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Buzz Cut:
• Hillary goes ugly early with racism claims
• Power Play: Will Dems let Hillary slide on foreign policy?
• Walker roars back to Iowa for Ernst, but rivals await
• Kasich says there’s room
• So much for white privilege
HILLARY GOES UGLY EARLY WITH RACISM CLAIMS
If Hillary Clinton is concerned enough about her candidacy to already be making accusation of racism against her potential Republican rivals, this is going to be a long election cycle for her and for the rest of the country.
Down in Texas for a campaign event aimed at restoring her relationship with black Democrats who rejected her 2008 candidacy, Clinton said that laws requiring voters to show identification at polls were part of “a sweeping effort to disempower and disenfranchise people of color, poor people and young people from one end of our country to the other.” Note the language here. It’s not a misguided effort with an unfortunate result, it is a deliberate effort to prevent minorities from voting. That’s not just racist, that’s evil.
Clinton even made it personal, saying potential general election foes Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Rick Perry were “deliberately trying to stop” minority voters from participating. It’s language that might even give voter-ID opponent President Obama some pause, but Clinton tore into her topic with evident relish. In this candidacy, Clinton has seemed at times uncertain and usually vague. When it came to racially charged, partisan attacks, however, she was imbued with a new vitality and was nothing if not direct. In an ironic turn, Clinton accused Republicans of “fear-mongering about a phantom epidemic” as she intoned against urgent dangers to civil rights.
Why would a politician go so bananas over policies that are supported by something like seven out of 10 Americans? The standard media take on Clinton’s overheated rhetoric is that she is still determined to avoid her 2008 fate by pandering to, one by one, each of the parts of the Democratic coalition. It’s been rolling out at the rate of about one group and one policy reversal or expansion a week. And that is surely the biggest part of this.
But when a candidate, especially a person of pallor such as Clinton, is out making over-the-top charges of racism at this point in an election cycle it certainly does not suggest a confident candidate or campaign. While Republicans might take heart that the woman who remains ahead in hypothetical matchups against anyone in their field is throwing haymakers 17 months before Election Day, they also ought to remember what else this gambit says about Clinton: She will do whatever it takes to win.
COUNTERMEASURES
“Hillary Clinton’s rejection of efforts to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat not only defies logic, but the will of the majority of Americans. Once again, Hillary Clinton’s extreme views are far outside the mainstream.” – Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc., in a statement.
“In Ohio we have 28 days. In New York, where [Clinton] is from, they have one day. Why don’t you take care of business at home before you run around the country using these demagogic statements that we don’t want people to vote?” – Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, on “America’s Newsroom.”
“Now, Hillary Clinton may not have had to show a photo ID to get onto an airplane in a long time… She just went into my home state and dissed every person who supports having an identification to either get onto an airplane or to vote.” – Former Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, on “Fox & Friends”
Under fire for China deal – Detroit Free Press: “Despite expressing her concerns on the campaign trail now, national Republican party officials are questioning why Hillary Rodham Clinton did not intervene in the controversial 2013 sale of high-tech battery plants in Michigan to a Chinese firm when she was secretary of state and could have done so. At a campaign stop in New Hampshire last month, Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate for president, decried the sale of A123 Systems — built with millions in government aid — along with those of other new energy firms, to Chinese investors, calling them ‘unfortunate’ and a ‘serious’ problem for high-tech industries in the U.S.”
POWER PLAY: WILL DEMS LET HILLARY SLIDE ON FOREIGN POLICY?
Hillary Clinton is at odds with her party on foreign policy, but neither her opponents nor the press seem much inclined to say so. Can Linc Chafee help push the discussion a few kilometers down the path? Washington Free Beacon Editor and avoirdupois enthusiast Matthew Continetti and National Journal Political Editor Josh Kraushaar mull that one over with Chris Stirewalt. WATCH HERE.
[Read Continetti’s take on Clinton’s silence on the major issue of the day and read Kraushaar’s recent piece on the fundamental division in Clinton’s party.]
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE…
Just in time for Saturday’s 71st anniversary of the D-Day landings at Normandy, Global News describes how a Canadian documentary crew discovered part of “Fortress Europe,” a German machine gun bunker that had been buried for decades beneath the sands of Juno Beach. “The [crew] scouted the area for three days…using ground penetrating radar and aerial photos from shortly after the Second World War, which narrowed down the locations where the concrete shelters might lie beneath the sand. But it was a muffled ‘clunk’ of a shovel that alerted them their mission was a success….[revealing] the spot where German soldiers would have fired on the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on June 6, 1944.…More than 350 Canadian soldiers who lost their lives that day.”
[While newsreels and photos of the D-Day landings have become iconic, stateside images are less familiar. Honoring the anniversary, National Journal offers a mix of photos of America during the war years.]
Got a TIP from the RIGHT or the LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM
POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve – 44.4 percent//Disapprove – 50.4
Directions of Country: Right Direction – 29.9 percent//Wrong Track – 62.4 percent
WALKER ROARS BACK TO IOWA FOR ERNST, BUT RIVALS AWAIT
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is not having cattle call, but a hog call this weekend. The Roast and Ride event this weekend requires a little more stamina than the usual campaign event. Candidates will ride motorcycles from Des Moines to Boone, Iowa, or they can meet the party in Boone, where each participant will have 8 minutes to speak.
For one candidate this event could not be more perfect: Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc. Not only is he a Midwest boy, but he’s also a Harley guy. Walker has had a wide lead in the Iowa polls and, like his national poll numbers, he’s holding steady. But as with every venture to Iowa, the stakes for Walker are high. His rivals are all hoping he takes a spill, which is not helped by high voter and press expectations. Walker will have a little competition from former Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, who took the event to another level and announced his own “Ride with Rick” addition to the 38-mile ride. Perry will start things off in Perry, Iowa to raise money for wounded veterans, and push through to Boone.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has a different challenge. Rubio has invested significant resources in Iowa. His staff went to bat for Ernst during her 2014 Senate campaign. Rubio isn’t necessarily a chopper kind of guy, but Ernst offered him a ride on the back of hers. No word on if he’s taking her up on it, but he may want to think twice on that gesture. Other candidates attending the event may have to rethink their means of transportation as well. Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., are all slated to attend. Here’s betting a lot of them decide to meet road warriors at the podium.
Wait. What? Rubio gets semantic on Iraq – “It’s not nation-building. We are assisting them in building their nation.” – Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on “Outnumbered” in defense of Bush and Obama administration’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
[Rubio speaks at the Idaho Republican Party summer meeting today in Idaho Falls, Idaho.]
Kasich says there’s room – WMUR: “John Kasich said he was just being honest — not taking a shot at Jeb Bush — when he told a New Hampshire crowd on Thursday that he got serious about running for president only after seeing the former Florida governor was vulnerable. ‘Frankly, I thought that Jeb was going to just suck all the air out of the room and it just hasn’t happened,’ the Ohio Republican governor said.”
[Kasich wraps up his two day trip to the Granite State today.]
“Well, look, you’re right. Jeb Bush is going to shatter every fund- raising record that is ever going to set – I think he’s going to raise way north of $100 million…But you have got to get actual real live primary votes. And in my experience, grassroots, plus money will beat a whole lot more money just about every day of the week” – Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on “Your World with Neil Cavuto”
[Cruz, Walker, and Ben Carson head to North Carolina throughout the weekend for the state party convention.]
CAMPAIGN DAYBOOK
Jeb Bush attends an awards event for wife Columba’s educational organization in Miami.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., celebrates the opening of his new campaign office in Manchester, N.H. this weekend.
Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J. concludes a two day New Hampshire swing with a meet and greet in Concord and a roundtable in Franklin.
FOX NEWS SUNDAY: THE SPYING GAME
Mr. Sunday sits down with Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Democratic Caucus Chair Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., who continue the debate on NSA reforms in light of the new Boston beheading story. Also on this week, Republican presidential candidate and former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa. “Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace” airs at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET on Fox News. Check local listings for air times in your area.
[Honey Badger alert – Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu is the FNS Power Player of the Week as he rolls his new book, “The Quiet Man.”]
#mediabuzz – Jenners and Duggars and spying and Rand; Howard Kurtz has the zestiest media show in the land… Watch “#mediabuzz” Sunday at 11 a.m. ET, with a second airing at 5 p.m.
UPTON TOUTS BIPARTISAN HEALTH INITIATIVE
There’s not much in the way of large-scale health legislation that could win a unanimous vote in a House committee these days. But Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., managed to steer legislation on research funding and the regulation of new treatments to do just that last month. Upton makes his case for speedy passage of the bipartisan measure in an op-ed today at Time.
SO MUCH FOR WHITE PRIVILEGE
WHDH: “Students in Lynn [Mass.] were surprised by a man dressed as a Stormtrooper outside their school Wednesday, and the man is now facing charges. After snapping pictures and taking cell phone video, parents in Lynn could not stop talking about the bizarre scene outside the Brickett Elementary School. A man dressed up in an elaborate Star Wars Stormtrooper costume, complete with a black toy laser gun, appeared on the sidewalk moments before school was about to release. … George Cross, 40, of Lynn, was arraigned on charges of disturbing a school in addition to violating a city ordinance of loitering within 1,000 feet of a school. ‘I bought a costume, I was walking through the neighborhood showing friends, and then all that,’ said Cross as he left the courthouse.”
AND NOW A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“I think if you go down to the bottom you find Carson, Rubio, and Walker are the ones with the lowest rejection number[s]…I think looking at who is ahead or who is the number one, they are all bunched between 12 percent and about seven percent within the margin of error, so I’m not sure it tells you much. But it tells you a lot if you see who people will never support.” – Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier” Watch here.
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.
