Tag: 2016

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With No Announcement On Democratic Race, Vice-President Biden Will Skip First Debate

Vice-President Joe Biden has decided to keep the political world waiting just a bit longer before he announces whether or not he will seek the 2016 Democratic nomination for president.

From CNN:

He is not preparing for the first Democratic debate on October 13 in Las Vegas and is not expected to participate, people close to him say, because he feels no pressure to reach a decision by then. He is likely to reveal his plans in the second half of October.

For more than two months, Biden has been studying the mechanics of what it would take to launch a candidacy. He and his team have been inundated by mounds of research and battle plans, but his original end-of-summer deadline passed without him reaching a conclusion.

The speculation about Biden’s future has reached a fever pitch, fueled by Democrats searching for an alternative to Hillary Clinton or a backup plan in case her candidacy falters. But with every passing week, many Democrats close to Biden are hardening in their beliefs that he will ultimately decide against challenging Clinton and the rest of the party’s field.

I personally am of a mind that Biden will not jump into the race. As he mentioned in an interview a few weeks ago, he’s “wasn’t there yet.”

And I think it says something to the primary voters if he’s this undecided at this late a date.

I like Joe, but I don’t think it’s the right decision for him. And I think he knows that.

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Mixed Results For Donald Trump In New USA Today/Suffolk University Poll

A new poll by USA TODAY/Suffolk University shows Donald Trump continues at the top of that poll with strong staying power.

Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina share second place with 13% each, and Sen. Marco Rubio lands at #4 with 9%.

Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz lag in 5th and 6th with 8% and 6% respectively.

I have to note, though, that the results come from polling 380 likely Republican primary voters. That’s not a huge number to gauge what I’d call “the national mood.”

Here’s some cognitive dissonance for you, though. In spite of strong support, check out the first words that come to mind when describing Trump and Fiorina.

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Hillary Clinton On The Specifics Of Foreign Policy In Middle East

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton does a deep dive into foreign policy with Chuck Todd on the inaugural episode of MTP Daily.

Note the calm grasp of very complex issues here. This is someone who knows what she’s talking about.

In an interview on MSNBC’s MTP Daily, Clinton said fighting ISIS would be “very difficult” with Assad still in place and she would “prioritize both” because “you can’t really do one without the other.” She added that “ousting Assad has to be a political process.”

“I think that we’re going to have to, as they say, walk and chew gum at the same time. And that will be to, you know, do the best we can with our friends in the region to go after ISIS and try to, you know, push them out of Iraq and then try to, you know, deal with them and the territory they control in Syria,” Clinton said.

Clinton has advocated for more American involvement in arming the moderate Syrian rebels to fight both Assad and ISIS–in contrast with the Obama administration. Asked if reports that only a handful of rebels trained by the U.S. remain engaged in the fight represents a “failure in policy,” Clinton replied, “well, it is.”

“I can’t sit here and tell you that if we had done what I and General Petraeus and Secretary Panetta and others had recommended, we would have made more progress on the ground. I obviously thought so at the time,” Clinton added.

“If we had been able to move in, to help organize and support those people on the ground, maybe we could’ve made a difference. Well, we’ve got to deal with where we are right now. It’s obviously now a different set of circumstances. And what the Pentagon has been doing hasn’t worked.”

On the fight against ISIS, Clinton said, “I think part of the challenge that President Obama’s been facing is to build up the Iraqi forces again after Maliki decimated them. And to get them in a fighting position and to get the Kurds, particularly the Peshmerga able to be fully equipped then to try to go after ISIS in Iraq and Ramadi and Mosul, pushing them out if possible.”

Can you even imagine Donald Trump having this level of discussion about foreign affairs?

“Chuck, we’d be yuuuuuuuge in the middle East. Yuuuuuuge. They’re a bunch of losers.”

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Vice-President Joe Biden Denounces Donald Trump’s “Sick Message”

Thank goodness for Vice-President Joe Biden calling out Donald Trump’s “no facts – insult, insult, insult” approach to campaigning.

Everything Joe says here is spot on.

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Biden blasts Trump for his ‘sick message.’
Posted by Business Insider on Wednesday, September 16, 2015

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Poll: Donald Trump And Ben Carson In Virtual Tie For GOP Nomination

A new NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll shows Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson pretty much neck and neck in the current race for the GOP White House nomination.

Trump comes in with 21% of those polled with Carson right there at 20% – a virtual dead heat when you take in the margin of error.

Carly Fiorina and Sen. Marco Rubio coming in tied with 11% each on the heels of strong performances at the second GOP debate.

In the race for the Democratic nod, Hillary Clinton (42%) still leads Sen. Bernie Sanders (35%) by 7 points IF you factor in a possible Vice-President Joe Biden (17%) run. Remove Biden from the picture and her support jumps to 53% versus Sanders 38% – a 15 point lead.

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Bernie Sanders Explains “What Is A Democratic Socialist?”

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Bernie Sanders on what America can learn from "socialist" coun…Bernie Sanders breaks down what America can learn from prosperous "socialist" countries like Denmark.Video by Occupy Democrats, LIKE our page for morePosted by Occupy Democrats on Thursday, September 3, 2015

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Jeb Bush: Democrats Win African-American Votes By Promising “Free Stuff”

At a campaign stop in South Carolina Thursday night, Jeb Bush seem to insinuate that Democrats win the African-American vote because they promise “free stuff.”

The comment was reminiscent of Mitt Romney’s 2012 statement, “your friends who like Obamacare, you remind them of this, if they want more stuff from government tell them to go vote for the other guy — more free stuff.”

From the Washington Post:

“Look around this room,” a man told Bush, who spoke to a mostly white crowd. “How many black faces do you see? How are you going to include them and get them to vote for you?” asked the man, who was white.

Bush pointed to his record on school choice and said that if Republicans could double their share of the black vote, they would win the swing states of Ohio and Virginia.

“Our message is one of hope and aspiration,” he said at the East Cooper Republican Women’s Club annual Shrimp Dinner. “It isn’t one of division and get in line and we’ll take care of you with free stuff. Our message is one that is uplifting — that says you can achieve earned success.”