Philip Bump:
Bernie Sanders says Americans back his agenda — and he’s mostly right
He's not left. He's center. And that's right.
Glenn Thrush:
Hillary Clinton hasn’t always been a profile in political courage, but she’s had her moments. One of them came in late December 2006, a month before Clinton announced her first run for the presidency, as she huddled with her team to discuss policy proposals to differentiate her from two rivals flanking her on the left, Barack Obama and John Edwards.
The conversation, which included former Clinton White House aides like Gene Sperling and Neera Tanden, who still have the candidate’s ear today, bogged down on the biggest, nastiest policy fight of her life, health care. Several of Clinton’s top advisers, the ’90s debacle fresh in everyone’s mind, counseled her to avoid proposing an individual mandate, the politically unpopular requirement that the uninsured buy insurance or face penalties.
When it came to the widely unpopular individual mandate, however, she was adamant about plowing ahead, according to a former aide who related the story.
“If I run for president, I’m going to run on universal health care,” Clinton told the group—and authorized attacks on her Democratic opponent Obama for opposing a mandate (he would eventually embrace it as president, much to Clinton’s amusement).
“What’s the point of running if I’m not going to run on universal health care?” she asked her team.
Greg Sargent:
I thought I’d go through Clinton’s stances on the issues, to see if that sheds more light on what she’s really up to. Short version: Clinton is indeed ministering to Obama coalition voter groups — minorities, millennials, college educated whites. But nonetheless, she’s thus far campaigning like a mainstream Democrat. In fact, those things are now two sides of the same coin. Meanwhile, very few of her positions thus far preclude reaching beyond those groups.
And when Hillary adapts and adopts Bernie's positions, she'll be center, too.
More politics and policy below the fold.
Amber Phillips:
So in honor of the Iowa Straw Poll's demise, we decided to make a list of what other traditions in presidential politics should go by the wayside. Did we miss anything? The comments section awaits.
National Journal:
House progressives may have just had their tea-party moment.
They went toe-to-toe Friday with their own president, the business community, and moderates of all stripes—and they won big.
In overwhelming numbers, Democrats torpedoed a bill that would have moved President Obama closer to the landmark trade deal he's been seeking. And they did so hours after he visited Capitol Hill to make a personal appeal to their caucus.
"It's more than 2-to-1," said a giddy Rep. Alan Grayson, watching the vote. "That's incredible. Nobody expected that."
The trade drama was only the latest skirmish in a broader intraparty war, with organized labor and economic populists such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren on one side, and a dwindling corps of business- and Wall Street-friendly Democrats on the other. Increasingly, the political momentum and passion within the party is moving toward the first group.
Dylan Byers:
Bloomberg Politics co-managing editor Mark Halperin and Ann Romney, wife of Mitt, will co-host an early morning pilates session for wealthy Republican donors at this weekend's Romney retreat in Deer Valley, Time's Zeke Miller reports.
Mitt Romney's annual retreat, dubbed the "Club Med" for GOP megadonors, takes place at the Stein Ericksen Lodge, at Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. Donors are invited to participate in recreational activities with Republican presidential candidates, including flag football with Sen. Marco Rubio and skeet shooting with Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Halperin, the co-author of Game Change and former Time Magazine political analyst, is the only journalist listed on the bill of "enthusiast sessions." He and Ann Romney will co-host a "Sunrise Pilates" class for the retreat's attendees on Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. Other journalists are in attendance reporting on the event.
Halperin did not respond to a request for comment regarding his decision to co-host an event for Republican donors alongside the wife of a prominent Republican politician. A Bloomberg spokesperson declined to comment.
Remember, Halperin isn't just a jerk, he's a Republican jerk. Don't let him tell you different. It's why everything is good for John McCain.
WaPo:
“We tried tall, good lookin’, smart, nice, great family,” [Lindsey] Graham told donors Friday in a playful nod to Romney. “Vote for me. We’re not going down that road again!”
Republicans have 10 declared candidates and counting, but they have no front-runner — not even the descendant of the closest the GOP has to a royal family. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush has struggled ahead of his official campaign launch on Monday, and he skipped the Romney confab because he was traveling in Europe.
National Journal:
Fox News has changed its plan for the first Republican presidential debate to give second-tier candidates some airtime after a New Hampshire newspaper announced its own competing forum for B-list contenders.
According to plans announced late Wednesday, Fox now will host a 90-minute televised forum in Cleveland on the afternoon of August 6 for Republican candidates who fail to qualify for that evening's 90-minute debate.
RNC officials and campaign staffers had been pressuring Fox for weeks to do exactly this, some even predicting that the vacuum would be filled by another media outlet. A Fox spokeswoman challenged the notion that Fox had changed its plans, saying the cable network always intended to cover the candidates who did not make the prime-time cut.