Subject: Stitch Scooplet: Pro-Hillary Web Ad Hits Trump on Businesses, Calls Him 'Con Man'; Stitch Chat with Sen. Chris Coons on Foreign Policy
From: Jonathan Allen <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 May 2016 12:53:29 +0000
List-Id: dff5dea186e38c29c57ca6f8fmc list <dff5dea186e38c29c57ca6f8f.326717.list-id.mcsv.net>

** WHAT'S THE STITCH
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The Stitch is a morning news speed-read highlighting the work and insights ofNewsmakers. It's followed by a daily chat on hot political topics.

** TODAY'S SIDEWIRE CHATS
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9:30 a.m. Eastern — SEN. CHRIS COONS (https://www.coons.senate.gov/about)  (D-DE) joins the Stitch to talk about the Iran nuclear deal and how foreign policy will affect the 2016 elections.
11:30 a.m. Eastern — JAIME HARRISON (http://www.harrisonforsc.com/about) , chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, debuts his "CHAIR CHATS" series by chatting with fromer White House Communications Director ANITA DUNN (http://www.skdknick.com/staff/anita-dunn/)  about the selection of a running mate.

** STITCH SCOOPLET: SUPERPAC WEB AD SAYS 'TRUMP'S A CON MAN'
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PRIORITIES USA, the pro-Clinton superPAC, is up with a new Web ad that calls Donald Trump a "con man."

In it, Trump talks about his success as a businessman as stamps with the words "failed," "bankrupt" and "fraud" flash on the screen over top of various ventures from his branded steaks to an Atlantic City casino and his Trump University.

At the end, Trump repeats the words "believe me" as the words "con man" appear on the screen.

Click here (https://youtu.be/A_xkd_hWojc)  to watch it.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Clinton's biggest vulnerability to Trump right now is the perception that he would be better for jobs and the economy. In a CNN/ORC poll earlier this month, Clinton led Trump by double digits overall, but he held a 50 percent to 45 percent lead on the economy.

And note that Clinton recently started talking about the role her husband, Bill Clinton, would play on the economy if she wins the White House (a formulation that New York Times columnist Gail Collins says she should drop (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/opinion/subtract-one-clinton.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region&region=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region) ).

Hillary Clinton doesn't have a deep background in economics and has been, until this point, leaning on her own platform and Bill Clinton's record to recommend her as a good steward of the economy.

If Trump can convince the American public that he's a great businessman and could replicate his success in the corporate world for the rest of the country, Clinton is in trouble.

She doesn't have to beat him on the economy, but it's usually the No. 1 issue. So, fighting him to a draw or a near-draw would seem imperative.

That's one of the reasons I write for Roll Call today (http://www.rollcall.com/news/opinion/column)  that Clinton should put VA Secretary Robert McDonald, a former CEO of the Fortune 50 Procter & Gamble, on her vice presidential short list.

** SIDEWIRE CHAT RECAP: "4 X 2"
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In yesterday's edition of the recurring chat "4 X 2," MIKE MURPHY hosted comedy writer JON MACKS, an eight-time Emmy Award nominee who wrote for The Tonight Show for 22 years and has supplied his writing talent to a wide range of comedians and political figures.
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Jon, they have a 250 char limit on this, so I can't squeeze in the whole bio, but I'll add you wrote an interesting book: Monologue: What Makes America Laugh Before Bed. Welcome. Q1: how does the am news turn into laughs on late night TV?"

—Mike Murphy / Sidewire Chat '4 X 2' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/0d2221b2-b6ca-4834-90f0-c783c1ecb743)

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"For me I'd go to a few websites, write down topics, generally political then start writing. By 2 p.m I'd have 100 jokes for monologue. Today I'd of course focus on KY and Oregon. Leno would pick 25 or so..."

—Jon Macks / '4 X 2' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/1a54f583-443a-4570-a7a3-de8976f5c5a4)

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"How many guys would be on staff? Any KY or Oregon joke pitches off the top of your head, if you were writing today?"

—Murphy / '4 X 2' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/cd82cf2d-b1fd-4dad-962b-bf3f2528d78f)

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"16 writers on staff. Joke. Hillary won the Kentucky narrowly. In honor of the event today she wore a bluegrass colored pantssuit. And Bernie won Oregon. Best day for him since they invented flomax."

—Macks / '4 X 2' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/38543050-ddba-437a-93e2-9b6d474b9b5d)

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ON WHICH LATE-NIGHT SHOWS POLITICIANS SHOULD DO
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"My experience back when with McCain in 2000 was Leno had a more meat and potatoes audience; good for GOP. Colbert is trying to be a political platform now, but I'd send my guy to Fallon today. Younger, hipper, safe and friendly. You?"

—Murphy / '4 X 2' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/fc65240b-631a-41fc-84f5-d96d84a8e6bc)

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"Fallon if you have no real charisma as Jimmy will help you out; for more back and forth Conan. And lately I might go Corden. Very strong. But it's not like when Jay was on. It's a lot "lighter" nowadays, no chance for a message around the comedy."

—Macks / '4 X 2' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/2cf1df7d-cc2d-42bc-9b82-447faeb5a1b5)

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"Other thing I'd say is late night is a non-filtered way to get a fun, softer message out to larger audience. And it gets covered and amplified as a process story since it's infotainment."

—Murphy / '4 X 2' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/a08d95ba-999e-4a1b-8590-6a436b242255)

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ON ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER'S 'TONIGHT SHOW' SURPRISE
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"He asked me to write some lines for him to say as if he was not running. He opened with one about this being the most painful decision he had since his 1978 bikini wax. Once he said that I figured he's not running. The he stunned Jay me and the world ... When he announced his consultant asked for a private room so he could call Maria. So I guess she didn't know about it." —Macks / '4 X 2' part 1 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/b987c7e8-cb60-41e1-ad18-4f0e1e1dc27b) ,part 2 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e/commentary/f1140dee-31a7-4ab5-9d2e-582952a19eac)

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Click here (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/673b0bf5a3352d7a2cd4d7c784f3e38e)  for the full chat.

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**
TRIVIAL PURSUITS
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ABOUT TODAY

With the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the Mexican-American war ended. The U.S. picked up California, Utah and Nevada and some states to be named later in the deal.

YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA

JIM SWIFT of the Weekly Standard was the first to correctly respond that Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) has served in both the House and Senate Republican leadership.

TODAY'S TRIVIA
Courtesy of Jim: Which former NFL quarterback designed the House's electronic vote scoreboard?

Send answers to [email-masked]. The first person to respond correctly gets to ask tomorrow's trivia question.

WHAT TO DO WITH NEWS TIPS, SUGGESTIONS & CORRECTIONS

Send them to [email-masked]

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**
SAVING THE SENATE: REPUBLICANS TRY TO FIND THE RIGHT MESSAGE
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PAUL KANE made the most of Sen. Pat Roberts' 80th birthday celebration to draw parallels between the 1996 campaign — when Senate Republicans scrambled to save their majority as their former leader, Bob Dole, headed for certain defeat at the top of the ticket — and the 2016 election.

Why so clever? The top Republicans from 1996 — Dole, then-Sen. Majority Leader Trent Lott and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich — were in attendance for Roberts' big day.

Lott's strategy back then was to present the Senate as productive on the legislative front and as an independent check on President Bill Clinton, a posture that suggested Dole would lose.
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"What I wanted to do was save the Senate."

—Trent Lott / WaPo (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/0415f3a88b88c1412b6adc04a126f76a)

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Now, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) says there will be a reprise of the independent-check argument (but he's not handing the election to Clinton in his framing).
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"“If I were running in 2016, I would be running as a check on the president, certainly on a President Clinton but I think even President Trump. ... Obviously he’s not what I’d call a traditional Republican.”

—Sen. John Cornyn / WaPo (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/0415f3a88b88c1412b6adc04a126f76a)

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**
BERNIE GOING FOR BROKE
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PATRICK HEALY, YAMICHE ALCINDOR & JEREMY W. PETERS report for the New York Times that Bernie Sanders' advisers say he is fully committed to winning the nomination by any political means necessary.

That has infuriated Hillary Clinton supporters who think that his aggressiveness at a time when he is all but assured of losing the nomination could hurt the party's chances in November. And they are particularly upset by reports of his Sanders' supporters threatening Democratic officials who back Clinton or are perceived as unfair to Sanders.
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"Bernie and I have known each other for a long time, and I believe he is better than this."

—Senate Minority Leader HARRY REID / NYT (http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/19/us/politics/bernie-sanderss-campaign-accuses-head-of-dnc-of-favoritism.html?ref=politics)

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** SIDEWIRE CHAT RECAP: MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR BETSY HODGES
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TRACY SEFL & ANA MARIE COX hosted Minneapolis Mayor BETSY HODGES (http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/mayor/about-hodges)  on the recurring Sidewire Chat "CENTRAL TIME" yesterday. They talked about Prince, Pope Francis and Wonder Woman.
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"First and foremost, RIP Prince. Can you share with us what it's been like in Minneapolis, and for you, with his death?"

—Tracy Sefl / Sidewire Chat 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/9dc4ec27-f684-48a2-9994-b16d67b0f1b1)

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"The community is still mourning. We were of him and he was of us. A lot of it has been beautiful celebrations of him and his work. We loved him and love him still."

—Mayor Betsy Hodges / 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/8da4c1e5-c4c7-4f51-8f93-7e6a3ecff4ee)

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ON HER STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS
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"I based my SOTC address this year on the idea of "deep truth" — a truth whose negation is also true. It comes from scientist Niels Bohr (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1922/bohr-bio.html)  (yes, I am a nerd). In science an example is that it is true that light is a wave — and true that it is a particle. ... In Mpls, it is true that we are an amazing, remarkable city. It is also true that we are a city with great challenges, particularly regarding race. That duality, those deep truths, are the state of the city."

—Hodges / 'Central Time' part 1 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/56260167-b7df-44a7-a7ef-0d8b28ad6252) , part 2 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/e7f632df-90d5-4f7f-a925-72a709b862d4)

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ON POPE PHOTOS
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"You traveled with a few other US mayors to meet the Pope. [dramatic pause] That. Is. Amazing. Highlights of the trip?"

—Sefl / 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/6ccc8aa8-08ad-4580-bfae-2901a9b3fa13)

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"Highlights were having an audience with the Pope, of course. He pulled us mayors together about climate change and human trafficking. It's surreal to have photos of the pope on your phone that you took yourself."

—Hodges / 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/608e5985-a500-42d4-9fcb-4bc0fbeb8b4a)

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"Did the meeting with Pope go well? Are you pals now? He seems like he'd be good at texting."

—Ana Marie Cox / 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/c8c8d182-309a-4ff2-9e2c-4ff4b20e21f2)

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"Pope Francis looks just like himself in person, and he spoke to us for some time about how important mayors are in addressing climate change. He said it would have to happen from the periphery to the center."

—Hodges / 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/c164d209-80a0-4580-bdc0-7f82544db949)

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ON CLINTON'S RUNNING MATE
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"There have been rumors that Hillary might look at our Sen. Al Franken as her veep: care to comment on that choice or any other? (Perhaps she should choose a mayor! I heard that mayors are the new governors...)"

—Cox / 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/ae44cccb-e487-43b5-88c3-ba4b38fad76d)

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"Al Franken is amazing and v good at his job. I'd hate to lose him but I understand why she would want him. I hear she might look at former mayors, and that would be great, too."

—Hodges / 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/b4852509-4431-4c5e-ad6e-d2db851383e7)

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ON HILLARY CLINTON & WONDER WOMAN
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"Last question, and we'll let you go: you're a Wonder Woman memorabilia collector. What item(s) would you loan to Hillary for the coming months?"

—Sefl / 'Central Time' (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/6d00fb45-4eaf-4c82-a325-36a446c12438)

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"She's already got the bullet deflecting cuffs, so I would give her the lasso of truth. ... Maybe a frequent flyer pass to Paradise Island so she could get a boost from the sisterhood whenever she wanted."

—Hodges / 'Central Time' part 1 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/caefd1fd-73a2-427b-9ed0-7ccc31f90db4) , part 2 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/738c63f3-f34d-44a1-83f1-d679dd031220)

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"Pretty sure journalists could use that as well. (After she uses it on them?)"

—Cox / 'Central Time (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c/commentary/389e1125-d53a-4a32-b42d-beb9039ef46d)

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Click here (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/9693b47293c86c00e2452bbb9c4d921c)  for the full "CENTRAL TIME" chat.

**
SIDEWIRE CHAT: ED RENDELL
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Former Pennsylvania Gov. ED RENDELL, co-founder of Building America's Future, chatted about the nation's infrastructure on Sidewire yesterday in conjunction with Infrastructure Week.

Here's a bit of what he had to say:

ON THE CHALLENGES OF GETTING BUY-IN
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"Everyone in Congress knows we need to invest in our infrastructure because it is literally falling apart and causing us to lose economic competitiveness in the global marketplace. But no one wants to bite the bullet and take the risk of increasing the funding. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to go to hell."

—Former Gov. Ed Rendell / Sidewire part 1 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510/commentary/73f87dbb-aa63-4b3d-b87b-560cb58f7863) , part 2 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510/commentary/fbd44ad0-a296-4713-9163-a232a8842e86)

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ON THE '16 CAMPAIGN'S IMPLICATIONS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS
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"The good news, however, is that all three candidates - Clinton, Trump and Sanders — have said that long term infrastructure revitalization is a key issue for them and all three understand it's the best way to create millions of well...And they also recognize that it's a key to revitalizing American manufacturing."

—Rendell / Sidewire part 1 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510/commentary/edab1816-f305-4b24-8b92-d88260c5a092) , part 2 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510/commentary/aab8b573-d871-459b-b9c8-5e7ed8520193)

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"How do you feel about a Mexican border wall as an infrastructure project?"

—Jonathan Allen / Sidewire (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510/commentary/b4bd6783-99bf-46c9-91a9-d9560db0498a)

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"It may not be the dumbest idea I've ever heard. But it's awfully close."

—Rendell/ Sidewire (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510/commentary/dc26d873-7bbe-4b95-ae8a-06dfba8d12c7)

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ON THE TOP INFRASTRUCTURE PRIORITIES
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"People generally seem to focus on transportation infrastructure and there are pressing needs there. But the immediate need exists in almost every facet of our infrastructure — water and sewer lines, pipelines, the build out of the electrical grid...Broadband access, dams, ports, etcetera, etcetera."

—Rendell / Sidewire part 1 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510/commentary/0087e640-4362-4a59-bdf4-5718ed990390) , part 2 (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510/commentary/ea28a154-e99b-4a27-9bc2-d2ae90e16563)

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Click here (https://sidewire.com/politics/articles/516bdcdfac3dfb8351ebf04073420510)  for the full chat.

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Is Trump vulnerable to attacks on his business acumen or does the public's association of him with wealth over the years make that an impossible narrative to undermine?

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