FROM PHILADELPHIA
Morning Jumpstart
- Democrats scramble towards unity
- Bernie’s on board
- Michelle mesmerizes
- FBI probing DNC cyber hack / Russia
- Protests: 55 detained – “Nominate Sanders!”
- Clinton hammers Trump: National security
• Democratic Party leaders scrambled on Monday night to rescue their Philadelphia convention from political bedlam as supporters of Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) erupted in boos, jeers and protests against Hillary Clinton after an email leak showed that party officials had sought to undermine Sanders in their race for the nomination (i’m in Philadelphia with TMN team)
• Sanders, whose speech was shifted to a more prominent time in hopes of soothing delegates, struggled to unify the convention. His full-throated endorsement of Clinton drew scattered boos (lot of cheers) and his valedictory tone left some supporters in tears rather than rallying around the Democratic nominee (what did they expect, actually?)
• Sanders sent a text message asking delegates “to not engage in any kind of protest on the floor,” while Clinton and Sanders campaign officials worked on the convention floor to mollify delegates who might be disruptive. But by the end of the night, the party began to focus more on defeating Donald Trump than on squabbling among themselves (sort of)
• By 9:30 pm, the outbursts were so loud and persistent that comedian Sarah Silverman scolded the Sanders supporters who were shouting over her remarks. “Can I just say to the Bernie-or-bust people,” she said, adopting their own nickname, “you are being ridiculous.” (the worst thing was the outbursts during the opening invocation – have some respect for God, at least)
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• As delegates streamed out, a handful of Sanders’s most dedicated supporters held up his signs and chanted, “Hey, hey, DNC, we won’t vote for Hillary.” Clinton campaign officials, in a bid to placate the party’s left wing, picked Sen Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) to deliver the keynote address on Monday night (and she delivered as best she could)
• Sanders, who took the stage to a thundering three-minute ovation and chants of “Bernie, Bernie,” acknowledged the disappointment of his supporters and said, “It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues.” But he said “Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president and I am proud to stand with her here tonight.” – crowd came to its feet in support
• Clinton, who had a hand in choosing the speakers, had hoped that the convention would be the picture of unity, in contrast to the GOP convention last week. Instead, she was reminded that many Americans, including some die-hard Democrats, don’t like her or believe that she will bring significant change to the govt (that’s got to hurt; people forget she’s a human being)
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• The only speaker who brought the entire hall together in spellbinding fashion was Michelle Obama, who seemed to pour out feelings she had been keeping under wraps. She delivered an unusually pointed speech targeting Trump without mentioning him by name (for those keeping watch – Obama wore Christian Siriano – brilliant young designer, who won Project Runway 4)
• She alluded to those who have questioned President Obama’s “citizenship or faith” and scorned Trump’s slogan. “Don’t let anyone tell you that this country isn’t great,” she said. She turned emotion, her voice cracking. “My daughters, and all our sons and daughters, now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.”
• Sanders supporters directed their fury most intensely at Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla), the departing Democratic National Committee chairwoman, as she spoke to Florida delegates on Monday morning. They booed and screamed “shame” and “fair elections” as she took the lectern and said, “everybody settle down, please.” (yeah, right)
• There was speculation all morning as people wondered whether Wasserman Schultz would actually gavel the convention to order, as she was scheduled to do. She was bound to be booed, and it seemed like an obvious self-inflicted wound. In the end, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake did the honors – Wasserman Schultz was nowhere to be seen…
• Seeking to bridge deep Democratic divides, Sen Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) robustly embraced his former rival Hillary Clinton Monday night. “Any objective observer will conclude that – based on her ideas and her leadership – Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States,” he declared in a headlining address to the Democratic convention (had to hurt)
• While Sanders had endorsed Clinton previously, his remarks Monday marked his most vigorous and detailed praise of her qualifications for the presidency. It came at a crucial moment for Clinton’s campaign, on the heels of leaked emails suggesting the party had favored the former SecState through the primaries despite a vow of neutrality (the party was in the tank for her)
• “If you don’t think this election is important, if you think you can sit it out,” Sanders said, “take a moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump would nominate and what that would mean to civil liberties, equal rights and the future of our country.” President Bill Clinton, watching from the audience, leapt to his feet and applauded – like most of the audience
• “This election is about ending the 40-year decline of the middle class, the reality that 47 million men, women and children live in poverty,” Sanders said. “It is about understanding that if we do not transform our economy, our younger generation will likely have a lower standard of living than their parents.”
• “It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues,” Sanders said, going to to cite several, and pointing out that the Democratic platform was now the most progressive in the history of the party. “Our job now is to see that platform implemented by a Democratic Senate, a Democratic House and a Hillary Clinton presidency.”
• Talk Media News’ reporters will provide on-the-scene coverage from the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia all this week. Check back here with Talk Media News throughout the day and throughout the week for news and interviews
• Michelle Obama mesmerized delegates at the Democratic convention Monday night, saying when she thinks of “the kind of president that I want for my girls and all children,” it’s someone who takes the job seriously – “someone who understands that the issues a president faces are not black and white and cannot be boiled down to 140 characters.” (she owned the night)
• Obama never mentioned Donald Trump by name, but had a sharp rejoinder to his “make America great again” motto: “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that this country isn’t great, that somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth,” she said (the crowd loved her – she brought them together like no other speaker could)
• Obama said the election “is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives. And I am here today because in this election, there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility, only one person who is truly qualified to be president of the U.S. and that is our friend, Hillary Clinton.”
• Recalling all the moments when Clinton was picked apart for “how she looked or how she talked or even how she laughed,” Obama added that what she admired most about Clinton was that “she never buckles under pressure. She never takes the easy way out. And Hillary Clinton has never quit on anything in her life.”
• “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves,” Obama said, “and I watch my daughters, two beautiful intelligent black young women, playing with their dogs on the WH lawn.” “And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the U.S.,” she said, her voice cracking
• Former President Bill Clinton addresses delegates tonight, and faces the challenge of convincing some in a Democratic Party that’s shifted to the left that his wife has their best interests at heart. He may also need delicately to separate Hillary Clinton’s legacy from his own, which is seen as a little too centrist – he’s the explainer-in-chief – if anyone can do it… (AP, me)
FBI Probing DNC Cyber Hack / Russia (Yahoo, NYT, TMN, AP, me)
• The FBI said Monday that it was investigating a cyber intrusion at the Democratic National Committee disclosed last month. Federal officials said the probe had been underway since the spring. The House Intelligence Committee has been briefed on the hack (it remains to be seen how this will be politicized and by whom)
• SecState John Kerry said today that he has raised the email hack with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov at a meeting in Laos and explained that the FBI was investigating. He didn’t echo suspicions that Russia was responsible and said he wouldn’t draw conclusions until the probe is complete. Lavrov scoffed earlier: “I don’t want to use 4-letter words.” (non-denial denial…)
• The personal Yahoo email account of Alexandra Chalupa, a DNC consultant, was hacked last spring, just weeks after she started preparing opposition research filed on Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort’s connection to pro-Russian political leaders in Ukraine. She had been in close touch with sources in Kiev, Ukraine, including investigative journalists
• Donald Trump on Monday first dismissed the idea that Russians were behind the hack as a “joke.” Later, speaking in Roanoke, Va, he said: “She [DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz] worked very, very hard to rig the system. Little did she know China, Russia, one of our many, many “friends,” came in and hacked the hell out of us.”
• That’s the first indication that the hackers got beyond the official email accounts of committee officials and into private email and potentially the content of their smartphones (and very interesting that Paul Manafort’s name was involved – he’s a thread running through this – a thin thread – but his name comes up again and again)
• Two sources familiar with the breach said that the hackers’ reach was far more widespread than originally thought and includes personal data about big party contributors and internal “vetting” evaluations that include embarrassing comments about their business dealings, as well as gossip about the private affairs of DNC staffers
• One newly posted email discusses a potential DNC donor’s offering to host a fundraiser with President Obama, noting that he had previously been convicted in a case involving allegations that he killed 50 horses, as part of an insurance fraud scheme (disgusting to even consider taking a horse killer’s money)
• TMN’s bureau chief writes in a column about perceived media bias during last week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Are the media making this election year into a meme, not reporting reality? And what will happen this week at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia? (TMN)
Protests: “Nominate Sanders!” (AP, TMN, me)
• Police briefly detained 55 people protesting the Democratic convention Monday evening after several hundred Bernie Sanders supporters and other demonstrators converged in the sweltering heat, chanting “Nominate Sanders or lose in November!” and Hey, hey, ho, ho, the DNC has got to go!”
• The marchers set out from City Hall and made their way some 4 miles down Broad Street, gathering near the Wells Fargo Center around the time the convention was gaveled to order. Protesters tried to climb over police barricades at the edge of the security zone surrounding the convention. Protesters carried signs, some of which read “Never Hillary”
• The anger on the streets reflected the widening rift inside the Democratic Party and the convention hall between Sanders’ supporters and Clinton’s. Sunday, Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned as Democratic Party chairwoman over leaked emails suggesting the supposedly neutral Democratic National Committee sided with Hillary Clinton during the primaries
• About 100 Sanders supporters made their way into Philadelphia by marching across the Ben Franklin Bridge from Camden, NJ. Among them was Jim Glidden, a salesman from Batavia, NY. He carried a big sign saying the DNC stands for “Dishonest Nefarious Corrupt.”
• Tensions rose when about 50 marchers sat down on Broad Street and refused to move unless the Mississippi state flag with the Confederate emblem was taken down from a lamppost. The flags of all 50 states fly from light poles on the street. City officials later removed the flag
Clinton Hammers Trump on National Security (Hill, NYT, me)
• Hillary Clinton fired back at Donald Trump over national security on Monday. “One thing you will never hear from me is praise for dictators and strongmen who have no love for America,” Clinton said during a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Charlotte, NC. While she didn’t mention Trump by name, the target of her barbs was clear (not Midnight Sparkle pony, anyway)
• “I have confidence; I have optimism. I don’t understand people who trash talk about America, who talk about us being in decline, who act as though we are not yet the greatest country that has ever been created,” Clinton said. “If you want somebody who will scapegoat other people, peddle fear and smear, I am not your candidate. I am interested in bringing everybody together.”
• Clinton’s comments are the latest in her strategy to frame Trump, the GOP presidential nominee, as unfit to lead the country. She’s previously targeted his potential handling of the economy and has recently shifted towards an indictment of his ability to run the military as Americans’ concerns about terrorism continue to grow (yet Americans are scared – and are responding to Trump)
• She chided Trump for saying he’d order U.S. soldiers to kill the families of terrorists, arguing that the troops “deserve a commander in chief who will never order them to commit war crimes.” And she said that she would listen to experienced generals, instead of going it alone. She announced the endorsement of prominent retired Gen John Allen
• She also swatted aside Trump’s calls for increased isolationism and his plan to build a border wall. “If we retreat on either security or the economy behind some imaginary wall, we will have lost our leadership, our purpose, our chance to prevail in the 21st century,” she said. “We have the world’s greatest military,” she added. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
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Victoria Jones – Editor
News is news
Comments are my own
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