Feb 18, 2015 5 min read

Wake Up To Politics - February 18, 2015

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015
629 Days Until Election Day 2016It's Wednesday, February 18, 2015, I'm Gabe Fleisher for Wake Up To Politics, and reporting from WUTP world HQ in my bedroom - Good morning: THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL!!!
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2016 Central

Bush to Make First Major Foreign Policy Speech Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a likely Republican presidential candidate, will deliver his first major foreign policy address today since announcing he was “actively” exploring a presidential run. Bush’s speech will at the Chicago Council of Global Affairs, speaking before over 700 attendees.
The Big Question: How will Bush separate himself from his father and brother, as he hopes to succeed them in the White House, especially on the issue of Iraq?
According to excerpts, Bush will attempt to establish himself as his “own man”. “I recognize that…my views will often be held up in comparison to theirs’ – sometimes in contrast to theirs’. I love my father and my brother. I admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions they had to make,” he will say.
“But,” he will continue, “I am my own man – and my views are shaped by my own thinking and own experiences. Each president learns from those who came before – their principles… their adjustments. One thing we know is this: Every president inherits a changing world… and changing circumstances.”
Bush will still partly embrace his father and brother, Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, respectively, saying he is “lucky” to have family members “who both have shaped America’s foreign policy from the Oval Office.”
Bush’s speech comes as Reuters reports a list of 20 veterans of both Bush administrations who are now advising the former Florida governor on foreign policy. This list includes former Homeland Security secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, former national security advisor Stephen Hadley, former deputy national security adviser Meghan O’Sullivan, former CIA directors Porter Gross and Michael Hayden, former secretary of state James Baker, and former World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz.
Many of these individuals were key players in the invasions of Iraq that occurred in both Bush presidencies. Hadley, Hayden, and Wolfowitz were all top architects of George W. Bush’s Iraq War strategy.
Paul Plans April Announcement Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has set April 7 as a tentative date to announce a presidential campaign, the New York Times reported.
Announcing in April before his potential rivals do gives Paul a head-start in fundraising and campaigning in the early states, such as Iowa, where the first caucus of the presidential primary season will be held in 10 months.
Paul’s announcement would most likely come from his home state in Kentucky, and be followed by a swing of the early primary states.
The Big Question: Can he run for re-election in the Senate as he runs for President?
No, according to Kentucky law – although Paul is trying to change that. He will try to convince the state Republican Party next month to change their presidential caucus date to May, while keeping their Senate primary on a different day – meaning he will not have to appear on the same ballot twice.
2016 Travel Watch Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a likely presidential candidate, will travel to Nevada today, a key early primary state.
Rubio will travel to the state as part of his book tour, which also includes stops in early primary states Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire.
Also today, Gov. John Kasich (R-OH), a potential presidential candidate, makes his first visit to one of the early states, South Carolina. Kasich will meet with top party officials there.
2016 Election Link Roundup Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, potential rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, met in December: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/17/hillary-clinton-met-with-elizabeth-warren-in-december/
Former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has begun fundraising for a potential challenge against Republican Sen. Rob Portman: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/02/17/ted-strickland-ex-ohio-governor-weighs-a-senate-run/
Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Florida congressman, is considering a run for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat, calculating that having Hillary Clinton at the top of the ticket will help her, and that Rubio won’t run for re-election, instead focusing on a presidential bid: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/debbie-wasserman-schultz-considering-senate-bid-115254.html?hp=l1_3Kitzhaber Resigns, Oregon Gains New Governor
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s resignation becomes effective Wednesday, meaning fellow Democrat Kate Brown will take over the helm of the state. Brown, currently Oregon’s Secretary of State, will become the second women to serve as governor of the state, and first openly bisexual governor in U.S. history.
Kitzhaber, who has been elected governor a historic four times, resigns after allegations that his fiancée Cylvia Hayes used her influence as First Lady of Oregon to advance the agenda of interest groups she was being paid by. Both Kitzhaber and Hayes are undergoing state and federal criminal ethics investigations.
He announced his resignation Friday, and as it is effective today, Brown will be sworn in before a joint session of the Oregon legislature. She will serve until a November 2016 special election, where she may run to serve out the remaining two years in Kitzhaber’s term.

White House Watch

The President’s Schedule At 2:15 PM, President Obama will meet with Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, still recovering from a January exercise accident that caused temporary blindness in one eye.
At 3 PM, the President will sit down with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.
Finally, at 4:15 PM, it is Obama’s turn to address the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, which gathers leaders from over 60 nations to “highlight domestic and international efforts to prevent violent extremists and their supporters from radicalizing, recruiting, or inspiring individuals or groups in the United States and abroad to commit acts of violence.”
The summit comes in light of recent terrorist attacks in Ottawa, Canada; Sydney, Australia; Paris, France; and Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as attacks across the Middle East by the Islamic State group.

Capitol Hill News

Congressional Status Update Both houses of Congress are not in session today.
LINK: Celebrity Treatment for U.S. Lawmakers in Cuba The Washington Post reports: “Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)…Tuesday afternoon…wrapped up a four-day visit with colleagues Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.).”
“Klobuchar is the lead sponsor of a bill to end the 53-year-old trade embargo with Cuba, which made little news here…but which was splashed across the front pages in Cuba, she said. So prominent was it that when she walked down the streets, Cubans recognized her.”
“And Dec. 17, the day President Obama announced that he would begin normalizing relations with Cuba, is a date they revere. In the markets, she told us, artwork is sold using the newspaper front page of Obama’s decree.”
More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2015/02/17/6baa5678-b6bf-11e4-9423-f3d0a1ec335c_story.html