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POLITICO Playbook, presented by Chevron – RUBIO PROMISES TO RELEASE his much-gossiped-about Florida GOP credit-card reco...

2015-11-04

By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; <a href="mailto:mallen@politico.com" target="_blank">mallen@politico.com</a>) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; <a href="mailto:dlippman@politico.com" target="_blank">dlippman@politico.com</a>) BREAKING – “Trump to launch ads in early states,” by Nick Gass: On “Hannity,” Trump vowed “to hit back at rival campaigns and groups that attack him, like the Club For Growth, ‘10 times harder. ... So if, as an example, Bush or Rubio or any of them come out, ... dollar-for-dollar, we're going to go after to them. We have more money than anybody else by a factor of about 1,000’ ... The campaign will ‘start spending a little bit of money over the next three or four weeks, ... certainly in Iowa, ... and in New Hampshire. I think in South Carolina, too.” <a href="http://politi.co/1LPGTQS" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1LPGTQS</a> Good Wednesday morning from Miami. RIPPING RUBIO – Tampa Bay Times p. 1A, at fold, “Credit card question follows Rubio: His spending with a state GOP American Express card is now in the national spotlight,” by D.C. Bureau Chief Alex Leary: “The Tampa Bay Times asked Rubio’s team for the records [two years of credit card transactions] in June and again in early October. ... Todd Harris, said ... they would be released soon, possibly within the month ... As speaker of the Florida House, Rubio was one of about a half-dozen lawmakers given Republican Party of Florida credit cards.“During the Senate race, the Times/Herald obtained Rubio's statements from 2006 and 2007, showing he routinely charged personal expenses ... Chris Ingram, a Republican strategist from Tampa, said he asked Rubio during the Senate run if there were any issues that would arise and the candidate disclosed to him charging for ‘flooring’ in his West Miami home.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1MgQpOh" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1MgQpOh</a> **SUBSCRIBE to Playbook: <a href="http://politi.co/1M75UbX" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1M75UbX</a>--WashPost 1-col. lead, “Rubio rises, becomes a target: RIVALS APPEAR TO SENSE A THREAT -- Trump, Bush attack his finances, missed votes,” by Jenna Johnson and Sean Sullivan in N.Y.: “For months, Rubio has avoided direct confrontations with his rivals. His top aides have long worried about peaking too early, preferring to crest just before the first nominating contest on Feb. 1 in Iowa. ...“In the days since Colorado, Bush has continued to chip away at Rubio, though not as directly. During a speech in Tampa on Monday aimed at resetting his struggling campaign, Bush did not use the senator’s name but compared Rubio’s short Senate experience to that of President Obama.” <a href="http://wapo.st/1WycRno" target="_blank">http://wapo.st/1WycRno</a> --USA Today lead story, “USA Today Power Rankings: Rubio ‘is clearly on the rise’: Cruz, Christie also benefit after debate,” by Paul Singer: “Rubio jumped from third to first place in our survey, and Christie moved up from eighth place to fifth.” <a href="http://usat.ly/1LPA5mk" target="_blank">http://usat.ly/1LPA5mk</a> LIFE ONLINE -- “Hearts on Twitter” – Twitter blog: “We are changing our star icon for favorites to a heart and we’ll be calling them likes.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1PlNaGq" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1PlNaGq</a> CAN JEB FIX IT? “Bush Hires TV Wizard Who Trains Fox News Anchors,” by N.Y. Mag’s Gabe Sherman: “Bush will be media-coached by Jon Kraushar, a legendary image-maker who’s worked with [Roger] Ailes for decades. ... Ailes and Kraushar famously coached Jeb’s father and Dan Quayle to the White House in 1988. ... [In] 2012 ... Paul Ryan [went] to Kraushar.” <a href="http://nym.ag/1RRZ21T" target="_blank">http://nym.ag/1RRZ21T</a> --“Bush plummets in [Quinnipiac] national poll,” by Nick Gass: Trump 24%, Carson 23%, Rubio 14%, Cruz 13%, Bush 4%. “In ... September, ... Bush earned 10 percent ... [I]n terms of favorability, no one polled lower than Bush, at a net-negative of 33 points. Just 25 percent ... said they had a positive opinion of him, while 58 percent said they had a negative one.” <a href="http://politi.co/1iCJlzC" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1iCJlzC</a> ... Quinnipiac poll release<a href="http://bit.ly/1MyxR85" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1MyxR85</a> DUH! “Texas man snaps up JebCanFixIt.com,” by Nick Gass: “Jimmy Flannigan, a former candidate for City Council in Austin, Texas, snapped it up and launched his own site, claiming Bush ‘is trying to steal my slogan!’ (Flannigan, in his failed bid for a council seat, ran with a ‘Flannigan Can Fix It!’ slogan.)” <a href="http://politi.co/1MGStkP" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1MGStkP</a> WHAT S.C. IS READING – (Charleston) Post and Courier, bottom of 1A, “‘Jeb can fix it’: Bush tests new pitch in S.C. -- Struggling GOP presidential hopeful touts resume,” by Cynthia Roldan in Lexington: “His old campaign logos with just his first name and an exclamation point have received an update with the new slogan — ‘Jeb can fix it.’ ... Much of his speech was, at word for word, what he said Monday when he started the tour at his old stomping grounds in Florida.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1GKXVRk" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1GKXVRk</a> --The (Columbia) State, bottom of 1A, “In Lexington, Bush touts an ‘optimistic message,’” by Jamie Self: “‘I’m not going to run a campaign of grievance. I’m not going to appeal to people’s anger.’” <a href="http://bit.ly/1P8R1YP" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1P8R1YP</a> BOEHNER’S POST-CONGRESS TEAM: The former Speaker has signed with the Harry Walker Agency, a New York speakers’ bureau. In Washington, Boehner has retained Robert Barnett (!), and his partner Deneen Howell, of Williams & Connolly LLP to manage post-congressional business and legal affairs. Longtime Boehner aide Dave Schnittger of Squire Patton Boggs will manage his post-congressional media affairs. Another longtime Boehner aide, John Criscuolo, will manage Boehner’s political operation (campaign and fundraising). ** Presented by Chevron: Our nation’s heroes deserve the very best when they return home. The USO has created programs to help veterans and their families restore their lives. Chevron is proud to support the USO in this essential mission. Learn more about the USO at: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/nmjkerc" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/nmjkerc</a> ** VIRAL VIDEOS: RAND PAUL (2:46), “Protecting Social Security from the Thieves in the Night ... [posted] by United States Senator Mike Lee”: 22.3 million Facebook views. <a href="http://on.fb.me/20ttlSD" target="_blank">http://on.fb.me/20ttlSD</a> --“Christie Makes Emotional Plea To Rethink Drug Addiction” (6:34) – 2.9 million views on HuffPost Politics Facebook page: “My mother was a smoker -- she smoked her whole life. ... She tried everything ... to quit. She had gum, patches, hypnosis. ... No one came to me and said, ‘Don’t treat her [for lung cancer], ’cause she got what she deserved. ... Somehow, if it’s heroin or cocaine or alcohol, we say, ‘They decided it, they’re getting what they deserved.’” <a href="http://on.fb.me/1MyAyGF" target="_blank">http://on.fb.me/1MyAyGF</a> HOT IN HILLARYLAND -- Monmouth poll – “New Hampshire: Clinton pulls ahead of Sanders: Makes gains among party base, women, older voters”: “Clinton has taken a slim 3 point lead over Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire ... Sanders retains his sizable advantage among registered independents and new voters, men, and younger voters. ... Clinton has made significant gains in the past two months with registered Democrats, women, and older voters. ... Clinton holds a 48% to 45% lead over Bernie Sanders ... This reverses the lead Sanders held in Monmouth’s September poll.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1iCEOx0" title="http://bit.ly/1iCEOx0 Cmd+Click or tap to follow the link" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1iCEOx0</a> DATA DU JOUR – “Small Donors Are Clicking More With Democrats Than Republicans,” by Eric Lichtblau and Nick Corasaniti on NYT A21: “74 percent of the $26 million that Mr. Sanders raised came through ActBlue ... Eighty-eight percent of contributions to Mr. Sanders came from donations of $200 or less.” With cameos by Ben Ginsberg, Katie Harbath and Rick Tyler <a href="http://nyti.ms/1NdjmXP" target="_blank">http://nyti.ms/1NdjmXP</a> ABOUT LAST NIGHT -- “Matt Bevin shocks Jack Conway to become next governor of Kentucky,” by Lexington Herald Leader’s Sam Youngman: “Republican Matt Bevin, who trailed in every public poll since winning the Republican primary in May by 83 votes, shocked Democrat Jack Conway on Tuesday to become the next governor of Kentucky. With help from national Republicans he has shunned repeatedly, Bevin was able to overcome a campaign of missteps and self-inflicted wounds to become the first Republican governor since Ernie Fletcher’s 2003 victory and only the second since Louie Nunn left office in 1971. ... Bevin won 107 of the state's 120 counties on his way to a nine-point victory.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1KX2u66" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1KX2u66</a>--“Jeremy McPike wins high-profile contest for 29th District [Virginia] state Senate” – InsideNoVa.com:“Democrat Jeremy McPike appears to have won the high-stakes race for the 29th District state Senate seat, but it won’t be enough to help Gov. Terry McAuliffe flip the state Senate to his party’s control. ... McPike no doubt benefited from a late $2 million ad buy from Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun-control group led by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as campaign help from Andy and Barbara Parker, the parents of Roanoke TV reporter Alison Parker, who was shot and killed during a live television broadcast in August.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1MgAVKe" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1MgAVKe</a> THE MAP – WashPost, top of col. 1, “Virginia’s Senate stays in GOP: McAuliffe’s bid to build momentum for his party ahead of 2016 falls short,” by Laura Vozzella and Jenna Portnoy: “The outcome was a blunt rebuke to [Gov. Terry] McAuliffe ... [T]he biggest prize the elections offered was momentum — the opportunity for the winning party to claim that voters in this key presidential swing state were leaning its way one year ahead of the White House contest. McAuliffe, once a record-smashing fundraiser for his close friends Bill and Hillary Clinton, had hoped a win would help sway purple Virginia in 2016.” <a href="http://wapo.st/1MGZrWZ" target="_blank">http://wapo.st/1MGZrWZ</a> N.Y. TIMES QUOTATION OF DAY, on p. A22 – Steven Molo, a lawyer for Sheldon Silver, the former New York State Assembly speaker, in opening statement to jurors at Silver as trials on fraud charges began (“[t]he most prominent public corruption trial to be held in New York City in decades”): “It’s impossible, absolutely impossible, for a member of the Assembly to do his or her job and to go out, make laws, deal with people, do the job that a person in the Assembly does, and not have some form of conflict of interest.” <a href="http://nyti.ms/1Wy5XP3" target="_blank">http://nyti.ms/1Wy5XP3</a>--N.Y. POST cover: “Shelly Case Opens: POWER. GREED. And loads of corruption.” See the cover. <a href="http://bit.ly/1Xy78jU" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1Xy78jU</a>TWEET DU JOUR -- @davidplouffe: “Carson and Trump over 50, not doing a single thing conventionally. Anyone expecting the ‘real’ campaign to start may be waiting a long time.”SPOTTED: Mark Penn and Jay Carney (sporting a tech-y beard), separately at breakfast at the Four Seasons in Georgetown.AIR WAR: Cruz super PAC’s Keep the Promise radio ads: “The Ted Cruz I Know and Trust,” “Religious Freedom 60 second ad,” “Hunting Second Amendment ad,” “Single Mom Second Amendment ad,” “Ted Cruz biographical Freedom Fighter ad”. <a href="http://bit.ly/1P8IdlG" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1P8IdlG</a> CLICKER – “The 8 ways Trump has attacked Rubio’s sweating,” by Daniel Lippman <a href="http://politi.co/1Qb3t9J" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1Qb3t9J</a>DAILY TRUMP -- “Trump knocks rivals, gets literary in New York,” by Ben Schreckinger in New York: “Other candidates go on book tours. Donald Trump brings the book tour to him.’” <a href="http://politi.co/1l7dgSc" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1l7dgSc</a>POWER PLAYERS -- “Tara Wall, Top Black GOP Operative, Is Out At The RNC,” by BuzzFeed’s Darren Sands: “Tara Wall, the [RNC’s] senior strategist for media and engagement, ... was one of the most seasoned black operatives at the RNC. In recent months, Wall had been focused on producing short one-on-one videos with Republican candidates ... The RNC has reportedly hired an operative from Florida named Lucas Boyce, who is also black, to replace Wall.” <a href="http://bzfd.it/20tdUK5" target="_blank">http://bzfd.it/20tdUK5</a>SNEAK PEEK -- MARK LEIBOVICH in this Sunday’s Times Magazine, “Just the Facts”: “What does it mean to be a ‘truther’? We are all supposedly on journeys to truth. I had a rabbi tell me this once.” <a href="http://nyti.ms/1XOoB7L" target="_blank">http://nyti.ms/1XOoB7L</a>SPEAKER RYAN -- “Freedom Caucus giving Ryan benefit of the doubt,” by Lauren French: “[A]fter new Speaker Paul Ryan remarked over the weekend that defunding the women’s health group probably isn’t going to happen, several of the conservative firebrands greeted the remark with a shrug. It was one early indication that members of the House Freedom Caucus ... are willing to give Ryan some running room early on in the job.” <a href="http://politi.co/1WvxCpa" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1WvxCpa</a> --“Ryan pitches unified GOP agenda to senators,” by Burgess Everett: “pitched senators on developing a coordinated GOP policy portfolio in January that congressional Republicans can stand behind as a party ... According to Ryan’s pitch, they could merge their agenda after each caucus holds their annual retreat at the beginning of the year, though some senators came away with the impression that Ryan would seek another joint retreat between House and Senate Republicans.” <a href="http://politi.co/1Wy0EPM" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1Wy0EPM</a>WHAT MATT RHOADES IS READING -- “Romney issues endorsement of ... GOP oppo group,” by Alex Isenstadt: “The 2012 nominee, addressing donors in New York City, ... heaped praise on ... Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, and Chris Christie. Yet those present at the fundraiser, which was benefiting the Republican oppo research firm America Rising, said he was careful not to indicate which one he liked the most. ... The America Rising fundraiser, held at a private residence in the Time Warner Center, drew around 50 donors — including a number of heavy hitters such as trucking company executive and Christie backer Jerry Langer and New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, who is Bush’s finance chairman.” <a href="http://politi.co/1H6hSlx" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1H6hSlx</a>MILESTONES: Blue Engine Message & Media turns 9: The firm went from one person 9 years ago to 16 today. In 9 years, the firm has celebrated: 3 weddings, 5 engagements, 4 births, 1 baby on the way, 8 graduations, and 3 new dogs. In a blog post, Blue Engine partners Erik Smith, David Di Martino and Allison Fastow reflect on how public affairs has changed. <a href="http://bit.ly/1MGT6uP" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1MGT6uP</a>FRED THOMPSON’s official obit: “Services will be held Friday ... at 10AM CT at War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville (301 6th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37243). The service is open to the public. Following the service, family and friends will go to Lawrenceburg, Tennessee for a Hometown Tribute at the Crockett Theatre. A private burial will be held in Lawrenceburg. ... In lieu of flowers, the Thompson family asks for donations to the following organizations: Alive Hospice ... Boys & Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee ... [and the] Mayo Clinic.” <a href="http://politi.co/1MbJimX" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1MbJimX</a>VALLEY TALK -- “Amazon opening its first real bookstore,” by Seattle Times’ Jay Greene: “At 9:30 Tuesday morning, the online retail giant [opened] its first-ever brick-and-mortar retail store in its 20-year life, in University Village. The store, called Amazon Books, looks a lot like bookstores that populate malls across the country. Its wood shelves are stocked with 5,000 to 6,000 titles ... Every book will face out, rather than be stacked tightly with only their spines showing.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1Myms87" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1Myms87</a>MEDIAWATCH – RICHARD WOLFFE OUT at MSNBC -- Hadas Gold: “NBC and MSNBC executives Julian March and Richard Wolffe are leaving the company, NBC News chief Andy Lack announced in a memo to staff ... Wolffe, who led the creation and launch of MSNBC.com as VP and executive editor since 2012, was also a former on-air contributor ... Wolffe is ‘moving on to a new opportunity.’” <a href="http://politi.co/1iCuQeZ" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1iCuQeZ</a>--“John Henry and Rick Berke Launch STAT: A Publication Dedicated to Health, Medicine and Life Sciences”: “Henry, owner of The Boston Globe and principal owner of the Boston Red Sox, and ... Rick Berke today launched STAT ... The publication has assembled a news team of nearly 40 top journalists ... headquartered in Boston.” <a href="http://politi.co/1krB5nf" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1krB5nf</a> ... <a href="http://www.statnews.com/" target="_blank">www.STATnews.com</a>--Boston Globe lead story, “A debatable sales pitch in Trump’s past: Health specialists call claims on vitamins unfounded,” by STAT’s Ike Swetlitz <a href="http://bit.ly/1RRFLO9" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1RRFLO9</a>SPORTS BLINK – EARNEST’S NEW SCREENSAVER -- Sports Illustrated cover, “MAKE IT REIGN: How the relentless Royals ran off with a World Series title no one saw coming.” See the cover. <a href="http://bit.ly/1iCIkYl" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1iCIkYl</a> “Nationals hire Dusty Baker [age 66] as their next manager,” by AP Sports Writer Howard Fendrich in D.C.: “Major League Baseball avoids what would have been its first start to a season since 1988 with zero black skippers. ‘I am certain that the Nationals, like all of our clubs, hired the best person for the job. It is encouraging that in this case the best person turned out to be African American,’ baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in an email.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1P8Q5Um" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1P8Q5Um</a>--HOW PSYCHED IS SKATELL? “Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Alabama top ... first College Football Playoff selection committee rankings of the season.,” by AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo: “Notre Dame was fifth and Baylor was sixth ... Clemson, LSU and Ohio State are among 11 unbeaten teams.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1LPxB7o" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1LPxB7o</a> ENGAGED -- Kevin Collins, director of research at the Analyst Institute and killer amateur chef, toStephanie Schwartzkopf, international development whiz at DAI, at the top of Old Rag Mountain last weekend. They met at a White Ford Broncos concert (the DC ‘90s cover band) through a mutual friend. Pics <a href="http://bit.ly/1MGTfyn" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1MGTfyn</a> ... <a href="http://bit.ly/1PlwHSA" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1PlwHSA</a> BIRTHDAYS: Jeremy Bernard (hat tip: Hilary Rosen) ... Kathy Griffin ... Kit Seelye ... Laura Bush is 69 ... BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith … Blair Latoff Holmes, the pride of West Chester, Pa. (hubby tip: Josh) … Craig Stevens … Hal Malchow ... Rima Sirota of Georgetown Law School (h/t Jon Haber) … Michael Fontneau, a Front Porch Strategies and Strategy Group alum now in Boston at tech startup Datto … Alice Tong, Eastern states advocate at Environmental Entrepreneurs and Mark Warner campaign alum … Eric Wagner, director of comms. and marketing at Bloomberg Government and an ABC News alum … Toby Lam … AP’s Alex Sanz … WTOP’s Hillary Howard … WaPo’s Mike Debonis ... Carlos Gutierrez, a partner at Albright Stonebridge and former Secretary of Commerce under Bush 43 and CEO of Kellogg, celebrating in Cuba where he was born. He is traveling to Cuba as part of the Chamber’s U.S.-Cuba Business Council (h/t Julie Mason) ...... Laylee Ghiasi, former NextGen Climate political intern and current Georgetown L1 (h/t Max Cummings) ... Global Strategy Group’s Amanda Thayer ... South Jersey’s own Tim Saler, deputy campaign manager at Jindal for President and a V.P. at Grassroots Targeting and Rick Scott alum, is 3-0 (h/t Juston Johnson) ... Catherine De Castelbajac …... Lucy Tutwiler Hodas (Roll Tide tip: Margaret) … Brian J. Siebel … L’Auberge Chez Francois’ Jacques Haeringer … Ashley Estes Kavanaugh … Trish Turner … Politico’s Elena Chiriboga … Markus Palmgren … Joe Vidunas … Kari Kant … Jeremy Chwat ... Ira Fishman of the NFL Players Association ... Danny O’Driscoll, a Romney and Scott Walker alum ... Danny Glover ... Kristin Hardy-Artikaslan … Jared Kleinstein ... Julie Tippens ... Lynde Uihlein ... Susan Knapp ... Casey Sinnwell (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ... Sloan Rappaport ... actress Doris Roberts is 85 ... Markie Post is 65 ... “Survivor” host Jeff Probst is 54 ... Matthew McConaughey is 46 ... Sean "Puffy" Combs is 46 ... celebrity chef Curtis Stone is 40 ... actress Gillian Zinser is 30 (h/ts AP) BIRTHDAY SUN.: Christopher Martin, an attorney at Cooley in D.C., is 34 ... MON.: his sister Catherine (Simmy) Martin, at the World Bank, is 29 (h/ts their father, Robin Martin) DESSERT -- “Jon Stewart and HBO conclude exclusive four-year production pact” – Release: “In his first project for HBO under the new deal, Stewart will view current events through his unique prism. ... [H]e is developing new technology that will allow him to produce timely short-form digital content, which will be refreshed on HBO NOW multiple times throughout the day.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1H6iSG4" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1H6iSG4</a> ** Presented by Chevron: Our nation’s heroes deserve the very best when they return home. The USO has created programs to help veterans and their families restore their lives. Chevron is proud to support the USO in this essential mission. Learn more about the USO at: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/pgy6a96" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/pgy6a96</a> **