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For more coverage of Hillary Clinton at Daily Kos, visit the Hillary Writers Circle.
For breaking news, follow First Amendment.
Look for Hillary-friendly open threads and hangouts throughout the day.
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Good Morning, everybody.
Lysis asked me to jump in and do today’s HNV.
First, an important announcement.
Our own Scan will be calling into West Virginia Talk Radio WRNR this morning at 10am ET to talk about the state of the race. Everybody can tune in live at this link: tunein.com/… to hear it.
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Index:
1. Memorial Day
2. About the schedule change
3. NRDC Action Fund endorses Hillary, first ever endorsement by the major environmental group
4. Hillary’s needed delegates to reach 2,383: 73.
5. America’s Seniors can count on Hillary
6. Eugene Robinson: Sanders is playing with fire
7. Expect Hypocrisy — An interesting psychological study why Cruz and Bernie supporters flock to the nominee
8. Bernie Sanders supporters won’t back Hillary? Don’t buy the hype.
9. Why Some Clinton Supporters are not “Really Ready to Go Public”
10. We don’t Care About Her Emails. Women Flock to Hear Hillary Talk
11. UNTOLD STORY: How Donald, Bernie and the Hostile Media Miscalculated Hillary’s Greatest Strength
12. Feel It, History is within your grasp
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Let’s get to it:
1. Memorial Day
Hillary spent Memorial Day in her home town of Chappaqua and participated in a Memorial Day March.
I diaried about this yesterday, if you are interested in reading about it in detail, here:
Hillary marches in Memorial Day Parade in NY. With lots of pictures
2. About the schedule change
Hillary will be in New Jersey early today, but back in California later tonight, and through the 6th of June. Apparently both candidates will be camping out in California for the grand finale of the nomination, not go to any other state except for California until June 7 comes aling.
That effectively freezes the race in the other states: New Jersey, where Hillary has been ahead by NY like numbers (15%, 17%, thereabouts). New Mexico, which seems lost to Bernie. Also, earlier, Puerto Rico, which has a healthy 60 delegates to give out.
Hillary is currently poised to win, and win big, in VI, PR, NJ, NM and DC.
Bernie is poised to pick up MT, ND and SD.
California is “the big enchilada”, as Bernie called it, and basically the race is anymore about who notches the W in California. Bernie wants to go out of this race with a CA win, even if it is by 0.5%, a virtual tie. Hillary wants to win the state, preferably comfortably by 5% and up from there, but any win will do, as the race will be effectively over on June 7 with Hillary reaching 2,383 delegates. It would be awesome to have that announcement and declaration of being the “Presumed nominee” come with wins in VI and PR first on June 5 and wins in NJ, NM and CA on June 7th. Let’s get it done for Hillary. GOTV.
3. NRDC Action Fund endorses Hillary, first ever endorsement by the major environmental group
Major environmental group makes first ever endorsement of Hillary Clinton
A major environmental group, the NRDC Action Fund, will endorse Hillary Clinton on Tuesday in its first-ever political endorsement in a presidential election.
Awesome endorsement from this major environmental group.
In a statement, the NRDC Action Fund, a political affiliate of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that the unprecedented endorsement is reflective of the need for left-leaning groups to unite against Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee. “Hillary Clinton is an environmental champion with the passion, experience and savvy to build on President Obama’s environmental legacy,” Rhea Suh, president of the NRDC Action Fund, said in a statement. “More than any other candidate running, Hillary Clinton understands the environmental challenges America faces, and her approach to solving them is grounded in the possibility and promise our democracy affords us.”
Great endorsement. Congratulations to Hillary. She will be our environmental champion.
4. Hillary’s needed delegates to reach 2,383: Down to 73 72.
It was 78 delegates before the weekend, but more commitments from Super Delegates have come in over the weekend. Update: CA governor Jerry Brown endorsed Hillary this morning. So we are down to 72 delegates needed now.
California Gov. Jerry Brown endorses Hillary Clinton ahead of crucial primary
Another notable endorsement came from Tim Johnson, popular former Senator from South Dakota, who endorsed Hillary on Memorial Day Monday:
Tim Johnson endorses Hillary for President
Former U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson in a statement said he'll support Clinton for president because of Clinton’s record as an advocate for our military and veterans.
"While I appreciate the campaign that Senator Sanders has run, it's my view that Secretary Clinton is the strongest choice to lead our country into the future. She has worked tirelessly for decades to improve the lives of everyday Americans, and has all the qualities you'd want in a president--she's tough, smart, compassionate, and decisive. Most importantly, I know that Secretary Clinton will be a tireless advocate for our veterans and their families in South Dakota. She has real plans to help communities across the state get ahead. I have no hesitation at all in endorsing her for President of the United States."
Not sure where the other commitments have come from, but according to the AP delegate tracker we are now down to 73 more needed.
AP Delegate Tracker
73 delegates left to go. Also watch this video from the ABC News announcement of the needed number now at 73 delegates, here:
Hillary Clinton Close to Securing Delegate Count for Democratic Nomination
5. America’s Seniors can count on Hillary
America’s Seniors Can Count on Hillary Clinton
Written by Doris Matsui, U.S. Representative, California’s 6th Congressional District
Every day, thousands of American seniors reach retirement age after a lifetime of working hard to support their families. Because of Social Security and Medicare, older Americans can mark these milestones with the peace of mind that their retirement future is secure. We created these lifelines so that hard working seniors never have to worry about putting food on the table, or landing in debt after their next trip to the pharmacy.
Yet, Donald Trump seems willing to put these programs at risk, and take a gamble on our seniors’ future. He has called Social Security a Ponzi scheme, claiming privatizing the program would be “good for all of us.” He has repeatedly flip-flopped on his position on Medicare, first claiming he would avoid cuts, then having his senior advisor place those cuts back on the table. He won’t even agree to AARP’s call to put out a Social Security plan.
Donald Trump’s radical and unpredictable policies undermine the promises we’ve made to America’s seniors—promises that Hillary Clinton has fought for her entire life, and will honor as president.
Here is the thing. Seniors used to be reliably Democratic, but for some time now they have been voting more strongly GOP. As they are, by far, the most reliable voter group of them all, they come out to vote — rain or shine — and that has hurt Democrats, especially in mid-term elections where young voters and minority voters don’t show up in the same numbers as they do for General Elections.
The “Silent Generation” (people born from 1923 through 1944) has been more conservative than previous generations. As the baby boomers are now taking over the “Elderly Vote” we have a golden opportunity to bring seniors back into the Democratic Party column, which would then bring a lot of benefits for the future of the party. Sounds funny, right, Seniors a big part of the future of the Democratic Party. But it’s true, because they have been such a reliable voting block for the GOP, and we are about to change that with this election.
Hillary’s plan for seniors expands Social Security, instead of privatizing the program at the expense of the nearly two out of three seniors who depend on it for the majority of their income. She wants to expand benefits for those who need them the most, like women who often take time out of the paid workforce to care for sick or aging loved ones.
Hillary will defend Medicare against attempts to privatize it, which would only drive up costs for the nearly 45 million retired Americans who rely on it to provide some or all of the health insurance needs. Hillary’s plan will build upon reforms that began with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, keeping affordable and reliable healthcare within reach for older Americans, which is especially critical for the millions of American seniors who live with disabilities.
Hillary also knows that supporting our seniors means supporting their caregivers. Safety nets need to be in place for those who have to take time to look after an ailing loved one. That’s why Hillary will offer a 20 percent tax credit to help family members offset up to $6,000 in caregiving costs. These savings could make a real difference in the lives of our hard working American families.
For his part, Donald Trump appears intent to slash Social Security, calling it a “moral” issue he believes in but doesn’t feel he can tell the American people until he is elected:
www.bloomberg.com/…
Asked about cuts to Social Security, as desired by the GOP:
"From a moral standpoint, I believe in it," Trump told Ryan. "But you also have to get elected. And there’s no way a Republican is going to beat a Democrat when the Republican is saying, 'We’re going to cut your Social Security' and the Democrat is saying, 'We’re going to keep it and give you more.' "
Trump is ready to cut Social Security. That much is obvious. He just won’t say so during the general election.
6. Eugene Robinson: Sanders is playing with fire
The great Eugene Robinson has written an opinion piece entitled “Sanders is playing with fire”. In his opinion Bernie Sanders is going too far and needs to pull back, accept the inevitable.
Eugene Robinson: Sanders is playing with fire
Bernie Sanders is playing a dangerous game. If he and his campaign continue their scorched-earth attacks against the Democratic Party, they will succeed only in one thing: electing Donald Trump as president.
I say this as someone who shares much of Sanders’ political philosophy. I too, for example, see health care as a basic right. He has run a remarkable and historically significant campaign, pulling the party to the left and pumping it full of new progressive vigor. His crowds are almost as big as Trump’s and perhaps even more enthusiastic. Most important, he has brought legions of young people into the political process.
But he hasn’t won the nomination.
Hillary Clinton has an insurmountable lead in pledged delegates, earned by her performance in primaries and caucuses. In the aggregate, she leads Sanders by about 3 million votes. The will of the party is clear: More Democrats prefer Clinton over Sanders as their nominee.
Instead of accepting this obvious fact, the Sanders campaign is behaving like a two-year-old who can’t have ice cream for breakfast. All along, Sanders and his aides have claimed that the party establishment was unfairly tipping the scales in favor of Clinton. Now the Sanders people have gone further and are deliberately stoking anger and a sense of grievance — less against Clinton than the party itself. This is reckless in the extreme, and it could put Trump in the White House.
Eugene Robinson considers the most recent actions from team Bernie as reckless and damaging to the Democratic Party.
I hope not. But the Democratic nominee will be all that stands between Trump and the White House. It is possible to believe Clinton would be far from an ideal president and also believe she must be elected because Trump would be an unthinkable disaster.
Given this context, Sanders and his campaign are being shamefully irresponsible. Rather than accept defeat, they claim loudly that the party’s nominating process was rigged against them. They display a degree of entitlement that they have not earned.
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Sanders has every right to continue his campaign until the nominee is officially chosen at the convention in Philadelphia. But if he means it when he says he will do everything in his power to keep Trump from being elected, he has to do more than just modulate his rhetoric against Clinton. He and his campaign must stop attacking the Democratic Party in a way that might discourage voters in the fall.
I mean right now. This is serious.
Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer price winning writer who, IMHO, has been a very good voice over the years. Measured and serious, but usually on the money. It is time for Team Bernie to listen to voices like that.
7. Expect Hypocrisy — An interesting psychological study why Cruz and Bernie supporters flock to the nominee
Expect Hypocrisy
Now that the GOP's standard bearer has formally cinched the nomination, the voices of traditional conservatives and establishment types within the party are shifting from "Never Trump" to "Okay, I Guess It's Trump." …….On the other side of the aisle, we can expect to soon see a similar phenomenon as many former Bernie Sanders supporters come around to the belief that Hillary Clinton, though previously derided as a corrupt establishment figure, now gets their full support. Sure, some will hold out on both sides, but it seems likely that the majority of the "Never Trump" and the "Never Hillary" crowds will come around.
It always happens like this. Never fails. Will so again with current Bernie supporters who claim they will never vote for Hillary.
To many observers, especially those who never changed their views, that move will look pretty hypocritical. And it may be, but it is hardly unique.A recent article in Mother Jones by Northeastern University psychologist David DeSteno, for example, shares the view that these forms of extreme but convenient mental flexibility are the rule, not the exception. According to DeSteno, "The mind evolved to be adaptive, not saintly. This fact doesn't excuse hypocritical behavior, but it does help to explain why it's so prevalent." In response to a perceived necessity or a higher priority, most of us are willing to waver even on some fairly fundamental beliefs. "When faced with the option to either stand on principle or gain advantage," DeSteno adds, "people tend to go with the latter."
It is a good and enlightening article. I encourage a read.
To that same end, Emily Cahn has written an article in which she posits that Bernie supporters will come around without much trouble.
8. Bernie Sanders supporters won’t back Hillary? Don’t buy the hype.
Bernie Sanders Supporters Won't Back Hillary Clinton? Don't Buy the Hype
Voters feelin' the Bern are causing Hillary Clinton quite a headache.
A recent YouGov poll found 50% of Sen. Bernie Sanders' supporters saying they will not vote for Hillary Clinton in November — a statistic that's led to a tightening in polls between Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
But political analysts remain skeptical that the percentage of Clinton defections will be that high.
"As long as the Democrats are in the middle of a nominating contest, which they are, surprisingly, you're going to have Sanders people who will say they're not voting for Hillary," Stu Rothenberg, a nonpartisan political analyst, said in an interview.
"If they acknowledge they would vote for Hillary, it forces them, in some ways, to turn their back on Sanders. And they're fully committed to him," Rothenberg added. "Once he comes to the realization that everyone else has, that the race is over, and once he gets out, I think you'll see a significant switch on the part of his supporters."
The article goes on to compare the Bernie or Bust movement with 2008’s PUMA movement of Hillary supporters who vowed to never vote for Obama, but then did so anyway.
9. Why Some Clinton Supporters are not “Really Ready to Go Public”
NPR article on a possible reason why it seems as if Bernie has all the “excitement” and “support”, which, as it turns out, is obviously a false perception.
Why Some Clinton Supporters Are Not 'Really Ready To Go Public'
If you've been following the Democratic presidential contest, you might be wondering how it is possible that Bernie Sanders seems to have all the energy and enthusiasm and, yet, Hillary Clinton is way ahead in the race to the nomination.
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"I get this feeling that many Hillary supporters (at least the younger ones, like me) are just biding their time to publicly display their support once she has the party's nomination," wrote Winkler.
"It's so visceral. The reaction against her," she said when we met up with her in Albuquerque, N.M., where she lives. Publicly showing support for Hillary Clinton just isn't worth the aggravation for Winkler and her friends Leigh Featherstone and Holly Chamberlin.
Winkler, Featherstone and Chamberlin are in their late 20s and early 30s — a lawyer, a non-profit data manager and an engineer. They all want Hillary Clinton to be president, but you won't see it on their car bumpers or dominating their Facebook feeds.
"I don't have the time and energy and mental toughness to have the whole conversation," Chamberlin said.
Featherstone supported Clinton in 2008, too, and has had many conversations that start out as a debate over issues. "And then it would turn into, 'Be honest. It's just because she's a woman, isn't it.' Ummm. You could have led with that," she said….
Chamberlin said she sometimes feels like a bad Clinton supporter for not speaking up:
"So many people, when Hillary is winning voting contests, are like 'it must be rigged. I don't know anyone who supports Hillary, not one single person. So there must be something going on. It must be wrong. They must be cheating.' Something like that. And sometimes I'm like, hey, I support Hillary Clinton, so you know one person. But mostly, I just don't say anything."
They each have their reasons for supporting Clinton, whether it's her pragmatism, her commitment to the Affordable Care Act or her experience and understanding of America's role in the world. Winkler and Featherstone have even given her campaign a little money. But until this interview, they hadn't been vocal about it.
"We talked about, like are we really ready to go public," Featherstone said.
Chamberlin was even reluctant to give her full name.
"Is my voice shaking? It will be fine," she said psyching herself up. "Yes. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'll do it Hillary Clinton." The irony isn't lost on any of them.
Hillary voters can finally speak up. The race is over. Many of us have throughout, but it is time for everybody else to come out from under the bus.
10. We don’t Care About Her Emails. Women Flock to Hear Hillary Talk
'We Don't Care About Her Emails': In Silicon Valley, Women Flock to Hear Clinton Talk About Their Rights
Article on women who are excited to see Hillary and won’t be deterred by the media’s hand wringing and obsessing over insignificant emails.
If last week’s Bernie Sanders’ rally at a Silicon Valley county fairground felt more like Burning Man or Coachella, the mood at Wednesday’s Hillary Clinton rally in downtown San Jose was more like that of a junior league convention: Moms, daughters, grandmothers in birkenstocks, female techies, the odd middle-aged dad waited inside Parkside Hall to hear the Democratic presidential front-runner ask them to get the vote out.
Unlike the Bernie Sanders rally, nobody yelled themselves hoarse for Clinton, but her supporters were very articulate about why they wanted her to be president.
“She’s been fighting for great causes for women and children and for peace for her whole career … As a lawyer, as a mother, as a concerned citizen, Hillary’s done it all,” said a supporter who called herself Dorothy. “She’s been a senator, a secretary of state …I think any girl would want to have her as a role model.”
The majority of the women who showed up Thursday underlined her experience as secretary of state, her progressive history and her efforts to improve the lives of women and children. “And in addition we get Bill Clinton,” said Sharon Solomon. “Clinton was a great president, she’ll be a great president.”
Almost nobody wanted to talk about her emails. “It’s not a big deal to me,” said Lisa Rostao from Santa Cruz. “I understand how technology works, and it doesn’t bother me."
11. UNTOLD STORY: How Donald, Bernie and the Hostile Media Miscalculated Hillary’s Greatest Strength
Here BlueNationReview analyses the grave error committed by both the Bernie and now by the Trump campaign believing the media narrative about Hillary’s so-called “enthusiasm gap”, a gap that does not exist.
UNTOLD STORY: How Donald, Bernie and the Hostile Media Miscalculated Hillary’s Greatest Strength
That this deeply-entrenched talking point has taken absolute hold of the commentariat is incontrovertible. How many times have we heard that Hillary’s supporters aren’t excited by her, that she “appeals to the head and not the heart?” How many times has Bernie claimed the mantle of momentum and marginalized her supporters? (He did it again today.) How many awe-struck media reports have marveled at Bernie’s and Donald’s rallies while lamenting the “passionless” and invisible Hillary supporters?
The utter and complete dismissal of 13 million Americans is a travesty of historic proportions, but this article is about something different. It’s about how the jaw-droppingly ludicrous and demonstrably false “enthusiasm gap” narrative is a grave error by Hillary’s political and media opponents.
Great Read. Go check it out.
12. Feel It, History is within your grasp
Feel It: History Is Within Your Grasp
Blue Nation Review:
The last time a woman represented a major party in the quest for the White House was … never. In 2016, never will become now. The impossible will become possible.
In one week, Hillary Clinton will clinch the delegates required to become the first female presidential nominee of a major party. Electing an American president has global ramifications. Electing the first woman president in U.S. history — and defeating Donald Trump in the process — will change the course of life on this earth. Anyone who gives the idea of a Trump presidency a minute’s reflection will know that we are not being hyperbolic.
7 days left, folks, and the nomination race is truly over.
The person we fight for is an honorable, hard-working, resilient human being. An achiever. A lifelong public servant. A mother. A grandmother. A friend to so many. Securing health care for millions of kids, which Hillary did, is enough of an achievement for a hundred lifetimes. Her bashers can spew filth at her, but her legacy will outlast and outshine theirs….
We’ve learned to ignore the static and focus on the goal.
To Hillary supporters, we say this: History is within your grasp. Feel it. Don’t let anyone take it away from you. Don’t let anyone shout you down. Don’t let anyone pretend what you’ve done doesn’t matter.
It does. So much.
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Thanks for reading. Have a great Tuesday, everyone.