Aug.14
Political News, Now.
Hillary Clinton Jokes About Emails at Fund-Raiser
“You may have seen that I recently launched a Snapchat account. I love it. Those messages disappear all by themselves.”
— Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Annual Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lake, Iowa, a Democratic fund-raising event.
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Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Woo Democrats at Iowa Dinner
CLEAR LAKE, Iowa — The annual Wing Ding Dinner here delivered on its name Friday night, with no shortage of thrown elbows and plenty of baked ones, as four Democratic presidential candidates tried to excite a crowd of Iowa voters by attacking their Republican counterparts.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, the first to speak at the fund-raiser, sought to portray the entire Republican field as a monolith, in agreement with Donald J. Trump, who has made controversial comments recently about women and immigrants.
“Most of the attention these days is on a certain flamboyant front-runner,” she said. “The other Republican candidates are Trump without the pizazz and the hair.”
Mrs. Clinton criticized Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida for their records on unions, college education and abortion. “I’m so tired of Republicans shaming and blaming women,” she said, delighting the crowd.
The audience sent off Mrs. Clinton, whose voice gave out at one point during her fiery speech, with a standing ovation and chants of “Hillary!”
Next up: Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whose liberal message is gaining traction in Iowa and New Hampshire. Mr. Sanders took aim at corporate greed, Wall Street and the media. He also praised the thousands of supporters who have attended his rallies.
“The media often asks me why it is we seem to be generating so much enthusiasm,” Mr. Sanders said. “My answer is that the American people are sick and tired with establishment politics, with establishment economics and with the establishment media.”
The event, held at the famed Surf Ballroom where Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper performed before being killed when their plane went down on a frozen runway in nearby Mason City, is one of this early nominating state’s quirky must stops for Democrats wooing caucus goers and party activists.
On Saturday, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Sanders will encounter another tradition: the sprawling Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. On Thursday, former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland delivered his “soapbox” address at the fair and sampled local delicacies, including brisket on a stick, wrapped in bacon.
By the time Mr. O’Malley took the stage here on Friday, after Mr. Sanders’s liberal roar, he had to concede that he was “not the only candidate for president who holds progressive values.”
But he reminded the the crowd — the biggest in years for the Wing Ding, organizers said — of his résumé as the mayor of Baltimore and as the governor. “I am the only candidate for president with 15 years of executive experience,” he said. “Action, not words.”
As far as words go, Lincoln Chafee, the former mayor, senator and governor from Rhode Island, had some choice ones for Mr. Bush and his recent comments about the Iraq War.
“What kind of neocon Kool-Aid is this man drinking?” Mr. Chafee said.
But it was Mrs. Clinton who took the most direct aim at Mr. Bush and the Republican field. After praising the baked chicken wings that give the event its name, she pivoted to defending President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal. Mrs. Clinton even took time to poke some fun at herself over the latest controversy over her use of private email as secretary of state.
“You may have seen that I recently launched a Snapchat account,” Mrs. Clinton said. “I love it. Those messages disappear all by themselves.”
For the most part, the four candidates kept their speeches focused on popular Democratic causes like lifting the middle class, alleviating income inequality and undoing the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision on campaign spending, rather than criticizing each other. But one of the closing lines in Mr. Chafee’s speech, as the crowd slowly meandered to the parking lot, stood out.
“What I’m most proud of in those three decades in public service is that I never had any scandals,” he said, adding, “That’s hard in Rhode Island, by the way.”
Jennifer Granholm, ex-Michigan Governor, Takes On New Role Supporting Hillary Clinton
Jennifer M. Granholm, the former governor of Michigan, will leave the big-money “super PAC” supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential candidacy and take a role with another outside group backing Mrs. Clinton.
The move represents a smoothing of the lines of responsibility among the outside groups supporting Mrs. Clinton, who is running with a large chunk of support from the Democratic Party establishment. It also positions Ms. Granholm for a potentially larger role with the Democratic Party down the road, said two people who were briefed on the move and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Ms. Granholm will join Correct the Record, the group created by the Clinton ally David Brock. That group is coordinating with the campaign, and her new role as its senior adviser means Ms. Granholm can act as a surrogate for Mrs. Clinton.
The campaign wanted her make such a move, according to one of the people briefed on the matter. Correct the Record has been trying to fill the gap in the number of surrogates, particularly women, it has to vouch for Mrs. Clinton in an increasingly contentious campaign.
The move was announced by Mr. Brock on Twitter.
Thrilled to welcome @JenGranholm to @CorrectRecord as a senior advisor and surrogate. Welcome aboard Governor!— David Brock (@davidbrockdc) August 14, 2015
Until now, Ms. Granholm had been a co-chairwoman on the board of Priorities USA, the super PAC that’s raising multimillion-dollar checks to support Mrs. Clinton’s bid. Ms. Granholm was part of early efforts to raise funds for the group before Mrs. Clinton became a candidate in the spring. Priorities is barred by law from coordinating with the Clinton campaign.
Ms. Granholm’s departure from the board was announced on Twitter by Guy Cecil, the Clinton loyalist who recently took over as head of Priorities.
Thank you @JenGranholm for your contributions to @prioritiesusa. Hillary's lucky to have you speaking out for her. https://t.co/eUI5TJ9R1p— Guy Cecil (@guycecil) August 14, 2015
After months of in-fighting and difficulties trying to jumpstart fund-raising at Priorities, Mr. Brock, who recently rejoined the Priorities board, and Mr. Cecil are trying to usher in a new era. The group raised more than $15 million in the first six months of the year.
Hillary Clinton Details More of Her Plans to Help Students Pay for College
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday unveiled the next prong of her plan to raise taxes on the wealthy and use the increased revenue to help undergraduates pay for college and ease the $1.2 trillion in debt they collectively face.
The plan, which she introduced in New Hampshire on Monday, would cost $350 billion over the next decade and include refinancing options for students who have graduated with debt. While in Dubuque, Iowa, on Friday, she talked about easing the financial burden on working parents trying to get their undergraduate degrees.
“I want to help these young people get their education so that they and their children will have a better life,” Mrs. Clinton said.
Mrs. Clinton proposed giving such parents better access to child care by increasing spending on the Child Care Access Means Parents in School Program, which provides grants for campus-based childcare centers, to $250 million from $15 million.
The plan, based on a program she founded in 1990 as the first lady of Arkansas, would also give $1,500 yearly scholarships to as many as 1 million parents enrolled in undergraduate colleges and universities and who maintain at least a 2.5-grade-point average.
“We have to make a quality education affordable and available without saddling young people with decades of debt,” Mrs. Clinton said.
Mrs. Clinton’s higher education plans have drawn criticism from both sides of the political aisle. Liberals argue it does not go as far as plans by two of her Democratic rivals, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland, in helping eliminate the debt load faced by students at public universities.
Republicans promptly labeled the plan typical tax-and-spend liberalism that won’t help the problem. “Obamacare for college,” was how one presidential candidate, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, put it.
After the town-hall-style meeting in Dubuque, Mrs. Clinton planned a short flight to Clear Lakes where she was scheduled to address the Wing Ding Dinner, an annual fund-raiser and a must-stop for Democratic presidential hopefuls. Mr. Sanders and Mr. O’Malley were also scheduled to speak.
First Draft Focus: The Week in Political Pictures
Democratic supporters held a Mexican flag in Birch Run, Mich., on Tuesday to protest an appearance by Donald J. Trump at a Republican fund-raising event.
Carlos Osorio/Associated PressObama Operative in Florida Is Ready to Work for Joe Biden
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. would have to create much of his campaign organization on the fly if he decides to enter the presidential race, but one Democratic operative from a crucial state is not waiting to be asked.
Steve Schale, who helped direct President Obama’s two general election victories in Florida, wrote in an email: “I’m #ReadyfForJoe.”
“I’d love to see him take the jump,” Mr. Schale added. “I would be there if they’d have me!”
He said not enough Democrats were engaged in the campaign and predicted Mr. Biden’s entry would ignite more energy among grass-roots activists because his shoot-from-the-hip style “could strangely be the perfect tonic in this bizarre year.”
Mr. Biden is spending part of his vacation this week considering a run and his advisers have begun contacting early nominating state operatives. The vice president has indicated that he will make a decision in September.
While many of the party’s strategists and donors are committed to Hillary Rodham Clinton, the scarcity of candidates seeking the nomination has left an ample supply of operatives on the market. And some of them, like Mr. Schale, think highly of Mr. Biden because of their experience with him on the last two presidential campaigns.
Marco Rubio Criticizes Havana Embassy Opening
Rubio Criticizes Havana Embassy Opening
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said on Friday that President Obama has rewarded the oppressive Castro regime by restoring diplomatic relations with the country.
By REUTERS on August 14, 2015. Photo by Bryan Thomas/Getty Images.
Obama Has a Song in His Heart … 40 of Them, on Spotify
CHILMARK, Mass. — President Obama’s musical tastes run from boomer to Beyoncé, with a streak of jazz and a nod to Sinatra.
That at least is what he released Friday in his first-ever Spotify playlists, sharing a 20-song “daytime” list and another 20-song “evening” one. A White House blog post said the lists were “hand-created” by Mr. Obama.
If the lists are a guide to how the president rocks out, his days are spent mostly in the 1950s and ’60s, with songs like Bob Dylan’s “Tombstone Blues,” Stevie Wonder’s “Another Star,” the Isley Brothers’ “Live It Up” and “Rock Steady” by Aretha Franklin. The Rolling Stones are represented with “Gimme Shelter,” and Bob Marley’s “So Much Trouble in the World” is a perfect title for a commander in chief.
And “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” by the Temptations, is an interesting choice for a president who faces an uphill battle in Congress persuading members of his own party to approve his nuclear deal with Iran.
There are a few more recent hits on the daytime playlist: “Paradise,” by Coldplay, and “Shake It Out,” by Florence and the Machine. But unlike Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose recent Spotify list was filled with current pop hits, Mr. Obama has no Katy Perry or Kelly Clarkson or Ariana Grande.
Mr. Obama’s evening list continues the pattern, with Al Green’s “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” and selections from Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Miles Davis and Billie Holiday. But the president’s playlist also includes a Beyoncé song, “Superpower,” and one called “Stubborn Love,” by the Denver-based folk-rock group the Lumineers.
He’s also got Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good,” which might be a reflection of the last two months of his presidency, which have featured a series of foreign policy achievements, falling unemployment rates and rising approval numbers in the polls.
“Due to popular request, here are my vacation playlists,” Mr. Obama said on Twitter, adding, “What’s your favorite summer song?”
The response on Twitter has been mostly positive. VentureBeat, a technology website, called the lists “Barack Obama’s ‘cool dad’ summer jams.” A journalist in Florida said Mr. Obama’s songs were “pretty groovy.” One person wrote, in all capital letters: “OMG. Obama has Superpower on his Spotify playlist.”
The initial reaction is far more positive than the response to Mrs. Clinton’s list, which her presidential campaign released earlier this summer. In an interview on MSNBC, Alan Light, a music critic for Rolling Stone magazine, panned Mrs. Clinton’s list as “poll tested” and a gimmick.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Mr. Light said of the playlist, which included campaign-friendly songs like “The Fighter” and “Believer” and “Happy” — all of which were released after Mrs. Clinton reached her 50s. “It doesn’t feel like anything Hillary Clinton actually listens to.”
Iowa Democratic Leader: Complaints on Debate Timing Have a Point
The chairwoman of the Iowa Democratic Party appeared to acknowledge this week that complaints about the party’s compressed presidential debate calendar from candidates trailing in the polls are understandable.
The party chairwoman, Dr. Andy McGuire, also suggested her own party’s influence on the process was restricted to “locations and timing.”
Dr. McGuire made the comments in an interview with WHO-TV. The Democratic National Committee scheduled two of the four debates for after the Iowa caucuses, a move that critics argue serves to benefit the leader in most polls, Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose campaign had sought fewer debates.
The first one is in Nevada in October and six are scheduled in total. The Republican Party has sanctioned nine debates for its candidates.
More debates can serve to help underdog competitors as they try to raise their profiles and bring in campaign donations, and in 2007, there were several debates in Iowa. Of complaints from one candidate in particular, Martin O’Malley, that the D.N.C. pushed two debates past the Iowa caucuses to benefit Mrs. Clinton, Dr. McGuire struck a sympathetic note.
“I understand where he’s coming from,” she said, “but I really think we have a lot of debates.”
Dr. McGuire — a practicing physician, medical researcher and health care executive — suggested that retail politics in Iowa would be more important.
“I’d like to have debates every day in Iowa and I think that’s kind of what we do,” she said. “And I tell candidates all the time, come here as much as you can, talk to our constituencies, our citizens about the issues that are important to people to Iowa families. I think the D.N.C. has a lot of different options to weigh.”
First Draft Focus: It’s Heigh-Ho, Come to the (Iowa) Fair!
Richard M. Nixon, then the vice president, visited the Iowa State Fair in the summer of 1960. He lost in the general election to John F. Kennedy.
Hank Walker/The Life Picture Collection via Getty Images
Every presidential election cycle, candidates face a big test at the Iowa State Fair: Can they fit in with the locals at the ultimate down-home event in the state with the first nominating contest? Knowing what to eat is part of the challenge: corn dogs, fried butter, and apple pie on a stick are just some of the cholesterol-filled favorites.
Candidates also must dress to fit in with the fair (during the 2008 campaign the actor and presidential candidate Fred D. Thompson was tarred for wearing Gucci loafers, which he vigorously denied). And they also make news: During the 2012 race, Mitt Romney famously told a heckler that “corporations are people, my friend” — a remark that came back to haunt him.
Carly Fiorina Says Parents Should Choose on Child Vaccinations
The Republican presidential candidate appeared to be sticking to the party line in her position, explaining that vaccines should be a matter of personal and religious freedom. She recounted a story about feeling pressured by a school nurse to allow her young daughter to receive a vaccine for human papillomavirus.
Mrs. Fiorina said that in cases of highly contagious diseases with proven vaccines, schools should be allowed to prevent students from attending. But, she added, that should not be the rule in all cases.
“I think when we’re talking about some of these more esoteric immunizations, then I think absolutely a parent should have a choice and a school district shouldn’t be able to say, ‘Sorry, your kid can’t come to school’ for a disease that’s not communicable, that’s not contagious, and where there really isn’t any proof that they’re necessary at this point,” Mrs. Fiorina told reporters, according to a report in Time magazine.
Vaccinations have become a perennial debate in politics, often pitting candidates against the scientific community.
Former Gov. George Pataki, a rival to Mrs. Fiorina whose campaign is struggling to gain traction, criticized her comments on Friday.
Not sure how you run a major tech company @HP & reject accepted science that has eradicated diseases like small pox & polio @CarlyFiorina— George E. Pataki (@GovernorPataki) August 14, 2015
This year, Senator Rand Paul, who is an eye doctor, raised eyebrows when he seemed to suggest that he believes that vaccines can lead to mental disorders. He later said later said that he is not opposed to vaccines and posed for a booster shot.
Four years ago, former Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota caused controversy when she said the H.P.V. vaccine can lead to “mental retardation.”
And former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a candidate for president again in 2016, said that he had made the wrong decision by mandating the vaccine in Texas.
Mrs. Fiorina’s comments come a year after an unusual polio-like illness was seen in dozens of children in her home state of California.
Jeb Bush Says He Won’t Rule Out Waterboarding in Interrogations
ANKENY, Iowa — Jeb Bush said on Thursday that, as president, he would not rule out waterboarding in interrogations, another instance of how his plans to fight Islamic terrorism have drawn comparisons to his brother’s administration.
Enhanced interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, which were used by the C.I.A. against Qaeda suspects after Sept. 11 attacks, were prohibited in one of President Obama’s first executive orders in 2009.
Earlier on Thursday, at a forum on national security in Davenport, Iowa, Mr. Bush had declined to commit to preserving that order.
“I’m not ruling anything in or out,” he said in the evening when asked by reporters if he would prohibit waterboarding. He distinguished it from torture, which he said he would never allow. “There’s a difference between enhanced interrogation techniques and torture,” Mr. Bush said. “America doesn’t torture.”
Mr. Bush’s statement echoed a construction that his brother had often used as president.
Obama administration officials regard waterboarding as torture. A Senate Intelligence Committee report concluded last year that the C.I.A.’s use of waterboarding and similar techniques yielded little reliable information.
The director of the C.I.A., John O. Brennan, disagreed with that conclusion and refused at the time to equate waterboarding with torture. Its use was originally determined to be legal by the Justice Department during the administration of George W. Bush.
Last week, when asked at a conference of evangelical Christians about the morality of enhanced interrogation, Mr. Bush gave a somewhat different response, agreeing with the current ban. “I think the law we have today is the proper one where enhanced interrogation — it’s a dangerous thing to say because it means different things to different people — but waterboarding is no longer legal.”
In a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Tuesday focused on combating turmoil in the Middle East under the Islamic State, Mr. Bush revisited his brother’s Iraq war record, praising him for leaving Iraq relatively calm in 2009. It was a hard-won success, he said, later undermined by a hasty withdrawal of American troops under Mr. Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, then the secretary of state.
“It was mission accomplished in the way that there was security there,” Mr. Bush said at his early Thursday appearance. The phrase seemed to echo one of the low points of his brother’s presidency: his 2003 speech on an aircraft carrier before a “Mission Accomplished” banner that declared the Iraq invasion a success.
The younger Mr. Bush, competing in a crowded field for the Republican nomination, said that his use of the phrase was not a conscious echo of that slogan.
“There’s nothing subliminal or psychological about it,” he said. “The surge worked. And it’s been recognized as having worked, and Iraq was left fragile but secure.”
Tom Harkin Endorses Hillary Clinton as She Appears in Iowa
Former Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa gave Hillary Rodham Clinton a big endorsement Friday, writing an opinion piece in The Des Moines Register saying that she “will keep fighting” to provide opportunities for Iowans.
The early endorsement from one of the state’s most beloved Democrats comes as Mrs. Clinton heads to Iowa for a swing of events. She will hold a town hall on college affordability in Dubuque on Friday, followed by the Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lakes and the all-important Iowa State Fair on Saturday, where Mr. Harkin is expected to campaign with her. Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has acknowledged that her more liberal opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, could win Iowa where caucusgoers shunned her in 2008 and she finished third.
In his endorsement, Mr. Harkin, who has retired from the Senate, notes his Iowa roots and the opportunity that has come his way, and praises the rest of the Democratic field, but says Mrs. Clinton can singularly deliver for Iowans.
“Now it’s time for a president who can create a stronger future. As Democrats, we’re fortunate to have a slate of candidates that are all fine individuals, but we need a fighter who has a record of getting things done and the vision for the future that will build on the progress we’ve made. For my wife, Ruth and I, that candidate is Hillary Clinton.”
And he continues to invoke the “fighter” theme in promoting the candidacy of the former first lady, senator and secretary of state.
“Hillary and I also both know that while talent is universal, opportunity is not. My brother Frank was deaf, and in school he was told that when he grew up he could be one of just three things: a printer, a cobbler or a baker. Our country has come a long way since that time, but inequality is still lived by kids all across the country, from our inner cities to the small towns of Iowa. Today, too many talented children face limits on their futures. They need a champion in the White House. I know Hillary Clinton will be that champion.It was over a year ago that I said that though I was retiring from the Senate, I would not be retiring from the fight for social and economic justice. That is why today I am proud to endorse my longtime friend and colleague, Hillary Clinton, in her candidacy for president of the United States. I know that she will keep fighting until the opportunities that seemed like an impossibility to a boy from Cumming, Iowa, can be lived by every child in this country.”
Amy Chozick contributed reporting.
Today in Politics: Democrats Gather for Chicken Wings in Shadow of Iowa State Fair
Good Friday morning, as the United States reopens its embassy in Cuba and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida travels to New York to condemn the move. But most of the campaigns are in Iowa, where the State Fair offers soapboxes to speak from, and where the Democrats will gather to chow down as they press the flesh.
Not since the Iowa steak fry last fall has Hillary Rodham Clinton faced such an important testing ground for retail politics and her affinity for fried food. On Friday, she will join her Democratic opponents, including Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to speak at the annual Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lake, Iowa, an event that includes raising money for Democrats and raising cholesterol levels with chicken wings.
The event is just the start of Mrs. Clinton’s high-calorie swing through the state. On Saturday, she will join a dozen other presidential candidates at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, where the menu includes apple pie on a stick, deep fried nacho balls and pumpkin spice funnel cake.
It’s not all fun and games. At the steak fry last September, Mrs. Clinton (who took the podium with a prolonged “Iowa, I’m baaaaaack!”) struggled to connect on the kind of grass-roots retail level that is critical in the early nominating state.
On Saturday, she will not speak on the “soapbox” at the fair grounds where most candidates will deliver remarks, but will instead visit booths to talk directly to Iowans, her campaign said. Mrs. Clinton’s decision not to jump on the soapbox and its bipartisan crowd, which Mr. O’Malley embraced on Thursday evening and Mr. Sanders will address on Saturday, has drawn some criticism from opposing campaigns that say she is avoiding the tough venue.
After all, ordering the ultimate bacon explosion (a piece of brisket wrapped in bacon on a stick) and corn in a cup is not enough to deliver a caucus victory. And Mrs. Clinton, coincidentally, is on a diet.
— Amy Chozick
Stay tuned throughout the day: Follow us on Twitter @NYTpolitics and on Facebook for First Draft updates.
What We’re Watching Today
The three Marines who took down the United States flag when the embassy in Havana was closed in 1961 will put it back up as the embassy is reopened as part of the Obama administration’s push to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba.
And Jeb Bush, who has regained some of the spotlight from Donald J. Trump after a speech blaming the rise of the Islamic State on President Obama and Mrs. Clinton, will take his turn at the Iowa soapbox.
Rubio to Lay Out Cuba and Iran Plans in Speech
As some of his rivals for the Republican nomination are already arriving at the Iowa State Fair to help drum up support ahead of the state’s caucuses, Mr. Rubio will first stop in New York, where he is set to deliver a speech to outline how as president he would undo crucial pieces of Mr. Obama‘s foreign policy agenda relating to Cuba and Iran.
His remarks will coincide with Secretary of State John Kerry‘s visit to Cuba on Friday to celebrate the reopening of the embassy there after more than a half-century. But, as Mr. Rubio is preparing to say to the Foreign Policy Initiative, he does not think this is a moment for celebration.
“On Day 1, I will give the Castros a choice: Either continue repressing your people and lose the diplomatic relations and benefits provided by President Obama, or carry out meaningful political and human rights reforms and receive increased U.S. trade, investment, and support,” he will say, according to text released by his campaign.
Mr. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also plans to outline how he would rescind the deal the president has struck with Iran over its nuclear program, restore sanctions the president has vowed to lift, and position the United States military presence in the Middle East “to signal readiness and restore a credible military option.”
— Jeremy W. Peters
Clinton Camp Tries to Ease Supporters’ Concerns Over Poll
A New Hampshire poll this week showing Mr. Sanders and Mrs. Clinton in a statistical tie caught the eye of many Democrats.
But Mrs. Clinton’s campaign has a message for supporters who may be nervous about the survey, conducted by Franklin Pierce University and the Boston Herald: Don’t buy it.
In a “friends and allies” memo, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign offered a set of talking points to minimize the poll. The poll, the memo said, undercounts the amount of older voters and Democrats (unaffiliated voters can vote in either party’s primary). Further, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign noted that for 30 years, no candidate from a neighboring state, Republican or Democrat, had finished worse than second in the New Hampshire primary.
“Relying on any one or two public primary polls is an usually unreliable approach — especially during the summer,” the Clinton camp said.
— Maggie Haberman
Our Favorites From The Times
Ben Carson traveled to Harlem on Wednesday for a meal and a meeting with business and community leaders, followed by a revealing walk in the neighborhood.
Based in part on his moderate stands, Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio is rising in the polls in New Hampshire, winning endorsements and drawing the attention of potential voters who were impressed with his debate performance.
As Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. vacationed on a South Carolina beach this week, he and those who support him moved to set up the pieces for a possible presidential run.
Mrs. Clinton‘s $350 billion proposal to cut student debt in higher education has put pressure on her campaign opponents to propose their own solutions.
Though Mr. Rubio said during the Republican presidential debate that he opposed abortion even in cases where rape or incest were involved, he had previously backed legislation allowing those exceptions, a move that has frustrated groups taking a zero-abortion stance.
White House Borrows From N.W.A. to Help Sell Iran Deal
“Straight Outta Compton,” the movie about the 1980s hip-hop group N. W. A’s debut album of the same name, was released this week. Then there were the online copycats, in which the movie’s title and poster became inspiration for “Straight Outta Toilet Paper” and “Straight Outta Chapstick.”
But now comes perhaps the most surprising of “Straight Outta” memes. On Thursday, @TheIranDeal, the Twitter account set up by White House staff members to lobby Congress to support the nuclear agreement, posted the following:
“Thanks to the #IranDeal, Iran will be…” followed by a picture of a nuclear power plant with “Straight Outta Uranium” written over the top.
It may be the prime example of Mr. Obama’s desire to reach young adults by using the social media tools that have become an essential part of growing up in America. But it’s also testimony to how the silly side of the Internet can be a place for the most serious of subjects.
Will it work to help persuade a skeptical Congress — most of whom are most decidedly not part of the younger generation — to approve the Iran deal? Tune in (to Twitter?) in mid-September.
— Michael D. Shear
What We’re Reading Elsewhere
The financial troubles of Rick Perry‘s campaign, National Journal reports, can be tied to his donors from 2012, who are leaving him this year in favor Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.
ProPublica takes an in-depth look at Gov. Chris Christie‘s decision to abandon an $8.7 billion project for a new commuter rail tunnel from New Jersey to New York City, an issue reverberating with frustrated commuters and on the campaign trail.
Stepping into territory that got Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman at the time, in trouble during her 2012 presidential bid, Carly Fiorina says parents should have a right not to vaccinate their children, Time reports.
News outlets like CNN are giving a reality check to BuzzFeed’s report about a possible presidential run by Al Gore.
Mr. Trump is actually building up one of the largest campaign staffs in Iowa, suggesting he’s in the race for the long haul, The Washington Post reports.
How John Edwards’s Scandal Revealed Harding’s Secret Child
The mystery of whether President Warren G. Harding really did have a love child was solved at least in part because of a modern politician with a wandering eye: former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.
Mr. Edwards ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008, but his political career ended with the revelation that he had fathered a child with a campaign aide while his wife was battling terminal cancer. Among his disenchanted admirers was Peter Harding, the grandnephew of the 29th president.
“I was a fan of John Edwards,” Mr. Harding, 72, a physician living in Big Sur, Calif., recalled in an interview. But he was outraged by Mr. Edwards’s initial denial of paternity. “I got furious. I was so angry.”
It encouraged doubts Mr. Harding had long nursed about his own family and its decades-long denial that Nan Britton’s daughter, Elizabeth Ann Blaesing, was Harding’s child. “What I discovered when I went deeper is, I don’t like it when men have children, and they deny paternity,” Mr. Harding said. “It’s an awful, awful damaging thing to do.”
Harding died in office in 1923 before Ms. Britton went public with her story, so he never publicly admitted or denied it. By her account, he had provided financial support. But after his death, the Harding family disputed Ms. Britton’s account, arguing that he was sterile and could not be Elizabeth Ann’s father.
In deciding to get DNA testing that genealogists say has now confirmed the paternity, Peter Harding figured he was righting a historical wrong. “My family has denied paternity all this time and I wasn’t sure they were right,” he said. “I broke away from a lot of the family beliefs.”
— Peter Baker
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