SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:56 P.M. ET: 

HILLARY NO GREAT DRAW – From Daily Caller:   Virginia Democrats were offered free tickets Friday to the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner in Virginia, Hillary Clinton’s first campaign stop in the critical swing state.  In an email leaked to Business Insider, supporters of Clinton’s campaign in Virginia were given a chance to forego the $30 price for tickets to the event, as long as they provide the code included in the email. The event was intended to support democratic fundraising for the state, but Clinton’s appearance and speech are geared toward garnering support among East Coast Democrats.  An operative for a 2016 Republican candidate took a shot at the Democratic frontrunner, referencing the irony surrounding her previous PR disaster of her speech prices.  “How bad is it out there for Hillary?  She’s gone from paid speeches to paying people to hear her speeches.”  The only good week for Hillary are those when she's out of the news.

MORE HILLARY, NOT GOOD – From Powerline:  Rich Lowry says that a “plugged-in lefty” tells him he believes that Bernie Sanders will defeat Hillary Clinton in both Iowa and New Hampshire. This scenario may sound far-fetched, but polling data suggests it could come to pass.  A new WMUR/CNN Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center from June 18 to 24, puts Sanders within 8 points of Clinton, 43-35 (with a margin of error of 5.2 percent). In Iowa, reportedly, a Suffolk University poll and a Morning Consult survey put Sanders within 10 points and 12 points, respectively, of Clinton.  Bloomberg’s polling is considerably more favorable to Clinton. However, it shows that her margins are shrinking.  I believe that all it will take to start a real backlash against Hillary in the Democratic Party is one more scandal.  Hillary's operating margin is very slim at this point.  Even her supporters don't seem to have much passion.

THE NERVE – From Reuters:  China accused the United States on Friday of being “haunted by spreading guns” and racial discrimination, in its annual tit-for-tat rebuttal to US criticism of China’s human rights record.  In a lengthy report carried by the official Xinhua news agency, China’s State Council Information Office said the United States “violated human rights in other countries in a more brazen manner, and was given more ‘red cards’ in the international human rights field”.  “The US was haunted by spreading guns and frequent occurrence of violent crimes, which threatened citizens’ civil rights,” the report said.  The China section of the annual US State Department report on human rights conditions globally, released on Thursday, said that “repression and coercion were routine” against activists, ethnic minorities and law firms that took on sensitive cases.  I'm sure the Chinese statement will be studied with approval in elite academic circles in the United States.

June 27, 2015