOP nomination

Donald Trump continues to dominate the race for the Republican nomination, according to a new Fox News national poll of registered voters.
Trump leads with 36 percent among self-identified GOP primary voters.  Ted Cruz captures 19 percent and Marco Rubio receives 15 percent.
CLICK TO READ THE POLL RESULTS
Jeb Bush and Ben Carson get nine percent a piece, and John Kasich gets eight percent.
The poll, released Thursday, was conducted Monday through Wednesday evenings -- after a heated Republican debate Saturday in South Carolina (and also after Valentine’s Day Sunday).
Trump’s success is due to his ability to make in-roads with core elements of the GOP base.

Fox News National Poll of Republican Voters | InsideGov

For example, white evangelical Christians voting in the GOP primary favor Trump (28 percent) and Cruz (26 percent) over Rubio (15 percent) and Carson (15 percent).
Cruz has a slim one-point edge over Trump among those who identify as “very” conservative (29-28 percent).  Another 16 percent back Rubio.
Men (40 percent) are more likely than women (32 percent) to make Trump their first choice.  Still, he’s the favorite for each.
Nearly six in 10 Republicans want the next president to be someone from outside the political establishment -- and those voters go heavily for Trump (55 percent vs. 15 percent for Cruz and 11 percent Carson).
Meanwhile, Trump is the candidate Republican voters trust to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Thirty-nine percent would put Trump in the room with Putin -- that’s more than double the 18 percent who say Cruz. Fourteen percent say Rubio and 10 percent Bush.
For those pundits who thought the Republican faithful would fall back in line when faced with the possibility of Trump making Supreme Court appointments, consider this: Trump ties Cruz as the candidate GOP primary voters think would do the best job handling nominations to the high court (26 percent each).
Taking into consideration that this is an election year, 62 percent of all voters say it is the responsibility of current leaders, President Obama and the Senate, to act to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Scalia’s recent death.  Compare that to 34 percent who think the president shouldn’t get to nominate someone for a life-time appointment this late in his term.
Despite Trump’s strengths in the primary race, he’s the weakest of the GOP candidates in hypothetical matchups against Clinton.  Rubio (+4) and Kasich (+3) perform best against Clinton.  Cruz and Bush each top Clinton by just one point.
Trump trails the Democrat by five points: Clinton 47 percent vs. Trump 42 percent. Sanders trounces Trump by 53-38 percent.
By a slim 49-48 percent, Republicans think Trump “has the temperament” to serve effectively as president, while voters overall say he doesn’t by 67-30.
Republicans say by 62-31 percent that Rubio “has the toughness” to serve effectively.  By comparison, most voters aren’t so sure:  43 percent say he does, while 46 percent disagree.
Is Cruz likeable enough to do the job?  By two-to-one most Republicans say he has the “personality” to serve effectively as president (65-30).  Overall, voters are more likely to say no (44 percent yes vs. 49 percent no).
Who could kids look up to in the White House?  GOP primary voters think Carson (26 percent) is the best role model for children today, while nearly half say Trump is the worst (49 percent).

Pollpourri
The president is on television -- a lot.  Voters say they would “most dread” watching Trump (40 percent) and Clinton (31 percent) on television for the next four years.  Democrats are more likely to say Trump (56 percent) than Republicans are to say Clinton (50 percent).
Independents? They would dread watching Trump the most (40 percent), followed by Clinton (27 percent).
The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,031 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from February 15-17, 2016.  The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters, and 4.5 points for the Republican primary voter sample (404).

Trump endorsed Iraq invasion in 2002 radio interview

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tepidly endorsed invading Iraq in September 2002, contradicting his earlier insistence that he opposed the war before the March 2003 invasion.
Trump was asked about a possible war with Iraq during a five-minute phone interview with radio host Howard Stern on Sept. 11, 2002. In between Trump's recollections of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack on the World Trade Center and his thoughts on rebuilding the Twin Towers, Stern asked the billionaire real estate developer, "Are you for invading Iraq?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Trump responded. "You know, I wish the first time it was done correctly," an apparent reference to the Gulf War. A month after the interview, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing military action against Iraq.
The audio was first reported late Thursday by Buzzfeed News.
For months, Trump has cited his opposition to the Iraq War as evidence of his foreign policy judgement. When asked about the statement during a CNN town hall in South Carolina Thursday, Trump initially said he did not remember making the statement, but added, "I could have said that. Nobody asked me- I wasn't a politician. It was probably the first time anybody asked me that question.
"By the time the war started, I was against it," Trump added. "And shortly thereafter, I was really against it."
In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Thursday, Trump restated his opposition to the war, saying "We attacked Iraq, but Iraq didn’t knock down the World Trade Center." Trump also said that he would declassify the entire 9/11 Commission Report, telling Hannity "When that’s open, I think you’ll find out that Saudi Arabia had a lot to do with the ripping down of the World Trade Center."

The Iraq War issue first flared up in Saturday's Republican debate, when Trump clashed with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush over Middle East policy.
Trump repeatedly slammed former President George W. Bush, Jeb's brother, saying his administration "lied" about Iraq having weapons of mass destruction. At Thursday's town hall, Trump refused to say whether he stood by that charge.

Trump also invoked the 9/11 attacks in response to Jeb Bush's claim that his brother kept the U.S. safe, saying "The World Trade Center came down … That’s not keeping us safe."
During the town hall, Trump also eased off comments he had made earlier in the day about Pope Francis. Returning to Rome from a five-day trip to Mexico, Francis had said that Trump's pledge to build a wall along the entire length of the border and expel millions of illegal immigrants was "not Christian".
Trump, a Presbyterian, initially responded by saying, "For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful. I am proud to be a Christian, and as president I will not allow Christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened."
However, on Thursday night, Trump said "I don't like fighting with the Pope, actually. I don't think this is a fight. I think he said something much softer than was originally reported by the media. I think that he heard one side of the story, which is probably by the Mexican government."

Mourners to pay respects to late Justice Scalia at Supreme Court

Why is the WH not explaining Obama skipping Scalia funeral?

Thousands of mourners, from President Barack Obama to ordinary tourists, will pay their final respects to late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia Friday as his casket lies in repose in the high court's Great Hall.
Court officials said Scalia's casket would be carried into the hall at approximately 9:30 a.m. local time for a private ceremony including family, friends and justices. The public will be admitted between 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.
The justice's former law clerks will take turns standing vigil by their former boss throughout the day and night in a tradition most recently observed after the 2005 death of former Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
The casket will rest on the Lincoln Catafalque, the platform on which President Abraham Lincoln's coffin rested in the Capitol rotunda in 1865. A 2007 portrait of Scalia by artist Nelson Shanks will be displayed nearby.

Obama and his wife Michelle planned to pay their respects at the court on Friday, while Vice President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden were to attend Scalia's funeral Mass on Saturday.
The funeral Mass open to family and friends will take place Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Burial plans have not been released.

In a departure from tradition, the court's current and former justices won't be lining the marble steps outside the court as the casket is carried through the main entrance. They will instead be waiting inside. Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg did not explain the reason for the change.

Scalia's sudden death complicated an already tumultuous election year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says a replacement should not be named until the next president takes office. Obama pledged to pick a replacement "in due time" and challenged Republicans to hold a vote on his nominee.

Scalia was found dead on Saturday in his room at a remote Texas hunting resort. The 79-year-old jurist was appointed to the court in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan.

He is survived by his wife, Maureen, nine children and 36 grandchildren.

Muslim Man Cartoon

Muslim man files lawsuit against Oklahoma gun range for refusing him service

A Muslim man, who is also a U.S. Army reservist, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the owners of an Oklahoma gun range after they allegedly told him to leave when he identified himself as a Muslim.
Raja’ee Fatihah’s lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Muskogee against the owners of Save Yourself Survival and Tactical Gun Range in the town of Oktaha.
A sign posted on the business declared the range a "Muslim-free" establishment, and is similar to signs that have been placed at businesses in Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky and New York, said Brady Henderson, legal director for the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit.
"Whether the sign in question says 'no Muslims' or whether it says 'no coloreds' or whether it says 'no women' or 'no Christians' or 'no Buddhists' ... it is just as un-American and fundamentally it is just as wrong," Henderson said.
Fatihah is a board member with the Muslim advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Oklahoma chapter. He said he went to the gun range after learning about the signage. He said the owners of the gun range were warm and welcoming until he told them he was a Muslim.
"At that point, they started treating me with suspicion," Fatihah said.
The lawsuit also alleges that the owners asked Fatihah if he was there to murder them, The Oklahoman reported.
Robert Muise, with the American Freedom Law Center, is representing Chad and Nicole Neal – the owners of the gun range – in the case. Muise said Fatihah was denied service because he was being belligerent, not because of his religion. Muise also said the sign declaring the shop a “Muslim-free” business is protected free speech. Fatihah denies he acted belligerently.
"The only thing the law prohibits is if somebody denies services strictly on the basis of religion, and that didn't happen here," Muise said.
Muise previously represented a Florida gun shop owner in a similar case.
Claims of discrimination by business owners against Muslims have been reported in numerous states, and formal complaints have been filed with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding incidents in Arkansas, Florida and New Hampshire, said CAIR's national director, Ibrahim Hooper.
"It's one of those issues that's tied to the overall rise of anti-Muslim bigotry in our society," Hooper said.
A similar lawsuit was filed by CAIR last year against a gun shop in Florida, but that case was dismissed by a federal judge who determined CAIR could not prove its members were harmed by the store's Muslim-free policy, Henderson said.

Gun-rights battle heats up in GOP primary

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. –  The gun-rights debate has returned to the forefront of the Republican presidential battle as the candidates charge into Saturday’s South Carolina primary, going to great lengths to prove their steadfast support of the Second Amendment.
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are locked in a nasty fight over the issue, as Cruz effectively argues the billionaire businessman would, if elected, abolish gun rights.
“If Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution, because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative,” Cruz told ABC News on Sunday, the morning after a GOP debate in Greenville.
Trump claims Cruz is blatantly misrepresenting his positions and has demanded Cruz retract his statements.
“Cruz does lie,” Trump said Wednesday at a South Carolina rally, after earlier declaring, “I’m the strongest person on the stage for the Second Amendment.” He also said Wednesday that he and his sons are “proud” National Rifle Association members.
Jeb Bush, meanwhile, drew considerable attention this week for tweeting a picture of a personalized gun with his name etched into it. Next to the photo was a single word: “America.”
While he faced Twitter ridicule for it, Bush defended the tweet on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” explaining that the gun was given to him by a manufacturer during a visit.
“It was to say that I’m for the Second Amendment,” Bush said, touting his NRA rating. “It meant nothing more than that. It was an appreciation for receiving a gun at a manufacturer that makes the gun, and a lot of jobs are created because of that.”
It’s no accident that gun rights are surging back as a debate topic in the GOP race.
Roughly 44 percent of South Carolina residents own guns, according to a study published in June 2015 in the journal Injury Prevention. The state allows residents and non-residents to carry a concealed firearm, with some exceptions.
The state’s eastern seaboard is populated largely by military and retired military, while gun rights are also a big part of the culture in the state’s rural communities – and beyond. Even in the tourist hub of Charleston, the indoor shooting range Quickshot is a popular entertainment spot where customers can select a gun and shoot at paper targets, like renting a ball and shoes at a bowling alley. The range offers specials for couples on a date and attracted a steady crowd this past Valentine’s Day weekend.
While the GOP 2016 candidates are sparring over gun rights, the debate is likely to heat up more when the eventual Republican nominee engages with either Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in the general election.
Those in the GOP field who have served in public office -- Cruz, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush -- all have a high rating from the NRA. Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are first-time candidates, and have no NRA rating.
Cruz’s campaign, in challenging Trump’s record, has tried to tie Trump to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the most vocal gun control advocates in the country.
But the Trump campaign has pushed back.
Still, the GOP candidates are mindful of striking the right tone on guns, at least in South Carolina.
They must stay in good standing with the powerful gun lobby while being sensitive to the fact that, last year, a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black man in North Charleston and a gunman killed nine black parishioners inside a downtown Charleston church.
South Carolina residents and political leaders from across the political spectrum appear to have found some common ground on the related issues of police body cameras, better mental-health care and improving FBI background checks. The alleged shooter in the church massacre, Dylann Roof, was allowed to purchase the handgun despite having previously admitted to a felony drug-possession charge.
Joe Desilet, a partner at the D.C.-based political consulting firm 21st & Main, doesn’t see the GOP candidates easing on their defense of the Second Amendment as a result of the Charleston shootings.
“However, as Sen. Marco Rubio and others have already done, you may see the candidates advocate for mental-health reform and other common-sense reforms alongside their defense of the amendment,” he said.
James Overby, a district director with NRA-affiliate Gun Owners of South Carolina, downplayed the notion that Trump would, if elected, try to weaken Second Amendment rights, despite him giving money to the political campaigns of gun-control advocates and Democrats Clinton and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“I don’t believe it,” said Overby, adding the NRA would have already alerted members in South Carolina and elsewhere if that were the case.
Clinton and Sanders, by contrast, support tighter gun laws and mandatory body cameras for police officers.
State Democratic Sen. Marlon Kimpson, who backs Clinton, said Clinton’s “immediate” call for tougher gun laws in the aftermath of both killings was a deciding factor in him choosing Clinton over Sanders.

Clinton suggests racial 'bigotry' behind Republicans' stance in Supreme Court fight

Hillary Clinton ratcheted up Democrats’ criticism of Senate Republicans in the debate over filling the Supreme Court’s sudden vacancy, suggesting Tuesday that those calling on President Obama not to nominate someone are motivated by race. 
Republicans fired back on Wednesday, calling Clinton's comments a "new low" in the debate.
The Democratic presidential candidate had accused Republicans of talking in “coded racial language” during remarks in Harlem, tying that to the ongoing battle over who should replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia – and who should nominate that replacement.
Many Republicans want Obama to defer to the next president to name a successor; Obama has rejected those calls and plans to nominate a replacement, he says, “in due time.”
Clinton, speaking about race issues in Harlem on Tuesday, lit into Republicans over their position.
“Now the Republicans say they’ll reject anyone President Obama nominates, no matter how qualified. Some are even saying he doesn’t have the right to nominate anyone. As if somehow he’s not the real president,” she said.
“You know, that’s in keeping with what we’ve heard all along, isn’t it? Many Republicans talk in coded racial language about takers and losers. They demonize President Obama and encourage the ugliest impulses of the paranoid fringe. This kind of hatred and bigotry has no place in our politics or our country.”
The conservative Newsbusters accused Clinton of playing the “race card.”
The Republican National Committee challenged Clinton’s comments on Wednesday, saying the debate is about the American people “having a say” and not about the president or the nominee.
“Hillary Clinton and President Obama set the standard for obstructing Supreme Court justices, by voting against Roberts and filibustering Alito. Invoking race to sweep her own hypocrisy on this matter under the rug is a new low,” RNC Director of Black Media Orlando Watson said in a statement.
Clinton’s comments come as she and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders battle for support from minority voters, ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary.
In that same speech, Clinton took some implicit shots at Sanders, suggesting he only recently started paying attention to race issues. She said candidates “can't just start building relationships a few weeks before the vote."
Sanders, though, has been meeting with black leaders and discussing race issues frequently on the campaign trail and on the debate stage.

White House: Obama 'regrets' decision to filibuster Supreme Court Justice Alito

Supreme Court Justice Alito

The top White House spokesman said Wednesday that President Obama “regrets” his 2006 decision to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court – after being accused of hypocrisy for blasting “obstructionist” Republicans now vowing to block his next high court nominee.  
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was pressed on Obama’s 2006 vote, as a U.S. senator, at the daily briefing.
“Looking back on it, the president believes that he should have just followed his own advice and made a strong public case on the merits about his opposition to the nomination that President Bush had put forward,” he told reporters.
Earnest said that Republicans are going further than Obama did, with a pledge to not consider anyone the president nominates.
“There is a pretty stark difference here. What Republicans are advocating is wrong and is inconsistent with the requirements of the Constitution, primarily because the wording of the Constitution is unambiguous and does not provide an exception for election years,” he said.
Earnest also argued that the 2006 filibuster of Alito was different, because it was not likely to succeed since the votes already existed for him to be confirmed and was based on “substance.”
“What the president regrets is that Senate Democrats didn't focus more on making an effective public case about those substantive objections,” he said. “Instead, some Democrats engaged in a process of throwing sand in the gears of the confirmation process.  And that's an approach that the president regrets.”
Obama, in his most extensive remarks on the vacancy since the 79-year-old Scalia was found dead at a Texas ranch on Saturday, rejected widespread calls by Republican lawmakers and 2016 candidates to defer to the next president to fill Scalia’s seat.
“There is no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off-years. That’s not in the constitutional text,” Obama said at a press conference Tuesday, blasting what he called an “obstructionist” Senate.
In 2006, then-Senator Obama tried to filibuster the nomination of Alito, who ultimately was confirmed.
When asked about that seeming discrepancy, Obama did not answer directly, noting that senators are sometimes worried about primary elections and a backlash from supporters, and take “strategic decisions.”
He also brushed off his own opposition to Alito, saying he’s on the bench now, “regardless of which votes particular senators have taken.”

Kim Jong Un Cartoon

Obama fires back at Senate Republicans in Supreme Court battle

President Obama fired back Tuesday at Senate Republicans pre-emptively threatening to block his eventual nominee to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia, saying at a press conference that the Senate has “more than enough time” to consider his pick and he intends to press ahead.
“The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now,” Obama said. “When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the president of the United States is to nominate someone. The Senate is to consider that nomination.”
Obama, in his most extensive remarks on the vacancy since the 79-year-old Scalia was found dead at a Texas ranch on Saturday, rejected widespread calls by Republican lawmakers and 2016 candidates to defer to the next president to fill Scalia’s seat.
“There is no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off-years. That’s not in the constitutional text,” Obama said, blasting what he called an “obstructionist” Senate.
The president has found himself in an awkward position, though, as he scolds Republicans over threats to block his nominee – since Obama, as a U.S. senator, tried in 2006 to filibuster the nomination of Samuel Alito, who ultimately was confirmed. Asked about that seeming discrepancy on Tuesday, Obama did not answer directly. He noted that senators are sometimes worried about primary elections and a backlash from supporters, and take “strategic decisions.” But he brushed off his own opposition to Alito, saying he’s on the bench now, “regardless of which votes particular senators have taken.”

Obama held the press conference at the close of a summit in California with leaders of Southeast Asian nations.
It came as he’s facing an already-heated battle back in Washington over his potential pick to replace Scalia – before he has even announced his nominee.
Senate Republicans want Obama’s successor to fill the vacancy, and some are threatening to oppose any Obama nominee. “The next Court appointment should be made by the newly-elected president,” Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said in a statement Monday.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said push to  let Obama’s successor to fill the vacancy "is not about the person," but "about the court."
"The American people‎ should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice by allowing this issue to be front and center in this year’s election," he said. "As Democrats have already admitted, their breach of decades of precedent is all about scoring political points.”
But Obama says he will fulfill his constitutional duty and nominate a replacement in due time.
Suggesting he would not use a single-issue litmus test in selecting his nominee, Obama said Tuesday whomever he chooses will be “indisputably” qualified.
At the same time, he said he understands the “stakes,” bluntly acknowledging the next justice “would be a deciding vote” in a divided court.
Later asked if the public should assume he is likely to choose a moderate, Obama curtly responded, “No.” He then elaborated, saying: “I don’t know where you found that. You shouldn’t assume anything … other than they’re going to be well-qualified.”
He also suggested he was not considering a controversial recess appointment, but did not definitively rule it out, either.
Obama’s Democratic allies have blasted Republicans for their recent statements on the court battle.
"By ignoring its constitutional mandate, the Senate would sabotage the highest court in the United States and aim a procedural missile at the foundation of our system of checks and balances," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a scathing op-ed in Tuesday's Washington Post.
A key Republican senator, though, left open the possibility of at least holding a confirmation hearing.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley told Iowa radio reporters Tuesday he supports Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's view that Obama's successor should nominate someone but won't make any decision until there's a nominee.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Obama also weighed in on the 2016 race to succeed him in the White House. He reprised his criticism of the Republican candidates, and even seemed to take a shot at Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for allegedly “running away” from a comprehensive immigration reform bill.
But on the Democratic primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, he declined to comment extensively.
“Let’s see how this thing plays itself out,” he said, adding: “Ultimately, I will probably have an opinion on it.”
On foreign policy, Obama also said he's under no illusions that a ceasefire negotiated for Syria will bring lasting peace to the "shattered" nation.
Obama and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, meanwhile, spent the session in California Tuesday trading views on China's territorial claims to disputed water of the South China Sea, moves that have sounded international alarms and heightened tensions with some association members.
Counterterrorism, a growing concern in the Asia-Pacific region, was also on the agenda.
The U.S. maintains that maritime disputes should be resolved peacefully according to international law, a stance Obama emphasized Monday in welcoming leaders of ASEAN's 10-nation bloc: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.
“Freedom of navigation must be upheld,” Obama said Tuesday, following the first ASEAN-only summit held in the U.S.

US stealth fighters fly over South Korea amid standoff with North

OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea –  Four U.S. F-22 stealth fighters flew low over South Korea on Wednesday in a clear show of force against North Korea, a day after South Korea's president warned of the North's collapse amid a festering standoff over its nuclear and missile ambitions.

The high-tech planes capable of sneaking past radar undetected were seen by an Associated Press photographer before they landed at Osan Air Base near Seoul. They were escorted by other U.S. and South Korean fighter jets.

Pyongyang will likely view the arrival of the planes flown from a U.S. base in Japan as a threat as they are an apparent display of U.S. airpower aimed at showing what the United States can do to defend its ally South Korea from potential aggression from North Korea.

"The F-22 `Raptor' is the most capable air superiority fighter in the world, and it represents one of many capabilities available for the defense of this great nation," Lt. Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, deputy commander of the U.S. military command in South Korea, said in a statement.

"The U.S. maintains an ironclad commitment" to the defense of South Korea, he said.

The U.S. military would not say how long the F-22s will be deployed in South Korea.

The United States often sends powerful warplanes to South Korea in times of tension with North Korea. Last month it sent a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber to South Korea after North Korea defiantly conducted its fourth nuclear test.

The international standoff over North Korea deepened earlier this month when Pyongyang ignored repeated warnings by regional powers and fired a long-range rocket carrying what it calls an Earth observation satellite. Washington, Seoul and others consider the launch a prohibited test of missile technology.

Foreign analysts say the North's rocket launch and nuclear test put the country further along it its quest for a nuclear-armed missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

South Korea's president on Tuesday warned North Korea faces collapse if it doesn't abandon its nuclear bomb program, an unusually strong broadside that is certain to infuriate Pyongyang.

In a speech at parliament, President Park Geun-hye said South Korea will take unspecified "stronger and more effective" measures to make North Korea realize its nuclear ambitions will result only in accelerating its "regime collapse."

Park made the speech while defending her government's decision to shut down a jointly run factory park in North Korea in response to the North's rocket launch. Pyongyang retaliated by expelling all the South Koreans there, put its military in charge of the area and cut off key communication hotlines between the Koreas.

It is unusual for a top South Korean official to publicly touch on such a government collapse because of worries about how sensitive North Korea is to talk of its authoritarian government losing power. Pyongyang has long accused Washington and Seoul agitating for its collapse.

After the rocket launch, Seoul announced that talks would begin with Washington on deploying a sophisticated U.S. missile defense system in South Korea and that the allies' annual military drills in the spring will be the biggest ever.

The deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, is opposed by North Korea, China and Russia. Opponents say the system could help U.S. radar spot missiles in other countries.

Pyongyang has also called regular U.S.-South Korea military exercises a rehearsal for a northward invasion. The allies say their drills are defensive in nature.

Whacking W.: Why Trump is attacking one Bush to stop another

Who would have thought, nearly eight years after he left the White House, that George W. Bush would become a pivotal figure in the 2016 campaign?
Yet Donald Trump has aggressively whacked the former president, who responded for the first time in a South Carolina appearance for Jeb.
It was striking to see W., who’s a more gifted speaker than his brother, because he has so doggedly avoided the limelight since leaving office. The fact that Jeb Bush brought him in, along with their mom and Laura Bush, shows that he finally sees no choice but to embrace the family name.
I first saw Jeb—who had been running with just an exclamation point!--declare he’s proud to be a Bush in New Hampshire, and he seemed more comfortable doing it than the awkward distancing act he had previously attempted. But obviously the 43^rd president is both asset and liability.
George W. left office quite unpopular after the Iraq war and the financial meltdown, creating something of an albatross for the man who would be the third President Bush. But W. is popular among Republicans in South Carolina, where his brother badly needs a strong showing after a campaign that’s been far more successful at raising money than winning votes.
Trump has made the calculation that tarnishing Bush 43 will tarnish the man who wants to be Bush 45. Or perhaps he just got angry in the CBS debate.
On that stage, Trump not only hit the former president for “a big, fat mistake” in invading Iraq, he said “they lied” about whether Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. In doing so, he sort of echoed the “Bush lied, people died” line of liberal extremists, and the next day Trump retreated a bit on the Bushies having prior knowledge that their WMD claims were false.
When Jeb said his brother “kept us safe” while Trump was creating a reality show, the billionaire hit back with the twin towers coming down on Bush 43’s watch. He has said this before, reviving talk of those intelligence warnings in 2001, but in a debate it was unusual to see a Republican candidate attacking a Republican president.
The former president didn’t mention Trump by name, but his target was unmistakable when he said in South Carolina: “I understand that Americans are angry and frustrated, but we do not need someone in the Oval Office who mirrors and inflames our anger and frustration.”
The pundits, having been burned so many times before, still wondered whether this time Trump had gone too far: He looked angry, he sounded like a Democrat, he even offered qualified praise for Planned Parenthood.
Joe Scarborough acknowledged that he thought Trump would lose 20 points after the debate, and so far that hasn’t happened. (A PPP poll conducted after the debate shows Trump still leading in South Carolina with 35 percent, followed by Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio at 18, John Kasich at 10, Ben Carson at 7, and Jeb at…7 percent.)
Rush Limbaugh said that “there were a number of occasions where Donald Trump sounded like the Daily Kos blog, where Donald Trump sounded like the Democratic Underground, sounded like any average host on MSNBC.” But Rush said this may have been part of a strategy to appeal to Dems and independents in South Carolina’s open primary.
What Trump is doing is not just dominating the news cycle, but jamming all the communications channels. He’s generating multiple stories, so if journalists don’t like the appetizers, there’s a sizzling steak over here, some fried chicken, and irresistible deserts. The other candidates hit back, and that keeps the narrative going. Even when the coverage is negative, it revolves around Trump.
So was it wise to take on George W. Bush? By reminding voters of the negative side of his presidency, especially Iraq, Trump implicitly argues that his brother would bring the same brand of military interventionism. And if that makes Trump sound a bit like a Democrat, well, remember that he’s running against the Republican establishment as well as the other party.
Trump made a mocking reference to Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” moment, the aircraft carrier landing that seemed impressive at the time but later became a symbol of overconfidence and arrogance. We may know on Saturday whether that line of attack helped accomplish Trump’s mission.
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Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz. 

Vatican responds to Trump's criticism of Pope Francis' border trip

The Vatican responded late Tuesday to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's criticism of Pope Francis' plan to visit the border wall that separates Mexico from the U.S.
The pope is scheduled to visit the fence between the border cities of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas Wednesday. He is expected to stop at the fence, give a blessing in honor of asylum-seekers on the other side and pray for those who died trying to get there.
In an interview with Fox Business Network last week, Trump said that he did not believe Francis understood what he called "the danger of the open border we have with Mexico."
"I think Mexico got him to [visit the border] because Mexico wants to keep the border just the way it is because they’re making a fortune and we’re losing," Trump added.
In a statement, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said, "The pope always talks about migration problems all around the world, of the duties we have to solve these problems in a humane manner, of hosting those who come from other countries in search of a life of dignity and peace."
Immigration is a theme close to the pontiff's heart. He has demanded that countries welcome those fleeing poverty and oppression and denounced what he calls the "globalization of indifference" toward refugees.
The pontiff touched on the issue in his address to Congress this past September, when he urged lawmakers not to be “fearful of foreigners” and reminded them that many are “descended from immigrants.”
It's a message that hasn't gone down well with some in the U.S., at a time when border apprehensions of families and unaccompanied minors rose significantly in the last three months of 2015.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to build a wall along the entire border with Mexico – and make Mexico pay for it. All along, he's made combating illegal immigration a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, claiming credit for kickstarting the debate which now features heavily in the GOP primary race.

Clinton Barking Dog Cartoon

Disgraced Missouri professor seen yelling profanity at police in new video

A since-suspended University of Missouri professor is seen yelling profanities at police officers trying to clear activists blocking traffic in a video that surfaced late Sunday night of an October protest.
Assistant Professor of Communication Melissa Click was suspended from her position in late January after she was charged with misdemeanor assault following a different videotaped skirmish with a student journalist in November. The prosecutor has said he’ll drop the charge in a year if Click completes community service, though her position at Missouri is still being reviewed.
The new video of Click tangling with police officers during an Oct. 10 Homecoming Parade could complicate the matter. The Missourian obtained the police body camera footage through an open records request.
“Her conduct and behavior are appalling, and I am not only disappointed, I am angry that a member of our faculty acted this way,” Interim Chancellor Hank Foley said in a statement emailed to The Missourian. “Her actions caught on camera last October are just another example of a pattern of misconduct by Dr. Click – most notably her assault on one of our students while seeking ‘muscle’ during a highly volatile situation on Carnahan Quadrangle in November.”
In the new video, Click can be seen in the same group as several student protesters who were blocking the Homecoming Parade route. As officers attempt to direct the group back onto the sidewalk, Click forces herself between a police officer and graduate student Jonathan Butler, who is also a prominent campus activist. Click tells the officers to “get your hands off the children” and then uses a profanity against an officer who grabs her shoulder as he tries to direct her back onto the sidewalk.
“We must have high expectations of members of our community, and I will address these new revelations with the Board of Curators as they work to complete their own review of the matter,” Foley said in the statement.
Click first gained notoriety after a video surfaced of her during a Nov. 9 demonstration by student activists who took issue with perceived racial bias at the university. A YouTube video shows Click confronting videographer Mark Schierbecker, apparently trying to block him from shooting video on the public quad. When Schierbecker asks to speak to Click, she tells him to leave.
“No, you need to get out,” she says, pointing away and then apparently grabbing Schierbecker’s camera. “You need to get out. You need to get out.”
When Schierbecker refuses to leave, Click yells to a nearby group: “Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here.”
In an interview with The Missourian on Friday – before the new video became public – Click admitted the November incident was a “mistake” but hoped to still keep her job.
“My mistake is just one part of who I am,” she said. “I want to stay at MU. I deserve to be heard and I deserve to be treated fairly, and I’m going to fight to be treated fairly. I think it’s everybody’s right to be treated fairly.”

Supreme Court Short List? Deep bench of potential nominees to succeed Scalia

While the skirmish lines are forming in Congress over President Obama’s nomination of a successor to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia – the president first will have to make his choice known before the battle can be joined.
Though Obama had not been expecting to make a Supreme Court nomination in the final months of his second term, Scalia’s death triggers a rigorous selection process that begins with an informal list of nominees this administration -- and those before it -- keep in the event of a sudden vacancy. Serious vetting only begins, however, when a vacancy occurs or is announced.
And Obama will have plenty of names from which to choose. While not an official “short list,” the following list of potential nominees is based on past nominations and discussions with sources, including government officials involved in the selections of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan:
Loretta Lynch, attorney general
The North Carolina native became the nation’s top law enforcement officer last year, after a bitter confirmation fight in the Senate. She served two stints as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, earning a reputation as a tough prosecutor in several high-profile financial and terrorism-related cases. Most recently in the AG role, she filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department over what she called its unconstitutional violation of the rights of the largely minority community. If successfully nominated, the daughter of a Baptist minister and a school librarian would be the first African-American woman on the high court.
Judge Patricia Millett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit     
Millett was named in 2013 to a bench considered a stepping stone to the high court -- where four current justices once served. Formerly a private Washington-based appellate attorney -- Obama called her "one of the nation's finest"-- who also had more than a decade of experience in the U.S. Solicitor General's office, Millett argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, the second-most ever for a female lawyer. Sources of both ideological stripes call her fair-minded, no-nonsense and non-ideological.
Judge Sri Srinivasan, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit   
Srinivasan was named to the court in 2013, months before Millett joined him. The son of Indian immigrants – who was born in India and raised in Kansas -- Padmanabhan Srikanth Srinivasan was the principal deputy solicitor general at the Justice Department, and argued more than two dozen cases before the Supreme Court. He would be the high court's first Asian-American. Known as low-key, practical and non-ideological, he may not excite many progressives, or give conservatives much to dislike.
Judge Paul Watford, 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Watford was named to the appeals court in 2012. He clerked for conservative-libertarian federal Judge Alex Kozinski on the 9th Circuit, and later for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Supporters call the Orange County, Calif., native an ideological moderate, which may not sit well with progressives seeking a stronger liberal voice.

Supreme Court Nominations By President | Graphiq

Judge Jacqueline Hong-Ngoc Nguyen, 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
The Vietnam-born Nguyen was named to the court in 2012 after two years as a federal district court judge. She, too, would make history as the high court's first Asian-American justice. She is already the first Asian-American woman to sit a on a federal appeals court and is a former state judge, federal prosecutor and private attorney. She moved with her family to the U.S. when she was 10, just after the fall of then-South Vietnam to the Communists.
Kamala Harris, California attorney general 
Harris was elected to her current job in 2010. Harris is a former San Francisco district attorney and author of "Smart on Crime." Her political savvy, ethnic background (part-African-American, part-Asian-American), law enforcement credentials and early support of Obama's candidacy make her a favorite for any high court vacancy.
Kathryn Ruemmler, former Obama White House Counsel
Ruemmler left her government position for private practice in spring 2014. She most famously helped lead the prosecution in the Enron fraud case in 2006. She earned high praise in the White House for helping spearhead the legal defense of Obama’s health care overhaul law. She also supervised the vetting for the Kagan and Sotomayor high court nominations, though she has no judicial experience.
Judge Jane Kelly, 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Kelly is only the second woman to serve on the St. Louis-based court, appointed in 2013. She spent most of her legal career as a federal public defender in Iowa. One of her biggest fans is fellow Iowan Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Judge David Barron, 1st Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Confirmed in May 2014, Barron formerly served as acting assistant attorney general in Obama administration, then went to Harvard Law School as a professor. He clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens.
Judge Diane Wood, 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals  
Wood has sat on the bench since 1995. Twice a finalist for the high court vacancies in 2009 and 2010, she is considered a mainstream liberal and well-regarded by many legal analysts as a strong, articulate judge. She served in both the Reagan and Clinton Justice Departments.
Judge Merrick Garland, D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Garland was a finalist for the high court seats that went to Sotomayor and Kagan, and is a possible compromise choice, considered a relative judicial moderate on the high-profile appeals court. Four current justices came directly from the D.C Circuit. Garland was a former associate deputy attorney general and supervised the criminal prosecution of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. His perceived "moderate" views may not sit well with some liberals.

Supreme Court Nominations in Recent History | InsideGov

While Obama says he plans to nominate a Scalia successor, Republicans in the Senate are threatening to hold up the confirmation – in hopes that a Republican president will be able to make the selection next year. If the decision does fall to a Republican president, the following are a few possibilities:
Paul Clement, former U.S. solicitor general
Clement is considered by many one of the best lawyers of his generation. The Wisconsin native went to Harvard Law School and later clerked for Justice Scalia. He served as solicitor general under President George W. Bush and earned raves for his persuasive, conversational style at oral arguments before the justices. Now as a private attorney, he has become the go-to guy among conservatives to lead appeals over a variety of hot-button issues: health care reform, same-sex marriage, immigration enforcement and gun rights.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, D.C. Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Kavanaugh began his job May 2006 in a court that has seen several of its former members make the jump to the Supreme Court. A former top official in the George W. Bush White House, his nomination to the prestigious D.C. circuit was held up for three years by Democrats who accused him of misleading over whether he helped formulate policy on the detention and questioning of accused terrorists held overseas. He is considered one of the brightest young conservative legal minds.
Judge Diane Sykes, 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Sykes is a former private lawyer, county judge and justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She is a Federalist Society member, and her profile has been increasing among many conservatives.
Sen. Mike Lee, Republican from Utah
The rising GOP star may have the best credentials of any lawmaker to be a justice. Lee is a former appellate and constitutional lawyer, both in Utah and Washington, who twice clerked for Justice Samuel Alito, on both the federal appeals and later Supreme Court.

George W. hits the campaign trail, amid taunts from Trump over his legacy

Despite deliberately avoiding post-presidency politics, George W. Bush hit the campaign trail for a Monday night rally in North Charleston, S.C. with his brother, Republican White House candidate Jeb Bush.
"We need to nominate someone who can win in November, all the talk doesn't matter if we can't win," George W. Bush told supporters. "We need someone who can take a positive message across the entire country."
In promoting his brother's past experience of dealing with recovering from eight hurricanes slamming Florida, Bush spoke of his own experience of being thrust into the role of a wartime president during the Sept. 11 attacks.
"I've seen Jeb in action. He'll be a strong and steady hand with dealing with the unexpected," he said.
While not bringing up any of the other candidates in the race, the former president said Americans are yearning for a "strong leader," but that in his opinion, strength comes from "integrity and character."
"The strongest person isn't the loudest in the room," he said.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, George W. Bush said he found it "interesting" that foreign policy is a central campaign issue, unlike in the 2000 presidential election.
"I hope the voters take a look at who’s got the clearest-eyed view of the world, and who’s got a plan to deal with those who will do us harm," Bush told Hannity.
"I’ve looked at Jeb’s plan, I know how solid it is. The other thing that’s needed in the White House – and Jeb understands this – is you set a goal: defeat ISIS," he said. "Then you call upon the people who know how to help you achieve that goal, that would be the military and intelligence community. And Jeb respects them, and that’s what you really want."
"The lessons of 9/11 are being forgotten by a lot of people and that is [that] the human condition elsewhere matters to our national security," the 43rd president added. "If we let down our guard against this group of thugs, they will hurt us again. And the good thing is Jeb won’t let down his guard."
The plan is to boost the former Florida governor’s popularity ahead of this weekend’s South Carolina Republican primary. The move comes as Donald Trump turns up the heat on Jeb over his brother -- the country’s 43^rd president -- and his legacy on Iraq and 9/11.
But as the gloves come off in the Republican race, some say it’s unclear whether Trump’s tactic to discredit the Bush administration and paint Jeb as a repeat president could backfire.
“In a normal election year, arguing that a former president of one’s party lied his way into a war would be political suicide, but in this year, it might show that Trump is more his own man than all of the other candidates,” Lara Brown, director of George Washington University’s political management program, told FoxNews.com.
Trump’s game plan will be tested in South Carolina, a still Bush-friendly southern state.
“There is no state, outside of Texas, that has a stronger relationship with the Bush family,” she said.
Lee Atwater, who helped establish the South Carolina primary in 1980, was former President George H.W. Bush’s consultant in 1988, and his more than 25-point win there is what secured his path to the nomination, Brown said.
South Carolina also helped former President George W. Bush in 2000 bounce back from a loss he suffered in New Hampshire to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Fast forward to today and the strong political ties to the Bush family still exist. For example, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a long-time friend of the Bush family, has already endorsed Jeb Bush for the 2016 run.
During Saturday night’s debate, the billionaire businessman delivered multiple blows to the Bush administration, blaming him for the War in Iraq and 9/11.
“The World Trade Center came down during the reign of George Bush,” Trump said Saturday. “He kept us safe? This is not safe.”
He then zeroed in on Iraq.
“The war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake,” Trump said. “They (the Bush administration) lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none.”
“In other words, Trump wasn’t simply attacking former President George W. Bush’s decision to go to Iraq,” Brown said. “Instead, he was attacking all of the Republicans in South Carolina for standing by the Bush family. It should be a bridge too far.”
Jeb Bush denounced Trump for attacking his family, calling it a “blood sport.”
“I’m sick and tired of him going after my family,” Bush said.
Jeb Bush told CNN that “there’s a lot of interest in my brother coming.”
“He’s been helpful all along in a lot of different ways,” Bush said. “Giving me advice and helping me to raise money. Doing all sorts of things. But this is the appropriate time for him to do something he has not done before. This is the right time, when it’s important and when people are watching.”
Bush has been trailing in the polls and struggled in the first few debates to gain traction and air time while other candidates such as Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz grabbed most of the headlines.
Bush was unable to convincingly carve out the narrative that he is his own man and not a replica of his father's and brother’s administrations.
Some strategists say the big return of W. to the campaign trail, which was once seen as a political liability, is now just the right shot of adrelienine Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign needs.
“The political calculus is very different now than what Jeb thought it would be a few months ago,” Flip Pidot, Republican strategist and CEO at American Civics Exchange told FoxNews.com’s Strategy Room.
“He needs something, even though (former President George W. Bush)” might not be “universally loved, even among Republicans,” Pidot said.