I soooo want this to play out.

Again? Really?

Hot Air's Ed Morrissey is reporting that Hillary Clinton is establishing a shadow DNC (Democratic National Committee) to compete against...the DNC:

Old and busted: Buying the DNC. New hotness: Competing against it. NBC News reports that former aides of Hillary Clinton have launched a new super-PAC that looks an awful lot like a campaign. Party Majority, NBC reports, will “act as a parallel structure to Democratic party committees at the national and state levels,” while remaining in the hands of “Clinton world,” as Jonathan Allen characterizes it later...

Eventually, Democrats would have figured this out anyway. The question remaining is why Party Majority and “Clinton world” wants to do this in parallel with the party rather than within the DNC itself, as Priebus did, which would increase its durability. The obvious answer to that would be control, and in the context of Hillary’s former grip on the DNC, it’s also probably the correct answer, too. “Clinton world” wants to act as kingmaker in the 2020 cycle, or perhaps operate as a platform to give Hillary a third shot at the White House by again locking out any competition early by monopolizing GOTV resources and cash.

As Ed notes, it's not like the DNC, which is currently busy shaking off the Clinton stranglehold, is going to stand by and just let this happen. They're bound to push back.

Instead of working together, which is not the Clinton style, this is probably going to turn into a street fight. The DNC vs. Party Majority could last right down to election day 2020, with the Democrats forwarding a candidate and Hillary Clinton running as an independent, both siphoning votes from each other and ensuring a president Trump second term. There's down ballot implications as well.

That's not the only possible outcome. There could be an eventual coming together, provided Hillary re-establishes her stranglehold on the DNC. That would also bode well for president Trump as she has proven to be a stiff, unfriendly, shrill and generally unlikable and unwinnable candidate. Other possibilities will present themselves along the way, but the thought of a knockdown drag out fight between Clinton and Biden bloodying each other prior to the general election is just too rich not to want it to happen.

Thursday Hillary Bash - paid comments

Via The Daily Beast, more Hillary Clinton subterfuge.  Back in April, and likely still continuing,  they're paying people to correct comments of Facebook and Reddit.

Citing “lessons learned from online engagement with ‘Bernie Bros,’” a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC is pledging to spend $1 million to “push back against” users on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Instagram...

The PAC was created in May of last year when it was spun off from the American Bridge SuperPAC, which is run by longtime Hillary and Bill Clinton supporter David Brock. Brock also founded the left-wing media watchdog website Media Matters for America.

...Due to FEC loopholes, the Sunlight Foundation’s Libby Watson found this year that Correct the Record can openly coordinate with Clinton’s campaign, despite rules that typically disallow political campaigns from working directly with PACs.

“SuperPACs aren’t supposed to coordinate with candidates. The whole reasoning behind (Supreme Court decision) Citizens United rests on (PACs) being independent, but Correct the Record claims it can coordinate,” Watson told The Daily Beast. “It’s not totally clear what their reasoning is, but it seems to be that material posted on the Internet for free—like, blogs—doesn’t count as an ‘independent expenditure.”

Okay, so they're possibly playing within the rules to the letter of the law (though clearly not the spirit) and nothing will be done to stop this during this election cycle.  The point though is that ethics is playiong no part in this campaign for Hillary Clinton and as a voter that should be a chilling concern for you. 

Marco Rubio on Hillary's SuperPAC

Seizing on Ted Cruz's thunderous applause, Marco Rubio goes after the media.  A little bit "me too", but it's well done.

Thursday Hillary Bash - The Spirit of the Law

Character-related link: standards for thee, but not for me.

Time Magazine has a story about Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign team renting a list of email addresses to a pro-Hillary Clinton Super PAC that is readying for Hillary Clinton 2016.  There's nothing illegal about it and Time of course, does it's best to assure us of that, despite the obvious skirting of the intent of the law.

Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign has rented its email list to Ready for Hillary, the super PAC laying the groundwork for a potential second attempt at the White House.

On Sunday, the group emailed the Clinton list offering free “I’m Ready for Hillary” bumper stickers, but unlike dozens of recent emails from the group offering swag, this one had the return address info@hillaryclinton.com.

Seth Bringman, a spokesman for the super PAC, told TIME on Sunday that “Ready for Hillary rented the hillaryclinton.com email list to connect with her past supporters.”

It’s not uncommon for defeated political campaigns to rent out their email lists to causes their sponsors support. Several other groups, including the President Barack Obama’s campaign and EMILY’s List, have previously rented out Clinton’s list.

Super PACs are not allowed to directly coordinate with candidates or campaigns, but because Clinton is not a declared candidate there is nothing improper about the list rental.

Illegal, no.  But "nothing improper" seems like a stretch.  Everyone knows Hillary Clinton will declare her intention at some point in the future.  When the list rental ceases at that point, or even sufficiently prior to that point, the benefits of skirting the spirit of the law will already have been realized by the Hillary Clinton campaign.  This is dirty politics, but not illegal.  This is the type of twisting of the wording of the law that the Clintons are known for using ("I did not have sex with that woman" ring a bell?).  

It is the type of thing that any Republican candidate will have as a headwind.  It will be an even stronger headwind when coupled with the mainstream media's attempts to white wash the issue for her.  Consider what Time would have said had this been done by a candidate like Mitt Romney, or any other Republican.  It would have been presented as a dirty-but-not-illegal political malfeasance that shows the true character of the candidate behind it - someone willing to skirt the spirit of the law for strictly personal gain.

Back at you, liberals, back at you.  If you are a liberal reading this, ask yourself what Elizabeth Warren would have to say about this if she were to be fully forthcoming about her opinion.

THIS is our guy?

Desperate times call for bad decisions?

Mitt Romney gets another key endorsement, proving once again he's er, on the side of the poor?  Really GOP - this is who we want to go with?  This is the guy who will stand up to Obama and the media's withering attacks on his flip flopping and more importantly his disconnect with the common man?

Restore Our Future, a super PAC supporting Mitt Romney, got a boost in February from an industry that is currently under fire by the Obama administration: payday lenders.

At least seven payday lending companies threw their support - and a cumulative $227,500 - toward Mitt Romney's super PAC in February, according to the PAC's latest FEC filings. Meanwhile, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is increasingly targeting those companies, which offer small, short-term loans secured against a customer's next pay-check, often with high interest rates, in its oversight of financial institutions.

Restore Our Future declined to comment to CBS News on whether or not they had made any overtures to the payday lending industry.

Obama bashes Super PACs - until he needs them.

That was then. This is now. A flip flop of convenience.

No, Gingrich isn't dropping out

Newt Gingrich has a press conference lined up for later tonight after the Nevada caucuses have probably wrapped up.  Speculation is circling that maybe he's dropping out.  I don't think so.

Instead of the traditional election night party, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will hold a press conference after the Nevada Caucus on Saturday, raising new speculation about his future in the race.

An e-mail sent to reporters on Saturday morning set the Las Vegas press conference for 11 p.m. to midnight Eastern time. It will be held at the Venetian, a hotel run by Sheldon Adelson, who has donated millions of dollars to the pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future.