LARRY HOGAN (R-MD) IS RE-ELECTED, DEFEATS BEN JEALOUS (D)

LARRY HOGAN (R-MD) IS RE-ELECTED, DEFEATS BEN JEALOUS (D):

JEALOUS WAITED TOO LATE TO GAIN MOMENTUM.

DEMS TRIED TO USE FAKE PROVISIONAL BALLOTS & FAKE SAME DAY VOTER REGISTRATION/ BALLOTS & STILL LOST.

WHETHER YOU LIKE HIM OR NOT, HOGAN WON THIS ELECTION FAIRLY.

CONGRATS


Post Sources: The Intercept, NY Times


***** WHY BEN JEALOUS LOST THE MARYLAND GOVERNOR’S RACE


LAST NIGHT, BEN JEALOUS, the Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland, lost his race to incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, 56 percent to 43 percent.

Jealous would have been Maryland’s first African-American governor and was running on one of the most left-wing policy platforms in the country,

Although polls had been showing Hogan with a significant lead for months, progressives hoped a strong blue wave on Election Day could bring about a major upset. After all, Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 ratio in Maryland.

But Jealous didn’t lose because he ran on issues like “Medicare for All,” a $15 minimum wage, and legalizing marijuana. In fact, voters in Maryland largely agree with Jealous on his signature policy issues.

A Goucher College survey released in mid-September found that 54 percent of Maryland residents hold a favorable opinion on “Medicare for All” or single-payer health care, with 33 percent holding an unfavorable view. Support for other key parts of Jealous’s plan polled even higher. Seventy-one percent of Marylanders support raising the statewide minimum wage to $15 dollars per hour, with just a quarter of residents against it.

This was actually a substantial jump from February, when Goucher found 66 percent of Marylanders supported the $15 minimum wage. On legalizing marijuana for recreational use, 62 percent of Maryland residents support it, with just one-third opposed.

A Hobbled Campaign

The primary reason Jealous lost is that his campaign couldn’t pull in the necessary funds to compete effectively. Despite winning 22 out of 24 counties in the state’s crowded Democratic primary, the Jealous campaign’s own internal polling revealed that as of July, one-third of Maryland voters, and one-quarter of the state’s Democratic voters, did not know who Jealous was. He had never run for office before, but had earned the teachers union’s endorsement in the primary, which many believe helped secure him his June victory.

Meanwhile, Hogan started out with a big fundraising advantage and a high approval rating. Although Jealous assumed he could turn things around after Labor Day, by then it was too late to change the narrative.

At the end of August, Hogan had $9.4 million to spend for his re-election campaign, compared to Jealous’s mere $385,000. And the gap never closed. In the final two weeks of the campaign, Hogan had almost 12 times more cash than Jealous, or $3.3 million to the Democrat’s $275,000. Few people wanted to donate to a race that seemed uncompetitive, which in turn made it even less competitive as the weeks went on.

While Hogan’s campaign and the Republican Governors Association have blasted negative ads against Jealousnonstop since July, Jealous’s campaign didn’t run its first TV ad until mid-September, and the Democratic Governors Association didn’t run their first ad against Hogan until late October. Jealous couldn’t afford to compete on television, or even really through mailers.

The Jealous campaign understood that it needed to invest more in on-the-ground organizing to make up for the complacency that gripped Democrats in 2014, when Hogan eked out his upset victory. So this year, 70 Democratic organizers were hired to work across the state, compared to 15 field organizers for the state’s Democrat-coordinated campaign in 2014.

But even Jealous supporters noted that his campaign was making it difficult to rally support for his team. On his campaign website, there was nowhere for supporters to order lawn signs, bumper stickers, or other paraphernalia to demonstrate support — unlike on Hogan’s website, where such ordinary purchases were made prominently visible and available. Supporters had to ask around to learn that they had to show up in person at a campaign office to get any swag. That information wasn’t even available on the website.

And while Democratic candidates across the country have been leaning on new media platforms like viral two-minute online-only campaign ads, the Jealous campaign relied predominantly on awkward and less popular tools like Facebook Live.

Lack of Endorsements

The Washington Post has been writing favorably about Hogan for years, so much so that a reader wrote a letter to the editor in June asking, “Seriously, has Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) changed his name? Apparently so, at least according to The Post. In nearly every reference to the governor, The Post’s writers insist on referencing him with a new first name of ‘popular,’ as in the popular Maryland governor.”

As a result, it was unsurprising when the Washington Post gave its endorsement to Hogan, praising him for having the “agility and sense to govern as a moderate — that disappearing breed of American politician.” The Post dismissed Jealous’s plans as mostly “politically unrealistic” and “unwise.” But more staggering was the Baltimore Sun, which endorsed Jealous in the primary but endorsed Hogan in the general election, despite literally acknowledging in its own endorsementthat Hogan’s “actions in office have too often treated [Baltimore] as an afterthought, if not with outright contempt.” (Hogan’s decision to cancel the Red Line light rail, a project that had been in the works for a decade and to which the federal government was going to contribute $900 million, was a disastrously cruel move for the long-neglected city.)

Outside Maryland, the national press was also largely uninterested in Jealous’s general election challenge, especially when compared to the attention paid to Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum, black candidates running to be Georgia’s and Florida’s first African-American governors, respectively. The Maryland race was deemed uncompetitive, and thus less exciting to cover.

During the primary, most of Maryland’s Democratic establishment lined up behind Rushern Baker, the outgoing county executive in Prince George’s County. (Kevin Kamenetz, the county executive for Baltimore County was also a frontrunner, and had raised more money than other candidates in the primary, but he died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest six weeks before the election.)

After Jealous won, several dozen Maryland Democrats announced their support for Hogan, though most were older white men who hadn’t served in office for years. Others had received political appointments from the governor, or had records of supporting Republican candidates in the past.

Jealous did end up securing endorsements from the Democratic Party’s current elected officials, but some were much slower to voice their support, and many remained muted in their enthusiasm. The long-serving state Senate president, Mike Miller, was a prime example. He was guarded in his support for Jealous, while being enthusiastic in his praise for Hogan’s work. Ike Leggett, the outgoing executive of affluent Montgomery County, at first withheld his endorsement of Jealous over tax issues that he said would hurt his wealthy constituents. When he finally did endorse Jealous in in mid-October, he did so in the world’s most half-hearted way. When the Washington Post asked him if Jealous would be a better governor than Hogan, Leggett declined to say yes. “That’s a good question,” he said. “I’m simply for the Democratic nominee.” About 45 percent of Montgomery County ended up voting for Hogan.

It’s unlikely that vocal enthusiasm from Leggett and Miller could have really changed Jealous’s fundraising numbers in a substantial way, but they certainly didn’t help.

Jealous also tamped down enthusiasm from some otherwise natural allies. Despite running on one of the most progressive platforms in the country, he didn’t even try to court some of the newly established Democratic Socialists of America chapters or get their endorsements. He also upset a lot of leftists over the summer, when he disavowed socialism in a way that not even Barack Obama did during the eight years he was blasted for being on the left. After Hogan called Jealous a “far-left socialist” in an interview, a different reporter followed up by asking Jealous if he identified as a socialist. Jealous responded, “Are you fucking kidding me?” The Republican Governors Association funded a TV ad this summer that featured Jealous saying, “Go ahead, call me a socialist,” cutting off the rest of his sentence, in which he went on to say, “It doesn’t change the fact that I’m a venture capitalist.” The Jealous campaign demanded that local stations pull the ad for being false and too misleading.

Larry Hogan Was a Better Campaigner

Hogan’s schtick of acting moderate was largely successful, in part due to the light press coverage his administration has received over the past four years. Over the summer, for example, he earned glowing national headlines by recalling Maryland’s four National Guard troops from the southern U.S. border — thus appearing to be someone willing to stand up to Trump and his family separation policy — but his actual record on immigration was far more hostile and overlooked. Hogan also moved to the left when he felt he needed to politically: In July, he announced a new student debt relief plan and announced he would no longer take donations or an endorsement from the National Rifle Association. In 2014, he took the gun lobby’s money and endorsement, and also received an A- rating.

It also helped that while Maryland voters are generally Democratic, they’re not always very progressive. Fifty-six percent of Marylanders think their state taxes are “too high,” and Hogan spent the bulk of his campaign emphasizing that he’d continue to cut taxes and that Jealous would significantly raise them. While the Jealous campaign was banking on major turnout in the city of Baltimore to push him over the edge, in the end, nearly one-third of Baltimore went for Hogan, up from 22 percent in 2014.

In the Maryland legislature, however, Democrats maintained their veto-proof majority. Republicans had targeted eight Democratic seats and hoped to flip five, but failed. Baltimore’s three largest suburban counties will now also be led by Democrats, with Anne Arundel and Howard counties flipping blue.

TIGER PGA KING WOODS IS BACK (CONGRATS)

TIGER PGA KING WOODS IS BACK (CONGRATS):

TIGER OVERCOMES SCANDAL, DISGRACE & ILLNESS TO TASTE VICTORY AGAIN.

ALL OF HIS JEALOUS HATERS CAN KICK ROCKS.

I’M PROUD OF YOU TIGER.


Post Sources: ABC News, ESPN, PGA, Youtube


***** How Tiger Woods overcame pain, scandal and age to triumph again


He was bigger than an NFL Sunday, which seems perfectly apropos. In his prime, Tiger Woods was bigger than everything and everyone. Why not win a head-to-head with America's modern pastime in his return to the winner's circle as an aging, balding man?

Whether you were in Lincoln Financial Field to watch the return of Carson Wentz, or in any other stadium where outsized athletes in helmets and pads took turns pancaking each other, you had to keep one eye on the nearest TV, the other on your phone. Why? Woods was doing far more in Atlanta than finishing off his 80th PGA Tour victory, that's why.

He was becoming Eldrick Tont Woods again, Tiger to you and me and the rest of creation. He was becoming the best of the best one more time, protecting a 54-hole lead of at least 3 shots for the 24th time in 24 tries. He was returning as Mozart and Michelangelo in a red shirt and spikes, all the way back from the golfing dead.

The scene on the 72nd hole was stunning, as a huge parade of fans at East Lake marched up the fairway behind Woods, nearly inspiring him to cry. The crowd around the green chanted "U-S-A ... U-S-A" for a golfer who never thought he had a prayer of being part of this year's Ryder Cup team. Then Woods hit his bunker shot onto the green that sealed the deal. He tapped in his second putt, raised his arms to the sky, and hugged Rory McIlroy and then his own caddie, Joe LaCava, as the fans started chanting his name.

We never thought we would see the artist return to the peak of his powers, and for good reason: Tiger never thought he would see the artist return to the peak of his powers, either. But in July he held the lead at The Open with eight holes to play, and in August he quieted his old, achy bones in ice baths at the PGA Championship and beat all the younger, fresher stars who grew up idolizing him -- well, all except Brooks Koepka.

And now in September, NFL season, the 42-year-old Woods wasn't going to let Rory McIlroy or Justin Rose or anyone else deny him his Tour Championship triumph. All those back surgeries and an everyday life of searing pain had made the vision of Tiger holding another trophy seem almost unfathomable.

"Oh God," Woods had said at the PGA Championship, "I didn't even know if I was going to play golf again."

He played golf in Atlanta like he played it in his dynastic prime. The better news? Woods nailed down No. 80 as a different human being, as a kinder and gentler update on the programmed assassin he used to be. Tiger has mellowed some with age, offering the head nods and eye contact he rarely bothered with during his scorched-earth prime. Back in the day, the legend Tiger has spent his life chasing Jack Nicklaus, altering his act, too, after growing tired of playing the villain while his neighborly rival, Palmer, basked in the gallery's love.

Woods? He didn't change because the fans had fallen hard for someone else. He changed because parenthood always changes young dads and moms, and because his staggering physical and personal breakdowns inspired him to reassess his tee-to-green purpose. Many of Tiger's wounds were self inflicted, and a fan is entitled to feel about the man the way he or she sees fit. But no matter how you judge his character, Woods is indisputably one of the finest athletes this country has ever produced. And what he has pulled off in the early stages of recovery from what he called "some really dark, dark times" ranks among the greatest sports comebacks ever.

Do you remember the last time Tiger won any tournament? Do you? It was only five years ago, yet it feels like 15. Woods dominated the field at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone, claiming his eighth title at Firestone and his fifth victory of 2013 before almost immediately wondering aloud how often he'd won at least five times on tour in a single season.

Tiger Woods shoots a 71 in the final round of the Tour Championship to win by two strokes for his first win in five years.

"Eight or nine?" he asked.

Ten, he was told.

"That's even better," he said. "That's something I'm very proud of, is how many tournaments I've been able to win consistently, year in and year out."

Tiger's sheer volume of victories made people forget just how hard it is to win just once on the PGA Tour. Golf might be the world's most maddening game -- just ask any recreational player dumbfounded by his or her standard two-way miss -- and yet Woods regularly reduced it to a springtime walk in the park. He conquered a game thought to be unconquerable, and flattened dozens of opponents he wasn't allowed by the sport's bylaws to blitz, tackle or defend in any way.

For the very first time, a golfer was arguably the world's most recognizable athlete. He bargained for himself an entirely new and unwanted level of global fame and infamy over Thanksgiving 2009, of course, when he drove his Escalade into a fire hydrant and a tree in the dead of night and ended up in the street unconscious and bleeding, his then-wife Elin standing over him with a golf club in hand. Woods' serial infidelity was about to be exposed, and so were his vulnerabilities as a man and an athlete.

Woods ultimately lost his marriage. After checking into a treatment center for sexual addiction, he returned to the sport a far less intimidating force. He would win eight more times on tour over the 2012 and 2013 seasons, but he couldn't recapture the major championship aura he lost at the PGA in 2009, when he finally stumbled on a Sunday (he had been 14-0 in majors when holding at least a share of the 54-hole lead) and fell to a self-taught South Korean journeyman named Y.E. Yang.

Asked in 2015 why his vanquished foe had lost the eye of the Tiger in the majors, Yang told ESPN.com, "I, amongst many other players, believe that it has to do with his personal issues and that it is none of our business. Tiger is not a machine and is a person like all of us. I think once he gets his focus back, he will be fine."

As it turned out, Tiger's body was more fragile than his focus. One back injury after another left him bedridden at times, and at others unable to perform the basic physical functions of your average middle-aged dad. "I couldn't even go out for dinner," Woods said. "I couldn't sit. I couldn't get from Point A to B in the house."

Woods couldn't chip because of the pain he felt running down his leg when he bent over, causing his hands to shake. The cortisone shots and the epidurals didn't give him relief. He couldn't play pickup golf with his friends, and he couldn't even play backyard ball with his kids.

"Coming back and playing golf was never in my thoughts," Woods would tell ESPN in March. "It was just, 'How do I get away from this pain? How can I live life again?' That was driving my life. I felt like I couldn't participate in my own life."

Woods said the pain and sleeplessness caused him to over-medicate himself and led to his late-night DUI arrest near his Jupiter, Florida, home on Memorial Day in 2017, when he was found asleep at the wheel of his damaged car with the engine running. The mortifying roadside video of Woods' interaction with police suggested the golfer was literally and figuratively lost, and maybe for keeps. The toxicology report would show that Tiger had Vicodin, Dilaudid, Xanax, Ambien and THC -- the active ingredient in marijuana -- in his system at the time the cops arrested him. Woods would seek professional help, he said, to "manage my medications and the ways that I deal with back pain and a sleep disorder."

Woods could have killed himself, or someone else, after he started his car that night. He seemed almost irretrievably broken, and a million miles removed from the epic champion he used to be.

But the in-patient treatment that followed his arrest -- along with his Hail Mary of a fourth back surgery, the spinal fusion surgery -- ultimately changed his entire life. He arrived at the Masters in April calling himself a "walking miracle." His smile was back, and so was his astonishing swing speed.

Woods decided he wanted to win for daughter Sam and son Charlie; he had joked of his children seeing him almost exclusively as a "YouTube golfer." Sam and Charlie were forever asking him, "Daddy, when are you going to win the tournament?" and for good reason. Sam hadn't seen her old man win a major since she attended the U.S. Open in 2008, when Tiger beat Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff on one leg. Charlie had seen his old man win only once, as a 4-year-old, when he attended the WGC-Bridgestone in 2013.

And then 1,876 days later, Sam and Charlie's dad finally ended the biblical drought. By clinching victory No. 80, two shy of Sam Snead's record, Woods made Atlanta in September feel like Augusta in April.

The world has changed so much since Tiger won on tour for the first time, at age 20, in the fall of 1996, but its fascination with the golfer who is equal parts artist and assassin has remained very much intact. The game has never seen a force quite like him, and chances are it never will again.

Maybe this is the last time Tiger Woods will hold the winner's trophy high, maybe not. Either way, the man in red outplayed the NFL on Sunday and, of greater consequence, delivered a vintage Tiger triumph as a new and improved man.

CUOMO EASILY DEFEATS CYNTHIA NIXON; WON’T RUN AGAINST TRUMP IN 2020

ANDREW CUOMO EASILY DEFEATS CYNTHIA NIXON; WON’T RUN AGAINST TRUMP IN 2020:

CUOMO IS A POWERFUL POLITICIAN WHO RECOGNIZES THAT TIMING IS EVERYTHING.

CUOMO KNOWS TRUMP REMAINS A FORMIDABLE BUSINESS LEADER TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST.


Post Sources: Democrat and Chronicle, Fox News, USA Today, Youtube


***** How New York Gov. Cuomo was able to crush Cynthia Nixon in the Democratic primary


Gov. Andrew Cuomo left little to chance in his Democratic primary fight against Cynthia Nixon, a race that drew national attention.

Cuomo, a master at using the levers of power in government, turned all the resources of his campaign and office to his advantage.

He was able to use more than $21 million in campaign spending to tout his record over the past eight years and beat back attacks on scandals that have rocked his administration to land a blowout victory Thursday over the neophyte Nixon.

"We have provided real-life progressive solutions. You cannot have the word 'progressive' without the word 'progress.' It doesn’t work," Cuomo said at a news conference Friday.

Cuomo beat Nixon 66 percent to 34 percent in the primary, on par with his primary victory over Zephyr Teachout in 2014.

Turnout up

The margin of victory came amid a surge in voter turnout: 24 percent of total enrolled Democrats cast a ballot on Thursday compared to 10 percent in 2014.

Cuomo was able to galvanize union support that eluded him in 2014 and that aided turnout along with a Democratic base that is more engaged following President Donald Trump's election.

Turnout was also boosted by heavily contested primaries in the New York City area, in particular, that led to seven Democratic incumbents in the Senate to lose their seats — a remarkable result in a state where incumbents rarely lose.

The Democrats' ire was directed mainly at the former eight-member Democratic Independent Conference, who had aligned with Republicans over much of the past seven years in the Senate, drawing criticism that they blocked progressive legislation.

Six of the eight ex-IDC members lost in primaries, including its former leader Jeff Klein, D-Bronx, who spent $2 million on his race but still fell to Alessandra Biaggi in a race that stretched into Westchester.

“Voters again made it clear that this is a new day and politics as usual are no longer acceptable," said Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers, who heads the mainline Democratic Conference and brokered a unity deal with Klein in April that didn't stave off IDC challengers.

Cuomo's power

It wasn't just that Cuomo blanketed the airwaves with television ads and ads on social media.

He used the power of his office to boost his standing, which drew criticism from his foes, but nonetheless helped him.

"When others were underestimating us, he did not — and he spent accordingly," Nixon said at the opening of her concession speech.

Nearly 1 million property-tax rebate checks were sent out before the primary, when they typically don't go out until late fall and through the winter.

Cuomo's office said the process became more efficient, so the checks went out earlier this year.

Others saw it different.

"The Senate was complaining most loudly about delays in the checks in previous years, and this year’s earlier posting could be seen as a response to those complaints that conveniently serves the governor’s interests as well," said E.J. McMahon, who heads the fiscally conservative Empire Center for Public Policy.

Cuomo will face Republican candidate Marc Molinaro on the November ballot, as well as several third-party candidates, including Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, Libertarian candidate Larry Sharpe and Serve America Movement candidate Stephanie Miner.

Cuomo's aggressiveness also came with peril.
He held a huge ceremony the Friday before the primary to tout the opening of the second span of the Gov. Mario Cuomo Bridge in the Hudson Valley, only for the span's opening to be delayed several days.

And in the days leading up to the primary, Cuomo's campaign was embroiled in controversy over an anti-Semitic mailer it sent out about Nixon -- which the campaign later admitted was inappropriate.

Winning voters

Cuomo used the massive power of his office to his benefit.

Cuomo has the disposal of a state fleet of aircraft, allowing him to make multiple stops per day to discuss policy, make announcements and in recent months bash the Trump administration — which played well with Democrats in the primary.

Cuomo took 195 trips in state planes and helicopters in 2017, the New York Times reported earlier this month, which was significantly more than other big-state governors.

State agencies also put out a series of mailers ahead of the primary, including one from the Department of Motor Vehicles that encouraged residents to vote with the line.

"Governor Andrew M. Cuomo is expanding access and opportunity to New Yorkers to register to vote,” one read, according to the New York Post.

Cuomo, though, credited his strong record and apathy toward Trump as the reason for his success on Primary Day.

uomo targeted Trump more than Nixonduring the campaign, touting his experience in office compared to Nixon.

He said Friday he understands the sentiment of voters, pointing to his record that includes a higher minimum wage, paid-family leave, free SUNY tuition for income-eligible students and a property-tax cap.

His primary ticket all won: Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul beat New York City Councilman Jumaane Williams; and Tish James, the New York City public advocate, won a four-candidate race for attorney general.
"A progressive Democrat, a Democrat in New York state. These are not ivory tower academics. These are not pontificators," Cuomo said Friday.

"New York Democrats, these are hard-working men and women. They are middle class; they are working families. They have real problems, and they need real help in life."

CONOR LAMB, 33, DEMOCRAT, GEN Y, 2018 SPECIAL ELECTION WINNER (PA)

CONOR LAMB, 33, DEMOCRAT, GEN Y, 2018 SPECIAL ELECTION WINNER (PA):

CONOR’S CAMPAIGN PLAYBOOK WAS BORROWED FROM JFK, OBAMA & TRUMP.

LEADERS LIKE CONOR CAN USHER IN EFFECTIVE LANDMARK GUN CONTROL & UPHOLD THE 2nd AMENDNENT.

CONOR ATTRACTED VOTERS FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE POLITICAL AISLE.

CONOR’S WIN PROVES DEMOCRAT VOTERS ARE SICK & TIRED OF LYING, COMPLACENT, GREEDY, CAREER POLITICIANS IN CONGRESS WHO ARE SELL OUTS.

CONGRESS NEEDS NEW BLOOD & ACTION.

CONOR IS THE BEGINNING OF THAT MOVEMENT.

CONGRATS TO CONOR ON HIS WIN.


Sources: NBC News, NY Times, Youtube


****** Who Is Conor Lamb, Winner in a Special House Race in Pennsylvania?


For the Democratic Party, Conor Lamb seemed like a candidate generated from reams of election data mined and analyzed to produce an ideal fit for his Southwestern Pennsylvania congressional district.

A former Marine who favored gun rights, he was culturally conservative enough to appeal to rural voters. He was pro labor and pro tariff in an area that still has thousands of steelworkers union members. As a federal prosecutor, he cracked down on drug dealers but also offered empathy about the tragedy of opioid addiction. And his Ivy League polish and earnest manner played well with college-educated suburban voters.

And now, with his victory in a district so Republican that Democrats did not even field a candidate in the last two elections, Mr. Lamb, 33, has offered a template that will be studied in congressional races where Democratic candidates need to win over voters who supported President Trump.

“He is like the type of Democrat that won in ruby-red districts in 2006, who breaks the mold and is much more of a nontraditional, outside-the-mainstream, everyday American law enforcement type,” said John Lapp, a Democratic strategist who was executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006, when the party wrested control of the House from Republicans.

Mr. Lamb had to navigate a district that President Trump had won by nearly 20 percentage points in 2016. The president labeled him “Lamb the sham” in a campaign appearance in Pennsylvania last Saturday, and the administration deployed Vice President Mike Pence, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, and Donald Trump Jr. to defeat him.

In turn, he showed restraint and discipline in talking about the president and was quick to support Mr. Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. He did not respond to the president’s mockery, and on Wednesday morning, refused to engage when he was asked on CNN to comment about Mr. Trump’s remarks.

“You call it a red district,” Mr. Lamb said on CNN. “I call it western Pennsylvania. We worked extremely hard to get out and campaign in person over every square inch of this district. And I think just through talking to people, looking them in the eye, figuring out what the issues are for them and trying to come out with solutions, we seemed to have reached a lot of people. We saw huge turnout on both sides which is great. People around here are engaged.”

Mr. Lamb also said he thought voters were weary of pettiness and name calling.

“There was a lot of foolishness in this election and cartoonish campaigning,” he said. “By the time of the president’s visit last weekend, people were tired of that entire approach. I had people, especially elderly people, come up to me and say, I hate those ads against you. It’s not right. It’s not worthy of us. I think there is a little bit of burnout on that type of campaign before the president ever got here.”

Mr. Lamb built his coalition from many disparate parts. He bridged the divide between labor union leaders and their members. “He married the union leaders and rank-and-file for the first time in two decades,” said G. Terry Madonna, a professor at Franklin and Marshall College who has conducted polls in Pennsylvania for more than three decades.

He also focused heavily on local issues and mostly avoided getting into a fight with his Republican opponent, Rick Saccone, over Mr. Trump.

“He decided early on he would not turn this into a national election,” Mr. Madonna said. “It was a local election. Number two, he did events, but more important, he knocked on the door, put the yard sign up, emphasizing his personal connection with people, something Saccone did not do.”

He added, “And also, he was like, ‘Donald who? Who’s that guy?’”

Though the race was Mr. Lamb’s first attempt at public office, politics is part of his family pedigree. His grandfather, Thomas Lamb, was the Democratic leader of the State Senate in the 1970s and served in the administration of Gov. Robert P. Casey.

Michael Lamb, his uncle, is the controller for the city of Pittsburgh and an avid supporter. His younger brother, Coleman Lamb, is helping out as well, on loan from his day job as press secretary for a New York congresswoman.

Mr. Lamb leaned hard on his military background — he served as a prosecutor in the Marine Corps and was stationed in Okinawa while on active duty — and his support for gun rights, beginning with his first commercial.

That same ad also featured a picture of him at a gun range, noting that he “still loves to shoot.” These were acts of political inoculation: Mr. Lamb was sending a message to the district’s conservative-leaning voters that he was his own person.

He also effectively neutralized Republican attempts to label him a liberal in the mold of the House Democratic leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi, by saying that he would not vote for her in a leadership election. Republicans, who poured in millions of dollars in ads against Mr. Lamb, tried to paint him as a slavish follower of the California Democrat. He countered with a commercial noting that his opposition to her had been reported on the front page of a local newspaper.

Mr. Lamb had another résumé-enhancing line to offer voters: federal prosecutor. After clerking for a federal judge in New York, he did a stint as an assistant United States attorney in Pittsburgh, prosecuting a range of cases that gave him a law-and-order credential.

But his time in the Justice Department during the Obama administration also provided Republicans with some fodder. In one ad, the National Republican Congressional Committee noted that Mr. Lamb had reached a plea bargain with a drug kingpin, a potentially damaging line of attack in a region ravaged by opioids.

Like the other attacks Republicans hurled at him, it ultimately proved ineffective.

KAREN HANDEL (R) DEFEATS YOUNG, BIG MONEY JON OSSOFF (D); CONGRATS

KAREN HANDEL DEFEATS YOUNG, BIG MONEY JON OSSOFF (CONGRATS):

AMERICA IS TIRED OF POLITICS WHICH DIVIDES OUR GREAT NATION.

VOTERS ARE TIRED OF DEMOCRATS' POLITICAL INTIMIDATION & CORRUPTION.


Sources: CNN, Fox News, YouTube


****** Republican Handel wins Georgia special House election


Republican Karen Handel on Tuesday night defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff in Georgia’s record-spending, special-election House race, according to the Associated Press.

With all precincts reporting, Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, led Ossoff 52 percent to 48 percent -- a margin of nearly 11,000 votes out of more than 250,000 ballots cast.

The race smashed fundraising records for a House contest -- with both campaigns and outside groups combining to spend a record $50 million.

Ossoff’s defeat was another setback for Democrats hoping to capitalize on President Trump’s low approval ratings to win a long-standing Republican seat.

It was the party’s fourth straight defeat this year in attempts to win a Republican seat and take the momentum into the 2018 midterms. They now must win 24 GOP House seats to retake control of the chamber next year.

“This race was going to require all hands on deck, and that’s what we had,” Handel said at her victory party. “Tonight’s victory is for you. It’s for every citizen in the 6th (Congressional) District.”

To be sure, the contest was close since Handel and Ossoff were the top finishers in April's first balloting, which sent them to Tuesday’s runoff.

Ossoff lead by nearly 5 percentage points as recently as June 12, before the race deadlocked in the final days, according to the RealClearPolitics.com polls average.

The 30-year-old Ossoff, whose campaign was hurt by revelations that he didn’t live in the suburban Atlanta district, thanked his campaign team and voters in a short concession speech.

“Thank you for the most extraordinary process that I have ever been a part of,” Ossoff said. “The fight goes on. Hope is still alive.”

The House seat has been occupied by Republicans since 1979. GOP Rep. Tom Price gave up the seat in February to become Health and Human Services secretary.

President Trump didn’t campaign in Georgia for Handel. But he attacked Ossoff on Twitter for living outside the district and warned voters that he would increase taxes and be soft on national security.

Handel supporters chanted “Trump, Trump, Trump” at her victory party. And the president tweeted his own message of congratulations.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., also congratulated Handel, saying, “Karen is all business. I’ve campaigned with her, and I know how eager she is to get to work. I’m excited to have her as a partner in the House.”

Ossoff tried to thread the needle in the conservative-leaning Georgia district by vowing to cut taxes for small businesses, while championing equal rights for women and minorities, which earned him the support of civil rights icon and Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis.

Handel touted her experience as a state and local elected official and argued that outside forces were trying to buy a win.

Voters “are not interested in Hollywood and California coming in and buying this seat,” she said Tuesday morning on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis showed just 3.5 percent of Ossoff’s donations between the end of March and May came from Georgia.

Still, Handel also benefited from outside spending, though most didn’t go directly to her campaign.

Groups like the Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee backed by Ryan, have spent millions on her behalf.

Also on Tuesday, Republicans held onto the House seat in South Carolina that was vacated in February by Mick Mulvaney so he could become the White House budget director. Millionaire developer Ralph Norman, the Republican, defeated former Goldman Sachs tax adviser Archie Parnell, the Democrat, in a closer-than-expected contest.

The other two special-election races this year in which Democrats failed to win a GOP House seat were in Kansas and Montana.

In Kansas, Republicans held onto the seat of Mike Pompeo, now the CIA director, and they kept the Montana seat of Ryan Zinke, who became Trump’s secretary of Interior.

Democrats have one last outside chance to win a GOP House seat, Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s in a conservative Utah. The special election is on August 15. Democrats won one special House election this year, holding onto the California seat vacated by Xavier Becerra.

While Republicans have held the Georgia seat since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took it from Democrats nearly four decades ago, the district does not appear as conservative as in years past.

Trump won the district over Democrat Hillary Clinton last year by just 1.5 percent, compared to 2008 when Republican presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain won by 18.9 percent.

The race attracted national attention and record money, but Georgia voters also took a big interest in the outcome.

More than 40,000 people voted early, including 36,000 who didn't vote in the April contest.

TRUMP TAKES EAST COAST; WINS FIVE STATES (TRUMP IS 2016 GOP NOMINEE)

@realDonaldTrump

THE EAST COAST LOVES TRUMP. HE WINS FIVE STATES:

MARYLAND, PENNSYLVANIA, CONNETICUT, DELAWARE & RHODE ISLAND.

TIME FOR TRUMP TO CHOOSE CHRIS CHRISTIE AS HIS VP PICK.

TRUMP IS 2016 GOP NOMINEE. HE'LL DEFEAT HILLARY UNLESS OBAMA USES MORE DIRTY POLITICS.

Sources: Fox News, Youtube

****** Trump completes 5-state sweep; Clinton beats Sanders in most Super Tuesday III contests

Donald Trump completed a five-state sweep in Tuesday’s Republican presidential primaries, strengthening his shot at avoiding a contested convention – while Hillary Clinton scored convincing victories but was denied the same bragging rights of a primary sweep by a surprise Bernie Sanders win in Rhode Island.

Of the two front-runners, Clinton – who won four states Tuesday – remains closer to clinching the nomination. She now has nearly 90 percent of the delegates needed to secure the party nod, even as Sanders vows to keep fighting.

On the Republican side, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich still can potentially hold Trump under the 1,237 delegates he needs. But the billionaire businessman’s Super Tuesday III run-of-the-table reinforces his aura of invincibility going into the next round.

“I consider myself the presumptive nominee,” Trump said at Trump Tower, with ex-candidate and now-supporter New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie standing behind him. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.”

Trump said he has no plans to change his approach right now.

In their victory speeches, both Trump and Clinton clearly were looking ahead to a general election contest each expects will involve the other.

“We will beat Hillary so easily,” Trump said, nicknaming the Democratic front-runner “crooked Hillary” and declaring “the only card she has is the woman’s card.” He continued to taunt his GOP rivals, blasting their alleged “collusion” and asking of Kasich: “Why is he here?”

Clinton likewise kept her remarks Tuesday focused on a general election audience, vowing to “unify our party,” drawing sharp contrasts with Republicans, and taking on Trump.

“The other day, Mr. Trump accused me of playing the quote woman card,” she said in Philadelphia, which hosts the Democratic convention. “Well, if fighting for women’s health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in.” 

When the dust settled on Tuesday’s contests, Trump was declared the winner in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island, on the heels of his victory in New York state a week ago. His dominant showing in the Northeast gives him significant momentum heading into next week’s primary in Indiana. And he’s on track to win over 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s contests, a feat he has only achieved once before, in New York.

Meanwhile, Kasich was shaping up as the second pick of Northeast Republicans so far, projected to place second in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland and Delaware – leaving Cruz to finish third.

Clinton, meanwhile, was the projected winner in Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware – while Sanders won Rhode Island.

Overall, Democrats were competing for 384 delegates in Tuesday's contests, while Republicans had 118 up for grabs (not counting 54 unbound delegates in Pennsylvania). 

With his five victories Tuesday, Trump will win at least 105 of the 118 delegates. And he has a chance to win a lot more. In Pennsylvania, Trump collected 17 delegates for winning the state. An additional 54 are elected directly by voters -- three in each congressional district. However, their names are listed on the ballot with no information about which presidential candidate they support.

Trump suggested they have a “moral obligation” to back him, though Cruz had worked hard to get allies elected in that group. 

Primary front-runners Clinton and Trump both were looking to Tuesday’s contests to bring them closer to clinching the respective nominations, or at least dispiriting the remaining competition. 

As of early Wednesday, Clinton had 2,141 delegates to Sanders’ 1,321; it takes 2,383 to win. The total includes so-called “superdelegates” who are not bound to primary results. On the GOP side, Trump had 950 delegates, followed by Cruz at 560 and Kasich at 153.

But on the GOP side, an energized Cruz held out hope that he and Kasich can still hold Trump back from the nomination. Speaking to supporters in Indiana, Cruz claimed the campaign was moving “to more favorable terrain” while calling Trump the media’s “chosen” candidate.

"Donald and Hillary, they are flip-sides of the same coin,” Cruz said. 

Kasich’s campaign also vowed to keep going, appealing for donations online and declaring on Twitter: “John Kasich will continue making his supporters proud.”

Whether Cruz and Kasich can prevent Trump from clinching the nomination remains to be seen. Both were also on defense after teaming up to try and hold Trump under that magic number. Kasich agreed to stand aside in Indiana to help Cruz, while Cruz agreed to stand aside in Oregon and New Mexico to help Kasich.

As Trump accused the two of “collusion,” Cruz countered in a radio interview that what they’re doing is “actually coalition-building.”

Still, Kasich appeared Monday to undercut their arrangement by urging voters in Indiana to support him anyway. And the campaign stumbled on a procedural issue in Oregon, missing the March deadline to submit information for a voter pamphlet the state distributes ahead of the May primary.

Kasich spokesman Chris Schrimpf stressed that Kasich nevertheless is on the ballot in Oregon.

Cruz’s best chances to undercut Trump might be in Indiana, which votes next week, and California, which votes in June.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., cast doubt Tuesday on whether a Cruz-Kasich alliance would do much good in his home state. Asked about their partnership, McCarthy told reporters he’s “not convinced” it will help in California.

On the Democratic side, Sanders also vowed Tuesday nightto keep fighting, casting himself as the candidate best-positioned to take on Trump or any Republican rival.

“This campaign is doing as well as it is with the extraordinary energy and enthusiasm we are generating across the country,” Sanders told a crowd in West Virginia, which votes May 10.

MEGYN KELLY INTERVIEWS KING OF MEDIA DONALD TRUMP (FOX BOWS AFTER NY WIN)

@megynkelly

@realDonaldTrump

MEGYN KELLY INTERVIEWS KING OF MEDIA DONALD TRUMP IN MAY:

AFTER TRUMP'S BIG NEW YORK WIN MEGYN HAD TO BOW.

Sources: Fox News, Youtube

**** Megyn Kelly will interview Donald Trump on Fox TV special

Fox News host Megyn Kelly will interview Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in a Fox TV special to air next month.

The GOP presidential front-runner will be a guest on "Megyn Kelly Presents," a prime-time special airing May 17 on Fox TV.

Extended portions of the sit-down interview will also appear on "The Kelly File" on Fox News Channel beginning on May 18.

The interview, which will take place in New York, marks the first sit-down between the two since the August 2015 presidential debate on Fox News Channel.

Kelly will explore how events unfolded with Trump after the August debate as one of the most prominent voices covering the 2016 presidential campaign of the front-runner, according to a statement from Fox News.

She will also examine Trump’s successful campaign for the White House to date and his role in one of the most historic presidential runs in modern times.

"Mr. Trump and I sat down together for a meeting earlier this month at my request. He was gracious with his time and I asked him to consider an interview. I am happy to announce he has agreed, and I look forward to a fascinating exchange — our first sit-down interview together in nearly a year,” Kelly said in a statement announcing the upcoming interview.

In addition to the Trump interview, “Megyn Kelly Presents” will feature a wide variety of notable guests from the entertainment world and other spheres of human interest to be interviewed by Kelly. The full list of guests will be announced at a later date.

FOX News Chairman & CEO Roger Ailes is the show’s senior executive producer, while broadcast veteran Bill Geddie serves as the executive producer.

SANDERS KEEPS WINNING DELEGATES TO ASSURE HILLARY'S 2016 VICTORY (DELEGATE COUNTDOWN)

BERNIE SANDERS KEEPS WINNING DELEGATES TO ASSURE HILLARY'S 2016 VICTORY

I TOLD YOU SO.

Sources: CNN, Fox News, YouTube

For months I have been saying that U.S. Senator (I-Vt) is not a real challenger to 2016 Democrat party presidential front runner Hillary Clinton.

Anyone with half a brain can easily determine that Sanders was obviously recruited by key party leaders to help attract and fire up Undecided voters who aren't really feeling Hillary.

Thus regardless of the number of states Sanders wins, all Delegates are awarded to Hillary.

In essence, a vote for Bernie is actually a vote for Hillary.

I told you so!

**** Is Sanders doing Clinton a favor?

Story highlights

• Sanders is keeping it competitive, but even if he loses, he will have a powerful effect in November, writes Julian Zelizer
• He says Sanders has forced Clinton to adopt stances that will appeal more broadly to the Democratic base

Bernie Sanders' campaign gained new momentum with three commanding victories this weekend in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska. While Hillary Clinton maintains a comfortable lead in the delegate count, it looks as though it's going to be a long time before she can close this race. Sanders continues to excite, to inspire and, most importantly, to win. 

A key test will be the April 19 primary in New York, a state with a large population of minority voters, a group that has favored Clinton in other big contests.

The success of Sanders has been a huge surprise and disappointment to Clinton and her supporters. The once inevitable nominee has been forced to run in an extremely competitive primary against a challenger who has exposed many of her flaws and weaknesses.

Still, in the long run, Sanders may turn out to have been one of the best things to have happened to Clinton's campaign.

Assuming that she does win the nomination, Clinton will emerge as a much stronger candidate and her campaign operation will be in a better position for the fall, thanks to Sanders' insurgency. Unlike divisive primaries that hurt a political party -- such as Sen. Ted Kennedy's challenge to President Jimmy Carter in 1980 or, most likely, the internecine battle that is ravaging the GOP this year -- the Democrats will benefit as a result of the past few months.

How has Sanders helped? How could it be that the constant attacks on Clinton's domestic record, her connections to Wall Street and her judgment as a leader leave her in better shape than when she started? How can the sweeping wins in the West be anything but bad for the front-runner?

Economy and inequality are front and center

Thanks to Sanders, economic issues are now front and center in this campaign. While Sanders may be a single-issue candidate focused on inequality, it's a really big issue that he has dealt with. And it's one which, as the campaign in both parties has revealed, really resonates at this moment in history. Americans are tired of, and scared by, the growing economic divisions in our society as well as the insecurity that faces middle-class families.

In response to Sanders, Clinton has taken a stronger stand on these economic issues and worked harder to demonstrate her commitment to addressing these challenges if she should be elected president. Sanders has created room for Clinton, who has been a centrist Democrat, to be more unabashedly liberal in response to this problem, and this will help her.

Economic security is an issue that Democrats have historically done well with. This issue was at the heart of the New Deal, the formative period for the modern party.

Clinton has also responded to Sanders by clarifying other kinds of issues that will be central to her presidency. In her effort to distinguish herself from the senator, she has spoken much more about other issue areas that she would address, including the central questions of racial and gender inequality. Even if the government addressed economic inequality, she said, "we would still have racism holding people back. We would still have sexism preventing women from getting equal pay. We would still have LGBT people who get married on Saturday and fired on Monday." 

She has slowly crafted a set of arguments around a potential presidency that would address the multiple sources of division within this country. Doing so offers a path toward building a broad and diverse political coalition.

Building on Obama's gains

While Sanders offers a much more coherent political vision, Clinton has slowly developed an argument about her belief in pragmatic liberalism, which will hold considerable appeal to voters who are seeking real gains in the coming four years. With Sanders offering bold ideas like single-payer health insurance, Clinton has positioned herself as a liberal Democrat who understands that she will have to operate in a very conservative political world. 

This has pushed her to champion an argument about the ways that she would solidify and expand the gains that have been made under President Obama and move into new policy areas with specified and realistic measures. For many constituencies that are desperate to keep the programs that Obama achieved and hoping for more assistance, this argument can resonate.

For instance, Clinton proposes strengthening Obamacare with measures like a $5,000 per family tax credit to reduce the amount that Americans have to pay for premiums and out-of-pocket charges. She also would like to ensure that Americans could have three sick visits every year to their doctors without having to meet a deductible. She would also continue Obama's policy of providing federal money to match the spending of states which expand Medicaid, while investing in outreach programs to help individuals enroll.

Sanders took the high road

One of Sanders' biggest decisions was to keep the debate focused on policy rather than personality and character. Although some of his supporters have been frustrated that he has not gone after issues like the Clinton email scandal, the net result was to elevate the quality of the discourse within the Democratic Party. 

With the GOP embroiled in a low-level discussion that has even degenerated into comparing the photographs of spouses and the size of a candidate's hands, the Democrats have appeared as the adults in the room (even if not as much fun to watch) with a series of debates over policy. Democrats debate whether the regulatory approach of the Affordable Care Act or a single-payer health care system is more effective, at the same time that Donald Trump and his rivals engage in debates that are as far from presidential as they can be.

The ability of the Sanders campaign to mobilize Americans who have been alienated from politics can have very positive ramifications in the fall. He has inspired the progressive coalition of the Democratic Party -- which is a powerful, mobilized and motivated group that Democratic candidates have too often ignored in recent decades.

Key test for Clinton

If Clinton can find a way to sustain the support of the movement that Sanders has built, and if Sanders is willing to join forces with Clinton in the fall, this can be an extraordinarily effective electoral tool, particularly in swing states like Ohio and Florida. In 2008, Obama showed just how powerful new voices could be in determining the outcome of an election. If Clinton and Sanders can prevent voters, like younger Americans, from leaving the system once again, they could become part of a winning coalition in November.

This won't be easy. Clinton will have to work hard, reaching out to Sanders supporters and working with the senator himself to avoid squandering this opportunity. Through her vice presidential selection and word of potential cabinet picks, as well as concessions in the party platform, she will have to convince his followers that her appeals to his issues are more than campaign rhetoric. 

Finally the Sanders campaign was an early wake-up call for the Clinton team which, as in 2008, was running an incredibly sloppy and unstructured operation that was counting on Clinton's experience and intellectual skill to be enough to win the race. 

HILLARY'S CORONATION PROCEEDS AFTER WINNING SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY

HILLARY'S CORONATION PROCEEDS AFTER WINNING SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY:

BERNIE SANDERS IS ACTUALLY HILLARY'S DEBATE COACH NOT HER 2016 OPPONENT.

Sources:  BBC News, CNN, Fox News, The Economist, YouTube

**** US election 2016: Bernie Sanders' and Hillary Clinton's policies compared

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are in a pitched battle for the Democratic nomination, fighting for the hearts and minds of left-leaning voters across the US.

But where do they stand on the issues? While the candidates often agree on substance if not style, here's a look at five areas where they differ - not just from each other, but from their presidential predecessors, as well.

~ Taxes

They will go up - but for whom?

Bernie Sanders promises he will reduce income inequality through changes to US through tax policy. He has called for a 10% tax surcharge on billionaires, raising the top three tax brackets and creating a new top rate, boosting capital gains and estate taxes, extending Social Security taxes, going after income made abroad by US corporations, and creating a new 0.2% tax on all earners to fund a paid family leave programme.

Hillary Clinton's tax plan is basically Sanders-lite. She wants a 4% surtax on income over $5 million, an increase in capital gains taxes, the closing of "tax loopholes" for the wealthy, taxing hedge fund managers' "carried interest" income at higher rates and increasing the estate tax rate.

Bill Clinton also raised taxes on the wealthy - and caught considerable criticism from conservatives for doing so. He instituted two new high-level tax brackets, raised corporate taxes, and increased income subject to Medicare and Social Security levies. After Republicans took control of Congress two years into his administration, he signed legislation lowering the capital gains taxes. He also increased a tax credit for poorer workers.

John F Kennedy was the original Democratic tax-cutter. He reduced the top rate in the US from 95% to 65% and the corporate tax rate from 52% to 47%. Today's conservatives love to quote his claim that a high tax rate "siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power".

---

~ Higher education

Pitching college education that's free or just affordable

Bernie Sanders has set the bar when it comes to higher education policy in the modern Democratic Party, with his call for free college for all Americans funded by taxing Wall Street financial transactions. He points to the runaway costs of higher education as one of the driving forces behind growing income inequality in the US.

Hillary Clinton supports a plan to make two-year community college free, but her higher education policies are more modest. She has called for lowering student loan interest rates, providing $17.5 billion to improve the quality of higher education and encouraging colleges to set affordable tuition rates that don't require student loans.

Barack Obama signed legislation streamlining the student loan system, including provisions that allow the government to directly loan money to students rather than rely on for-profit middle-men. He has also proposed making the first two years of college free, with a programme modelled on a Tennessee system devised by the state's Republican governor.

Lyndon Baines Johnson is the godfather of the modern Democratic Party's education policies. As president he spearheaded passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which increased federal funding for universities and provided low-interest student loans and grants for needy students. It was landmark legislation in its day - but now seems relatively modest.

---

~ Healthcare 

Mend it or end it - and start over from scratch. 

Barack Obama supported and signed legislation increasing government regulation of the health insurance industry and creating private insurance markets for individuals not covered by employer-provided insurance. The programme was based, in part, on Republican proposals from the 1990s and the system instituted in Massachusetts by then-Governor Mitt Romney.

For Bernie Sanders, however, that particular half-loaf is far from enough. He wants to institute a single-payer government-run health insurance system fashioned on Medicare. He has also called for allowing the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies in order to lower prices and permitting Americans to import medication from Canada, where it is less expensive.

Hillary Clinton has said Mr Sanders is advancing an unrealistic proposal that threatens hard-won healthcare reforms made during Mr Obama's tenure. Instead she wants to expand existing law to improve coverage for prescription drugs and allow the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical manufacturers for better prices.

The former first lady does know a thing or two about how hard it is to get healthcare bills through Congress. In 1993 she was the driving force behind Bill Clinton's proposed legislation, which created a federal minimum-benefits healthcare package with limits on out-of-pocket expenses, all provided by regional healthcare alliances. That effort went down in flames before it even came to a vote in Congress.

---

~ Gun control

The one place where Clinton comes at Sanders from the left.

Hillary Clinton is the first prominent Democratic presidential candidate to openly run on a gun-control platform since Al Gore's losing campaign in 2000. She supports holding gun manufacturers liable for deaths caused by their products, expanding background checks and prohibiting those on no-fly list from purchasing firearms. She has also supported reinstating the ban on semi-automatic "assault" rifles.

Bernie Sanders, a senator from the rural state of Vermont, has a more moderate position on guns - although he has moved to the left over the course of the campaign. He supports expanded background checks on gun purchases and an assault weapons ban, but opposes holding gun manufacturers liable for deaths. He voted against a gun purchase waiting period multiple times in the early 1990s and for allowing guns in national parks.

Barack Obama shied away from campaigning on gun control in his two presidential campaigns, but the murder of schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012 convinced him to act. He has since called for an assault weapons ban and expanded background checks. He has taken unilateral executive action to increase enforcement of laws against gun trafficking and broadening the scope of federal regulation of firearm transactions.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the first serious effort at gun control by a Democratic president to date and his call in 1934 to create a national firearm registry and institute a federal tax on all gun purchases. No major Democratic officeholder would even consider broaching such a proposal today. It wouldn't just be dead on arrival in Congress, for many politicians it would be political suicide.

---

~ Foreign policy

Remember the Iraq War? Bernie Sanders does.

Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, was one of the more hawkish members of Mr Obama's cabinet. It's no surprise then that as a presidential candidate she is well to the right of Mr Sanders and even Mr Obama. She has called for greater US involvement in the Syrian civil war, including enforcing a no-fly zone, and supports a continued US military presence in Afghanistan.

Bernie Sanders generally agrees with Barack Obama's foreign policies - limited involvement in Syria and an emphasis on working with US allies. He contrasts himself with Mrs Clinton by noting the past US military action that she supported and he opposed - in Libya and Iraq. He supports a full US withdrawal from Afghanistan and no US training of rebels in the Syrian civil war.

John F Kennedy's foreign policy as president, compared to the current crop of Democratic politicians, seems downright bellicose. He was an interventionist at heart, authorising the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, taking a hard line against Soviet expansion in the Western hemisphere and initiating US involvement in Vietnam.