Trump calls for taking in Syrian refugees:  The New York billionaire certainly defies predictability. While Scott Walker flounders on this humanitarian crisis (“[e]verybody wants to talk about hypotheticals; there is no such thing as a hypothetical”), Trump is assertive and dare I say, thoughtful in his response towards Syrian refugees. “I hate the concept of it, but on a humanitarian basis, you have to [take in refugees]…[Syrians] are living in hell,” Trump said on “The O’Reilly Factor” last night. Patty Murray has a challenger:  Senator Patty Murray now has an obstacle in the way of her fifth term and it’s Chris Vance, a former state GOP chairman. These are some highlights from his campaign’s “ Issues ” page: -The Simpson-Bowles Commission made dozens of recommendations.  I am not endorsing them all, but Republicans and Democrats need to sit down and negotiate a grand bargain based on the work of Simpson-Bowles. -I will not vote for any federal law that would overturn Washington State law on abortion rights.  I will vote to maintain the current law which prohibits federal funding of abortions, but allows states, including Washington to provide state funding. Hillary Clinton’s bungled reboot:  The Atlantic’s David Graham has written a very interesting piece today, highlighting how “Clinton promised she had learned the lessons of the [2008] campaign, including the risk of failing to show emotion on the trail and the danger of allowing chaos among advisers, and wouldn’t make them again. So far the record is mixed.” I couldn’t agree more. Watching her appearances in the media has been a painful experience – even for a progressive like myself. Her constant nodding at every single question is an annoying tic that has to be taken care of. Seriously, it’s beyond condescending. It looks so disingenuous. I’ve digressed. Ultimately, Democrats want to see Hillary show authenticity and emotion. While it may be difficult for her to do so under the barrage of attacks about her … Continue reading Daily Clips: September 9th, 2015