As Hillary Rodham Clinton weighs a second presidential run, there are certain steps she needs to take along the way to a decision. She took a couple of them in San Francisco Monday afternoon in a speech about voting rights. 
 
 Clinton can afford to keep a low public profile more than the other potential 2016ers. But she simply can't be a non-factor on the big issues of the day. If she were to do that, she'd face criticism that she was absent from the political debate for a couple of years, assuming she makes an announcement after the 2014 midterms. 
 
 She dove right into one big issue on Monday, weighing in with a lengthy take on a matter that has fired up the Democratic base. 
 
 When the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in June, Democrats all the way up to President Obama expressed swift and sharp disappointment. Meanwhile, the state-by-state battle over voter ID laws has also been a galvanizing force for party activists and leaders. The debate has thrust issues of race into the forefront of the political conversation. 
 
 “Anyone that says that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in American elections must not be paying attention,” Clinton told the annual gathering of the American Bar Association. She also criticized the court's ruling and singled out the states that have, in her view, the most voting repressive laws. 
 
 In all, it was a pretty impassioned address. It was also a necessary one for the potential White House contender. 
 
 Clinton doesn't need to cobble together a coalition in early nominating states or build the trust of key donors and power brokers like some other potential candidates do. Many Democrats are already lining up -- privately and publicly -- to support her, and she'd be the instant Democratic front-runner the moment she says the words. 
 
 But Clinton does need to get in the game, so to speak, on some key issues. Voting rights is one, not only for the reasons mentioned above. It's also a topic over which Clinton could begin to make her case as the heir apparent to Obama and try to persuade parts of his coalition -- minorities and liberals in particular -- to back her. 
 
 Gay marriage, for which she announced her support in March, is another. And there are more. 
 
 All of which brings us to the second thing Clinton did: She signaled that she will be weighing on other big issues in the coming months. 
 
 "Next month at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, I will talk about the balance and transparency necessary in our national security policies, as we move beyond a decade of wars to face new threats," Clinton said. "And later in the fall, I will address the implications of these issues for America's global leadership and our moral standing around the world." 
 
 The question of whether Clinton will run for president remains up in the air. Until she says yes or no, her every move will be scrutinized. And she'll be expected to weigh in, to some extent, on the issues the Democratic base are most concerned with right now. And that's just what she did on Monday. 
 
 Fixbits: 
 
 It's Election Day in New Jersey! Polls close at 8 p.m. ET. 
 
 Obama will tout his economic message on a bus tour of New York and Pennsylvania next week. 
 
 North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed an extensive voter ID law. 
 
 South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) is officially running for reelection. 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Democrats will have a candidate for the West Virginia Senate race to announce shortly. 
 
 Ron Paul said it's "safe to say" he is not a fan of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). 
 
 The NRCC is hitting Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) with a $10,000 ad buy. 
 
 Anthony Weiner said the coverage of his campaign has been "fairly brutal." 
 
 Must-reads: 
 
 "Gansler said rival Brown relying on race in Maryland governor’s contest" -- John Wagner, Washington Post 
 
 "Eric Holder’s ‘mandatory minimums’ gamble" -- Josh Gerstein, Politico ||||| — Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday signed into law a bill requiring voters to produce a photo ID when they go to the polls, and it was immediately met with legal challenges in federal court questioning its constitutionality. 
 
 The new law brings sweeping changes to the states election process by reducing the early-voting period by a week, abolishing same-day voter registration and ending straight-party voting. 
 
 North Carolinians overwhelmingly support a common-sense law that requires voters to present photo identification in order to cast a ballot, McCrory said in a statement. I am proud to sign this legislation into law. Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and we should expect nothing less for the protection of our right to vote. 
 
 North Carolina becomes one of 34 states with some form of voter ID law. The voter ID provision goes into effect for the 2016 election. 
 
 Now the fight moves from the political arena to the courts. 
 
 Just hours after McCrory signed the bill, two separate lawsuits challenging the law were filed in federal court in Greensboro. A third lawsuit is expected to be filed in state court Tuesday. Congressman G.K. Butterfield also asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to take swift and decisive action by using any legal mechanisms to protect North Carolinas voting rights. 
 
 With one stroke of the pen, McCrory has effectively reversed 30 years of progress and reinstated practices similar to the discriminatory Southern Strategy adopted by the Republican Party in the 60s and 70s, said Butterfield, a former N.C. Supreme Court justice. Without question, today is a shameful day for Republicans in North Carolina. 
 
 In a speech last month, Holder said his office was going to challenge a Texas voter identification law and made it clear his office would not stop with Texas. 
 
 Even as Congress considers updates to the Voting Rights Act in light of the courts ruling, we plan to fully utilize the laws remaining sections to ensure that the voting rights of all American citizens are protected, he said. 
 
 Brings state in line 
 
 McCrorys decision to sign the bill was no surprise. He voiced strong support for voter ID during his campaign for governor last year. 
 
 The measure turned into a politically explosive issue when thousands descended on the legislature as part of the Moral Monday protests and many black lawmakers began comparing the bill to efforts to bring back the old Jim Crow race laws. 
 
 Emotions were made even more raw after the legislature dumped a bill passed by the House after extensive public hearings, for the more hard-line measure pushed through by Senate conservatives in the final days of the session with little public airing. 
 
 McCrory held no public signing ceremony as he has done with other legislation. Instead, he put out written and video news releases extolling the measure. 
 
 While some will try to make this seem to be controversial, the simple reality is that requiring voters to provide a photo ID when they vote is a common-sense idea, McCrory said. This new law brings our state in line with a majority of other states throughout the country. 
 
 The push for such voter ID laws began in the mid-1990s and have been passed by Republican majorities over the strong opposition of Democrats. 
 
 The idea of requiring identification to vote has since become popular with the public, and McCrory cited several public opinion polls showing 67 percent to 75 percent of North Carolinians favoring voter ID. But he did not mention other polls that show other provisions in the bill  such as shortening the early voting period  are quite unpopular with Tar Heel voters. 
 
 A new survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm in Raleigh, found that only 33 percent of voters support reducing early voting by a week, while 59 percent opposed it. Only 21 percent of voters support eliminating straight-party voting, while 68 percent oppose it. 
 
 McCrory did not campaign on reducing early voting, and remained largely silent about the legislatures proposal to do so. But on Monday, McCrory noted that while the new law cuts the early voting period from 17 days to 10, it still requires local county boards of elections to provide "the same amount of early voting hours as during the 2012 election. 
 
 The governor portrayed the changes as well within the norm of other states. He said a majority of states do not allow straight-ticket voting, and that North Carolina will now be one of 37 states that do not allow a person to register and vote on the same day. 
 
 An Election Day mess 
 
 Republican lawmakers hailed the measure. 
 
 I think its going to have a huge dividend for the state of North Carolina as far as restoring a level of confidence in government by making the electoral process secure, said Sen. Bob Rucho of Matthews. To say we are extreme is nothing more than liberal rhetoric, inflammatory rhetoric. 
 
 He predicted the voting changes would withstand any legal challenges. 
 
 But his Democratic colleague, Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte, had a different take. 
 
 Its another step backwards for the state of North Carolina and a blow for those who are interested in fair and open elections, Graham said. What this does is set forth artificial barriers for those who have constitutional rights to vote. There is no voter fraud in North Carolina. The only fraud is what the GOP is presenting to the citizens. 
 
 In Greensboro on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina Foundation and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed a suit targeting the elimination of the week of early voting, the end of same-day registration, and the prohibition of out-of precinct voting. It seeks to stop North Carolina from enacting those provisions, arguing it would unduly burden the right to vote and discriminate against African-American voters in violation of the U.S. Constitutions equal protection clause and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 
 
 This law is a disaster, said Dale Ho, director of the ACLUs Unions Voting Rights Project. Eliminating a huge part of early voting will cut off voting opportunities for hundreds of thousands of citizens. It will turn Election Day into a mess, shoving more voters into even longer lines. 
 
 When Florida reduced its early voting period in 2012, Ho said, it resulted in people waiting in lines for hours, and hundreds of thousands of people giving up in frustration. 
 
 During the 2012 election, 2.5 million ballots were cast during the early-voting period, or more than half of North Carolinas total electorate. More than 70 percent of African-Americans used early voting during the 2008 and 2012 general elections, compared to 52 percent of white voters. 
 
 The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, the Philip Randolph Institute, N.C. Common Cause, and Unifour Onestop Collaborative. 
 
 The same group is expected to file a suit in state court on Tuesday challenging the voter ID provision, alleging that under Article 6, Section 1 of the N.C. Constitution, the legislature doesnt have power to set new voter qualifications. 
 
 Also on Monday, the N.C. NAACP and the Advancement Project filed their own suit, alleging that the law violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bans voting procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups. 
 
 The groups also allege that it violates the 14th and 15th amendments because it imposes unjustified and discriminatory electoral burdens on large segments of the states population and will cause the denial, dilution, and abridgment of African-American voters fundamental right to vote. 
 
 Each of the laws changes, on their own, would be harmful to the voting rights of North Carolinians, said Penda Hair, co-director of the Advancement Project. Taken together, this is the worst voter suppression law in the country. It viciously targets nearly every aspect of the voting process. 
 
 Staff Writer Ann Blythe contributed to this report. 
 
 Christensen: 919-829-4532 ||||| Anthony Weiner says he's still seeing a therapist, hints at Hillary Clinton run 
 
 (CBS News) Anthony Weiner, the embattled New York mayoral candidate gave a candid interview Monday night, opening about about his sexting scandal, politics and his family. 
 
 The interview took place at a Manhattan bar, but Weiner skipped the traditional beer for an iced coffee. The interview was with the viral Web site BuzzFeed. Weiner admitted he's still getting help in the wake of his sexting scandal. "Apparently you never go out of therapy. They just have this thing where you just remain in forever. But I still see a therapist from time to time." 
 
 Throughout the 45 minute sit-down interview, he opened up about everything from his campaign, to his wife Huma Abedin -- a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton. Asked if he knows what Abedin's role would be in Clinton's 2016 campaign, would be Weiner said, "I do." Pressed on what it will be, Weiner said, "I'm not telling you." 
 
 Asked, "Do you feel like you've damaged her place in that world?" Weiner said, "I feel that what I've done is hurt her, yeah. It's hurt her professionally. It's hurt her personally." 
 
 The interview came hours after a new poll revealed that a record 80 percent of New York voters have an unfavorable opinion of the mayoral hopeful. 
 
 While Weiner didn't mention the polls or the scandal in a new TV ad, he did call out his critics, saying, "Look, powerful voices have made it clear from the very beginning that they didn't want me to win. But this isn't about what they want. They've gotten their way for far too long." 
 
 Throughout the interview, Weiner blasted what he called the media's "brutal" coverage of his campaign, at one point taking aim at a major newspaper: "The New York Times -- wait for it -- doesn't want me to win," he said. "This is the same people who brought you a third term for Mike Bloomberg. I don't care, and it makes them nuts that I don't care!" 
 
 He didn't even spare host - and BuzzFeed editor-in-chief - Ben Smith. Weiner said, "You can do this or show video of cats, whatever it is you do at Buzzfeed." 
 
 Weiner also said he hasn't spoken to the Clintons in months. He said, in general, he's keeping his distance from his colleagues in public life because he knows he has a lot to prove to them. 
 
 Watch Elaine Quijano's full report above. ||||| In a speech at the American Bar Association, Â Hillary Clinton says that there is a new effort to obstruct voting "often undercover of addressing a phantom epidemic of election fraud" and takes issue with the Supreme Court's recent Voting Rights Act ruling. 
 
 Hillary Clinton offered some of her sharpest political rhetoric since stepping down as secretary of state on Monday when she roundly criticized stricter voter ID laws and a recent Supreme Court decision striking down a central component of the Voting Rights Act. 
 
 Clinton, who is viewed as a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, decried a series of state laws enacted — often by Republicans — to tighten restrictions on who may vote in elections. 
 
 Clinton criticized a "sweeping effort to construct new obstacles to voting, often under cover of addressing a phantom epidemic of 'election fraud.'" 
 
 And she said that those laws have driven a disparity in access to the ballot, which Clinton claimed threatened to undermine the thrust of the Voting Rights Act, the historic, 1960s-era civil rights legislation. 
 
 "Now, not every obstacle is related to race, but anyone who says that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in American elections must not be paying attention," she said. 
 
 Clinton later urged her former colleagues on Capitol Hill to fix "the hole opened up by the Supreme Court's ruling," warning otherwise that "historical progress toward a 'more perfect union' will go backward, not forward." 
 
 Her remarks at times resembled a formal policy address delivered by candidates for office — a tantalizing glimpse of the presidential campaign many Democrats hope Clinton will mount come the next election. 
 
 To improve access to voting, Clinton also encouraged the Justice Department to more rigorously enforce voting laws left on the books, and urged Congress to pass legislation to replace portions of the Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court this June. She also urged fellow lawyers, gathered for the American Bar Association's annual meeting in San Francisco, to step up their own efforts on behalf of voting rights. 
 
 She also endorsed legislation to make voting easier in a variety of ways, for instance by working to reduce waiting times at polling places, and address disparities in access to voting. 
 
 The speech was one of the most overtly political steps taken by Clinton in the six months since she left the Obama administration to return to private life. 
 
 Moreover, Clinton said today's speech was a first in a series of remarks she'd deliver this year; the former New York senator said she would address transparency of national security programs next month, and speak to global issues this autumn. 
 
 The speeches help lay the groundwork for and outline the rationale for a potential Clinton presidential candidacy in 2016. She spoke to the barriers many communities have faced throughout U.S. history — an oblique reference to the possibility that her own candidacy might shatter the glass ceiling for women seeking the presidency. 
 
 "Despite our founding principles and the many ways our Constitution protects individual liberties, we do — let's admit it — have a long history of shutting people out. African Americans, women, gays and lesbians, people with disabilities," she said. ||||| Hillary Clinton’s next phase of life — the co-leader of a family foundation — has officially begun. 
 
 She’s coming in to her husband’s signature foundation, which has been renamed for all three Clintons — their daughter has an increased presence. It’s the first time the two elder Clintons, both of whom have led independent careers as political actors, are yoking their careers together doing essentially the same type of work at the same place and at the same time since the 1992 campaign. It also comes after the foundation’s first ever internal review, which was driven in part by Chelsea Clinton, officials said. 
 
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 reset TOP 5 other Dem women to watch Hillary’s thoughts on 2016 
 
 There’s a new CEO at the foundation, one who hails from Clinton’s former consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. Hillary Clinton’s new office at the foundation’s Manhattan headquarters is slowly taking shape as the chiefs of staff to all three Clintons hold a standing meeting every Monday to arrange schedules and events — three offices staffed with people who have worked together for years. 
 
 Her arrival comes two years after a period of review and, to some extent, self-reflection at the foundation, one that coincided with daughter Chelsea’s increased role. 
 
 (PHOTOS: Who’s talking about Hillary 2016?) 
 
 Exactly how it will all work remains to be seen: How often will the Clintons travel together? What types of projects will they take on together? How much of an expansion will Hillary Clinton provide the foundation? 
 
 And one early challenge for Clinton is clear: using an exceptionally visible platform to focus on issues she cares about, and would be key to a presidential campaign if she runs, without getting roped into the daily morass of churning politics in Washington. 
 
 Clinton is joining the foundation launched by her husband and a coterie of former White House aides and advisers — former counselor to former President Bill Clinton, Doug Band, and later, health adviser Ira Magaziner as well as others 12 years ago. She joins it two years after her daughter, Chelsea, expanded her role and as the foundation is seeking to become a permanent structure instead of what officials describe as a “startup,” one with an endowment that can fund it well into the future and survive beyond the former president’s lifetime. 
 
 (PHOTOS: How close are Huma Abedin and Hillary Clinton?) 
 
 The foundation provides her with a formal apparatus at a time when she has no government staff structure for the first time in decades. And the foundation is also the structure that has provided sustenance for the extended Clintonland for over a decade, a sprawling world of donors, supporters and close friends who have done projects with, or have worked for, the organization at different points. 
 
 “I think having a place such as this for a platform gives her a great launching pad into 2016,” said former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. “It gives her, quite frankly, a great place with which to create or begin to create the message she would use should she decide to run.” 
 
 He added, “The people that ultimately are successful [between public service and a campaign] have an apparatus with which they can devote their energy into something they’re going to talk about again. Those that don’t have that, that just sort of float between one or the other without something strong to give them a sense of direction and purpose, those are the people I think tend not to be a success.” 
 
 (PHOTOS: Bill and Chelsea Clinton) 
 
 Recent history is rife with examples of national candidates who ran for the presidency while they were out of government office and failed to use the time wisely. Instead of diving into a singular issue set and letting it become his defining cause, Mitt Romney roamed the country raising money and collecting political chits. When he finally ran for president, he had never managed to create a platform that would help him politically. And Rudy Giuliani was unable to parlay six years of paid speeches and political appearances into something more substantive in his 2008 presidential campaign. 
 
 Clinton is in a different category than Romney or almost any other potential nominee has been. She is not at risk of a lack of political definition; overexposure is a bigger concern. The foundation provides a chance to talk about a specific issue set while also giving her an organizational buffer from the press and the daily grind of politics, at least for a time. 
 
 “It gives her a chance to work on important, discreet issues,” said David Axelrod, President Barack Obama’s longtime adviser. “She would be wise, however, to stay out of the updraft of the Washington tizzies du jour for as long as possible. It is a mixmaster that grinds you down.” 
 
 (PHOTOS: The Clinton-Obama relationship) 
 
 It will also be an early test of a question that has bedeviled Hillary Clinton since her 2008 campaign — and that abated during her time at the State Department: Can she manage a more functional entity? And her work at the foundation will invite fresh scrutiny of an entity that has generally received positive coverage for Bill Clinton’s work with the Clinton Global Initiative, a signature project, and his work in Haiti, Indonesia and Africa over the years on health and, in some cases, post-disaster recovery. 
 
 “She has a stress-free path to being an extraordinarily relevant and extraordinarily change-making” public figure, said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Clinton supporter. But he added, “Everything comes under increased scrutiny. Although, if she said she wasn’t running for president, I think that would all change.” 
 
 (PHOTOS: Clinton Global Initiative 2012) 
 
 Hillary Clinton made clear in a speech at a Clinton Global Initiative event in Chicago recently exactly how she plans to channel her work — by focusing on issues related to women and girls, early childhood development and economic development. 
 
 In her speech in the Windy City, she thanked her husband for giving “philanthropy and problem-solving a new paradigm. … I am very proud of what he has accomplished.” 
 
 She also described Chelsea Clinton’s “expanding” role, saying, “This is truly a labor of love for our entire family. In just a few short years, she has helped the foundation widen our reach to a whole new generation of young people. … We are so excited and thrilled to have this be a full partnership among the three of us.” 
 
 The Clinton Foundation, which has 351 employees, states as its mission: “The Clinton Foundation works to improve global health, strengthen economies, promote health and wellness and protect the environment by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations and private citizens — leveraging their expertise, resources and passions — to turn good intentions into measurable results.” 
 
 In addition to CGI, the foundation projects include the Clinton Climate Initiative, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation — which has focused on ending obesity — and solving poverty, as well as reducing chronic health issues like, AIDs in Africa. CGI, which attracts top-tier participants for a $20,000 registration fee and requires them to make a good-faith effort to meet commitments for the public good by the following year, was turned into a separate entity while Hillary Clinton was at the State Department but was recently folded back in. 
 
 Clinton’s arrival is during a new chapter at the foundation — as Chelsea Clinton has stepped up her role and after the organization’s first outside review in a decade ended with a number of recommendations for tightening structure and management.
– The first speech by Hillary the 2016 candidate? The former secretary of state yesterday lit into voter ID laws springing up across the nation as well as the Supreme Court's decision in June to defang the Voting Rights Act, reports NBC News. The big quote in her speech to the American Bar Association: "Now, not every obstacle is related to race, but anyone who says that racial discrimination is no longer a problem in American elections must not be paying attention," she said, calling on Congress to step forward. It sure sounded like a candidate's speech, writes Sean Sullivan in the Washington Post, who says Clinton must "get in the game" on key issues if she does indeed plan to run. On this issue in particular, Clinton can "make her case as the heir apparent to Obama and try to persuade parts of his coalition—minorities and liberals in particular—to back her." (She spoke on the same day that North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed into place a law requiring voters to have a photo ID, reports the News & Observer.) Over at CBS, Anthony Weiner offers up a maybe-hint that Clinton will run when asked last night if he knows what wife Huma Abedin's role would be in a campaign. "I do," he said. But, "I'm not telling you." In the coming months, Clinton plans speeches on national security and America's standing in the world. Much of her public presence in this "next phase of life" will come through the family foundation she is co-running with Bill and Chelsea Clinton, notes Politico. It's the first time since the 1992 campaign that she and Bill are essentially working together.