POLITICO Playbook: HENRY BARBOUR on fighting Trump: ‘I’m not sure someone wouldn’t do better to take their money and throw it off a tall building’

Happy Thanksgiving from my brother Scott and his wife Sheri's family room in Raleigh, where both of their sons are home from college (an in-kitchen rivalry: N.C. State vs. Chapel Hill). The guys built a bonfire in the yard, and had buddies over till 3 a.m. The day will begin with duck hunting on a nearby island ("If it flies, it dies"). Then Scott will deep-fry a turkey with Cajun seasonings, while Sheri's mother, Sandy, oven-roasts a competitor. Daniel is celebrating with his sisters in Southern California.

I called Joe Moore , back home in Toledo yesterday, to wish him Happy Turkey Day and tell him I appreciate him. He told me about a family tradition worth copying: Each person goes around the table and says something they're thankful for.

We'll start. As Playbook nears its ninth birthday, I'm grateful to you for reading, writing, chiding, encouraging - and, most of all, making us smarter. The Playbook audience is the best in the world: interesting, interested, candid, engaged, insightful, outspoken. So many of you are either on the field, or have been there. Serving you each morning is a huge privilege. Please let us know how we can do a better job over the next 348 days as, together, we experience the most romantic, crazy, consequential drama of them all: the American people picking their president. Thank you for your suggestions and wisdom:  [email protected] and  [email protected]. 

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

SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: https://politi.co/1M75UbX 

--VIDEO DU JOUR: Jonathan Collegio, "How to Smoke a Turkey -- And Some Thoughts on the Theology of Thanksgiving" https://bit.ly/1Q0Dph7

--FUN READ - "Why pop-up timers, created to help Thanksgiving cooks, might be the last thing you want near the turkey," by WashPost's Tim Carman: "The instrument was designed in the 1960s, back when home cooks often relied on unreliable time-per-pound recommendations, to prevent folks from roasting their turkeys into dehydrated meat sacks. A half-century later, professionals actively steer amateurs away from the timers to avoid that very fate: arid, overcooked birds bound for the nearest dog bowl."  https://wapo.st/1Q0a2LY

THE CONVERSATION: Look for Jeanette Rubio, Marco's wife, to be increasingly visible on the campaign trail. Today, the Rubios were interviewed by Natalie Morales on "Today" -- taped yesterday in Charleston, S.C., and airing shortly before the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It's Mrs. Rubio's first sit-down since she and Marco talked with George Stephanopoulos on announcement day in April. Usually, Mrs. Rubio is at home, working and providing some normalcy for their four children as she shepherds them to sports practices and games.

Yesterday, the whole family traveled to South Carolina. After Jeanette and Marco spoke with NBC, the Rubios went to a food-preparation charity event with Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), then held an open press meet-and-greet in Mount Pleasant before heading home to Miami.

--Instagram: "Enjoyed preparing Thanksgiving meals for those in need with @senatortimscott and the congregation at Seacoast Church in Charleston"  https://bit.ly/1Xt4mKR

--Video from "Today" https://bit.ly/1jle8RR

--From her campaign bio: "Jeanette was born and raised in Miami to parents of Colombian descent. She graduated from South Miami High School, where she met Marco ... After dating for 7 years, the two married in 1998. After marrying Marco, she ... focused on raising their four children - Amanda, Daniella, Anthony and Dominick. In 2011, she formed a consulting firm that does work for the Braman Family Charitable Foundation in South Florida.

"After learning about the human trafficking crisis in South Florida, Jeanette partnered with several community organizations to help victims of trafficking. Her passion inspired Marco to make the issue a priority in the Senate." https://bit.ly/1MTd5AY

** A message from Walmart: We're Thankful for Our Associates: This Thanksgiving, we're thankful for our associates, all 1.3 million of them. Did you know about 75% of our current store management teams began as hourly workers? Learn more. https://bit.ly/1WZgZT8 **

TOP TALKER - "Frank Gifford Had Trauma-Related Brain Disorder, Family Announces," by NBC's Alex Johnson: "Frank Gifford, the Hall of Fame football star and broadcaster who died in August at age 84, had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disease often associated with concussions, his family said ... Gifford ... was the husband of TODAY co-host Kathie Lee Gifford. His family's announcement ... One of the most famous photographs in football history, taken during a 1960 game at Yankee Stadium, shows Gifford unconscious on the field after a crunching hit by the Philadelphia Eagles' Chuck Bednarik." https://nbcnews.to/1OtfRQ7

--From the statement: "We as a family made the difficult decision to have [Gifford's] brain studied in hopes of contributing to the advancement of medical research concerning the link between football and traumatic brain injury ... Our suspicions that he was suffering from the debilitating effects of head trauma were confirmed when a team of pathologists recently diagnosed his condition as that of ... CTE ... 

"During the last years life Frank dedicated himself to understanding the recent revelations concerning the connection between repetitive head trauma and its associated cognitive and behavioral symptoms - which he experienced firsthand." https://bit.ly/1LB6A3Y

TURKEY TWEET DU JOUR -- @FrankLuntz: "38% of Republicans disapprove of Obama's executive action to pardon 2 Thanksgiving turkeys" https://bit.ly/1XsfBTT

MATT WUERKER's Turkey Day cartoon, "A Thanksgiving Break," shows people from today's warring factions sitting together at a long table  https://politi.co/1PPKkv1

RYAN HEATH, letter from Brussels, "Lockdown Life: As terror fears ground Brussels to a halt, the city I've lived in for eight years suddenly became surreal": "After tailing the police around Molenbeek, ... I am not surprised. We drove around crazily for an hour as squads of police cars buzzed liked mosquitoes from one location to the next. It made no sense even to an untrained eye. Why did they not block all the exits to the small district and advance inwards until they found who and what they were looking for?" https://politi.co/1YvrZoD Sign up for Ryan's Brussels Playbook https://bit.ly/1Emvt6C

HUFFPOST banner, "MONSTERS WITH BADGES: Chicago Tops Big Cities In Fatal Police Shootings... 99% Of Complaints Lodged Against Police In 2015 Went Nowhere... Murder Charges Incredibly Rare... Hundreds Of Millions Paid Out For Misconduct... Department Disproportionately White... Tribune: 'What Does It Take To Flag A Problem Cop?'... The Other Laquans: 109 Chicago Police Bullets Killed 19 Men Last Year... ... Obama: I'm 'Deeply Disturbed'... Protests March On... 'RECALL RAHM'... Would He Still Be Mayor If Video Appeared Sooner?" https://huff.to/1NviHaf

HOT VIDEO - IJ: "How To Pardon A Turkey," with Carly, Rubio, and Carson - 2 min. video https://bit.ly/1MSAm6h

TRUMP IMPREGNABLE? WashPost A4-5, "With Trump, GOP donors stay on the sidelines: Rich Republicans, strategists wary of tackling front-runner," by Matea Gold and Bob Costa: "As the combative mogul enters his fifth month at the top of the GOP presidential field, attempts to derail him remain anemic, underfunded and unfocused - and they will probably stay that way until the Iowa caucuses in less than 10 weeks. Most of the party's financiers and top strategists ... are reluctant to spend money against Trump after watching others fumble ... 

"[O]ne reason wealthy don ors are holding back: a widespread conclusion that it is futile to try to dislodge the New York billionaire ... 'I'm not sure someone wouldn't do better to take their money and throw it off a tall building,' said Henry Barbour ... After conducting two focus groups of Trump supporters this fall, GOP consultant Frank Luntz said he has concluded that there is no political issue or stance that will turn off his supporters. ... 

"One party strategist privy to recent research on Trump voters said that none of the messages tested swayed them - including his past support for universal health care or fond words about Bill and Hillary Clinton. 'They're incredibly angry, and he's the first guy in their mind who speaks to that anger in a visceral way,' said the strategist ... Trump's nontraditional campaign has left his opponents rattled. ... Some Republican campaign veterans are puzzled that no clear opposition ... has formed. The only significant effort was mounted by the conservative Club for Growth, which spent more than $1 million on ads in Iowa attacking the real estate tycoon. ... 

" Republicans familiar with [the Jeb super PAC] Right to Rise ... said [Mike Murphy] is willing to eventually make ads that contrast Bush with Trump, but at the moment is concentrating on consolidating Bush's support among traditional Republicans."  https://wapo.st/1T6IgMU

"TRUMP MOCKS REPORTER WITH DISABLILITY" -- "New York Times slams Trump's mocking ... as 'outrageous,'" by Ben Schreckinger: At a rally in S.C., "Trump performed a derisive impression of ... Serge Kovaleski - who suffers from a chronic condition that has limited the movement of his arms ... Citing a 2001 article written by Kovaleski that referred to people allegedly seen celebrating the [9/11] attacks, Trump said it was 'Written by a nice reporter. ... Now the poor guy - you ought to see the guy: "Uhh I don't know what I said. I don't remember." He's going, "I don't remember. Maybe that's what I said."'

"As he spoke, Trump launched into an impression which involved gyrating his arms wildly and imitating the unusual angle at which Kovaleski's hand sometimes rests. 'We think it's outrageous that he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters,' said a spokeswoman." https://politi.co/1N8L47N ... 46-sec. video https://bit.ly/1PPKt1q

JON KARL interviews BARBRA STREISAND -- "Streisand Calls Trump Presidency 'Terrifyingly Scary,' But Thinks Race Against Hillary Would Be Great," by ABC's Jon Karl and Benjamin Siegel: "The actress and singer, who received the Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama at the White House Tuesday evening, ... said a Clinton/Trump general election matchup would be 'one of the greatest moments in television history.'" https://abcn.ws/1lLog8f

USED NEWS - Reuters, yesterday, "At Trump's presidential rallies, a combustible mix of glee, fear" https://reut.rs/1PPKdja ... Politico's Ben Schreckinger, Tuesday, "Trump rallies get rough: Protesters and supporters increasingly mix it up in the most combustible atmosphere on the campaign trail." https://politi.co/1R7nLBm

- NYT, bottom of A1 today, "As a Mayor, Sanders Favored Pragmatism Over His Idealism" https://nyti.ms/1Slyw1e ... Oct 31, Boston Globe, "As Vermont official, Sanders 'got things done'" https://bit.ly/1QIBYW7 ... Politico's Ben Schreckinger, May 31, "How Bernie Sanders' 'radical' ideas entered the municipal mainstream" https://politi.co/1Slyy9z

HEAR THE BERN -- Daniel reports: A tipster alerts us that Bernie Sanders has dropped a big radio buy in Iowa and New Hampshire that started yesterday. He was already live in South Carolina. The spend on the radio ad, "Real Change," is noteworthy because he's buying a mix of pop, country, rock, hip-hop, sports and news talk to reach a cross-section of voters.

The narrator starts the ad by saying: "The son of a Polish immigrant, who grew up in a Brooklyn tenement. Bernie Sanders. He went to public schools, then college. Where the work of his life began - Fighting injustice and inequality ... Speaking truth to power." Script https://politi.co/1PZZTPb ... Audio of the ad https://bit.ly/1N8LVWc

--"Sanders campaign says it has more women donors than Clinton," by WashPost's Vanessa Williams: "As of the last reporting period at the end of September, some 301,154 women gave money to Sanders in his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination ... That would top the approximately 240,000 women who have given money to Clinton since she launched her campaign. ... The higher number of women donors for Sanders is due to the fact that he has an overall larger number of individual donors than Clinton, a fact that he frequently points out on the campaign trail." https://wapo.st/1lLFdQ2

--"Bernie's Wellesley fan club: At Hillary Clinton's alma mater, a small band of Sanders supporters is up against a well-organized machine," by Annie Karni in Wellesley: "Many said their support for Sanders put them in the minority in their social circles, but they did not feel moved by the former secretary of state, despite living in the dormitories she once resided in and studying in the classrooms where she learned."  https://politi.co/1OhroUp

CHRIS CHRISTIE new video, "Nothing Left Unsaid" https://bit.ly/1T662Zy

DEEP DIVE -- "Carsoncare: The doctor's ill-fated dream of solving America's health care woes: Ben Carson set up a fund to help needy patients, but most of its money went to overhead," by Isaac Arnsdorf and Kyle Cheney: "The national fund did not materialize, and over nine years of operation, Angels of the OR [Operating Room] generated less than $150,000 for patient care and helped 34 patients cover portions of their medical bills ... Carson had said he wanted to raise as much as $20 million in seed money, but the charity collected less than $1 million from donations and celebrity-studded events." https://politi.co/1T5MJQe

MORE MONEY, HONEY -- "GOP rider would boost party spending," by Ken Vogel and Seung Min Kim:"Senate Republicans plan to insert a provision into a must-pass government funding bill that would vastly expand the amount of cash that political parties could spend on candidates ... The provision, which sources say is one of a few campaign-finance related riders being discussed in closed-door negotiations over a $1.15-trillion omnibus spending package, would eliminate caps on the amount of cash that parties may spend in coordination with their candidates. ... Campaign finance watchdogs argue that it would allow wealthy donors to curry even more influence with members of Congress." https://politi.co/1Tg5lxq

OK, WE GET IT! Vox: "How to Survive Your Family's Thanksgiving Arguments" https://bit.ly/1HngeMM ... NYT: "How to Talk to Your Relatives About Politics at Thanksgiving" https://nyti.ms/1HngNWN ... WashPost: "How to talk to your family about politics this Thanksgiving" https://wapo.st/1Hnh2Bo ... CNN: "Turkey table politics: 7 tips to beat the stuffing out of your rivals" https://cnn.it/1HnghYX ... Quartz: "Expert hostage negotiation tactics for dealing with your family this holiday season" https://bit.ly/1HngtHJ

MATT LATIMER, "How to BE the Crazy Uncle This Thanksgiving: Politico's guide to a truly explosive holiday dinner": "The key thing is to identify your target, plop down in the right seat and make someone else's Thanksgiving one for the books. ... Target: Your niece who goes to Brown ... Happily chime out 'trigger warning!' whenever a dish containing meat passes your niece. ... Target: Family friend who works for the New York Times ... Any sentence you utter that does not include the phrase 'lamestream media' or 'I read online someplace' is a sentence wasted." https://politi.co/1Xsg4W6

CLICKER -- "Mark Zuckerberg Shares Casual Annie Leibovitz Family Photo" https://huff.to/1XssjSH

--"If the 2016 presidential candidates had Thanksgiving dinner together" - FamousDC: "Donald would be the first to make someone cry. And then flirt with them. Jeb would try really hard to make small talk not awkward. Ben Carson would lead the blessing. Really. Slowly - followed by the traditional Thanksgiving tale - when European settlers arrived on the shores of North Carolina and were greeted by giant pyramids holding grains for the natives." https://bit.ly/1QJ8dVg

TRAILER OF THE DAY - "It's Cap vs. Iron Man in Action-Packed, Avenger-Riving 'Captain America: Civil War' Trailer" https://yhoo.it/1LAFHxc

HOLLYWOODLAND -- Will Smith wants to enter politics, somehow -- The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg interviews him for his "Awards Chatter" podcast: "[T]he 47-year-old [said] his aims [include] entering the political arena 'at some point in the near future' in order to try to change a socio-political climate that has left him 'incensed to a level that I can't sleep.'" https://bit.ly/1OsLyJA

THE WAY TO WIN -- JOHN FEEHERY posts on his blog The Feehery Theory, "10 rules for press secretaries": "I gave a lecture to E.J. Dionne's class at Georgetown about the role of press secretary ... 1. You are the salesman. ... 2. Always return the phone call. ... 3. Never put something in an email that you wouldn't like to see in the front page of the Washington Post. ... 4. Nothing is off the record. ... 5. Be your own reporter. ... 6. Never drink the Kool-aid. ... 7. Never lie. ... 8. Loyalty is a two way street. ... 9. Reporters are not the enemy, but they aren't your friends either. ... 10. Learn how to write." https://bit.ly/1Xh5uqf

MEDIAWATCH -- WALTER PINCUS leaves the Post - Editor Marty Baron and national editor Cameron Barr email the staff: "Walter Pincus will leave The Washington Post at the end of the year, beginning a new chapter in a multifaceted and distinguished career in which he has become one of the country's leading national security reporters. Outside of newspapering, Walter has managed to hold down a host of other jobs: intelligence analyst, Congressional investigator, magazine editor, television consultant, law student, university lecturer. A key member of the cadre of reporters who led The Post to greatness under Ben Bradlee, Walter's investigations have ranged from foreign lobbying to nuclear weapons to the Iran-Contra affair; he has traveled far and wide across the landscape of national security and politics. ... 

"Following his graduation from Yale in 1954, the first phase of Walter's career included a stint as a copyboy at the New York Times, two years in the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Corps ... He joined The Post in 1966 but ... in 1972 became executive editor of The New Republic. ... In recent years Walter has used his 'Fine Print' column to read between the lines of policy and official rhetoric. He tells us he'll move the column to a new home in the new year. ... 

"Knowledgeable but also deeply skeptical , Walter was one of the few journalists whose pre-war reporting challenged the Bush administration's contention that Saddam Hussein had acquired weapons of mass destruction." Full memo https://politi.co/1Xssoph

--JESSICA CUELLAR to Politico - Susan Glasser and Marty Kady: "Cuellar, who has spent the past decade at CQ running production and copydesk teams, launching products and working in audience engagement, will be joining Pro as our new Production Director. ... Jessica is currently the director of CQ Now, overseeing a team of eight producers and copy editors ... She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oswego and lives in Falls Church with her husband and two children. Her first day is Dec. 15."

TRANSITIONS: Squire Patton Boggs partner Kevin O'Neill and principal Eugenia Pierson are both leaving for Arnold & Porter. 

BUSINESS BURST -- "Verizon Commercial Suggests a Thanksgiving Without Phones," by NYT's Sydney Ember: "In a television commercial that it will introduce on Thanksgiving, Verizon is urging people to turn off their phones. ... Verizon said its message was that it helps get users where they need to be for the holidays, but after they arrive, they should turn off their phones and spend time with their family and friends." https://nyti.ms/1lLAXA6 ... The ad https://bit.ly/1Hp0Bo4

SPORTS BLINK: TV tonight, per AP: "GREEN BAY, Wis. - A raucous welcome is expected when former Packers quarterback Brett Favre returns to Lambeau Field to have his name and retired number go up on the ... facade at halftime of the Bears-Packers game. Former Packers great Bart Starr is expected ... Developing from halftime ceremony," c. 9:45 p.m. ET.

--WORTH THE CLICK: If you love the Pack, or hate the Bears, Johnny V. has a meme for you. https://politi.co/1PQef68

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Reuters' SEC reporter Sarah Lynch

BIRTHDAYS: Gabe Brotman is 26 on the 26th, celebrating Grazie-giving and his birthday in Florence with his family ... TNR's Chris Hughes ... Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), celebrating with family and hosting Thanksgiving at home in Charleston, W.Va. Fun fact: She was also born on Thanksgiving Day. Someone please explain that to Charlie. (h/t Ashley Berrang) ... Neal Conan, former host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation" ... former CIA director Porter Goss, a Hotchkiss grad ... Dannia Hakki ... ITN's Matt Frei ... Politico's Randon White ... Douglas Smith, Obama/Clinton administration alum and campaign senior staffer ... Mark Weisenmiller ... Reuters' Randy Mikkelsen ... Lynn Aronoff ... Sarah Wildman ... Fahad Shah ... Erica Brettell (hubby tip: Joe) ... Wes Allison ... Marcia Coyle, chief Washington correspondent for National Law Journal ... James Devitt ... Doug Winslow ... Ray Glendening, SVP at Direct Impact ... Andy McGuire (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Vicente Garcia in Atlantic Council office of external relations ...

... Valerie Holford , a comms consultant for nonprofit organizations ... Scott Tannen -- dad to Sophie, Brooke and Hailey ... Jamie Corley ... Jeff Ballabon ... Kate Vasiloff, associate analyst at Belden Russonello Strategists and a Media Matters alum ... Tyler Threadgill, comms director for Rep. Chuck Fleischmann ... NBC News' Alicia Jennings (h/t Lindlaw) ... Todd Deutsch, senior account supervisor at Edelman and a Heitkamp and Tim Johnson alum ... Rich Little is 77 ... Tina Turner is 76 ... Ben Wysocki (The Fray) is 31 ... Lil Fizz is 30 ... singer Aubrey Collins is 28 (h/ts AP)

SECOND HELPING: Sounds like something from the Iowa State Fair - "Forget Turducken. It's Piecaken Time," by NYT's Katie Rogers: "a spiced poundcake with layers of pecan pie and pumpkin pie, topped with upside-down apple pie, slathered in cinnamon buttercream and edged in oat struessel." Instagram loves it. https://nyti.ms/1Ximjky

** A message from Walmart: We're Thankful for Our Associates: This Thanksgiving, we're thankful for our 1.3 million associates who work hard year round to serve our customers. Our associates are building better lives for their families and we're proud to be a part of their success stories, especially during the holiday season. Learn more about our $2.7 billion investment over this year and next in higher wages, training, and education. https://bit.ly/1WZgZT8 **

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