Another Roundup of Campaign Short Stories

The stories are flying fast and furious, so let’s do yet another tidbits story—things that are interesting, but not worth a story on their own. First, tonight (Tuesday) is the night for the first “Commander-in-Chief” Forum on NBC, hosted by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). It will air at 8pm Eastern and Pacific time. (More forum details coming in another post)

Did you know 88 retired generals and admirals have endorsed Donald Trump?

Trump had to do something, because he’s running well behind Libertarian Gary Johnson among the active military according to a poll cited by The Hill—38.7% to 30.9% for Trump.

Speaking of Iraq, here’s an ironic story. We’ve heard the furor over France banning burqas and burkinis—outfits Islamic women wear that cover them from head to toe. Well, the Daily Caller is reporting that now ISIS is banning them, too. Al Alam News says covered women have killed several ISIS leaders over the past few months.

Most people think Ted Cruz’ “performance” at the GOP convention was to spite Donald Trump—and set up his bid to run for president in 2020. Hold on there, Rafael! Trump says he’ll probably start a PAC to support your opponent for your senate seat in 2018. (Sounds like Nixon all over again.)

Then there’s the on-again-off-again candidacy of Marco Rubio, who says he doesn’t plan to finish a whole six year term in the Senate. First he needs the votes, and he is apparently losing some because he says women shouldn’t be allowed to get an abortion if they know their fetuses are deformed from Zika.

On the Dem side, Vice President Biden is telling Hillary to “open up.” He says, “My advice to Hillary always is, just open up, let them see your heart a little more. Because she has the heart,” and she’ll win the white, working class vote. Don’t hold your breath, Joe.

Back to Trump, The Donald says nobody’s interested in his tax returns.

Well, I’d be curious about how the other half live, candidates always have, and Fox reports that running mate, Mike Pence, plans to release his returns next week.

Although Trump is now ahead in some polls now, he’s not liked by everybody. The staunchly conservative Dallas Morning News refused to endorse him, largely because of Trump’s “admiration” for Vladimir Putin, but also because Trump’s ideas, “are so far from Republicanism that they have spawned a new description: Trumpism.” The paper has endorsed every Republican candidate since native son LBJ, in 1964.

Meanwhile, RedState reports that “reliably-right-leaning” Richmond Times-Dispatch has endorsed Libertarian Gary Johnson. The Times-Dispatch has endorsed every GOP presidential candidate for the past 36 years, but the editors “found him to be knowledgeable but unscripted, reasonable and good-humored, self-assured but free from arrogance, willing and able to address every question, consistent in his beliefs without being dogmatic, even tempered, curious — and in all respects, optimistically, realistically presidential.”

The Washington Examiner reported that Hillary has turned down Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s invitation for a visit during the campaign. Aw, come on, Hill, things can’t be any hotter for you down there than they are here.

Bernie Sanders says the threshold to get into the presidential debates are too high. The commission set an arbitrary 15% support in national polls. Sanders, who campaigned for Hillary at an AFL-CIO breakfast in New Hampshire, Monday, thinks Gary Johnson should be on the stage.

This is interesting. In an article in National Review, would-be candidate David French says Fox News is killing the conservative movement. His reasoning is that Fox is only “preaching to the choir,” with no outreach to young people, or anyone who is not already sold. And Fox’s primary demographic (age 70) is dying off, daily.

We may have our first recount of the year, in the Arizona 5th District Republican Primary. But first, Christine Jones is going to court, according to the Arizona Capitol-Times, to have 300 rejected ballots counted. As of now, Jones lost to Andy Biggs by just nine votes out of more than 85,500 cast.

Meanwhile, Libertarian Gary Johnson has gone politically correct on us, objecting to the term, “illegal aliens.” The former New Mexico governor says they should just be referred to as “undocumented.”

Less politically correct is Johnson’s referring to Donald Trump as a “fascist,” according to NewsMax: “Trump doesn’t have much respect for the Constitution, Johnson said, adding that he agrees with the assessment of his running mate, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld that Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants reminds him of the Kristallnacht attack on Jews before the start of World War II.”

Business Insider reports that “Embattled NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is getting support for his silent protest from an unlikely place: US military veterans.” Kaepernick is famous for refusing to stand for the National Anthem. “But on Tuesday, a new hashtag — #VeteransForKaepernick — emerged in his support on Twitter, with many veterans saying the 49ers quarterback’s right to free speech was exactly what they swore to defend.”

Trump’s “Latinos for Trump” founder says if we don’t stop Mexican immigration soon, there will be a taco truck on every corner. That’s a weird thing to say.

Fortune reports that Mark Cuban says he was not asked to play Trump in Hillary’s debate prep. Seems stupid. Some say Tim Kaine is playing the part, but Cuban would be so much better. He’s fast on his feet, outspoken, cut-throat, and unpredictable. In short, he’s just like Donald Trump.

There have been stories that House Speaker Paul Ryan will try to stop anything that a President Hillary would propose—since he’s likely to run for president in 2020. But the two agree on a poverty plan that’s claimed that it would, “help millions of poor white voters who live in GOP-held districts as well as black voters in Democratic districts.”

There’s been a lot of hubbub over the NFL scheduling games on the same nights already set aside for the presidential debates. But NBC says it shouldn’t matter—that “history suggests that the impact of NFL games, and sporting events in general, on presidential debates has been relatively negligible, at least ratings-wise.”

There have been complaints for months that Hillary Clinton has been hiding from the media. That was just fine while Trump was sticking his foot in his mouth, but now that he has been sticking to the teleprompter, he has taken the lead in several recent polls. So now, Hillary is making herself available. “Twice in two days, the Democratic presidential nominee sauntered to the back of her new campaign plane to talk to the reporters now traveling with her — and both days she was armed with a topic that would drive the news and needle Trump in an apparent new effort to enter the fray rather than hide from it.”

The Blaze reports: On Tuesday afternoon, CNN’s Jake Tapper raised the issue with Carson. “Do you think it’s time for Donald Trump to acknowledge that all that birther nonsense was a mistake and to apologize so that African-American voters, to whom he’s reaching out, might be more willing to listen to his message?” he asked. In response, Carson said, “I think that would be a good idea.”