Historic Moment As Hillary Becomes First Woman Presidential Candidate

On Thursday night history will be made when Hillary Clinton becomes the first woman of any major political party to accept her party’s nomination for President of the United States of America.

Her nomination became official during Tuesday’s roll call at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia when Hillary topped the required number of votes, and her dogged opponent Bernie Sanders took the microphone and proclaimed to a cheering crowd, “I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules. I move that all votes, all votes cast by delegates be reflected in the official record, and I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States.”

At that moment, the sound heard across the land was shards of glass crashing to the ground from the shattered glass ceiling. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, it was a major step for women.

Jeb: A president Hillary could spend time going between White House and courthouse

By Lynn R. Mitchell

It was a good one-liner when Governor Jeb Bush, responding to a question about national security, made a point that Hillary Clinton would be a “national security mess” and went on to say, “Instead of setting an agenda, she might be going back and forth between the White House and the courthouse.”

Zing!

And truthful….

 

WSJ: Tuesday’s Republican debate most educational

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell

By Lynn R. Mitchell

I like the way the Wall Street Journal opened its opinion piece about Tuesday’ Republican debate (see Republican fault lines):

Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate wasn’t the most entertaining, but it was the most educational. The two-hour session gave the candidates a chance to critique the Obama record, as well as tease out the GOP’s economic fault lines.

They went on to touch on issues discussed — trade, tax policies, immigration, jobs — and various candidate responses. It’s worth the read — it’s not long. There was also something else they picked up on that other media outlets did also — that Jeb Bush concentrated his attack power on Obama and Hillary, not his fellow candidates:

Jeb Bush had his best debate by focusing his aim on Hillary Clinton’s economic policies rather than on other Republicans. His specificity on regulations he’d repeal was helpful, listing the three most costly in the Obama years.

And then there was this on immigration:

Jeb Bush pushed back against Mr. Trump’s deportation plans, arguing that “to send back” 12 million illegals “is just not possible” and would have the Clinton campaign “doing high-fives” in the general election. We think he’s right about the politics, but Messrs. Trump and Cruz think they can win on an anti-immigration platform. Can they win more than Mitt Romney’s 17% share of the minority vote?

Let’s hope future Republican debates are as informative as the one Tuesday. Fox Business Network, led by Neal Cavuto as one of the three moderators, set up a format that allowed candidates to expand on their answers more so than in previous debates, and questions asked were about issues important in these unsettled times. More of that, please. Oh — and I agree with their assessment that Governor Chris Christie should be on the main stage.

Jeb Bush’s debate performance strong on issues, critical of Obama and Hillary

Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The positive reviews continue to come in about Governor Jeb Bush’s debate performance Tuesday night. Ed O’Keefe in the Washington Post agreed with other pundits that Jeb had a good night (see Jeb Bush had a good night. But he still needs better ones):

Jeb Bush did something Tuesday night that he’s not done before on a presidential debate stage: He butted in.

“It’s my turn,” he told Ohio Gov. John Kasich as moderators attempted to ask him a question.

“I got about four minutes in the last debate,” he added. “I’m going to get my question right now.”

The former Florida governor — previously averse to the advice of media trainers and the need to speak in soundbites — delivered a stronger performance in the fourth Republican presidential debate. He fought more aggressively for air time. He used more personal anecdotes. He lightly mocked front-runner Donald Trump. And he relentlessly criticized President Obama and Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton — something few other candidates bothered to do. [emphasis added]

Hillary, email scandal, and national security

By Lynn R. Mitchell

From today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial:

Eight years ago, Jessica Lynn Quintana, a contractor at Los Alamos National Laboratory, pleaded guilty to removing classified information from the facility. According to a Department of Justice press release, “On July 27, 2006 . . . Quintana printed off pages of classified documents and downloaded other classified information to a computer thumb drive, before putting them in a backpack and taking them home. Quintana stored the pages and thumb drive at her residence, which was not an authorized location for the storage of classified information.”

Does any of that sound similar to Hillary Clinton’s email scandal? You bet it does. Among other consequences, Quintana lost her security clearance. On what grounds should Clinton keep hers?

 

With the ongoing investigation and denials from Clinton herself and those around her, the excuses and lack of accountability are alarming or, as the Times-Dispatch noted, “This is no light matter. A training document by the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive states that ‘information is classified as TOP SECRET if an unauthorized disclosure could reasonably be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security.’ ”

Jeb’s remarks at tonight’s Reagan Library question Hillary’s role in Middle East

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Presidential candidate and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is the keynote speaker at tonight’s sold out event at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. His remarks will concentrate on foreign policy and will question the role of our then-Secretary of State in the Middle East: “Where was Hillary Clinton?”

Excerpts of Governor Bush’s prepared remarks (from Jeb Bush: Where was Hillary Clinton?):

Michael Farris on Donald Trump: ‘Are we out of our ever loving minds?’

By Lynn R. Mitchell

An interesting post showed up on Facebook Saturday night, written by Michael Farris, the conservative homeschool advocate who founded and is chairman of Home School Legal Defense Association, founded and is chancellor of Patrick Henry College, is a Christian husband and dad, and once ran for public office as a Republican.

His straight-forward remarks on Facebook concerned Donald Trump who is running for the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election:

Washington Examiner: The weak candidacies of Clinton, Trump

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The Washington Examiner, my old stomping grounds when they had a blogging team, took on the upcoming 2016 presidential election in their editorial on Friday (see Clinton is weak, and Trump is weaker). In looking at two presidential candidates, they noted a recent Quinnipiac University poll that did not bode well for Hillary Clinton:

Quinnipiac University this week released polls of three swing states that were critical in both of Obama’s electoral victories, Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia. In all three, Hillary Clinton trails Republicans Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. Take your pick, she loses. For that matter, so do her other Democratic rivals, Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

What’s more, Clinton, the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination at this point, already enjoys near-universal name recognition in all those states. In contrast to her competitors, voters have made their mind up about her, and her numbers don’t look good — 21 points net-negative favorability in Colorado, 23 net-negative in Iowa, and 9 in Virginia. Majorities have a negative perception of the former first lady.

Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball ranks GOP, Dem 2016 presidential contenders

By Lynn R. Mitchell

If it’s Thursday, it’s time for Sabato’s Crystal Ball and time for this political junkie to get a needed fix.

The University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato’s weekly report is out and, in the list of Republican 2016 presidential contenders, Jeb Bush still tops the Top Tier. In this issue, Dr. Sabato also covers the Democratic presidential field.

Sabato’s “First Tier: The Leading Contenders” consists of Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Marco Rubio. All have proven leadership and solid conservative credentials but history has shown voters usually go for candidates who have been governors which bodes well for Bush and Walker. Not as much so for U.S. senators which is something that could affect Rubio, not to mention that his presence in the Senate is badly needed at this time.

It’s not the 1990s anymore … 24/7 news cycle, the internet, and not controlling the narrative

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Jennifer Rubin’s “Right Turn” at the Washington Post nails Hillary Clinton’s uphill battle in the new media world (see Hillary Clinton can’t control her awful narrative):

There is something ironic about Hillary Clinton, whose fetish for control and secrecy is well known, going to the trouble of setting up an alternate e-mail system so that no one would find something incriminating that would set off a media firestorm. Didn’t work out so well, huh? We go on irony overload when she gives a news conference meant to “control the narrative” that explodes in her face, sending a million particles — tweets, blog posts, columns, radio spots, TV segments — cascading through the media, 99 percent of which were negative.

The internet and 24/7 news cycles today are far different than the 1990s when the Clintons were in the White House, a time when it was easier to control the narrative:

Hillary Clinton and her lack of ‘likeability’ factor is polar opposite of Bob McDonnell

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Monica Crowley has a piece over at The Washington Times about Hillary Clinton and email-gate (see The real reason Hillary is in trouble). In it, Crowley notes all the issues swirling about Hillary but boils her troubles down to one thing: “No one likes her.”

Crowley goes on to say:

This is the hard truth that has popped up like a vicious migraine: No one — not even many of her fellow Democrats and leftists in the mainstream media — likes her very much. Her negative poll numbers (particularly on issues of honesty and trustworthiness) have always been high, except during much of her tenure as secretary of state. But her negatives are now back with a vengeance.

Goldberg: If GOP purists sit out 2016, they could be cause of Hillary in White House

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Bernie Goldberg made a couple of observations in his latest column (see End the GOP civil war; sign the pledge). After explaining that some Republican candidates showed up in Iowa, he noted an accurate comment from NJ Governor Chris Christie:

As reported in the New York Times, [Chris Christie] “cautioned against requiring a candidate to pass conservative litmus tests.”

“If that’s the standard we hold each other to as a party we will never win another national election,” he told the conservative crowd.

That’s just the kind of thing that riles true-blue conservatives. But he’s right.

Goldberg went on to explain the futility and folly of that kind of thinking:

LTE: ‘Former governor did not receive a fair trial’

[Editor’s note: This letter to the editor appeared in the Progress-Index on December 31, 2014.]

As the sentencing date for former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s conviction on corruption charges approaches, one wonders “Did Gov. McDonnell receive a fair trial?” Consider:

During the Fourth of July weekend in 2013, a rumor surfaced that McDonnell was about to plead guilty and resign from office. Due to the holiday weekend, the rumor received wide publicity before it could be discredited. McDonnell’s image was severely tarnished and there were several calls for his resignation.

Larry Sabato puts Jeb Bush at top of 2016 GOP field

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The Crystal Ball is out with its latest political observations but what particularly caught my attention was the 2016 Republican presidential field (see 2016 Presidential Update: For Republicans, a Vacancy at the Top).

Larry Sabato, Kyle Kondik, and Geoffrey Skelley at the U.Va. Center for Politics have weighed in with their latest thoughts as Republicans scramble to find a top-runner even as Democrats seemingly settle on Hillary Clinton as their 2016 nominee.

Latest 2016 poll shows Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton as frontrunners

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The Associated Press-GfK released a new poll Saturday to gauge public reaction to 2016 presidential candidates. The results were good news for Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.

Governor Bush led the field of Republican possibilities with 56 percent. Hillary Clinton led the Democratic field with 71 percent.

For complete results see Bush, Clinton popular in 2016 prez polls.