Presumptuous Politics

Monday, May 16, 2016

Nevada Democratic Convention becomes 'unruly and unpredictable' amid rules disputes over delegates

The Nevada State Democratic Convention on Saturday night devolved into an “unruly and unpredictable” environment following several disputes over rules governing delegates for Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, leading to law enforcement officials being called to keep the peace.
Two issues in particular stung Sanders supporters gathered at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel: (1) the approval of a set of temporary rules seen as less favorable to the Vermont senator by his backers and (2) the allocation of the 12 delegates up for grabs. In the final tally, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took seven delegates and Sanders five. Clinton's supporters outnumbered Sanders’ backers 1,695-to-1,662, an echo of her slim victory in February’s Democratic caucus, 53-47.
But Sanders supporters, riled by the news that nearly five dozen people were not given delegate status, said the results were skewed. Convention Credential Committee Co-Chair Leslie Sexton said 64 Sanders delegates – almost double Sanders’ eventual 33 delegate shortfall – were disqualified for various reasons and not given the opportunity to appeal, The Hill reported.
Sexton initially said she was not allowed to give a report about Sanders’ delegates – for an unspecified reason – but she eventually presented her findings once chants of “recount” and “let her speak” broke out, The Hill reported.
“Contrary to procedures and precedents set by the committee, nearly none of the 64 people were presented with the opportunity to be heard by the committee or to demonstrate that they are registered Democrats,” Sexton said.
The Nevada State Democratic Party said 58 of those excluded Sanders supporters were denied for reasons such as not registering as a Democrat by May 1 or due to a lack of personal information. Of the 64, six were “allowed to be seated after their appropriate information was provided,” the party said. Eight Clinton supporters were denied delegate status for similar reasons, The Las Vegas Sun reported.
A decision by Convention Chair Roberta Lange to quickly gavel the convention after a “yea” or “nay” vote that Sanders’ backers protested only raised the ire of those already upset at Saturday’s results. Lange quickly left the ballroom after officially closing the meeting.
But Sanders supporters remained, chanting and pondering their options, according to videos of the event posted at RealClearPolitics. Law enforcement officers and hotel security quickly formed a line in front of the stage as an unidentified individual pleaded with the crowd to exit. At one point several lights in the hall were reportedly turned off to try to get attendees to leave. Eventually, the attendees in the room peacefully dispersed. No arrests were reported.
“The Director of Security for the Paris Las Vegas Hotel informed the State Party and representatives from both presidential campaigns that the property could no longer provide the necessary security under conditions made unruly and unpredictable,” Stewart Boss, Nevada state Democratic party press secretary, said in a Sunday statement.
Sanders hadn’t addressed the convention controversy as of Sunday night, but in a release to his supporters on Friday he touted “working together respectfully and constructively on Saturday.”
Of the 43 Nevada delegates headed to the Democratic National Convention in July, 20 will support Clinton and 15 are set to back Sanders, with eight others as “superdelegates” who can choose to vote for whomever they want. Most “superdelegates” have said they’ll back Clinton.
Most of the Nevada convention was a raucous affair, with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., even getting booed at one point.
“If you’re booing me, you’re booing Bernie Sanders,” Boxer said. “Go ahead, boo yourselves out of this election.”
The Republican delegate-selection meeting Saturday at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center occurred without incident. A crowd of just more than 1,000 people selected 27 delegates to the Republican National Convention, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Those delegates are bound to vote on the first ballot according to February’s Nevada caucus results. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump won the state with 46 percent of the vote in that contest, securing 14 delegates.

RNC chairman warns against 'suicide' third-party run against Trump

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus warned Sunday that any effort by conservatives to draft a candidate to run against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump would be a "suicide mission for our country."
"What it means is that you're throwing down not just eight years of the White House, but potentially 100 years on the Supreme Court and wrecking this country for many generations," Priebus told "Fox News Sunday". "And so, I think that's the legacy these folks will leave behind."
Over the weekend, The Washington Post reported that a group of anti-Trump Republicans led by 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney and conservative commentator William Kristol had begun recruiting candidates to make an independent run for the White House.
According to the paper, Romney has made personal overtures to Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, a prominent anti-Trump Republican, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Inquries have also been made to businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
When asked by "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace what he would say to Romney and Kristol, Priebus responded, "I think they should consider the ramifications of what's going to happen on the Supreme Court, get assurances from Donald Trump that they're satisfied with that would show that he's committed to those conservative justices ... and I think that's the better way to go as opposed to this third party route."
Meanwhile, Trump's top ally in the Senate said the real estate mogul would require more public policy schooling to earn the confidence of other Republicans and show he's ready to take on likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
"I think he's going to need to learn. He's going to need to understand really completely ... how complex this world is," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., told ABC's "This Week."
In particular, Sessions said Trump has much to learn about how to talk about matters of war, saying "It's just a very, very complex world and you have to be careful when you commit a military force."
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a onetime Trump critic who nonetheless has vowed to back him in November, called him "a work in progress," more so than most candidates. "Usually you know a lot more about a candidate because they've run for other things. They've cast votes. They've done things. And he does have a shoot-from-the-hip style."
GOP officials are still trying to determine who should be the leading voice for party barely six months before Americans choose their next president in a likely showdown between Trump and Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who held a high-profile meeting in Washington last week, represent two Republican factions. Ryan has said he is not yet ready to back Trump.
Trump and Ryan said after their meeting Thursday that they were committed to unifying the party despite their difference over immigration, Muslim immigrants, taxes, benefit programs and trade. The discussion seemed to thaw relations enough to make a reconciliation seem possible, and the men spoke of keeping the lines of communication open and of finding common ground.
Ryan's predecessor as speaker, John Boehner, said at a conference of finance industry leaders in Las Vegas on Thursday that he endorsed Trump and that Ryan probably was "trying to help shape the direction of Trump's policies."
What concerns many Republicans is the prospect of their backing Trump and then having him stumble over the party's core policy issues. For example, he once suggested in an MSNBC interview that there should be "some form of punishment" for women who have had abortions. Ultimately, Trump said abortion providers, not women, were the ones who should be punished if abortions were outlawed.
The policy education for Trump and his team appears to be underway.
A few weeks ago, top aide Paul Manafort spent about an hour at the conservative Heritage Foundation Washington as part of what the think tank described as part of an ongoing series of policy briefings for candidates and their advisers. Other Trump officials have been meeting with individual members of the House. Trump himself met with senators on the same day he met with Ryan, and many emerged describing an open-minded, even earnest candidate.
And lately, Trump has taken to describing his policy proposals as merely "suggestions." But Trump also has said he's his own best foreign policy adviser.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Ted Cruz Cartoon

In Texas GOP speech, Cruz resumes conservative fight; no word of Trump, restarting campaign

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz on Saturday used his first speech since suspending his presidential primary campaign to tout his conservative principles on the economy and other key issues -- while neither mentioning presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump nor a potential return to the race.
“Growth doesn’t come down from government. It comes from small businesses across the United States,” Cruz said at the Texas Republican Party convention in Dallas-Fort Worth. “When you get the boot of government off small businesses, jobs and economic growth take off.”
Cruz acknowledge being “disappointed” about having to suspend his campaign, after Trump’s commanding May 3 primary win in Indiana. However, he appeared unwavering in his beliefs, also calling for the repeal of ObamaCare, as he has done in Congress and did on the campaign trail.
Cruz has left open the small possibility that he might return to the race, saying Tuesday morning before the Nebraska primary that he had no path to victory but that his campaign would “respond accordingly” if “that changes.”
However, by late afternoon, upon returning to his Senate office and talking to reporters, Cruz sounded more resigned to making his voice heard on Capitol Hill.
Once friendly, Cruz and Trump clashed bitterly before Cruz suspended his campaign. He hasn't since endorsed Trump nor called for the party to rally around the billionaire businessman.
On Saturday, Cruz also said the movement of freedom-loving patriots is "far more important than one candidate."
He said "we may face some challenges ahead" but that the conservative movement "will be the remnant, will be the core" that can pull "this country back from the abyss."

Report: GOP mega-donor Adelson to give Trump up to $100 million

Billionaire Republican donor Sheldon Adelson is reportedly willing to give Donald Trump as much as $100 million for his presidential campaign -- a purported record-setting amount for the wealth casino magnate.
Adelson pledged the amount to Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, during a meeting last week in New York, two GOP sources told The New York Times, which first reported the story.
Trump will indeed need the support. Much of the billionaire businessman’s success in the primary race came from his ability to fund his own campaign and tell voters that he is not beholden to corporate, Wall Street or lobbyists’ interests.
However, his own wealth and small-donor contributions would be no match for those of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic machine behind her if the front-running Clinton becomes Trump’s general election opponent.
Trump has since being declared the presumptive nominee on May 3 met with Washington Republicans to begin coordinating fundraising efforts for his general election bid and those of other Republican candidates on November ballots.
The Times reports that the Las Vegas-based Adelson’s commitment to Trump will result in Adelson scaling back his contributions to congressional Republicans, who are in a tough fight to keep control of the Senate.
Trump says he has already loaned his primary campaign $50 million and would need as much as a $1 billion for a White House bid.
Exactly how Adelson would contribute to Trump’s effort is unclear. But such a large sum would require him, after giving directly to the Trump campaign, to donate through a super PAC because they allow unlimited donations. (Trump so far has been outspoken about the amount of influence super PACs have in politics.)
In 2012, Adelson contributed at least $98 million to Republican efforts, according to a study by ProPublica cited by The Times. But that money went to 34 separate campaigns and groups.
Adelson publically endorsed Trump last week, after having backed Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz’s failed GOP primary bid.

Donald who? Wisconsin Republicans largely avoid Trump

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Mixed feelings about presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump were on full display Saturday at the Wisconsin GOP convention, with Gov. Scott Walker and other officeholders not even speaking his name.
Those who did mention Trump urged supporting him as a necessity in order to defeat Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
"We can't let Hillary Clinton bring four more years of Barack Obama," said U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, whose north-central congressional district is one of two Trump won in Wisconsin's primary on April 5. Trump lost statewide to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz by 13 points, but hasn't lost a state since.
Wisconsin Republicans were more clearly united Saturday in support of Sen. Ron Johnson, who faces a tough re-election fight with Democrat Russ Feingold.
"That needs to be our clear focus," Walker said of the Senate race. "That's where we can have the biggest impact, not just in the state of Wisconsin but the nation as a whole."
Walker called for focusing "like a laser beam" on getting Republicans excited about supporting Johnson.
Johnson, in his convention speech, compared the upcoming election along with the vote passengers on Flight 93 took on Sept. 11, 2001 before storming the cockpit to stop the hijackers and crash the plane in a Pennsylvania field.
"It may not be life and death, like the vote the passengers on United flight 93 took, but boy is it consequential," Johnson said of the election.
While Johnson joined state office holders in refusing to mention Trump by name, others in the congressional delegation broke the silence.
"With Ron Johnson we're going to continue to make Wisconsin great and we're going to make America great again with Donald Trump," Duffy said, referring to Trump's campaign slogan.
Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, in calling for unifying behind Trump, said "the time has come to look at what the stakes are."
"The consequence of staying home is effectively a vote for Hillary Clinton and Russ Feingold," he said.
But Sensenbrenner's comment that Trump had won "fair and square" was met with only scattered applause.
Rep. Glenn Grothman said Republicans need to get more excited in the race or face losing to Clinton.
"Like the Scott Walker recall, we've got to be that riled up," Grothman said.
There were few signs of excitement for Trump at the annual convention, which is largely staged as a pep rally for the party in advance of the election. One person wore a Trump hat and a vendor had Trump buttons for sale along with items for other candidates. There were no Trump signs hung in the convention hall.
Walker has said he will endorse Trump as the Republican nominee, while others have said they want to hear more about his policies. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan met with Trump in Washington on Thursday and said afterward he was confident that the party would be unified.
Ryan, who represents the southeast corner of Wisconsin, was to speak at an evening banquet at the convention.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos pledged to help the "Republican nominee" but didn't say Trump's name.
The next president "will likely have the power to stack the federal courts with nominees," Attorney General Brad Schimel said in his remarks.
But instead of using that point to advocate for Trump, Schimel called for re-electing Johnson because of the role he plays in the Senate voting on confirming those nominees.
Even state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who had been one of the most outspoken office holders calling for unity behind Trump, did not make that plea during his remarks.
Fitzgerald instead focused on Republican efforts to retain majority control of the state Senate.
And Walker's son, Alex Walker, spoke about Johnson. A junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Alex Walker said he was working to organize college Republicans to help with the Johnson campaign. He didn't say anything about helping Trump.

Report: Anti-Trump Republicans contacted Mark Cuban about third-party bid

A group of anti-Donald Trump Republicans is trying to lure Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire businessman Mark Cuban into presidential race as a third-party candidate, according to a published report.
Cuban told The Washington Post Saturday that the unnamed Republicans told him said that his loud persona combined with his “ability to connect with voters” could make him a winning contender on an independent ticket.
The NBA team owner rejected their advances, but expressed confidence that he could withstand Trump in the election.
“He could come after me all he wanted, and he knows I would put him in his place,” Cuban told the Post. “All that said, again, I don’t see it happening. There isn’t enough time.”
Cuban offered some of his thoughts on the presidential race in a February blog post. He said at the time that there has “not been a single instance of leadership from any of the candidates.”
“It may not seem like it sometimes, but this country does want exciting new ideas. We want to know there is a positive direction for us,” Cuban wrote. “The future of this country can’t just be about free stuff, raising taxes on the rich or cutting taxes for everyone, keeping people out and undoing what is already done.
“There are new ideas in this world that matter. It would be nice to get one from a Presidential candidate.”
According to the Post, certain Republicans are getting major donors lined up, commissioning private polls and trying to lure contenders to derail the presumptive GOP nominee Trump.
The paper reported that effort to derail Trump has ramped up significantly in the last 10 days.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

DNC Debbie Schultz Cartoons

Obama hosts Nordic leaders, celebrities at White House state dinner

WASHINGTON – Famous people and people just famous-for-Washington scored coveted invitations to Friday night's White House state dinner honoring the leaders of Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Norway.
Will Ferrell, who famously parodied past President George W. Bush on "Saturday Night Live," and Bellamy Young, first lady on the TV show "Scandal," made the cut, as did recently retired late-night host David Letterman, "Girls" actress Allison Williams and actor-comedian Aziz Ansari.
Ferrell's wife, Viveca Paulin, was born in Sweden, he told reporters as he arrived for what he said was his first White House dinner.
"I hope we don't do anything wrong," Ferrell said.
Other guests with Nordic ties were Marcus Samuelsson, the Sweden-raised chef who was a guest chef for the President Barack Obama's first state dinner seven years ago, and Joel Kinnaman, a Swedish-American actor who played a politician in "House of Cards."
The Nordic party was a twist for the White House — state dinners typically celebrate a single head of state. But Friday's affair capped a multilateral U.S.-Nordic summit, a gathering Obama used to laud the Nordic states as model global citizens on climate change, security, humanitarian efforts and economic equality.
Hours later, Obama used the dinner to rib the leaders about their countries all-too-perfect reputation.
As he toasted the leaders on the South Lawn, Obama promised the night wouldn't deliver any entertainment as crazy as the popular Norwegian television program "National Firewood Night." And he mocked their internal fights over which country is happiest or which is the true hometown of Santa Claus.
"These are fierce debates that take place," Obama said, before raising his glass to toast President Sauli Niinisto of Finland and Prime Ministers Sigurdur Ingi Johannsson of Iceland; Lars Loekke Rasmussen of Denmark; Stefan Lofven of Sweden; and Erna Solberg of Norway.
In his toast, Loekke Rasmussen dished it back. He noted the region's many gifts to the U.S. — including Scarlett Johansson, whose father is Danish, and Uma Thurman, whose mother is Swedish. Norway, he said, can claim GOP strategist Karl Rove. The joke was a hit in a room largely filled with Democrats.
On a more serious note, Obama added his own gratitude for the strong cultural influences the five nations have had in the U.S., in particular the Danish pastor N.F.S. Grundtvig, whose education philosophy inspired Tennessee's Highlander Folk School, where several prominent civil rights leaders trained.
Grundtvig's work "ended up having a ripple effect on the civil rights movement," Obama said, adding he "might not be standing here" were it not for his teachings.
The White House used the dinner to laud Nordic cuisine, design and even climate.
Instead of sitting around circular tables, the guests dined at wooden farm tables set with white china, beveled crystal candlesticks and soaring ice vases with white field flowers. The sleek white chairs had a clear Ikea vibe. The dinner was held in a tent with a transparent ceiling, giving guests a view of the sky that cleared just in time for the event.
The White House said the decor was meant to evoke the "cycle of northern lights and shadows."
The meal had nods to the modern simplicity of Nordic cuisine, with American twists. Appetizers included salt-cured fish — but Florida tuna, instead of whitefish. The waffles were to be served with chicken. The main course: braised beef short ribs from Nebraska, with creamy dumplings.
Dessert was an homage to the fishing industry in the form of a blue, glowing, edible fishing boat, displayed with elderberry custard pie, raspberry kringle and gooseberry cookies.
Michelle Obama didn't keep up the theme with her choice of gown. She wore a blush-colored, off-the-shoulder dress by Naeem Khan, an Indian-American designer and a first lady favorite.
Pop singer Demi Lovato provided the after-dinner entertainment, belting out her songs "Stone Cold" and "Confident."
The guest list included a large contingent from the media, including Fox News' Bret Baier, ABC's David Muir and NBC's Al Roker and Lester Holt. Cosmetics giant Bobbi Brown, NCAA president Mark Emmert, fashion designer Rick Owens and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf also made the list.
The White House often uses state dinners as an opportunity for political outreach. But in Obama's final months in office there is, perhaps, a sign of that effort winding down. Several Democratic lawmakers were on the guest list, but no Republicans.

Break from Convention: Trump hints at bringing showman's flair to Cleveland

The man who hosted the Miss USA beauty pageants, who starred in two hit reality shows – and who once clotheslined WWE’s Vince McMahon and then shaved his head on WrestleMania – is now in charge of a national political convention.
This oughta’ be interesting.
“I think it will be a spectacular convention,” Donald Trump predicted on Fox News.
Just what the billionaire businessman and former reality show star has in mind is the big question. But the fact that the Republican Party’s presumptive standard-bearer made his name not only in real estate but in show business portends a convention that probably will be like no other.
In the interview Wednesday with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren, Trump made clear he’s already thinking about the entertainment. Sure, Mitt Romney had Clint Eastwood talking to a chair – but Trump, who has openly panned the 2012 convention, is thinking bigger.
"I mean you hear a lot of speeches and people end up falling asleep after the 19^thspeech. We have some great country and western people who want to come in and some entertainers that want to come in – I have to keep this as a surprise,” he told Fox News.
In a sense, Trump is back to his comfort zone, and the role he played for “The Apprentice” – that of executive producer.
But as the party’s nominee, he also has to produce a party platform that Republicans can rally behind, as well as cast a vice presidential pick who might be able to tackle some of the inevitable battles with Congress should Trump win.
And he’ll need to keep the delegates and the public interested along the way.
So the task will fall on Trump to tap into what sets him apart from virtually every modern presidential candidate: his showman’s flair. To bring to the convention what he’s been bringing to packed-house rallies for much of the primary season – an energy and excitement that will enthuse the base, and translate into enthusiasm through November.
In a nod to Trump’s expertise at this sort of thing, top Trump adviser Paul Manafort earlier this week described bluntly the campaign for the presidency as the “ultimate reality show.”
“He is a television star and is connected to America. … We will be talking to America not just about Donald, but the Republican Party. We will put it in ways that hopefully will be entertaining, but also informative,” Manafort said on MSNBC’s “Hardball.”
Of course, the risk for Trump and the party will be the possibility of turning the convention into a spectacle -- and not the good kind. The city of Cleveland already is bracing for protests outside the convention hall, and organizers could still be dealing with divisions inside the party come convention week. Several party figures already are vowing to steer clear of the convention, not wanting to be associated with that scene.
Trump, though, has leveled pointed criticism at the 2012 convention stagecraft, indicating he wants this one to be memorable.
“The site has been chosen and the arena is fine, but I’d want to have — you know, the last Republican convention was extraordinarily boring,” Trump told the New York Times. Trump said his team will “make it interesting and informative, but also smart and different.”
Senior adviser Barry Bennett floated other ideas for making this convention different.
“There certainly is a train of thought that perhaps Mr. Trump speaks every night from a different city across America highlighting a different problem he intends to solve,” Bennett said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom.”
“We can go to the worst school in America. We can go to a closed down factory. We can tell the American people that we understand their problems, that we feel their pain and here is the solution, the conservative Republican solution. Television is a huge, huge part of the convention, but it is not the only part,” added Bennett.
While the planning for the convention began in Cleveland more than a year ago, it was on the night of the Indiana primary -- which Trump won, knocking his last rivals out of the race -- that things kicked into gear.
Republican National Convention spokesman Dave O’Neil said the Trump campaign called the night of the Indiana primary to begin talks. Senior adviser Manafort was leading a team to Cleveland this week for the first face-to-face discussions.
“There is always the common refrain that conventions are boring, but this year that really changed because of the enthusiasm on the Republican side,” he said.
Though there were some rumors of convention events being moved to FirstEnergy Stadium, the home of the Cleveland Browns, from Quicken Loans Arena, O’Neil put any rumblings to rest saying Quicken Loans Arena remains the convention site.
But that does not mean Trump may not opt to follow the precedent set by Barack Obama in 2008 by choosing another venue for his acceptance speech.
The Obama campaign constructed a huge stage with Greek pillars in Denver’s then-Invesco Field at Mile High, which holds 76,000 compared with the convention site at the 21,000-seat Pepsi Center.
Another factor Trump will have to navigate is the divisions in the GOP, something he was trying to address Thursday in a visit to Washington for meetings with party leaders.
Iowa Rep. Steve King, who will be in Cleveland as a Ted Cruz delegate, said he will be “watching [the platform debate] ... to see if there is an effort to change the rules” or the platform. He said he's worried the Trump camp might try to “move the Republican platform to the left.”
The vice presidential announcement, though, is certain to be the big event. And that’s at least one area where Trump may be hewing to tradition. He signaled this week he’d wait until the convention to name his running mate.
David Woodard, political science professor at Clemson University, said his VP pick will be his most important message to the base for how he plans to run his campaign.
“Let’s face it, the convention will partly answer the question of what he intends to do with the old Republican Party,” he said.

Monday, May 16, 2016

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Sunday, May 15, 2016

Saturday, May 14, 2016