Page 12A
ELECTION 2016
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Back in Washington, Clinton, Trump work toward party unity
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The presi-
dential race shifted to the nation’s
capital Friday, with Democrats
executing a carefully orchestrated
plan to unify their party around
presumptive
nominee
Hillary
Clinton.
Her likely general election
rival, Donald Trump, continued his
months-long effort to win over the
Republican base, with events wooing
top donors and evangelical voters.
With the primary contests all
but over, a series of top Democrats
formally announced their support for
Clinton, headlined by the glowing
endorsement of President Barack
Obama on Thursday.
Within hours, Vice President
Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen.
Elizabeth Warren joined that effort,
both backing Clinton and signaling
to many of Sanders’ supporters that
it’s time to unite around the party’s
presumptive nominee. Clinton and
Warren met privately for about an
hour Friday morning at Clinton’s
home in Washington, intensifying
speculation that the progressive
stalwart may be tapped for the vice
presidency.
“If you really want to electrify
the base you’ve got to get somebody
who’s been speaking to the base and
is going to turn the base out,” said
Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., one of
Sanders’ top supporters in Congress.
He said he and other progressives
would be thrilled if Clinton tapped
Warren for her ticket.
Democrats in Washington are
eager to unite their party against
Trump and avoid a lingering intra-
party spat.
Primary rival Bernie Sanders,
who’s vowed to take his political
revolution to their national Demo-
cratic convention in July, has been
stressing his determination to defeat
Trump, perhaps signaling that he
may exit the race or at least shift his
focus away from Clinton after the
inal primary election next Tuesday
in Washington, D.C.
On Friday, he retreated to his
home in Burlington, Vermont, to plot
his next steps.
Clinton, meanwhile, delivered
her irst speech since becoming the
presumptive nominee, addressing
advocates at Planned Parenthood,
the women’s health organization and
abortion provider. The nonproit was
a strong champion of Clinton in the
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road
to Majority Conference in Washington on Friday.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez File
In this June 7 ile photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton gestures as she greets supporters in New York.
primaries, giving her its irst endorse-
ment in their 100-year history.
Describing Trump as someone
who “doesn’t hold women in high
regard,” Clinton launched into an
unabashedly feminist attack on her
GOP rival, arguing he would take the
country back to “when abortion was
illegal, women had far fewer options
and life for too many women and
girls was limited.”
“When Donald Trump says,
‘let’s make America great again,’
that is code for ‘let’s take America
backward,”’ she told the cheering
audience.
Trump, who has also faced
resistance from corners of his party,
addressed a gathering of conserva-
tive evangelical voters at the Faith
& Freedom Coalition’s “Road to
Majority” conference not long after
Clinton spoke.
Facing criticism for suggesting a
judge’s Mexican heritage biased him
in a case against the now-defunct
Trump University, Trump struck a
more welcoming tone.
“No one should be judged by
their race or their color and the color
of their skin,” he said. “We’re going
to bring our nation together.”
Reading mostly from tele-
prompters, he declared Clinton
“unit to be president” while vowing
to “restore faith to its proper mantle”
in the U.S.
As he took the stage, Trump
boasted of the support he received
from evangelicals in the Republican
primary and touted his opposition to
abortion rights and commitment to
religious freedom — issues he rarely
discusses in other settings. Seizing
on social issues, Trump claimed
Clinton would appoint “radical”
judges who would “abolish” the
Second Amendment and “destroy
the rule of law.”
In a new dig against her email
scandal, Trump proposed “tough
new ethics rules to restore dignity of
the ofice of the secretary of state”
and challenged Clinton to drop
her support for increasing refugee
admissions and instead support “a
new jobs program for our inner
cities.”
Unlikely path for foes hoping to dump Trump at convention
Associated Press
BUT WAIT
“What does Trump have to
If Trump has a majority
WASHINGTON
—
of delegates, does he really
Dumping Trump at next
do or say for the party to have to worry about rules
month’s Republican national
changes that could deny him
convention? Dubious, but
the nomination?
disassociate
with
him?”
not prohibitively implau-
Probably not. But maybe.
sible.
The GOP was already
distressed
by
Donald
Trump’s comments about
Hispanics, women, the
disabled and others. Now,
it’s been driven to near-de-
spair over his belittling of a
Mexican-American judge as
incapable of fairly handling
a Trump lawsuit.
That’s fed talk of using
the party’s July gathering in
Cleveland to ind a different
presidential nominee.
So far it’s just limited
chatter, at least publicly. But
with party leaders already
lashing mixed messages
about
the
billionaire’s
candidacy — House Speaker
Paul Ryan, R-Wis., belatedly
endorsed him but labeled his
comments “racist” — any
more rhetorical bombs that
Trump tosses could cause
opposition to him to snow-
ball.
Here’s how the party
could derail Trump and why
it’s improbable, at least now:
THE MATH
Trump has 1,542 dele-
gates, according to The
Associated Press’ count,
including 1,447 pledged
under current GOP rules to
vote for him at the conven-
tion. That’s well above the
1,237 delegates needed for
the nomination and more
than double the 559 of his
nearest rival, Texas Sen. Ted
Cruz.
Measured another way,
Trump has amassed 13.4
million votes in primaries,
well above Cruz’ 7.7 million.
Those numbers add up to
one word: Winner.
THE PROBLEM
Some Republicans think
Trump can’t win, will drag
down the party’s congres-
sional candidates with
him and inlict long-term
damage to the party’s appeal
to women and minorities.
Control of the Senate, and
less likely the House, are at
also stake in November’s
election.
But while open talk of
— Rory Cooper, adviser to Never Trump political committee
inding a different nominee
is limited, it’s out there.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.,
said this week that Trump’s
denigration of the judge
“might spur” talk of inding
another candidate. He noted
that Trump’s 70th birthday is
approaching and said, “It’s
tough to change. And he
certainly hasn’t shown any
signs that he’s going to.”
“What does Trump have
to do or say for the party
to disassociate itself from
him?” asked Rory Cooper,
senior adviser to the Never
Trump political committee.
And conservative talk
radio host Hugh Hewitt
said on his show that Trump
should be dropped because
“the plane is headed toward
the mountain.”
THE CURE
One way to stop someone
from winning a game is to
change the rules.
Mechanically, if not
politically, that’s possible in
Cleveland next month. The
procedures governing the
convention will be whatever
a majority of its 2,472 dele-
gates approve.
Current rules, which they
seem likely to adopt, give
the nomination to whoever
wins a majority of their
votes.
GOP rules experts say
that to block Trump, one
option is to set a higher
threshold than he currently
can reach, such as requiring
a two-thirds margin.
That would only be
needed for the irst ballot.
If no candidate wins the
nomination by then, most
delegates are free to vote for
anyone in the second and
succeeding rounds of voting.
Another option: Let
all delegates immediately
support whoever they’d like.
Though
it’s
widely
disputed, some say current
rules already let delegates
back anybody. That would
mean no changes would be
needed.
“The
primaries
are
baloney” and award candi-
dates “bragging rights,”
not committed delegates,
said Curly Haugland of
North Dakota, a member
of the Republican National
Committee.
THE PROBLEM WITH
BLOCKING TRUMP
Though the GOP is
already torn, many believe
booting Trump is politically
unrealistic because it would
deepen the party’s rifts
and is probably impossible
anyway.
Ignoring
the
millions who’ve voted for
him is politically unthink-
able, they say.
“The American people
have spoken on this, and I
think, as a party, we better
listen to them,” said Sen.
Deb Fischer, R-Neb.
Trump campaign senior
adviser Ed Brookover said
Friday there’s enough dele-
gate support to block any
rules changes that would
deny Trump the nomination.
He provided no speciic
igures.
“We
have
stopped
counting” the number of
delegates supporting Trump
“because of the control we
believe we have,” he said.
That’s because by party
bylaws, delegates are free
to vote however they want
on the rules, platform and
challenges to delegates’
credentials. The only thing
most must do is support the
candidate they are pledged to,
and only on the irst round of
votes.
The danger for Trump:
Many of his delegates — the
numbers are unclear — actu-
ally prefer Cruz or perhaps
other alternatives. If they’re
persuaded to do so, perhaps
by additional intemperate
Trump comments, they can
vote for rules changes that
would open the door for a
replacement.
Kendal Unruh, a Cruz
delegate and Trump opponent
from Colorado, said Friday
she’s seeking support for
one such proposal. It would
let delegates abandon their
candidate if there have been
“grievous acts of conduct”
and cast “a vote of conscience,
either personal or religious”
for anyone.
Brookover said some
Cruz delegates really back
Trump, and rated the chances
the convention will avert
Trump’s nomination at “virtu-
ally zero.” He said the Trump
campaign opposes any rules
changes that would affect the
Cleveland convention.
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It was one of several examples of
Trump’s burgeoning populist attacks
against Clinton, whom he painted as
indebted to big money. He claimed
her immigration, education and
trade policies would harm working
families and “plunge our poor
African-American and Hispanic
communities into turmoil and even
worse despair.”
“Her policies will be a crushing
blow to all poor people in this
country,” he said.
He also accused Clinton of failing
to understand the gravity of the risk
posed by Islamic extremism, and
faulted her for wanting to allow more
Syrian refugees into the country.
“Hillary will bring hundreds
of thousands of refugees, many of
whom have hostile beliefs about
people of different faiths and values
and some of whom absolutely and
openly support terrorism in our
country,” he claimed. “We have to
temporarily stop this whole thing
with what’s going on with refugees
where we don’t know where they
come from.” Clinton has proposed
allowing 65,000 Syrian refugees into
the country each year.
His speech was interrupted by
several protesters, including one
woman who screamed “Refugees
are welcome here!” as she was
escorted out of the room.
Many evangelical and conserva-
tive leaders remain deeply skeptical
of Trump’s candidacy —a resistance
that was underscored by the speakers
who proceeded him on Friday.
Former rival Carly Fiorina,
who spoke immediately before
Trump, failed to mention her party’s
presumptive nominee’s name a
single time during her remarks,
which heavily criticized Clinton.
Meanwhile, in his long-expected
endorsement, President Barack
Obama pointed to Clinton’s grit
and determination but also called
for “embracing” Sanders’ economic
message, which has galvanized
liberals and independents. Obama
sought to reassure Democrats that
Clinton shares their values and is
ready for the job.
The president plans to campaign
next week with Clinton in Green
Bay, Wisconsin, marking his irst
major foray into the 2016 campaign.
“It was a wonderful, meaning
endorsement in every way,” said
Clinton, sipping an iced chai,
during a stop at a mufin store in
Washington.
GOP insiders pressure Trump
to steer clear of controversy
NEW YORK (AP) —
Weary Republicans are
looking for assurances that
Donald Trump can maintain
the discipline needed to stay
on message as he prepares
for a bruising general elec-
tion run-up against Hillary
Clinton.
Trump’s conciliatory,
teleprompter-guided
victory speech Tuesday
appeared to stave off— at
least for the time being — a
near-GOP revolt over his
racially divisive attacks
against the American-born
judge of Mexican heritage
hearing the case against
his now-defunct Trump
University.
As he kicks off his
general election campaign
with a scheduled speech
Friday, a thorny question
has arisen: How does the
party keep Trump in check?
“A primary campaign
against 16 opponents is very
different and combative in a
different way than a general
election against a well-or-
ganized,
well-funded
Clinton machine,” said
Rep. Chris Collins, who
has been helping to coor-
dinate Trump’s outreach to
Congress.
ROAD WORK AHEAD
I84 EXIT 209 WESTBOUND OFFRAMP
TO BE CLOSED THREE DAYS IN JUNE
h e Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) will
be making repairs to the Interstate 84 westbound Exit 209
interchange bridge in June. h e Exit 209 interchange is located
in Pendleton, crossing over and connecting trai c to U.S. 395
/ Southgate. h e project will result in lane closures on the
bridge and the temporary closure of the westbound freeway
of -ramp from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 16, and again on June
22 and 23.
Due to the lane restrictions on the bridge and close proximity
of the exit ramp, there will not be enough room for westbound
trai c to safely exit the freeway at this location. During ramp
closure times motorists wanting access to Pendleton will need
to continue westbound on I-84 and use Exit 207, or use Exit
210 prior to the closed exit ramp. h ese dates are subject to
changed, depending on weather conditions.
h e eastbound of -ramp and all on-ramps at Exit 209 will not
be impacted by this bridge repair work.
“We realize this will be an inconvenience for some travelers
and greatly appreciate everyone’s patience,” said ODOT Bridge
Crew Manager Richard Lani. “We’ll work to get the project
completed as soon as possible.”
h e bridge repair work requires dry pavement. In the event of
wet weather the project and ramp closure may be postponed.
Update information will be shared through local media if
scheduled changes are made.
For more information about this or other ODOT highway
project in eastern Oregon contact Public Information Oi cer
Tom Strandberg at 541-963-1330, h omas.m.strandberg@
odot.state.or.us. Check www.TripCheck.com for highway
closure/delay information.