The Note: Bush and Clinton At War
— -- NOTABLES
--JEB BUSH TO TAKE ON HILLARY CLINTON OVER ISIS: The former Florida governor is in California and will give a foreign policy address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley tonight. Here's a preview of what Bush will say, according to his campaign: "ISIS grew while the United States disengaged from the Middle East and ignored the threat. And where was Secretary of State Clinton in all of this? Like the president himself, she had opposed the surge...then joined in claiming credit for its success ... then stood by as that hard-won victory by American and allied forces was thrown away. In all her record-setting travels, she stopped by Iraq exactly once. Who can seriously argue that America and our friends are safer today than in 2009, when the President and Secretary Clinton -- the storied 'team of rivals' -- took office?"
--THEY'RE ALSO IN A TWITTER FIGHT -- ABC's LIZ KREUTZ rounds it up: First, Clinton tweeted this (along with a graphic noting that students have $1.2 trillion in student debt): "Cost won't be a barrier to an education. Debt won't hold you back. Read Hillary's plan: http://t.co/A4pWb3fOf4" Bush replied to Clinton's tweet by attaching a similar looking graphic that said: "100%. The increase in student debt under this Democratic White House." Clinton then replied to Bush's tweet with a graphic that had an "F" scribbled over the 100% and said: "The grade given to Florida for college affordability under Jeb Bush's leadership." Bush then replied to that tweet saying ".@HillaryClinton fixed your logo." Attached was a graphic showing an arrow facing upward and "taxes" written over and over in the background. (None of the tweets are signed by the candidates, so while they are from the campaign, they are not specifically from Bush and Hillary themselves.)
--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: Donald Trump may fade -- or crest at least -- and summer will give way to new storylines of fall. But he's already invented a new and remarkable campaign style that breaks molds and has uncanny ways of breaking through. Start with the public events, the circus-like gatherings where Trump Force One touches down and the Donald unleashes himself on a crowd, tipping the room toward him. Then add the continuous stream of telephone interviews, where Trump's voice lashes out in new and unpredictable ways, delivering on expectations almost without fail, and picking new fights from time to time. And then there's Twitter, which Trump uses as a nuclear campaign button whenever, it seems, a thought or insult occurs to him. For Republicans, and the broader political class, this represents the new normal. Nobody campaigns like Donald Trump. But there's no campaigning anymore that doesn't take into account that Donald Trump is in this campaign.
TODAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: Donald Trump is back on the trail and all eyes are still on the GOP frontrunner. Trump is in Michigan and will speak at the Genesee and Saginaw Republican Party Lincoln Day Event in Birch Run. Hillary Clinton continues her trip to New Hampshire. She is still pushing her college affordability plan and holds a town hall to discuss it at 11:15 AM in Claremont followed by a community forum focused on drug addiction -- a big issue in the Granite State -- at 3:30 PM. Rand Paul and John Kasich are also in New Hampshire. Ted Cruz continues his southern bus tour with stops in Mississippi and Tennessee. Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee campaign in Iowa. Lindsey Graham is in South Carolina. He will announce his "South Carolina National Security Coalition" At 10:30AM at the South Carolina Military Museum in Columbia.
THE BUZZ
with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
DONALD TRUMP: I'M NOT RULING OUT AN INDEPENDENT RUN...FOR NOW. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump told ABC News Monday he has no imminent plan to rule out a third-party run for president --- at least not yet. For now, Trump says he is sticking with his position that he could opt for a third-party run if the Republican Party doesn't treat him well. "It's absolutely possible that at some point I would change that," Trump told ABC News over the phone, but, he added, such a change "is not imminent." A senior Trump adviser told ABC News Monday morning that Trump was seriously considering promising not to run as an independent if he does not win the Republican nomination. But Trump called false any suggestion that he is on the verge of making such a pledge, ABC's JONATHAN KARL reports. http://abcn.ws/1Wdmniq
MEGYN KELLY 'WON'T APOLOGIZE FOR DOING GOOD JOURNALISM.' Megyn Kelly broke her silence on her Fox News show Monday night, responding to attacks by presidential candidate Donald Trump, who said he believes Kelly treated him unfairly during last week's GOP presidential debate that she co-moderated. On "The Kelly File" last night, Kelly said "I felt he was asked a tough but fair question." The question that sparked the Kelly-Trump dust-up was whether Trump's attack on the physical appearance of some women was appropriate for someone hoping to win the White House, ABC's JOHN SANTUCCI and KATHERINE FAULDERS note. "Mr. Trump has decided to not apologize and I certainly won't apologize for doing good journalism," she said. http://abcn.ws/1gYUcUJ
HILLARY CLINTON SAID SHE WENT TO TRUMP'S WEDDING FOR 'FUN.' Hillary Clinton suggested that it wasn't donations that made her go to Donald Trump's wedding a decade ago, it was the mogul and Republican candidate's abilities as an entertainer. During the recent GOP primary debate in Cleveland, Ohio, Trump claimed his money was the reason Clinton attended one his 2005 wedding to model Melania Knauss, but that's not how the former secretary of state remembers it. Following a campaign event in New Hampshire on Monday, Clinton laughed at Trump's assertion that she had "no choice" but to attend, according to ABC's LIZ KREUTZ. "I didn't know him that well. I mean I knew him, and I happen to be in Florida, and I thought it was going to be fun to go to this wedding, because it's always entertaining." http://abcn.ws/1IFU6I7
WHAT'S BEHIND TED CRUZ'S SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN SWING. Following the first Republican presidential debate, many GOP candidates hit the campaign trail in Iowa and New Hampshire, but Ted Cruz stopped south first, going on a bus tour as part of his campaign's effort to give southern states more play. Alabama could become a more a pivotal state for presidential contenders this election cycle after officials decided earlier this year to move up the state's primary to Super Tuesday. The move makes Alabama and five other southern states part of what's been dubbed the "SEC Primary," which will be held just a few weeks after the early presidential nomination contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, ABC's JESSICA HOPPER writes. "In my view, the SEC primary on Super Tuesday is going to play a huge role in insuring that the next Republican nominee for president is a true and a strong conservative which I believe is the way we win in November 2016," Cruz said. http://abcn.ws/1NlHIjX
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
4 WAYS PRESIDENT OBAMA IS TRYING TO SELL THE IRAN DEAL. President Obama is making several arguments for why members of Congress, and the general public, should back the nuclear deal with Iran. The White House's goal is to have at least one of these pitches resonate with anyone who has an opinion on the deal. ABC's ALI WEINBERG looks at the main ideas President Obama has been pushing as he tries to rally support. http://abcn.ws/1gumKo6
WHAT WE'RE READING
"RICK PERRY STOPS PAYING ALL OF HIS STAFF AS FUNDRAISING DRIES UP," by the Washington Post's Philip Rucker, Abby Livingston, Texas Tribune and Dan Balz. "Former Texas governor Rick Perry's presidential campaign is no longer paying its staff because fundraising has dried up, while his cash-flush allied super PAC is preparing to expand its political operation to compensate for the campaign's shortcomings, campaign and super PAC officials and other Republicans familiar with the operation said late Monday. Perry, who has struggled to gain traction in his second presidential run, has stopped paying his staff at the national headquarters in Austin as well as in the early caucus and primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, according to a Republican familiar with the Perry campaign who demanded anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. Perry campaign manager Jeff Miller told staff last Friday, the day after the first Republican presidential debate, that they would no longer be paid and are free to look for other jobs -- and, so far at least, most aides have stuck with Perry -- according to this Republican." http://wapo.st/1guQ2Dc
WHO'S TWEETING?
@RosieGray: Some great quotes in this @MichaelCBender piece on women who are still supporting Trump http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-08-11/these-women-backing-donald-trump-are-sticking-with-him-mostly- ...
@edatpost: NEW THIS AM: A HUGE turnout for @BernieSanders Monday night in Los Angeles. How does he do it? http://wapo.st/1KfgVm3 (w/ @WPJohnWagner)
@FergusCullen: .@RandPaul draws 150 @NECouncil politics & eggs @nhiop @saintanselm #nhpolitics #fitn
@TimAlberta: Hardest thing for campaigns to do is hang around when money's scarce and polling's low, hoping for 11th hour surge. Now every one can do so.
@nationaljournal: PHOTOS: How presidents and their families spend their vacations http://buff.ly/1HDAy5t