Subject: ​Correct The Record Friday January 2, 2015 Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2015 12:54:08 -0500
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*​**Correct The Record Friday January 2, 2015 Roundup:*

*Headlines:*

*Clinton Foundation: “Statement from President Clinton and Secretary
Clinton on the Passing of Governor Mario Cuomo”
<https://www.clintonfoundation.org/press-releases/statement-president-clinton-and-secretary-clinton-passing-governor-mario-cuomo>*

“We are terribly saddened by the passing of our friend Mario Cuomo.”

*The Hill blog: Briefing Room: “Clintons 'terribly saddened' by Cuomo's
death”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/228368-clintons-terribly-saddened-by-mario-cuomos-death>*

“Former President Clinton and former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said
that they were ‘terribly saddened’ by the Thursday death of former New York
Gov. Mario Cuomo (D).”

*Time: “The 9 Times Hillary Clinton Has Taken a Stand Since 2013”
<http://time.com/3634189/hillary-clinton-policy-positions/>*

“Here’s a look at the nine most substantive policy positions Clinton has
staked out since stepping down as Secretary of State.”

*Associated Press: “Who would benefit if Clinton decides not to run?”
<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c2b07066f56a4874a80e87e33c15c08e/who-would-benefit-if-clinton-decides-not-run>*

“But what if Clinton decided against another campaign? Those considered
long-shots would become instant contenders and others planning to skip the
race would give it a new look.”

*Business Insider: “Hillary Challenger Jim Webb's Defense Of His PAC
Doesn't Add Up”
<http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-webbs-defense-of-his-pac-doesnt-add-up-2014-12>*

“A spokeswoman for a political action committee headed by potential 2016
presidential candidate Jim Webb released a statement on Tuesday responding
to a Business Insider story that raised questions about nearly $100,000 in
payments the committee made to Webb's family. […] However, this statement
did not identify a single factually inaccurate element of the story.”

*CNN: “Hillary Clinton's point of no return”
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/01/politics/clinton-january-15-date/index.html?hpt=po_c2>*

“For months, pro-Clinton Democrats have pointed to early January --
particularly Jan. 15 -- as a symbolic date for Clinton's presidential
aspirations. In conversations with one another and at strategy sessions
about a possible 2016 run, former aides and confidants have quietly said
that if Clinton doesn't say "no" to running by the start of 2015, she is a
go for 2016.”

*Yahoo News column: Matt Bai: “Is Jim Webb for real?”
<http://news.yahoo.com/is-jim-webb-for-real-184608862.html>*

“But then you come around to Webb’s long-held and thoughtful views on the
party’s core theme of social justice. And here’s where that whole
savior-of-the-left thing gets a little complicated.”

*Washington Post: “With eye on 2016, Jeb Bush resigns from all boards”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-eye-on-2016-jeb-bush-severs-ties-to-most-firms/2014/12/31/938b3662-9054-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html>*

“Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, moving closer to a possible presidential
run, has resigned all of his corporate and nonprofit board memberships,
including with his own education foundation, his office said late Wednesday
night.”

*The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Rubio closer to decision on 2016 bid”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/228363-rubio-nears-decision-on-white-house-bid>*

“In a wide-ranging interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Florida’s
junior senator revealed Thursday that he hasn’t ‘made a decision yet,’ but
it will come ‘certainly soon.’”

*Articles:*

*Clinton Foundation: “Statement from President Clinton and Secretary
Clinton on the Passing of Governor Mario Cuomo”
<https://www.clintonfoundation.org/press-releases/statement-president-clinton-and-secretary-clinton-passing-governor-mario-cuomo>*

[Statement]

January 1, 2015

We are terribly saddened by the passing of our friend Mario Cuomo. Mario's
life was the very embodiment of the American dream. When he placed my name
in nomination at the 1992 Democratic Convention, he said government had
"the solemn obligation to create opportunity for all our people." In his
three terms as Governor of New York, he honored that obligation. It was
Mario Cuomo's great gift and our good fortune that he was both a sterling
orator and a passionate public servant. His life was a blessing. Our hearts
and prayers go out to Matilda, Andrew, Margaret, Maria, Madeline,
Christopher, his grandchildren, and all who were blessed by his life.

*The Hill blog: Briefing Room: “Clintons 'terribly saddened' by Cuomo's
death”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/228368-clintons-terribly-saddened-by-mario-cuomos-death>*

By David McCabe

January 2, 2015, 8:38 a.m. EST

Former President Clinton and former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said that
they were “terribly saddened” by the Thursday death of former New York Gov.
Mario Cuomo (D).

“Mario's life was the very embodiment of the American dream,” they said in
a statement released by the Clinton Foundation.

“It was Mario Cuomo's great gift and our good fortune that he was both a
sterling orator and a passionate public servant,” they said. “His life was
a blessing.”

Two of the most powerful families in Democratic politics, the Clintons and
Cuomos were connected by more than ideology. Bill Clinton considered
nominating Mario Cuomo to the Supreme Court in 1993, and Cuomo’s son, New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), served as Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development in the Clinton administration.

The Clintons were only two of many notable politicians who praised Cuomo.
President Obama called him “a determined champion of progressive values.”

Cuomo spent more than a decade as New York’s governor before he was
defeated in 1994 by George Pataki (R).

*Time: “The 9 Times Hillary Clinton Has Taken a Stand Since 2013”
<http://time.com/3634189/hillary-clinton-policy-positions/>*

By Haley Sweetland Edwards

December 30, 2014

Like other presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton had an opinion on just
about everything in 2008. How to reform the U.S. health care system? Check.
What to do about climate change? Check. Even minor issues like how to lower
the price of gas required her to come up with a plan.

But when she became Secretary of State, Clinton followed tradition and kept
her opinions to herself, especially on domestic policy. And since leaving
Foggy Bottom in 2013, she’s mostly avoided specifics.

She says she’s in favor of protecting the environment, for example, but has
yet to stake out her position on fracking or the Keystone XL pipeline. She
says she’s against eliminating net neutrality, but has yet to say what,
exactly, the government ought to do to protect it. And while she’s talked a
big game about U.S. military engagement abroad, it’s unclear how her
positions on, say, Ukraine or Iraq would differ from those of President
Obama.

That ambiguity is understandable. She doesn’t hold public office. She’s not
officially on the ballot. And committing to a position publicly limits her
future options, politically. But given how many times she hasn’t taken a
position on the issue of the day, it’s worth noting the handful of times
she has.

Here’s a look at the nine most substantive policy positions Clinton has
staked out since stepping down as Secretary of State.

1) The U.S. needs serious immigration reform. When President Obama
announced his controversial executive order in November shielding up to
five million undocumented immigrants, Clinton tweeted her approval within
minutes, and then followed up with a statement calling for immediate,
bipartisan and comprehensive immigration that would “focus finite resources
on deporting felons rather than families.”

2) The U.S. should have armed the rebels in Syria. In an interview with the
Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg in August, Clinton blamed the rise of the
so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, on the U.S. not doing enough to support
moderate rebels when the Syrian civil war first broke out. “The failure to
help build up a credible fighting force of the people who were the
originators of the protests against Assad — there were Islamists, there
were secularists, there was everything in the middle — the failure to do
that left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now filled,” she said.
That said, Clinton’s ideas on how to rout ISIS now appear to be more or
less the same as Obama’s.

3) Gay people should be allowed to marry. In March 2013, Clinton formally
announced in her support for gay marriage, marking a major reversal of the
position she’d held for decades. Her rivals criticized her for jumping on
the bandwagon only after the issue of gay marriage had become widely
acceptable, but she defended herself as a “thinking human” who is allowed
to “evolve” on issues.

4) Americans shouldn’t torture people. At a human rights awards dinner in
December, Clinton made her first public comments about torture since the
Senate released its controversial report on the issue earlier this month.
She said unequivocally that she is against illegal renditions and brutal
interrogation methods. “The U.S. should never condone or practice torture
anywhere in the world,” she said.

5) The federal government should raise the minimum wage. In a speech at a
campaign event for Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Martha Coakley in
October, Clinton told the crowd not to “let anyone tell you that raising
the minimum wage will kill jobs – they always say that.” She then went on
to defend raising the federal minimum wage. As a senator, Clinton
repeatedly proposed legislation that would automatically increase the
federal minimum wage anytime members of Congress saw their own pay increase.

6) Negotiating with Iran is a good idea, so long as the U.S. gets a good
deal. Much to the chagrin of many in the pro-Israel crowd, Clinton has not
only expressed support for the administration’s negotiations with Tehran
over its nuclear program, she has taken credit for initiating the secret
talks back in 2012. In the past year, she has lightly tempered that
unequivocal support by cautioning that the U.S. should be careful about
what it concedes to, repeating that “no deal is better than a bad deal.”

7) The U.S. shouldn’t trust Putin. At a speaking event this year, Clinton
called the Russian President an arrogant bully. As Secretary of State, she
said she was in favor of the Obama administration’s “reset” policy with
Russia, but her opinion of the policy appears to have cooled. “I think that
what may have happened, is that both the United States and Europe were
really hoping for the best from Putin as a returned president,” she told
CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview in July. “And I think we’ve been
quickly, unfortunately, disabused of those hopes.” While those seem like
fightin’ words, policy analysts point out that it’s less clear how
Clinton’s distrust of Putin would translate to a change in actual U.S.
policy—much less potential military engagement—in Ukraine.

8) All American kids should get free, high-quality pre-K. Anyone remotely
familiar with Clinton’s resume won’t find this to be much of a shocker, but
early-childhood education is one of the issues she’s been most outspoken
about in the last two years. She’s advocated for everything from universal
pre-K and free nurse home-visits for at-risk mothers, to expanding existing
programs, like Head Start and paid family leave.

9) #Blacklivesmatter. Clinton took a shellacking this fall for failing to
comment one way or another on the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and about
the Eric Garner case in New York. At an awards ceremony in December, she
broke her silence—kinda. “Yes, black lives matter,” she said, but then
failed to elaborate. She has yet to say whether she’s in favor of broad
sentencing reform, body cameras on police, or how she might limit what
military equipment is available to police forces.

*Associated Press: “Who would benefit if Clinton decides not to run?”
<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c2b07066f56a4874a80e87e33c15c08e/who-would-benefit-if-clinton-decides-not-run>*

By Ken Thomas

January 2, 2015, 3:21 a.m. EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — It's hard to imagine Hillary Rodham Clinton not running
for president again — and easy to image the result of such a decision:
political chaos.

"It would be shocking," says Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist who is
advising Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Democrat who is considering a
presidential campaign himself.

Early polling shows Clinton in a dominant position. Outside groups have
been promoting her candidacy for more than a year. The fundraising
juggernaut, EMILY's List, is well into a foundation for the campaign to
elect the nation's first female president. All that has left the potential
field frozen in place and locked down financial donors, endorsements and
connections around the country.

But what if Clinton decided against another campaign? Those considered
long-shots would become instant contenders and others planning to skip the
race would give it a new look.

Some whose political fortunes and plans for 2016 could change if Clinton
decides to pass on the race:

____

JOE BIDEN

In any other year, the sitting vice president would have an inside track to
the nomination. But Clinton's dominant standing within the party has
marginalized Biden in early 2016 discussion. In a Clinton-free campaign,
the veteran of runs for president in 1988 and 2008 would be an early
front-runner.

____

ELIZABETH WARREN

The Massachusetts senator is a favorite of liberal activists, some of whom
are trying to "draft" her into running for president — even though she has
repeatedly said she is not. Warren's populist economic approach and calls
to rein in Wall Street resonate with many Democrats disappointed by the
midterm elections and the gap between the wealthy and the poor. If Clinton
decides not to run, Warren is sure to face pressure to fill the void.

____

MARTIN O'MALLEY

The outgoing Maryland governor has been a workhorse surrogate for fellow
Democrats, trying to build a network of financial donors — only to be
effectively frozen by Clinton. Even without Clinton in the field, the
Republicans' defeat of his hand-picked successor in Maryland — and sagging
poll ratings at the end of his term — would complicate his campaign.

____

JIM WEBB

The former Virginia senator would bring a bipartisan record to the
campaign: He served as President Ronald Reagan's Navy secretary. He is an
accomplished author and decorated veteran, still carrying shrapnel from his
service in the Vietnam War. He is independent and at times unpredictable,
and his foreign policy outlook and outsider status could shake up the
primary with or without Clinton.

____

BERNIE SANDERS

Few Democrats expect the independent senator from Vermont to make much of
an impact if he runs against Clinton, but that has not stopped Sanders from
courting college students and liberals in Iowa and New Hampshire. He has
maintained a large email distribution list, giving him a way of reaching
activists, but is still more likely to shape the debate than compete for
delegates no matter what Clinton does.

____

ANDREW CUOMO

When New York Gov. Mario Cuomo declined to seek the White House in 1991
after a lengthy deliberation, the vacuum helped a relatively unknown
Arkansas governor named Bill Clinton. If Hillary Rodham Clinton decides not
to run, it could give his son, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, an opening to
jump into a race he does not plan to contest. The second-term governor has
built a record of accomplishments on marriage equality, gun control and,
last month, banned hydraulic fracturing in New York — a move cheered by
environmentalists.

____

TIM KAINE

The Virginia senator has big-time credentials: He's a Spanish-speaking
former Catholic missionary, Harvard Law graduate, former mayor of Richmond,
Virginia, and the ex-governor of the state. Kaine quickly embraced
candidate Barack Obama and found himself on the short-list for vice
president. Instead, Obama put him in charge of the Democratic National
Committee and Kaine later succeeded Webb in the Senate. He has backed the
pro-Clinton Ready for Hillary super PAC, and would get a serious look if
Clinton took a pass.

____

KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND

The energetic New Yorker holds Clinton's old Senate seat and has been
talked up as a potential heir apparent. A relative newcomer to the national
stage, Gillibrand has displayed a strong acumen as a legislator,
fundraising moxie, and a down-to-earth sensibility as the constantly
juggling mother of two boys. She has championed legislation to remove
sexual assault cases from the military chain of command and promoted paid
family leave for women.

____

AMY KLOBUCHAR

The first woman elected to the Senate from Minnesota, Klobuchar has made
political trips to neighboring Iowa to help Democratic candidates and the
party, moves that always start talk about the White House. A former
prosecutor, Klobuchar has built a reputation in the Senate for working
across the aisle. On the dinner circuit, she displays a folksy sense of
humor that helps her connect with Democratic audiences.

____

HOWARD DEAN

The former Vermont governor and contender for the party's 2004 presidential
nomination has backed Clinton, giving the former secretary of state an
advocate among the party's liberal wing. As DNC chairman, Dean helped
modernize the party's technological capabilities, laying the ground work
for Obama's successful grassroots campaign in 2008. He's unlikely to leave
the private sector, but may be swayed if Clinton decided to take a pass on
another campaign.

*Business Insider: “Hillary Challenger Jim Webb's Defense Of His PAC
Doesn't Add Up”
<http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-webbs-defense-of-his-pac-doesnt-add-up-2014-12>*

By Hunter Walker

December 31, 2014, 7:57 p.m. EST

A spokeswoman for a political action committee headed by potential 2016
presidential candidate Jim Webb released a statement on Tuesday responding
to a Business Insider story that raised questions about nearly $100,000 in
payments the committee made to Webb's family.

"This story as written misrepresents reasonable compensation for real and
provable work done. Adding up numbers across several years for a
sensational headline doesn’t tell the story. We’re happy to be fully
transparent on this for journalists interested in the whole story,"
Ashleigh Owens said.

However, this statement did not identify a single factually inaccurate
element of the story. It also did not address several of the major
questions raised about the committee, which was supposedly established to
support "candidates and entities" who advocate economic fairness,
"reorienting our national security posture," and developing greater
accountability in government.

Despite Owen's claim Webb's team is willing to be "fully transparent" about
this issue, they repeatedly declined to communicate with Business Insider
about these issues.

Business Insider first reached out to Owens about this story before it was
published on Tuesday. She asked us to provide a list of specific questions.
Owens never answered those questions or any subsequent emails. Neither
Webb, a former Virginia senator, or his staff responded to requests to
discuss their statement on Wednesday.

Owens' statement went on to defend the payments the committee made to
Webb's daughter, Amy, and his wife, Hong Le Webb. Campaign finance reports
filed with the Federal Election Commission show they were paid about
$91,000 from 2009 through Nov. 24, 2014.

"Amy Webb has been involved in the administration, management and design of
Jim Webb’s websites for many years, including the management of
JamesWebb.com since 2001," Owens said. "She has provided the same services
to the Born Fighting PAC since 2009, including the handling of FEC
compliance matters since 2013."

The statement did not address the fact the story pointed out the committee
paid Amy Webb was paid $1,000 for "website services" in 2013 even though
archived versions of the Born Fighting PAC site showed it was not updated
at all during this period apart from a two-sentence note thanking donors
for their "past support."

Owens' statement also did not address the fact the committee continued to
take donations from 2011 through 2014 even though it made no contributions
to any other entity whatsoever during this period.

The statement claimed Hong Le Webb was paid "for her activities relating to
various aspects of multiple website designs from the period February
through September 2014, including vetting design consultants, negotiating
contracts and content management." The records show she received $13,800
for overseeing the redesign of the committee's relatively simple site. At
the same time, the firm that executed the design seems to have been paid
less. It received $10,000.

Owens' statement also did not address a separate issue raised by the
Business Insider story.

In addition to the money paid to Webb's family, the records show the
committee only used about 20% of the money it spent to support its stated
mission of contributing to political candidates and groups. The PAC spent
over four times as much as it took in after receiving nearly $1 million in
donations.

The fact so little of the donor money taken in by Webb's PAC went to its
stated purpose was entirely ignored in Owens' statement.

*CNN: “Hillary Clinton's point of no return”
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/01/politics/clinton-january-15-date/index.html?hpt=po_c2>*

By Dan Merica

January 1, 2015, 4:46 p.m. EST

Washington (CNN) -- As Democrats close to Hillary Clinton recover from
their New Year's Eve celebrations and flip their calendar to 2015, many
will notice a seemingly unimportant date is fast approaching.

For months, pro-Clinton Democrats have pointed to early January --
particularly Jan. 15 -- as a symbolic date for Clinton's presidential
aspirations. In conversations with one another and at strategy sessions
about a possible 2016 run, former aides and confidants have quietly said
that if Clinton doesn't say "no" to running by the start of 2015, she is a
go for 2016.

"If she hasn't said 'no' by January, it will be a sign she is running,"
said one longtime Clinton friend at last month's Ready for Hillary strategy
session in New York.

The early January time frame is regularly used by Clinton supporters as a
way to put off directly answering the will she/won't she questions posed by
reporters. While the date itself is not totally significant, it has become
a shorthand for early January. With that time frame now approaching, some
in Clinton's orbit are admitting that time is running out for Clinton to
say "no."

"If she is not going to do it, she can't let it drag on after January 15,"
said a Democratic strategist close to Clinton. "If she hasn't said
something after that date, people should assume she is running."

The strategist, who said this was the general sense among people close to
Clinton, added, "She has two weeks to say she isn't running."

The reason is simple: Clinton has, so far, sucked up all the oxygen in the
Democrats' 2016 conversation. If she lets that continue well into 2015 and
then decides to back out, she puts her party -- which already has a thin
bench of second tier candidates -- in a tough position.

While chatter about former Sen. Jim Webb, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vice
President Joe Biden have bubbled up throughout late 2014, neither have
caught fire in the polls. The latest CNN/ORC poll finds Webb at a paltry
1%, Warren in second place with 9% support and Biden in third at 8%.
Hillary Clinton, by comparison, is at 66% support.

Because of the uncertainty around her announcement date, groups urging
Clinton to run intend to continue their work well into 2015. Ready for
Hillary, the grassroots super PAC organizing on Clinton's behalf, has
events planned well into March but plans to close shop once Clinton
announces. Groups like Correct the Record, a communications and research
shop, and Priorities USA, a fundraising and ad buying outfit, have both
pledged to ramp up in early 2015.

Although Clinton's candidacy has long been a forgone conclusion to many of
her close confidants, there are still some who hold out that she might
decide not to run and has yet to make up her mind.

Clinton has tried to play coy with her presidential ambitions, but began to
more forcefully acknowledge her thoughts near the end of 2014. She has met
with potential campaign staffers, according to her spokesman, and people
close to her have begun to carefully line up a potential political
operation.

Clinton herself even used January 1, 2015 as a time frame for her decision.

"I am going to be making a decision around -- probably after -- the first
of the year," Clinton said during a September appearance in Mexico City.

*Yahoo News column: Matt Bai: “Is Jim Webb for real?”
<http://news.yahoo.com/is-jim-webb-for-real-184608862.html>*

By Matt Bai

January 1, 2015

[Subtitle:] Liberals like him now, but wait until they hear what’s on his
mind.

“I’m not running against Hillary Clinton,” Jim Webb told me this week, when
I tried to draw him out on the presumed Democratic front-runner. “I’m not
even running at the moment, and she isn’t, either.”

That’s all technically true, but Webb’s recent announcement that he was
taking the first official step toward a 2016 presidential bid nonetheless
set off a round of commentary about the contrast between him and his former
Senate colleague. On the FiveThirtyEight blog, Harry Enten concluded that
Webb could be “the ideal Clinton challenger.” Al Hunt of Bloomberg News
said Webb could be Clinton’s “worst nightmare,” while William Greider wrote
in The Nation that Webb might become “a pivotal messenger” for the left.

Such predictions are easily made and seldom remembered. They don’t tell you
much about whether Webb, who has as varied an experience in public service
and foreign policy as anybody else out there, can really mount the kind of
semi-serious challenge to Clinton that Bill Bradley did to Al Gore in 2000,
or whether he’ll end up being something more like this year’s Wesley Clark.

Webb has some things going for him, starting with unusual courage for a
politician. He went through Vietnam, and he loves his second career as a
writer of books and screenplays, and those two things have always seemed to
make him more impervious to the consequences of conviction than most other
politicians, who cling to their seats with a kind of irrational tenacity.

To Webb, there are worse things in life than losing an election or even
being drummed out of your party, and that counts for a lot when you have a
looming presence like Clinton who’s going to scare away most of her more
obvious challengers.

And despite what he may say about not comparing himself to Clinton, Webb
has the beginnings of a two-pronged progressive critique. On economic
policy, Webb will say the party — personified by the Clintons — has been
too much in the grasp of big financial institutions and too little beholden
to wage earners. He’s a little like Elizabeth Warren this way, only with
more backwoods steel than Cambridge preachiness.

He’s also a sharp critic of the foreign policies pursued by both George W.
Bush and Barack Obama, which he says have led us into wars — and kept us in
them — without clear objectives or strategies. This puts him squarely at
odds with Clinton, the former secretary of state, who was known to be one
of the administration’s more ardent interventionists.

All that will sound pretty enticing to liberals looking for some viable
alternative, and it should. But then you come around to Webb’s long-held
and thoughtful views on the party’s core theme of social justice. And
here’s where that whole savior-of-the-left thing gets a little complicated.

Democrats, as you probably know, have been losing white voters, and
especially white male voters, by pretty staggering margins in recent
elections, particularly in rural parts of the country. According to exit
polling, the party’s candidates won only 34 percent of white men last
November; the 30-point spread between the two parties was the largest in 20
years.

Go to any activist meeting or liberal dinner party, and chances are you
will hear a pretty consistent narrative to explain this trend. Basically,
it goes like this: White men, and especially Southern white men, are just
inherently racist and afraid of social change, and so they’re easily
manipulated by Republicans and have turned their backs on Obama. But that’s
really OK, because the demographics of the country are rapidly shifting,
and very soon there will be enough black and Latino voters — not to mention
women of all races — to tip the balance of any national election into the
Democratic column.

Webb finds this theory downright offensive. In his view, Democrats have
focused so much of their rhetoric and their programs on racial minorities
that they’ve basically forgotten about all those white, working-class
voters who face some of the same economic hardships but feel like all the
focus is on the poor.

“I think this is where Democrats screw up, you know?” Webb told me. “I
think that they have kind of unwittingly used this group, white working
males, as a whipping post for a lot of their policies. And then when they
react, they say they’re being racist.”

Back in 2010, under a Wall Street Journal headline that referred to the
“myth of white privilege,” Webb called for an end to federal affirmative
action programs, saying they no longer helped African-Americans and only
served to embitter white voters. More recently, including in our
conversation, he has obliquely assailed “interest groups” that divide the
parties by race.

Twice I asked Webb which interest groups he had in mind, but he demurred.
“I think it’s pretty clear, if you look at the policies of the Democratic
Party, how they shape their strategic agenda,” Webb said. I was left to
conclude that he was talking about the influence of civil rights or
pro-immigration groups (which seemed odd, really, since in reality those
groups have about a tenth of the power that teachers, trial lawyers and
organized seniors exercise over Democratic politics).

Before anyone on the left attacks Webb as a former Reaganite and closet
conservative, it’s worth remembering that he isn’t saying anything all that
different from what Bill Clinton told the liberal base on cultural issues
in 1992. In fact, as a candidate, Barack Obama made a similar case for
winning back white voters.

The thing is, both of those men had the luxury of running after their party
had lost consecutive presidential elections, and when activists were
willing to hear some hard truths if they added up to a winning strategy.
This primary season will be a lot more like 2000, when the party’s liberal
base was nearly erupting with pent-up fury from having to endure eight
years of governing and all the ideological compromise that comes with it.

The last thing liberals want to hear right now (and especially after the
recent uproar over police brutality) is that they’re too focused on racial
equality and aren’t being solicitous enough to rural white men.

For this reason, mostly, I have a hard time seeing Webb as the pivotal
messenger for a party still organized around 1960s notions of social
justice. But that doesn’t mean he won’t have an impact, and it doesn’t
mean, if you’re Hillary Clinton, that you shouldn’t be paying close
attention.

Clinton’s allies in Washington have been trying for months to sell her —
and the rest of us — on the idea that she won’t be seriously challenged for
the nomination if she runs. This has never seemed very plausible to me, and
it’s going to seem even less plausible once Webb starts running around the
country picking apart her Wall Street connections and military adventurism.

At that point, other, more cautious potential rivals — like, say, Warren or
a governor like Martin O’Malley — are probably going to see that there is,
in fact, a market for a progressive alternative (there always is), and
they’re going to think they can fill it better, because that’s what makes
them politicians.

Where the courageous plunge in, others generally follow.

*Washington Post: “With eye on 2016, Jeb Bush resigns from all boards”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-eye-on-2016-jeb-bush-severs-ties-to-most-firms/2014/12/31/938b3662-9054-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html>*

By Tom Hamburger and Lyndsey Layton

December 31, 2014

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, moving closer to a possible presidential
run, has resigned all of his corporate and nonprofit board memberships,
including with his own education foundation, his office said late Wednesday
night.

He also resigned as a paid adviser to a for-profit education company that
sells online courses to public university students in exchange for a share
of their tuition payments.

Bush’s New Year’s Eve disclosure, coming in an e-mail from an aide to The
Washington Post, culminated a string of moves he has made in recent days to
shed business interests that have enriched him since leaving office in
2007. The aide said the resignations had been made “effective today.”

The aide said Bush was reviewing other businesses in which he is principal
partner or owner, such as Jeb Bush & Associates, a consulting firm, and
Britton Hill Partnership, a business advisory group that in 2013 set up
private-equity funds investing in energy and aviation.

Aides said Bush wants to devote his time to exploring a return to politics
rather than pursuing his business commitments. But separating himself from
those interests now could also be a strategic attempt to prepare for the
added scrutiny of a hotly contested campaign for the Republican nomination.

Bush’s financial stake in Academic Partnerships, the online education firm,
has been relatively small for a millionaire — a $60,000-a-year fee and
ownership of a small amount of stock, said Randy Best, the company’s
founder and chief executive. Even so, Bush’s affiliation with the firm —
which has contracts with schools in a half-dozen states and several foreign
countries and has annual sales of $100 million — could complicate his
effort to promote his record as an education reformer.

The company receives up to 70 percent of the tuition some students pay to
public universities, and some faculty members say it siphons money from the
schools while asserting too much control over academic decisions.

Best, a Texas entrepreneur and major political donor, said his firm has
increased professors’ access to online students and helped schools attract
additional revenue, while Bush aides say the former governor does not have
business interests related to K-12 education, which has been his policy
focus.

Bush’s decision to extricate himself from his private-sector work is “part
and parcel of a process he is going through as he transitions to focus on a
potential run for president,” said his spokeswoman, Kristy Campbell. “This
is a natural next step that will allow him to focus his time on gauging
interest for a potential run.”

The effort underscores the lengths to which Bush — who has become the
favorite prospective candidate of many major GOP donors and has been at or
near the top of polls testing the possible Republican presidential field —
appears willing to go to avoid pitfalls that hurt the party in 2012. That
year, GOP nominee Mitt Romney, founder of a private-equity fund, struggled
to explain his business background while under attack by GOP rivals and
President Obama.

Bush, 61, lamented Romney’s handling of the criticism in an interview last
month with Miami’s WPLG-TV. Bush said the 2012 nominee allowed himself to
be pulled “off message” and should have told voters: “I’m a problem-solver.
My life has been about building things up.”

Of his own business record, Bush said: “I’m not ashamed. Taking risk and
creating jobs is something we ought to have more of.”

Bush’s business portfolio is far smaller than that of Romney, whose Bain
Capital became one of the country’s most successful private-equity firms.
Yet it is complicated and could present political problems because he has
been affiliated with a broad range of industries and businesses.

Bush announced last month that he was ending his consulting relationship
with Barclays, the British investment-banking conglomerate. The New York
Times reported in May that the company paid Bush more than $1 million a
year.

The bank, like other major Wall Street players, had been under scrutiny in
recent years for alleged interest rate manipulations and for allegedly
providing special benefits to big traders.

Recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings revealed that Bush was
leaving the boards of two publicly traded firms: Rayonier, which invests in
forest lands, and Tenet Healthcare, which backed Obama’s health-insurance
initiative and profited from its passage.

From Tenet, Bush has received nearly $2.1 million in director’s fees and
restricted company stock since joining the board in 2007. The filings show
that he sold some of his Tenet stock through the years. A March 14, SEC
report showed that Bush held 59,403 shares of Tenet stock valued at the
time at just over $3 million.

Academic Partnerships stood out in Bush’s business portfolio because it
allowed him to combine a public policy issue he cared about with a business
investment.

Bush’s reputation as an school reformer stems from his work on K-12
education as governor and as the head of his Foundation for Excellence in
Education. He has been an advocate for online learning as a tool to expand
opportunities for students.

While Bush’s association with the company began several years after he left
office, Best contacted him about a possible business partnership before his
departure from Tallahassee. The Texas businessman had connections to the
Bush family, having raised money for the successful presidential campaigns
of Bush’s older brother, George W. Bush.

After the two men met, Best sent Bush an e-mail in April 2005 touting a
“huge global business opportunity” that could come from a “post-secondary
initiative” he said they had previously discussed. He said he hoped Bush
found the idea “intriguing.”

“If you are interested, let’s continue our discussions as you begin to
think about returning to the private sector after you leave office,” Best
wrote in the e-mail, which was obtained by The Post as part of a
public-records request.

Bush responded that he had “pledged to myself to focus on my job until it
is complete. I think I have a duty to do so.”

“Having said that,” Bush continued, “I think your vision is outstanding.”

Best said in an interview that he approached Bush at the time because he
had heard that the governor might be looking for opportunities in the
private sector. “I tried to get him in the water early,” Best said.

Years later, Best said, Bush was drawn to the firm because he has long been
“intrigued by innovation in education,” particularly the goal of “bringing
down the cost of higher education while maintaining quality.”

In his capacity as an adviser, Bush was “available to run ideas by and
discuss concepts” as the firm expanded, Best said.

He said Bush helped preside over two conferences on the future of education
hosted by the firm. Bush and former North Carolina governor Jim Hunt (D)
helped draw a high-powered lineup of speakers, including Hillary Rodham
Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential front-runner, who addressed a
March meeting on global education.

A 2012 report by the Texas Tribune said the company received $105 million
in revenue from 24 public colleges and universities, including eight in
Texas. Forbes magazine reported in 2013 that the company had contracts with
40 U.S. schools.

Bush and Best wrote a 2013 article for Inside Higher Ed predicting that
online classes would make higher education more accessible. “Companies like
ours — Academic Partnerships — are helping universities respond to this
transformative movement,” they wrote.

On some campuses, however, faculty members have viewed the arrival of
Academic Partnerships with suspicion.

When the company arrived at Arkansas State University in 2011, for
instance, faculty members were concerned “about a loss of quality and
control,” said Jack Zibluk, a professor of media studies who headed the
faculty senate at the time. Additional controversy erupted, he said, when
some school officials involved in negotiations with the company later
landed jobs with an affiliated firm.

Experts said that whether to do business with a contractor such as Academic
Parternships remains a subject of great debate for university
administrators.

“I don’t question whether firms like Academic Partnerships do quality
work,” said Barbara Bichelmeyer, who directs online education for the seven
campuses of Indiana University, which has chosen not to outsource its
online learning programs. “The question we are engaging is about the
ownership of the online educational experience — and whether a public
institution is comfortable outsourcing this work in whole or in part.”

Best said that academicians’ concerns about his company — and online
education generally — have largely diminished.

“It just increased their access to online students,” he said. The
additional tuition received by schools “is revenue they would never have
otherwise.”

Best said Bush called his cellphone Dec. 16, after announcing plans to
explore a presidential bid, to let him know that he planned to resign from
the company. Best said he plans to support Bush’s candidacy.

“He is the closest thing we have to a bipartisan candidate” who takes
principled stands on tough issues such as immigration and education, Best
said. “He is not going to be a person who responds to the polls or every
change in the political winds.”

*The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Rubio closer to decision on 2016 bid”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/228363-rubio-nears-decision-on-white-house-bid>*

By Molly K. Hooper

January 1, 2015, 3:49 p.m. EST

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says he’s closer to a decision on whether to run
for president than he was last month.

In a wide-ranging interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Florida’s
junior senator revealed Thursday that he hasn’t “made a decision yet,” but
it will come “certainly soon.”

“The decision I have to make is: Where is the best place for me to serve
America to carry out this agenda that I have to restore the American Dream
given the dramatic economic changes we’ve had in the 21st century? … Is it
in the Republican majority in the Senate or is it as a candidate, and
ultimately as president of the United States?” Rubio asked in the interview.

Rubio - a protege of likely GOP presidential contender and former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush - contends that his decision will be made on “the basis of
facts and reality,” not whether another prominent politician from the
Sunshine State will run.

“I have tremendous respect for Gov. [Jeb] Bush, and I’ve said repeatedly if
he runs he’ll be a very credible candidate. … As far as, you know,
speculating about whether two people from the same state can run, it’s not
unprecedented,” Rubio said.

The possibility of two prominent Florida politicians vying for the GOP
presidential nomination could place a number of potential backers in a
tough position.

Earlier this year, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) predicted that if Bush
ran, Rubio would not.

But Rubio told NPR that if he decides a presidential run would better
position him for helping others accomplish the American Dream, “then that’s
what I’m going to do irrespective of who else might be running.”

As for the immediate future, Rubio predicts that President Obama will make
good on a promise to use his veto pen to kill bills passed by the
Republican-controlled Congress. But there will be some instances in which
Obama may not succeed, Rubio added.

“I think we’ll have a supermajority, a veto-proof majority to impose
additional sanctions on Iran and to require the administration to come
before Congress for approval of any deal that he has with Iran,” Rubio
said. “I think the same is true for the Keystone pipeline, potentially.”

*Calendar:*

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

·  January 21 – Saskatchewan, Canada: Sec. Clinton keynotes the Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce’s “Global Perspectives” series (MarketWired
<http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/former-us-secretary-state-hillary-rodham-clinton-deliver-keynote-address-saskatoon-1972651.htm>
)

·  January 21 – Winnipeg, Canada: Sec. Clinton keynotes the Global
Perspectives series (Winnipeg Free Press
<http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Clinton-coming-to-Winnipeg--284282491.html>
)

·  February 24 – Santa Clara, CA: Sec. Clinton to Keynote Address at
Inaugural Watermark Conference for Women (PR Newswire
<http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hillary-rodham-clinton-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-inaugural-watermark-conference-for-women-283200361.html>
)

·  March 19 – Atlantic City, NJ: Sec. Clinton keynotes American Camp
Association conference (PR Newswire <http://www.sys-con.com/node/3254649>)