Clinton camp touts 40 more GOP endorsements

Hillary Clinton’s campaign on Thursday unveiled endorsements from 40 high-profile Republicans.

During a Thursday conference call with reporters, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta announced the new endorsements, including former GOP administration officials, former lawmakers and prominent Republicans in battleground states.
It's only the latest effort from the campaign to tout support among Republicans and independents who oppose GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Together for America, a campaign group focused on building support for Clinton among those groups, launched in August and announced 50 endorsements at the time.

“The growing group of Republicans and Independents who are backing Hillary is a testament to how important the choice is in this election,” Podesta said on the call.

“It's really not about Republicans or Democrats, it's about what country we will be, it's about our children's future and which candidate can bring people together to get things done, which candidate is fit to serve the office of president and commander in chief.”

Thursday’s endorsements include former Reps. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), Claudine Schneider (R-R.I.), and John Schwarz (R-Mich.) in addition to former officials in the Ford, Reagan and George W. Bush’s administrations.

Schneider, who served in Congress from 1981 to 1991, said Monday’s presidential debate showed Clinton is ready to serve in the White House.

“I was proud to be elected as part of the Reagan Revolution, to work with President Reagan, and to be a Republican my entire adult life,” she said on the call. “But when it comes to this election, I have to put my country ahead of my party, and that means voting for Hillary Clinton.”

The rollout also comes one day after former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) endorsed Clinton during a campaign event in the battleground state of Virginia alongside her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.).



http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/298549-clinton-campaign-rolls-out-40-more-gop-endorsements

RINOs at best.

Insiders: Trump had a terrible week
'Clinton should send him a thank-you note,' said a Wisconsin Republican.

Hillary Clinton's performance in this week’s presidential debate — and the subsequent fallout — is fueling a surge of confidence about her prospects in the battleground states that will decide the election.
That’s according to The POLITICO Caucus — a panel of swing-state activists, strategists and operatives. Virtually all Democrats and nearly half of Republicans said the debate has given Clinton some much-needed momentum in the Electoral College battlegrounds where Trump had been gaining ground.

For many insiders, Clinton’s good week was driven more by Trump's demeanor and behavior in the days after the debate — which included re-litigating his 19-year-old comments about the then-Miss Universe’s weight gain —as what happened on the stage at Hofstra University. Ninety-three percent of Democratic insiders said the debate and the days since helped Clinton in their state, with only 7 percent saying it didn’t have an impact on the race. No Democrats said the week benefited Trump. (Immediately following the debate on Monday night, insiders in both parties said Clinton delivered the better performance.)
“Not only did Trump lose the debate, he's spent the entire week on the defensive over his stupid comments about a woman's weight,” said a Nevada Democrat — who, like all insiders, completed the survey anonymously. “His inability to let anything go makes every controversy ten times worse. The fact that ‘registrarse para votar’ was a top Google search nationally after the debate is a good sign for Clinton in states like Nevada.”
“Volunteers are energized,” added an Ohio Democrat. “More volunteers are showing up in the campaign offices the last couple days.”
The claim of an increase in volunteers was echoed by a Wisconsin Democrat: “We have seen more people coming into the campaign office, asking how they can help and wanting to get involved.”
Democrats were perhaps most encouraged that Clinton’s debate performance — and the negative news coverage that ensued over the past few days — may have stalled or reversed Trump’s climbing poll numbers over the past few weeks.
“Nationally and in Colorado the polls were tightening, and Trump was on the move,” a Democrat there said. “The debate completely stopped that. Hillary not only crushed Trump, she did it while still coming across as incredibly likable. That's a huge deal for her, and will help lock in her support with suburban women and younger voters.”
“It's not just the debate — which was awful for him — it was the coverage of the debate,” a Wisconsin Democrat added. “He's getting killed.”
Republicans were more divided about the week's impact: 47 percent said it would have no impact at all — but roughly just as many, 43 percent, said it would help Clinton. Only 10 percent said Trump would benefit.
“The debate helped to stop the hemorrhaging in the Clinton campaign's messaging and management when Trump went off-script and went back to the Trump of the primary debates,” said a Wisconsin Republican. “Clinton should send him a thank-you note.”


http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trump-bad-week-insiders-228928

Former GOP Sen. John Warner endorses Hillary Clinton
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-gop-sen-john-warner-endorses-hillary-clinton/

Excerpt:

“I will, when I go into the booth cast a vote for the Clinton-Kaine ticket,” Warner said early Wednesday morning. “There’s no question about it.”

Warner, a former chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former U.S. Navy, Secretary endorsed the Democratic ticket at a northern Virginia event, joining vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine.

The GOP senator called Kaine a “beautiful man, inside and out” who exemplified “unquestioned integrity.”

Warner praised Clinton’s bipartisan spirit while she was a U.S. senator for New York -- she served on the Armed Services Committee while he was chairman -- and he lauded her temperament during the first presidential debate Monday.