Subject: Correct The Record Monday February 16, 2015 Morning Roundup
From: Burns Strider <[email-masked]>
To: CTRFriendsFamily <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2015 08:31:26 -0500
List-Id: <CTRFriendsFamily.americanbridge.org>

*​**Correct The Record Monday February 16, 2015 Morning Roundup:*

*Headlines:*

*New York Times: “For Hillary Clinton, John Podesta Is a Right Hand With a
Punch”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/us/politics/for-hillary-clinton-john-podesta-brings-a-right-hand-with-punch.html>*

“Mr. Podesta will need that competitive streak if he becomes chairman of
Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign, as expected.”

*The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Graham, Clinton lead SC poll”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/232896-graham-clinton-lead-sc-poll>*

“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
(D) are leading a South Carolina poll of likely 2016 presidential
contenders that was released on Sunday by NBC News.”

*The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Bush, Clinton lead NH poll”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/232895-bush-clinton-lead-nh-poll>*

“Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) and former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton (D) are leading a poll of likely 2016 presidential
contenders in New Hampshire that was released on Sunday by NBC News.”

*NJ.com: “'Run Warren Run' campaigners stump in Hoboken”
<http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/02/run_warren_run_campaigners_stump_in_hoboken.html>*

“Braving bitter cold and fierce winds today, about a dozen people who want
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president held a "visibility
event" outside the Hoboken PATH terminal.”

*The Week: “Rand Paul sent Hillary Clinton a snarky Valentine's Day card”
<http://theweek.com/speedreads/539448/rand-paul-sent-hillary-clinton-snarky-valentines-day-card>*

“Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) celebrated Valentine's Day by throwing some shade
at Hillary Clinton. Paul on Saturday tweeted out a link to a fake Clinton
Pinterest page packed with unflattering images of the former secretary of
state alongside memes culled from around the Internet.”

*Articles:*

*New York Times: “For Hillary Clinton, John Podesta Is a Right Hand With a
Punch”
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/us/politics/for-hillary-clinton-john-podesta-brings-a-right-hand-with-punch.html>*

By Peter Baker

February 15, 2015

WASHINGTON — Not that he’s competitive or anything, but one Friday evening,
John D. Podesta, a top adviser to President Obama, announced at a White
House meeting that he would finish a 10-mile race that weekend in so many
minutes. Needling Denis McDonough, the president’s chief of staff, Mr.
Podesta added: “I don’t know what Denis is going to run.”

Sure enough, Mr. Podesta finished in an hour and 26 minutes, beating Mr.
McDonough, 21 years his junior, by six minutes. So as Mr. Podesta, 66,
packed up his West Wing office last week, he jokingly blamed his departure
on a subsequent loss. “I knew it was time to look at leaving the White
House when Denis McDonough beat me in 12K Jingle Bell race,” he said on
Twitter.

Wiry, ascetic, profane and relentless, John Podesta has become the
Democratic Party’s marathon man in more ways than one. He helped save Bill
Clinton’s presidency from the fires of scandal and impeachment. He spent
the last year trying to salvage Barack Obama’s presidency from gridlock and
malaise. And now he has handed in his White House pass to try to create a
Hillary Rodham Clinton presidency from the ashes of her last failed
campaign.

Perhaps no other unelected Democrat has shaped his party as much over the
last two decades. As Mr. Clinton’s chief of staff, as founder of the
left-leaning Center for American Progress and most recently as Mr. Obama’s
counselor, Mr. Podesta has pushed his party toward a more aggressive
approach to both policy and politics. “He’s a competitive cat,” Mr.
McDonough said.

Mr. Podesta will need that competitive streak if he becomes chairman of
Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign, as expected. It will fall to him to
impose discipline on the sprawling and fractious Clinton universe,
including the candidate and her famously undisciplined husband. And it will
fall to Mr. Podesta to manage relations between a president focusing on his
legacy and his would-be successor focusing on the next election.

“He believes in and uses power in a way that many Democrats are too
pusillanimous to do,” said Paul Begala, a former Clinton White House aide
and longtime friend. “He’s not afraid to use power, and ruthlessly if
necessary. I think he’s as good a political guy as I’ve ever seen. He’s the
real thing.”

To many Democrats, last week’s blowup over fund-raising practices in the
Clinton orbit emphasized the need for adult supervision, recalling the
internal strife that helped doom Mrs. Clinton’s primary bid against Mr.
Obama seven years ago. Her 2008 campaign was riven by clashing rivals more
intent on fighting each other than opposing candidates. For months, no
single aide was truly in charge.

In recruiting Mr. Podesta, Mrs. Clinton is signaling that she will impose a
more orderly structure this time. “When John speaks, both longtime Clinton
supporters like me and people new to the circle will know that he’s
speaking for her,” said Harold Ickes, a top adviser to both Clintons for
years. “That’s very important. That didn’t happen in 2008, with some of the
resulting consequences.”

No one doubts Mr. Podesta’s toughness. During his previous White House
stint, colleagues joked that he was sometimes replaced by his evil twin
“Skippy.” And as someone who met Mr. Clinton during Joseph D. Duffey’s
unsuccessful Senate campaign in Connecticut in 1970, he is one of the few
people with the longevity and stature to talk bluntly with the Clintons
when they mess up. “The fact that he’s saying it would carry an enormous
amount of weight,” Mr. Ickes said. “Both of them consider him a very
straight shooter.”

Republican operatives view Mr. Podesta as a liberal who will tug Mrs.
Clinton away from the political center and make it harder for her to argue
that she represents a fresh start after Mr. Obama’s administration.

“You’ve got to admire someone willing to move from one sinking ship to
another that’s taking on water before it’s even left port,” said Michael
Short, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. “Voters
overwhelmingly don’t want a third term for President Obama’s liberal
agenda, but it’s clear that’s what Hillary Clinton and John Podesta intend
to give them.”

Mr. Podesta, who declined to be interviewed because he is “superstitious”
about profiles, was born in Chicago to an Italian-American father and
Greek-American mother. His father never finished high school and worked in
factories, pushing his children to go to college. While Mr. Podesta is a
practicing Catholic like his father, he embraces his mother’s side as well,
displaying Greek Orthodox icons in his White House office and adopting her
love of cooking.

He has attributed his drive and temper to an ethnic upbringing during which
yelling at the dinner table over politics was acceptable. He came of age in
the tumult of the 1960s. While studying at Knox College in Illinois, he and
other students “debated, ranted, chanted, protested,” as he put it in a
1998 commencement address, and he campaigned for Eugene McCarthy, the
antiwar presidential candidate, in 1968.

Mr. Podesta earned a law degree from Georgetown University, where he still
teaches on the side, and went to work for figures like Senators Patrick J.
Leahy of Vermont and Tom Daschle of South Dakota. With his brother, Tony
Podesta, he founded the Podesta Group, which has become a powerhouse
lobbying firm with extensive corporate ties.

After going to work for Mr. Clinton, he rose to chief of staff, presiding
over a White House rocked by revelations about the president’s sexual
adventures with Monica Lewinsky. To keep the staff focused on business, he
threatened to fire anyone caught talking about the scandal. But he
understood before colleagues did that they would lose a House vote on
impeachment despite popular support for Mr. Clinton, and he oversaw a
strategy emphasizing the partisanship of the process to delegitimize the
House vote and win a largely party-line acquittal in the Senate.

After leaving the White House, Mr. Podesta founded the Center for American
Progress, an organization that married policy and politics. “He’s a policy
wonk’s policy wonk,” said Sarah Rosen Wartell, a co-founder who added he
was also “very much a doer.” Enlisting wealthy donors like George Soros and
Herb and Marion Sandler, Mr. Podesta made the center and himself power
players in liberal politics.

In 2008, Mr. Obama tapped Mr. Podesta to run his transition, to the chagrin
of the loyalists who had helped beat Mrs. Clinton for the nomination. Mr.
Obama tried to recruit him to join the administration, an entreaty he
resisted until early 2014 when the presidency was flailing and he agreed to
come on board for a year to help turn it around.

Mr. Podesta came with a strategy he and Ms. Wartell had outlined in a 2010
report about how a president could use his executive authority more
aggressively without waiting for Congress. He also took on select projects,
notably climate change and privacy in a big-data world.

For Mr. McDonough, the chief of staff now occupying the corner office with
the patio and the fireplace that once belonged to Mr. Podesta, having a
predecessor around, “a guy who’s seen it all,” proved a benefit. “John is
always thinking a couple steps ahead,” Mr. McDonough said.

Passionate about environmental issues, Mr. Podesta used his perch to help
advance new regulations on power plants, negotiate a carbon reduction
agreement with China, create the world’s largest marine refuge in the
Pacific Ocean and protect stretches of Alaskan waters and wildlife refuge
from drilling.

“It’s not clear to me he slept,” said Carol M. Browner, formerly Mr.
Obama’s top environmental adviser.

In a series of Twitter posts on Friday listing his 10 favorite memories in
the Obama White House, he devoted half to environmental issues. A longtime
aficionado of extraterrestrial lore — he kept a little shrine to “The
X-Files” in his Clinton White House office — he also wrote that “my biggest
failure of 2014: Once again not securing the #disclosure of the UFO files.
#thetruthisstilloutthere.”

If he cannot find proof of alien life, then he will test the maxim that a
two-term president and his party’s next nominee always end up at odds. Al
Gore did not want Mr. Clinton campaigning for him in 2000, just as Senator
John McCain did not want George W. Bush campaigning for him in 2008.

Mr. Podesta may serve as a bridge between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton,
hoping to ease the natural frictions that arise as a candidate tries to
distinguish herself from a president with improving but still mediocre poll
numbers. He has played the role before. He negotiated on Mr. Obama’s behalf
an agreement with Mr. Clinton to limit his international activities while
Mrs. Clinton served as secretary of state. And later, when Mr. Clinton went
to North Korea to free two Americans, the White House sent Mr. Podesta
along to keep tabs.

For the next two years, as he races another marathon as Mrs. Clinton’s top
adviser, Mr. Podesta will have the advantage of the relationship he forged
with Mr. McDonough, Mr. Obama’s top adviser.

“He’s a great runner,” Mr. McDonough said. “The guy’s made me much better
at everything I do in this job. And he’s made me a better runner, too.”

*The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Graham, Clinton lead SC poll”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/232896-graham-clinton-lead-sc-poll>*

By Keith Laing

February 15, 2015, 2:22 p.m. EST

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
(D) are leading a South Carolina poll of likely 2016 presidential
contenders that was released on Sunday by NBC News.

Graham received 17 percent of support from Republican voters in his home
state, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) received 15 percent.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R)
landed in the third and fourth spots in the poll, receiving 12 and 10
percent respectively.

Clinton leads the Democratic side by a wide margin, garnering 65 percent
over Vice President Biden, who drew only 15 percent.

The NBC News/Marist Poll of 887 registered voters, conducted Feb. 3-10, has
a 3.3 percentage point margin of error.

*The Hill blog: Ballot Box: “Bush, Clinton lead NH poll”
<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/232895-bush-clinton-lead-nh-poll>*

By Keith Lang

February 16, 2015, 2:16 p.m. EST

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) and former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton (D) are leading a poll of likely 2016 presidential contenders in
New Hampshire that was released on Sunday by NBC News.

Bush received 18 percent of support from Republican voters in the first
primary state, while Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) received 15 percent.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) came in third
and fourth in the poll, receiving 14 and 13 percent respectively.

Clinton leads the Democratic side by a wide margin, garnering 69 percent
over Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who drew only 13 percent.

The NBC News/Marist Poll of 887 registered voters was conducted Feb. 3-10.
It has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

*NJ.com: “'Run Warren Run' campaigners stump in Hoboken”
<http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/02/run_warren_run_campaigners_stump_in_hoboken.html>*

[No Writer Mentioned]

February 15, 2015, 5:39 p.m. EST

HOBOKEN - Braving bitter cold and fierce winds today, about a dozen people
who want Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president held a
"visibility event" outside the Hoboken PATH terminal.

The 'Run Warren Run' campaigners toted signs and gave out fliers to
passersby.

The liberal senator is being touted by MoveOn.org and Democracy for America.

Warren has repeatedly said she is not running for president.

Former New York senator, first lady, and secretary of state Hillary Clinton
is the presumed favorite to capture the Democratic nomination.

*The Week: “Rand Paul sent Hillary Clinton a snarky Valentine's Day card”
<http://theweek.com/speedreads/539448/rand-paul-sent-hillary-clinton-snarky-valentines-day-card>*

By Jon Terbush

February 15, 2015

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) celebrated Valentine's Day by throwing some shade at
Hillary Clinton. Paul on Saturday tweeted out a link to a fake Clinton
Pinterest page packed with unflattering images of the former secretary of
state alongside memes culled from around the Internet.

One page categorized as "Inspirational Quotes" includes a fake Valentine's
Day card, sourced to the right-wing Upworhty-esque Independent Journal
Review, with a maniacally smiling Clinton and the caption, "I've Benghazing
at you!"

A Congressional report last year cleared the Obama administration of a
Benghazi coverup, though some on the right continue to use the terror
attack to snipe at Clinton, the presumptive 2016 Democratic presidential
nominee.

*Calendar:*

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

·  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 3 – Washington, DC: Sec. Clinton honored by EMILY’s List (AP
<http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268798/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=SUjRlg8K>)

·  March 4 – New York, NY: Sec. Clinton to fundraise for the Clinton
Foundation (WSJ
<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2015/01/15/carole-king-hillary-clinton-live-top-tickets-100000/>
)

·  March 16 – New York, NY: Sec. Clinton to keynote Irish American Hall of
Fame (NYT <https://twitter.com/amychozick/status/562349766731108352>)

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

·  March 23 – Washington, DC: Sec. Clinton to keynote award ceremony for
the Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting (Syracuse
<http://newhouse.syr.edu/news-events/news/former-secretary-state-hillary-rodham-clinton-deliver-keynote-newhouse-school-s>
)