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Politics

Laura Graham served as Bill Clinton's chief of staff during his post-presidency; she was also chief operating officer of the Clinton Foundation. Here, Graham and Clinton are pictured after a campaign rally for then-Congressman Michael McMahon, held at Wagner College, in September 2010.

Laura Graham served as Bill Clinton’s chief of staff during his post-presidency; she was also chief operating officer of the Clinton Foundation. Here, Graham and Clinton are pictured after a campaign rally for then-Congressman Michael McMahon, held at Wagner College, in September 2010.

An email released by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks revealed Bill Clinton drove a top female executive at the Clinton Foundation suicidal. The 2011 email dated December 15, was sent from Doug Band, who served as Bill Clinton’s former chief of staff, to Hillary Clinton’s top aide Cheryl Mills.

Late last night, laura graham called me as she couldn’t reach my brother or her shrink. She was on staten island in her car parked a few feet from the waters edge with her foot on the gas pedal and the car in park. She called me to tell me the stress of all of this office crap with wjc and cvc as well as that of her family had driven her to the edge and she couldn’t take it anymore. I spent a while on the phone with her preventing her from doing that, as I have a few times in the past few months, and was able to reach roger and her shrink.

WJC and CVC refer to William J. Clinton and Chelsea Victoria Clinton, the husband and daughter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In 2000, Bill Clinton’s final year in office, Laura Graham served as deputy director of White House scheduling. At age 27, she was one of the youngest people ever to hold a deputy assistant position in the White House, reporting directly to one of the president’s senior staff members. Later, she went on to serve as the COO, or Chief Operation Officer at the Clinton Foundation.

Bruce said the stress of specifically the office had caused his very serious health issues as you both know. But I’m sure chelsea is more concerned with a mostly false story in the distinguished ny post about mf global and teneo not her role in what happened to laura/bruce, what she is doing to the organization or the several of stories that have appeared in the ny post about her father and a multitude of women over the years.

In his mentioning of “bruce,” Band is likely referring to Bruce Lindsey, the foundation’s chairman of the board. He is criticizing Chelsea for not caring about how two top foundation officials are being treated at the office.

Neither the Clinton campaign nor officials at the Clinton Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative responded to a request for comment.

“Life is to short so let’s have a call and get this over with,” Band concluded.

Meanwhile, in a separate 2011 email dated November 13, right around the time Chelsea began to take a lead role at the foundation, Band expressed concern that something could become public. Band was one of three partners who started Teneo Holdings, a global consulting firm. Huma Abedin, Mrs. Clinton’s other top aide for many years, was a senior advisor to Teneo at the very same time she held a top position as part of her inner circle at the State Department. President Clinton was both a paid adviser to Teneo, and a client.

The firm outright dismissed a U.S. Senate panel’s probe in 2013 suggesting and investigating whether it had undue influence at the State Department under then-Secretary Clinton.

“I’m also starting to worry that if this story gets out, we are screwed,” he said. “Dk and I built a business. 65 people work for us who have wives and husbands and kids, they all depend on us.”

Dk refers to Declan Kelly, one of the firm’s other three partners. Publicly, they scoffed off the Senate Judiciary Committee probe as “insignificant” in a letter.

“I realize it is difficult to confront and reason with her [Chelsea] but this could go to far and then we all will have a real serious set of other problems [sic]. I don’t deserve this from her and deserve a tad more respect or at least a direct dialogue for me to explain these things,” Band added. “She is acting like a spoiled brat kid who has nothing else to do but create issues to justify what she’s doing because she, as she has said, hasn’t found her way and has a lack of focus in her life. I realize she will be off of this soon but if it doesn’t come soon enough….”

An email to Clinton campaign chairman John

Politics

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump looks on as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton answers a question during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump looks on as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton answers a question during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. (Photo: Reuters)

A top campaign staffer for Hillary Clinton was forced to apologize after he tweeted profanity at Donald Trump during the second presidential debate on Sunday. The tweet came after Mr. Trump said that Army Capt. Humayun Khan would still be alive had he been president because there never would’ve been a war in Iraq, which Mrs. Clinton voted for as senator.

Jesse Lehrich, Clinton’s foreign policy spokesman, tweeted, “Hey, @realDonaldTrump — regarding your claim that Captain Khan would be alive if you were president: go f— yourself. #debate.”

Minutes later, he deleted the tweet and acknowledged making a mistake.

Mr. Trump made the remarks in response to Mrs. Clinton again revisiting his criticism of Mr. Kahn’s family this summer and also called Col. Kahn an American hero.

The officer’s father, Khizr Khan, a Muslim-American and Harvard- educated attorney specializing in immigration visas for Muslims in the Middle East, blasted Mr. Trump during the Democratic National Convention for his policy on Muslim immigration.

A top campaign staffer for Hillary Clinton

World

Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. Diplomacy Center, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014, at the State Department in Washington. Kerry hosted five of his predecessors in a rare public reunion for the groundbreaking of a museum commemorating the achievements of American statesmanship. (Photo: AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during the groundbreaking ceremony for the U.S. Diplomacy Center, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014, at the State Department in Washington. Kerry hosted five of his predecessors in a rare public reunion for the groundbreaking of a museum commemorating the achievements of American statesmanship. (Photo: AP/Carolyn Kaster)

U.S. officials at the Pentagon confirmed Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired two missiles at a US Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea on Sunday. The Shiite Houthi rebels, whose official slogan is “Death to Israel. Death to America,” seized control of the capital in February 2015, and forced the resignation of U.S.- and Saudi-backed former President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

Officials said the American ship was conducting routine operations in international waters when the missiles were fired, but didn’t provide an exact location. However, neither missile reached the American warship, which is outfitted with missile defense capabilities, but the ship was indeed targeted.

“We assess the missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen,” Pentagon spokesman Capt Jeff Davis said. “The United States remains committed to ensuring freedom of navigation everywhere in the world, and we will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our ships and our servicemembers.”

As People’s Pundit Daily exclusively and correctly reported in 2015, President Barack Obama and top State Department officials never believed they would have to evacuate the U.S. Embassy in Yemen. In fact, sources at the State Department told PPD that Obama administration officials believed they had successfully negotiated a deal with the Houthi rebels through Iran to keep the U.S. Embassy open in Sanaa.

It was a stunningly embarrassing development the White House struggled to explain, which came less than one year after President Obama cited the Arab world’s poorest country as the model for how he and his administration plan “to degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State (ISIS). They’ve largely failed to deal with or repel Iranian aggression in the region ever since, despite agreeing to the one-sided nuclear deal.

Last week, U.S. warships were sent to Yemen’s coast after a United Arab Emirates ship was recently targeted by the Houthis. That ship used to be owned by a U.S. company, but was contracted to UAE at the time.

U.S. officials at the Pentagon confirmed Iran-backed

Video

[brid video=”68200″ player=”2077″ title=”Watch Live The 2nd Presidential Debate”]

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton met up Sunday night for their second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. It was moderated by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and ABC’s Martha Raddatz.

Debate Stats

Pollster Frank Luntz gave the win to Trump.

“My focus group says Donald Trump won Debate #2,” he wrote.

CNN, who was caught on video coaching their focus group, had a poll saying “57% Clinton, 34% Trump.”

The PPD Sunshine State Focus Group in Florida scored it a big win for Trump. A whopping 23 said Trump won, while only 5 said Clinton. The 28-strong group was made up of 16 women and 12 men.

The moderators interrupted Trump over Clinton by a factor of 3.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton met up

Elections

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump answers Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. (Photo: AP/John Locher)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump answers Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. (Photo: AP/John Locher)

With his campaign on life support, an aggressive, composed and prepared Donald Trump went on the offense against Hillary Clinton in the second presidential debate. Mr. Trump and his supporters needed a big debate win in St. Louis Sunday night to to stabilize his campaign after the release of a decade-old tape from 2005 revealing he made lewd comments about women.

“I’m very embarrassed by it, I hate it – but it’s locker-room talk,” Mr. Trump said. “I have great respect for women.”

After apologizing to his family and the county, he pivoted and turned his attack against Mrs. Clinton’s honesty and character in an unprecedented manner, accusing her of lying about her email scandal, saying she would be “in jail” if he were president and the law was upheld and only brought up her husband’s allegations of rape when she pressed the issue. The former secretary of state responded by claiming the vulgar comments on the tape revealed who he truly was, while accusing him of trying to create a “diversion” from his “exploding” campaign with his debate-stage attacks.

A clearly frazzled Mrs. Clinton was thrown off by the presence of four women, three of which have accused former President Bill Clinton of rape and Mrs. Clinton of threatening them after the assult. Kathy Shelton, the fourth woman at the debate, was a rape victim who, when 12 years-old, was “put through the ringer” by Mrs. Clinton who shamed her while defending her client, whom she got off. Mr. Trump said his own comments pale in comparison to her husband’s alleged abuse of women and her treatment of them.

“She should be ashamed of herself,” the Republican nominee said. “If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse – mine are words. His was action,” Mr. Trump added. “Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously.”

But the Republican nominee pivoted and clearly wanted to move the conversation to policy, scoring points on quick comeback remarks and humor. He hammered away at the latest controversies surrounding his Mrs. Clinton, including the leak of thousands of emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, particularly relating to Mrs. Clinton’s Wall Street speeches. In one passage, Clinton discussed the need to have both a “public and private position” on issues and, in yet another, her dream being for “open borders” and “open trade.”

Mrs. Clinton attempted to defend the former by saying she was referring to how President Abraham Lincoln had carefully negotiated with individual lawmakers in Congress during his push for the Thirteenth Amendment in his presidency.

Mr. Trump fired back.

“So ridiculous. Look, she lied, got caught lying and now she’s blaming the lie on the late great Abraham Lincoln,” he said. “Honest Abe never lied, that’s the difference between Abraham Lincoln and you.”

The historically contentious debate ended with a final question by an audience member who asked: “Would either of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another?”

The man’s question drew an applause and laughter from the crowd attending the debate at Washington University.

“Well, I certainly will, because I think that’s a very fair and important question,” Mrs. Clinton responded. “Look I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don’t agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that. And I think that is something that as a mother and a grandmother is very important to me.”

Trump’s response?

“I consider her statement about my children to be a very nice compliment,” Mr. Trump said in return. “I don’t know if it was meant to be a compliment, but I’m very proud of my children, and they’ve done a wonderful job and they’ve been wonderful, wonderful kids, so I consider that a compliment. I will say this about Hillary: She doesn’t quit. She doesn’t give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. She’s a fighter, I disagree with much of what she’s fighting for, I do disagree with her judgment in many cases, but she does fight hard and she doesn’t quit and she doesn’t give up and I consider that to be a very good trait.”

[brid video=”68200″ player=”2077″ title=”Watch Live The 2nd Presidential Debate”]

With his campaign on life support, an

Opinion

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine answers a question as Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence listens during the vice-presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (Photo: AP/David Goldman)

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine answers a question as Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence listens during the vice-presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (Photo: AP/David Goldman)

Denouncing Russian air strikes on Aleppo as “barbaric,” Mike Pence declared in Tuesday’s debate:

“The provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. … The United States of America should be prepared to use military force, to strike military targets of Bashar Assad regime.”

John McCain went further:

“The U.S. … must issue an ultimatum to Mr. Assad — stop flying or lose your aircraft … If Russia continues its indiscriminate bombing, we should make clear that we will take steps to hold its aircraft at greater risk.”

Yet one gets the impression this is bluster and bluff.

Pence has walked his warnings back. And there are few echoes of McCain’s hawkishness. Even Hillary Clinton’s call for a “no-fly zone” has been muted.

The American people have no stomach for a new war in Syria.

Nor does it make sense to expand our enemies list in that bleeding and broken country — from ISIS and the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front — to Syria’s armed forces, Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.

These last three have been battling to save Assad’s regime, because they see vital interests imperiled should it fall.

We have not plunged into Syria, because we have no vital interest at risk in Syria. We have lived with the Assads since Richard Nixon went to Damascus.

President Obama, who has four months left in office, is not going to intervene. And Congress, which has the sole power to declare war, has never authorized a war on Syria.

Obama would be committing an impeachable act if he started shooting down Russian or Syrian planes over Syrian territory. He might also be putting us on the escalator to World War III.

For Russia has moved its S-400 anti-aircraft system into Syria to its air base near Latakia, and its S-300 system to its naval base at Tartus.

As the rebels have no air force, that message is for us.

Russia is also moving its aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov, into the Med. Vladimir Putin is doubling down in Syria.

Last weekend, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that U.S. attacks in Syria “will lead to terrible tectonic consequences not only on the territory of this country but also in the region on the whole.”

Translation: Attack Syria’s air force, and the war you Americans start could encompass the entire Middle East.

Last week, too, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, warned that creating a “no-fly zone” in Syria could mean war — with Russia. Dunford’s crisp retort to Sen. Roger Wicker:

“Right now, senator, for us to control all of the airspace in Syria it would require us to go to war, against Syria and Russia. That’s a pretty fundamental decision that certainly I’m not going to make.”

And neither, thankfully, will Barack Obama.

So, where are we, and how did we get here?

Five years ago, Obama declared that Assad must step down. Ignoring him, Assad went all out to crush the rebels, both those we backed and the Islamist terrorists.

Obama then drew a “red line,” declaring that Assad’s use of chemical weapons would lead to U.S. strikes. But when Obama readied military action in 2013, Americans rose up and roared, “No!”

Reading the country right, Congress refused to authorize U.S. military action. Egg all over his face, Obama again backed down.

When Assad began losing the war, Putin stepped in to save his lone Arab ally, and swiftly reversed Assad’s fortunes.

Now, with 10,000 troops — Syrian, Iraqi Shiite militia, Hezbollah, Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Afghan mercenaries — poised to attack Aleppo, backed by Russian air power, Assad may be on the cusp of victory in the bloodiest and most decisive battle of the war.

Assad and his allies intend to end this war — by winning it.

For the U.S. to reverse his gains now, and effect his removal, would require the introduction of massive U.S. air power and U.S. troops, and congressional authorization for war in Syria.

The time has come to recognize and accept reality.

While the U.S. and its Turkish, Kurdish and Sunni allies, working with the Assad coalition of Russia, Hezbollah and the Iranians, can crush ISIS and al-Qaida in Syria, we cannot defeat the Assad coalition — not without risking a world war.

And Congress would never authorize such a war, nor would the American people sustain it.

As of today, there is no possibility that the rebels we back could defeat ISIS and the al-Nusra Front, let alone bring down Bashar Assad and run the Russians, Hezbollah, Iran and the Iraqi Shiite militias out of Syria.

Time to stop the killing, stop the carnage, stop the war and get the best terms for peace we can get. For continuing this war, when the prospects of victory are nil, raises its own question of morality.

It does not make sense to expand

Politics

Hillary Clinton attempted to defend the revelations in the WikiLeaks dump by blaming Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States. Mrs. Clinton told big bankers and donors that she had two policy positions–one she has in private, and one she has in public–but said at the debate on Sunday that she was referring to how President Abraham Lincoln had carefully negotiated with individual lawmakers in Congress during his push for the Thirteenth Amendment.

Mr. Trump fired back.

“So ridiculous. Look, she lied, got caught lying and now she’s blaming the lie on the late great Abraham Lincoln,” he said. “Honest Abe never lied, that’s the difference between Abraham Lincoln and you.”

The entire transcript of the leaked speech via WikiLeaks is below.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, left, and Abraham Lincoln, left, the 16th president of the United States.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, left, and Abraham Lincoln, left, the 16th president of the United States.

*CLINTON SAYS YOU NEED TO HAVE A PRIVATE AND PUBLIC POSITION ON POLICY*

*Clinton: “But If Everybody’s Watching, You Know, All Of The Back Room Discussions And The Deals, You Know, Then People Get A Little Nervous, To Say The Least. So, You Need Both A Public And A Private Position.”*

CLINTON: You just have to sort of figure out how to — getting back to that word, “balance” — how to balance the public and the private efforts that are necessary to be successful, politically, and that’s not just a comment about today. That, I think, has probably been true for all of our history, and if you saw the Spielberg movie, Lincoln, and how he was maneuvering and working to get the 13th Amendment passed, and he called one of my favorite predecessors, Secretary Seward, who had been the governor and senator from New York, ran against Lincoln for president, and he told Seward, I need your help to get this done. And Seward called some of his lobbyist friends who knew how to make a deal, and they just kept going at it.

I mean, politics is like sausage being made. It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be.

But if everybody’s watching, you know, all of the back room discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous, to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position.

And finally, I think — I believe in evidence-based decision making. I want to know what the facts are. I mean, it’s like when you guys go into some kind of a deal, you know, are you going to do that development or not, are you going to do that renovation or not, you know, you look at the numbers. You try to figure out what’s going to work and what’s not going to work. [Clinton Speech For National Multi-Housing Council, 4/24/13]

Hillary Clinton attempted to defend the revelations

Politics

Donald Trump preluded the Sunday night presidential debate by hosting a press conference with women who have accused former President Bill Clinton of rape. The Clintons have paid out millions of dollars over the years to quiet the multiple accusations of rape and subsequent intimidation by the former president and first lady.

Mr. Trump, who is responding to a scandal over lewd, 11-year-old hot mic comments leaked on Friday, posted video of the press conference held in St. Louis, Mo. to his Facebook page less than 90 minutes before the second presidential debate was due to begin.

He was joined by Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick, who have each accused Bill Clinton of either rape or sexual assault. Mutliple women have also accused Hillary Clinton of intimidating them.

“Actions speak louder than words,” Ms. Broaddrick said. “Mr. Trump may have said some bad words but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. I don’t think there’s any comparison.”

Kathy Shelton, who was raped by a man Hillary Clinton defended when she was only 12-year-old in 1975, also attended the press conference.

“Hillary put me through something that you would never put a 12 year old through,” Shelton said. “And she says she’s for women and children.”

Mr. Trump, the New York businessman, said hardly anything after he introduced the four women.

“These four very courageous women have asked to be here and it was our honor to help them,” Trump said.

When a member of the Clinton-friendly media attempted to shout a question at Mr. Trump near the end of the video, which was about whether he felt he was entitled to touch women inappropriately because he was famous, Paula Jones responded fired back.

“Why don’t y’all ask Bill Clinton that?”

They never did or do. Ms. Broaddrick just gave an interview with Breitbart News reliving the rape by Bill Clinton and subsequent intimidation by Hillary Clinton.

[brid video=”68083″ player=”2077″ title=”Juanita Broaddrick Relives Bill Clinton Rape Hillary Intimidation”]

Donald Trump preluded the Sunday night presidential

Politics

[brid video=”68084″ player=”2077″ title=”Paul Ryan Fall Fest FULL Speech From Elkhorn Wisconsin 10816″]

House Speaker Paul Ryan was berated and shouted down by chants of “Trump” at the Fall Fest event Saturday in Wisconsin after he abandoned the nominee amid controversy. Speaker Ryan began his speech by addressing the “elephant in the room” and said that Donald Trump’s comments with Billy Bush in a leaked audio from 2005 taping an Access Hollywood segment were “a troubling situation.”

But the chants for “Trump” start at about the 6:40 mark in the video above.

Ryan was joined onstage by Sen. Ron Johnson, who will likely lose his senate race to Russ Feingold, and Gov. Scott Walker after the “Trump” shouts began, at the end of Ryan’s speech. Some also shouted, “God bless Trump,” and “See ya, Paul! Jackass!”

While Speaker Ryan has struggled to reconcile Trump’s nomination, the two men eventually came to endorse each other before Mr. Ryan’s challenging primary. He received The Donald’s coveted endorsement ahead of the vote and easily defeated his challenger. But now there is real talk about Trump voters either not voting for the cut-and-run Republicans or even voting for their rivals.

On Saturday, Sen. John McCain, who was in the tightest race of his political career before getting Trump’s nod, also withdrew his endorsement and said he and his wife Cindy “will write in the name of some good conservative Republican who is qualified to be President.”

Trump has fired back at the political establishment for not giving him a chance to address the controversy at the debate. He tweeted on Sunday that the “self-righteous hypocrites” will get a front-row seat to their defeat.

While nothing can be said of Speaker Ryan being known to use the language Trump was heard using on the leaked audio, Sen. McCain was quoted by reporters calling his wife a c&@t. He had made the comment during an campaign event in 1992 where he was joined by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett.

“You’re getting a little thin up there.” Sen. McCain, who has well-documented temper fits, said as his face reddened. “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan was berated by

Elections

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee who was handily defeated by President Barack Obama in 2008. (Photo: Reuters)

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee who was handily defeated by President Barack Obama in 2008. (Photo: Reuters)

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Saturday withdrew his endorsement from Donald Trump after a leaked audio from 2005 revealed him making lewd remarks about women. The New York businessman was talking with Billy Bush in 2005, then of “Access Hollywood,” while on a bus arriving on the set of “Days of Our Lives” before taping a segment on the soap opera.

“He alone bears the burden of his conduct and alone should suffer the consequences,” Sen. McCain said in a statement. “Cindy and I will not vote for Donald Trump. I have never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and we will not vote for Hillary Clinton. We will write in the name of some good conservative Republican who is qualified to be President.”

Billy Bush, the nephew of President George H.W. Bush and cousin to President George W. Bush, was also making what most found to be inappropriate comments. Both men have since apologized for their remarks 11 years ago, which were only now published by Clinton-friendly The Washington Post mere hours before WikiLeaks was scheduled to release damaging documents on Hillary Clinton. Melania Trump released a statement saying the “words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me,” but that “does not represent the man that I know.”

“I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world,” she said.

The conventional wisdom holds Sen. McCain made a smart, calculated political decision. He now holds a large in the average of polls and he, like other candidates down ballot, are understandably concerned Trump could drag them down in defeat. But depending on the outcome Sunday at the second presidential debate, it might prove to be a disastrous decision for the 2008 GOP presidential nominee.

Sen. McCain first won a 21-point victory in 1986 and, ever since, there has never been a serious primary or general-election opponent challenge. Despite unhappiness among his conservative base, the power of the incumbency, a vast political network and a massive war chest with high name recognition saved him from a tea party challenge in 2010.

Arizona has gone Republican in every presidential election since 2000. Yet, as a direct result of his weak stance on illegal immigration over his 30-plus years in Washington, The Grand Canyon State bears little resemblance to the one George W. Bush carried twice. This year, the five-term senator finds himself facing what could turn out to be the toughest challenger of his political career.

It’s political irony at its best. Some would say it is the result of political suicide and, for his failure to secure the border and restrain illegal immigration over 3 decades, he is running in a state that is 30% Hispanic. Unlike previous cycles, Democrats have had great success registering new Hispanic voters to vote and Sen. McCain needs a large white turnout to ensure his reelection.

With the exception of one poll conducted by the Behavior Research Center, which appeared to be an outlier at the time, just every poll conducted prior to the Trump endorsement showed him locked in a statistical tie with Democratic challenger Ann Kirkpatrick. In fact, his problem was never the voters Trump has struggled with, it’s with the voters Trump is overwhelmingly winning.

“For many years, rural voters have tended to lean Republican in most races,” Earl de Berge, the pollster said. “But in 2016 Kirkpatrick is outpolling McCain by 43 to 39 percent in the state’s rural counties in a modest but important pattern we have noticed since January.”

“Whatever the reason, Senator McCain appears to have opened the door for Kirkpatrick to make gains with voters,” he added.

In June, Public Policy Polling found Kirkpatrick leading Sen. McCain 43% to 41%.

It was only after he stopped his adversarial relationship with Donald Trump that the race began to change. In the pre-endorsement poll, Behavior Research Center found support for Sen. McCain among Republicans was only around 51% with 27% defecting to Kirkpatrick in protest. In fact, polling showed Republicans were most undecided about how to vote in the Senate race (22%, compared to 16% among Democrats and only 12% among Independents.)

Following the endorsement and unity, Sen. McCain jumped to a 13-point lead over Kirkpatrick in a CNN/ORC Poll and began to perform in rural regions of the state.

As someone who polls this race daily, I can say with certainty that the vast majority of those Republican-leaning rural voters who were on the fence are Trump voters. And McCain’s weakness with voters in rural regions of the state is a direct result of his weakness on illegal immigration and his public criticism of Donald Trump. They will not fall in line and support someone who abandoned their candidate without at least first allowing him to apologize, explain himself and make his case to the American people during the debate on Sunday.

Believe me, an undetermined but very significant percentage of them may just “write in the name of some good conservative Republican who is qualified.” Just like Mr. McCain is doing at the top of the ticket.

Pundit’s Perspepective

Data aside, there is something I find to be troubling, even hypocritical, about Mr. McCain’s decision, as well as other Republicans. If Hillary Clinton is everything that Mr. McCain and other Republicans have claimed her to be, or even half of what they’ve claimed, then Donald Trump won’t “alone suffer the consequences,” the nation will.

Further, as it relates to McCain, those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. The most difficult moment to listen to on the Trump tape for me is when he said “p@$$y”. Well, in 2008, after many documented temper fits by the Arizona senator, who is also human and fallible, he was quoted by reporters calling his wife a cunt. He had made the comment during an campaign event in 1992 where he was joined by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett.

“You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain said as his face reddened. “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on Saturday withdrew

People's Pundit Daily
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