Hillary outrunning her own privilege

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More classified documents found on Clinton’s private server

Email scandal raising questions about double standards

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Buzz Cut:
• Hillary outrunning her own privilege
• Reporter leaves no turn unstoned
• 2016 GOP Power Index: Voters pick Cruz, Carson and Carly as debate winners
• Jeb’s PAC surfaces with mega TV buy
• Shuttlecocks not fascism!

HILLARY OUTRUNNING HER OWN PRIVILEGE
Can Hillary Clinton be this bad at running for president and still get away with it?

For now, the answer would appear to be yes. But we are starting to see her reaching the tether of the privileges associated with being a president’s wife, her party’s 2008 runner-up and the beneficiary $2 billion campaign apparatus. It’s still her turn on the Democratic side, but an awful lot of Democrats are coming to wish there was another way.

The latest Fox News poll shows Clinton losing 10 points of her lead since last month on Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders. Sanders still trails by 19 points and isn’t going to be overtaking her anytime soon, but that’s kind of the point. For all her months of working and fighting and pandering, she’s still losing ground to a guy who complained about excessive deodorant choice in the American supermarket.

And she certainly gives Democrats ample reason.

Clinton, whose conduct as secretary of state is currently the subject of a federal criminal probe, joked in Iowa on Friday “You may have seen that I recently launched a Snapchat account,” she said. “I love it. I love it. Those messages disappear all by themselves.”

Ugh.

The team of writers who worked on that joke should be fired, en masse. Like George W. Bush’s jokes about the search for the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it wasn’t that it was too soon, it was that it would never be funny. In Clinton’s worldview, her shady email antics are but a distraction. She’s wrong.

Given the ethical allegations against Clinton plus the controversies surrounding her time in office, especially her Libya misadventure, hiding emails is serious stuff. And as the poll shows, 58 percent of registered voters believed she lied about having classified material on her private server. Fifty-four percent said doing so put national security at risk. Ha-ha-ha…

More telling, though, is what Clinton said to reporters about the widening FBI probe of her security practices. Clinton said she would “let whatever this inquiry is” run its course and not get distracted because that’s not what voters are asking her about.

Good grief!

So not only does the candidate denigrate the investigation while it is ongoing but also supposes that because of what people pre-selected by her campaign for human interaction say to her it’s not resonating with voters. If they were picking panda bears for her to nuzzle instead of Iowans, one assumes Hillary would be consumed with talk of delicious, leafy tender baby bamboo. Mmmmm, bamboo…

If the other candidate of privilege, Jeb Bush, were this bad at running for president he would have already had to quit the race. And anyone else would have had to have fled the country.

If Clinton really is this bad as a candidate, there is no amount of money or power that can rescue her. Democrats will instead have to place all of their hopes on a complete Republican meltdown. So at least they’ve got that going for them…

Reporter leaves no turn unstoned - Politico reports that the Democratic donors Biden would “need to be viable appear to be ruling him out” based on the responses of people who attended a Hillary Clinton fundraiser on Martha’s Vineyard. The reporter must next be headed to Wrigley Field to see who’s picking the Cardinals for the World Series.

2016 Democratic Power Index: Joe’s back from the beach - 1) Hillary Clinton; 2) Joe Biden [+1]; 3) Bernie Sanders [-1]; 4) Martin O’Malley; 5) Jim Webb; 6) Elizabeth Warren; 7) Lincoln Chaffee; 8) Al Gore [previously unranked]

WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE…
One hundred years ago this day, Charles F. Kettering was issued a patent on a gadget that made daily life for Americans less cranky, literally. The DELCO co-founder’s “engine-starting device” was the first electric ignition device for automobiles. As History.com describes, “In the early years of the automobile, drivers used iron hand cranks to start the internal combustion process that powered the engines on their cars. In addition to requiring great hand and arm strength, this system was not without certain risks: If the driver forgot to turn his ignition off before turning the crank, the car could backfire or roll forward...By making cars easier and safer to operate, especially for women, the self-starting engine caused a huge jump in sales, and helped foster a fast-growing automobile culture in America.”

Got a TIP from the RIGHT or the LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM

POLL CHECK
Real Clear Politics Averages
Obama Job Approval: Approve – 44.7 percent//Disapprove – 49.8 percent
Directions of Country: Right Direction – 28.6 percent//Wrong Track – 62.6 percent

2016 GOP POWER INDEX: VOTERS PICK CRUZ, CARSON AND CARLY AS DEBATE WINNERS
1) Jeb Bush; 2) Scott Walker; 3) Ted Cruz; 4)Carly Fiorina [+1]; 5) Ben Carson [+1]; 6) Marco Rubio [-2]; 7) John Kasich; 8) Donald Trump; 9) Mike Huckabee; 10) Rand Paul

On the Radar - Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, Jim Gilmore

The first major national poll after the nuclear blast that followed the first Republican presidential debate finds that out is in. The big winners in the Fox News poll out Sunday were primarily identified as outsiders.

Donald Trump remained in first place, but with some suggestion that his support may have peaked as his vote share held steady and respondents who watched the debate judge him to have done the worst. He is also the most disliked among GOP primary voters. With a new immigration policy proposal that makes Mitt Romney’s self-deportation sound like trip to the spa, Trump will continue to shape the race by setting the marker for (presumably) the ultra-restrictive position in the field. But there’s no indication that he’s done much to broaden his appeal.

Not so for Sen. Ted Cruz, who is running as a more practical version of Trump. Cruz got back into the top tier for the first time since immediately after his launch and, given his deep pockets, large organization and the failures of competitors like Sen. Rand Paul (down to 3 percent from steady double-digits this spring), it is again possible to imagine the Texas senator being in contention when the GOP gets to the home stretch for the nomination in March. Cruz may have been in politics and government off and on for 20 years, but his torch work in Washington clearly identifies him as an outsider’s insider.

However, the candidates who benefitted the most from the exposure of debate night are clearly those with the least political experience in the field: Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina. While candidates like Trump and Jeb Bush came to the process already famous, Carson and Fiorina are little known in the political space. Having tens of millions of people tune in has limited upside for candidates already known to all, but as Carson and Fiorina show, big potential for those they are getting to know and might just like.

As for those who are following a more traditional path to the nomination, including Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio: August is why you need deep pockets. All three saw their numbers fall as attention shifted to the biggest lights from the debate. But as pressure grows on candidates like Rick Perry, Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal and Lindsey Graham to abandon their bids for the good of the party, the field should sort itself out to the advantage of Bush, Walker and Rubio.

What would you say? - Give us your take on the 2016 Power Index we will share the best and brightest with the whole class. Send your thoughts to FOXNEWSFIRST@FOXNEWS.COM

[Watch Fox: Chris Stirewalt joins “The Real Story” in the 2 p.m. ET hour with the latest on who’s up and who’s down in the 2016 Power Index.]

THAR SHE BLOWS: JEB’S PAC SURFACES WITH MEGA TV BUY
AP: “The heavily funded super PAC backing Republican Jeb Bush will spend at least $10 million on television time in the earliest voting presidential primary states, the first salvo in a massive TV ad campaign… Officials with Right to Rise USA say they will buy time in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina TV markets and on cable television in the three states. Ads are scheduled to begin in Iowa and New Hampshire on Sept. 15, in South Carolina a week later and then run continuously through the end of the year. The plan, shared by the group with The Associated Press prior to Monday's buy, is the first evidence of Right to Rise USA's major strategic spending of the roughly $100 million it had on hand last month.”

[Fox News colleague Serafin Gomez reports that Bush will get the endorsement of a dozen Medal of Honor recipients in South Carolina today.]

Trump targets Walker in Iowa - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Billionaire businessman Donald Trump launched another attack against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker Saturday during a campaign stop at the Iowa State Fair. Trump, who has overtaken Walker as the front-runner in the crucial state in recent polls, slammed the Republican governor and his record in Wisconsin, saying ‘there's tremendous dissension all over the state.’ The real estate mogul said that economic growth under Walker has been ‘terrible.’ Trump's comments echoed attacks he has made against Walker in recent weeks. Until recently, polls showed Walker as the front-runner in Iowa and several other crucial early primary states. But several polls released in the wake of the first GOP debate have shown Walker dropping and Trump surging into a strong lead. ‘His growth is terrible in terms of the state,’ Trump said. ‘There's tremendous dissension all over the state.’”

Will it wash? - Walker and Fiorina are both on the Des Moines Register soapbox at the Iowa State Fair today.

[The first jury pool with a hot tub - Donald Trump today arrives for jury duty in Manhattan.]

“It’s not clear to me that Donald Trump is a Republican.” – Carly Fiorina in an interview with ABC News.

Carson’s Sunday strategy paying off - Des Moines Register: “Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson spent his Sunday morning at the church of a Des Moines civil rights activist. The former pediatric brain surgeon shared stories of his rise from inner-city poverty and posed solutions for a more promising future for America's youth. The Rev. Keith Ratliff, former president of the Iowa & Nebraska branch of the NAACP, called Carson an inspiration for the youth in his community. He also said Carson, the lone African-American among 15-plus viable GOP candidates, could reverse negative views some minorities hold toward the Republican Party.”

Kasich snags Alabama Gov. Bentley’s backing - The Alabama Media Group had the scoop on Gov. Robert Bentley’s endorsement today of his Ohio counterpart, John Kasich. While Kasich is no favorite to win the state’s March 1 primary (Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were first and second in 2012) Bentley’s backing shows a surprising Deep South strength for Kasich and might help garner some delegate count next year. Alabama Media also had this detail, which will make both men more unpopular in 48 other states: “Bentley, a University of Alabama graduate and huge Bama fan will present Kasich with a signed UA football by coach Nick Saban. Kasich, a graduate of The Ohio State University, in turn will present Bentley with a football signed by Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.”

[Kasich heads to South Carolina where he will officially file to appear on the state’s Republican primary ballot.]

Huck heading back to Israel - Far from walking back his comments about President Obama marching Israel to “the doors of the oven” with his Iran nuclear deal, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is highlighting his connections to the Jewish state with a trip this week. Huckabee told CNN he was heading to Tel Aviv on Tuesday for fundraising and meetings with officials.

Home game - Huckabee’s campaign points out that they are deeper and wider on the ground in early states than most. Huckabee’s daughter and campaign manager, Sarah Sanders, told Fox News First that while Jeb Bush’s campaign has gotten lots of attention for an expansive Iowa staff, Huckabee has more: 71 county chairs and 139 “grassroots leaders” across the state. In South Carolina, the campaign touts similar numbers. You can get the full rundown here.

SHUTTLECOCKS NOT FASCISM!
The Independent: “A Spanish athlete was forced to maintain a fixed smile at during a podium ceremony at the Badminton World Championships after organisers played the fascist version of her national anthem. During the ceremony in Jakarta, Indonesia Carolina Marin did not give anything away as the old lyrics to the Spanish national anthem “Royal March”, which have not been used since 1978, played alongside the music. The 22-year-old world number old smiled and pointedly looked ahead as the Spanish flag was raised to mark her victory over Indian player Salina Nehwal, the Local reports. The lyrics, composed by fascist poet Jose Maria Peman, were abandoned three years after the return to democracy after General Franco’s death in 1975.”

Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.