Rare Indiana poll shows Trump and Clinton narrowly ahead

Donald Trump tops his Republican rivals in Indiana, according to a WTHR/Howey Politics poll released on Friday.

Trump leads with 37 percent support in the state, which votes on May 3, followed by Ted Cruz at 31 percent and John Kasich at 22 percent.

Among Indiana Democrats, Hillary Clinton holds a somewhat narrower lead over Bernie Sanders.

Clinton has a 3-point advantage over the Vermont senator, 48 percent to 45 percent. Core Democrats favor Clinton by a 13-point margin (53 percent to 40 percent), but Sanders performs better among occasional and first-time voters by even wider margins (55 percent to 40 percent among occasional voters and 66 percent to 27 percent among first-time voters).

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/poll-indiana-trump-hillary-clinton-222316#ixzz46atlX2Fk

Jane Sanders on MSNBC today on the path forward:

Jane Sanders on MSNBC today:

2 out of 10...

Hillary Clinton's union problem

Hillary Clinton's union problem
Teachers have yet to unite behind Clinton, the latest sign that she is struggling to lock down an important chunk of the Democratic base.
By Maggie Severns
04/06/16 07:01 PM EDT
Updated 04/06/16 08:14 PM EDT

Teachers unions were among the earliest and most enthusiastic supporters of Hillary Clinton, with the American Federation of Teachers calling her “the champion working families need” and powerful AFT President Randi Weingarten hugging her on stage.

“Hillary Clinton, a product of public schools herself, believes in the promise of public education,” Weingarten declared.

The only hitch in Clinton’s plans to rally this vital Democratic constituency: Teachers aren’t fully on board. Bernie Sanders netted more money from people who listed themselves as teachers and educators than Clinton in February, according to a POLITICO analysis of FEC records.

The Vermont senator received more than 9,000 donations and raised more than $413,000 from people who identified themselves as teachers or educators, surpassing the $394,000 raised by Clinton from about 4,500 such donors during the same month.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/teachers-sanders-clinton-unions-221661#ixzz46Yublvlg
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Hillary Clinton rakes in Verizon cash while Bernie Sanders supports company’s striking workers

n some ways, it would hard for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton to be more different.

Hillary Clinton, a Wall Street-backed multimillionaire, served for six years on the board of directors of Walmart, the world’s largest company based on sales. She remained silent at a time when the mega-corporation was viciously cracking down on workers’ attempts to unionize.

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has been unflinching in his support of the labor movement. Sanders has spoken passionately in support of striking Verizon workers on multiple occasions.

The Hillary Clinton campaign, meanwhile, has received tens of thousands of dollars from Verizon executives and lobbyists.

much more: http://www.salon.com/2016/04/13/hillary_clinton_rakes_in_verizon_cash_while_bernie_sanders_supports_companys_striking_workers/

Why Did Congo Offer Clinton $650,000 For Two Pics And A Speech?

Congo, one of the poorest nations on Earth, offered former President Bill Clinton a speaking fee of $650,000–a sum equal to annual per-capita income of 2,813 Congolese. Indeed, the International Monetary Fund ranks the Democratic Republic of the Congo dead last in its global income rankings. What did it expect in return for its investment?

In the proposed 2012 contract, the organizers expected a speech and at least one photograph each with the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Congo, which appeared to be splitting the princely honorarium. (Since there are two nations known as Congo, in this article, unless otherwise specified, I am referring to the Democratic Republic of the Congo whenever I write “Congo” alone.) That doesn’t seem like much of a return, two snaps and a chat. So the question is: What else did Congo want for its money?

Congo’s extraordinary offer to Clinton first surfaced in a batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails released this past August, where it won little attention at the time. Newly leaked documents, known as the “Panama papers,” shed new light on the mystery as well as the misdoings of Congo’s corrupt rulers.

While Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, America’s top official dealing with foreign leaders, former President Bill Clinton travelled the world giving speeches to world leaders and overseas interests–earning at least $48 million while his wife was America’s top diplomat. Why weren’t the payments to one Clinton not considered a bribe to the other Clinton?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardminiter/2016/04/17/why-did-congo-offer-clinton-650000-for-two-pics-and-a-speech/#367a300c3f11

On Hillary Clinton's Pandering

Has hot sauce ever mattered this much in an election? Earlier this week, during the run-up to the New York Democratic primary, the condiment became part of a minor controversy involving Hillary Clinton. In an interview with the hip-hop morning show “The Breakfast Club” on urban radio station Power 105.1, an interviewer asked Clinton about items she always carried with her. Clinton’s answer was immediate. “Hot sauce,” she said.

On a radio station targeted towards black people with music that most would consider connected to black culture, Clinton’s comments looked for all the world like a textbook attempt at pandering from a campaign that has long been accused by young black people of doing just that. The interviewers themselves responded immediately, questioning Clinton about pandering in a joking way. The response on social media was critical of Clinton, and echoed sentiments that have often been expressed on Twitter and Facebook before for previous campaign faux pas. But this particular incident provides a good case study on just what pandering is and the difficulties of making genuine intercultural and intergenerational political connections that seem to plague Clinton the most with young black voters.


“I got hot sauce in my bag” has become a common refrain after Beyoncé’s hit single “Formation” gained popularity as a pro-black anthem, espousing a worldview that proudly embraces certain stereotypes and characteristics that were once deemed “too black” for polite society or undesirable. Hot sauce has long been associated with a certain ugly caricature of black culture—a caricature that frankly doesn’t make much sense. Quasi-objectively, hot sauce is just really damn good.

But it does make sense, then, that many young black people might be upset by a white politician claiming to love hot sauce in an interview that was clearly targeted towards them and their vote. The situation might not be any different if a politician were to awkwardly proclaim a love of fried chicken or watermelon in a speech at Howard University, or if a former governor of Massachusetts were to ask “Who let the dogs out?” while posing with a group of black people for a photo.

more: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/04/hillary-clinton-pandering-radio/479004/

FBI Director: Democratic Convention Not a Deadline in Clinton Email Investigation

FBI Director James Comey says the forthcoming Democratic National Convention does not represent a deadline for finishing the investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails.

Asked about the case today at a security conference in London, he said, "Somebody asked me if the Democratic National Convention is a hard stop or a key date for you? Are you doing this aimed at that? And I said, no.

"We aspire to do all our investigations in two ways -- well and promptly, especially investigations that are of great interest to the public. We want to do them promptly.

"I get that people care about this investigation, and so we're working very hard to ensure it's well and promptly. But as between the two, if we have to choose, we will do it well. But again we aspire to do it well and promptly."

more: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/fbi-director-democratic-convention-not-deadline-clinton-email-investigation-n560026

Clinton gave paid speeches to firms that lobbied, contracted with government

Published April 22, 2016 Associated Press
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It's not just Wall Street banks. Most companies and groups that paid Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to speak between 2013 and 2015 have lobbied federal agencies in recent years, and more than one-third are government contractors, an Associated Press review has found. Their interests are sprawling and would follow Clinton to the White House should she win election this fall.

The AP's review of federal records, regulatory filings and correspondence showed that almost all the 82 corporations, trade associations and other groups that paid for or sponsored Clinton's speeches have actively sought to sway the government — lobbying, bidding for contracts, commenting on federal policy and in some cases contacting State Department officials or Clinton herself during her tenure as secretary of state.

Presidents are not generally bound by many of the ethics and conflict-of-interest regulations that apply to non-elected executive branch officials, although they are subject to laws covering related conduct, such as bribery and illegal gratuities. Clinton's 94 paid appearances over two years on the speech circuit leave her open to scrutiny over decisions she would make in the White House or influence that may affect the interests of her speech sponsors.

Rival presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Republican critics have mocked Clinton over her closed-door talks to banks and investment firms, saying she is too closely aligned to Wall Street to curb its abuses. Sanders said in a speech in New York that Clinton earned an average of about $225,000 for each speech and goaded her for declining to release transcripts.

more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/04/22/clinton-gave-paid-speeches-to-firms-who-lobbied-contracted-with-us-government.html