Wednesday 1 June 2016

The United States primaries - 05/30.2016

Why The Clinton Email Scandal Is Not Just A Right Wing Creation





FEATURING RAY MCGOVERN – A new report by the State Department’s Office of the Inspector General, has found that Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had not obtained permission to use a private email server during her tenure as President Obama’s Secretary of State. The OIG report added that she would not have been given permission even if she had asked, and that she, “had an obligation to discuss using her personal email account to conduct official business.”


The Republican Party has long fixated on the so-called “email scandal” as a way to undermine Clinton’s suitability for the nation’s highest office. And, Democratic party members including President Obama have brushed off the issue, relegating it to “carelessness.” Even Clinton’s political rival, Bernie Sanders has dismissed the controversy. So, should progressives as a whole also dismiss it?



Clinton holds big lead over Sanders in California a week before primary - poll

Democratic U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton (L) and Senator Bernie Sanders © Lucas Jackson
RT,
30 May, 2016


In California, site of a major June 7 presidential primary contest, Hillary Clinton is leading rival candidate Bernie Sanders by 13 points, according to a new poll. She also got the support of the Golden State's governor.

Clinton took in 51 percent support while Sanders, buoyed by a surge in primary wins of late despite Clinton's formidable delegate lead, received 38 percent in a new Hoover Institution Golden State poll.

Ahead of the California primary, Clinton stands just 73 Democratic Party delegates away from the number necessary for the party's nomination — though pledged superdelegates, who are not related to primary votes, could hypothetically switch allegiance between now and the Democratic Party's national convention in late July.

Of a total 712 superdelegates, Clinton has 541 while Sanders has 43. Of a total 4,051 delegates, which are earned through primary votes across the nation, Clinton has 1,769 and Sanders has 1,499. A win in California's primary would deliver 475 delegates, partially apportioned by whichever candidate wins in each of the state's congressional districts.

The Hoover poll found that while Clinton has a 13-point lead over Sanders in California, Sanders has a massive 31-point edge with primary voters under the age of 30. Among voters who described themselves as having "no party preference," Sanders leads Clinton by 40 points. To justify his ongoing presence in the Democratic race despite trailing Clinton this late in the primary season, Sanders' campaign has pointed to these types of disparities in polling among young and independent voters, as well as other polling that has suggested Sanders does much better than Clinton in a head-to-head matchup with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

"In virtually every state and national poll, we do much better than Trump than Secretary Clinton does," Sanders said Monday at a rally in Oakland.

The Hoover poll, conducted from early- to mid-May, found that Clinton would best Trump in a general election contest, leading the billionaire real-estate mogul 45 to 33 percent. The survey did not report figures for a potential matchup between Sanders and Trump.

Prior to the June 7 primary, Sanders has focused on the California's Bay Area, a region heavy on Democratic and left-leaning voters in the vast, politically-diverse state. On Monday, Sanders was in Oakland for a 20,000-person rally at the city's Frank Ogawa Plaza before attending a NBA playoff game between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

It’s coming down to the wire! Excited to see how this one ends.


Prior to the rally, Sanders also spoke to about 200 people at Allen Temple Baptist, an influential black church in Oakland. With a consistent populist, anti-poverty tone in his campaign, Sanders has sought to boost his appeal among the working class and people of color, especially in a diverse state like California. Sanders' rallies in the state last week were held in places like Bakersfield and Pomona, two cities with populations that are heavily Latino and working class.

We must end inhumane deportation programs and racial profiling that have turned local law enforcement officials into immigration officers.
On Tuesday, Sanders will appear in Emeryville, California, for a conference on healthcare, before heading to rallies in Santa Cruz and Monterey. On Wednesday, Sanders will continue rallying supporters in the Bay Area, appearing in Palo Alto and Davis.

In the coming days, Clinton, who on Monday picked up the endorsement of California Governor Jerry Brown, will appear at fundraisers in New York and New Jersey before heading to campaign in California later in the week.


Voters in California had to register by May 23 to participate in the primary.

US Thinks Hillary Clinton is Guilty, But Felony Charges Shouldn’t Stop Her


30 May, 2016

A recent survey of 1,000 “likely” voters revealed that half of the participants would want Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to continue her presidential campaign should she be indicted for using an unsecured private email server to transmit confidential information.

The survey, conducted by Pulse Opinion Research for Rasmussen on May 29 and 30 asked, "If Hillary Clinton is charged with a felony in connection with the e-mail investigation, should she immediately stop campaigning or should she continue running until a court determines her guilt or innocence?" Of those surveyed, 43% suggest the former first lady should end her campaign immediately if charged, with 50% saying she should continue until a court decision is made on the matter.

Clinton’s email troubles began a year ago, after it was revealed that classified material had passed through a private email server at the Clinton home in Chappaqua, New York. The server was used by former President Bill Clinton for personal communication and to conduct Clinton Foundation business. There have been questions about the nature of Clinton’s emails and whether any sensitive information was compromised.

A 44-year-old Romanian hacker named Marcel Lehel Lazar, known online as Guccifer, claimed that he gained access to the Clinton’s email server but found nothing interesting, saying, "It was not what I was looking for, it was boring stuff." Representatives for the Clinton campaign have denied Lazar’s claims.

Hacker 'Guccifer' Claims He Easily Accessed Hillary Clinton’s Email Server
Just 8% of those polled say they are more likely to vote for the former Secretary of State because of the scandal. Of voters surveyed, some 40% say they are less likely to vote for Clinton due to the issue, and 48% say the emails will have no bearing on their decision to vote for her.

Of independent voters, 46% who participated said they believe Clinton should keep running, with 30% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats feeling the same way.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG), a watchdog group for the State Department, released a report last week criticizing Clinton’s digital conduct, and claiming a breach in federal regulations, saying, "Secretary Clinton should have preserved any Federal records she created and received on her personal account by printing and filing those records with the related files in the Office of the Secretary," before adding, "At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all emails dealing with Department business before leaving government service and, because she did not do so, she did not comply with the Department’s policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act."


The OIG’s report also placed some of the blame on the State Department’s failure to update its systems and procedures in handling classified documents, stating, "Longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State. OIG recognizes that technology and Department policy have evolved considerably since Secretary Albright’s tenure began in 1997. Nevertheless, the Department generally and the Office of the Secretary in particular have been slow to recognize and to manage effectively the legal requirements and cybersecurity risks associated with electronic data communications, particularly as those risks pertain to its most senior leadership."






Protesters Arrested at Bernie Sanders Oakland Rally


Secret Service agents arrest a man for climbing over a barricade and approaching Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders while he speaks at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, California on May 30, 2016. / AFP / JOSH EDELSON (Photo credit should read JOSH EDELSON/AFP/Getty Images)


Three protesters were arrested during Bernie Sanders’ rally in Oakland, California today. They jumped the barricade, shouting something unintelligible, and were quickly arrested by Secret Service as the crowd booed. Then the crowd quickly changed its tuned and began chanting “Bernie! Bernie!”


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