WebProNews

Tag: 2016 Presidential Campaign

  • Joe Biden Aides Say He’s Likely to Join 2016 Presidential Race

    Joe Biden aides have spoken volumes in recent days–with their actions more so than with their words, however. A new report claims they have contacted Democratic donors and supporters to discuss the timing of an announcement–one that puts Joe Biden in the 2016 presidential race.

    On Monday, Vice-President Joe Biden met with political advisors, and discussed jumping into the 2016 campaign in time to make the Democratic debate, scheduled for October 13. They are said to be perfecting his campaign message and hiring campaign staff.

    Of course it’s still entirely possible that Biden will opt out at the 11th hour, as he is still feeling the emotional trauma of having lost his son, Beau Biden, to cancer in May.

    If Joe Biden enters the race, it will be timed perfectly with Hillary Clinton’s plan to reassure her supporters that probes into her use of a personal email server while she was Secretary of State won’t throw her candidacy off track. The controversy hasn’t served Hillary well, and has instead boosted Bernie Sanders in the Democratic polls.

    There are only four Democratic debates scheduled before the February 1 Iowa caucuses. If Joe Biden is throwing his hat into the proverbial ring, he will likely either do it before that first October debate, or not do it at all.

    Hillary Clinton is set to appear before the Republican-controlled House committee on October 22, and testify on the Benghazi attack in 2012 that killed four Americans. It is likely she will be questioned about use of the personal email server at that time, too. Her statements on October 22 could serve to enhance Joe Biden’s candidacy, should he choose to run.

    Do you agree with recent chatter on behalf of Joe Biden’s aides that the vice-president is likely to join the 2016 race? Will he wait until after the October 13th debate or pass up the national TV opportunity, relying instead of his position as VP to keep him in the public eye?

    How do you expect Joe Biden’s entrance will impact Hillary Clinton’s campaign?

  • Mitt Romney Campaigns For GOP Hopefuls In West Virginia

    Mitt Romney may have lost the general election two years ago, but lately the former governor has been making waves in the Republican Party. So far, his involvement is limited to helping some GOP hopefuls campaign, but some have speculated that he might be gearing up for another presidential bid.

    In West Virginia, the Associated Press reported that Romney is scheduled to be on the campaign trail starting on August 19th for a fundraiser in Charleston. Senate candidate and congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito is looking to Romney for help in her race against West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.

    Tennant has not been shy about attacking Capito for claiming Romney as an ally. “The fact that Congresswoman Capito would align herself with someone who believes coal ‘kills people’ just to make a quick buck shows how quickly she will turn her back on West Virginia coal miners in favor of Wall Street dollars,” a spokeswoman for Capito said, referencing a stance Romney made as governor of Massachusetts.

    Despite his anti-coal rhetoric back when he was governor, Romney carried all of West Virginia’s 55 counties in 2012. West Virginian republicans Alex Mooney and Evan Jenkins are also looking to Romney for help in their congressional races.

    Down in Florida, Romney endorsed Carlos Curbelo as a Republican nominee for congressman.

    “I am proud to stand with Carlos Curbelo, a young conservative leader who will work hard to reform our government, balance the budget, and improve the quality of life for the people of Miami-Dade and Monroe counties,” Romney said according to the Associated Press. “As an education reformer, Carlos puts students first. In Washington, he will put his community and our country first. I urge my friends in Florida’s 26th Congressional District to vote for Carlos Curbelo.”

    Is Romney helping out fellow Republicans as a kindness or is he looking to make allies and stay relevant for 2016? Matt Lewis of the Telegraph said he may have a chance in an editorial. “He was often cast as a rich guy who led a charmed life,” Lewis wrote, “but Americans like a comeback story, and what better way to reinvent oneself as a man of the people than to have lost at something, only to get up, brush yourself off, and try again.”

    A recent poll in New Hampshire showed Mitt Romney was very popular compared to the other GOP presidential hopefuls, at least in the Granite State.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Chelsea Clinton: $600,000 Annually at NBC, But What Does She Do?

    Chelsea Clinton reportedly makes $600,000 yearly from NBC but she hasn’t appeared on air in nearly five months. So what does the daughter of former President Bill and Hillary Clinton do to earn her pay?

    So far in 2014 NBC has only aired two stories by Chelsea Clinton–both about education programs. The network is reporting, however, that Chelsea has two more stories that will air very shortly and another two for which filming has just been scheduled. Still–that’s not a lot of work for $600,00 per year.

    Just last week it was reported that Clinton is now on a month-to-month contract with NBC. The reason behind this is to ease her departure should mom Hillary Clinton officially announce that she will seek the Democratic nomination for the 2016 presidential race. NBC wouldn’t comment on this nor would anyone from the Clinton camp.

    Chelsea Clinton and her husband Marc Mezvinsky are expecting their first baby later in 2014, but news reporters take maternity leave all the time within the news industry. Surely that isn’t behind her lack of on-air appearances.

    Former President George W. Bush’s daughter Jenna Bush Hager is a TODAY Show correspondent. News consultant Andrew Tyndall says it’s clear that Bush’s daughter is very interested in becoming a bona fide television journalist, while it seems Clinton’s daughter is not.

    Tyndall, who monitors the content of network evening news programs, says of Chelsea Clinton, “She has a niche on the ‘Nightly News’ profiling philanthropic, volunteer and community service programs, often in praise of these groups. She puts herself in the center of these groups’ activities.”

    He compared Clinton’s reporting style with that of a cheerleader.

    Is it possible that Chelsea Clinton hasn’t spent much time on NBC because she’s simply not a very good television journalist? Jenna Bush Hager exudes a warmth and a legitimacy that lends itself to that of Katie Couric or Savannah Guthrie. You want to listen to her because you believe what she has to say. And while what Hager makes hasn’t been announced, one has to wonder if it’s comparable with Clinton’s salary. This is a bit of a slap in the face to journalists who have to climb the ranks the old fashioned way.

    Do you suppose Jenna is making the kind of money Chelsea is? Is there are reason NBC has hired the daughters of two former presidents–a Democrat and a Republican? Sources say there may be an unspoken advantage to doing exactly that. How might this all play out when the presidential primaries are under way?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Tim Kaine Backs Hillary Clinton For President

    Virginia Senator Tim Kaine will back Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race if she decides to run.

    Kaine told the South Carolina Women’s Democratic Council during a special breakfast function that he backed Clinton because of her experience and her history of engaging important domestic issues.

    Kaine was in Columbia, S.C. as the keynote speaker at the South Carolina Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

    Said Kaine, “She is a classic American optimist with the background and experiences necessary to lead this country in a very complicated world.”

    He mentioned that he would be “starting his fifth year in the Senate” in 2017.

    Kaine said he considered Clinton someone he knew for certain that he would “want to be working with in the White House on all fronts.”

    He acknowledged that sexism could be a major stumbling block, making Clinton’s journey toward winning the presidency difficult one.

    “If it were easy for women to achieve top leadership spots in this country,” said Kaine, “ Congress would have more than 18 percent women serving.”

    Because of perceived racial politics in the country during 2006, few believed that President Barack Obama had a chance.

    One of those few who backed Obama early on was Senator Kaine.

    “I made my decision early because I knew something,” said Kaine about Obama. “He was the right person for the job, but getting there would be hard. And I figured that the sooner I started helping him in Virginia, the more helpful I would be.”

    In fact Virginia went for Obama in 2008, marking a rare time in recent history when the state went blue. It can be said that Kaine’s ongoing support played a huge role.

    Will his early support of Hillary Clinton as president precede another turned corner in our history? Only time will tell.

    Image via YouTube

  • Chelsea Clinton Announces She’s Pregnant with First Child

    Chelsea Clinton, former First Daughter, is pregnant with her first child.

    Clinton made the announcement on stage at a Clinton Foundation event in New York City on Thursday:

    “Marc and I are very excited that we have our first child arriving later this year and I certainly feel all the better whether it’s a girl or a boy that she or he will grow up in a world with so many strong female leaders.”

    It was an appropriate slant for the announcement given that Clinton was participating in a forum at Girls: A No Ceilings Conversation, an event designed to promote empowerment among young women.

    The event took place at the Lower East Side Girls Club and was moderated by actress and activist America Ferrera.

    ” … thank you for inspiring future generations, including the one that we’ll be lucky enough to welcome into our family later this year,” Clinton said.

    Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sat beside her daughter beaming proudly as the announcement was made.

    In a 2012 interview with Vogue Clinton alluded to the fact that her mother was anxious for grandchildren.

    “Marc and I are both working really hard right now,” she said at the time, “but I think in a couple of years, hopefully . . . literally, God willing. And I hope my mom can wait that long.”

    Clinton married Marc Mezvinsky in 2010. Like his wife, Mezvinsky is the son of politicians, but he seems content to stay on the sidelines, at least for now, and continue his work as an investment banker.

    After announcing her pregnancy, Clinton added “I just hope that I’ll be as good to my child as my mom was to me,” to which Hillary, who is seen by many as the front-runner for the presidency in 2016, replied “I’m expecting a grand child which I’m very excited about. We’re very excited about what’s happening in our family but we’re also very excited about what we’re doing.”

    Clinton’s pregnancy announcement came on the heels of her admission that she may consider running for political office at some point in the future.

    Image via YouTube

  • Chris Christie Cleared in Internal Probe

    An internal probe paid for by the governor of New Jersey has cleared Chris Christie in any involvement in the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal.

    “Our investigation found that Governor Christie did not know of the lane realignment beforehand and had no involvement in the decision to realign the lanes,” NBC News quoted the report, saying the governor “made appropriate inquiries and even convened a special meeting of his senior staff on December 13, 2013, demanding to know whether any of them were involved in this decision, only to be lied to by [then-deputy chief of staff Bridget Ann] Kelly.”

    Democrats were less than convinced by the report. The Associated Press reported that New Jersey State Senator Loretta Weinberg called it “nothing more than an expensive sham” and that it “raises more questions than answers.” Assemblyman John Wisniewski added: “It’s very hard to tell who’s telling the truth when you don’t hear from all sides.”

    The governor justified hiring the lawyers, according to Politico: “The bottom line is, these people have their own professional and personal reputations. They’re not going to whitewash anything for me.”

    In an exclusive interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer Christie affirmed the conclusions of the report: “When things were first reported, I said: ‘This can’t possibly be true. Because who would do something like that?’ Sometimes, people do inexplicably stupid things. And so that’s what makes it so hard then to, as the guy in charge, you…none of it made any sense to me. And to some extent still does not.”

    Diane Sawyer was re-tweeted by Governor Christie regarding the interview:

    However, nothing has been posted by the governor on his Twitter account regarding the report or its conclusions.

    Image via Los Angeles Times, YouTube

  • Chelsea Clinton Talks About Her Own Political Future

    Although the year 2016 is still a good distance away, folks on either side of the political aisle can’t stop wondering if former First Lady Hillary Clinton will run for the oval office or not, which is why her daughter Chelsea Clinton has been asked over and over what her mom’s future plans are.

    In a Las Vegas Human Rights Conference this past weekend, Chelsea didn’t let on one way or another whether her mom will throw her hat in the political ring, and it’s safe to assume that she wouldn’t tell people even if she did know.

    “My crystal ball is no clearer than yours,” she said.

    In addition, the former First Daughter said both she and her mom will continue to fight for human rights, especially when it comes to gay and women’s issues.

    “My mother has often said that the issue of women’s rights is the unfinished business of the 21st century [and] that is certainly true,” said Chelsea. “But so, too, are the issues of LGTBQ rights, the unfinished business of the 21st century.”

    And when it comes to her own political aspirations, Chelsea said she’s currently living in the best of both worlds, because she can talk about the issues that she’s passionate about, like human rights, and at the same time she can be a regular citizen and enjoy her personal life and her family.

    “I’m grateful to live in a city and a state and a country where I really believe in my elected officials, and their ethos and their competencies,” she said in a 2013 interview. “Someday, if either of those weren’t true and I thought I could make more of a difference in the public sector, or if I didn’t like how my city or state or country were being run, I’d have to ask and answer that question.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons