**Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.**
Buzz Cut:
• As voters cool, Hillary tries global warming gambit
• Dems’ Planned Parenthood woes here to stay
• 2016 GOP Power Index: Carly battles back, Rand dips low
• Jeb raids Dem donors in Hillaryland
• They can sense fear… and bratwurst
AS VOTERS COOL, HILLARY TRIES GLOBAL WARMING GAMBIT
What would possess Hillary Clinton to propose a massive solar panel funding plan and to call for expanding the Obama administration’s carbon crackdown? Aside from some unhappy baggage from solar-panel stimulus, there’s considerable general election risk in going “bold” on global warming.
It’s a niche issue that alienates blue-collar voters, especially in the Midwest. Democrats may tout polls that show a plurality of adults now believe in man-made global warming, it’s a loser with middle-class families in places like Ohio and Michigan.
While Clinton has strenuously avoided details in her plan so she can move right next year, ever branding oneself as to the left of Obama on global warming and as the candidate of solar subsidy is not a good move for a Democrat. But given her current electoral woes, Clinton may feel she has no choice.
Clinton is not going photovoltaic to fend off Sen. Bernie Sanders, per se, but rather what he represents: deep misgivings about Clinton’s trustworthiness. That Pew found 96 percent of “solid liberals” would do “whatever it takes” to protect the environment tells you the power global warming has in her party – it acts as a social, quasi-religious issue with the Democratic base. And, by Gaia, she needs help fast.
The presumptive Democratic nominee needs a quick ending to her primary process as it becomes clear how much trouble she has with the larger electorate.
Two recent polls show Clinton almost as unpopular as Donald Trump with swing state-voters, and that was before news broke about the new pressure for a Department of Justice probe into claims she used a private email server for classified messages.
It’s the story of her campaign in miniature: Clinton keeps racing to the left in order to placate suspicious base voters and regenerate the Obama coalition of 2012, but primary voters appear unmoved. Meantime, Clinton’s doing so deepens rather than allays concerns with the moderate voters she will need next year.
And as she is pushed into what for mainstream voters remains an economic issue, Clinton takes a risk greater than her many other pivots.
The best argument Clinton has to make in 2016 is a return to the Bubbalicious boom times of the 1990s. Every new stance she takes that suggests she is going to be Obamanomic in her approach undercuts her candidacy.
2016 Democratic Power Index: 1) Hillary Clinton; 2) Bernie Sanders; 3) Joe Biden [+1]; 4) Martin O’Malley [-1]; 5) Jim Webb; 6) Elizabeth Warren; 7) Lincoln Chaffee
Fox News First would rank Martin O’Malley even lower given the fact that he managed to get booed by party activists for stating that “all lives matter” but for the fact that the other two declared candidates barely register.
[Watch Fox: Shannon Bream brings us the latest on the debate to defund Planned Parenthood and breaks down how much the abortion provider is costing you in an “It’s All Your Money – Taxpayer Calculator” report throughout the day and on “Special Report with Bret Baier.”]
Dems’ Planned Parenthood woes here to stay – AP: “Two stealthily recorded videos show Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they provide aborted fetal organs for research. The videos have put the group and its Democratic allies on the defensive. It’s unclear how long the political damage may last or whether Planned Parenthood has broken federal law — as abortion foes contend. What is clear is that Republicans and anti-abortion groups are giving no signs of letting the issue fade quickly.”
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE…
They say “no Marine left behind,” and here’s proof they mean it. The remains of 36 Marines killed in the hellish fighting on the island of Tarawa in 1943 have come home. The repatriation and eventual identification of the war dead comes after many years of searching by government and private investigators, but it is only a start. More than 500 servicemen, mostly Marines, remain unaccounted for from the battle. Though the casualties of the battle were less than many major Pacific engagements, the savagery of the resistance of the doomed Japanese garrison – well documented in a book by war correspondent Robert Lee Sherrod and, most famously by a 20-minute documentary made from battlefield footage – changed American thinking about the enormity of the task in defeating the empire. Believed to be among the remains discovered are those of 1st Lt. Sandy Bonnyman, whose story you really ought to know. Welcome home.
Got a TIP from the RIGHT or the LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM
POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve – 45.1 percent//Disapprove – 50 percent
Directions of Country: Right Direction – 31.1 percent//Wrong Track – 61.1 percent
2016 GOP POWER INDEX: CARLY BATTLES BACK, RAND DIPS LOW
1) Jeb Bush; 2) Scott Walker; 3) Marco Rubio; 4)Ted Cruz; 5) Ben Carson; 6) Carly Fiorina [+2]; 7) Donald Trump [-1]; 8) John Kasich [+2]; 9) Rand Paul [-2]; 10) Rick Perry [-1]
On the Radar – Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, Jim Gilmore
[Watch Fox: Chris Stirewalt joins “The Real Story” in the 2 p.m. ET hour with the latest on who’s up and who’s down in the 2016 Power Index.]
What would you say? – Give us your take on the 2016 Power Index we will share the best and brightest with the whole class. Send your thoughts toFOXNEWSFIRST@FOXNEWS.COM
JEB RAIDS DEM DONORS IN HILLARYLAND
While the posh Hamptons turf on N.Y.’s Long Island may be considered Hillaryland, Jeb doesn’t seem to a problem mining in her backyard, Bloomberg reports:“The former Florida governor held fundraisers in the well-to-do New York beach communities over the weekend. While the [Jeb Bush] is no stranger to courting wealthy donors, this time was different: about half the attendees were Democrats. ‘This guy sells well,’ said Kenneth Lipper, the money manager and registered Democrat who hosted [one] event, after Bush left. Virtually the only one who left without writing a check, Lipper said, was a buck deer that wandered past the group assembled on the wooded grounds.”
[Bush hosts central Florida pastors for a meet and greet today in Orlando, then tours a local small business and holds a town hall in Longwood. Later in the day Bush will host a meet and greet in Maitland.]
Walker lays out his ‘100 days’ plan – Scott Walker discusses his plan to downsize Washington with WashEx: “My belief, my push, my thought is about pushing money from Washington back to the states and even, in some cases, back to local governments… Having a federal government that, instead of being too big to fail, is small enough to succeed would allow people to be able to track where their dollars are being spent, and hold federal officials accountable for it.”
[Walker has a meet and greet in Illinois’ 18th congressional district today accompanied by Congressional candidate Darin LaHood.]
Carson leads in Iowa bucks – Federal Election Commission data shows Ben Carson outpacing the Republican field in fundraising in Iowa, Des Moines Register reports: “Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, said at first he was surprised to see Carson leading the GOP pack in terms of money raised, but it matches what he’s observed of Carson’s campaign. ‘I knew his ground game was second to none, and I know he has energy and enthusiasm among his supporters,’ he said. ‘I think Ben Carson is going to compete. I think he’s got the trifecta in terms of what it takes to win a caucus: network, enthusiasm and some dollars.’”
Fiorina: Planned Parenthood vid is ‘moral’ outrage – “I’m pro-life as you know but there are plenty of pro-choice women who are horrified by this as they should be…The fact that these officials can sit here swilling their wine, eating their salad, laughing over getting a Lamborghini and talk about specimens of fetal tissue, I find horrifying and the majority of Americans do as well.…This has nothing to do with whether you’re pro-choice or pro-life.” – Carly Fiorina on “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace”.
Cruz, McConnell in breakdown lane – WashEx: “The GOP ‘Old Guard’ in the Senate Sunday pushed back against outspoken conservative critics, avoiding direct attacks on Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, but making it clear his recent renegade actions are unwelcome in the upper chamber. Without saying a word, the Republican conference sent a powerful message to Cruz and other conservatives like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, by not backing their efforts to add amendments to a ‘must-pass’ highway spending bill. ‘Deliberation and reasoned judgment require an atmosphere of restraint, an atmosphere of thoughtful disagreement,’ Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who serves as the Senate pro tempore and is the longest-serving GOP lawmaker, said in a floor speech Sunday. … Hatch delivered much of the unofficial censure Sunday, criticizing Cruz for his Senate floor speech Friday where he accused Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of ‘flat-out’ lying about the highway bill.”
Kasich pledges ‘boots on the ground’ to fight ISIS – The Hill: “‘You’ve got the air power, but you can’t solve anything just with air power,” [Kasich] said in an appearance with NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ sharply condemning the strategy used so far by President Obama to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)…. “If we’re running for these offices just to get elected, We’re not running for class president, we’re running to be the commander in chief and the leader of this country” he said, with a laugh. ‘Grow up.’”
Christie claims to be ‘only one’ who’s protected USA – Rival Republicans like military veterans Rick Perry and Lindsey Graham apparently aren’t Gov. Chris Christie’s thoughts. In a video blasting the Iran nuclear deal Christie says “As president the top priority is to protect the United States of America.” And then boasts “And I‘m the only one in this race who’s had at least a small part in that responsibility.”
[Christie holds a town hall today at Lab’n Lager Food & Spirits in Keene, New Hampshire.]
Huckabee, Obama duel over ‘Door of the oven’ critique – Responding to President Obama’s labeling of Huckabee’s weekend comment that the Iran nuclear deal was “marching the Israelis to the door of the oven” as “ridiculous”, the former Arkansas Gov. released a statement saying: “What’s ‘ridiculous and sad’ is that President Obama does not take Iran’s repeated threats seriously. For decades, Iranian leaders have pledged to ‘destroy,’ ‘annihilate,’ and ‘wipe Israel off the map’ with a ‘big Holocaust.’ ‘Never again’ will be the policy of my administration and I will stand with our ally Israel to prevent the terrorists in Tehran from achieving their own stated goal of another Holocaust.”
Perry to Trump: Get real – Saying the country doesn’t need a “Republican divider in chief”, former Texas Governor Rick Perry suggested Donald Trump is a headline grabber not a problem solver. ‘For the last 14 years, I’ve had to live in the real world and deal with real world issues and come up with real world solutions,” Perry told CBS News. Perry has been on the receiving end of some sharp jabs from the billionaire. ‘He put glasses on so people will think he’s smart,’ said Trump of Perry, during a speech earlier in the week. ‘And it just doesn’t work.’”
Campaign Daybook:
* Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is in South Carolina today where he’ll file paperwork to appear on the ballot in the First-in-the-South Presidential Preference Primary, and meet with voters and conservative activists.
* Carly Fiorina delivers a foreign policy speech at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California today.
* Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. attends a N.H. Primary series meet and greet in Derry, New Hampshire.
THEY CAN SENSE FEAR… AND BRATWURST
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “The Milwaukee lion saga continued Sunday as the ‘lion-like’ creature apparently slipped through a police dragnet on the north side. Several sightings on Saturday night and Sunday – including at least two by Milwaukee police – followed a week of reports that began on Milwaukee’s east side and riveted the attention of the city enough to draw dozens of police and state conservation officers as well as throngs of spectators hoping to get a glimpse of their own. … After the sighting Sunday morning, they made a more extensive search and called in canine units, trying to get the animal out into the open. Officers with rifles and staff from the state Department of Natural Resources with tranquilizers searched the ravine, making noise and shaking bushes. But police guess the animal broke the police barrier and headed north.”
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as digital politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he authors the daily “Fox News First” political news note and hosts “Power Play,” a feature video series, on FoxNews.com. Stirewalt makes frequent appearances on the network, including “The Kelly File,” “Special Report with Bret Baier,” and “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.” He also provides expert political analysis for Fox News coverage of state, congressional and presidential elections.
