American voters got a preview of the presidential debates this week.
During Wednesday’s “Commander-in-Chief” forum, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump appeared separately for 30 minutes each, taking questions about military, national security and veterans issues that the next “commander-in-chief” will face.
Clinton was grilled about her handling of email and her 2002 vote supporting the Iraq War. Trump was asked about his plans to defeat ISIS and his admiration for Vladimir Putin.
If the reaction by political pundits are any gauge, style will be as important as substance in determining who won the debates.
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A Debate Preview for Clinton & Trump
Posted September 9th, 2016 at 3:55 pm (UTC-5)
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Putin, Trump & Clinton
Posted August 1st, 2016 at 5:20 pm (UTC-5)
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Television interviews of both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton over the weekend created more controversy for both candidates on issues that have dogged them so far this campaign season.
In an interview with FOX News, Clinton said the FBI Director backed up her claims that she did not send any classified information over her private email server. The Washington Post’s fact-checker begs to disagree with the Democratic nominee.
Meantime Trump doubled down on an feud with the parents of an American war hero. Capt. Humayun Khan was killed in 2004 by a suicide car bomb in Iraq. He was awarded the Bronze Star for saving his unit and Iraqi civilians.
And Trump’s responses to questions about Russia and Ukraine just added to last week’s controversy about his suggestion that Russia try to hack into Hillary Clinton’s email to find the 33,000 emails that she deleted from her private server.
Add to the intrigue a new report detailing the connections between the Clinton Foundation and a U.S.-Russia cooperative effort to create an Silicon Valley-like “innovation city” in Russia while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.
And there are just 99 days to go before Election Day.
James Comey’s Abuse of Power
Posted July 7th, 2016 at 4:08 pm (UTC-5)
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In a case where the government decides it will not submit its assertions to that sort of rigorous scrutiny by bringing charges, it has the responsibility to not besmirch someone’s reputation by lobbing accusations publicly instead…Comey ignored those rules…
FBI Director on Clinton’s Email: ‘Extremely Careless’ but No Prosecution
Posted July 6th, 2016 at 2:49 pm (UTC-5)
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Hillary Clinton will not be prosecuted for her “extremely careless” handling of email while secretary of state. But the country’s top cop called her credibility and judgment into question.
FBI Director James Comey’s explanation of and conclusions drawn from the investigation into Clinton was riveting as an act of political and legal theater. He did not deliver what Clinton foes wanted: an indictment, a prosecution.
But he did deliver something almost as damaging: a narrative that jabs at her Achilles heel, the issue of trust.
Political pundits and legal scholars are prosecuting their own cases.
Trump & Clinton: Holiday on the Hustings
Posted July 1st, 2016 at 3:02 pm (UTC-5)
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Heading into the 4th of July weekend, the U.S. presidential race is still relatively close. The Real Clear Politics average of political polls puts Hillary Clinton 4.8 percentage points ahead of Donald Trump.
While it’s still too early to put much stock in polls, it’s notable that a Fox News poll shows a majority of Republicans would prefer someone other than Trump as their party’s nominee.
Trump spent the week blasting the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, taking on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, usually a reliable backer of Republican policies. He also said his former Republican presidential rivals should “never be allowed to run for public office again” because they are breaking a pledge to back the party’s nominee. Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Jeb Bush have yet to endorse Trump.
Clinton spent the week fending off two issues that claw at her credibility. Wednesday’s report from a special House of Representative committee investigating the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya and a meeting between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch as an FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email server is still pending.
With party conventions scheduled for the last two weeks of July, Trump and Clinton are vetting possible running mates and trying to turn around what are still the highest disapproval ratings for any presidential candidate.
Democratic Party Drama
Posted January 22nd, 2016 at 3:10 pm (UTC-5)
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Benghazi. A private email server. Whitewater. All scandals with the name Clinton attached. Ever since the Clinton’s came to Washington more than 20 years ago, controversy has plagued the power couple, who have built a very loyal following right along side a long list of enemies. Now as the former First Lady, senator from New York, and former Secretary of State makes her case to be President of the United States, she faces an unexpectedly tough battle from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has attracted support from Americans who are tired of business as usual in Washington. It has widely been assumed that the Democratic Party nomination was Hillary’s to lose. But with polls showing more and more voters supporting non-mainstream candidates like Sanders (and billionaire Donald Trump on the Republican side), there are concerns that, despite her gravitas, Hillary’s credibility gap has weakened her hold on Democrats.
Democrats Worry About the ‘Probable, but No Longer Inevitable’ Hillary Clinton
Posted August 19th, 2015 at 2:56 pm (UTC-5)
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Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid is hitting bumps in the road. Her resume is one that campaign professionals would drool over: Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, First Lady. But with the recent slow drip of details about her emailing habits as Secretary of State, combined with a history of tough media scrutiny, there is concern about her candidacy. With fellow Democratic contender Bernie Sanders nipping at her heels, party operators are asking whether she can weather the gathering storms.