By Mike Allen (@mikeallen; mallen@politico.com) and Daniel Lippman (@dlippman; dlippman@politico.com)
Good Saturday morning. JUST POSTED -- Politico’s first Social Media Index, a weekly round up of the 2016 trail on social media – Hadas Gold, with Scott Bland: “The biggest social media story of the week in Washington was about boots on the ground — but not the military kind. After a New York Times reporter tweeted a photo of Rubio’s fancy black footwear, replete with a ‘Cuban heel,’ the news media and fellow candidates responded with a substance-free feeding frenzy not seen since John Edwards was caught brushing his golden locks on camera. The phrase 'Rubio boots' has been tweeted about 7,000 times since Jan. 3 ...
“But it was still the social media king himself, Donald J. Trump, who was the most talked about candidate on Facebook this past week, with more than 6 million people making more than 22 million interactions (likes, comments and shares) about the Republican poll-leader. Ben Carson and Ted Cruz were next, with just over one million people making 2.45 million interactions about Carson; and 856,000 people making 2.73 million interactions about Cruz ...
“Clinton saw 3.87 million people make 12.5 million interactions about her, while 1.74 million people made 5.44 million interactions about Sanders. O’Malley was far behind, with 46,000 people making 80,000 interactions interactions about him — about the same number of comments people made on Ted Cruz’s Facebook page. ... Carson ... commands a massive audience on Facebook, second only to Trump's, even as his poll numbers have drooped.” http://politi.co/1ZiieOt
--“Rivals dig at Marco Rubio’s masculinity: In a race focused on style over substance, the GOP competitors try to revoke his Man Card,” by Eli Stokols: “‘They’re clearly trying to effeminize Marco Rubio,’ said Steve Schmidt ... ‘Wearing black, high-heeled booties is not exactly a statement of masculinity. And this is not groundbreaking. The sartorial choices of candidates have long been used by their opponents to say something negative about a larger personality trait, sometimes to devastating effect.’” http://politi.co/1MYXjnd
INSIDE THE CAMPAIGNS – “Rubio’s Iowa path leaves him squeezed on all sides,” by Shane Goldmacher in Cedar Rapids: “While others brag about visiting all 99 of Iowa’s counties, ... Rubio is investing little in the western and rural reaches of the state. His travel schedule, ad buys, and his own advisers point to a strategy almost entirely dependent on a far narrower strip of the state. ... [T]his game plan amounts to a high-stakes geographic bet that Rubio can consolidate the more traditional wing of the GOP in the east, even as he’s squeezed there by an emboldened Chris Christie and an organized Jeb Bush campaign.
“All the while, Donald Trump and his loud and loyal following threaten to wreak havoc on everyone’s carefully plotted maps. ...
“In the final two weeks before the caucuses, Rubio’s campaign has reserved a whopping 1,300 gross-ratings points in the Cedar Rapids media market that also covers the eastern population centers of Waterloo, Iowa City and Dubuque. The huge buy is almost double Rubio’s saturation in any other Iowa market and a heavier rotation ... than any other candidate or super PAC has reserved in any Iowa market in the 2016 campaign. An average viewer in those cities should see ads from Rubio’s campaign 13 times each of the last weeks. ... [O]f Iowa’s major markets, Rubio campaign’s has bought the smallest penetration in Sioux City, which broadcasts across the more evangelical northwest.” http://politi.co/1OXkRKe
SNEAK PEEK: CNN’s Jake Tapper interviewed Ted Cruz on his campaign bus in Iowa for tomorrow’s “State of the Union.” TAPPER: “[D]id [your parents] vote in Canada when they were there?” CRUZ: “My mother didn’t because she was a U.S. citizen ... [L]ook: The internet has all sorts of fevered, swamped theories. But the facts are simple: My mom was born in Wilmington, Delaware. She was an American citizen by birth, she’s been an American citizen all 81 years of her life, she’s never been a citizen of any other place.”
-- @MittRomney: “.@tedcruz is a ‘natural born citizen.’ Obama too. Even George Romney. This isn’t the issue you're looking for.”
BREAKING – “Portman to endorse John Kasich,” by Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Henry Gomez: “[Portman] served in the White House under President George H.W. Bush and ... for two high-profile posts under President George W. Bush.” http://bit.ly/1ReZCdw
STATE OF THE ART -- @murphymike tweets Right to Rise digital billboards: “Cool thing about digital, you change message with a click. Iowa minutes ago...” http://bit.ly/1Rrxzrw ... “NH and IA. Lots of boards in both states. 100K+ views per day” http://bit.ly/1IVNN9u ... “Hey @realDonaldTrump! Next time you are doing one of your one stop no Q&A events in Iowa, look out the window…” (white-on-red Jeb quote: “Donald Trump is unhinged.”) http://bit.ly/1Sa1RPk
YOU’RE INVITED! Playbookers are invited to join the NFL Network and POLITICO on THURSDAY (Jan. 14 -- 6 p.m. at the Newseum) for a screening of NFL Films’ “America’s Game and the Iran Hostage Crisis.” The screening will be followed by a panel conversation discussing the film and current events, with director and executive producer Tate Donovan; Alex Paen, American reporter in Iran during the hostage crisis; and Rocky Sickmann, U.S. Marine held hostage in Iran during the crisis. RSVP: http://bit.ly/1ZQv5UM
** A message from Ford Motor Company: We are committed to making people’s lives better by changing the way the world moves. Ford and technology company DJI have announced a developer challenge to create smart drone-to-vehicle software. Learn more about Ford Smart Mobility: http://ford.to/FordCES2016 **
CHARLES KOCH interview, “Lunch with the FT,” by Stephen Foley: Koch “says he is ‘disappointed’ by the current crop of Republican presidential candidates, and resigned to having to support one with whom he agrees on only some issues. ... The Kochs’ political machine has presented all the candidates with a list of issues it wants on the agenda but, says Koch, ‘it doesn’t seem to faze them much. You’d think we could have more influence.’” http://on.ft.com/1K3q3Lp
INSTAGRAM OF THE DAY – Jonathan Prince @jmaxprince: “Economic Plan War Room, 1993 #tbt [with Bill Clinton]” http://bit.ly/22QGupX
ARTICLE OF THE DAY – WashPost 2-col. lead, “New tack against ISIS propaganda: U.S. TO REVAMP FALTERING ONLINE WAR – Task force to coordinate efforts to counter recruiting,” by Greg Miller and Karen DeYoung: “Officials will create a counter-terrorism task force, which will be based at the Department of Homeland Security but aims to enlist dozens of federal and local agencies.
“Other moves include revamping a State Department program that was created to serve as an information war room to challenge the Islamic State online and erode its appeal. ... [T]he unit at the State Department will turn its focus toward helping allies craft more localized anti-terrorism messages and will stop producing any videos or other material in English — ending a campaign that had been derided by critics.” http://wapo.st/1ZcnfCE
SOTU PREVIEW – AP’s Josh Lederman: “Obama will look straight past Congress and to the American people in his final State of the Union address [9 p.m. Tuesday], aiming to define his presidency and his legacy before others can do it for him. Unlike the seven such speeches he's given before, Obama's speech Tuesday will eschew the traditional laundry list of grand proposals, new policies and presidential appeals for new laws in favor of a 30,000-foot view of what he's accomplished and what's still left undone.” POTUS travels to Omaha the next day, then to Baton Rouge on Thursday.
CLICKER -- “The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics,” edited by Matt Wuerker – 13 keepers http://politi.co/1MXB80F
SPOTTED: WashPost cartoonist Tom Toles last night at Pennsylvania 6 in downtown DC at his weekly happy hour
CAMPAIGN EMAIL OF THE DAY – From Marco to Playbook: “still with me?”: “Friend, We haven’t heard from you in a while so I wanted to get your thoughts on this quick survey. I want to hear your take on the campaign and learn what’s important to YOU. ... It’s important that we get your response because I’m going to ask our data team to analyze the results and give me a full report. What you share with me will inform our campaign strategy moving forward. Thanks for your time! Marco.” The survey http://bit.ly/1TJXb0q
--On Jan 7, in an email with the subject line, “Three simple steps to victory,” he wrote a friend of Playbook, not named Whitney, and said: “P.S. Whitney, when you generously offer to lock-in your support for January, February, and March, you give my team the assurance that the resources we need to prevail in the pivotal primary process.”
USED NEWS – WashPost, yesterday, “With Jeb Bush down in the polls, Bush World gets ready to deploy” http://wapo.st/1TLusbi ... Politico’s Alex Isenstadt, 12/10, “Jeb taps Bush alumni for early-state push” http://politi.co/1Oirck4
GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:
--“Who Controls Your Facebook Feed,” by Slate’s Will Oremus: “A small team of engineers in Menlo Park. A panel of anonymous power users around the world. And, increasingly, you.” http://slate.me/1VQI2f7 (h/t Longform.org)
--“The Celebrity Surgeon Who Used Love, Money, and the Pope to Scam an NBC News Producer,” by Adam Ciralsky in the Feb. issue of Vanity Fair: “When Benita Alexander fell for celebrated doctor Paolo Macchiarini—while filming a documentary about him—she thought her biggest problem was a breach of journalistic ethics. Then things got really interesting.” http://bit.ly/1PO4SkZ
--“Ivanka Trump Talks Being a Mogul, a Mother, and More,” by Tim Teeman in the February issue of Town and Country Magazine: “Ivanka Trump has turned into one of her father’s greatest assets. Though she has tried to stay on the sidelines, her emergence as a modern-day superwoman—and soon-to-be mother of three—gives his detractors the reassurance that he has gotten at least one thing supremely right.” http://bit.ly/1MXDjBe The cover http://bit.ly/1kV3Oki
-- “Melania Trump’s American Dream,” by Alex Kuczynski in Harper’s Bazaar:“Donald Trump’s first lady talks candidly about her husband's controversial presidential bid, the secrets to their happy marriage, and why she's stayed out of the spotlight—until now.” http://bit.ly/22MqAx1
--“Dark books,” by Tara Isabella Burton in Aeon Magazine: “What’s more wholesome than reading? Yet books wield a dangerous power: the best erode self, infecting readers with ideas.” http://bit.ly/1PjeX6N (h/t ALDaily.com)
--“Can Hobby Lobby Buy the Bible?” by Joel Baden and Candida Moss in the Jan./Feb. issue of The Atlantic: “In just the past six years, the evangelical owners of Hobby Lobby have amassed one of the world’s largest private collections of biblical antiquities. Why?” http://theatln.tc/1Pjf2HM
--“The League of Extraordinary Assholes,” by Mark Kingwell in Walrus Magazine: “There’s a jerk in every room. Is it you?” http://bit.ly/1ZaZcUB
--“To Catch a Rapist,” by Kathy Dobie in tomorrow’s N.Y. Times Magazine: “A special-victims unit fights the hidden epidemic of sexual assault that is disturbingly difficult to investigate.” http://nyti.ms/1MXBCUh
--“Trivers’ Pursuit,” by Matthew Hutson in Psychology Today: “Renegade scientist Robert Trivers is lauded as one of our greatest thinkers—despite irking academia with blunt talk and bad manners.” http://bit.ly/1OguyUS (h/t Longreads.com)
--“These Tricks Make Virtual Reality Feel Real,” by Tom Vanderbilt in Nautilus Magazine: “Realistic digital spaces need delusions as much as they need detail.” http://bit.ly/1ZaZRpj (h/t TheBrowser.com)
--“The Devastating Story of Washington’s Peeping-Tom Rabbi,” by Washingtonian’s Harry Jaffe: “When a politically connected rabbi was arrested, the news stunned Washington. It turns out his betrayal was worse than we knew.” http://bit.ly/1PjfS77
--“Why Bernie Sanders Doesn’t Want Your Vote,” By Joel Stein on the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek: “On the road with a man so angry he scares Democrats, too.” http://bloom.bg/1ZfTtSX
--“How a ‘90s Internet Law determined a 2014 rape case,” by Newsweek’s Matthew Cooper: “In June 2014, [Owen] Labrie, then 18, was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old classmate at the St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire—a charge he continues to deny. ... Labrie’s interviews with Newsweek were his first since his arrest—a chance to explain his life, his hurt, his efforts to rebuild.” http://bit.ly/1TJX84A
--“Magical thinking: the history of science, sorcery and the spiritual,” by Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, reviewing “The Book of Magic: from Antiquity to the Enlightenment” (out Mar. 8) in The New Statesman: “Brian Copenhaver invites us to reflect on the long history of magic in culture.” http://bit.ly/1Rpltz6 Pre-order -- $21.37 on Amazon http://amzn.to/1IUS6BX
WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE – “Daniel (‘DJ’) Rosenthal is leaving government after serving as Director for Counterterrorism on the [NSC]. He served previously as Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for National Security at [DOJ]. While at the NSC, advised the President, the National Security Advisor, and other senior Administration officials on a range of national security matters, including emerging cyber threats and the expanded use by the private sector of new encryption technologies. ... Rosenthal will be joining the Washington ... office of Kroll, a global leader in investigations, risk mitigation, compliance, security, and incident response solutions.”
BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Scott Fairchild … Jane Lucas, Sen. Thune’s L.D. ... James Quinn
BIRTHDAYS: Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin … Brooke Brower, executive producer of MSNBC’S “MTP Daily” … Pamela Walsh, chief of staff to N.H. Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Shaheen alum … Sarah Jackson-Han, comms. team lead for The World Bank Group and a UNDP alum ... Princess Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William … Elizabeth Caputo, associate director for North America at the World Economic Forum (h/t Tim Burger) ... Mark Stencel … Lauren Fritts, director of digital comms for the Christie campaign … WSJ’s Charles Passy ... Erica Flint, the Chamber’s senior manager of media relations, wearing a vintage Hermes scarf she picked up at the Paris flea market last week because it makes her feel like she is entering her 30s elegantly (h/t Blair Latoff Holmes) ... Kenya Young, executive producer of “All Things Considered” on weekends (h/t Jen Liberto) ...Elaine Stern (née Wilson), a bespectacled cat lover, gov’t affairs director at the Foreign Policy Initiative, and a Tom Cotton and used to work on the Hill for Rep. turned Sen. Cotton and Don Manzullo, celebrating her first birthday with her married name (h/t Andie Pivarunas) ...
... Al Felzenberg, former spokesman for the 9/11 Commission (h/t Alex Gray) ... Luke Holland of Sen. Inhofe’s office … Tim Punke, SVP of corporate affairs and public policy at Plum Creek Timber … Kim Larson ... Carrie Seim … Seth Thomas Pietras … Catherine Gatewood … Diana Doukas, director of the White House Business Council and a DSCC and OFA alum ... Everest Bergmann, a neighbor of little Asher Allen ... Jessica M. Garrison ... Ben Taub, freelance contributor at The New Yorker, writing on Syria ... Wes Roth ... Bush-Cheney 2000 and FEMA alum Ron Castleman ... USAID alum Susan Fertig-Dykes, now comms director for The Falls Church ... Jodi Sakol ... Bob Burke ... John Macks ... Samir Arora, veteran of the Clinton campaign and now a member of the Maryland House (h/ts Teresa Vilmain) ...author Judith Krantz is 88 ... Packer great Bart Starr is 82 ... Dick Enberg is 81 ... Joan Baez is 75 ... Crystal Gayle is 65 ... Dave Matthews is 49 ... A.J. McLean (Backstreet Boys) is 38 ... actor Tyree Brown is 12 (h/ts AP)
THE SHOWS, from @MattMackowiak, filing from Austin:
--NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Donald Trump (taped in Iowa); Denis McDonough; Alex Castellanos and Ben Ginsberg; roundtable: Helene Cooper, Robert Costa, Jeff Greenfield and The Des Moines Register’s Jennifer Jacobs
--ABC’s “This Week”: Marco Rubio; Denis McDonough; Mitch McConnell; roundtable: Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Hugh Hewitt and Tavis Smiley
--CBS’s “Face the Nation”: Paul Ryan (taped in Columbia, S.C.); Chris Christie (taped in Columbia); Rand Paul; roundtable: Peggy Noonan, Susan Page, Ed O'Keefe & Slate's Jamelle Bouie
--“Fox News Sunday”: Donald Trump (taped in NYC); Denis McDonough; roundtable: George Will, Bob Woodward, Laura Ingraham and Juan Williams
--CNN’s “State of the Union” (9am ET / 12pm ET): Ted Cruz (taped in Iowa); Denis McDonough; roundtable: Van Jones, Ken Cuccinelli, Hilary Rosen and SE Cupp
--Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” (10am ET / 9am CT): Donald Trump; former U.S. Ambassador to Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq Ryan Crocker; Mahindra USA Inc. president Mani Iyer; roundtable: Ed Rollins, Judith Miller and WSJ columnist Steve Moore
--CNN’s “Inside Politics” with John King (SUN 8:30am ET): Roundtable: Maggie Haberman, Julie Pace, Jonathan Martin and Manu Raju
--CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”: (SUN 10am ET / 1pm ET): Foreign policy roundtable: Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, Johns Hopkins University’s Vali Nasr, former advisor to Prince Turki Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Harvard University’s Nawaf Obaid and author, Wilson Center scholar and The New Yorker’s Robin Wright (“The Iran Primer: Power, Politics and U.S. Policy”); author and Harvard University’s Niall Ferguson (“Kissinger: 1923-1968”); chess master and Russian pro-democracy advocate Garry Kasparov
--CNN’s “Reliable Sources”: (SUN 11am ET): Gun control roundtable: Former 9/11 Compensation Fund special master Kenneth Feinberg, ProPublica’s Lois Beckett, SE Cupp and WaPo’s Erik Wemple; Talkers Magazine publisher Michael Harrison and radio host Ben Ferguson; filmmakers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi and HLN host Nancy Grace; recently retired WaPo reporter Walter Pincus
--Fox News’ “MediaBuzz” (11am ET / 10am CT): Former Bush White House spokesperson Mercedes Schlapp; Daily Beast’s Betsy Woodruff; Daily Beast’s Michael Tomasky; conservative commentator Gayle Trotter; Fox News contributor Eboni Williams; tech expert Shana Glenzer
--Univision’s “Al Punto” (SUN 10am ET / 1pm PT) coverage of the arrest of “El Chapo” Guzmán
--C-SPAN: “The Communicators” (SAT 6:30pm ET): Broadcasting Board of Governors CEO John Lansing, questioned by NYT’s Ron Nixon ...“Newsmakers” (SUN 10am ET): Mac Thornberry, questioned by WSJ’s Felicia Schwartz and Politico’s Jeremy Herb ... “Q&A” (SUN 8pm & 11pm ET): Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron
--MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation with Rev. Al Sharpton”: (SUN 8-9am ET): Jonathan Alter; Republican strategist Susan Del Percio; The Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui; Valerie Jarrett; Sandra Bland’s mother Geneva Reed-Veal and Bland Family attorney Cannon Lambert; author and life coach Lisa Nichols (“Abundance Now”)
--MSNBC’s “UP”: (SUN 9-10am ET): Slate.com’s Mike Pesca; New York Democratic Party executive director Basil Smikle, Jr.; The Blaze’s Amy Holmes; former Clinton White House chief speechwriter David Kusnet; MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt; granddaughter of former WWII pilot (Elaine Harmon) Tiffany Miller; former U.S. Ambassador to Morocco Marc Ginsburg (guest hosted by: NBC News’ Ayman Mohyeldin)
--MSNBC’s “Melissa Harris-Perry”: (SUN 10am-12pm ET): Democratic pollster Fred Yang; CRVIII.com co-founder Jamal Simmons; The Guardian’s Sabrina Siddiqui; MSNBC contributor Robert Traynham; New York One Noticias host Juan Manuel Benítez; “Bottles for Babies” clean water initiative founder Lanice Lawson; Witness to Hunger program’s Tianna Gaines-Turner; Center for American Progress Anti-Poverty Policy director Rebecca Vallas
--MSNBC’s “Weekends with Alex Witt”: (SUN 12pm-2pm ET): NYT’s Jeremy Peters; Howard Dean; Michael Steele; Phoenix City Councilwoman Thelda Williams
--PBS’s “To the Contrary” with Bonnie Erbé: Roundtable: Eleanor Holmes Norton, Independent Women’s Forum’s Sabrina Schaeffer, author and women’s advocate Siobhan “Sam” Bennett and GOP political commentator Jennifer Higgins
--WUSA 9 “Capital Download” with Derek McGinty and Susan Page: (SUN 8:30am ET): Chris Christie; The Heritage Foundation’s John Malcolm; roundtable: Reuters’ Erin McPike and radio host Bill Press
--SiriusXM's “No Labels Radio” (SUN 6am ET & 9pm ET): Jon Huntsman and Stuart Holiday will discuss the Problem Solver Promise Luncheon held Jan. 11, 2016 in Manchester, NH; interviews with Josh Bolten, George Mitchell and Jake Sherman.
** A message from Ford Motor Company: We are driving innovation in every part of our business, using smart technology, data science and advanced materials to solve the world’s biggest transportation challenges and deliver safe, convenient and fuel efficient solutions.
Ford and technology company DJI have announced a developer challenge to create smart drone-to-vehicle software. The challenge objective is to develop a surveying system for the United Nations Development Program to inspect rapidly evolving emergency zones. The technology could allow UN first responders at earthquakes or tsunamis to quickly deploy drones able to survey and map hardest-hit areas – all from the cab of a Ford F-150. We believe there is an opportunity to make a big difference with vehicles and drones working together for a common good.
Follow us @ford to learn what is ahead for Ford Smart Mobility in 2016 or visit http://ford.to/FordCES2016 **
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