Persistent questioning drove one of the most notable political “evolutions” of the campaign thus far: Hillary Clinton’s position on the Keystone XL pipeline. 350 Action volunteers first asked the former Secretary of State about her position on the project on July 28th, when she responded that “If it is undecided when I become president, I will answer your question.” A 350 Action volunteer pushed Clinton again on September 17th and responded, “I have been waiting for the administration to make a decision. I can’t wait much longer.” The very next day, September 18th, she got pressured again. Finally on September 22nd, after a question from a 350 Action volunteer in Iowa, Clinton pivoted and said, “I oppose it.”

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/01/28/how-presidential-candidates-have-moved-or-not-climate

The FBI has been investigating Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server while secretary of State in order to determine whether she mishandled classified information, with some reports suggesting the Democratic presidential front-runner may be indicted. Most voters still believe it’s likely Clinton broke the law by sending and receiving classified information through the server, but they are far less convinced that serious charges will be brought against her.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 64% of Likely U.S. Voters now think it’s likely Clinton broke the law by sending and receiving e-mails containing classified information through a private e-mail server while serving as secretary of State. That’s up from 59% in September and includes 47% who say it's Very Likely. Twenty-nine percent (29%) consider it unlikely that Clinton broke the law, although only nine percent (9%) say it’s Not At All Likely. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on January 24-25, 2016 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.


http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/january_2016/how_likely_is_hillary_clinton_to_be_indicted

attribution: (Photo: Hunter Walker/Yahoo News)

For his part, Rhodes suggested Sanders appeals to redditors because he has not changed his positions during his career.

“Redditors come from all walks of life. You can’t really typecast them as white males in their teens and 20s anymore. That’s just not the case.” Rhodes said, adding, “But the Reddit user base, they’re users of the Internet, so they understand that if there’s a fact presented by a candidate … they’re going to do the research. They’re going to use the Internet to verify what people are saying. So, I believe that Bernie Sanders is such an incredible candidate in the eyes of the Reddit community because he is the only candidate out there, one of the few politicians out there, who has been saying the same thing for decades. His record is the most consistent record I’ve ever seen.”

Rhodes also attributes Sanders’ popularity on Reddit to the fact that his democratic socialist ideals don’t represent American “politics as usual.”

“I think now is the time to really utilize this incredible tool of connection that we have as human beings for the first time in history to win a campaign as a non-establishment candidate,” Rhodes said.

Bernie Sanders is “in overall very good health,” his physician wrote in a letter released Thursday.

“You are in overall very good health and active in your professional work, and recreational lifestyle without limitation,” Sanders’ attending physician Dr. Brian P. Monahan wrote in a letter dated Jan. 20

“I have been blessed with good health and good endurance,” he said. “And there's nothing in the medical records that is going to surprise anybody. And we will get them out as soon as possible.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/bernie-sanders-medical-records-218330

"Clinton volunteers are being encouraged to vote for Martin O’Malley in cases where making him viable would prevent his voters from shifting to Bernie Sanders."

This scares me so much. What can we do about this? This feels so dirty, so cynical.
We are spending our time making videos to help our caucus goers convince people that Bernie would be a great candidate for them, and then I see the Clinton camp doing something like this... What can we do?

https://www.reddit.com/r/SandersForPresident/comments/433avs/clinton_volunteers_are_being_encouraged_to_vote/

Joan Amos, a sweet, outspoken 73-year-old chair of the Democratic Party in Lucas County, attended one campaign caucus briefing a few months ago and told me Clinton volunteers are being encouraged to vote for Martin O’Malley in cases where making him viable would prevent his voters from shifting to Bernie Sanders.

Amos says that, at least in her county, food can also be a strategic consideration. A neighbor once gave her an expensive bottle of wine and asked her to switch her vote to a rival campaign (she didn't). In 2008, she said the Clinton supporters in Lucas County separated their home-cooked dishes from the main community potluck table on caucus night in order to make their corner of the room look more inviting. When I asked if the Clinton campaign intended to bring food this year, one local volunteer, Susan Cohen, clarified: “It’s not bribery, it’s all about hospitality and making it a good experience for everybody.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-01-25/the-secret-science-of-winning-the-iowa-caucuses

Among Democratic hopefuls, 51 percent of Americans say they are anxious about Hillary Clinton becoming president, while 43 percent are similarly concerned about Bernie Sanders in the White House. Sanders is the only candidate tested in the poll for whom a plurality -- 50 percent -- says they feel comfortable with as president. (Expect the Sanders campaign to push this number as they make their case that the democratic socialist is electable.)

Despite those tepid ratings, anxiety surrounding a Trump presidency exceeds all candidates by a wide margin, with the gap concentrated with intense concerns. The 51 percent who feel "very" anxious about Trump is significantly higher than Clinton (35 percent), Cruz (26), Sanders (24) or Rubio (18).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/28/69-percent-say-president-trump-makes-them-anxious/

First, her performance as a candidate is weak and not getting stronger. Nothing about her is fresh, exciting or appealing. President Obama called it early — she just doesn’t have that “new-car smell.” Clinton’s style is stuck in the ’80s, when “message discipline” was all about delivering talking points no matter what. Sticking to the script was considered artful. Repeating yourself and having a high word count but low content was considered clever. Those days are over. Either Clinton doesn’t know that or she can’t change her style. To watch her on TV can be toe-curling. To listen to her rehearsed lines, and, recently, to hear her force Obama’s name into her answers is so contrived it lends itself to parody for SNL.

Clinton’s second problem is the viability of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Among the things I have gotten wrong so far in the 2016 cycle is the fact that Sanders has people who are affirmatively supporting him. I thought he would be the gadfly candidate — the anti-Clinton candidate and nothing more. Instead, he is building a legitimate following. It not only says something about the Democratic Party’s move to the left, but it also says something about him as a candidate that I did not anticipate. He seems to be getting better as a candidate, while Clinton seems to have plateaued. The emotional appeal of Sanders is vividly entrenched within the Democratic Party and is forcing Clinton to limp to the left, which will make it harder for her during the general election if she is the Democrats’ eventual nominee. The excitement surrounding Sanders is only making Clinton look even more stale‎.

Third, Clinton’s email scandal has receded in the news, but it’s growing more dangerous every day. It is an iceberg that cannot be avoided. As I always say, in politics, being innocent is only an advantage, and likewise, being guilty is only a disadvantage. Neither is necessarily determinative. But it appears that Clinton mishandled classified information, and that she didn’t do it alone. Others on her staff appear to have been part of a regular practice of sending now-classified information over Clinton’s secret server located at her home in New York. Legal experts around town that I have spoken to are matter-of-fact about this prima facie case. There is no question among the experts I talked to about whether she is guilty; there is only a question of whether the Justice Department will indict, slow-walk the case or stiff-arm the FBI. And you routinely hear that the frustrated FBI is not going to be willing to go quietly in the face of the clear evidence it has collected.

And finally, if Donald Trump has done one good thing for the American body politic, it is how he has stepped on Clinton’s hypocritical, sanctimonious effort to present herself as a feminist icon. While other Republicans are mostly intimidated about bringing up her role in enabling Bill Clinton’s harassment of women and destroying his victims, Trump doesn’t play along, and the inconvenient truth of what he says about her actions and hypocrisy has hobbled her effort to create a feminist wave of support. Some of the usual suspects on the left mumble about her leadership on women’s issues, but younger voters aren’t buying it.



cont'

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/01/27/hillary-clintons-desultory-campaign-is-sinking/

PRESS RELEASE


Sanders Calls for More Debates



JANUARY 27TH, 2016


MASON CITY, Iowa – Bernie Sanders’ campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, on Wednesday issued the following statement calling for additional debates among the Democratic Party presidential candidates:

“From the beginning of this campaign Sen. Sanders has called for more debates. Secretary Clinton has not. Now she is asking to change the rules to schedule a debate next week that is not sanctioned by the DNC. Why is that? The answer is obvious. The dynamics of the race have changed and Sen. Sanders has significant momentum. Sen. Sanders is happy to have more debates but we are not going to schedule them on an ad hoc basis at the whim of the Clinton campaign. If Secretary Clinton wants more debates that’s great. We propose three additional debates. One in March, April and May and none on a Friday, Saturday or holiday weekend. And all of the three Democratic candidates must be invited. If the Clinton campaign will commit to this schedule, we would ask the DNC to arrange a debate in New Hampshire on Feb. 4.”



https://berniesanders.com/press-release/sanders-calls-for-more-debates/