The Note: Clinton Courts Republicans
— -- NOTABLES
--CLINTON CAMP FORMALLY LAUNCHES 'REPUBLICANS FOR HILLARY' EFFORT: The Clinton campaign today announced the formal creation of a group to recruit Republican and independent voters dissatisfied with the GOP nominee, Donald Trump. The launch of the group, "Together for America," comes after months of scattered efforts by the campaign and its allies to woo anti-Trump Republicans, ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ notes. The group is composed of nearly 50 leaders in business, national security, foreign and economic policy, and politics, among other arenas, according to a list provided by the campaign. Their goal, however, is to eventually recruit grass-level support among conservatives, an aide said. http://abcn.ws/2aFPec3
--BACKSTORY: A flood of prominent Republicans in recent weeks announced their support of Clinton over Trump, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman and former CIA Acting Director Mike Morell. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, has also announced his backing of the Democratic nominee. This recruitment effort has been spearheaded by Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. Former Wall Street executive Leslie Dahl has also helped with outreach to business leaders. http://abcn.ws/2aFPec3
--RUDY DEFENDS TRUMP: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani today defended Donald Trump's controversial comments about the Second Amendment that Hillary Clinton’s campaign interpreted as a suggestion of violence against her. "We know Donald Trump is not particularly indirect," Giuliani told ABC News’ GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS on “Good Morning America.” "If Donald Trump was going to say something like that, he'd say something like that. "You know how speeches go. He was talking about how they [gun rights advocates] have the power to keep her out of office. That's what he was talking about," he added. "With a crowd like that, if that's what they thought he'd meant, they'd have gone wild." More from ABC’s RYAN STRUYK: http://abcn.ws/2aLkFr4 REFRESHER -- WHAT TRUMP SAID YESTERDAY: http://abcn.ws/2aDInjf
--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: On the day that Donald Trump said and then said he didn’t say that Second Amendment backers could stop Hillary Clinton from appointing judges, something remarkable happened in Wisconsin: Paul Ryan won his primary. By a lot. The House speaker won the GOP nomination by more than 46,000 votes out of 68,000 cast, for a ridiculous margin of 84-16. As is expected, and appropriate, Ryan was asked at his victory news conference to react to Trump’s latest. Ryan said he hopes Trump clears up what he said “very quickly.” He also said something that you didn’t have to read between any lines to read as clearly anti-Trump. “It’s simple to prey on people’s fears,” Ryan said. “That stuff sells, but it doesn’t stick. It doesn’t last.” That’s Ryanism, which the speaker is presenting as an alternative to Trumpism – even now, post-convention, post-endorsement. If Trump has done something right in appealing to his base, so, undeniably, has Ryan. You don’t win by nearly 70 points in a primary, in the post-Cantor age, with Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter lined up for your opponent, if you don’t know what your voters want, in terms of style and substance. Ryan’s plan has been what it has always been: To still be standing, whatever happens at the top of the ticket.
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and ADAM KELSEY
TRUMP ATTACKS HILLARY CLINTON AFTER MORE EMAILS RELEASED. The Trump campaign is responding to another newly-released batch of emails belonging to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, calling it "more evidence that Hillary Clinton lacks the judgment, character, stability and temperament to be within 1,000 miles of public power." The conservative group Judicial Watch released 44 unseen emails Wednesday, totaling 296 pages -- evidence it says of an inappropriate relationship between the State Department and Bill Clinton's philanthropic organization, the Clinton Foundation, ABC’s JUSTIN FISHEL reports. Judicial Watch obtained the documents as part Freedom of Information lawsuit against the State Department related to Clinton's top aide, Huma Abedin. http://abcn.ws/2b2ZTP5
CLINTON 'DISAVOWS' SUPPORT FROM FATHER OF ORLANDO SHOOTER. Hillary Clinton's campaign responded late Tuesday to criticism that she did not reject the support of Seddique Mateen -- the father of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen -- who made headlines earlier this week when he was seen sitting in the crowd at a Clinton rally in Kissimmee, Florida, ABC’s J.J. GALLAGHER notes. Earlier in the day, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump called on Clinton to denounce his presence at the campaign stop. "[S]he did not disavow," Trump told Fox News's Sean Hannity. "If that were me, this would be a headline all over the world about Trump. But she did not, as I understand it, disavow this man. He's got some pretty harsh views." Clinton's campaign spokesperson responded hours later, saying, "[S]he disagrees with his views and disavows his support." http://abcn.ws/2aKZToJ
NOTED: WHY ORLANDO SHOOTER'S FATHER WAS ABLE TO ATTEND CLINTON RALLY. The presence of Seddique Mateen -- whose controversial views on Afghan politics and homosexuality were made public in the aftermath of the June massacre at Pulse nightclub -- at a Hillary Clinton rally and his proximity to a candidate, raised eyebrows, notes ABC’s ADAM KELSEY. Mateen was seated in an area directly behind Clinton, within view of cameras broadcasting the event. A U.S. Secret Service official declined to discuss Mateen specifically, but said that "the roughly 3,000 participants at the Clinton rally in Florida all received the exact same screening." http://abcn.ws/2bcxUO0
TRUMP FACES INCREASING RESISTANCE FROM WITHIN HIS OWN PARTY. The split between the Republican presidential nominee and others in the GOP has been present for some time and was on display in Cleveland, where many notable members of the establishment skipped the convention, notes ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. Now with Collins' announcement and the actions of former Republican national security officials — dozens of whom signed a letter released Monday saying Trump "would put at risk our country’s national security and well-being" — the gap is widening. http://abcn.ws/2bcG1NQ
WHY WALMART MOMS ARE 'DISGUSTED' AND 'FRUSTRATED' WITH THE 2016 ELECTION. Independents. Hispanics. Moderates. Walmart Moms? There's another demographic to watch in the 2016 race: women with children who have shopped at Walmart in the last month -- dubbed Walmart Moms. A group of them from the battleground states of Ohio and Arizona gave their takes on the presidential election in focus groups on Tuesday night. The gatherings, spearheaded by Penn Schoen Berland and Public Opinion Strategies and closely watched by the media, originally began in 2008 as a way to study a pivotal group that makes up 14 to 17 percent of the American electorate. They voted for Obama in 2008 and 2012, and for the respective GOP and Democratic congressional majorities in 2010 and 2014. With three months left until Election Day, here's what Walmart Moms think about the 2016 race for the White House, courtesy of ABC’s RYAN STRUYK: http://abcn.ws/2aL07PD
TRUMP POSES BIGGER THREAT THAN ISIS, SAYS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE EVAN MCMULLIN. In perhaps his fiercest public rebuke of Donald Trump, independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin said Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric tramples American ideals, advances terrorists’ apocalyptic strategy, and even poses “a larger threat to our national security than ISIS itself.” In a speech earlier this year, McMullin, a former CIA officer who launched his campaign for president on Monday, hammered Trump for playing into an ISIS narrative that frames U.S. counter-terrorism efforts as a clash of civilizations between the West and Islam. ABC’s JOHN KRUZEL has more: http://abcn.ws/2aZJR8j
HOW MCMULLIN DECIDED TO RUN: McMullin, 40, said the absence of another viable conservative option for president was the motivation for his candidacy, reports ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. http://abcn.ws/2aZJXgr
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
THE REALITIES OF DONALD TRUMP'S ECONOMIC POLICIES. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump laid out his most detailed policy proposal to date on Monday. In it, he outlined his plan to address the country's economic future, adding specifics to the plan he released in September, writes ABC’s CANDACE SMITH. "These reforms will offer the biggest tax revolution since the Reagan tax reform," he said. ABC News looked to see what effects some of his proposals could possibly have on U.S. families and the economy. http://abcn.ws/2bcdlEG
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