Subject: Correct The Record Tuesday September 2, 2014 Morning Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 08:40:32 -0400
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

**

*Correct The Record Tuesday September 2, 2014 Morning Roundup:*

*Headlines:*

*Associated Press: “2016ers Jockey Even Before Congressional Elections”
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MIDTERM_ELECTIONS_2016?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>*

“The former secretary of state's every word will be parsed for her future
plans. But Clinton has been offering plenty of hints that she's preparing
for another campaign.”

*MSNBC: “Hillary super PAC makes moves in South Carolina”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-super-pac-makes-moves-south-carolina-granholm>*

“Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm is headlining a major Democratic
event in South Carolina later this month on behalf of Ready for Hillary,
the pro-Clinton super PAC.”

*National Journal: “Why Democrats Are Headed for Vegas”
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-democrats-are-headed-for-vegas-20140902>*

“That's because on Thursday in Las Vegas possible presidential contender
Hillary Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will preside over the
senator's eighth clean-energy summit, an event that is emerging as a key
stop in Nevada and Democratic Party politics.”

*Wall Street Journal: “How the 2016 GOP Presidential Wannabes Spent the
Summer”
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-the-2016-gop-presidential-wannabes-spent-the-summer-1409595721>*

“Whereas the early Democratic contest can be summarized in four simple
words—is Hillary Clinton inevitable?—the Republican cast of characters has,
over the course of the summer, sorted itself into a matrix of different
categories defined by the potential candidates' varied circumstances and
strategies.”

*New York Times: “Christie Studies Foreign Affairs for a 2016 Test”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/us/politics/chris-christies-trip-to-mexico-doubles-as-a-foreign-policy-test.html?_r=0>*

“Similar doubts about the international savvy of other potential Republican
presidential candidates have prompted some to begin a crash course, seeking
to catch up with the experience and prestige of a likely Democratic
front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

*The Hill blog: Briefing Room: “Sanders calls for agenda 'for all
Americans'”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/216352-sanders-calls-for-agenda-for-all-americans>*

“Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, is considering
challenging Clinton in the hopes of taking advantage of fears among party
members that she is too close for comfort with Wall Street.”

*New York Times column: Frank Bruni: “Obama’s Messy Words”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/opinion/frank-bruni-obamas-messy-words.html>*

“Echoing Hillary Clinton to some degree, Senator Dianne Feinstein just
complained that Obama was perhaps ‘too cautious.’”

*Articles:*

*Associated Press: “2016ers Jockey Even Before Congressional Elections”
<http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MIDTERM_ELECTIONS_2016?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT>*

By Steve Peoples and Ken Thomas

September 1, 2014, 10:09 a.m. EDT

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) -- One set of elections ends in early November as
another begins when presidential hopefuls cross the unofficial starting
line in the 2016 race for the White House.

With control of the Senate at stake, the months leading up to the mid-term
elections offer a clearer window on a crowd of potential presidential
candidates already jockeying for position from Nevada to New Hampshire.
Their cross-country touring will intensify this fall under the gaze of
voters who will pick their parties' nominees. Look for the would-be
contenders to road-test rhetoric, expand coalitions, and consider their own
political flaws-while keeping close watch on each other.

Democrats want Hillary Rodham Clinton to carry their flag; the Republican
field remains crowded, and wide open. The presidential jousting will be
most apparent in states like New Hampshire, home to the first-in-the-nation
presidential primary and the site of closely-watched races for governor,
Senate and the House.

Whichever party controls the Senate after the November 4 balloting-Republicans
need a six-seat gain to win the majority-will say much about what President
Barack Obama can accomplish in the final two years of his presidency and
the tone of the race to succeed him.

"The end of the 2014 general election does, in a sense, commence a
beginning of the presidential primary phase," says New Hampshire Republican
operative Rich Killion. "But an informal, unofficial opening to the process
already is underway."

Here's a look at potential 2016 candidates and what to expect this fall:

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON:

The former secretary of state's every word will be parsed for her future
plans. But Clinton has been offering plenty of hints that she's preparing
for another campaign.

Her biggest splash could come in Iowa, where she'll join her husband at
Sen. Tom Harkin's annual steak fry fundraiser in Indianola on Sept. 14. The
event is billed as a tribute to Harkin, but will generate wide interest as
Clinton's first visit to Iowa since losing the 2008 caucuses.

Clinton has limited her campaign activity since leaving the State
Department, but this fall should give voters a more concrete look at how
she might present her candidacy. Her allies are wary of a "third Obama
term" label, so Clinton's speeches and appearances offer a chance to
distinguish herself from the president.

She will raise money for Democrats' four major campaign committees and
could help several Senate campaigns where Obama remains a liability.

JOE BIDEN:

Vice President Joe Biden has not ruled out a third presidential bid and
expects to be an active surrogate for Democrats this fall. Whether he'd
challenge Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination remains the
big question.

Biden headlined high-profile meetings with young voters, liberals and
African-Americans. He's also raised money for congressional candidates in
Nevada and incumbent governors in Connecticut and Illinois. Biden is
expected to visit New Hampshire, where he maintains ties to party
activists, and Iowa, where Rep. Bruce Braley faces Joni Ernst in one of the
top Senate battlegrounds.

OTHER DEMOCRATS:

Several Democrats are building for a national campaign in case Clinton
doesn't run - or considering a longshot challenge.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has been the most active, raising money for
candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire and traveling to states with active
mid-term contests.

Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb recently traveled to Iowa. Vermont Sen.
Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, plans to visit
the Hawkeye State in mid-September. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has
denied interest in the White House but would face pressure to run if
Clinton doesn't.

JEB BUSH

More than seven years out of office, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has been
quieter than some of his GOP colleagues as he focuses on his private
business dealings.

He recently said he'd begin a more aggressive schedule to help Republicans
this fall. He's set to headline a Florida fundraiser in late September to
benefit top Republican Senate candidates, a group expected to include Cory
Gardner in Colorado, Ernst in Iowa, Monica Wehby in Oregon and Tom Cotton
in Arkansas.

RAND PAUL

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has been perhaps the most aggressive prospective
candidate.

The ophthalmologist recently squeezed in a mission to perform eye surgeries
in Guatemala-and invited news organizations to cover it-between stops in
Iowa and South Carolina. He's confirmed September appearances in California
and Virginia, and October visits to North Carolina and New Hampshire, among
dozens more possible stops.

The libertarian-leaning Paul, the son of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul, is
trying to build on the small but passionate coalition assembled by his
father. The elder Paul wasn't taken seriously by many Republicans, but Rand
Paul has emerged as a leading GOP voice on foreign and domestic policy.

CHRIS CHRISTIE

Working to move past a bridge-clogging scandal that shadowed his plans, New
Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continues an aggressive travel schedule this
fall as chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Having already visited New Hampshire, he's announced a trip to South
Carolina, where he'll have a chance to test his message with more
conservative voters. He's also planning trips to Ohio, Wisconsin and
Florida.

Christie leads a delegation of New Jersey business and political leaders to
Mexico in early September, a trip that gives him a chance to bolster his
appeal with Latino voters and burnish his foreign policy chops. And at
home, Christie will unveil a budget plan that is sure to draw fury from
Democrats and union leaders.

RICK PERRY

Eyeing a second presidential bid, Texas Gov. Rick Perry was already facing
challenges related to his disastrous 2012 campaign before his recent felony
indictments.

His advisers suggest the charges could actually help his political
prospects, and he has pressed ahead with visits to Iowa, Washington, D.C.,
New Hampshire, and more.

Perry heads to Iowa in early September shortly before a weeklong economic
tour across Asia. He'll turn his attention to helping Republican governors
win reelection when he returns.

The Texas governor will launch a European tour in October.

OTHER REPUBLICANS:

The possible GOP field also includes Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
hopes to use his reelection test this fall as a springboard into 2016.
Others must convince skeptical party leaders they have mainstream appeal -
a group that includes conservative firebrand Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and social
conservative Rick Santorum.

*MSNBC: “Hillary super PAC makes moves in South Carolina”
<http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/hillary-super-pac-makes-moves-south-carolina-granholm>*

By Alex Seitz-Wald

September 1, 2014, 5:34 p.m. EDT

With Hillary Clinton giving few public appearances ahead of a possible
presidential run, some Democrats are happy to take the next best thing.

Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm is headlining a major Democratic
event in South Carolina later this month on behalf of Ready for Hillary,
the pro-Clinton super PAC. The South Carolina Democratic Party, which puts
on the annual Blue Jamboree fundraiser, perhaps the biggest Democratic
event in the state, reached out to Ready for Hillary to secure Granholm’s
appearance, according to a source familiar with the planning.

At the event, Granholm will deliver a $5,000 check from Ready for Hillary
to the state party, bringing the super PAC’s total contributions to the
federal maximum of $10,000. It cut a another $5,000 check to the state
party in June. The group has donated to more than two dozen state party
committees, including all of the early primary states.

It’s the first time a state party has asked Ready for Hillary for a
surrogate at a high-profile event like this. And it’s all part of the super
PAC’s mission to build relationships and curry favor with local officials
during the 2014 election cycle in lieu of Clinton herself, who has no
political staff and is still technically a private citizen. (Clinton and
the group cannot coordinate by law).

“Ready for Hillary is proud to support the efforts of the South Carolina
Democratic Party in this year’s election and beyond, and we will continue
to channel the energy and organization around a potential Hillary 2016
candidacy to help SCDP and 2014 candidates,” Seth Bringman, the super PAC’s
communications director, told msnbc.

The super PAC will also use its massive list to find supporters in South
Carolina and encourage them to purchase tickets to the Jamboree, much as
they are doing now ahead of Clinton’s appearance at an Iowa Democratic
Party event earlier in September.

As with Iowa, Clinton’s struggles in South Carolina in 2008 will loom large
if she decides to run again. Then-Sen. Barack Obama more than doubled
Clinton’s vote share – 55% to 26% – after Bill Clinton made a series of
comments that offended some African-Americans, who are the key Democratic
voting base in the Southern state.

Martin O’Malley, the Democratic governor of Maryland who is also
considering a presidential bid, announced last week that he’s sending four
staffers from his leadership PAC to help Democrats in South Carolina during
the midterms.

Ready for Hillary’s campaign-style bus also visited the state recently,
making the rounds of South Carolina colleges in mid-August. “Students were
drawn in by the Hillary Bus and the free Hillary posters, but we were then
able to tell them about the critical elections taking place this year, and
we’ll continue that conversation between now and November 4 to make sure
they vote and get involved,” added Bringman, who was at all five stops. The
bus will return to the state for the Jamboree and a Pride parade the week
before.

Tickets for the Blue Jamboree, which will be held in North Charleston
on September
27, start at $10 and go up to $250. The rest of the speakers announced so
far are mostly local to South Carolina.

*National Journal: “Why Democrats Are Headed for Vegas”
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/why-democrats-are-headed-for-vegas-20140902>*

By Michael Catalini

September 2, 2014

The Democratic Party's center of gravity will tilt toward Sin City this
week.

That's because on Thursday in Las Vegas possible presidential contender
Hillary Clinton and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will preside over the
senator's eighth clean-energy summit, an event that is emerging as a key
stop in Nevada and Democratic Party politics.

Superficially, the event gives green business leaders and policymakers an
opportunity to swap ideas and map out a sustainable course for Nevada's and
the nation's energy sectors.

Summit organizers say they've attracted 10,000 supporters in the Silver
State, with 250 businesses pledging to back clean-energy policies,
according to Lydia Ball, executive director of the Clean Energy Project,
which puts on the summit.

Businesses interested in hosting an exhibit at the Mandalay Bay Convention
Center will have to pay between $4,000 and $5,000 for a booth at the
event—"a boutique trade show," as Ball calls it. And 28 exhibition booths
are expected, according to an internal tally.

But the summit is also a hive of political activity.

The event is sponsored by Reid and the liberal think tank Center for
American Progress, among others, and has attracted some of the biggest
names in politics.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore have
headlined the event. Two years ago Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval spoke there.
White House counselor and former Clinton Chief of Staff John Podesta is
also a regular attendee, and at last year's event two party fundraisers
were held at the same location as the summit, according to local media
reports.

"I don't want to insult former President Clinton by suggesting his wife is
a bigger name," said former Reid aide Jim Manley, who regularly attended
the event. "[But] it's all about getting big names to come to the state.
There's a lot of networking going on. There's a lot of cross-pollination."

Podesta will be speaking this year, as will CAP head Neera Tanden.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada, and former
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros will also be on hand.

It's not just the headliners who are politically inclined. Many of the
panelists have doubled as campaign donors: Ormat Technologies' Yoram
Bronicki, for example, is expected to discuss leapfrogging technology. But
he's also given to Reid and the Senate Democrats' campaign arm this cycle,
according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Other panelists who are also Democratic donors include Rose McKinney-James
of Energy Works Consulting, Patricia Wagner of Sempra Energy, and Amory
Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute.

"There's a lot of like-minded people there, including top policymakers,"
Manley said.

Those policymakers are certainly a draw for many of the small-business
owners who plan to attend. But clean-energy entrepreneurs downplay the
political side of the event. They point to Nevada as "ground zero" in the
solar industry. They also suggest issues like energy efficiency, which as
many as 30 states have embraced legislatively, tend to be bipartisan.

"It's easy to become jaded, living in D.C., about gridlock and the partisan
nature of politics," said Alex Laskey, president of Opower, a software firm
whose clients include utilities in nine countries. "There seems to be an
interest in solving problems and a recognition that it's good for our
economy. I'm hopeful that there will be kumbaya about efficiency."

The summit tends to attract Democratic-leaning voters, but it also appeals
to some Republicans who see an upside to supporting the green economy.

Jon Huntsman, a former GOP presidential candidate and Utah governor, will
join a panel to discuss businesses' role in carbon reduction, as will MGM
Resorts executive and Republican donor Jim Murren, another event cosponsor.

"There is a dimension of altruism to it," Murren said in a conference call
on the event, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "But we have
learned this is good business sense. People will book conventions at Aria
and Mandalay and Bellagio because they share the same core values as we do."

For Reid, the event builds on his reputation as a centrifugal force in
Nevada politics. And it doesn't hurt that Nevada has become a key
battleground in presidential contests.

"I've always looked at this event as a stage for Senator Reid on where he
wants to move forward," Ball said. "Politics are involved in everything we
do, but it's not Democratic Party-driven at all. It's very much
Nevada-driven."

But it's more than just state politics. With the Democratic Senate majority
on the line this cycle, and with speculation mounting that Reid may step
aside despite saying he plans to run for his seat in 2016, the event serves
as a tangible sign of the Searchlight native's influence.

"This is a legacy issue for Senator Reid," Manley said.

*Wall Street Journal: “How the 2016 GOP Presidential Wannabes Spent the
Summer”
<http://online.wsj.com/articles/how-the-2016-gop-presidential-wannabes-spent-the-summer-1409595721>*

By Gerald F. Seib

September 1, 2014, 6:28 p.m. EDT

[Subtitle:] Republican Cast of Characters Are Sorting Themselves Into a
Matrix of Categories

This Labor Day week marks the official start of the 2014 general-election
season, so what's the logical thing to do? Look forward to the 2016
presidential election, of course.

OK, so that isn't entirely logical. But there is no doubt that the 2016
presidential race—which figures to be as wide open, unpredictable and
flat-out interesting as any in memory—will be providing much of the
background music for this year's congressional election, important as that
contest is in its own right.

And at this early stage, the most intriguing presidential jockeying is
unfolding on the Republican side. Whereas the early Democratic contest can
be summarized in four simple words—is Hillary Clinton inevitable?—the
Republican cast of characters has, over the course of the summer, sorted
itself into a matrix of different categories defined by the potential
candidates' varied circumstances and strategies.

There are, for example, two potential presidential wannabes who have
emerged as the policy wonks in the crowd. They are Rep. Paul Ryan of
Wisconsin and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

The former, by dint of his position as chairman of the House Budget
Committee, has written a blueprint for the kind of government he envisions,
and, more recently, a new plan for how conservatives can fight poverty.

The latter, having washed his hands of his early emphasis on immigration
reform, has delivered a series of speeches on policies foreign and domestic
that would help fill up a policy binder in a presidential campaign.

Two of the party's elder statesmen, meanwhile, seem to be making it clear
that they are available for a draft if party regulars clamor for them to
run.

They are former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and, improbably enough, 2012 GOP
nominee Mitt Romney.

Mr. Bush is the clear favorite of many in the party's establishment and
money wings. But he doesn't look like a man who relishes the battles with
movement conservatives that his candidacy would require, and may enter the
fray only if it is clear establishment players commit to clearing a path
for him.

Mr. Romney, meantime, says there is only a one in a million chance he will
run again, but his busy travel schedule on behalf of Republican
congressional candidates in recent weeks suggests he is open to persuasion.

Two other potential candidates are embarked on reclamation projects. One is
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, seeking to recover from the disastrous
scandal over a traffic jam at a bridge created by his aides in a fit of
pique. The other is Texas Gov. Rick Perry, seeking to recover from an
equally disastrous 2012 presidential run.

Here's betting that both will conclude that their reclamation work has been
successful enough to justify a run. Mr. Perry seems to be benefiting in the
party from his recent indictment for trying to force out of office a
Democratic prosecutor who has been a thorn in the Republicans' side.

One GOP contender stands out for trying to lay sole claim to the hard-right
space, and that is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. On the big three areas of policy
debate—economic, social and national security—Mr. Cruz is making sure
nobody gets to his right in his unabashed quest to be seen as rightful heir
to Ronald Reagan.

Meanwhile, three other governors from around the country are forming a club
of outsiders capable of running on an "I'm not from Washington" theme, a
potentially lucrative approach at a time when views of Washington are
scraping the bottom of the public-opinion barrel. They are Wisconsin Gov.
Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

Mr. Walker retains something approaching folk-hero status within the party
for waging an epic battle against public-employee unions a few years ago.
The question is whether the enmity he generated among other voters will
undermine his bid for re-election this fall.

Neither Mr. Pence nor Mr. Jindal has to worry about re-election this year,
so they are focusing on enacting conservative governing agendas within
their states that could serve them well with Republican primary voters. Mr.
Jindal did that most recently by taking on the Common Core educational
standards that conservatives love to hate as an example of government
overreach.

Two long-shots—former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a social
conservative, and Sen. Rob Portman, a budget wonk—are circling the runway,
their intentions and prospects unclear.

Finally, there is a politician trying to carve an entirely new lane for
himself in Republican politics: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. He is crafting a
singular identity as a quasi-libertarian who nonetheless isn't an
isolationist, who can appeal to young voters' hands-off views on social
issues, and who reaches minority voters.

It's a tough act to pull off, and Mr. Paul's quirkiness scares many in the
GOP.

Yet Scott Reed, a party activist who ran Bob Dole's 1996 presidential
campaign, says Mr. Paul did more than anyone else to improve his position
over the summer now drawing to a close.

*New York Times: “Christie Studies Foreign Affairs for a 2016 Test”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/us/politics/chris-christies-trip-to-mexico-doubles-as-a-foreign-policy-test.html?_r=0>*

By Michael Barbaro

September 1, 2014

A few days after Russian forces invaded Crimea, Gov. Chris Christie of New
Jersey was asked at a confidential meeting of Republican activists how he
would have handled the situation differently from President Obama.

It was not, according to several of those in attendance, a tough or
unexpected inquiry. But Mr. Christie, usually known for his oratorical
sure-footedness, offered a wobbly reply, displaying little grasp of the
facts and claiming that if he were in charge, Vladimir V. Putin, the
Russian president, would know better than to mess with him.

According to an audio recording of the event, he said Mr. Putin had taken
the measure of Mr. Obama. “I don’t believe, given who I am, that he would
make the same judgment,” Mr. Christie said. “Let’s leave it at that.”

One attendee described Mr. Christie’s answer as disturbingly heavy on
swagger and light on substance. Another called it “uncomfortable to watch.”

Now, as he considers a run for the presidency at a moment of spiraling
global mayhem, Mr. Christie’s trip to Mexico this week is taking on a
sudden urgency. Intended as a trade mission, it will double as a chance to
demonstrate a level of acumen on foreign policy that has so far eluded him.

Republican leaders are convinced that Mr. Obama’s second-term foreign
policy — guided by an instinctive reluctance to use force and the mantra
“don’t do stupid stuff” — has created an opening for a compelling
Republican critique in 2016, and they are eager to find an authoritative
statesman to deliver it.

The question for the party is whether Mr. Christie, whose political ascent
was powered by a lacerating, undiplomatic personality, could be the right
messenger.

Similar doubts about the international savvy of other potential Republican
presidential candidates have prompted some to begin a crash course, seeking
to catch up with the experience and prestige of a likely Democratic
front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. For
example, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky just returned from a weeklong trip
to Guatemala.

The job training has produced some stumbles. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas
invited eye rolls from Pentagon officials when he declared it a “very real
possibility” that fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria had
come across the Mexican border and into the United States.

Busy with his day job and still enmeshed in a scandal about orchestrated
traffic jams, Mr. Christie is, by his own admission, unschooled in the
nuances of global affairs. He has already committed several foreign policy
faux pas this year — by the unforgiving standards of Republican
presidential politics, anyway.

They range from the minor (omitting the word “Israel” from a speech before
an influential Jewish group) to the more meaningful (calling the West Bank
the “occupied territories” before another influential Jewish group).
Audible gasps ensued in a Las Vegas ballroom, and an apology from Mr.
Christie soon followed.

“This is something the governor has struggled with, because it’s so far
outside his realm of experience,” said Brigid Harrison, a professor of
political science at Montclair State University in New Jersey who has
studied Mr. Christie throughout his tenure.

“He is not,” she added, “a global guy.”

He is, however, trying to become one. This summer, Mr. Christie finished
“Reagan at Reykjavik,” Ken Adelman’s history of the pivotal 1986 Cold War
summit meeting. He has struck up a friendship with former Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, now an informal foreign policy tutor; is known to
consult with former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger on major speeches
that touch on world affairs; and is in contact with trusted Republican
hands like Robert B. Zoellick, a career diplomat and former head of the
World Bank.

After spending nearly three hours with Mr. Christie at the State House in
July, spinning through the geopolitics of Asia, the economic future of
Europe and the energy industry in Mexico, Mr. Zoellick described his pupil
as “very quick.”

“Sometimes people will flag,” he said. “He didn’t at all. It could have
gone on longer.”

Yet Mr. Christie’s tutorials appear less organized or far along than those
of potential 2016 rivals like Mr. Paul or Representative Paul D. Ryan of
Wisconsin, and Mr. Christie has yet to articulate a distinct vision of
America’s place in the world that strays from his party’s typical
expressions of dismay with Mr. Obama and tributes to Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Christie has been candid about the gaps in his international
understanding. Pressed on them during an appearance in Chicago this year,
Mr. Christie conceded, “I don’t have the briefings and the background to be
able to say that I understand all the intricacies of it.”

The pillars of the Christie worldview, as gleaned from about a dozen
speeches and public appearances, tend to rise from a simple observation: A
high-functioning America at home, liberated from partisan dysfunction,
exerts greater influence abroad.

“What we say and what we do here at home affects how others see us and in
turn affects what it is they say and do,” Mr. Christie said during a speech
at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in 2011.

He places tremendous value on the personal projection of authority, as
evidenced by his suggestion — at the event held by conservative activists —
that Mr. Putin would think twice about challenging him.

“Foreign policy, in my view, is about human relationships,” Mr. Christie
said at the March conference held by the American Enterprise Institute at a
resort in Georgia. The event was closed to the news media, but The New York
Times was given access to a recording of Mr. Christie’s remarks.

“Men and women across the world judge each other,” Mr. Christie said at the
time. “And they take a measure of the person based on your actions and your
words.”

With Mr. Obama, he said mockingly, “words matter more to him than actions.”

“He’s in love with words,” he said. “He loves the words coming out of his
mouth.”

At the event, Mr. Christie expressed confidence that his brand of resolute,
no-nonsense foreign policy would have avoided the dilemma the United States
faced when Syria deployed chemical weapons against its own citizens in the
civil war.

Mr. Christie said he would have never drawn a “red line,” as Mr. Obama did
with President Bashar al-Assad, but, “if you do, you better finish the job.”

Governors, whose duties entail little meaningful interaction with foreign
governments, have always struggled to convey global know-how, or even
familiarity with the names of foreign leaders. But for a variety of
reasons, mastery of foreign relations is likely to become a
bigger-than-usual yardstick in the 2016 Republican presidential contest.

There is a determination within the party to avoid repeating mistakes of
the 2012 primary season, when the unwieldy field of candidates displayed an
occasionally embarrassing lack of international knowledge. (Herman Cain
declared that it was immaterial which leader ran
“Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan.”) By Election Day, polls showed that Mr.
Obama was far more trusted on foreign policy than the Republican nominee,
Mitt Romney.

And there is the Clinton factor.

Republican operatives said Mr. Christie had time to catch up, and they
pointed to the models of Mr. Romney and George W. Bush, two state chief
executives who committed themselves, early on in their governorships, to
the rigorous study of global affairs. Mr. Romney invited specialists like
Frederick W. Kagan, a former military historian at West Point, to brief him
in Boston, and he studied custom-made booklets with the names of world
leaders. Mr. Bush held Sunday night conference calls with a team of
advisers nicknamed the Vulcans, including Ms. Rice, Stephen J. Hadley and
Paul D. Wolfowitz.

“My view is that he’ll have work to do, but he’s up to the task,” said
Arthur C. Brooks, the president of the American Enterprise Institute, who
was interviewing Mr. Christie at the event in Georgia when the governor
talked about Crimea. (Mr. Brooks declined to comment on the exchange.)

Ari Fleischer, Mr. Bush’s former press secretary, said there was a narrow
window for a candidate like Mr. Christie to immerse himself in the subject,
before the rigors of a campaign begin.

“It becomes essential,” Mr. Fleischer said. “If you make a mistake,
particularly later in 2015, and certainly in 2016, it will become magnified
way beyond the mistake itself.

“This is the time to do it,” he said.

*The Hill blog: Briefing Room: “Sanders calls for agenda 'for all
Americans'”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/216352-sanders-calls-for-agenda-for-all-americans>*

By Martin Matishak

September 1, 2014, 5:10 p.m. EDT

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that the U.S. needs an economic plan that
benefits “not just the very rich," but all Americans.

“The sad reality of today's America is that while the wealthiest people and
largest corporations are doing phenomenally well, the middle class is
disappearing and millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower
wages,” Sanders said in a statement commemorating Labor Day.

“Congress must start listening to the needs of ordinary Americans, not just
the billionaire class and their lobbyists,” he said.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, is considering
challenging Clinton in the hopes of taking advantage of fears among party
members that she is too close for comfort with Wall Street.

To that end, he spoke at an AFL-CIO breakfast hosted in Manchester, N.H., on
Monday and intends to trek to Iowa in mid-September, at the same time
Hillary Clinton will be there attending a steak fry hosted by retiring Sen.
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

Sanders said the U.S. could create “millions of new jobs by rebuilding our
crumbling infrastructure and dramatically improve life for low-wage workers
by raising the minimum wage,” popular issues among Democratic base voters.

He called for trade policies that would “prevent corporations from throwing
American workers out on the street and running to China for cheap labor"
and tax reform so that businesses "can't stash their profits in foreign tax
havens.”

Sanders also urged his colleagues to pass “real campaign finance reform so
that the Koch brothers and other billionaires are no longer able to buy
elections.”

*New York Times column: Frank Bruni: “Obama’s Messy Words”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/opinion/frank-bruni-obamas-messy-words.html>*

By Frank Bruni

September 1, 2014

There are things that you think and things that you say.

There’s what you reckon with privately and what you utter publicly.

There are discussions suitable for a lecture hall and those that befit the
bully pulpit.

These sets overlap but aren’t the same. Has President Obama lost sight of
that?

It’s a question fairly asked after his statement last week that “we don’t
have a strategy yet” for dealing with Islamic extremists in Syria. Not
having a strategy, at least a fixed, definitive one, is understandable. The
options aren’t great, the answers aren’t easy and the stakes are enormous.

But announcing as much? It’s hard to see any percentage in that. It gives
no comfort to Americans. It puts no fear in our enemies.

Just as curious was what Obama followed that up with.

Speaking at a fund-raiser on Friday, he told donors, “If you watch the
nightly news, it feels like the world is falling apart.” He had that much
right.

But it wasn’t the whole of his message. In a statement of the obvious, he
also said, “The world has always been messy.” And he coupled that with a
needless comparison, advising Americans to bear in mind that the rise of
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the rapacity of Putin, the bedlam in
Libya and the rest of it were “not something that is comparable to the
challenges we faced during the Cold War.”

Set aside the question of how germane the example of the Cold War is. When
the gut-twisting image stuck in your head is of a masked madman holding a
crude knife to the neck of an American on his knees in the desert, when
you’re reading about crucifixions in the 21st century, when you’re hearing
about women sold by jihadists as sex slaves, and when British leaders have
just raised the threat level in their country to “severe,” the last thing
that you want to be told is that it’s par for the historical course, all a
matter of perspective and not so cosmically dire.

Where’s the reassurance — or the sense of urgency — in that?

And maybe the second-to-last thing that you want to be told is that
technology and social media amplify peril in a new way and may be the
reason you’re feeling especially on edge. Obama said something along those
lines, too. It’s not the terror, folks. It’s the tweets.

Is the president consoling us — or himself? It’s as if he’s taken his
interior monologue and wired it to speakers in the town square. And it’s
rattling.

When he came along, many of us were fed up with misinformation and “Mission
Accomplished” theatrics and bluster. America had paid a price for them in
young lives.

And we were tired and leery of an oversimplified, Hollywood version of
world affairs, of the Manichaean lexicon of “evil empire” and “axis of
evil.” We longed for something less rash and more nuanced.

But there’s plenty of territory between the bloated and bellicose rhetoric
of then and what Obama is giving us now. He’s adopted a strange language of
self-effacement, with notes of defeatism, reminding us that “America, as
the most powerful country on earth, still does not control everything”;
that we must be content at times with singles and doubles in lieu of home
runs; that not doing stupid stuff is its own accomplishment.

This is all true. It’s in tune with our awareness of our limits. And it
reflects a prudent disinclination to repeat past mistakes and overreach.

But that doesn’t make it the right message for the world’s lone superpower
(whether we like it or not) to articulate and disseminate. That doesn’t
make it savvy, constructive P.R. And the low marks that Americans currently
give the president, especially for foreign policy, suggest that it’s not
exactly what we were after.

In The Washington Post on Sunday, Karen DeYoung and Dan Balz observed that
while Obama’s no-strategy remark “may have had the virtue of candor,” it in
no way projected “an image of presidential resolve or decisiveness at a
time of international turmoil.”

And no matter what Obama ultimately elects to do, such an image is vital.
But in its place are oratorical shrugs and an aura of hesitancy, even
evasion, as he and John Kerry broadcast that the United States shouldn’t be
expected to act on its own. Isn’t that better whispered to our allies and
negotiated behind closed doors?

Echoing Hillary Clinton to some degree, Senator Dianne Feinstein just
complained that Obama was perhaps “too cautious.”

Not in what he says, he’s not. Not when he draws and then erases red lines.
Not with his recent adjectives.

“Messy” is my kitchen at the end of a long weekend. What’s happening in
much of Syria and Iraq is monstrous.

*Calendar:*

*Sec. Clinton's upcoming appearances as reported online. Not an official
schedule.*

·  September 4 – Las Vegas, NV: Sec. Clinton speaks at the National Clean
Energy Summit (Solar Novis Today
<http://www.solarnovus.com/hillary-rodham-clinto-to-deliver-keynote-at-national-clean-energy-summit-7-0_N7646.html>
)

·  September 9 – Washington, DC: Sec. Clinton fundraises for the DSCC at
her Washington home (DSCC
<https://d1ly3598e1hx6r.cloudfront.net/sites/dscc/files/uploads/9.9.14%20HRC%20Dinner.pdf>
)

·  September 14 – Indianola, IA: Sec. Clinton headlines Sen. Harkin’s Steak
Fry (LA Times
<http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-tom-harkin-clinton-steak-fry-20140818-story.html>
)

·  September 19 – Washington, DC: Sec. Clinton fundraises for the DNC with
Pres. Obama (CNN
<http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/27/politics/obama-clinton-dnc/index.html>)

·  October 2 – Miami Beach, FL: Sec. Clinton keynotes the CREW Network
Convention & Marketplace (CREW Network
<http://events.crewnetwork.org/2014convention/>)

·  October 6 – Ottawa, Canada: Sec. Clinton speaks at Canada 2020 event (Ottawa
Citizen
<http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/hillary-clinton-speaking-in-ottawa-oct-6>
)

·  October 13 – Las Vegas, NV: Sec. Clinton keynotes the UNLV Foundation
Annual Dinner (UNLV
<http://www.unlv.edu/event/unlv-foundation-annual-dinner?delta=0>)

·  October 14 – San Francisco, CA: Sec. Clinton keynotes
salesforce.com Dreamforce
conference (salesforce.com
<http://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/DF14/highlights.jsp#tuesday>)

·  October 28 – San Francisco, CA: Sec. Clinton fundraises for House
Democratic women candidates with Nancy Pelosi (Politico
<http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/hillary-clinton-nancy-pelosi-110387.html?hp=r7>
)

 ·  December 4 – Boston, MA: Sec. Clinton speaks at the Massachusetts
Conference for Women (MCFW <http://www.maconferenceforwomen.org/speakers/>)