Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/618981
ByDarleneSuperville The Associated Press HONOLULU President Barack Obama, in a broad- side against the leading Republican presidential candidate, says billionaire Donald Trump is "exploit- ing" the fears that work- ing-class men in particu- lar have about the econ- omy and stagnant wages. In a year-end interview with NPR News, Obama said demographic changes combined with the "eco- nomic stresses" people have been feeling because of the financial crisis, tech- nology and globalization have made life harder for those who rely on a steady paycheck. "Particularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trou- ble in this new economy, where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their fami- lies on a single paycheck," Obama said in the radio interview released Mon- day. "You combine those things and it means that there is going to be poten- tial anger, frustration, fear. Some of it justified but just misdirected." "I think somebody like Mr. Trump is taking ad- vantage of that. That's what he's exploiting dur- ing the course of his cam- paign," Obama said. Trump has called for temporarily banning Mus- lims from entering the U.S., and has made inflam- matory comments about Hispanics and others. Obama sat for the in- terview last Thursday af- ter returning from the National Counterterror- ism Center, where he re- ceived a pre-holiday brief- ing on potential threats to the homeland. He said pub- licly after the briefing that his national security advis- ers had no specific, credi- ble information suggesting a potential attack against the homeland. Obama left Washington on Friday for two weeks of vacation in his native Hawaii. Obama told NPR News that criticism of his strat- egy to combat the Islamic State group was warranted and that the administra- tion's failure to keep the public informed about his strategy for countering the IS group has contributed to the public's fears that not enough is being done to protect them. "I think that there is a legitimate criticism of what I've been doing and our administration has been doing in the sense that we haven't, you know, on a regular basis I think described all the work that we've been doing for more than a year now to defeat ISIL," Obama said, using an acronym for IS. The group claimed re- sponsibility for an attack in mid-November that killed 130 people in Paris. U.S. authorities blamed the shooting deaths of 14 people at a holiday party in San Bernardino, Califor- nia, earlier this month on a radicalized married cou- ple who pledged allegiance to an IS leader in a Face- book post after they had opened fire. Both attacks heightened fearsofterrorismintheU.S. and led to widespread crit- icism of Obama's response. If people don't know about the thousands of airstrikes that have been launched against IS tar- gets since August 2014, or aren't aware that towns in Iraq once controlled by the group have been retaken, "then they might feel as if there's not enough of a re- sponse," Obama said. "And so part of our goal here is to make sure that people are informed about all the actions that we're taking," he said. Obama outlined the strategy against IS in a nationally televised ad- dress from the Oval Office on Dec. 6, days after the San Bernardino shooting. Before leaving on vacation, Obama also tried to soothe public anxiety about at- tacks on the U.S. through a series of public appear- ances with members of his national security team fol- lowing separate briefings on the Islamic State group and on potential threats to the U.S. homeland. In the interview, Obama urged keeping the situa- tion in perspective, saying IS "is not an organization that can destroy the United States." "But they can hurt us, and they can hurt our peo- ple and our families. And so I understand why peo- ple are worried," he said. "The most damage they can do, though, is if they start changing how we live and what our values are, and part of my message over the next 14 months or 13 months that I remain in office is to just make sure that we remember who we are and make sure that our resilience, our values, our unity are maintained." "If we do that then ISIL will be defeated," Obama said. ELECTION 2016 Ob am a: T ru mp exploiting blue-collar fe ar s in c am pa ig n JIMCOLE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton gets fresh tomatoes at Dimond Hill Farm between campaign stops in Hopkinton, N.H. Clinton knows from three previous trips down the presidential campaign trail, politicking means picking your food carefully. By Lisa Lerer The Associated Press WASHINGTON Gone are the Bojangles fried chicken and biscuits. When supporters offer Tex-Mex, she takes a salad. And forget about cake (most of the time). As Hillary Clinton knows from previous presiden- tial campaigns, politicking means picking your food carefully. When her staff laid out a spread of pulled pork and beans from Whole Hog Cafe after a stop in Little Rock, the Democratic front-run- ner ate a single tomato slice. Though she forgoes a Fitbit to count her steps, Clinton sends her campaign team to scout out secluded tracks for brisk walks and hotel rooms with space for yoga. And she swears by the weight- loss power of hot peppers, keeping red pepper flakes on hand when on the road. Since launching her 2016 bid in April, Clinton has em- barked on a diet and fitness regimen, hoping to stave off the pounds that afflict most every White House hope- ful amid the near-sleepless nights and temptation of nonstop snacking during a campaign. Among supporters, her significant weight-loss — along with a style make- over — are subjects of con- stant chatter. "She must be doing some- thing right that I couldn't figure out how to do polit- ically and gastronomically," said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, a Clinton backer who said he added 35 pounds, ballooning up to 195, during his eight- month campaign for presi- dent in 2004. "I don't know how people stay trim on the campaign trail." All candidates have their tricks for staying fit while hustling for votes. President Barack Obama has often complained about the fried food that is a staple of cam- paign stops and is a regular at the gym, even when trav- eling. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul avoids fries. Republi- can Jeb Bush is a devotee of the Paleo diet, claiming to have lost 40 pounds by cut- ting carbs and dairy. "I'm not skinny," he said this fall. "I'm perfectly sized." But no politician's looks have been scrutinized as long or as intensely as Clin- ton's, whose appearance has been a topic of conversation for decades. "It's a daily challenge," she said earlier this year to a participant in a Face- book chat, whoo asked how she manages to get camera- ready each morning. "I do the best I can — and as you mayhavenoticed,somedays are better than others!" Unlike her self-described "vegan-ish" husband and gluten-free daughter, aides say Clinton doesn't follow a specific diet plan. Instead, they say, she goes by the gen- eral rule of "if it looks bad for you, it's probably bad for you." Her one secret: Raw hot peppers. At a farm stand in Davenport, Iowa, this fall, Clinton detailed scientific research on the health ef- fects of spicy food, telling a cashier that she finds eat- ing raw jalapenos "so re- freshing." "During 2008, there was not a day or a minute that went by that we didn't have a full plate of raw jalapenos," said Jamie Smith, a 2008 campaign aide, who once re- ceived a pep talk from Clin- ton about her inability to handle their heat. "She ate them like potato chips." Former and current staff- ers describe her food tastes as surprisingly normal, say- ing she snacks on cheddar Goldfish crackers. While she would occa- sionally indulge when she campaigned for fellow Dem- ocrats during the 2014 elec- tions, snacking on fried chicken and Mexican food, Clinton has now adopted more discipline. Dining with supporters in Washington earlier this month at Etto, an Italian restaurant known for its wood-fired pizzas, Clinton optedforacauliflowersalad. At the Iowa State Fair, an annual calorie-rich stop for candidates, she picked up a pork chop on a stick, but ate onlythreebites inpublic. (Aides say she later ate the whole chop — not because it was a political obligation, but because she said it was "delicious.") Clinton has been fairly candid about the struggles of eating right during her time in public life and has over the decades met with a series of nutrition gurus. In the 1990s, with low-fat di- ets on the rise, she invited Dean Ornish into the White Housetolightenupthepres- idential menu. Eventually, Clinton fired chef Pierre Chambrin, known for his butter-laden French fare, and hired Wal- ter Scheib, who special- ized in lower-fat food — and would agree to provide meal-by-mealcaloriecounts. Any diet that Clinton tried, Scheib did, too. Many of their meals cen- tered on fish and vegetables. Clinton favored hummus, had a collection of more than 100 hot sauces and a weakness for mocha cake and Dove ice cream bars — a favorite ofdaughterChelsea. After leaving office, both Clintons flirted with the low-carb South Beach diet before meeting Mark Hy- man, the director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, who advocates for a mix of whole foods, proteins and natural fats. But some campaign rig- ors call for special indul- gences. After her 11-hour testimonybeforecongressio- nal Republicans in October, Clinton took a quick break from calorie-counting. "I had my whole team come over to my house, and we sat around eating Indian food and drinking wine and beer," she said in an inter- view with MSNBC the next day. "That's what we did. It was great." Clinton avoids usual cam pa ig n di et p it fa ll s with hot peppers, yoga FITNESS By Lisa Lerer The Associated Press WASHINGTON There may be one more Clinton on the campaign trail this fall. Chelsea Clinton, the only child of former Pres- ident Bill Clinton and for- mer Secretary of State Hill- ary Clinton, announced Monday that she is expect- ing her second child next summer. "'Charlotte is going to be a big sister! Feeling very blessed & grateful this hol- iday season," Chelsea Clin- ton wrote on Twitter. Chelsea Clinton, 35, and her father have largely stayed off the campaign trail since Hillary Clinton launched her Democratic bid for the presidency in April. Both have said they plan to intensify their public political roles after the New Year in an effort to boost Clinton's campaign just six weeks before the first round of primary vot- ing. The soon-to-be sec- ond-time grandparents tweeted out their congrat- ulations on Monday. "Your dad and I could not be happier for you, Marc, and Charlotte. We're so excited to meet our sec- ond grandchild!" wrote Hillary Clinton. Bill Clinton added: "Christmas comes early! @HillaryClinton and I are thrilled for Chelsea, Marc and Charlotte's growing family in 2016!" In a September inter- view on NBC's "Today," Chelsea Clinton said her mom was always game for singing "The Wheels on the Bus" to granddaughter Charlotte and was helping her learn to walk. The younger Clinton is author of the book "It's Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!" — an illustrated guide for young people looking to become involved in polit- ical and social causes. EXPECTING Bill and Hillary Clinton to become grandparents, again | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2015 10 A