Al Smith Charity Event. Hillary Clinton captures the Audience. Trump forgets the cardinal rule ," Know your Audience" and gets gets Tarred and Feathered.

Sound Off "I would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters and to all of the people of the United States that I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election, if I win." — Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Ohio, making light of the criticism that he is undermining a foundational principle of American democracy "People look at the Statue of Liberty and they see a proud symbol of our history as a nation of immigrants, a beacon of hope for people around the world. Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a “four.” Maybe a “five” if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair." — Hillary Clinton at the Al Smith dinner Donald Trump broke the first rule of public speaking Thursday: always know your audience. There is only one way to describe his performance at the Al Smith Dinner, a New York tradition that every four years features the major party nominees for a night of light-hearted humor to benefit Catholic charities: He bombed. The billionaire former reality show star misread the room of New York elites and the moment—which is used to playful reading and self-deprecating jokes but not political invective. He opened by comparing himself to the son of God and it went downhill from there, fast. By the end of his remarks he was being booed by the white-tie and begowned audience in the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel. He called his rival anti-Catholic and corrupt. “I don’t know who they’re angry at, Hillary, you or I,” Trump said. The answer was clear. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, delivered on the goal for the evening, with some laughs at her own expense and a few at her opponents'. Clinton's best line: "Every year, this dinner brings together a collection of sensible, committed, mainstream Republicans—or, as we now like to call them—Hillary supporters." Trump's best line: "You know, the president told me to stop whining, but I really have to say, the media is even more biased this year than ever before — ever. You want the proof? Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it — it’s fantastic. They think she’s absolutely great. My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech — and people get on her case." But the line of the night belonged to Alfred Smith IV, the master of ceremonies, commenting on the sad-but-true takeaway from the upcoming election: "If you were born into immense wealth or if your husband was president you can accomplish anything." Donald Trump is still not backing off his refusal to commit to honoring the results of the November election, and made light of criticism that he is undermining American democracy at a rally Thursday. Meanwhile, he walked out on a local news interview questioning him about controversial comments he has made. President Obama stepped up his criticism of Donald Trump and down-ballot Republicans for their refusal to walk away from him Thursday, as he continues to be one of Clinton's best surrogates on the campaign trail. First Lady Michelle Obama spent the day firing up voters in Arizona, a GOP-leaning state that Trump has put in play.

Al Smith Charity Event. Hillary Clinton captures the Audience. Trump forgets the cardinal rule ," Know your Audience" and gets gets Tarred and Feathered.

Sound Off "I would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters and to all of the people of the United States that I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election, if I win." — Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Ohio, making light of the criticism that he is undermining a foundational principle of American democracy "People look at the Statue of Liberty and they see a proud symbol of our history as a nation of immigrants, a beacon of hope for people around the world. Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a “four.” Maybe a “five” if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair." — Hillary Clinton at the Al Smith dinner Donald Trump broke the first rule of public speaking Thursday: always know your audience. There is only one way to describe his performance at the Al Smith Dinner, a New York tradition that every four years features the major party nominees for a night of light-hearted humor to benefit Catholic charities: He bombed. The billionaire former reality show star misread the room of New York elites and the moment—which is used to playful reading and self-deprecating jokes but not political invective. He opened by comparing himself to the son of God and it went downhill from there, fast. By the end of his remarks he was being booed by the white-tie and begowned audience in the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel. He called his rival anti-Catholic and corrupt. “I don’t know who they’re angry at, Hillary, you or I,” Trump said. The answer was clear. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, delivered on the goal for the evening, with some laughs at her own expense and a few at her opponents'. Clinton's best line: "Every year, this dinner brings together a collection of sensible, committed, mainstream Republicans—or, as we now like to call them—Hillary supporters." Trump's best line: "You know, the president told me to stop whining, but I really have to say, the media is even more biased this year than ever before — ever. You want the proof? Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it — it’s fantastic. They think she’s absolutely great. My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech — and people get on her case." But the line of the night belonged to Alfred Smith IV, the master of ceremonies, commenting on the sad-but-true takeaway from the upcoming election: "If you were born into immense wealth or if your husband was president you can accomplish anything." Donald Trump is still not backing off his refusal to commit to honoring the results of the November election, and made light of criticism that he is undermining American democracy at a rally Thursday. Meanwhile, he walked out on a local news interview questioning him about controversial comments he has made. President Obama stepped up his criticism of Donald Trump and down-ballot Republicans for their refusal to walk away from him Thursday, as he continues to be one of Clinton's best surrogates on the campaign trail. First Lady Michelle Obama spent the day firing up voters in Arizona, a GOP-leaning state that Trump has put in play.

What a Wanker: Trump booed at Al Smith dinner

 

 1948

Donald Trump's appearance at Thursday night's charity event took a tough turn as the crowd repeatedly booed the GOP nominee for his sharp-edged jokes about his rival Hillary Clinton.

 

While the New York fundraiser for Catholic charities always includes the two candidates getting laughs at their rival’s expense, Trump’s lines stuck closely to his campaign’s antagonistic rhetoric after an initially positive start.

 

The boos first began when Trump made a joke based on the debunked theory that Clinton had been fired from the Watergate Commission.

 

“Hillary is so corrupt that she got kicked off the Watergate Commission,” he said. "She got kicked off the Watergate Commission. How corrupt do you have to be to get kicked off the Watergate Commission? Pretty corrupt."

 

And they deepened when he pivoted to the hacked emails of her top aides.

 

“We’ve learned so much from WikiLeaks,” Trump said. “For example, Hillary believes that it’s vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private.”

 

The remark drew loud cries from the audience, to which Trump responded, “That’s okay. I don’t know who they’re angry at, Hillary, you or I.”

 

He prompted another round of booing when he referenced comments from those same leaked emails where aides wrote dismissively about prominent Christian conservatives in media. 

 

“Here she is in public pretending not to hate Catholics,” Trump said, pressing on through his prepared remarks.

 

At that line, Clinton turned to New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan with her eyebrows raised. 

 

Trump leaned in once more on the emails, chiding Clinton for an email where then-Democratic Party vice-chair Donna Brazile appeared to send her campaign a town hall question in advance.

 

“If some of you haven’t noticed, Hillary isn’t laughing as much as all of us,” Trump said.

 

“That’s because she knows the jokes — all of the jokes were given to her in advance by Donna Brazile.”

 

That’s not to say the jokes were all contentious. Trump drew rounds of laughter at the start of his speech with more light-hearted barbs.

 

At the top of his remarks, he acknowledged that the dinner traditionally includes a healthy mixture of self-deprecating jokes from the nominees as well as jabs at their opponents.

  

"They say when you do this kind of event, you always start out with a self-deprecating joke," he said. 

 

"Some people think this would be tough for me, but the truth is I'm actually a modest person. In fact, many people tell me modesty is perhaps my best quality, even better than my temperament." 

 

Trump joked that the dinner shows that the two candidates can be cordial to each other even after a rough debate. 

 

“Hillary accidentally bumped into me and she very civilly said: ‘Pardon me,' " he said. "And I very politely replied, ‘Let me talk to you about that once you get into office.’ ” 

 

And turning to his wife with a smile, Trump said “this one’s gonna get me in trouble, but not with Hillary,” before launching into a joke about the revelations that his wife’s Republican National Committee speech had been cribbed in part from a previous speech by first lady Michelle Obama. 

 

“The president told me to stop whining, but I have to say the media is more biased this year than ever before,” he said. 

 

“You want the proof? Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it, it’s fantastic, they think she’s absolutely great. My wife Melania gives the exact same speech and people get on her case. I don’t get it, I don’t know why.”  

Frantic Finish Clinton Versus Trump to be the 45th President of the USA

50 days: Clinton, Trump plot paths for campaign's frantic finish




Only 50 days remain in the presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, one of the most volatile and unpredictable political battles in U.S. history.

And there's just one week to go before the first, pivotal debate.


National polls show Clinton and Trump running neck and neck. Clinton begins with an advantage in the Electoral College, but Trump is closing fast in a number of battleground states, including Florida and Ohio.


The campaign has been unrelentingly negative and both Trump and Clinton are disliked by a number of voters, suggesting a nasty fight to the finish.



Clinton will have an advantage in money and ground game, but she is struggling mightily to energize the Democratic coalition that turned out for President Obama.



Trump’s supporters are enthused, but his favorability rating is even lower than Clinton’s. Vast swaths of the electorate don’t view him is presidential.

An unprecedented number of voters remain undecided, and third-party candidates are pulling more support than they have in decades.

Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein appear to be hurting Clinton, who polls suggest is struggling to win over young voters.

But neither Johnson nor Stein will make the stage at the first debate next Monday in Hempstead, N.Y. because both failed to meet polling criteria for inclusion.


The debate is the first of three that will take place over a 25-day period, with a vice presidential matchup also coming up on Oct. 4. It is widely expected to attract more viewers than any other debate in history.

Clinton, who is enduring one of the roughest patches of her campaign and who just returned to the campaign trail on Thursday from a dramatic illness, is raising the stakes for the next 50 days.


“The next 53 days will shape the next 50 years,” she said at a press conference in Washington, D.C. on Friday.



Clinton is looking to reclaim her standing after falling ill to pneumonia and a serious gaffe. She had to express regret for saying half of Trump’s supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables.”

She has also had difficulty shaking controversies at the State Department and Clinton Foundation.


Democrats say that over final 50-day stretch, Clinton needs to focus on turning out the African-American, Hispanic and young voters that formed the core of the Obama coalition.



Polls show Democrats are not excited about voting for Clinton and there are worries those voters will stay home on Election Day.



Clinton has acknowledged that she needs to give voters a reason to cast a ballot for her and not just against Trump. But Democrats say she has struggled to make that case.



“It’s amazing to me that after all this time she hasn’t been able to come up with anything better than we’re ‘stronger together’ and don’t vote for him,” said Douglas Schoen, an adviser to former President Clinton’s 1996 reelection campaign. “She simply doesn’t have a message that is catching on.”



Clinton will get an assist in that department from an all-star cast of surrogates.



President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, both hugely popular among black voters, hit the hustings for Clinton this week.



Progressive favorites Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are also campaigning for Clinton in Ohio, where polls show Trump has moved into the lead.



“Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders are as strong of allies as you can have,” said Democratic strategist Joe Trippi, a veteran of Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign. “There’s nobody even remotely as connected to the millennial generation on the Republican side.”



Trump’s challenge is different.



The GOP nominee, famous for becoming entangled in unnecessary controversies, appeared to right the ship after bringing in a new campaign team over the summer. He uses teleprompters at rallies now and has cut back on press conferences and media interviews.



But Trump was blown off course once again this week, getting into a spat with the female pastor at a black church in Flint, Mich. He also reignited the “birther” controversy, ultimately holding a press conference at his new hotel in Washington, D.C. to acknowledge publicly for the first time that he believes Obama was born in the U.S.



“He needs to stay on message,” said Grover Norquist, the president of the conservative group Americans for Tax Reform. “He needs to focus on the issues where he has the advantage, like the economy and how he would be the agent of change over Clinton, who is the status quo. He can’t become distracted when Hillary or the press throw shiny objects into the air.”



Trump also faces a stiff commander-in-chief test at the first debate, as polls show the public does not view him as presidential.



Trump must address that challenge in substance, in tone and in temperament, Republicans say.



“There is an acceptability threshold he has to pass,” said veteran GOP operative Charlie Black. “At the debate, he needs to gentlemanly and serious. We’ve seen more of that from him lately and he’s done good to shore this up with his policy proposals.”



There are any number of wildcards that could come into play in the final stretch.



Russian hackers and Wikileaks have already left their mark on the election, embarrassing former secretary of State Colin Powell and contributing to the ouster of the head of the Democratic National Committee. Both sides are bracing for further email dumps.



Then there’s the chance that Johnson or Stein could play spoiler to Clinton, a development that Democrats are starting to take seriously.



They vividly remember the 2000 election and still blame Ralph Nader for costing Al Gore the presidency in what turned out to be the closest presidential election in history.



“It’s entirely plausible to think that Johnson and Stein could tip one or two states to Trump,” said Democratic strategist Craig Varoga. “As disappointing as that outcome was in 2000, it pales in comparison with the prospect of an election accidentally in favor of a guy with an impulse-control disorder.”