Dems divide as Trump bumps

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On the roster: Dems divide as Trump bumps - Surveys say Trump bounces out of Cleveland - Cyber experts say Russia behind Dem email hack - Audible: It’s a lock - Ohhhh, you said yaaaanggg…

DEMS DIVIDE AS TRUMP BUMPS
PHILADELPHIA – Hillary Clinton’s selection of mildly moderate Tim Kaine as her running mate suggests she believed her troubles with the Democratic base were behind her.

If that was ever true, it certainly isn’t today.

After a hack attack and document dump from designed to do maximum damage ahead of this week’s Democratic National Convention, Clinton finds herself in something of a crisis.

Clinton dissed the supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders with her Kaine pick on Friday, but even before the disappointment could really set in, the leaks seemed to confirm worst beliefs the Bernie Bros. had about their party. Soon-to-be-former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her staff are revealed to be for Clinton and against Sanders.

Their preferences are not surprising, given the fact that Sanders isn’t even a Democrat and represents a major general-election risk compared to known-commodity Clinton. But what was revealing was the amount of scorn…

“This is a silly story,” Schulz wrote in May in one of the stolen emails discussing Sanders. “He isn’t going to be president.”

Ouch.

So what is it going to take to fix this? It depends on how seriously the party takes the very real threat of a Donald Trump victory this fall.

Democrats have been laboring under the assumption that Clinton can’t lose and because of that sanguine view, have not minded giving her plenty of trouble in 2016.

But as new polling suggests, this remains a tight contest.

And Clinton knows it, too. The pick of Kaine reaches out to moderate, suburban, white voters and is reflective of her belief that she needs to take Trump seriously. She has reason to.

Trump embraces an issue set that is substantially to the left of previous GOP nominees and focuses in on key issues for Sanders’ supporters – particularly opposition to free trade and the rejection of a traditional interventionist foreign policy.

So what would be enough for the Democratic left on this long, hot Philadelphia day?

Clinton will have to hope that Schultz’s head on a platter, a rousing speech from left-wing heroine Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and what will probably be a roof-raising endorsement speech from will be enough to get past the pain.

But it will really come down to how worried Democrats are about Trump. They ought to be increasingly concerned…

[Today’s speaker lineup: Sen. Bernie Sanders, First Lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren who will be introduced by Rep. Joe Kennedy III.]

TIME OUT
One of the oldest Catholic Churches in Philadelphia, St. Mary’s, has a unique history in smoothing the ties of alliance with Catholic countries: “Through St. Mary’s, Catholicism received some recognition from the Philadelphia establishment during the Revolutionary War because Catholic support was needed for the cause and also to curry favor with France, our Catholic ally. George Washington attended a Mass on Oct. 9, 1774 while the First Continental Congress was meeting, as did John Adams, a New England bigot if there ever was one. In a letter home to Abigail, he described the beauty of the chapel and the liturgy but couldn’t resist adding, ‘I wonder how Luther ever broke the spell.’ The Continental Congress attended four services at St. Mary to mark national milestones, and George Washington made a return visit in 1787.”

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SCOREBOARD
Average of national presidential polls: Clinton vs. Trump: Clinton +2.4 points
Generic congressional vote: Democrats +2.8

SURVEYS SAY TRUMP BOUNCES OUT OF CLEVELAND
The post-convention bump for Donald Trump seems to be for real, at least according to two new polls out today. CNN’s poll has the Republican nominee up by 3 points over his Democratic opponent and the CBS News poll has the two of them tied.

Both polls, taken the weekend between the Republican National Convention’s wrap up in Cleveland, show that Trump has definitely received a bump out of his party’s gathering, up 6 points since the last CNN poll while Clinton saw a 4 point dip. CBS News didn’t see much of a change in polls with both candidates tied heading into the conventions a few weeks ago and remaining tied with two-point bump for each.

CYBER EXPERTS SAY RUSSIA BEHIND DEM EMAIL HACK
Bloomberg: “Is the Kremlin trying to throw the U.S. presidential election to Donald Trump? It sounds like something out of a spy novel. But many cybersecurity experts, as well as the Hillary Clinton campaign, are now saying the Russians are responsible for last month’s hack of the Democratic National Committee. That hack has dominated the news cycle on the eve of the Democratic convention, and for good reason. The emails disclosed Friday by WikiLeaks are embarrassing. They show DNC chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, plotting to undermine the campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders, confirming the worst suspicions of the left flank of the party. She resigned her post on Sunday.”

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Post-Cleveland, GOP remains united around attitude, divided on ideology - Politico

How Pennsylvania could flip from blue to red - NRO

Trump would win if the election were held today - FiveThirtyEight

The problem with the “Hillary standard” - WaPo

Trump says it’s “a joke” that Russians hacked DNC to help him - WashEx

Trump, Pence to campaign with N.C. governor today - WashEx

AUDIBLE: IT’S A LOCK
“It’s not just Republicans that want presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in prison.” – A Bernie Sanders’ supporter at a rally in Philadelphia says it’s not just the GOP that want Hillary Clinton in prison according to the WSJ report on scene.

FROM THE BLEACHERS
“So John Kerry says air conditioners are as big a threat as ISIS. If Democrats really believe that, wouldn't it make sense that the Democrats show their commitment to civilization and not run the air conditioning at Wells Fargo arena this week during the convention? What a statement about their commitment to battling climate change they would make giving speeches in tee shirts (with matching pants of course) and using hand held fans.” – Wayne Van Heuvelen, Urbandale, Iowa 

[Ed. Note: Don’t give them any ideas, Mr. Van Heuvelen!]

“I don’t look at Trump’s speech as doom and gloom.  I look at it as truth that the media, the editorial pundits, the elite Washington crowd and all who hang on to the delusion that we are doing very well…do not want to rock the money boat…Trump is the message of hope, the one who will, by his efforts, bring us back into a law and order country in control of itself, not the bureaucrats in Washington,  and unusual as he is politically, is the real, true hope for upcoming generations, not to mention the current one.” – Julie George, Muskegon, Mich.

[Ed note: Typical Republican acceptance speeches have focused on protecting what’s good about America from what’s bad about the government. Trump’s speech argued that the battle is substantially lost and that “only” he can fix it. You can certainly say there was hope in it on the grounds that Trump argues his election will fix what’s wrong and restore the country. But certainly the moment he described for the nation now was a dire and frightening one.]

“Chris you need to grow a van dyke & put on glasses.” – Michael J. McCue, Cream Ridge, NJ

[Ed. Note: The licensing fees Steve and Jonah charge are way too much!]

OHHHH, YOU SAID YAAAANGGG…
The Independent: “A woman reportedly asked a tattooist to draw a Yin Yang symbol on her back only to discover he had instead created an image of a penis alongside the word ‘f***.’ An Austrian court heard the 21-year-old woman asked the man, who was a hobby tattooist, to draw the Chinese symbol onto her. He reportedly said he was happy to do so, and designed a template for the design which he showed her, according to The Local. But once he began applying the ink to her back, he apparently disregarded the template, and instead drew an impromptu phallic design and a swear word. The woman reportedly only realized what he had done when she went home and looked at the tattoo in the mirror.  Appearing in court in the small city of St. Pölten, where the incident occurred, the man was asked by the judge why he had drawn the penis, to which he replied: ‘Just because.’”

Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Sally Persons contributed to this report. Want FOX News Halftime Report in your inbox every day? Sign up here.