POLITICO Playbook: HILLARY’S OMNIPRESENT HUMA emerges as own power center

Good Thursday morning - getaway day! IF YOU ONLY READ 1 THING -- "Hillary's shadow: After years as the former secretary of state's loyal assistant, Huma Abedin is emerging as a campaign power center of her own," by Annie Karni: "Abedin ... is weaning herself slowly away from a life on the road to occupy a perch overseeing the campaign operation and serving more often as an independent surrogate for her boss. ... On trips to South Carolina, ... Abedin has held two private meetings with South Carolina state legislators ... It marks a transformative shift for Abedin, from loyal assistant, more often seen than heard, to campaign power center of her own.

"'For all intents and purposes, she's number three on the campaign, after [campaign chairman John] Podesta and [campaign manager Robby] Mook,' explained a Clinton campaign aide. ...

"In thousands of emails released ... by the State Department, Abedin's omnipresent role ... was clearly on display ... 'Just knock on the door to the bedroom if it's closed,' Clinton writes to Abedin in one email, when she's been working and resting from home. ... While insiders said that Abedin typically plays just a listening role in policy meetings, the emails show she sometimes weighed in privately on foreign affairs. ...

"Abedin is scheduled to begin headlining fundraisers and speaking in front of donors in the coming weeks ... Back at the campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, ... [a]bout 30 campaign staffers report directly to her, including the teams overseeing the briefing book, scheduling, advance, correspondence, travel and engagement. ... Abedin [is] planning the right moment to join Twitter ... For now, Abedin's few appearances on social media come courtesy of her sister, Heba, who is one of the fundraisers known as 'Hillstarters.'" With quotes from Michael Feldman, Tom Nideshttps://politi.co/1gcppCY

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

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--"Hillary Clinton's missing $200 million man: Campaign insiders fear they're falling behind the GOP, while their best fundraising weapon - Bill - has gone unused," by Glenn Thrush and Anna Palmer: "A fundraising-obsessed Hillary Clinton netted an impressive $45 million during the first three months of her campaign - but her badly outgunned super PAC's failure to keep pace is damping any celebration of the feat. Many top Clinton supporters say it's now time for the other powerhouse Clinton - Bill - to employ his own magic touch to rescue Priorities USA Action ...

"Priorities ... is only slated to raise around $10 to $12 million, which will be dwarfed by the expected $100 million brought in by Right to Rise, Jeb Bush's super PAC. That's making Clinton insiders nervous about whether Priorities will have enough cash to fight back against Republican independent expenditure groups." https://politi.co/1HxKe64

QUINNIPIAC POLL OUT at 6 a.m. "Sanders is gaining ground on ... Clinton in the Iowa Democratic Caucus and now trails the front-runner 52-33 ... among likely Democratic Caucus participants." https://bit.ly/1GPv8oR

PETER BAKER on N.Y. Times A1, "Emails Show Clinton Trying to Find Her Place": "In December 2009, ... Clinton agreed to a joint interview with ... Henry Kissinger. ... 'In thinking about the Kissinger interview, the only issue I think that might be raised is that I see POTUS at least once a week while K saw Nixon every day," she wrote in an email to aides ... 'Do you see this as a problem?' ... [F]or the most part, she seemed to deal with substantive questions by telephone and rarely showed her hand in writing." https://nyti.ms/1UbGtZF

--SECRETARY CLINTON, in response to a day-in-the-life proposal from Les Gelb, for Parade (via Mother Jones): "We should create a day--meeting w Webb about Burma, McCain/Lieberman/Graham about Af-Pak, etc. Meeting w Mitchell/Holbrooke etc.' https://bit.ly/1R6MqYw

CALL LIST FOR 2016ers: John Sununu , former N.H. governor and White House chief of staff, is 76 today. Fun fact: born in Havana. Be sure to mention his book out June 9, "The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush." https://amzn.to/1LWw6my Be sure NOT to mention the review by Lloyd Grove. https://thebea.st/1GPSGKa

WHAT N.H. IS READING - Boston Globe p. A1, below fold, "Message, celebrity lift Trump in N.H.," by James Pindell in Bedford (online: "Is Donald Trump for real? N.H. thinks so"): "[H]is groundswell of support in recent weeks is hard to ignore. Since announcing his bid for president in mid-June, Trump has climbed to second place among the Republican field in New Hampshire, Iowa, and nationwide, according to separate polls in recent days. No other Republican has numbers as good in all three metrics." https://bit.ly/1gckJ00

--Union Leader p. A1 dominant story, "$1 million or more: Seven-figure listings booming thanks to views, land, waterfront," by Michael Cousineau: "One in every 26 homes for sale in New Hampshire carries at least a million-dollar price tag.. From Franconia to Chesterfield to Seabrook, the million-dollar club has spread to 97 cities and towns." https://bit.ly/1KuxlfH

WHO THEY ARE - WashPost A1, "Make or Break" series - "Christie: WITH FEELING -- He's the most emotional GOP candidate ... But will the show get old?" by Manuel Roig-Franzia in Trenton: "He is ... a human opera - comedy, tragedy, farce, drama - all distilled in one utterly arresting package. 'L'opera di Christie' is a spectacle of his own creation, a demonstration of his remarkable ability to command a room, to draw a crowd, but also to offend and repel." https://wapo.st/1elDL2F

STRATEGERY - "Rand Paul is betting on Nevada," by WashPost's Katie Zezima in Reno: "Paul's message of gun rights, individual liberties and calls to curtail government regulations ... appeals to many in Nevada, especially in the ... rural parts ... The chips have been falling in Paul's favor ... The state legislature decided to stick with ... caucuses rather than switch to a statewide primary - a move that is likely to benefit Paul because of his father's grass-roots infrastructure in the state. Nevada is fourth ... after Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina." https://wapo.st/1LJGh0U

WELCOME TO THE WORLD: More than half a dozen of the Vice President and Dr. Biden's top aides have welcomed new additions to their families in the past 18 months. Most recently, John Flynn, the V.P.'s personal aide, and his wife, Christi, this week welcomed a newborn baby girl, Scarlett Sancia Flynn. Other aides with kids under 18 months include the V.P.'s national security adviser, press secretary, counsel, deputy counsel, speechwriter, chief economist, and Dr. Biden's communications director. 

--V.P. Biden: "Jill and I are so happy many staff members get to experience the greatest joy in life, being a mom and dad. There's nothing like it. Plus, I'm glad I'm no longer the only one keeping staff up at night."

WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE: "Senior Researcher Bartlett Jackson is getting a promotion to the Department of Energy press team (and not, as was rumored at 1600 Pennsylvania, joining the Oakland River Cats baseball team, which it turns out doesn't exist). Bart's colleagues will miss his smart flags, camaraderie, and good humor."

SNEAK PEEK - RICK PERRY speech at National Press Club at 1 p.m., laying out "a plan to fight the cycle of hopelessness ... and to create economic opportunity for families across the country (with an emphasis on African Americans)": "For too long, we Republicans have been content to lose the black vote, because we found that we could win elections without it. But when we gave up on trying to win the support of African Americans, we lost our moral legitimacy as the party of Lincoln-as the party of equal opportunity for all. It is time for us to once again reclaim our heritage as the only party in the history of the world founded on the principle of freedom for African-Americans."

** A message from Fuels America: Working men and women in the heartland sent a clear message to the EPA last week: The Renewable Fuel Standard is working for Rural America, supporting over 850,000 jobs and strengthening rural economies. EPA, don't choose foreign oil over American workers. The RFS works for Rural America: https://bit.ly/1Gxh0QY **

FOR MSSRS. BUFFETT, GATES - Financial Times, top of p. 1, "Princely sum: King Abdullah's nephew says he will leave his billions to charity," by Simeon Kerr in Dubai: "Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al-Saud of Saudi Arabia has pledged to donate his entire multibillion-dollar fortune to charity ... move ... inspired by ... Gates Foundation ... Gates and ... Buffett have signed ... 137 billionaires to a 'giving pledge' [to] donate more than half their wealth in their lifetime." https://on.ft.com/1H2KNU0

FIRST LOOK - "O'Malley Heads to Iowa with Aggressive Goal: 100% Renewable Energy by 2050" from Lis Smith: "Today, Governor Martin O'Malley is kicking off a 3-day swing through Iowa to formally unveil his goal of making the U.S. 100% powered by renewable energy by 2050. The governor identifies the challenge of climate change as both a moral imperative for our nation and a tremendous economic opportunity to create new jobs. That's why he led on tackling climate change as governor, and why he's made this goal the center of his campaign." https://bit.ly/1Jz1R50

EXCLUSIVE -- From Walker aides -- MKE or bust: "After hearing from countless Americans during the Testing the Waters phase, Governor Walker this morning will file his papers of candidacy with the FEC. Governor Walker will announce his intentions in Waukesha on the afternoon of Monday, July 13th." 

--FLASHBACK - Playbook, June 14: "PLAYBOOK FORECAST: Most likely Scott Walker announcement date is Mon., July 13."

--HAPPENING TONIGHT: "Walker ... will issue on Instagram the first of nine pieces of the Walker for president logo. Each day a new piece will be revealed @scottwalker."

D.C. SUMMER CAMP: Daniel's notes from yesterday at Aspen Ideas Festival- Carlyle's David Rubinstein said if cultural institutions didn't have philanthropy, ticket sales would not be enough to support these places and they would die. "It's [also] hard to think of new ideas to honor people to give money." He noted a 25 percent decline in attendance to performing arts venues since younger people are not often going to opera, theatre and concerts. He also made the case that the focus on STEM has been overplayed to the detriment of the liberal arts. "You can't measure the success of people based on how much money they make."

--In a panel on Internet freedom, New America fellow Emily Parker noted there are 600 million people on the Chinese Internet and that countries are cracking down on the Internet because it's become more powerful. In Russia, Alexei Navalny told people to take pictures of their pothole and send them to the relevant authorities. He was trying to make it as easy as possible for apathetic Russians to participate politically such as signing template letters. She also said that it was hard for the U.S. to promote Internet freedom now because of Edward Snowden, which the Chinese had a field day to make the U.S. seem hypocritical.

--New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu , on a panel with Richard Haass: 626,000 people had been killed in the U.S. since 1980.

--Paul Ryan, in conversation with Bill Kristol: When we saw the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty coming up last year, I and some others decided to take a deep dive into this issue and toured the country ... and listening to people on the front lines of the war on poverty ... to come up with a conclusion that is indisputable which is we're not winning the war on poverty. ... We had a 50-year war on poverty and we not only measure success based on inputs, on efforts, how many programs do we have, how much spending are we committing, how many people are on these programs. We're not measuring success based on whether we're getting people out of poverty or not."

--Peter Thiel, in conversation with David Bradley : "They promised us flying cars, and we only got 140 characters." ... "If there are too many buzzwords in a presentation, that's always a warning sign ... Big data, cloud computing, if you hear those words you need to think fraud and run away as fast as possible."

OVERHEARD IN ASPEN: "Our firm is trying to disrupt McKinsey." ... "I've given two TED talks, one in Mumbai and London."

OUT AND ABOUT - At standup comedy night in Aspen, JEFFREY GOLDBERG was the emcee of an all-star lineup : "The Institute asked me tell you about a couple of changes in the schedule going forward. Tomorrow'sclimate change panel has moved to the Gulfstream terminal at the Aspen airport. The panel with Sheldon Adelson and Tom Steyer on the impact of Citizens United and big money in politics is being moved to the Koch Building. And one other programming note: Tomorrow morning, the Aspen African-American heritage walking tour leaves the Jerome Hotel at 9 a.m. and returns to the Jerome Hotel at 9 a.m.."

PICS of David Brooks doing standup: https://bit.ly/1CLXMFu ... Katie Couric: https://bit.ly/1H2fQiG ... Jon Lovett: https://bit.ly/1C150dU ... David Rubinstein: https://bit.ly/1KudNrF ... Grover Norquist: https://bit.ly/1FTJeng ... Ted Olson: https://bit.ly/1GPuasG ... Hanna Rosin: https://bit.ly/1T7YWEI

TRANSITIONS -- Katie Lewallen, a Louisiana native, joined American Bridge 21st Century as Press Secretary and will be primarily focused on Senate elections. Lewallen is a DSCC, DNC, DNCC, Landrieu, and Reid alum.

--Generation Opportunity has announced Andrew Clark as its President and Executive Director; he joins from i360.

SPOTTED: Wednesday's State Visit by Ambassador Mike Hammer, at Cosi on 17th Street across from the EEOB: an impromptu NSC reunion lunch bringing together Ambassador to Chile Mike Hammer (former NSC spox/senior director), Katherine Brown & Chris Hensman (now at the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy), Ben Chang (currently Associate Administrator for Communications at SBA), and Natalie Wozniak, marking 43 years (41 at the White House) of government service next month!

MEDIAWATCH - POLITICO Editor Susan Glasser emails the staff, with subject line "June": "A quick note to congratulate everyone ... on an incredible team effort in reporting over one of the most hectic news weeks in a long time (including last night's simultaneous, all-hands-on-deck documents dumps of Jeb Bush's taxes and Hillary Clinton's emails, a read-tweet-write party that lasted late into the evening for so many of you!) and the conclusion of a terrific month overall for POLITICO journalism. .... Oh yes, and an amazing array of exclusive reporting from all of our Pro teams (go back and look at those Scoops of the Week emails from Marty-they are getting longer and longer for a reason), The Agenda's impressive debut month."

BIRTHDAYS: Rep. Elise Stefanik is 31 ... Jonathan Capehart ... Capital New York's Katherine Lehr (like "beer!") ... Matthew Dybwad ... BerlinRosen's Ben Wyskida, a Nation alum ... Gus "Gus Bus" Ericson, a.k.a. Guster Posey, one of the Oregon nephews (h/t Anders, Tate) ... John Sununu , former N.H. governor and White House chief of staff, is 76 ... Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, is 68 ... Larry David is 68 (h/t Dick Keil) ... Kara Rowland of Fox ... CNN's Alysha Love ... Jessie Niewold, former POLITICO events guru ... Gina Woodworth, VP of Public Policy and Government Affairs at the Internet Association (h/t Peter, her 8 month old) ... Derek Gianino of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and a Romney 2012 alum ... Scott McGee, gov't relations adviser for Kelley Drye & Warren ... Reuters' Michele Gershberg ... Chuck Nadd ... Caroline Keyes ... Sam Nitz, deputy director for Women Vote! at EMILY's List ... TIME.com senior multimedia editor Jonathan Woods ...

... Jecholia Gallagher (hat tip: Brian) ... Trevor Neilson ... Brooke Oberwetter Coon of Facebook D.C. ... ABC's Emily Stanitz ... Lily Velasquez ... Lyndsey Fifield, digital director at American Action Network ... Hannah Rosenthal ... John Vilmain ... Susan Vilmain... Sam Hutchison ... Michael Matthews ... John Brown ... Ali Chishti ... Ashley Zohn ... Mike Chapman ... Josh Cahan ... former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is 86 ... Racing Hall of Famer Richard Petty is 78 ... former Mexican President Vicente Fox is 73 ... Roy Bittan (Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) is 66. ... race car driver Sam Hornish Jr. is 36 ... Johnny Weir is 31 ... Lindsay Lohan is 29 ... actress Margot Robbie is 25 (h/ts AP)

** A message from Fuels America: Governors, farmers, small business owners, investors, students and families from across the Midwest sent a clear message to the EPA last week: The Renewable Fuel Standard is working for Rural America.

The EPA's proposed changes to the RFS strengthen the oil industry's monopoly over the gas pump and put American family farmers, workers and rural economies at risk. After ten years, the RFS is helping family farmers and American innovators power a clean, secure domestic energy future for our nation. We can't afford to turn back on that progress now.

Hundreds of working men and women traveled to Kansas City from across the country to rally for Rural America. Now it's time for the EPA to stop choosing foreign oil over America's economy, consumers and jobs. The RFS works for Rural America.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/1Gxh0QY **

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