Battleground ’16: Democrats Nominate Clinton and Close Ranks To Take on Trump

Hillary Clinton made history on Tuesday when she became the first woman officially nominated for president by a major American political party.

PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton made history on Tuesday when she became the first woman officially nominated for president by a major American political party.

The Democratic national convention that kicked off Monday here in Philadelphia has been marred by controversy and infighting, but with high-profile entreaties from Michelle Obama and former rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton’s history-making moment showed signs of healing. Now, with heavy hitters Vice President Joe Biden, President Barack Obama, and new VP-pick Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine slated for Wednesday, the party is training its fire on Trump and his “unsteady, unfit and dangerous approach to national security,” according to the Clinton campaign.

The Trump camp and the Republican National Committee, fresh off their own chaotic convention, haven’t tried to hide their happiness at the rancor over a suspected Russian hack of Democratic National Committee servers and later dump of 20,000 DNC emails by Wikileaks. The emails showed the supposedly-neutral organization plotting against Sanders and forced out DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a close Clinton ally.

But now the U.S. intelligence community has told the White House it has “high confidence” Russia orchestrated the hack, putting the Trump campaign on defense over whether Moscow leaked the emails to cause maximum damage to Clinton while benefiting her friendlier rival.

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A Muslim Lawmaker Appeals to Bernie’s Camp to Stop Trump

Rep. Keith Ellison was an early champion of Sanders. But now he’s urging Bernie’s backers to get behind Clinton to defeat what he calls an existential threat: Donald Trump.


“The first thing that the secretary of state did was say that they were not honest and not fair … She set the tone for some actors in our country and gave them a signal.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2011, accusing then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of meddling in Russian elections


Tim Kaine Thinks ISIS Fight Needs Congressional Approval

Will Commander in Chief Hillary Clinton listen to him?

Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, was passed up on Barack Obama’s shortlist in 2008 in part because of national security inexperience. He spent the years since making his mark on foreign policy by waging a quixotic campaign to limit President Obama’s — and his successors’ — power to wage war against the Islamic State. It could now put him at odds with a Commander in Chief Hillary Clinton.


Moscow Brings Its Propaganda War to the United States

From Ukraine to Germany, Russia has been meddling with elections for years. Now it’s trying to destroy Hillary.

The dump of nearly 20,000 internal Democratic National Committee emails online dropped a bombshell into the 2016 election, but perhaps more dramatic than the revelations is the apparent expansion of a Kremlin intelligence agency tactic common in Europe: waging cyberwar to influence politics.


32M

The number of Americans who watched GOP nominee Donald Trump’s closing night speech on Thursday at the Republican convention in Cleveland, Ohio, last week.


Suspected Russian Hack Claims First Democratic Scalp, as DNC Chair Resigns

Just before the Democratic convention, a likely Russian-orchestrated hack of DNC emails whacks Wasserman Schultz and sows havoc in an already divided party.

Sign up for FP’s Editors’ Picks newsletter here to receive Battleground ’16, our take on the presidential race, each Wednesday through November.

Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images