“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.”
- Harry S. Truman
HILLARY’S HANDICAP: Republicans are seizing on the opportunity to thrash Hillary Clinton for recently uncovered emails from State Department aides to the Clinton Foundation, believing that they show serious signs of impropriety between the two – think conflict of interest and pay for play. The latest in a steady stream of revelations suggest that she was hiding her discussions by disposing of nearly 30,000 emails from the private server, supplying Clinton critics with easy fodder. The email saga, which has dragged on for more than a year and has recently been given new life (on the heels of a post-convention image bounce) thanks to Russian hackers, continues to erode the public’s trust in her. Donald Trump would typically stand to benefit from the backlash, but...
CODE RED: Trump’s campaign is caught in a downward spiral and that’s what’s prompted RNC Chair Reince Priebus to deliver a shot across the bow after a constant drumbeat of Republican defections and an open letter from more than 75 Republicans urging him to cut off funding to Trump. Priebus threatened to sever ties altogether, shifting focus to the Senate and House of Representative races, unless Trump turns his campaign around. A continued Trump implosion could result in the RNC channeling their resources to bring out voters who may vote for Clinton while also backing Republican incumbents – an important coalition for Marco Rubio in FL and Rob Portman in OH, among others. The Trump campaign and top party officials are expected to meet later today to hash out their differences and plot a turnaround with 87 days left in the campaign. Hmmmmm.
CLINTON DRAWS A CONTRAST: Clinton took her turn laying out her own set of plans for fixing the economy while taking Trump to task for his new tax-cut proposal, which she labels as a “friends and family discount.” Agree with her or not, her plan goes into much more detail than Trump’s, diving in deeper on topics Americans want to hear about, like an infrastructure spending plan that builds off of a long lost promise of the Obama Administration. Appealing to working class families, Clinton wants to invest $500 billion in new, high-priority public infrastructure projects to help create jobs. And, in an attempt to win over blue collar voters in the Rust Belt and ward off further Trump criticism (good luck with that), Clinton delivered a flat rejection of the TPP deal she once praised, and helped President Obama negotiate.
FRENEMIES WITH BENEFITS?: Clinton’s Republican outreach effort is picking up, but to many of her progressive friends, she may be taking it a step too far. Liberal allies of Clinton are wary of her courtship of Republicans believing that their endorsement may come with strings attached and threatens to impede their own progressive agenda. To make it work, Clinton has to walk a fine line, promising progressives that Republicans are joining because they simply can't stomach Trump, not as a quid pro quo.
MISSED OPPORTUNITY PART XIII: Remember that this was supposed to be the week dedicated to Trump’s big, long-awaited economic proposals? Yeah, neither do we. Trump spent this week inciting more controversy, bestowing President Obama with a new executive title as the “founder of ISIS” and threatening Clinton with the 2nd Amendment when he should have pushed his new plan into the media spotlight. With absentee voting beginning in some states next month, Trump has no time to change course – and no one expects him to stay on message in the meantime.
NEUSTAR NUMBER PORTABILITY CONTRACT EXTENDED BY SEVERAL MONTHS: Our Telecommunications-Media Policy Analyst Paul Glenchur shared his insight on Ericsson, the Telcordia subsidiary, inking its number portability contract; how the longer transition adds cash flow to NSR; and how the legal fight is still the main focus. You can read his piece here.