Good morning! Violining247 is busy rocking her Hillary road trip so she asked me to cover the HNV today. I casually replied "sure, why not?"...so here we go!
Let me just start by saying that I find Hillary's dorky jokes oddly endearing, and yes that includes "Pokemon Go-To-The-Polls". What got lost in the reaction to that line (which actually got big laughs in the room) is that her campaign is already using Pokemon to register voters. Personally, I don't get the whole Pokemon Go phenomenon, am sick of hearing about it all the time, and don't understand how voters can be registered with it...so allow me to move on from this topic and hopefully never return.
Tim Kaine gets mentioned over and over and over again as the #1 contender to be Clinton's partner on the ticket, and yesterday we got the chance to see them together on stage in crucial Northern Virginia:
As the political world was engrossed in the spectacle surrounding Donald Trump's impending vice presidential announcement, Hillary Clinton auditioned a possible running mate here on Thursday in a small, plain community college gymnasium.
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Clinton strolled on the stage together, smiling and waving for their first solo campaign appearance in what many consider a final test before she makes her selection.
Kaine has been knocked in the past for not being the most scorching speaker that there is and some have questioned whether he has the fire inside to constantly take aim at Donald Trump while he stumps on the campaign trail.
And on his home soil, Kaine launched attacks at Trump from all sides.
"Do you want a trash-talker president or a bridge-builder president?" he asked his home state crowd to roaring cheers.
What are your thoughts on this pairing?
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Tim doesn't exactly inspire me, but he seems like a nice enough fella who could help Hillary win Virginia and be as solid a governing partner as she could hope for. Maybe that's enough, but I'm still holding out hope for a late headline that reads "BREAKING: Senator Al Franken emerges as top Clinton VP contender".
One of Sanders' key congressional backers now proudly endorses Clinton:
Rep. Keith Ellison, one of the first congressmen to endorse Bernie Sanders's bid for the presidency, is now backing presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, he said Wednesday.
The Minnesota Democrat wrote in an op-ed for the Huffington Post that Clinton "offers strong progressive values" and a crucial capacity to listen to others.
Ellison's endorsement comes a day after Sanders formally backed Clinton, more than a month after the last primary vote.
"I was an early supporter of Bernie Sanders. Yes, I was feeling the Bern. But today, I am proud to endorse Hillary Clinton for President of the United States," Ellison wrote.
And if you thought there were no more Hillary endorsements to be snagged from the Senate, you were wrong!
For Angus King, it was a plane ride that did it.
The independent Maine senator said on Thursday that he will vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump this November, citing the presumptive Democratic nominee’s decision making and experience as secretary of state, as well as doubts about Trump’s aptitude to handle a potential nuclear apocalypse scenario.
Recounting a recent trip to Joint Base Andrews, where he boarded the National Airborne Operations Center — basically a flying emergency command center for the U.S. government — the Armed Services Committee member said the experience “really shook me and influenced” his decision.
“We went up, took off across the country, and then had a nuclear attack exercise where an Air Force officer played the president and a secretary of defense, and we heard in our ear — the first thing we noticed there was a big clock showing missiles leaving. The big clock said 28 minutes. That was the time the president had to make a decision,” King told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.” “What got me, Chris, it was almost physical, was in that situation, there's only one person. There’s no checks and balances. There’s no Congress. There’s no Supreme Court. There’s no consultation. There’s one person making a decision about the future of civilization.”
“When I got off that plane, you know, my knees were a little weak with that realization, how much power is in this one person. And then I thought about Donald Trump. And it’s a question of judgment and temperament, and this guy has not demonstrated to me the kind of coolness that you need in that situation,” King remarked.
In addition to the Kaine event, Clinton also spoke at the LULAC conference, full video of which can be found here.
Speaking to a gathering of Latino activists, Hillary Clinton said Thursday that the fate of comprehensive immigration reform -- and the broader character of the country -- rests on whether she or Donald Trump prevails in November.
“We’re not just choosing a president and commander in chief this fall,” Clinton said at a conference of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington. “The choices we make will say a lot about who we are.”
The presumptive Democratic nominee derided her Republican opponent for “running the most divisive campaign of our lifetime,” calling him “someone who thinks Latino outreach is tweeting a picture of a Taco Bowl.”
Seeking to make a sharp contrast, Clinton pledged she would introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill within the first 100 days of her administration and said she is committed to expanding President Obama’s plan to defer deportations, despite a major legal setback in the Supreme Court last month.
“I know how important family is, and I want to do everything I can as president to keep families. together,” Clinton said. “There’s nothing more important to families who live in fear and anxiety.”
Poll numbers have been all over the place this week (largely due to outlier results from Rasmussen and Quinnipiac), but check this out:
Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump if the election were held today, heading to a relatively easy victory even if Trump were to win the key battleground state of Ohio.
A massive new poll by Morning Consult finds Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, would collect 320 Electoral College votes to Trump's 212, far more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.
The poll, taken between April and early July, surveyed nearly 60,000 registered voters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a large enough sample to make a complete estimate of Electoral College results as the presidential race stands now.
When eight toss-up states are removed, Clinton leads 225 electoral votes to Trump's 190.
I'm not sure about Clinton losing Ohio while winning Georgia, but whatever...a win's a win. And any poll that surveys 60,000 registered voters should probably be taken at least somewhat seriously.
Netroots Nation attendees should keep an eye out for this, though I'm sure the rest of us will see it too:
Oh...and Donald Trump has (apparently) picked Mike Pence to be his running mate, so here's my hot take on that decision:
Following yet another horrific terrorist attack, this time in Nice, France, Clinton called into The O'Reilly Factor. Aside from a couple of interruptions from Bill, this was a surprisingly focused and respectful interview:
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She also called into Anderson Cooper 360:
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Clinton also released this statement on social media Thursday evening:
Once again, it appears that terrorists have struck at one of our closest allies in Europe, attacking families celebrating the history and culture of their country on Bastille Day. Every American stands in strong solidarity with the people of France, and we say with one voice: we will not be intimidated. We will never allow terrorists to undermine the egalitarian and democratic values that underpin our very way of life. This cowardly attack only strengthens our commitment to our alliance and to defeating terrorism around the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed and injured, and with all our friends in France.
Finally, on a hopeful note, here is Clinton's longtime friend Lanny Davis on "The Real Hillary":
All of presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's longtime friends share the same question, the same mystery, whenever we read about the number of people in America who "hate" her or who label her using various horrible expressions. It is this: How can they be so far off in understanding who she is, what she is all about and most important, her true personality and character traits?
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My friend Hillary is the real deal. Serious, but doesn't take herself too seriously. She has a true commitment to public service for the public good. She is a caring and loyal friend.
I have no doubt she will make a great president because she can bring us together and build consensus to allow Democrats and Republicans to once again find common ground and solve problems, rather than continuing the partisan paralysis that has gripped Washington in recent years. Her record as a U.S. senator proved exactly that: She worked well with Republicans to unite rather than divide, focusing on facts and solutions rather than rhetoric.
If you doubt me, it is because you don't know her and are still the victim of the media's reporting of an unreal cardboard character.
Stay tuned, though, and try to keep an open mind. You will see that her many, many friends over many, many decades are right about what kind of person she is and the great, unifying president she will make.
It's a lovely piece from beginning to end that is well worth sharing in its own right.
P.S.: I also want to give a quick shoutout to Onomastic for the incredible fundraiser post on my behalf yesterday. It raised a nice chunk of money in just a few hours and I was quite moved by the support. To Onomastic and all those who graciously support Hillary HQ's efforts...THANK YOU!
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Originally posted at HillaryHQ.com