POLITICO Playbook: INSURGENTS start to cash in: Sanders, Carson shock field with huge Q3 hauls
Good Thursday morning, and welcome to October. Former President Carter is 91 - many more to follow. Gerald Rafshoon writes: "[H]e and Rosalynn are taking it easy after, get this, a weekend attending the Peanut Festival and before that flying to NYC for a day of Carter Center business. His schedule tires me out just thinking about it."
By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; [email protected]) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; [email protected])
SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: https://politi.co/1OK3Ubb
TOP TALKER - "Clinton raises $28 million but Sanders' haul is too close for comfort," by Gabe Debenedetti: "Clinton's campaign barely outpaced ... Sanders' in the third quarter, ... a surprising development that shows the insurgent candidate's strength ... Clinton ... raised more than $28 million ... after a grueling fundraising schedule, compared to just over $24 million for the Vermonter - who raised his money largely from online donations, and few in-person fundraising events." https://politi.co/1VpuHho
--AP's Steve Peoples in Alexandria: "Ben Carson raised more than $20 million in the past three months, ... a haul of campaign cash that shatters records and sets a new bar for his GOP rivals. ... Two dozen staffers [at his HQ] shared a red, white and blue chocolate cake topped with frosted numbers '$31,000,000' - the total amount ... since he launched ... in May." https://bit.ly/1GkdSbr
THE CONVERSATION -- "The cruelest month of the 2016 race," by Edward-Isaac Dovere: "Two debates are coming - one that will likely winnow the GOP field and one that could rearrange the Democratic race. A Benghazi hearing will either be a showcase or a feeding frenzy. And campaign fundraising reports are going to be making a lot of decisions for people." https://politi.co/1VrVSCL
2016 PLAYERS - "Meet Trump's social media guy: Justin McConney spearheaded this cycle's biggest innovation: the 15-second Instagram attack ad," by Ben Schreckinger: "He convinced ... Trump to complete the ice bucket challenge. He cut the Jeb Bush-bashing Instagram ads that have been called 'The future of American politics.' And he is seemingly the only person at Trump Tower other than the boss with an Apple computer at his desk. ... [When] Justin McConney, Trump's 29-year-old social media whiz ... took on the role in February 2011, Trump had 300,000 followers on Twitter. Today, he has more than 4.3 million." https://politi.co/1P73if9
CLICKER -- "The 11 must-read Hillary Clinton emails," by Nick Gass: "From air traffic woes to more technology troubles, the latest release of Clinton emails includes some gems." https://politi.co/1FHG0KQ
WHAT BROOKYLN IS READING -- "Clinton seeking to organize Latino voters ahead of primaries," by AP's Ken Thomas: "Clinton's campaign is planning a major push to organize Latino voters ahead of the Nevada caucuses and early primary contests in Texas, Florida and Colorado ... [She] will be in South Florida on Friday and will hold campaign events next month focused on Hispanic voters in San Antonio, Texas, and Las Vegas ... Clinton ... [speaks] next week to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's annual meeting in Washington ... [and] will sit with Telemundo for an interview Friday in Miami." https://bit.ly/1L5F6b
USED NEWS - NYT A1 today: "Clinton Camp Making Moves to Check Biden" https://nyti.ms/1iNlOfN ... Politico's Isaac Dovere, 9/22: "Biden insiders feel Clinton stalking: The VP's supporters say Brooklyn is subtly warning him not to run" https://politi.co/1iNlKwD
NEW HILLARY VIDEO: "National Press Secretary Brian Fallon on the stunning admission by likely-Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy that the ... Benghazi Committee has [damaged] Clinton's poll numbers." https://bit.ly/1iNc1WU
EMAIL OF THE DAY - Bush 43, "Touching base": "He's humble and compassionate. ... The country needs a problem-solver who has a proven conservative record, an optimistic vision for our future, and is ready to lead on day one. That's Jeb."
--"Jeb ... on ... Redskins Team Name: 'I Don't Think It Should Change,'" by ABC News' Rick Klein: "I don't think politicians ought to be having any say about that ... I don't find it offensive. Native American tribes generally don't find it offensive. ... It's a sport, for crying out loud. It's a football team. Washington has a huge fan base -- I'm missing something here, I guess.'" https://abcn.ws/1FJLq7T
** 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 - "Obama brushed off Reid's plea on Palestinian state," by John Bresnahan and Isaac Dovere: "Reid on two different occasions this year went to White House chief of staff Denis McDonough seeking a public commitment ... that [Obama] would veto any U.N. resolution calling for an independent Palestinian state. Both times, Obama did nothing." https://politi.co/1MJ4bYO
POWER PLAYERS - L.A. Times A1, below fold, "ACROSS THE ABYSS: California is on the verge of unprecedented power in Congress, but party leaders McCarthy and Pelosi barely speak," by Noah Bierman: When "McCarthy becomes speaker of the House, ... [it'll be] first time in history that both the speaker and minority leader ... have hailed from the same state. Several colleagues said they can't recall ever seeing the two together." https://lat.ms/1QMwTIY
--"Senate strikes compromise on criminal justice reform," by Rachael Bade, Daniel Lippman and Sarah Wheaton: "A bipartisan group of Senate leaders has reached a deal on criminal justice legislation that would allow well behaved prisoners to earn time off their sentences and effectively reduce long criticized mandatory minimums for non-violent drug offenders ... [I]t doesn't go as far as Democrats had ... hoped." Deal to be announced today.https://politi.co/1Rhllyk
PULLING BACK THE CAMERA - "Across arc of conflict, 'Obama Doctrine' shows signs of failure," by Reuters' Matt Spetalnick and Phil Stewart: "Less than a year and a half after ... Obama used a West Point speech to lay out a strategy for relying on local partners instead of large-scale U.S. military deployments abroad, there is mounting evidence that the ... 'Obama Doctrine' may be failing. ... Russia's sudden moves to seize the initiative in the Syria and Iraq crises ... have stunned U.S. officials and laid bare the erosion of Washington's influence in the region. ...
"Obama will probably only make modest changes in strategy, according to ... U.S. officials. That strongly suggests that Obama will leave some of the world's most intractable conflicts to his successor." https://reut.rs/1jA25ki
--HOW IT'S PLAYING: Times of London cover, "Putin defies West with strikes on Syrian rebels: Raids risk pouring gasoline on fire, says White House" ... NYT 2-col. lead, "RUSSIANS STRIKE TARGETS IN SYRIA, BUT NOT ISIS AREAS: Angry U.S. Sees Air Attacks as Bid to Aid Assad - Twist in a Complex War" ... WSJ 2-col lead, "Russia Hits Assad's Foes, Angering U.S." ... WashPost 5-col. lead, "Russia launches airstrikes in Syria" ... USA Today, middle of page, "U.S. rebukes Russian strike" ... The Guardian lead story, "Russia sends in bombers and raises stakes in Syria."
CAROLYN RYAN, NYT political editor, announces: "Ian Trontz , Metro's Deputy Editor for Enterprise, will [be] Enterprise Editor for Politics. ... Thomas Kaplan, [after] five years covering Albany, ... will be delving into policy issues ... Matt Flegenheimer, who has spent the past year in City Hall and, before that, was Metro's ace transportation reporter, has brought his wicked sense of humor ... to our candidate coverage, focusing on Jeb Bush. A native New Yorker, he ... recently learned to drive, so he could (legally) travel the backroads of New Hampshire and Iowa. ....
"Nick Corasaniti , who has blossomed from a gifted web producer into a talented storyteller on all platforms[,] ... is our first digital correspondent on the campaign. ... Ashley Parker (re)joins the politics desk after spending more than two years tirelessly chronicling ... Congress. ... She brings her creativity and intrepidness to a beat focused on media and messaging." https://bit.ly/1VrVR1D
EXCLUSIVE: MATT BOYLE (@mboyle1), 28, now a Breitbart News investigative journalist, will be named D.C. editor of Breitbart today. Native of Canton, Mass.
HAPPENING TODAY - "Steve Case Giving Away $100,000 to a New Hampshire Startup with Help from Presidential Campaigns": "A first in New Hampshire primary history: representatives from nearly all of the major presidential campaigns - from both sides of the aisle - will come together ... to help Case decide which New Hampshire startup wins $100,000. Boston Globe political reporter James Pindell will moderate the pitch competition event which will be held at FIRST in Manchester at 4pm. This is part of Case's 'Rise of the Rest' bus tour which shines a spotlight on, and invests in, innovative startups across the U.S." NH finalists https://bit.ly/1JEYLtb
WHAT S.C. IS READING - The (Columbia) State, bottom of 1A: "Winthrop [University] Poll: Confederate flag still divides S.C.," by Andrew Shain: "47 percent of South Carolinians see the flag as a symbol of pride ... 40 percent ... see the banner as racially divisive. ... 70 percent of Republicans see the ... flag as a Southern pride symbol. ... [T]hree-quarters of African Americans and ... 60 percent of Democrats consider the banner as a sign of racial conflict." https://bit.ly/1M3qNjK
TICK-TOCK - "Backlash to Warren's think-tank attack: 'McCarthyism' from the left," by Politico's Patrick Temple-West: "All it took was an hour of damaging Twitter comments and press attention, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren had claimed another prize. News broke at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday that the liberal Massachusetts firebrand was blasting Brookings Institution scholar Robert Litan because a mutual-fund company paid for his research criticizing an Obama-administration proposal to regulate the industry. By 9:30 a.m., Litan ... was out." https://politi.co/1VoS2Q2
FIRST LOOK -- "Luke Albee and John Murray Join Direct Impact as Senior Advisors" - Forthcoming release:"Luke most recently served as the top aide to Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) during his entire first term in office (2009-2015). A Vermont native, he also served for 11 years as Chief of Staff to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) from 1993 to 2004. ... Murray ... is the founder of JAM Strategies ... John oversaw strategy and fundraising for the YG Network, a 501c(4) issue advocacy organization while also acting as an outside communications advisor to then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)." https://bit.ly/1WzZhlp
--"Frederic Frommer, Former Associated Press Journalist, Joins Dewey Square Group" - Forthcoming release: will "lead the Dewey Square Group's new Sports Business Practice ... [and] provide communications strategy, strategic counsel and other services to a wide range of sports clients. ... At the AP, Frommer created an innovative sports-politics beat ... Frommer has authored four books, including one on Washington baseball history, 'You Gotta Have Heart.'" https://bit.ly/1KNCJbD
THE TALK OF AUSTIN: Vianovo hosted Snapchat's Rob Saliterman last night for a talk on "The Rise of the Social Candidate - the Race for the White House in an age of Snaps, Selfies and Emoticons." Bush campaign alum and Vianovo partner Mike Shannon moderated. SPOTTED: Vianovians Tucker Eskew, Matt Miller, Blaine Bull, James Taylor, Katherine Goehring, and Rob Norcross, RetailMeNot CEO Cotter Cunningham, SXSW's Hugh Forrest, Noonday Collection co-CEO Travis Wilson, Able Lending cofounder Will Davis, and the Harris Media team.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Scott Jennings, a Bush 43 and McConnell-world alum, now principal at RunSwitch Public Relations in Lexington, KY, and Autumn Jennings post on Facebook: "Pleased to announced that Mr. Thatcher Jennings arrived at 2:44 a.m. on [Monday]. He weighed 9 pounds at birth and is 21 inches long." Picshttps://bit.ly/1GjNn5H ... https://bit.ly/1MIJV9K
BIRTHDAYS: Tommy Andrews, Speaker Boehner's body man (h/ts Sarah Swinehart, Kristin Strobel and Sloane Potter) ... former President Jimmy Carter is 91 (hat tip: Jon Ward) ... National Journal editor Ben Pershing is 4-0 (h/t John Bresnahan) ... WashPost's Jose DelReal is 2-5 ... Brook Hougesen, comms. director for Sen. Joni Ernst and an NRSC alum ... Joanne Peters, an Obama administration political appointee and alum of Mark Warner, HHS, and the DNC (h/t Fabien Levy) ... Jennifer Storipan, Rep. Joyce Beatty's current LD and counsel (h/t Bryan Florence) ... Alex Gleason, Rep. Ed Royce's legislative correspondent and favorite driver, is 24 (h/t Team Royce) ... Joe Antos, AEI health care analyst and CBO alum (h/t Gary Karr) ... Nikolai Wenzel, newly minted associate professor of economics at Flagler College (h/ts Georgetown roommates Mo Elleithee and Ben Chang) ...
... Politico's Rose Lichtenfels and Andy Goodwin ... Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld ... Daniel Clifton, head of Strategas Research Partners' D.C. office ... Michael Knopf, associate at MediaLink and an Ogilvy and Mather alum (h/t Christian Emanuel) ... the other Charlie Rose, the long time City Year guru (h/t Teresa Vilmain) ... DGA and Michael Bennett alum Alexandra "Ala" Fox ... Cammie Croft of Amnesty International USA and alum of DOE, White House and OFA digital ... Jill Rosche ... Scott Rosenthal ... Getty photog Evan Semones ... FAA's David Kerr ... Robert Rosen, director of philanthropic partnerships at the Gates Foundation ... CRC Public Relations SVP Mike Thompson ... Alex Reese, associate at Farella Braun + Martel LLP in SF and a John Edwards and Jeanne Shaheen alum ... Theo Yedinsky ... Jeremy Lott of Real Clear Politics ... Eric Laing ...
... Lauren Pfeifle ... Candice Rogers ... Gretel Truong, film campaign manager at Malala Fund ... Debby Wolf ... Jennifer Lenhart ... Lorraine Adams ... Vinh Nguyen, director of National Journal LIVE at Atlantic Media ... AFP alum Chris Berg ... IMF's Vera Rhoads ... Julie Andrews is 80 ... Rod Carew is 70 ... Randy Quaid is 65 ... retired MLB All-Star Mark McGwire is 52 ... Zach Galifianakis is 46 ... actress Brie Larson is 26 (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/2015/10/politico-playbook-october-1-sanders-carson-fundraising-210485
To change your alert settings, please go to https://www.politico.com/registration