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POLITICO Playbook, presented by Qualcomm – EXCLUSIVE: More audio leaks from Cruz fundraisers coming this week – NO LETTI...

2015-12-14

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> Good Monday morning. SIREN: An informed source tells Playbook there’s more audio of “Cruz unplugged” leaking out of New York City fundraising events. Last week, the N.Y. Times posted audio, provided by an attendee, of Cruz questioning Trump’s “judgment” at a Madison Avenue fundraiser. It turns out that several of Cruz’s private fundraising events have been recorded, according to this source.Our little bird says that when addressing Manhattan donors, Cruz strikes a more moderate and inclusive tone on social issues than he does when speaking to Iowa audiences. Some donors say that New York Cruz sounds different than Iowa Cruz. Look for the next audio track on a conservative news site early this week. The leaks are designed to undermine Cruz’s authenticity.--@realDonaldTrump: “I was disappointed that Ted Cruz would speak behind my back, get caught, and then deny it. Well, welcome to the wonderful world of politics!”--WSJ 1-col. lead, “Cruz Picks Up Steam in GOP Race,” by Janet Hook: “Until recently, Messrs. Trump and Cruz have refrained from attacking each other … But … [Cruz] has increasingly come under direct and pointed attack from Mr. Trump.” <a href="http://on.wsj.com/1RMRGze" target="_blank">http://on.wsj.com/1RMRGze</a>**SUBSCRIBE to Politico Playbook: <a href="http://politi.co/1M75UbX" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1M75UbX</a> TOMORROW’S debate lineup … “Paul remains on main debate stage: CNN adjusts its rules to keep him in,” by Politico’s Steven Shepard, Hadas Gold and Daniel Strauss: 9 podiums “will be on the main stage: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie and Paul. … [CNN’s Eugene Scott] wrote that Paul ‘was saved at the 11th hour by showing viability in Iowa.’” <a href="http://politi.co/1SWcQJp" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1SWcQJp</a> --UNDERCARD, left to right: Pataki, Huckabee, Santorum, Graham. WHAT IOWA IS READING – Des Moines Register banner, “Iowa Poll … Clinton builds lead over rivals: Sanders comes in 9 points behind front-runner; O’Malley support grows but not enough,” by Tony Leys: Clinton 48% (up from 42% in Oct.) … Sanders 39% (37% in Oct.) … O’Malley 4% (twice as much as in Oct.) <a href="http://dmreg.co/1P2JLv4" target="_blank">http://dmreg.co/1P2JLv4</a>YOU'RE INVITED! Playbook Breakfast year-end double-header TOMORROW, Tuesday: House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnnell. We’ll discuss Ryan’s 47 days with the gavel, McConnell’s year-long plan to “restore the Senate,” and look ahead to 2016 on the Hill and in the campaigns. Jake Sherman joins Mike Allen for the Speaker conversation; Anna Palmer will join for McConnell. Doors open at 7:30 a.m.; program runs 8 to 9. RSVP here; location will come with your confirmation: <a href="http://bit.ly/1NY66X2" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1NY66X2</a> NO CHRISTMAS BREAK – “GOP contenders prep for loud, ugly holiday season: Trump will ‘ruin Christmas for America,’ says a Rubio consultant,” by Politico’s Eli Stokols: Trump is “not about to let up now, not for the holiday season or anything else. ‘We keep a very aggressive campaign schedule and that will continue to take place over the next several weeks,’ said Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager. …“[S]enior Republican operatives [say] Trump’s proposed Muslim ban … ‘upped the ante’ and ‘added urgency’ to their quest to unify behind ‘one strong alternative to Trump.’ … The upshot: There will be no break from early state television ads and campaign stops over the holidays, not even in the week between Christmas and New Year’s.” <a href="http://politi.co/1RjM0gT" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1RjM0gT</a>BUSH 43 back on “SNL”: Will Ferrell’s cold open as W: “This is an important day. I’ve made a big decision. I’m entering the race for president of the United States of America. The field of Republicans is so messed up that I figured, it makes you miss me, doesn’t it? And that’s saying a lot. ... Jeb! Oh boy. Poor Jeb. You gotta admit that it’s a pretty good plot twist that I turned out to be the smart one.” 6-min. video<a href="http://bit.ly/1Nrpi0a" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1Nrpi0a</a> ** A message from Qualcomm: To combat the ever-increasing traffic congestion in metropolitan areas, Qualcomm has developed wireless smart city technologies to better relay traffic information. This will help reduce CO2 emissions through improved traffic management and more accessible electric vehicle charging. Why Wait™. <a href="http://bit.ly/1Gw9FCU" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1Gw9FCU</a> ** LEAD STORY of Politico.eu, “5 takeaways from the elections in France: French voters don’t want the National Front anywhere near actual decision-making,” by Pierre Briançon in Paris: “The National Front failed on Sunday to convince voters to let it run any French region, even though the far-right party’s candidates together gathered more votes than leader Marine Le Pen received in her 2012 presidential run. … Socialist supporters [voted] en masse … for conservative candidates.” <a href="http://politi.co/1Z7uFJd" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1Z7uFJd</a> USED NEWS: Politico, Sat. night, “The one word [‘shall’] ]that almost sank the climate talks,” by Andrew Restuccia in Le Bourget, France <a href="http://politi.co/1SVAjKS" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1SVAjKS</a> … WashPost A1 today, “Paris climate deal nearly unraveled over 1 word,” by Joby Warrick in Paris <a href="http://wapo.st/1QGipfR" target="_blank">http://wapo.st/1QGipfR</a>REMEMBERING EVELYN LIEBERMAN, the first female White House deputy chief of staff, and most recently the Smithsonian’s Senior Advisor and Assistant to the Secretary for External Relations. At the White House and elsewhere, Mrs. Lieberman was a mentor and adviser to so many. Her legacy begins with a legion of young women who are now leading lights of policy and politics, changing the world every day: Diane Dewhirst, Mary Ellen Glynn, Julie Mason, Evan Ryan, Kathy McKiernan, April Melody, Jennifer Palmieri, and so many more.Mrs. Lieberman died of cancer on Saturday night in D.C. at age 71, with her husband, Ed, at her side. Per her Smithsonian bio: “Lieberman was the first under secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, appointed by President Bill Clinton. … From 1997 to 1999, Lieberman was the director of Voice of America ... Lieberman was a member of the White House staff from 1993 to 1997. She served as assistant to the President and deputy chief of staff, the first woman to hold that title. She also served as deputy assistant to the President and deputy press secretary for operations and as assistant to the chief of staff in the Office of the First Lady.” Evelyn loved this picture of her. <a href="http://s.si.edu/1I2nzSh" target="_blank">http://s.si.edu/1I2nzSh</a> ... Her 2014 commencement at SUNY Buffalo State <a href="http://bit.ly/1YdIqDS" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1YdIqDS</a>--John F. Harris and Marin Cogan on Politico, June 10, 2010: “[A]mong Clintonites she was celebrated as the person who usually succeeded in demanding that people who work at the White House not forget they are working at the White House … Change that dress. Shave that beard. Clean up your act. Clinton himself … was afraid of crossing her. As deputy chief of staff, Lieberman assigned herself a role that was one part doting Jewish mother and two parts drill sergeant. When she left the post at the end of Clinton’s first term, chief of staff Leon Panetta praised her for delivering ‘the perfect mixture of chicken soup and a kick in the butt.’” <a href="http://politi.co/1miWBvN" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1miWBvN</a> STATE OF THE ART -- WashPost 1-col. lead, “Cruz’s success aided by big data: A VAST DOSSIER OF PERSONAL DETAILS -- ‘Psychographic targeting’ helps send him to top tier,” by Tom Hamburger in Urbandale, Iowa, with Frances Stead Sellers: “Cruz has largely built his program out of his Houston headquarters, where a team of statisticians and behavioral psychologists … built their own version of a Myers-Briggs personality test. … Cruz, a critic of excessive government data collection, has been … aggressive about gathering personal information for his campaign.“Some of the data comes from typical sources, such as consumer habits and Facebook posts. Some is homegrown, such as a new smartphone app that keeps supporters in touch while giving the campaign the ability to scrape their phones for additional contacts. … “[T]he campaign has employed … ‘geo-fencing’ … to send messages to digital devices in narrow areas … When the Republican Jewish Coalition was meeting at the Venetian in Las Vegas in May, … Cruz … unleashed a series of Web-based advertisements visible only inside the hotel complex that emphasized Cruz’s devotion to Israel and its security.“[P]ersonalities that have received high scores for ‘neuroticism’ are believed to be generally fearful, so a pro-gun pitch to them would emphasize the use of firearms for personal safety and might include a picture of a burglar breaking in to a home. But those who score high for ‘openness’ or traditional values are more likely to receive a message that promotes hunting as a family activity, perhaps accompanied by an image of a father taking his son duck hunting. …“[Chris Wilson, the campaign’s director of research and analytics,] said he didn’t know what the campaign would do with the personal information … after the election. … [Campaign Manager Jeff] Roe said this kind of outreach is part of a plan to mobilize the Cruz base in the same way Obama galvanized his base in 2008 and 2012. The … data operation … is used daily to help make key decisions — where Cruz should travel, what he should say.” <a href="http://wapo.st/1mjwBjZ" target="_blank">http://wapo.st/1mjwBjZ</a>OK, WE GET IT! The Guardian, Dec 11, “Ted Cruz using firm that harvested data on millions of unwitting Facebook users” <a href="http://bit.ly/1NOHi8f" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1NOHi8f</a> ... Bloomberg’s Sasha Issenberg, Nov. 12, “Cruz-Connected Data Miner Aims to Get Inside U.S. Voters’ Heads” <a href="http://bloom.bg/1QfDek1" target="_blank">http://bloom.bg/1QfDek1</a> ... National Review, July 7, “With Mega-Donor’s Technology, Cruz Campaign Promises to Turn Out More GOP Voters than Ever Before” <a href="http://bit.ly/1lHbR5B" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1lHbR5B</a> ... Politico’s Ken Vogel and Tarini Parti, July 7, “Cruz partners with donor’s ‘psychographic’ firm” <a href="http://politi.co/1YdSYD3" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1YdSYD3</a> MONEY HONEYS – GABE SHERMAN in New York mag, “Republican Billionaires Just Can’t Seem to Buy This Election”: “Donors have awakened to the realization that … consultants can earn millions from campaigns regardless of whether they win. ... Cruz contributors can specify how they want their money spent, … the way universities allow benefactors to earmark their donations for a new science wing ... [O]ne strategist [said:] ‘It’s a way to entice donors. They look at it like fantasy football.’” <a href="http://nym.ag/1IOUaLx" target="_blank">http://nym.ag/1IOUaLx</a>BEING THERE -- “Anatomy of a Clinton rally: Watched by Secret Service, tracked by opponents, hounded by activists, the Democratic front-runner tries to energize an emerging coalition,” by Politico’s Annie Karni: “Eight months into the campaign slog, Hillary Clinton’s events on the road are medium in size, predictable in nature. Emblematic of the candidate, her town halls and rallies are often controlled, substantive, and almost never veer off script. They often leave attendees hugely impressed with Clinton’s knowledge of the issues, but not necessarily in love. “The rallies are, at bottom, a microcosm of Clinton’s campaign so far – methodical, professional, but also curiously mechanical and lacking in electricity. ... The superfans ... The Protesters ... The tracker ... The Geezers ... The Young Girls ... The Press ... The Secret Service ... Hillary’s posse ... Nick Merrill ... campaign photographer Barbara Kinney ... trip director Connolly Keigher ... campaign videographer Julie Zuckerbrod ... and, more often than not, campaign vice chair and longtime Clinton confidante Huma Abedin ... [and sometimes] communications director Jennifer Palmieri ... The Advocates ... The Entrepreneur ... The undecided voters ... Union muscle ... Campaign Volunteers ... Elected officials.” <a href="http://politi.co/1P1VcTD" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1P1VcTD</a>CORRECT THE RECORD is today launching <a href="http://www.gopchristmas.com/" target="_blank">www.gopchristmas.com</a> -- features “The GOP’s 12 Days of Christmas — a fun and festive holiday carol to highlight some of the GOP’s most out-of-touch, out-of-date moments just before Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate.” <a href="http://www.gopchristmas.com/" target="_blank">www.gopchristmas.com</a> BEN SMITH on BuzzFeed, “What The Hell Happened To Mickey Kaus? How a godfather of Democratic political blogging became obsessed with immigration — and came around to Donald Trump”: Kaus mostly stopped blogging this year when he broke with the Daily Caller after criticizing Fox News — from the right. And while his old friends from top New York and Washington publications are now Top Thinkers and People Who Run Things, he is sitting in a coffee shop in Venice [California], talking about how he’s going to light up the congressional switchboard with calls about immigration. He now lives off his savings, and writes solely on Twitter.” <a href="http://bzfd.it/1YdwdPA" target="_blank">http://bzfd.it/1YdwdPA</a>DAVID REMNICK in The New Yorker, “Negotiating the Whirlwind: Can Secretary of State John Kerry break through in Syria?”: “In 2004, when Kerry lost the Presidential race ... he refused to challengethe results, despite his suspicion that in certain states, particularly Ohio, where the Electoral College count hinged, proxies for Bush had rigged many voting machines. ... ‘For a long period, after 2004, every time he even half fell asleep all he saw was voting machines in the state of Ohio,’ [said] Mike Barnicle, a close friend of Kerry’s ...“This summer, Barnicle spent time with Kerry on Nantucket, where Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz, have a house on the water and a seventy-six-foot, seven-milliondollar sailboat called Isabel. ‘We were sitting in the bow ... and we were talking about a bunch of different things—about Iran, about what the President of Iran was like—and I said, “Other than not being President, this is pretty good.” ... Then he said, “Yeah, yeah, I realize how badly Shrum screwed me.”’ <a href="http://bit.ly/1Ye7Bq6" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1Ye7Bq6</a>THOUGHT LEADERS – BILL KELLER on Politico, “On Pardons, Obama’s the Stingiest President since John Adams: He’s made justice reform a big issue. So how come he’s freed so few prisoners?”: “Obama’s record so far–counting commutations and pardons—lags behind every recent president except George H.W. Bush, who had only a single term. On pardons, which give ex-inmates a better chance to get jobs, find housing, vote and generally live normal lives, Obama is the stingiest president since John Adams—64 granted so far, fewer than three percent of the petitions filed.” <a href="http://politi.co/1I2DtMp" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1I2DtMp</a>--MIKE BARNICLE on The Daily Beast, “The Only Thing They’re Selling is Fear”: “Fear is hugely contagious. Used skillfully by politicians looking to manipulate voters it can become toxic and capable of infecting more than just a few.” <a href="http://thebea.st/1Y8iONX" target="_blank">http://thebea.st/1Y8iONX</a>TRAILER OF THE DAY – “The aliens are back in the first Independence Day: Resurgence trailer” <a href="http://bit.ly/220mXmw" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/220mXmw</a>SPOTTED: Samantha Tubman, Nick Schmit and Jonathan Capehart yesterday at brunch at Le Diplomate ... Anna Palmer, Jackie Kucinich and Erin Billings yesterday at 14th Street restaurant Tico ... Colin Reed yesterday at the Patriots game in Houston.--SEND US your spottings: <a href="mailto:dlippman@politico.com" target="_blank">dlippman@politico.com</a>KATIE COURIC’s new film, “Under the Gun,” premieres Jan. 24th at Sundance: “Gabby Giffords] and Mark Kelly are among several families impacted by both mass shootings and daily gun violence that the film follows.” <a href="http://bit.ly/1I2yN9r" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1I2yN9r</a> ... <a href="http://www.underthegunmovie.com/" target="_blank">www.underthegunmovie.com</a>TRANSITIONS: Nick Pearson joins Google today to manage government relations with Senate Republicans. Nick was formerly the director of federal relations at the Tennessee Valley Authority and is an alum of Sen. Johnny Isakson. Previously, Lee Dunn served as Google’s Senate Republican gov’t relations manager, but transitioned this summer to lead Google’s Elections Sales team focusing on Republican candidates. PRACTICE WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY -- “The White House Holiday Photo Line: A Tradition of Awkwardness,” by NYT’s Julie Hirschfeld Davis: “Jokes are told, interviews requested, and unsolicited advice given to the president along with handshakes, high fives and the not-infrequent deer-in-headlights stare ... ‘To staff the president and first lady at the holiday photo line is to observe humanity in its most awkward state,’ said Bill Burton …“Obama ... does far fewer receiving lines than his predecessors. George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush, worked a photo line at each of the 25 holiday parties he hosted in 2008, his last year in office, but the Obama White House has eliminated all but a handful. Congress and the news media are among the groups that still stand in line for the presidential grip-and-grin.” With cameos by Ann Compton, Tina Tchen, Amy Zantzinger and Steve Elmendorf <a href="http://nyti.ms/1RjaerA" target="_blank">http://nyti.ms/1RjaerA</a> HOLIDAY PARTIES -- McConnell staff put omnibus and tax extenders negotiations on hold for just a few hours to attend Lee and Brendan Dunn’s annual Christmas Party at their home in old Town Alexandria. As always, there were a few laughs at Brendan’s annual cocktail napkins that poked fun at the year in politics which included, “Fast Track Authority to Drink,” “Have a Merry Christmas That’s an Executive Order” and “302(b) There or be Square.” Guests ate toasted oysters, charcuterie, and desserts. So lobbyists around town, if you didn’t get your phone call returned Saturday night or Sunday, you might have the Dunn Christmas party to blame. Pics of the creative napkins <a href="http://bit.ly/1NjTfBl" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1NjTfBl</a> ... <a href="http://bit.ly/1NjTgFz" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/1NjTgFz</a>--SPOTTED: Sharon Soderstrom, Hazen Marshall, Antonia Ferrier, Scott Raab, John Abegg, Neil Chatterjee, Laura Dove, Don “Stew” Stewart, Monica Popp, John Chapuis, Brendon Plack, Dan Kunsman, Rick Murphy, Chris Campbell, Mark Prater, Jim Lyons, Julia Lawless, Dave Schiappa, Kyle Simmons, Rohit Kumar, Kevin McLaughlin, Alex and Caitlin Conant, Jeff Sadosky, Joe Donoghue, Josh and Blair Holmes, Brian McGuire.BIRTHDAYS: Kirsten Powers ... Matt Beynon, national comms. director at Santorum for President ... Trey Ditto ... Michael Ovitz is 69 … Stephanie Allen, VP at Dezenhall Resources and an alum of Kay Hagan, Mary Landrieu and the CFTC ... RNC’s Raffi Williams, a Hotchkiss grad ... John Ullyot, former Marine Officer and longtime staffer for Sens. John Warner and Arlen Specter ... David Vennett of DV Strategies and an alum of Goldman Sachs, Toyota and State ... Kristin King, program director of the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program at the Bush Presidential Center ... Carol Plath Hainsey (h/t Teresa Vilmain) ... Grace Gallo (h/t Big Blue) … Ryan Hagen ... Bloomberg’s Zach Tracer ... Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kim Beazley (@AusAmbUSA) ... Suzanne Wrasse, Sen. Jim Risch’s comms. director … Chuck Rocha, president of Solidarity Strategies ... Matt Duss, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, a CAP alum and the pride of Nyack, N.Y. …… Elizabeth Vale, senior advisor at Promontory Financial Group and an alum of Elizabeth Warren and the CFPB ... Ted Frank ... Kyra Jennings, COS at Freedman Consulting and a DCCC and DLC alum ... Kathryn Prael ... Erin Daly Wilson ... Karen Maginnis ... Lynne White ... Derrick Max ... Joan Mower ... Sylvester Giustino ... Lesslie Hall ... Lori Smith Johnson … R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. … singer-actress Abbe Lane is 84 … Patty Duke is 69 … Joyce Vincent-Wilson (Tony Orlando and Dawn) is 69 … Peter “Spider” Stacy (The Pogues) is 57 … Sophie Monk is 36 … rock/R&B singer Tori Kelly is 23 (h/ts AP)** A message from Qualcomm: When will the future arrive? While the rest of the world wonders when, Qualcomm is at work developing cutting-edge wireless technologies today. We are the inventors, the restless innovators continually pushing forward. When Qualcomm connected the phone to the Internet, the phone became smart. When we connect billions more things, our lives will be even smarter. Why Wait™.<a href="http://bit.ly/1Gw9FCU" target="_blank"> http://bit.ly/1Gw9FCU</a> **SUBSCRIBE to the Playbook family: POLITICO Playbook <a href="http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b48cc63abe2b3bfdf6a1974229c1d9ebdd76fec80e3e0b9c4f389a6aebb15331" target="_blank">http://politi.co/1M75UbX</a> ... 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