TL;DR January 8, 2016
Want to witness a little bit of TL;DR live? Join us for the Hamilton Foundation’s “The Politics of Fighting Radical Islam in 2016,” featuring a keynote address by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and a panel discussion among Delve CEO Jeff Berkowitz, Tara Setmayer, Tofer Harrison, and Christian Whiton. Cannon House Office Building, Room 122, Wednesday, January 13th, 1:30pm to 3:30pm. Register here.
Here’s What You Need to Know
The conflict between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite-dominated Iran, which have been fighting proxy wars against each other in recent years, is intensifying:
- Over the weekend, Saudi Arabia executed a popular Shiite cleric who was known for speaking out against the royal Saudi family and calling for better conditions for the minority Shiites in the country.
- In response, protesters in Iran, the dominant Shiite power of the Middle East, set fire to Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Iran, and Iran’s Supreme Leader promised “divine revenge” on Saudi Arabia.
- Saudi Arabia rebutted by cutting off diplomatic ties with Iran, giving all Iranian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country.
The U.S. response has been fraught with mixed signals and mistrust:
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- The Obama Administration is cautious of criticizing Saudi Arabia’s dismal record of human rights, but it “sees the Iran deal as the one stabilizing factor in a region that is increasingly spinning out of control, and is therefore giving the U.S.-Iranian relationship top priority.”
- Some think that’s the wrong move. Former Obama Middle East advisor Dennis Ross said, “We should be holding the Iranians to account, and make clear that we’re prepared to respond to things they do in the region.”
News You Can Use
TWEET AT YOUR OWN RISK
Politwoops, a site tracking politicians’ deleted tweets, is officially back in business. Twitter effectively shut down the site in June claiming that preserving deleted tweets was in violation of their developer agreement. Twitter founder and recently named CEO Jack Dorsey has reversed the earlier decision, declaring Twitter “stands for speaking truth to power.”
READY, FIRE, AIM
Jeb Bush got tripped up this week on claims about his record. His oft-repeated campaign claim of winning “NRA Statesman of the Year award,” which came with “a rifle from Moses” turns out to be false. As his communications director was forced to admit, “[Bush] was mistaken and conflated multiple events unintentionally.” It is just the latest reminder that a thorough vulnerability study is crucial for even the most experience candidates.
THE 90s CALLED, THEY WANT THEIR SCANDALS BACK
Last Monday, Donald Trump reminded the world of former President Clinton’s history of “woman abuse” tweeting: “If Hillary thinks she can unleash her husband, with his terrible record of women abuse, while playing the women’s card on me, she’s wrong!” While the media “feigned confusion” at the mention of Clinton’s slew of scandals that plagued the media of the 1990s, some say Trump’s tweet was smart in labeling Bill a liability to Hillary’s campaign. Either way, it’s a good reminder that past scandals can always come back to haunt candidates in future campaigns.
Related Posts:
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In crowded and competitive political fields, original and punchy ads have been changing narratives and garnering results. Politico’s top political ads of 2015 “drove the conversation,” and the facts in these spots are just as important as the creativity.
A GOOD ‘DEED’ GONE WRONG
The San Diego Union Tribune reports that a mentally ill man took title of San Diego’s baseball stadium, Petco Park, “away from the city and the Padres two years ago by walking into the San Diego County Recorder’s Office and submitting a properly filled-out deed transfer. Seriously.” Of course, as oppo guys, we already knew powerful things can come from County Recorder Offices.
PENTAGON PAPERS
Politico reports, “The Democratic Party, eager to dig up damaging material on the GOP before this year’s elections, is flooding the Pentagon with public records requests on a host of White House hopefuls and vulnerable Republican senators.” But as Government records specialist Steve Aftergood notes, FOIA early if you want results before Election Day because “the turnaround time can be quite long — not just weeks or months but even years.”
YOUR 60-SECOND GUIDE TO THE COUNCIL OF THE EU
If you’re not an EU insider, you might find this guide to the EU’s ministerial councils, from the upcoming Dutch EU presidency, a great explainer to how this part of the EU system fits together.
MY BIG FAT GREEK ALTERNATE REALITY
Politico reports that former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis re-wrote an interview he had done with Marc Peeperkorn of de Volkskrant and posted this new version on his blog. “In this new version Varoufakis has deleted around 10 comments from the interview transcript and softened (or “added context” in the Varoufakis spin) other views.” You can read what Varoufakis wished he said originally, here.
KING OBAMA, YEAR 8
Food, energy, education, retirement and guns: all things the Obama administration plans to increase regulations on this year.
Mark Your Calendars
Thursday, January 14 – Fox Business Republican Primary Debate
Sunday, January 17 – NBC News Democratic Primary Debate
Sunday, January 31 – FEC Year-End Reports
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