Campaigns Shift Focus to F.B.I. Director in Sunday Show Appearances
Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump were overshadowed in the presidential race on Sunday as a mysterious character dominated the spotlight from afar: James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I.
Mr. Comey, with his disclosure on Friday that the F.B.I. was reviewing additional emails that may be linked to Mrs. Clinton, effectively clouded the existing debate between the presidential candidates less than two weeks before Election Day.
The strange turn in the race found vivid expression on the Sunday news programs, where surrogates for Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump abandoned their usual messages and battled instead over Mr. Comey’s conduct and his personal credibility — with only scant insight into the substance behind his announcement.
Having only minimal information about what, exactly, Mr. Comey’s new review might entail, the two sides offered more insinuations than arguments with Election Day just nine days away.
For allies of Mrs. Clinton, the word of the day was “puzzled” — a term her allies wielded repeatedly as they implied, without quite saying, that Mr. Comey had staged an unforgivable political intervention late in the presidential race.
And for the Trump campaign, Sunday’s code word was “troubled” — the language Mr. Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, used freely on television to raise the notion, if not quite an accusation, that prosecutors had gone easy on Mrs. Clinton by declining to charge her with a crime in the investigation into her private email server.
But on multiple shows Mr. Pence repeatedly sidestepped Mr. Trump’s bitter past criticism of the F.B.I. for what he characterized as rigging the investigative process to benefit Mrs. Clinton.
“I’m one of millions of Americans that were troubled by that — why there’s this double standard when it comes to the Clintons,” Mr. Pence said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “I mean, no one is above the law.”
Mrs. Clinton, campaigning in Florida on Sunday, made no direct mention of Mr. Comey or the email controversy. But she has referred to herself as a fighter and vowed to overcome any late attacks, apparently nodding to the surprise developments that Clinton surrogates have denounced in more pungent language.
At a black church in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, Mrs. Clinton extolled the virtue of defeating adversity and urged congregants to vote against “a negative, hateful, bigoted vision” on the other side.
“Everyone — everyone — is knocked down in life,” Mrs. Clinton said. “And as my mother taught me and showed me, what matters is whether you get back up.”
The stakes of the clash, muddled as it is, are plainly higher for Democrats: Mrs. Clinton had led consistently in public polling ahead of Mr. Comey’s announcement, and appeared close to having a firm lock on the 270 Electoral College votes required for victory. Only a late plot twist, it seemed, might be capable of undoing her advantage.
It is unclear whether Mr. Comey’s actions could amount to such an unforeseen turn. Mr. Comey, who notified Congress on Friday that information uncovered in a separate case prompted fresh review of Mrs. Clinton’s emails, has not offered any additional comment on the matter.
Government officials have described the F.B.I.’s new information as emerging from an investigation into allegations that Anthony D. Weiner, a former congressman married to Huma Abedin, one of Mrs. Clinton’s closest aides, exchanged sexually themed messages with a teenager.
Mr. Comey faced intensifying pressure on Sunday from frustrated Democrats and critics from the world of law enforcement to say what, precisely, his agency had uncovered and what import, if any, it might have for Mrs. Clinton.
Clinton allies repeatedly accused Mr. Comey of breaching Justice Department protocols, by commenting on a confidential inquiry so close to an election, and expressed bewilderment at his conduct.
“It’s just extremely puzzling,” said Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, Mrs. Clinton’s running mate, on “This Week” on ABC. “I just have no way of understanding these actions. They’re completely unprecedented and that’s why I think he owes the American public more information.”
Robby Mook, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, took up the same phrasing, describing the campaign as “so puzzled” by Mr. Comey’s actions. He lamented that Mr. Comey had opened the floodgates to wild speculation by offering such a nonspecific announcement.
“The issue here is, if he doesn’t come out and get all the information on the table, he’s going to let anyone — any conspiracy theory — take the day,” Mr. Mook said on “Meet the Press.”
But Mr. Mook said he did not expect the F.B.I. director’s unusual action to cost Mrs. Clinton the election. On the contrary, Mr. Mook said Mrs. Clinton was faring well in early voting and could lock down one or more swing states, starting with Nevada, before Election Day.
A smattering of new polling information released on Sunday painted a mixed picture of the race in its final days, with Mrs. Clinton consistently holding an advantage but of uncertain size. It is likely too soon to see any direct effect from Friday’s events, casting additional uncertainty over the importance of the latest revelations.
Still, an ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll showed Mrs. Clinton’s advantage nationally slipping to just one percentage point, in a dramatic narrowing over the last week. And a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Mr. Trump retaking the lead in Florida.
But polling from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, conducted by Marist College, found Mrs. Clinton faring better in Florida, ahead of Mr. Trump there by one point, and leading him by six points in North Carolina. Democrats hold an overall advantage in the Electoral College and Mr. Trump must sweep nearly all the battleground states in order to win.
Perhaps reflecting that daunting geographic reality, Mr. Trump is spending several of the few days left in the race campaigning well outside the traditional band of states that decide presidential elections. He plans to campaign in New Mexico on Sunday and in Michigan on Monday — two solidly blue states where polling has shown Mrs. Clinton with a clear lead.
source
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/campai...id=UE07DHP
Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump were overshadowed in the presidential race on Sunday as a mysterious character dominated the spotlight from afar: James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I.
Mr. Comey, with his disclosure on Friday that the F.B.I. was reviewing additional emails that may be linked to Mrs. Clinton, effectively clouded the existing debate between the presidential candidates less than two weeks before Election Day.
The strange turn in the race found vivid expression on the Sunday news programs, where surrogates for Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump abandoned their usual messages and battled instead over Mr. Comey’s conduct and his personal credibility — with only scant insight into the substance behind his announcement.
Having only minimal information about what, exactly, Mr. Comey’s new review might entail, the two sides offered more insinuations than arguments with Election Day just nine days away.
For allies of Mrs. Clinton, the word of the day was “puzzled” — a term her allies wielded repeatedly as they implied, without quite saying, that Mr. Comey had staged an unforgivable political intervention late in the presidential race.
And for the Trump campaign, Sunday’s code word was “troubled” — the language Mr. Trump’s running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, used freely on television to raise the notion, if not quite an accusation, that prosecutors had gone easy on Mrs. Clinton by declining to charge her with a crime in the investigation into her private email server.
But on multiple shows Mr. Pence repeatedly sidestepped Mr. Trump’s bitter past criticism of the F.B.I. for what he characterized as rigging the investigative process to benefit Mrs. Clinton.
“I’m one of millions of Americans that were troubled by that — why there’s this double standard when it comes to the Clintons,” Mr. Pence said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “I mean, no one is above the law.”
Mrs. Clinton, campaigning in Florida on Sunday, made no direct mention of Mr. Comey or the email controversy. But she has referred to herself as a fighter and vowed to overcome any late attacks, apparently nodding to the surprise developments that Clinton surrogates have denounced in more pungent language.
At a black church in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, Mrs. Clinton extolled the virtue of defeating adversity and urged congregants to vote against “a negative, hateful, bigoted vision” on the other side.
“Everyone — everyone — is knocked down in life,” Mrs. Clinton said. “And as my mother taught me and showed me, what matters is whether you get back up.”
The stakes of the clash, muddled as it is, are plainly higher for Democrats: Mrs. Clinton had led consistently in public polling ahead of Mr. Comey’s announcement, and appeared close to having a firm lock on the 270 Electoral College votes required for victory. Only a late plot twist, it seemed, might be capable of undoing her advantage.
It is unclear whether Mr. Comey’s actions could amount to such an unforeseen turn. Mr. Comey, who notified Congress on Friday that information uncovered in a separate case prompted fresh review of Mrs. Clinton’s emails, has not offered any additional comment on the matter.
Government officials have described the F.B.I.’s new information as emerging from an investigation into allegations that Anthony D. Weiner, a former congressman married to Huma Abedin, one of Mrs. Clinton’s closest aides, exchanged sexually themed messages with a teenager.
Mr. Comey faced intensifying pressure on Sunday from frustrated Democrats and critics from the world of law enforcement to say what, precisely, his agency had uncovered and what import, if any, it might have for Mrs. Clinton.
Clinton allies repeatedly accused Mr. Comey of breaching Justice Department protocols, by commenting on a confidential inquiry so close to an election, and expressed bewilderment at his conduct.
“It’s just extremely puzzling,” said Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, Mrs. Clinton’s running mate, on “This Week” on ABC. “I just have no way of understanding these actions. They’re completely unprecedented and that’s why I think he owes the American public more information.”
Robby Mook, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, took up the same phrasing, describing the campaign as “so puzzled” by Mr. Comey’s actions. He lamented that Mr. Comey had opened the floodgates to wild speculation by offering such a nonspecific announcement.
“The issue here is, if he doesn’t come out and get all the information on the table, he’s going to let anyone — any conspiracy theory — take the day,” Mr. Mook said on “Meet the Press.”
But Mr. Mook said he did not expect the F.B.I. director’s unusual action to cost Mrs. Clinton the election. On the contrary, Mr. Mook said Mrs. Clinton was faring well in early voting and could lock down one or more swing states, starting with Nevada, before Election Day.
A smattering of new polling information released on Sunday painted a mixed picture of the race in its final days, with Mrs. Clinton consistently holding an advantage but of uncertain size. It is likely too soon to see any direct effect from Friday’s events, casting additional uncertainty over the importance of the latest revelations.
Still, an ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll showed Mrs. Clinton’s advantage nationally slipping to just one percentage point, in a dramatic narrowing over the last week. And a New York Times/Siena College poll showed Mr. Trump retaking the lead in Florida.
But polling from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, conducted by Marist College, found Mrs. Clinton faring better in Florida, ahead of Mr. Trump there by one point, and leading him by six points in North Carolina. Democrats hold an overall advantage in the Electoral College and Mr. Trump must sweep nearly all the battleground states in order to win.
Perhaps reflecting that daunting geographic reality, Mr. Trump is spending several of the few days left in the race campaigning well outside the traditional band of states that decide presidential elections. He plans to campaign in New Mexico on Sunday and in Michigan on Monday — two solidly blue states where polling has shown Mrs. Clinton with a clear lead.
source
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/campai...id=UE07DHP
