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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.

Hillary Clinton plays literal attack dog in effort to shore up Nevada

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton turned to animal impersonations Monday as the former secretary of state ramped up her effort to secure victory over surging Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in this Saturday's Nevada caucuses. 
Speaking before a crowd in Reno, Clinton described how she would like to fact-check various Republican claims. He began her story with a recollection of a political ad that aired on the radio in Arkansas. The ad featured a dog that the announcer claimed would bark any time a candidate said an untrue statement.
"We need to get that dog and follow him around and every time they say these things, like, 'oh the Great Recession was caused by too much regulation," Clinton said before yelping, "Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!" to general applause.
Clinton and her opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, have criss-crossed the Silver State in recent days. On Sunday, they wound up at opposite ends of a pew in the same Las Vegas church.
Sanders' ground game is catching up to the Clinton machine as well. The so-called Democratic socialist's campaign has over 100 staffers on the ground and has more than doubled its paid staff here since last month, along with spending double on his television spots compared to Clinton - $2.93 million to Clinton’s $1.46 million.
Adding to the uncertainty is a relative lack of polling coupled with a sense of the momentum being behind Sanders in the wake of his thumping victory over Clinton in last week's New Hampshire primary. Showing the importance her team has placed on Saturday's caucuses, Clinton skipped a campaign event in Florida, sending her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to stump in her stead.
As in Iowa and New Hampshire, Sanders has publicly pinned his hopes in Nevada to voter turnout. "Everything in my political gut tells me that we have the momentum here in this state," he told a rally in Las Vegas Sunday, "and if people come out in large numbers on caucus day, we’re going to win."
It is possible to win the Nevada caucuses, but lose the all-important battle for Democratic National Convention delegates. That's exactly what happened to Clinton in 2008 against then-Senator Barack Obama.
The Clinton campaign may not have helped its cause in Nevada with comments made last week by campaign spokesman Brian Fallon in which he compared Nevada to the more racially and ethnically homogenous Iowa and New Hampshire.
"There’s an important Hispanic element to the Democratic caucus in Nevada," Fallon said. "But it’s still a state that is 80 percent white voters. You have a caucus-style format, and [Sanders will] have the momentum coming out of New Hampshire presumably, so there’s a lot of reasons he should do well."
That remark reportedly angered allies of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, with one telling Politico that Reid had "pushed hard to move Nevada near the front of the primary calendar precisely because of its diversity."