God morgen! Det er tirsdag, og Morgenkaffen er servert.

Anyone that says that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in American elections must not be paying attention.

Tidligere førstedame, senator, presidentkandidat og utenriksminister Hillary Clinton, i en tale på American Bar Associations årlige konferanse i San Francisco i går.

DAGEN I DAG, i 2011: Michele Bachmann vinner straw pollen i Ames, Iowa, noe som skulle vise seg å bli høydepunktet på Bachmanns vei til Det hvite hus. Snaut to år senere kunngjorde hun at hun ikke søker gjenvalg til Representantenes hus i 2014. Min reportasje fra Ames: «Bachmentum i Iowa».

Og med det, her er dagens #ampol-saker:

I dag er det primærvalg til New Jerseys suppleringsvalg til Senatet. Newark-borgermester og Oprah-venn Cory Booker (D) er soleklar favoritt hos demokratene (5 grunner til at han kommer til å vinne), mens Steve Lonegan (R) ser ut til å stikke av med republikanernes nominasjon. Booker leder med 19,3 % mot Lonegan i RCP sitt gjennomsnitt av meningsmålingene foran valget den 16. oktober.

En tabloid og klikkvennlig vinkling på dagens primærvalg: «DESPERATE HOUSEWIFES» STJERNEN EVA LONGORIA DREV VALGKAMP FOR «DEN NYE OBAMA»

#AMPOL-NYTT

• Senatsracet i Kentucky i 2014 – det med senatets minoritetsleder Mitch McConnell (R), en Tea Party-utfordrer og demokraten Alison Grimes – kan fort bli tidenes dyreste senatsvalg. Washington Posts Chris Cillizza mener det kan komme til å toppe 100 millioner dollar. Vinneren av det hittil dyreste senatsvalget nevnes som en potensiell 2016-kandidat. Vet du hvem det er, uten å sjekke oversikten over tidenes dyreste senatsvalg? Fun/sad fact: Linda McMahon – Connecticut-damen med Wrestling-formuen – brukte nesten 100 millioner dollar av sine egne penger på sine to forsøk på å nå Senatet (i 2010 og 2012).
• Hillary Clinton talte i går på American Bar Associations årlige konferanse i San Francisco, der hun blant annet snakket om Voting Rights Act. Du leser mer om det nedenfor, og ser en video av talen her.
• President Obama legger ut på busstur i neste uke (22. og 23. august), den første i hans andre presidentperiode. Obama kommer til å besøke New York og Pennsylvania.
• Tidligere kongressmann og presidentkandidat Ron Paul lanserer tv-kanal, på nettet.
• I går skrev vi om en rodeoklovn med en Obamamaske på Missouri State Fair. Han er nå bannlyst fra arrangementet på livstid.

DAGENS LESESTOFF

«Clinton Calls for Action to Protect Voter Rights», av Amy Chozick (The New York Times): «Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton waded into the battle over voting rights on Monday in the first of a series of speeches in which she says she plans to address some of the most pressing issues in Washington. Mrs. Clinton, in remarks delivered at the American Bar Association conference here, condemned the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, which has paved the way for states to pass laws that would require voters to present government-issued photo identification at the polls. … Although she has largely avoided politics since leaving the State Department in February — devoting her time to delivering paid speeches to trade groups and finishing a memoir about her time as the country’s top diplomat — she said Monday that voting rights would be the first of several major issues, including transparency in government and the global impact of the United States’ foreign policy, that she plans to address in the coming weeks.» LINK.

«Holder seeks to avert mandatory minimum sentences for some low-level drug offenders», av Sari Horwitz (Washington Post): «Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced Monday that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences. The new Justice Department policy is part of a comprehensive prison reform package that Holder unveiled in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco. He also introduced a policy to reduce sentences for elderly, nonviolent inmates and find alternatives to prison for nonviolent criminals. Justice Department lawyers have worked for months on the proposals, which Holder wants to make the cornerstone of the rest of his tenure.» LINK.

«Weiner Opens Up in Rare Reporter Chat», av Andrew Grossman (Wall Street Journal): «Somehow, after two rounds of embarrassing scandal and seemingly non-stop press attention, it turned out Monday evening that there was still more to learn about former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner. Mr. Weiner, a Democrat running for mayor of New York, sat for an unusual, 35-minute-long interview with the editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed, Ben Smith, in a warm Chelsea bar packed with twenty-somethings clutching plastic cups of beers like Goose Island IPA and Shock Top. Mr. Weiner sipped an iced coffee, heavy on the milk. … Mr. Weiner also answered questions about his relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton. His wife, Huma Abedin, is a close aide to Ms. Clinton who recently took leave to work on Mr. Weiner’s campaign. Mr. Weiner said he hasn’t spoken to the Clintons in months. He acknowledged that his actions have hurt Ms. Abedin professionally as well as personally. But he seemed to suggest that there would be a 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, and Ms. Abedin would have a role in it. ‘Do you know what her role in Hillary’s 2016 campaign is going to be?’ Mr. Smith asked. ‘I do,’ Mr. Weiner said. ‘What will it be?’ ‘I’m not going to tell you.'» LINK.

VALGSNACKS

South Carolina-guvernør Nikki Haley (R) kommer til å annonsere at hun søker gjenvalg senere denne måneden. Guvernørene Rick Perry (R-Texas), Bobby Jindal (R-Louisiana) og Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin) kommer til å delta i valgkamp-kickoffen.

For de spesielt interesserte: North Carolina har vedtatt en ny lov som kan stokke om på 2016-primærvalgkalenderen. NC er, som de fleste andre delstatene, misunnelige på statene som kommer først i primærvalgkalenderen og som dermed får mest oppmerksomhet.

2016 WATCH

Sarah Palin liker Rand Paul, og har ikke sansen for Chris Christie.

«What’s the chatter on the presidential trail in Iowa, 2 1/2 years out?,» av Des Moines Registers Jennifer Jacobs – avisa som sammen med hotellnæringen i delstaten lever godt med det evinnelige fokuset på Iowas caucusvalg:

«Some social conservatives who caucused for Santorum have a deep crush on Cruz right now. … Rand had 450 people, but they went wild for him. They were just out-of-their-seats impressed with him. Cruz and Paul seem to appeal to the same crowd here. … There are some Republicans who think [Rick Santorum’s] star is faded, that it’s going to be just him and the Chuck Truck again, back to square one in Iowa. … Cruz made his inaugural trip to Iowa in mid-July, so he’s the freshest face in conservative circles in Iowa. Some Iowa Republicans speculate he could spell serious trouble for Santorum’s White House designs. …

Who hasn’t come to the state that people want to hear from? Republicans seem to want New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to visit. There’s an interest in the Iowa GOP in hearing from someone who isn’t a fire-breathing social conservative. Religious conservatives are a minority here. As Republican strategist Doug Gross put it, they don’t control primaries here, and in the end they don’t elect presidents or move national policy. Without a doubt, Democrats want Clinton, a former first lady and U.S. secretary of state, to make her first trip back to Iowa since the night she lost the Democratic caucuses in January 2008. Nothing is scheduled for either Christie or Clinton, but Iowa liberals hope the book tour for the memoir she’s writing will stop here.»

Post TVs «In Play» – ledet av The Fix’ Chris Cillizza og Jackie Kucinich – tok en prat med Jacobs i går om det tidlige fokuset på The Hawkeye State:

Helt til slutt…

(via Drudge)

…

«Mor­gen­kaffen» brygges av redak­tøren i sam­ar­beid med nett­si­dens prak­ti­kanter. Klikk her og abonnér, så ser­veres den i inn­boksen din hver morgen, mandag til fredag.