Subject: Correct The Record Wednesday January 28, 2015 Afternoon Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 14:16:54 -0500
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

*​**Correct The Record Wednesday January 28, 2015 Afternoon Roundup:*

*Tweets:*

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: Latinos would overwhelmingly support
@HillaryClinton <https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton> in 2016 "and
rightfully so," says@RepLindaSanchez <https://twitter.com/RepLindaSanchez>
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_27403446/linda-sanchez-latinos-will-support-hillary-clinton
…
<http://t.co/CHvfdYtNkn> [1/28/15

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: .@HillaryClinton
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton>'s work for children in need "is an
important example," Ann Lewis writes in@LDNews <https://twitter.com/LDNews>
http://www.ldnews.com/opinion/ci_27405337/childrens-issues-close-hillary-clintons-heart
…
<http://t.co/3NxhkFDKTI> [1/28/15, 10:52 a.m. EST
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/560465374282383360>]

*Correct The Record* @CorrectRecord: Ann Lewis in @LDNews
<https://twitter.com/LDNews>: @HillaryClinton
<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton>'s work to help orphans & kids in
foster care "has made a real difference"
http://www.ldnews.com/opinion/ci_27405337/childrens-issues-close-hillary-clintons-heart
…
<http://t.co/dpZcylLPNL> [1/28/15, 10:29 a.m. EST
<https://twitter.com/CorrectRecord/status/560459545261400064>]

*Headlines:*

*CNN: “Game on: Romney team points to Hillary over wealth”
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/28/politics/romney-clinton-wealth/index.html>*

“Correct the Record, the pro-Clinton communications and research PAC,
pushed back against Romney's response Wednesday. ‘While Mitt Romney tries
in vain to reinvent himself as a friend to those who are struggling,
Hillary Clinton is continuing her life-long work to lift up the middle
class and level the playing field for all Americans,’ said Adrienne Elrod,
communications director for the group, said in an email to CNN.”

*San Jose Mercury News opinion: Rep. Linda Sanchez: “Latinos will support
Hillary Clinton”
<http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_27403446/linda-sanchez-latinos-will-support-hillary-clinton>*

“Latinos have made it clear that they would strongly support Hillary
Clinton should she run for president.”

*Patriot-News opinion: Ann Lewis: “An unnoticed part of Hillary Clinton's
record -- her work for foster kids”
<http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2015/01/an_unnoticed_part_of_hillary_c.html#incart_river>*

"From working at the Children's Defense Fund right after law school to her
efforts to expand early learning for children today, Hillary Clinton has
worked throughout her adult life – in and out of public office – to improve
the lives of children. Her work on behalf of orphans and foster care
children is not an exception, but an important example."

*New York Times: “Hillary Clinton vs. Elizabeth Warren Could Be a Dream
Match, for Republicans”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/29/us/politics/hillary-clinton-vs-elizabeth-warren-could-be-a-dream-match-for-republicans.html?_r=0>*

“Ms. Warren represents Republicans’ best hope for an expensive, prolonged
battle for the Democratic nomination, weakening Mrs. Clinton along the way,
political operatives on both sides say.”

*CNN: “CNN exclusive: Snapchat Interview with Senator Rand Paul”
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/28/politics/rand-paul-snaphat-interview/>*

"CNN interviewed possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate and
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul over ... you guessed it ... the popular
disappearing messaging app, Snapchat."

*Bloomberg: “DCCC Names Lieutenants in Push to Kickstart 2016 Turnaround”
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-01-28/dccc-names-lieutenants-in-push-to-kickstart-2016-turnaround>*

“Pelosi, reelected as the party's House leader in November, has been
insisting to colleagues that 2016 holds brighter election prospects. Much
of her optimism centers on the notion that voter turnout among women and
minorities will be boosted by a potential presidential candidacy of Hillary
Clinton.”

*Washington Post blog: Style: “Sherrod Brown: Why aren’t progressives
begging him to run for president?”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/sherrod-brown-why-arent-progressives-begging-him-to-run-for-president/2015/01/28/f8378d9c-a63c-11e4-a7c2-03d37af98440_story.html>*

“…Timing could not be better for a candidate with a populist economic
agenda to challenge Hillary Rodham Clinton and her close ties to Wall
Street.”

*The Hill blog: In The Know: “‘Wonder Woman’ actress: Hillary can have my
Lasso of Truth”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/230955-wonder-woman-actress-hillary-can-have-my-lasso-of-truth>*

“Lynda Carter isn’t just offering Hillary Clinton an early endorsement; the
‘Wonder Woman’ actress says the former secretary of State can even claim
the Lasso of Truth as her own.”

*Articles:*

*CNN: “Game on: Romney team points to Hillary over wealth”
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/28/politics/romney-clinton-wealth/index.html>*

By Ashley Killough

January 28, 2015, 10:35 a.m. EST

As Mitt Romney heads to the nation's poorest state Wednesday, his political
team is fighting back against perceptions that his wealth could be a
political liability if he runs for president again, arguing that Hillary
Clinton is no model for modest living, either.

"It's going to be hard for Hillary Clinton to make Mitt Romney's wealth a
fruitful line of attack, with her multi-million dollar mansions in
Georgetown and Chappaqua and her jet-setting lifestyle of the rich and
famous," a Romney aide said Wednesday in a comment to reporters.

A new report in the Boston Globe details how Romney purchased or built two
new homes after the 2012 Republican presidential nominee's election loss.
The former private equity CEO, whose wealth became an overriding theme for
Democratic attacks, has a total of four homes: a mansion in La Jolla,
California; a ski chalet in Park City, Utah; a large home in Salt Lake
City; and a lake house on Lake , New Hampshire.

The home in La Jolla, complete with a car elevator, has been undergoing
renovations to make it bigger since 2012, and according the Globe, is now
being shown to potential buys by a broker.

Correct the Record, the pro-Clinton communications and research PAC, pushed
back against Romney's response Wednesday.

"While Mitt Romney tries in vain to reinvent himself as a friend to those
who are struggling, Hillary Clinton is continuing her life-long work to
lift up the middle class and level the playing field for all Americans,"
said Adrienne Elrod, communications director for the group, said in an
email to CNN.

Romney speaks Wednesday night at Mississippi State University in
Starkville, where he's set to talk about challenges facing the country and
the world. His remarks will be followed by a moderated question and answer
session.

While the appearance was announced back in December, weeks before he told
donors he was seriously considering a third presidential run, political
observers are closely monitoring his every statement as he's thought to
make a decision within the next week and a half.

If he runs again, he's likely to make anti-poverty policy a key part of his
message, the former Massachusetts governor suggested in remarks to the
Republican National Committee's winter meeting in San Diego.

Romney was constantly playing defense against multi-million dollar
Democratic campaigns that pilloried his corporate background and painted
him as out of touch. He also sought to overcome a string of gaffes―i.e. "I
like being able to fire people" and "I have some great friends who are
NASCAR team owners"―that Democrats quickly used as fuel for their fire
against the then-GOP nominee.

A spokesman for Clinton did not immediately return a request for comment.

The former secretary of state, widely seen as the Democratic frontrunner if
she runs for president, has fought her own battle against accusations of
being out of touch, in part because of her six-figure speaking fees and
because of comments she made last summer in which she argued that her
family was "dead broke" after leaving the White House.

*San Jose Mercury News opinion: Rep. Linda Sanchez: “Latinos will support
Hillary Clinton”
<http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_27403446/linda-sanchez-latinos-will-support-hillary-clinton>*

By Rep. Linda Sanchez

January 28, 2015, 10:00 a.m. PST

Immigration reform will once again be a key issue in the 2016 presidential
election, according to a poll released by Latino Decisions. Eighty-nine
percent of Latino voters expressed support for President Obama's executive
order on immigration and a majority want to continue or extend Obama's
actions in 2017.

More than 80 percent of Latino voters polled said they would support
Hillary Clinton if she says she would renew Obama's immigration actions in
2017. This shows the overwhelming support Hillary would receive from Latino
voters if she were to run for president in 2016 — and rightfully so.

Hillary Clinton has been a champion for immigrants and refugees throughout
her career. Her support for sensible immigration reform reflects the views
of a majority of Americans. Her commitment to keeping families together
gives children the best chance for a successful future and remains true to
the values that make this country great.

But it is not just immigration reform that has the Latino community excited
about a potential Hillary Clinton candidacy. Latinos have a vested interest
in many issues that Hillary Clinton has championed during her decades in
public service. From the economy and the environment, to health and
education reform, she has been a strong and consistent ally to Latinos.

Income mobility, access to affordable and quality healthcare, and the
ability to receive a quality education are issues crucial to Latinos, and
will be at the forefront of their minds when voting in 2016.

While in the Senate, Hillary Clinton consistently advocated raising the
minimum wage and fought to make higher education accessible by working to
make it more affordable. As First Lady, Hillary was an early champion for
health reform, working to ensure quality, accessible, affordable health
care at a time when two-thirds of Latinos did not have coverage.

Lower income Latino communities are more affected by pollution and Latinos
are three times more likely to die from asthma than other racial groups. As
Secretary of State, Hillary recognized the impact pollution has on our
communities and worked to create clean, renewable and sustainable energy
programs to improve air quality and our environment.

Americans deserve to have confidence that their elected officials will
support and fight for them, but Latinos have too often been left to fend
for themselves. Hillary Clinton's support on immigration reform represents
an important step forward. Unfortunately, the Republican agenda is forcing
us to continue to fight an up-hill battle.

While Democrats are helping to give all families a fighting chance,
Republicans have stood in the way. We need a presidential candidate who
recognizes the many issue areas that Latino voters care about and one who
continues to work to support and create opportunity in the Latino community.

Latinos have made it clear that they would strongly support Hillary Clinton
should she run for president. Her vision creates opportunity and financial
security at a time when too many families worry about their future. This is
the kind of leader we need.

*Patriot-News opinion: Ann Lewis: “An unnoticed part of Hillary Clinton's
record -- her work for foster kids”
<http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2015/01/an_unnoticed_part_of_hillary_c.html#incart_river>*

By Ann F. Lewis

January 28, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. EDT

What do Hillary Clinton, former Republican Whip Tom DeLay, and the founder
of Wendy's have in common?

Hint: It isn't politics. This unusual coalition worked together to make a
better life for children in orphanages and foster care; work that has made
a real difference for tens of thousands of young people.

Orphans and foster care children are not exactly a high-powered political
group in Washington.

There were no lobbyists calling on their behalf, no one demanding Hillary
take this on. I was working in the White House at the time, so I got to
watch up close – but otherwise I might never have known!

So why did she do it? Because Hillary believed it was the right thing to do.

From working at the Children's Defense Fund right after law school to her
efforts to expand early learning for children today, Hillary Clinton has
worked throughout her adult life – in and out of public office – to improve
the lives of children. Her work on behalf of orphans and foster care
children is not an exception, but an important example.

Orphans and foster care children are not exactly a high-powered political
group in Washington.

As First Lady, Hillary made adoption and foster care one of her priorities.
She worked across the partisan aisle, with two unlikely partners: former
Republican Minority Whip Tom Delay of Texas and business leader Dave Thomas
of Wendy's, a lifelong Republican.

Together, they held events at the White House to raise awareness, and built
support for legislation that would encourage adoptions, provide more aid
for foster families, and help foster children find permanent, safe, loving
homes.

The first piece of legislation was the Adoption and Safe Families Act of
1997, which provided support and services for adoptive families, and
increased foster adoptions by 64 percent by 2002.

It's no wonder the Washington Post called the law "the most significant
change in federal child-protection policy in almost two decades."

The second piece of legislation, the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999,
was focused on children who "age out" of the foster care system when they
turn 18.

Too often, these children leave their foster home with only a green plastic
bag of their belongings – and too little hope.

The purpose of this legislation was to make the transition easier for these
kids and to give them, as President Clinton said, "the tools they need to
make the most of their lives."

Access to healthcare, education, housing assistance, and counseling
services are just some of the tools this law provided to give these kids
the chance they deserve.

Hillary introduced legislation in the Senate to help interested adults
learn more about adoption.

She was also a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption and
partnered with Democrats and Republicans alike to remove barriers to
adoption and support the adoption of children in foster care.

At the State Department, Secretary Clinton brought the issue to the world
stage. She appointed the first ever special advisor on international
children's issues and worked with other countries to improve foster care
programs worldwide.

Adoption and foster care are not likely to be an issue in any political
campaign. They aren't hot button issues or ones that gather big headlines;
but they're important to Hillary Clinton.

That is what her life has been about: building coalitions, working with
partners, doing whatever it takes to make a real difference on issues that
make a real difference in people's lives –beginning with the very youngest
among us.

That's the Hillary Clinton I know.

*New York Times: “Hillary Clinton vs. Elizabeth Warren Could Be a Dream
Match, for Republicans”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/29/us/politics/hillary-clinton-vs-elizabeth-warren-could-be-a-dream-match-for-republicans.html?_r=0>*

By Amy Chozick

January 28, 2015

They have called Senator Elizabeth Warren “an extremely attractive
candidate” in the 2016 presidential campaign. They have said that she is
the “hottest commodity” in the Democratic Party and that she has
demonstrated the “passion and intensity” that Hillary Rodham Clinton lacks.

Those glowing compliments are not from the liberal activists who are trying
to persuade Ms. Warren to challenge Mrs. Clinton, who is expected to be the
party’s leading contender in 2016. They come from conservatives who are
eager to drum up a contentious Democratic primary and who see Ms. Warren, a
first-term senator from Massachusetts, as best positioned to weaken, and
potentially defeat, Mrs. Clinton.

On cable television and in private strategy sessions, conservatives are
steadily stoking the flames of a movement to recruit Ms. Warren, who has
said she will not run but whose anti-Wall Street economic message resonates
with the liberal base of the Democratic Party.

“Please give us Elizabeth Warren. Please, God, let us have Elizabeth
Warren,” said Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who is
considering a presidential bid.

“I respect her because she has the courage to speak her convictions,” Mr.
Huckabee said on Fox News.

Former Representative Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party Republican from
Minnesota, told CNN that Ms. Warren would be “an extremely attractive
candidate.” Mrs. Bachmann also said that if she were Mrs. Clinton, she
would be “extremely concerned.”

The tactic says much about the 2016 landscape for Republicans. A crowded
field of people who say they are considering running for president —
including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida,
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts —
has emerged. That means the party is expecting a bruising ideological
battle for the nomination.

Mrs. Clinton, a former secretary of state and 2008 presidential candidate,
could emerge from the primary season relatively unscathed. Other Democrats
— including Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, former Gov. Martin O’Malley of
Maryland and Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont — may also
run, but at this early stage none is expected to have the funding or
political apparatus to pose a serious threat to Mrs. Clinton.

An easy path to the nomination would allow Mrs. Clinton to potentially
enter a general election with more funding than the Republican nominee, who
would have had to spend heavily to beat a wide field of competitors. Ms.
Warren represents Republicans’ best hope for an expensive, prolonged battle
for the Democratic nomination, weakening Mrs. Clinton along the way,
political operatives on both sides say.

That desire appears to trump the fact that Ms. Warren’s views about
taxation, regulation and the role of government are so at odds with
Republican tenets. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his
own,” she famously said in 2011.

Ms. Warren told Fortune magazine this month that she would not run to
succeed President Obama, but that has not stopped speculation.

“Elizabeth Warren says, ‘I’m not running, I don’t want to be president,’ ”
the radio host Rush Limbaugh said recently. “Translation: ‘I can’t wait and
I am running. But I’m just not going to admit it right now.’ ”

Republicans said Ms. Warren would deliver a perfect “trifecta” in
diminishing Mrs. Clinton. She attracts young, liberal supporters who view
Mrs. Clinton as too centrist. A Warren candidacy would take away a central
theme expected of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign — that it is time to elect a
female president. And Ms. Warren’s presence in the primary season could
push Mrs. Clinton to adopt liberal positions that might turn off
independents in a general election.

It first became apparent that Ms. Warren could be an effective tool in
moving Mrs. Clinton off message when the two appeared at a joint rally in
October for Martha Coakley, the Democratic nominee for governor of
Massachusetts.

In her speech, Mrs. Clinton tried to channel some of Ms. Warren’s populist
zeal, but flubbed a variation of the senator’s controversial line about the
roots of success. “Don’t let anybody tell you that, you know, it’s
corporations and businesses that create jobs,” Mrs. Clinton said.

She later said she had misspoken and was referring to certain tax policies
that stifle job creation, but Republicans had already pounced, portraying
the comment as evidence that Mrs. Clinton was pandering to liberal voters.

“You could just see it gets in Secretary Clinton’s head when she has to
compare herself vis-à-vis Senator Warren,” said Tim Miller, executive
director of America Rising, a conservative “super PAC.” He added, “From
that perspective, a food fight could be good.”

R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., editor in chief of The American Spectator and a
longtime critic of Mrs. Clinton and her husband, said her comment in
Massachusetts could help inform younger voters about how she shifts
opinions based on what is popular. “She pulled a line from Obama and
Elizabeth Warren to try to make a very au courant crony-capitalist or
socialist statement,” Mr. Tyrrell said.

At the same time, a groundswell of support for Ms. Warren among liberal
activists has aided Republicans’ behind-the-scenes efforts.

In December, the liberal group MoveOn.org said it would spend $1 million on
a campaign to draft Ms. Warren into the 2016 race.

MoveOn.org and Democracy for America jointly run a website called “Run
Warren Run,” which has signed up more than 245,000 supporters. The groups
plan to host “Run Warren Run” house parties this weekend in 100 locations
across the country.

Liberals cheered Ms. Warren this month after Antonio Weiss, a Wall Street
banker whom Mr. Obama had picked as a Treasury Department official,
eliciting vehement objections from Ms. Warren, asked Mr. Obama to rescind
his nomination.

Ms. Warren is still largely unknown even in Iowa, where the draft-Warren
movement has focused its efforts. In of likely Democratic caucus goers
conducted in early October by The Des Moines Register and Bloomberg
Politics, 44 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the Massachusetts
senator, compared with 76 percent for Mrs. Clinton.

While many Republicans are engaging in mischief as they promote Ms. Warren,
some of her populist positions resonate across the political aisle. During
debates over the Wall Street bailout, Ms. Warren and Representative Darrell
Issa, Republican of California, often agreed on objections to parts of the
Troubled Asset Relief Program and in their criticism of former Treasury
Secretary Timothy F. Geithner.

“It was almost like the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Kurt Bardella, a
former spokesman for Mr. Issa, said. The tendency for Republicans to align
with Ms. Warren is particularly strong among those who emphasize
libertarianism.

Brian Darling, a senior aide to Mr. Paul, said he would like to see a 2016
general election between Ms. Warren and the Kentucky senator to hear the
fresh ideas that the matchup might yield.

“She hates Wall Street for a very different reason than libertarians,” Mr.
Darling said. “Yet they both would agree that the bailouts of Wall Street
were a gaming of the system.”

Tucker Carlson, a libertarian political pundit, said Ms. Warren has an
authenticity that resonates with both sides. “She has this spark of genuine
ideological fervor, and I mean that as a compliment,” he said. “It’s not
just pure opportunism.”

Ms. Warren, of course, has given the anti-Clinton movement plenty of
fodder. She frequently says that income inequality is due, in part, to the
economic and trade policies of President Bill Clinton. In her 2003 book,
“The Two-Income Trap,” written with her daughter, Amelia Warren Tyagi, Ms.
Warren accused Mrs. Clinton of snapping at her staff and of shifting her
position on bankruptcy legislation when she became a New York senator in
order to appease her Wall Street donors.

“As New York’s newest senator, however, it seems that Hillary Clinton could
not afford such a principled position,” Ms. Warren wrote. Republicans could
not have said it better themselves.

*CNN: “CNN exclusive: Snapchat Interview with Senator Rand Paul”
<http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/28/politics/rand-paul-snaphat-interview/>*

By Ashley Codianni

January 28, 2015, 11:32 a.m. EST

CNN interviewed possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate and
Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul over ... you guessed it ... the popular
disappearing messaging app, Snapchat.

Paul, who has been cultivating an audience on the platform for the last
year, spoke candidly in what is the first ever official Snapchat interview
with a U.S. lawmaker. While other reporters have snapped with the Senator,
like our very own Peter Hamby, this type of full interview is a first.

In an exchange we made sure didn't vanish after just three seconds, Paul
dished out zingers on former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, as well as drones.

When asked about whether drones should be made illegal or banned, the
senator said, "Drones should only be used according to the Constitution."

"But if they fly over my house, they better beware because I've got a
shotgun," he added with a little smirk.

We also discussed potential 2016 Democratic opponent, Clinton, and recent
reports she receives $200,000 per speaking appearance.

"I guess she can pay her chauffeur well now." Burn.

Naturally, we had to ask about 2016. So, in the most Snapchat appropriate
possible, we sent him this:

[VIDEO]

To which he laughed and replied, "Maybe," adding that the fence needs to be
better guarded.

*Bloomberg: “DCCC Names Lieutenants in Push to Kickstart 2016 Turnaround”
<http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-01-28/dccc-names-lieutenants-in-push-to-kickstart-2016-turnaround>*

By Billy House

January 28, 2015, 12:11 p.m. EST

[Subtitle:] The effort comes as Republicans hold the largest one-party
majority in the chamber in 70 years.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is turning to long-time, trusted allies
to help kickstart her party's effort to rebound in 2016 from last fall's
election setbacks.

As Democrats gather later Wednesday for a closed-door strategy retreat in
Philadelphia through Friday, newly appointed Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee Chairman Ben Ray Luján says Representative Chris Van
Hollen of Maryland and Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn of South
Carolina will serve as his top two lieutenants.

Van Hollen, the current top Democrat on the Budget Committee and himself a
former DCCC chairman, will be the committee's national finance chair. Van
Hollen is a highly visible figure nationally and is often mentioned by
fellow Democrats as a potential successor to Pelosi. His own tenure as DCCC
chair was not a glorious one, though, ending after the tea-party wave
election of 2010 handed the House majority back to Republicans.

Clyburn, the highest-ranking African American in Congress, will be the
DCCC's national voter mobilization chair.

Luján, of New Mexico, was named DCCC chair by Pelosi in November.

The new team takes over the party's political arm after defeats in the Nov.
4 elections saw Democratic House seats go from 201 to 188. Republicans now
hold the largest one-party majority in the chamber in 70 years.

Pelosi, reelected as the party's House leader in November, has been
insisting to colleagues that 2016 holds brighter election prospects. Much
of her optimism centers on the notion that voter turnout among women and
minorities will be boosted by a potential presidential candidacy of Hillary
Clinton.

Luján said he is committed to more direct House member involvement in the
DCCC's efforts this election cycle.

Along with the news that Van Hollen and Clyburn will help him lead the
party's political arm, Luján also announced a list of other members who
will play roles. He said:

·         Representatives Don Beyer of Virginia, Richard Neal of
Massachusetts, and Terri Sewell of Alabama will as members of the DCCC's
“Business Council.”

·         Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota will serve on a “New
Americas Council.”

·         Representative Xavier Becerra of California, Dan Kildee of
Michigan, Derek Kilmer of Washington, and Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, will
serve on a “Tribal Engagement and Active Members Program” team.

·         Representatives Bobby Scott of Virginia and Mark Pocan of
Wisconsin will serve on the “Labor Council.”

·         Representatives Lois Frankel of Florida and Debbie Dingell of
Michigan will be the “Women Lead” co-chairs.

·         Representative Jared Polis of Colorado will be the LGBT Council.

·         Representative Adam Smith of Washington will serve on the
“Defense Council.” And the freshman class liaison will be Representative
Ted Lieu of California.

·         Working with Clyburn in voter-mobilization efforts will be
Representatives Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, Lieu, and Michelle Lujan
Grishman of New Mexico.

Meanwhile, Representative Steve Israel of New York, the DCCC's chairman
over the last two terms, was earlier announced as the head of a newly
created Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. The idea is for
that unit to help come up with a winning message for the next election.

“Our leadership team’s wealth of experience and diversity showcases the
best of what Democrats have to offer, and their combined expertise will
help lead us to a successful 2016 cycle,” said Luján in a statement.
“Democrats are already on offense drawing a contrast on middle class
economics and building on our state-of-the-art voter outreach, and will
continue to fight against Republicans’ flawed priorities.”

The retreat events starting Wednesday will also feature internal
discussions on such hot-button issues as President Barack Obama's request
for fast-track trade authority. Many Democrats oppose it, and the president
is drawing some Republican support. Democrats also will discuss a proposal
to term-limit members' roles in the party's top seats on congressional
committees.

*Washington Post blog: Style: “Sherrod Brown: Why aren’t progressives
begging him to run for president?”
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/sherrod-brown-why-arent-progressives-begging-him-to-run-for-president/2015/01/28/f8378d9c-a63c-11e4-a7c2-03d37af98440_story.html>*

By Ben Terris

January 28, 2015, 11:57 a.m. EST

He’s an unabashed progressive with just enough blue collar appeal to win a
swing state like Ohio.

He’s the highest ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, with a
megaphone to go after Wall Street and four decades of public service under
his belt.

He’s an affable guy, appealing but not too slick, with smiling eyes and a
good head of hair and sassy, media-friendly feminist wife.

And he was preaching economic mobility years before it became the central
tenet of the nascent 2016 campaign.

By almost any standard, Sen. Sherrod Brown, 62, a former Eagle Scout with a
voice like Tom Waits, is the kind of pol who should at this very moment be
making the rounds of the Sunday shows, growling to packed audiences in Iowa
and all the while insisting to major media outlets that he is not currently
considering running for president at this time. Or at least you’d expect a
bunch of liberal activists to be mounting a Draft Sherrod campaign. No?

“Huh, I really had not thought about it until this phone call,” said Adam
Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

That, of course, is because all the attention has been heaped onto another,
fresher-faced member of the Senate: the progressive rock star from
Massachusetts, Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Just last week, Oscar nominee Mark
Ruffalo hosted a party at Al Pacino’s daughter’s house urging New York
artists to urge Warren to run. Brown may have been Elizabeth Warren before
Elizabeth Warren was cool, but there’s scant evidence that the Ruffalos of
this world even know who he is.

“I don’t see it as a competition,” Brown said in an interview from his
Senate office. “I’m always looking for allies, so was thrilled when she ran
and am thrilled to have her in the Senate.”

But why, Senator, why do you think people are so into Warren when you have
been around saying the same stuff for years? Does it not sting a little?

“I don’t play games about it,” he said. “I don’t say ‘I’m not running now.’
I don’t know what it is. I know you don’t believe this, but I don’t really
think about it all that much.”

Truth of the matter is, everyone does believe him. That’s why some
progressives feel like Brown may be forfeiting a chance to have a bigger
impact this election cycle.

“Yeah, it’s a bit of a missed opportunity,” said Charles Chamberlain, the
executive director of Democracy for America, a group that pledged $250,000
to the draft-Warren movement. “We need more progressives running and
building power. To an extent, taking himself out of the running and off of
the national stage is a missed opportunity.”

As it stands, progressives may find themselves more than a little bummed
out by the upcoming primary campaign. Warren keeps saying no; and neither
Martin O’Malley, the banjo-playing former governor of Maryland, nor Bernie
Sanders, the Brooklynite-turned-Socialist-mayor-turned-Independent-senator
from Vermont, seems to be gaining much traction. And yet the timing could
not be better for a candidate with a populist economic agenda to challenge
Hillary Rodham Clinton and her close ties to Wall Street: Both Democrats
and Republicans seem to have decided that this election will focus
primarily on the plight of the middle class.

“Yeah, and the Republicans really mean it,” Brown said sarcastically.

“You know you’re on the record,” warned his communications director sitting
beside him.

“That’s fine,” he said. “He can’t print: ‘ “They really mean it,” Brown
said sarcastically.’ ”

But instead of offering himself up, Brown, who has campaigned on that very
issue for years, said he has “zero interest” in running for higher office.

“I don’t think you can do your job well in the Senate if you’re looking
over your shoulder wanting to be president,” he said. He may be a fan of
Warren and Sanders, but he isn’t above taking minor potshots at their
headline-grabbing ways — pointing out, for example, that it’s much easier
to be a progressive in Massachusetts and Vermont than in his home state of
Ohio.

Asked if Brown should run for president, Warren would not take the bait.

“Sherrod really has been a great leader for years,” she said. “He has been
true on core issues that matter to hardworking families.”

Back during Obama’s first term, Brown was an advocate for a bigger stimulus
package, a proponent for the reenactment of the Glass-Steagall Act, a
critic of “fair trade” and its impact on manufacturing jobs back home.
Recently he was one of the first Democrats to go on the offense to fight
for more Social Security benefits. When Sen. Al Franken decided to run for
Senate, he sought advice from Brown on how to run as a progressive in a
purple state.

Brown said he understands that the press attention that comes with a
presidential run can be good for getting a message out, but it can also
have a negative effect on building credibility with his colleagues.

Former staffers of his also note that he lacks both an ability to make
sound bites and the desire to climb the ladder of success necessary to be
an enthralling national candidate.

Most descriptions of him include the adjective “rumpled” to describe the
attire that accompanies his unruly hair. His wife, Pulitzer-winning
newspaper columnist Connie Schultz, has gotten so fed up with his habit of
digging raggedy old socks out of the garbage that she tweeted a picture of
him wearing them for the world to see.

Which brings us to the Connie factor. Since they wed in 2004, the writer
has mined their marriage for material and doesn’t hesitate to draw
punchlines from their pillow talk. When she attended a 2008 speech he gave
in Denver, a stranger beside her snarked about Brown’s raspy voice sounding
like nails on chalkboard. “Well, I love his voice,” she remembered telling
him, without revealing her connection. “I especially love it when he rolls
over in the middle of the night and says I love you baby.” The man scurried
off.

But while he may go home to a journalist, Brown is not one for sucking up
to the media: He spent the first chunk of an interview trashing the Boston
Red Sox (even though his e-mail address begins with DamnYankees) and the
second chunk deriding the “corporate masters” of The Washington Post
editorial board.

Then, there’s the fact that — how to put this? — he’s an older white guy.
Post columnist George Will wrote that if the senator’s name were “Sharon”
Brown, he would be a grass-roots favorite, and there is something to that.

“People are not clamoring partly because there are a lot of positive
overlaps with Warren,” said Chamberlain of DFA. “But she has something
which he doesn’t, which is the ability to break the glass ceiling.”

As far as a life story, it’s not the stuff of inspirational biopics. Brown
grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, the son of a family doctor. He joined the Boy
Scouts. He went to Yale. He got elected to the state legislature the year
he graduated.

“That he didn’t grow up poor is something of a chip on his shoulder,” said
one of his former staffers. On his first date with Schultz, Brown wore a
community college sweatshirt and gave her two pages of his favorite
quotations. The one she says should be on his gravestone is from George
Bernard Shaw: “I want to be thoroughly used up when I die.”

After stints as Ohio’s secretary of state and more than a decade in the
House of Representatives, Brown became the first Democrat in 14 years to
win an Ohio Senate seat in 2006. By 2012 he had become one of the biggest
targets for Republicans — but despite $40 million being spent against him
he won. And did so maintaining his progressive message.

“There’s a part of Sherrod that worries, always worries, that he isn’t
measuring up,” Schultz said in a phone interview. “If there’s anything that
keeps him going, that’s probably it.”

And if there’s a path to the history books for Brown, he sees it through
the Senate, more Ted Kennedy than Barack Obama. He will spend the next
couple of years bucking the administration on trade deals — and if
Democrats win back the Senate in 2016, expect fireworks from him as the
chair of the Banking Committee.

But, perhaps there’s hope for progressives. If Clinton gets the nomination
and wants to allay the Warren wing of the party, maybe she can pick the
progressive senator from a state she will need to win?

“I have zero interest in being vice president,” Brown said. At least he
knows how to speak like a potential VP pick.

*The Hill blog: In The Know: “‘Wonder Woman’ actress: Hillary can have my
Lasso of Truth”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/230955-wonder-woman-actress-hillary-can-have-my-lasso-of-truth>*

By Judy Kurtz

January 28, 2015, 1:00 p.m. EST

Lynda Carter isn’t just offering Hillary Clinton an early endorsement; the
“Wonder Woman” actress says the former secretary of State can even claim
the Lasso of Truth as her own.

Carter, who famously donned a patriotic leotard and golden belt as the
superheroine on the 1970s TV show, told ITK recently she’s rooting for
Clinton in 2016.

“Hillary has my endorsement for all of her life and mine,” Carter said of
Clinton, who has not formally thrown her Amazonian tiara into the ring.

Then, the onetime TV crime-fighter dropped the bombshell that she’d even
give up one tool from her character’s magical arsenal, too.

“She can have my Lasso of Truth,” Carter, 63, said with a smile. The
fictional weapon was “formed from Aphrodite’s girdle and forced whomever
was bound with it to obey the commands of whomever held the other end,”
according to a fan website.

But it’s not just Clinton who Carter says she admires: “The women who are
in Congress are the ones that float my boat,” the Washington-area resident
said.

“Look at other countries who have suppressed women — they’re a mess!” she
exclaimed, before quickly adding, “We’re a mess too sometimes — but we need
more women in politics, on whatever side you’re on. We just need the
complexity and fire that women have.”