POLITICO Playbook: BLOOOMBERG ’16 BUZZ -- PLAYBOOK CONTEST: Nail the Q3 winners

Good Wednesday morning - enjoy the last day of September. 

PLAYBOOK CONTEST! How much did the top two candidates on each side raise for their official campaigns in Q3 (ends at midnight)? Whoever is closest wins bragging rights in the world's most plugged-in audience - plus lunch with Mike, Daniel and the Politico of your choice. (You pick the spot.) To enter : https://bit.ly/1MZUIz2

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected]) 

THE CONVERSATION: Michael Bloomberg, a.k.a. the Mayor of the World, has gotten a new surge of pleas to run for president over the past month, making him the most-buzzed-about current non-candidate whose name isn't Joe Biden. "This is not something he's pursuing," a friend said. "People do approach him and say: 'You oughta do this.'" The pleas to Bloomberg - which he enjoys, but is politely waving off - result from a confluence of four factors: 

1) Most of the Democrats he knows are Hillary supporters, and as they see her numbers fall, they get heart Bern about the possibility of a socialist nominee. 

2) Most of the Republicans he knows are with Jeb, and his falling numbers - combined with the rise of Trump and Carson ... Oy! Nothing else you can say. 

3) Mayor de Blasio's persistent, and even worsening, unpopularity with the city's Bloomberg set causes more people to approach Bloomberg and say: "We want you back! You should run for mayor; you should run for president." 

4) The fall of Hillary and Jeb -- and the rise of the outsiders -- reflects an unpopularity with traditional politicians and makes Bloomberg more attractive. 

The mayor's main reason for demurring: He's never been convinced it's doable. And he's to the left of President Obama on some social issues, which isn't where the majority of the country is. But he could change his mind if somehow both parties wound up with a nominee he considered unelectable, and that was clear in time to build a viable campaign, including clearing all the ballot-access hurdles. 

CARLY ON THE HILL TODAY: Invites GOP "Members and Chiefs of Staff only" to a "Roundtable Conversation" at the Capitol Hill Club at 5 p.m. See the invitation. https://politi.co/1JBQbv4

DONNA SHALALA stroke - 11:52 p.m. "Statement from President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton": "Donna [president and CEO of the Clinton Foundation] suffered a stroke this evening after CGI [Clinton Global Initiative, in NYC]. Fortunately, she was with colleagues at the time and taken to the hospital for treatment. Initial reports are very encouraging." NYT says President Clinton visited her last evening: "She was said to be alert and making jokes with him." https://nyti.ms/1OFDyab

PLAYBOOK IN-BOX - From a Dem, subject line: "Bush expectations": "is Bush preparing his supporters for the eventuality that this buy doesn't do much in the polling? The gnarly climate out there is ripe for no effect from ads - voters paying attention are mad and may well just ignore ... warm fuzzy bio [and record] ... If people ignore it, the numbers don't move - and if Bush hasn't prepared his troops for it, they'll hit the panic button and many in the mainstream will run to Rubio. ... 

"Sure, we've got candidate problems on the Dem side, and that stinks, but we don't have a fundamental divide of what the party stands for -- and who we are -- dictating every twist and turn in the Presidential and in Congress." 

** A message from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA): Consumers deserve to be able to seek the best deal on their auto loan. But a CFPB proposal would raise consumer prices and limit choices, by preventing local dealerships from being able to discount interest rates for their customers. Learn how consumers routinely save money when financing through local dealerships: www.nada.org/autofinance ** 

SCOOP DU JOUR - "Senate Dems consider 2016 Koch brothers strategy ... Reid invites David Brock to make the case that Democrats should attack the billionaire mega-donors," by Ken Vogel and Burgess Everett: "At midday [tomorrow], ... Brock ... is scheduled to present his findings ... to the Senate Democratic Caucus. ... Brock's argument ... is that spotlighting the massive political spending ... is a 'critical component' of boosting Democratic candidates, including Clinton." https://politi.co/1Vrar9P

JUST POSTED - "GOP's glass ceiling on Hill shows no sign of cracking: Female Senate and House Republicans are winning office, but are poorly represented in top leadership jobs," by Anna Palmer and John Bresnahan: "After just a few days of phone calls, [Rep. Cathy McMorris] Rodgers, 46, formally decided against running for the No. 2 leadership slot, ... ensuring the top three posts will be held by white men. McMorris Rodgers will remain as House Republican Conference chair [#4] ... as high as any woman has ever reached." https://politi.co/1L3E0wC

PALACE INTRIGUE -- "How McConnell outfoxed Ted Cruz: Cruz can't get the best of the GOP stalwart," by Burgess Everett: "Cruz called out Mitch McConnell seven times by name on Monday night. ... [H]e and his leadership lieutenants have quietly and methodically worked to isolate the conservative senator and minimize his effect on the critical fall spending debate. The end result ... is ... no government shutdown." https://politi.co/1P4YCGD

--"White House, GOP weighing big budget talks: The goal is to ease the threat of repeated government shutdowns until after the 2016 elections," by Seung Min Kim: "McConnell is maneuvering to cut key Democrats out ... [and suggested] that the discussions be limited to just him, ... Obama and ... Boehner ... a proposal that [Obama and Boehner] rejected ... [I]f the talks can produce top-line numbers for domestic and defense spending, that could help ... avoid future showdowns over government spending like the standoff that will loom in mid-December." https://politi.co/1j0qpfh

NEW THIS A.M. - PEOPLE Magazine's "At home with the Trumps!": "Trump, of course, says he's confident [First Lady] Melania 'would be an amazing representative for our country ... I could see her being very involved in women's health issues.' Surprisingly, the builder known for his gleaming gold palette has no plans for the White House itself. 'If I were elected, I would maybe touch it up a little bit,' he says, 'but the White House is a special place.' He leans forward and narrows his eyes to make a point. 'You don't want to do too much touching.'" https://bit.ly/1KRa5nY 

CANDIDATE email of the day: From "Huma Abedin, Official Clinton Campaign" (so personal!), with subject line: "I believe in Hillary -- do you, Mike?" That was two hours after Hillary herself confided: "They're wrong about you, Mike." "Rand Paul" sent me one with subject line, "I'm afraid this is bad news." At 11 a.m. Sunday, "Marco" sent me a "Before kickoff" email: "[W]e're hoping you'll help out the team." 

--HAVE A CLASSIC candidate email that should be in a time capsule for this cycle? Send it to [email protected], and we'll share it with your fellow Playbookers. 

TEA LEAVES: What we know about the money so far --"Clinton, Bush steady fundraising amid GOP summer Trump slump," by AP's Julie Bykowicz: "For ... Christie and ... Kasich, this will be their first fundraising report ... [Trump] exacerbated what is traditionally the toughest time to raise money -- the vacation-filled months of the year before the election. ... Over the past three months, [Hillary has] appeared at about 60 events where the price of entry was often $2,700, the maximum contribution[, netting] at least $19 million ... 

"Her event numbers ... roughly equal [last quarter], when she raised $47.5 million once other fundraising sources, including online contributions, were included. A super PAC helping Clinton ... secured more than $25 million in commitments since July 1 ... Clinton ... has, by far, the largest election operation ... in either party. Within the first few months, ... she'd put more than 340 people on the payroll. Bush ... appears to have the second-largest campaign[, with] 55 employees [on June 30] ... 

"Carson ... is expected to have raised roughly $20 million in the past three months. Sanders ... wrote in a fundraising e-mail Tuesday that he was approaching 1 million contributions online ... [O]ne money drive alone netted $1.2 million. ... Since mid-August, the elder Paul has authored a half-dozen fundraising missives on behalf of his son. ... [T]he former Maryland governor has been promoting a fundraising raffle with the prize of a [customized] O'Malley song." https://yhoo.it/1iKtu2q

--"Bush and Rubio race for Wall Street cash," by Ben White: "The invite to Bush's breakfast event on Oct. 16- one of several he will hold that day - features a daunting array of 68 top Wall Street names including Jets owner Woody Johnson, attorney Larry Bathgate, Barclays executive Patrick Durkin and Highbridge Capital's Scott Kapnick. ... Bush's campaign on Tuesday also rolled out an endorsement from hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci of SkyBridge Capital, who previously backed ... Walker." https://politi.co/1Vmimdz

--"Clinton's Golden State dash for cash," by CNN's Dan Merica in S.F.: "Clinton will have personally headlined 58 fundraisers from July 1 to Sept. 30, a pace identical to the 58 fundraisers she headlined in the second quarter. ... [Tonight] Clinton will headline a quarter closing party at the 40/40 Club, a club owned by rapper Jay-Z ... [T]he 2016 candidate likely raised well above $22 million at the events she personally headlined ... Overall, the former secretary of state covered 22 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and spent most of her time in California (for 11 fundraisers) and New York ... (13)." https://cnn.it/1Wx7p6b

WHAT IOWA IS READING -- "Iowans who sought to draft Christie in 2011, back him again," by AP's Catherine Lucey: "Christie got a big boost in Iowa Tuesday when six major Republican donors and activists wooed by other GOP candidates declared they were sticking with the New Jersey governor despite his lag in the polls. ... Christie joked that he offered 'flowers, candy, wine - you know, all the traditional wooing things.'" https://bit.ly/1FD1rww

LATE-NIGHT BEST: "Trevor Noah Rips Ben Carson, Hillary for Ridiculous Celebrity Pandering." Videohttps://bit.ly/1VmqkU3

WEST WING WATCH -- PETER BAKER on N.Y. Times A1, at fold, "Kerry Rushes In Where Obama Will Not Tread": "White House officials give Mr. Kerry plenty of latitude to pursue deals they do not view as likely to come to fruition, while keeping a distance. 'That's Kerry's thing,' presidential aides will say. But they will back him up if it appears he is gaining traction, as he ultimately did with Iran." https://nyti.ms/1OFE5ZU

CHECK OUT the DEBUT ISSUE of Politico's redesigned print edition. Bill Kuchman, assistant managing editor for design, says the new look has "two major goals: Honing the editorial focus of the paper on what matters most to the congressional audience is the bulk of the print circulation] and bringing POLITICO's platforms (the website, magazine, and newspaper) under a more unified look. ... 

"[H]ighlights: ... 2016 Blast destination page ... Refocused Opinion section ... Matt Wuerker showcase page ... New fonts: Prensa Display Condensed for headlines and subheads; Quiosco for body type; Franklin ITC for section headers." See the new front page. https://politi.co/1KQZBE0

POWER PLAYERS -- "The Hardest-Working Scapegoat In Washington: DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz gets the blame for many of the party's problems. Does she deserve it?" by HuffPost's Sam Stein and Amanda Terkel https://huff.to/1L3qPvJ

WARREN GETS RESULTS -- "Brookings fellow [Robert Litan] resigns after Senator Warren accuses him of conflicts," by Reuters' Sarah N. Lynch: "Warren accused him of failing to fully disclose industry funding tied to a study that criticized the U.S. Labor Department's plan to regulate brokerages. The resignation ... came just one day after Warren ... sent Brookings' president a letter demanding to know ... details about the communications between Litan and Capital Group, an investment firm that funded his research paper." https://reut.rs/1LOh4Cn

WORTH THE CLICK: GIF map showing tweets mentioning @Snowden after he launched with "Can you hear me now?" (91,000 retweets and 82,000 favorites). He already has 910,000 followers - and only follows one account: @NSAGov, which doesn't follow him back. https://bit.ly/1jxatRx

VALLEY TALK -- "Twitter Plans to Go Beyond Its 140-Character Limit," by Re/code's Kurt Wagner and Jason Del Rey: "[S]ources say it would enable Twitter users to publish long-form content." Regular tweets would stay the classic length. https://on.recode.net/1Vmhztd

--"TV Ads Are About to Get Personal With New Targeting Tools," by Bloomberg's Gerry Smith: "A phone company's ad reaches a consumer looking for a new wireless plan. A car commercial is seen by a driver whose auto lease is about to expire. ... Using data from cable set-top boxes that track TV viewing, credit cards and other sources, media companies including ... NBCUniversal, ... Turner and Viacom ... are trying to compete with ... Google ... and Facebook." https://bloom.bg/1KKgmnq

MEDIAWATCH -- AL SHARPTON's new MSNBC show: "Hillary Clinton and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for his ... new weekly 'PoliticsNation' premiering Sunday ... at 8 a.m. ET. ... [T]he program will feature interviews with political leaders and a-listers from culture and entertainment, but will also focus on under-reported stories that need a national platform including education, voting, and criminal justice." 

--ARIANNA's new #2 -- WSJ's Mike Shields: "Liz Heron ... spent the past 18 months at Facebook as ... head of news partnerships. ... logged stints at ... Wall Street Journal and the New York Times in prominent social media positions." https://on.wsj.com/1KR0IEM

--"ABC News' Rick Klein and ESPN's Andy Katz Launch Political Sports Show ... for SiriusXM" - Forthcoming release: "The Arena ... will invite some of the biggest names from the sports and political worlds ... The one-hour weekly series will begin its 6-show run on October 2nd on SiriusXM's non-partisan political channel, POTUS (124). The Arena's inaugural guest will be ... Jeb Bush." 

HAPPENING TODAY: "an event celebrating the project and recognizing Sen. Kennedy's commitment to civil rights throughout his career. This event will start at 3 p.m. ... in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room ... of the Russell Senate Office Building. Victoria Reggie Kennedy ... will deliver welcome remarks. ... Michael Beschloss will deliver an address, and ... Judy Woodruff will moderate a panel." 

--"Reflections of a 'Master Legislator,'" by Adam Clymer on NYT A12: "Weak leadership, resentment among lawmakers, partisan wrangling and timidity about casting risky votes could prevent an immigration overhaul for 'another 45 years,' Senator Edward M. Kennedy predicted two years before he died in 2009. A caustic account of the failure of an immigration bill in 2007 is one of the highlights of 19 Kennedy interviews" out today. https://nyti.ms/1Vmp6sb The oral histories https://bit.ly/1M12zqk

WELCOME TO THE WORLD - HuffPost's Christina Wilkie Sumner posts on Facebook: "Wilson Sumner [a foreign affairs officer at State] and I are thrilled to share that our son James McNeil Sumner was born September 19, 2015 at 1:14 AM." Baby pics https://bit.ly/1h9lKpB ... https://bit.ly/1jx8xIN

SPORTS BLINK - WashPost Sports front, "DESTINY DENIED [Part 2]: The rise and fall of the 2015 Washington Nationals -- Harper heats up; Nats beat up: ... [T]he banged-up Nationals couldn't run away with the division despite their star's rise," by Barry Svrluga https://wapo.st/1h9xFUn ... Part 1, "With expectations high, the Nats stumble out of the gate" https://wapo.st/1Rfq9nY

OUT AND ABOUT: Joe Lockhart hosted a fundraiser Monday night for Obama alum Will Jawando, who's running for Chris van Hollen's Maryland congressional seat. Co-hosts included Harold Ickes, Susanna and Jack Quinn, Yolanda Carraway, Janice Enright, Reggie Love (who could not attend), Emily Tisch Sussman and Alida Black. 

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Liz Sidoti, BP's head of U.S. comms and an AP alum ... CBS News D.C. operations manager Tory Coughlan ... Stephen Parker, NGA's legislative director for education and workforce, turned 29 and celebrated by working in the morning and then driving to Norfolk for a MisterWives concert (h/t girlfriend Elizabeth Bennett) 

BIRTHDAYS : Craig Minassian, Manassian Media consultant and Clinton Global Initiative chief communications officers (hat tip: Shawna) ... Perry Bacon, Jr. (h/t Nia-Malika Henderson) ... Greg Mecher ... NPR's Ari Shapiro ... Politico's Sally Goldenberg ... Nate Tibbits, SVP of gov't affairs at Qualcomm and an NSC alum; always a Tarheel ... Bobby Schmuck (h/t Josh Deckard) ... Jindal campaign senior strategist Curt Anderson ... former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) is 55 ... Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel is 87 ... former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is 70 ... Iowa Republican operative Grant Young (h/ts Matt Mackowiak) ... WSJ alum Steve Russolillo ... 

... Anastasia Goodstein ... Maggie Rousseau ... Charlotte Dillon, an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs ... Hildy Kuryk, former DNC fundraiser and current Vogue magazine comms director ... Cynthia McCabe, deputy director of comms. at AFSCME ... Sam Lozier of Revolution Messaging ... Mike Henry, chief of staff for Sen. Tim Kaine ... Ben Voelkel, press secretary for Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn and an RNC alum, is 29, celebrating with friends tomorrow at Union Pub (h/ts SoRelle Wyckoff and Jillian Rogers) ... Nathan Thornburgh ... Aaron Pickrell, principal at strategic consulting firm Remington Road Group and an OFA and Strickland alum ... Christian Woelk Zaal, a Cheney and Fred Thompson alum now a consultant at AC Global Risk ... 

... Courtney Sanders, senior director of executive speechwriting at the U.S. Chamber and a Hutchison alum ... Gerardo Interiano, head of external affairs for Texas, Kansas, and Missouri at Google and a Lamar Smith alum ... Maria Cereghino ... Mark Drapeau, senior brand strategist at Sub Rosa and a Microsoft alum ... Karl Koch ... Mike Milligan ... Mary Triick ... Mike Henry (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Phillip Martin ... Paul Guercio ... Page Rolley Hanna ... Jake Yunker, deputy policy director for Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (h/t Jared Wise) ... Alan Eason ... Adam Hudson, public information officer at DC Health Link ... Sue Auther Andres ... Joshua Hoyos, assignment editor at ABC News ... Kitty Eisele ... Angie Dickinson is 84 (h/t Larry King) ... Marilyn McCoo is 72 ... Fran Drescher is 58 ... tennis player Martina Hingis is 35 ... T-Pain is 31 (h/ts AP) 

** A message from the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA): Consumers routinely save money when financing their vehicle at local dealerships. Because dealers can shop a customer's loan application to dozens of lenders, they can usually find better rates than consumers can on their own. Dealers can also offer discounts that lead to even lower interest rates and greater savings. But the CFPB wants to eliminate dealer discounts, making car loans more expensive for consumers. The Wall Street Journal estimates that the CFPB's proposed changes could cost some consumers nearly $600 over a four-year loan. 

When you're purchasing a new car , you should have every financing option available to you. No government institution should deny you that - that's not what Washington is supposed to do. 

Learn how consumers can save money through dealer-assisted financing at: www.nada.org/autofinance ** 

To view online:
https://www.politico.com/playbook/2015/09/politico-playbook-presented-by-the-national-automobile-dealers-association-nada-blooomberg-16-buzz-playbook-contest-nail-the-q3-winners-huma-email-i-believe-in-hillary-do-you-mike-bday-craig-minassian-ari-shapiro-curt-anderson-210454

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