Subject: ​Correct The Record Tuesday January 13, 2015 Morning Roundup
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Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 08:15:50 -0500
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*​**Correct The Record Tuesday January 13, 2015 Morning Roundup:*

*Headlines:*

*The Hill: “Dems’ next big issue”
<http://thehill.com/regulation/business/229292-dems-next-big-issue>*

“Democrats are seizing on the fight for mandatory paid leave in the United
States as their next big pocketbook issue… In speeches ahead of a presumed
presidential candidacy, Clinton has added her voice to the push, lamenting
that the U.S. still lags behind other countries like Japan.”

*Bloomberg: “Not a Single Person Has Donated to Dick Morris's Anti-Hillary
Super PAC”
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-01-12/not-a-single-person-has-donated-to-dick-morriss-antihillary-super-pac>*

“No one has been giving money to his PAC. Literally, no one.”

*National Journal: “Bush, Clinton and the Fatigue Factor”
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/off-to-the-races/bush-clinton-and-the-fatigue-factor-20150112>*

“Bush's challenges, and for that matter those of Hillary Clinton, were
dramatically on display in an Aurora, Colo., focus group of 12 voters
conducted last week by renowned Democratic pollster Peter Hart.”

*Daily Caller: “Rubio: ‘I’m Very Comfortable With Who And Where I Come
From’”
<http://dailycaller.com/2015/01/12/rubio-im-very-comfortable-with-who-and-where-i-come-from/>*

“Asked to describe why he thinks he could beat Hillary Clinton in a general
election, Rubio said, ‘So far, Hillary Clinton looks like something that’s
no better than the continuation of the Obama presidency,’ supporting
programs and policies that have lost their effectiveness.”

*NJ.com: “Group with ties to Hillary Clinton files another complaint over
Chris Christie's Dallas trip”
<http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/01/group_with_ties_to_hillary_clinton_files_another_complaint_over_chris_christies_dallas_trip.html>*

“American Democracy Legal Fund charges Christie “knowingly violated federal
criminal law” and wants the U.S. attorney to investigate the governor for
accepting gifts from Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones.”

*New York Times: “New York City Promotes Diversity in Bid for 2016
Democratic National Convention”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/nyregion/new-york-city-promotes-diversity-in-bid-for-2016-democratic-national-convention.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>*

“Each city is promoting imagery to show it is the ideal host.”

*Washington Post: “Romney moves to reassemble campaign apparatus for 2016”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-moves-to-reassemble-campaign-apparatus-for-2016/2015/01/12/d968592e-9a88-11e4-96cc-e858eba91ced_story.html>*

“Mitt Romney is moving quickly to reassemble his national political
network, spending the weekend and Monday calling former aides, donors and
other supporters — as well as onetime foes such as Newt Gingrich.”

*NBC News: “Paul Ryan Won't Run for President in 2016”
<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/paul-ryan-wont-run-president-2016-n284481>*

“Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee
in 2012, told NBC News in an interview Monday that he will not seek the
presidency in 2016.”

*Articles:*

*The Hill: “Dems’ next big issue”
<http://thehill.com/regulation/business/229292-dems-next-big-issue>*

By Lydia Wheeler

January 13, 2015, 6:00 a.m. EST

Democrats are seizing on the fight for mandatory paid leave in the United
States as their next big pocketbook issue.

The Obama administration has for months called upon Congress to require
employers to offer paid leave, with Labor Secretary Tom Perez relentlessly
pressing the case to anyone who will listen.

And while potential Democratic presidential candidates, including former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), have
voiced support for the proposal, the party has yet to elevate paid leave to
the top tier of its policy agenda.

That will soon change, according to Democratic operatives, administration
officials and others on the political left.

“It’s a big issue in our economy — and if you’re not paying attention to it
now, you will be,” said Elizabeth Shuler, AFL-CIO secretary treasurer.
“2016 will be the year people start making it a pillar of their economic
platform.”

Out of 185 countries and territories in the world surveyed by the
International Labor Organization, the United States is one of only two that
does not offer paid maternity leave. Papua New Guinea is the other.

Democrats say the issue scores highly among voters across the political
spectrum, making it a potential winner at the polls — especially if
Republicans hold an opposing view.

“This is something that has bipartisan support,” said Margie Omero, a
former pollster and current Democratic strategist with the bipartisan firm
Purple Strategies. “It’s something people can feel an immediate impact
from.”

Though the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows for time off from
work for maternity leave or an illness, it often goes unpaid.

According to the Labor Department, only 35 percent of workers are able to
take some type of paid leave for their own illness, and only 39 percent can
do so for the birth of a child.

President Obama has long supported paid parental leave and more flexibility
in the workplace. At a White House summit on working families in June,
Obama said that while work is important, “family is also the bedrock of our
lives, and we don’t want a society where folks are having to make a choice
between those two things.”

But extending guaranteed paid leave to all workers would require
congressional action, which would be extremely unlikely in the new
Republican-controlled Congress.

Business groups object to the proposal.

“Our members are opposed to it because of real costs — and in a
philosophical sense, they’re opposed to it because they don’t want the
government telling them what to do,” National Federation of Independent
Businesses spokesman National Federation of Independent Businesses
spokesman Jack Mozloom said. said, adding that most of the group’s members
are small mom and pop operations.

“They’re down 10 percent if one employee is out for a week and that costs
productivity, but the work still has to get done.”

Employers then have three choices: hire a temp to fill in, pay someone
overtime or leave the work unfinished, he said.

“A lot of our members say ‘If an employee is sick, I want them to come to
me and I’ll work something out with them, but I don’t want the government
creating a personnel policy for my employees,’ ” Mozloom said.

Still, Democrats see the issue working in their favor.

A 2013 Huffington Post/YouGov poll on paid family and sick leave found that
74 percent of Americans thought companies should be required to offer paid
sick leave to their employees. The figure included 84 percent of Democrats,
60 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of independents, the Huffington
Post reported.

Leading the charge for the administration has been Perez, who has called
for paid leave legislation during speeches and public appearances around
Washington in recent months.

Perez declared paid leave a “sleeper issue that will sleep no more” during
an event at the National Press Club in October, and vowed to keep pressing
the argument, regardless of the political landscape.

“We know that doing paid leave is not an impossible thing — every other
industrialized country in the world has found a way to do it,” Labor
Department spokeswoman Tania Mejia said.

On Monday, the left-leaning Center for American Progress proposed a
national paid leave policy and other policies to help U.S. families. The
proposal comes on the heels of Obama’s call last week for free community
college tuition, and as Democrats in Washington unveiled a new plan Monday
to lower taxes on the middle class and foot the bill with higher taxes on
the wealthy.

Together, the proposals reflect Democrats’ intention to double down on
their populist economic polices, even as they face a tougher road forward
through the GOP-dominated Congress.

Republicans who oppose paid leave are going to be forced to come up with an
alternative plan, argued Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster and president
of the firm Lake Research Partners.

“They won’t be able to get away with coming out against it outright, so
you’ll see them try to come up with a confusing alternative,” she said.

Lake said some Democratic candidates used the issue to drive voters to the
polls in 2014, but only in a limited way.

“To be truly successful, it needs to be tied into a broader economic
platform,” she said.

In speeches ahead of a presumed presidential candidacy, Clinton has added
her voice to the push, lamenting that the U.S. still lags behind other
countries like Japan.  She has acknowledged, however, that it’s going to
take time to achieve.

“I don’t think, politically, we could get it now,” she said at a CNN town
hall meeting in June.

In the short term, proponents are focusing their efforts on enacting state
policies.

Warren, who has thus far resisted calls for her to launch a White House
bid, praised a series of federal grants to fund feasibility studies on paid
leave in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Montana and Rhode Island.

“Having a new baby should not be a path to poverty, and working parents who
stay home when they are sick should not have to worry about whether they
can pay their bills,” Warren said.

In Congress, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
(D-N.Y.) have introduced the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY)
Act, which would establish a national paid family and medical leave
insurance program.

Advocates of the law say they hope to see it pass Congress in the next five
years. But they expect to see it emerge as a leading Democratic issue long
before that.

“We think this issue will become a point of demarcation in the election of
2016,” said Ellen Bravo, executive director of Family Values at Work. “We
hope it will deliver a message that the electorate cares a lot about
working families and wants to see progress on these issues.”

*Bloomberg: “Not a Single Person Has Donated to Dick Morris's Anti-Hillary
Super PAC”
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-01-12/not-a-single-person-has-donated-to-dick-morriss-antihillary-super-pac>*

By David Weigel

January 12, 2015, 3:14 p.m. EST

[Subtitle:] The lack of support is the latest evidence of declining
influence for the original anti-Clintonite.

Sixteen months ago, to some fanfare, Dick Morris re-entered the
anti-Clinton fray with a new PAC. He launched Dick Morris's Just Say No to
Hillary PAC, registering it from Tampa. From time to time, stories about
the potential hurdles for a Hillary Clinton run would cite the rise of PACs
like Morris's.

But there is a rather glaring problem with adding Morris to this narrative:
No one has been giving money to his PAC. Literally, no one. In filings
today, first flagged by Center for Public Integrity reporter Dave
Levinthal, Just Say No to Hillary PAC reported no donors through all of
2014. That squares with data collected by the Center for Responsive
Politics.

If that finding is surprising, it's because other people have done
perfectly good business in the sturdy ant i-Clinton industry. Dan Backer, a
conservative attorney and strategist who won at the Supreme Court last year
to undo some restrictions on individual donors to parties, launched the
Stop Hillary PAC after Morris's PAC was already in the field. The Backer
group has hauled in more than $1 million, and built a sizable social media
presence. When I pointed out Morris's problems to Backer, the newer player
sounded bemused.

"Is he the cat from the Friskies commercials?" Backer asked in an e-mail.
"I thought he died…"

He did not, though his profile has never quite recovered from two events in
2012. First: He went further on a limb than any comparable commentator in
saying Mitt Romney would win the presidency. He would take it in a
"landslide," said Morris on Fox News. Since Romney lost, Morris hasn't
appeared as much on Fox; his last prime time hit came before the 2014
midterms, when he was flogging his latest book about Hillary Clinton's
radicalism. (She was as bad as Obama, said Morris, who wanted to make
America a one party state. "That's why he wants to open the borders. That's
why he's letting in 100,000 Syrian refugees.")

Second: Morris played in the 2010 midterms via his Super PAC, which ended
up paying most of what it took in—close to $1.7 million—to Newsmax Media.
Newsmax Media operated the mailing list that Morris rigorously worked over
to get donations. Morris was hardly the first prominent politico to anger
donors over where their money went. His problem was that his cause was too
popular, and when he stumbled, plenty of other people were ready to run
"the" anti-Hillary PAC.

*National Journal: “Bush, Clinton and the Fatigue Factor”
<http://www.nationaljournal.com/off-to-the-races/bush-clinton-and-the-fatigue-factor-20150112>*

By Charlie Cook

January 12, 2015

There are some surprising events that warrant being taken very seriously;
others, well, not so much. Prior to Thanksgiving, it looked pretty unlikely
that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would actually pull the trigger and seek
the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, even though it was obvious
that he personally wanted to do it. Since then, things have changed
dramatically, to the point that it is now essentially a done deal. It makes
you wonder what transpired in the Bush household over turkey, dressing, and
cranberries.

Bush's entry is an unexpected event with huge consequences, whether he
ultimately wins the GOP nomination or not. He represents the most
formidable fundraising network in the party, has candidate skills that are
probably better than those of anyone else in the party, and was a highly
successful governor of a big-time state, one that is of great significance
both in terms of the GOP nomination and the general election. Many others
show potential. Jeb Bush's bona fides are more concrete.

On the other hand, 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney's disclosure that he
wants to run is a bit harder to take seriously. In fact, it takes
considerable effort not to see Romney's words as anything but a pathetic
attempt to stay relevant, a reaction to being all but ignored as those few
in the Republican establishment who aren't enthusiastic for Bush instead
push for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The fact is that if the 2012 GOP
field were stronger, Romney probably wouldn't have been the nominee. The
center-right/establishment half of the Republican NCAA-like bracket gets
pretty much filled by Bush and, even more so, by Christie, if in fact there
is room for two.

Bush's challenges, and for that matter those of Hillary Clinton, were
dramatically on display in an Aurora, Colo., focus group of 12 voters
conducted last week by renowned Democratic pollster Peter Hart. The
gathering was part of a 10-year-old series Hart has conducted for the
Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. While a
focus group of just a dozen voters is hardly a cross section of the entire
electorate, this kind of qualitative research provides a color and texture
that is simply not available through normal quantitative polling that
surveys hundreds or thousands of voters. By examining average Americans'
actual words, voices, facial expressions, and body language, the "why"
becomes more clear. The numbers just give you the "what."

Having sat behind the glass during many of these groups and watched a video
live-streaming of this one, I know that Hart is a master at getting voters
to open up about their views of their lives and personal struggles, as well
as their perceptions of the economy, the country, political issues, and
specific politicians. The pushback from Thursday night's focus group would
be jarring to anyone who assumed that the nominations of Bush and Clinton
are inevitable. When half a dozen voters in a conversation say they would
back a law that would ban any Bush or Clinton from running, it makes you
sit up and take notice.

When participants were asked to associate words or phrases with Clinton,
some were positive, describing her as "strong" and a "spitfire" and just "I
like her." Some were mixed—"politician, but gets things done"—but many more
offerings were pejorative: One reference was to "Benghazi," and others
included "crazy," "I don't like her," "more of the same," "next candidate,
please," and "untrustworthy." For Bush, the positives were "intriguing" and
"interesting," but like with Clinton, the negatives were far more numerous:
"again?" "bad seed," "clown," "don't need him," "greedy," "joke," "no thank
you," "scion," and "a wannabe."

Some of these are simply manifestations of the oft-discussed "dynasty"
issue, the view that in a country of over 300 million people, aren't there
qualified people from more than just two families that would be worthy of
electing as our president? The retort is obviously that just because Bill
Clinton served as president for eight years and Jeb Bush's father and
brother served for a total of 12, can no other member of their families
even be considered, no matter what their qualifications and attributes? But
when people make the dynasty argument, it's unclear how much of that is a
real, specific objection and how much is a roundabout way of saying they
don't like this Bush and/or this Clinton personally. Some of the words and
phrases seem awfully targeted beyond simply the concept of legacy
candidacies.

For Bush, the unusually high negative ratings he scores in the polls, the
focus-group reaction, and other anecdotal evidence suggest that he is like
the guy whose older brother banged up the family car. Jeb Bush is being
perceived more as part of a brand that was badly damaged by his brother and
less by anything specifically related to him. How closely did critics watch
his time as governor, and are they actually familiar with own political
positions? This looks more like guilt by association than anything else;
maybe voters will end up liking and agreeing with him, maybe they won't,
but it doesn't look like he is being judged on his own terms. To succeed
with rank-and-file voters—first Republicans, and later all general-election
voters—he has to rebrand himself so that he will be perceived independently
of his brother. Republican elites of the Wall Street, Fortune
500-executive, and GOP donor classes get the distinction, but it appears to
be lost on nonelites. Bush starts off with a lot of big advantages over the
rest of the field but he has a major image challenge that no other
Republican has to face.

*Daily Caller: “Rubio: ‘I’m Very Comfortable With Who And Where I Come
From’”
<http://dailycaller.com/2015/01/12/rubio-im-very-comfortable-with-who-and-where-i-come-from/>*

By Alex Pappas

January 12, 2015, 10:24 p.m. EST

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio understands running for president will bring “a
whole new level of scrutiny and attention,” but tells The Daily Caller he
is “very comfortable with who and where I come from.”

In an interview about his new book set for release Tuesday, Rubio
acknowledged that he is still deciding whether to run for the White House
in 2016 or for re-election the U.S. Senate in Florida.

Asked what a presidential vetting would reveal about him that the public
doesn’t already know, Rubio said much of his background has already been
examined over the last several years—he referenced his autobiography in
2012, another book written about him that year, speculation he would be
Mitt Romney’s vice presidential nominee and his 2010 Senate campaign.

“I think in many respects, a lot of those things have been looked at and
talked about for quite sometime,” Rubio said. “But I’m very comfortable
with who and where I come from and how that has translated to my positions
on public policy.”

Rubio’s new book, “American Dreams: Restoring Economic Opportunity For
Everyone,” is an uplifting compilation of Rubio’s policy ideas “told
through the stories of real people in their real lives,” Rubio explained.

“The message is that the American Dream–which is embodied in the ability of
hard-working people to make it to the middle class and leave their children
better off than themselves–is in a lot of trouble right now,” Rubio said.
“It’s in a lot of trouble because people’s wages aren’t keeping pace with
the cost of living. And that’s happening, not because of a cyclical
downturn in our economy, but because of structural changes to our economy,
and government policies that are counter productive or basically irrelevant
to the challenges of our time.”

As he mulls a bid for president, Rubio still faces skepticism from some
conservatives over his views on immigration. Asked if he regrets being part
of the Gang of 8 — a bi-partisan group of senators that authored a
comprehensive immigration reform bill that called for a pathway to
citizenship in 2013 — Rubio said, “No.”

“Primarily because I think you learn lessons from it that are going to
ultimately help us solve the problem one day,” the senator said. “And the
primary lesson is the level of mistrust that people have that the
government will ever enforce immigration law. And a central argument
against the bill that we proposed was not that we shouldn’t do anything
with the people who are here illegally. The central argument was we
shouldn’t do anything with the people here illegally until first the
government proves that they’re going to bring illegal immigration under
control.”

Rubio’s favored immigration plan, detailed in his book, doesn’t call for an
explicit pathway to citizenship but rather eventually grants permanent
residency to some illegal immigrants after a long process.

“The only way you’re ever going to deal with the rest of immigration is to
first bring illegal immigration under control,” Rubio said Monday. “And
that’s why I argue for the sequential approach to it.”

Rubio wouldn’t say, when asked, what percentage of a chance he thinks there
is that he will run for president in 2016. “I’m not sure there is such a
thing, that there is a percentage one way or another.”’

He said the question he has to answer is whether the U.S. Senate or the
White House is the best place for him to further his policy goals.

“And that’s the last remaining question for me to answer,” Rubio said of
his thought process of running for president.

Asked about Romney acknowledging to donors last week that he will consider
another run for president, Rubio said: “I think he certainly deserves the
opportunity to consider running, and if he decides to run, he’ll be a very
formidable candidate. He’s run twice before, and has the experience of
running.”

Rubio and Rand Paul, the libertarian-leaning senator from Kentucky, have
clashed in recent weeks over foreign policy, specifically over the Obama
administration’s stance on Cuba. Asked about Paul’s call for a restrained
foreign policy, Rubio argued for a much stronger American hand in the world.

“I think now more now than ever, the Republican Party and the American
people want our next president to be someone who understands the unique and
important role America has to play in the global order,” Rubio said. “I
mean, without American leadership and American engagement, international
affairs devolve into chaos.”

Asked to describe why he thinks he could beat Hillary Clinton in a general
election, Rubio said, “So far, Hillary Clinton looks like something that’s
no better than the continuation of the Obama presidency,” supporting
programs and policies that have lost their effectiveness.

“I think we can make a very compelling argument to why our agenda is the
right one for the future,” Rubio said. “Because it’s focused on the future.
And focused on the reality of a new era.”

*NJ.com: “Group with ties to Hillary Clinton files another complaint over
Chris Christie's Dallas trip”
<http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/01/group_with_ties_to_hillary_clinton_files_another_complaint_over_chris_christies_dallas_trip.html>*

By Matt Arco

January 12, 2015, 1:44 p.m. EST

TRENTON — A Democratic group with ties to former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton today filed another complaint against Gov. Chris Christie over his
recent trip to Dallas to root for the Cowboys.

American Democracy Legal Fund charges Christie “knowingly violated federal
criminal law” and wants the U.S. attorney to investigate the governor for
accepting gifts from Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones. The request for a criminal
complaint against the governor comes after the group last week filed a
complaint with the New Jersey State Ethics Commission over the trip.

The group claims Christie violated federal law that “prohibits extortion
that interferes with interstate commerce,” arguing the governor accepted
gifts in return for his influence. They argue the flight and seats inside
the owner’s luxury box at NFL games violated state rules because Jones is a
part-owner of a hospitality company – Legends Hospitality – that was
awarded a lucrative Port Authority of New York and New Jersey hospitality
services contract, according to published reports.

“If your office's investigation confirms that Governor Christie accepted
gifts from Mr. Jones in violation of federal criminal law, it should
prosecute the alleged violation and all other violations discovered as a
result of your investigation to the fullest extent permitted by law,” wrote
Brad Woodhouse, treasurer for American Democracy Legal Fund, in the letter.

Woodhouse is also the president of American Bridge, a group that conducts
opposition research on Republican officials. American Democracy Legal Fund
and American Bridge were founded by Clinton ally and Media Matters founder
David Brock.

The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond for comment, but dismissed
American Democracy Legal Fund ‘s earlier complaint with the state’s ethics
commission as partisan politics.

“Is anyone surprised pro-Hilary PACs like American Bridge and partisan
organizations like the DNC are using the governor’s support of a football
team for a political hit?” Maria Comella, Christie’s spokeswoman, said last
week.

American Bridge has gone after Christie several times before. In June 2014,
the group criticized the governor for using the state helicopter to get to
a town hall event located a short drive to Trenton – about 40 minutes
without traffic.

*New York Times: “New York City Promotes Diversity in Bid for 2016
Democratic National Convention”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/nyregion/new-york-city-promotes-diversity-in-bid-for-2016-democratic-national-convention.html?partner=rss&emc=rss>*

By Nikita Stewart

January 12, 2015

New York’s diversity, beginning with more than 2.4 million Hispanic
residents, puts the city ahead of its rivals for the 2016 Democratic
National Convention, supporters of the bid said.

That is the estimated number of Hispanics living in the country’s most
populous city, far outpacing Columbus, Ohio, and Philadelphia, which are
also seeking to host the event. The Democratic National Committee is
expected to announce the convention location no later than next month, and
New York City is looking for an edge during its final pitch.

On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio started a municipal-identification program
that would give undocumented immigrants, among others, government-issued
IDs. New York’s convention negotiating team is using the program as a
launching pad this week to publicize the city’s immigrant-friendly policies
and its Hispanic population as assets. The outreach includes sending the
Democrats’ site selection committee an open letter promoting the city as an
unequaled backdrop for the 2016 convention.

Nearly 29 percent of New York City residents are Hispanic, and the
population is more than 9 times that of Columbus’s 49,851 and
Philadelphia’s 206,033 Latino residents combined, census data show.

Laura Santucci, the mayor’s chief of staff overseeing the bid, said New
York had no competition “when you look at which city has a community that
represents the face of the country and has the leadership that’s moving the
needle on these issues.”

Aides said Hispanics and immigrants had benefited from several of Mr. de
Blasio’s policies, including the expansions of paid sick leave and
prekindergarten classes, an increase in living wage and an end to
stop-and-frisk police tactics.

Each city is promoting imagery to show it is the ideal host. On the
official website for Philadelphia’s bid, a slogan reads, “Let’s Make
History Again,” and adds, “Because it all started here.”

Columbus is the state capital and largest city in Ohio, a swing state that
has served as a star of presidential elections. On the official website for
that city’s bid, its slogan reads, “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.”

In recent weeks, New York City has faced doubts about its convention
prospects because of the rift between Mr. de Blasio and rank-and-file
police officers, after Eric Garner, a black Staten Island man, died in
police custody, and the more recent murders of two officers by a gunman who
cited the deaths of unarmed black men on social media.

A Democratic National Committee aide familiar with the selection process
but not authorized to speak publicly said the site committee was not as
concerned with optics and symbolism as it was with the nuts and bolts of
hosting a major event. “Primarily what’s being discussed,” the aide said,
“are logistical, financial and security considerations.”

Diversity issues were limited officially to a requirement in the bids to
outline cities’ engagement of minority vendors who would vie for convention
contracts. But representatives from host committees in each city said they
believed the Democratic National Committee was taking a much broader look
at diversity.

In 2012, both Republicans and Democrats sought to woo Latino voters at
their conventions. Julián Castro, the mayor of San Antonio at the time, was
the first Latino to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National
Convention, and Antonio Villaraigosa, then the mayor of Los Angeles, served
as its chairman. Meanwhile, Hispanic speakers were placed in prime slots at
the Republican convention.

Cheerleaders for Columbus and Philadelphia, however, challenged New York
promoters’ beliefs that the city had a clear lead in diversity. “We are as
diverse as New York,” said Edward G. Rendell, the former governor of
Pennsylvania who was lending his support to Philadelphia, where he was
mayor. “I don’t think that will be a deciding factor.” He described
“robust” political engagement of Hispanics, pointing to two Latino
candidates in the 2015 mayoral election.

Ohio, like other states, has seen its Hispanic population grow
exponentially. But Nancy Kramer, a businesswoman who is a leader in
Columbus’s bid committee, boasted about the city’s overall diversity and
its oft-overlooked advantage as a microcosm of the country.

“In terms of general diversity, Columbus, in many ways, is an exact replica
of the United States,” said Ms. Kramer, founder and chairman of
Resource/Ammirati, an advertising firm. “There’s a reason the election
comes down to Ohio.”

But New York boosters were confident they would beat the competition,
citing a larger police force, a massive public transportation system and a
base of donors for the event.

The city’s politics and policies, such as the municipal ID program, are
also advantages, said Melissa Mark-Viverito, the speaker of the City
Council. “We’re clearly sending a message that everyone is welcome here,”
she said.

*Washington Post: “Romney moves to reassemble campaign apparatus for 2016”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/romney-moves-to-reassemble-campaign-apparatus-for-2016/2015/01/12/d968592e-9a88-11e4-96cc-e858eba91ced_story.html>*

By Robert Costa, Philip Rucker, and Karen Tumulty

January 12, 2015, 4:08 p.m. EST

Mitt Romney is moving quickly to reassemble his national political network,
spending the weekend and Monday calling former aides, donors and other
supporters — as well as onetime foes such as Newt Gingrich.

Romney’s message was that he is serious about making a 2016 presidential
bid. He told one senior Republican he “almost certainly will” run in what
would be his third campaign for the White House, this person said.

His aggressive outreach over the past three days indicates that Romney’s
declaration of interest to a group of donors in New York Friday was more
than the release of a trial balloon but rather was the start of a concerted
push by the 2012 nominee to be an active participant in the 2016 campaign.

Over the past few days, Romney has been in touch with an array of key
allies to discuss his potential 2016 campaign, according to people with
knowledge of the calls. They include Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), his former
vice presidential running mate; former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty (R);
Hewlett-Packard chief executive Meg Whitman; former Massachusetts senator
Scott Brown; former Missouri senator Jim Talent; and Rep. Jason Chaffetz
(R-Utah).

In the conversations, Romney has said he is intent on running to the right
of Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who also is working aggressively
to court donors and other party establishment figures for a 2016 bid.
Romney has signaled to conservatives that, should he enter the race, he
shares their views on immigration and on taxes — and that he will not run
from party orthodoxy.

On New Year’s Eve, Romney welcomed Laura Ingraham, the firebrand
conservative and nationally syndicated talk-radio host, to his ski home in
Deer Valley, Utah. The setting was informal and came about because Ingraham
was vacationing in the area. Romney prepared a light lunch for Ingraham and
her family as they spent more than one hour discussing politics and policy,
according to sources familiar with the meeting.

“He was relaxed, reflective and was interested in hearing my thoughts on
the American working class,” Ingraham said in an e-mail Monday. “He was
fully engaged and up to speed on everything happening on domestic and
international front. To me it didn’t seem like he was content to be just a
passive player in American politics.”

On Friday, Romney told a private gathering of powerful GOP donors in New
York, “I want to be president.” That began a concerted effort to re-engage
and court anew the party’s leading financial and political players.

Romney’s efforts come as Bush — another favorite of the Republican
establishment — is holding meetings with top GOP figures and financiers as
he explores his own campaign, revealing an early level of competitiveness
between the Romney and Bush camps as they navigate their overlapping
political circles.

Over the weekend, Romney called Gingrich, the former House speaker who
relentlessly attacked Romney on the stump and debate stage in 2012 during
his own presidential run.

Gingrich said he told Romney, “There are no frontrunners” in the 2016 race.
“We have runners, but no frontrunners.”

Romney is measuring how much of his old operation would remain in what
would be his third try for the presidency. As of Monday, he had secured the
backing of two New Hampshire-based advisers, Thomas D. Rath and Jim
Merrill, should Romney formally launch a campaign.

“He called me right after the Patriots beat the Ravens, so we were both in
good moods,” Merrill said. “It was a good conversation. He was very clear
that he is seriously considering a run. I’ve been with Mitt Romney since
March 2006, so if he decides to do it, I’ll be there for him.”

Rath, a former New Hampshire state attorney general, concurred in a
separate interview. “I’ve been with Mitt Romney for eight years,” Rath
said. “If he’s in, I’ll make the coffee or drive the car — whatever he
needs.”

Romney is intent on swiftly rebuilding his past political infrastructure in
New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary and which ignited
his 2012 campaign when he finished first in a crowded Republican field.

Romney also has called Brown, who ran unsuccessfully for Senate from New
Hampshire last year, as well as former governor John Sununu, who was a
surrogate for Romney in 2012 but has close ties to the Bush camp after
serving as White House chief of staff to former president George H.W. Bush.

“He’s reaching out to people,” said former New Hampshire senator Judd
Gregg, a Romney supporter in 2008 and 2012. “My sense is he feels strongly
he has an opportunity to do what was incomplete last time. He figures
there’s a lot of buyer’s remorse now and that his message is a good message
and it’ll resonate.”

Romney is also paying attention to Iowa, which holds the
first-in-the-nation caucuses. One of his weekend calls was to David Kochel,
who served as Romney’s Iowa strategist in 2008 and 2012.

One Romney adviser, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, said,
“Mitt’s a very restless character. He is not the type to retire happily, to
read books on the beach. That’s not who he is. Ann better than most people
knows that about him. And she wants him to be satisfied and I don’t think
Mitt is satisfied. He believes he has something to offer the country and
the only way he can do that is by running for president again.”

Eric Fehrnstrom, a longtime Romney spokesman, ticked through issues that he
said were motivating Romney to try again. “At home our economy is still not
as strong as it could be,” he said. “Long-term growth is in doubt. And
around the world there’s really deep concern that America’s leadership has
unraveled and hostile forces have filled that vacuum. There are things Mitt
talked about in the last campaign.”

Many of Romney’s past supporters could feel torn, not only between him and
Bush, but also with other Republicans exploring a presidential run,
including New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and
Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.).

And one former Romney campaign adviser, who requested anonymity, offered
this reality check: “His problems as the guy who lost to Obama are
substantial. Jeb has ‘Bush’ problems, but to most of America still has the
opportunity to introduce himself in a positive way.”

Romney’s national finance network — which raised roughly $1 billion on his
behalf for the 2012 campaign — came alive in the hours after Romney
declared his interest in a 2016 bid.

“When the news broke Friday, my phone started blowing up with texts, calls
and e-mails from people that had donated to the campaign before and
pledging their help,” said Travis Hawkes, a Republican donor in Idaho who
served on Romney’s national finance council. “They say, ‘Let me know when
you need my credit card number.’ My response to everyone has been, ‘Let’s
just slow down and see what happens.’ ”

Another GOP bundler received a phone message from Romney on Monday in which
he said, “What you saw in the paper is true.” Romney added that he was
giving “some consideration” to running again “for a lot of reasons.” Among
the factors he cited: “I have a strong sense of duty.”

*NBC News: “Paul Ryan Won't Run for President in 2016”
<http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/paul-ryan-wont-run-president-2016-n284481>*

By Alex Moe

January 12, 2015

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican Party's vice presidential nominee
in 2012, told NBC News in an interview Monday that he will not seek the
presidency in 2016.

"I have decided that I am not going to run for president in 2016," Ryan
said in a phone interview, noting that he is "at peace" with the decision
he made "weeks ago" to forgo a bid for the White House.

"It is amazing the amount of encouragement I have gotten from people - from
friends and supporters - but I feel like I am in a position to make a big
difference where I am and I want to do that," he said.

The nine-term congressman believes he can make that "big difference" in his
new role as chairman of the influential House Ways and Means Committee
rather than as a presidential contender.

The committee will meet Tuesday to kick off the new Congress. By announcing
that he'll pass on a White House run, Ryan hopes to demonstrate that he'll
devote his "undivided attention" to the committee, although he admits that
it will be "bittersweet not being on the trail" as a candidate this
upcoming cycle.

Ryan, who is married with three young children, said he reached his
decision over the holidays last year, well before Friday's news that his
former running mate, Mitt Romney, is once again eyeing a presidential bid.

"It is no secret that I have always thought Mitt would make a great
president," he said. "As for his plans for 2016, I don't know what he is
ultimately going to do and the last thing I want to do is get ahead of his
own decision making process."

The congressman would not throw his support behind any potential 2016
presidential candidate during the interview, saying that any endorsement
would be "premature."

But, Ryan added, he believes that a Republican can "absolutely" win.

"I think we've got a number of very capable candidates who have every
ability to become president. There are a lot of talented people," he said.
"I think it is critical that our party puts forward bold, conservative
ideas and give people a choice. I think we have a number of capable leaders
who can do that."

Ryan said he plans to do whatever he can to help the Republican Party and
its eventual nominee win the White House in 2016.

"It's clear the country needs a change in direction and our party has a
responsibility to offer a real alternative," he said, adding that, as
chairman of his House committee, he will help "lay out conservative
solutions that will help our nominee lead us to victory."

Ryan's decision to stay out of the presidential race this go-around hasn't
prevented the Wisconsin lawmaker, a die-hard Green Bay Packers, from some
gentle ribbing of another potential 2016 candidate, New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie.

*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>)