Overnight Campaign: Paul mounts attempt to make main debate stage

by Ben Kamisar - 01/13/16 6:35 PM ET

Welcome to OVERNIGHT CAMPAIGN, your daily rundown from The Hill on all the latest news in the White House, Senate and House races.

Rand Paul is lobbying Fox Business Network for a spot on Thursday’s main stage after pledging to boycott the undercard debate. Paul’s campaign’s argument centers on a poll released on Wednesday — well after the network’s polling deadline– contending that it should count because the polling took place before that deadline.

Fox Business looks to be standing firm and if Paul follows through on his threat, he’ll miss out on the chance for free national exposure. But some believe the risky proposition could ultimately benefit Paul as he carries his feud with the media forward. Read more about it here.

Check back with The Hill tomorrow morning to readabout the perils the GOP faces as some of the party’s top candidates seem to be flouting the party’s 2012 “autopsy.”

Meantime, things continue to heat up — possibly to a boil — on the Democratic side. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday pushed back on Chelsea Clinton’s criticism of his health care plan and the Clinton campaign attacked Sanders from his right flank, arguing that his calls for a single-payer system would lead to tax hikes. Sanders also pushed back at the repeated barbs on his gun record.

Come back to The Hill on Thursday for more on Chelsea Clinton stepping into the line of fire as her mother’s surrogate, as well as a story on how Vice President Biden fits into the primary now that he’s decided against a bid.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

WIGGLE ROOM? The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Donald Trump said there could be a “give and take” with his recent call to ban all Muslim immigration.

WHO ME, NERVOUS? The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Hillary Clinton said on NBC’s “Today” show Wednesday morning that she’s not nervous about Bernie Sanders’ surge in the polls. Clinton, who spent months on the campaign trail eschewing television interviews, appeared on the other two network morning shows today as well, telling “CBS This Morning” she “always expected a tight race” and insisting on “Good Morning America” that her more aggressive tone is because “now we’re in the sprint and it is time to draw contrasts.”

NOT PULLING PUNCHES: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Gov. Nikki Haley (S.C.) didn’t shy from criticism of her State of the Union response and ripped Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

DIVIDER: The Hill’s Jonathan Swan reports: Marco Rubio accused President Obama of purposefully dividing the nation.

JUSTICE FOR HILLARY: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder has backed Hillary Clinton.

MY FAIR LADY PRESIDENT: The Hill’s Tim Devaney reports: Hillary Clinton won the endorsement of a major group of theater actors.

THE NOT SO QUIET MAN: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Members of the Irish parliament will discuss petitions calling for Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump to be barred from entering the country.

CAREFUL WITH CRUZ: Politico reports: Polling presented to top House Republicans reportedly showed that Ted Cruz as the nominee would be the largest drag on the vulnerable incumbents.

PRIMARY KEYS: The Washington Post reports: White working-class voters could be the key to the crowded GOP primary.

TRUMP TEAM’S IOWA WOES: The New York Times reports: With a headline comparing Donald Trump’s Iowa ground-game to a team without a coach, the Times paints a picture of an disorganized group that includes a 9/11 “truther.”

ODDS AND ENDS:

NOT IMPRESSED: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Carly Fiorina panned Nikki Haley for her Republican State of the Union response for failing to criticize President Obama.

DEAD BROKE NO MORE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Hillary Clinton admitted she’s in on the Powerball craze and said she’d fund her campaign if she won the $1.5 billion jackpot.

BOOT-GATE: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Jeb Bush resurfaced the barbs against Marco Rubio’s high-heeled boots in a barb meant to question his stomach for politics.

CONCRETE JUNGLE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Ted Cruz needled Donald Trump’s “New York values” as the gloves continue to come off between the two heavyweights.

PERSONAL: WMUR-Manchester reports: Jeb Bush’s campaign is out with a new ad in New Hampshire seeking to show his understanding of the heroin epidemic facing the state.

LONE STAR LEAVIN’: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Donald Trump’s Texas director has left the campaign.

POLL POSITION

HAWKEYE STATE SHOWDOWN: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Ted Cruz holds a 3 point lead over Donald Trump in a new poll as the two jockey for the lead down the stretch.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING: California Senate front-runner Kamala Harris leads the field in a new poll of the state’s jungle primary with 27 percent. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D) is in second with 15 percent, with the three main Democratic candidates in single digits. But more than 40 percent still haven’t decided with months before the primary.

NEW HAMPSHIRE POTPOURRI: Bernie Sanders outpaces Hillary Clinton in head-to-head matchups with Republican challengers in the new Public Policy Polling poll. Incumbent Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) holds a 2 point lead over Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) ahead of what’s expected to be one of the nation’s tightest elections.

THE DAILY TRUMP

MAVERICK: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki donned a wig and his best Trump impression for a new internet video.

TRUCE?: The Hill’s Judy Kurtz reports: A top NBC official praised the GOP presidential front-runner as “one of the most important political figures of our time.”

TRUMP SNOW DAY: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: A Virginia school district is considering closing schools for the state’s March 1 primary, citing concerns that supporters of GOP front-runner Donald Trump will be unrulyoutside the buildings that double as polling.

SUBTEXT NO MORE: The Hill’s Harper Neidig reports: Nikki Haley admitted that she was referring to Donald Trump when she told Americans not to listen to the “angriest voices.”

RUBBING IT IN: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Trump rallies now include the song “Born in the U.S.A.” as he ramps up the birther charge against Ted Cruz.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“My qualifications for president of the United States are rather narrow: Is he or she Godly, does he or she love us, can he or she do the job, and finally would they kill a duck and put him in a pot and make him a good duck gumbo?”

— Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the “Duck Dynasty” television series, on his endorsement of Ted Cruz

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

UNDERSTATEMENT: The Hill’s Sarah Ferris reports: Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), who is facing a challenge from former Bill Clinton speechwriter Josh Gottheimer, quipped that just “one or two people in the country” gained healthcare under ObamaCare — a vast underestimation of the total number of people covered under the law.

GUN ISSUE IN OHIO: The Columbus Dispatch reports: Democratic challenger P.G. Sittenfeld is accusing fellow Democrat and former Gov. Ted Strickland of being disingenuous on his commitment to gun control while Strickland’s campaign panned the accusations for failing to stick.

MONEY WATCH

SHOW ME (STATE) THE MONEY: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: Jason Kander, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Missouri, ends the year with $2.1 million in the bank after raising $870,000 in the fourth fundraising quarter of 2015.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW:

(All times Eastern)

Donald Trump holds a rally in Pensacola, Fla., at 8 p.m. today.

Rand Paul will be on “All in with Chris Hayes” on MSNBC at 8 p.m. today. He’ll also be a guest on “Andrea Mitchell Reports” from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Bernie Sanders will be on “All in with Chris Hayes” on MSNBC at 8 p.m. today. He holds the first event in his Historically Black Colleges and Universities tour at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C., at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Hillary Clinton is interviewed on Lifetime’s “The Conversation” at 10 p.m. today. On Thursday, she’ll be a guest on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” at 9 p.m. and on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” at 11:35 p.m.

On Thursday, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich participate in a Republican presidential debate on Fox Business Network at 9 p.m. The network will live stream the debate as well as carry it on its cable channel. Participating in the 6 p.m. debate will be Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum. Rand Paul, who also qualified for the early debate, said he would not participate unless he was in the primetime event.

Martin O’Malley meets with the Des Moines Register editorial board at 3 p.m. ET Thursday. The event will be livestreamed. In the evening, he has a campaign event in Des Moines.

TWEET OF THE DAY

“To Bernie Sanders with thanks for your commitment to real health care access for all Americans…”-@HillaryClinton pic.twitter.com/XMVPEx8fT8

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 13, 2016