Subject: Re: Returns Day
From: <[email-masked]>
To: "Alcorn, Josh" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Biden, Hunter" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 16:38:47 +0000 (UTC)

Josh- 

Glad you raised this. 

Clearly I have a different impression based on the email I sent. I think the difference can be traced to two things. My very low expectations for what we will get from the News Journal, and years of observing that not that many people get the paper, few read the political stories, and very very few read them from beginning to end. I watched the news Journal throw everything but the kitchen sink and beau in 2006 with little effect on the final outcome. 

First - The snarky comments such as " But for now, the clear 2016 wild card remains uncertainty about his candidacy – uncertainty created by Biden himself." were going to be in the article no matter what any of us did. 
Second - Beau has been absent from the scene and the News journal will report that until he returns no matter what we do. We will deal with the FOIA. 

Third-you would be right if we picked Tom Gordon, but we didn't and won't. the chattering class picked him. The most important thing about the article other than the pictures is that the two democrats, Gordon and Carney, who had been picked by the chattering class to be competitive woth Beau made it crystal clear they were not playing. 

Fourth - forget Chris coons - he is small and not just in stature. 

Finally, I TOTALLY AGREE with your comments - 

Finally, there was nothing we could have done to make this article better. Starkey wouldn't take a comment from me. He wanted Beau. On the phone. On the record. 

I grant you that the photos from Returns Day were excellent. 

Keep being the canary in the mine. You are on the frontline. But, trust me to tell you when you have passed out from the gas. So far, Beau and you are doing a great job, and the canary is alive and kicking. 

Ted 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Alcorn, Josh" <[email-masked]> 
To: "Biden, Hunter" <[email-masked]>, "kaufman, ted" <[email-masked]> 
Sent: Monday, November 10, 2014 9:58:06 AM 
Subject: Re: Returns Day 

Hunter, Ted, 

I'm clearly in the minority here. I've shared my thoughts with Alex and Molly, and took a full day to process the story. I still think it's a terrible story for Beau. I'm definitely thinking too much about this, probably weighing it to heavily, and focusing too much on the small group of people who have influence and care about these things (at the expense of the much larger pool of voters and supporters). I have heard from you both before that we shouldn't worry about what the "insiders" are saying. I get your point. But please hear me out. 

First, this line: " But for now, the clear 2016 wild card remains uncertainty about his candidacy – uncertainty created by Biden himself." I think one lesson from the midterms is that there's a real sense of voter depression or apathy or disgust or whatever you want to call it. They just don't trust politicians. Beau should be above that, as his fav/unfav numbers show. But the idea that he's hiding something (which I think Starkey will be fleshing out in a future story) will erode that support. 

Second, this line: Biden's public absence has served to spark speculation about additional Democratic candidates in 2016. Starkey is setting up his next story - he FOIA'd Beau's public schedule, and will try to make the case that he's not been in the office or doing his job. Which is bull shit, but we're on the defensive, clearly. 

Third, I'm not comfortable with Tom Gordon being our chief defender. The guy is a slime ball, and it's only a matter of time before he sticks a knife in our back. He's setting himself up for a run in 2016 if Beau doesn't. He is working to associate himself with us, so that if Beau doesn't run, it appears he's "our guy." The rumors swirling - I know what you're thinking, just bear with me - are that Beau and Gordon have cut a deal - Beau pretends he's running and then drops out, throwing his support to Gordon. I've heard it directly from one person and a handful of others have told me they've heard the same thing. It's ridiculous, I know. But in the absence of real information, people tend to think to the extremes. Tom Gordon defending us only fuels these rumors. 

Fourth, fuck Chris Coons. 

Finally, there was nothing we could have done to make this article better. Starkey wouldn't take a comment from me. He wanted Beau. On the phone. On the record. We've run out of rope with him. He's given us space, but he's coming in for the kill now. His next article will be really bad for us. At this point, the best we can do is hope we can work to water these stories down. But there's only so much watering down we can do. 

I grant you that the photos from Returns Day were excellent. And this article didn't destroy us. I think I'm trying to be the canary in the coal mine here. There's bad things a coming, and this article plants some of the seeds. I hurts us with the insiders so easily disparaged, but I really think those people matter - when it comes to rumors and wild speculation like this. 

On Sun, Nov 9, 2014 at 10:26 AM, Hunter Biden < [email-masked] > wrote: 

I love CC more and more as time goes on... 

RHB 
202.333.1880 

On Nov 9, 2014, at 7:43 AM, [email-masked] wrote: 

<blockquote>

News Journal article this am was great -- everyone was clear B is running (save for the guy at the end not being able to contain his smugness) and clearly B's appearance at Returns Day changed the tone. 

I can't figure out how to copy/paste it from my phone... 

ASM 

On Nov 7, 2014, at 1:37 PM, [email-masked] wrote: 

<blockquote>

Every once in a while something really big happens. For Beau, yesterday was one of those days. What actually happened at the event, the reception for Beau, the coverage of what happened and the pictures in the Humvee made it a very big deal. 

Congratulations to everyone involved. 

Sent from Xfinity Connect Mobile App 

</blockquote>

</blockquote>

-- 

Joshua Alcorn 
302/598.1885 (cell)