Overnight Campaign: A good day for some Dems, a bad day for others

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

Hillary Clinton won the support of several high-profile backers on Thursday as she builds on her already substantial lead over Bernie Sanders in the endorsements primary.

Planned Parenthood broke with precedent and announced it will bestow upon Clinton its first ever primary endorsement. Clinton also locked down support from Congressional Black Caucus chairman G.K. Butterfield, and former Defense secretary Leon Panetta.

But it wasn’t all good news for Clinton on Thursday, as her emails cropped up again as a campaign issue.

The State Department’s inspector general released a report calling Clinton’s email releases “inaccurate and incomplete,” and Senate Judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) blasted State for providing “false information.” Meanwhile, State announced it would dump nearly 3,000 pages of emails on Thursday to make up for missing the prior deadline.

But Democratic National Committee chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz had the toughest day in Washington. A liberal group is demanding she resign a day after she alleged that young women are complacent on the issue of abortion rights. At least House minority leader Nancy Pelosi has her back.

 

RACE TO 1600 PENN:

MR. SPEAKER: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: House Republicans once recruited Ben Carson to replace John Boehner as Speaker of the House. Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Az.) identified himself to The Hill as one of three who approached Carson.

OH, CANADA: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: John McCain is questioning whether Ted Cruz is eligible to be president. Nancy Pelosi is siding with McCain, who was also born abroad, reports The Hill’s Mike Lillis. Cruz is firing back, accusing McCain of seeking to boost Rubio, reports The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes. Cruz’s wife, Heidi, is on the campaign trail defending her husband, The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports.

TROLLING: The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports: Bernie Sanders’ supporters are plotting to sabotage a Donald Trump rally taking place tonight in Sanders hometown of Burlington, Vt..

OPTIMISM: The Hill’s Amie Parnes reports: Hillary Clinton’s confidence is climbing in Iowa, where she hopes to steamroll Bernie Sanders upstart campaign and end speculation that she’s vulnerable.

CRUMBLING HOPES: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Martin O’Malley has missed the deadline to file to be on the Democratic primary ballot in Ohio.

 

ODDS AND ENDS:

SAVAGE: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Chris Christie slammed Marco Rubio on Thursday, saying Hillary Clinton would “cut his heart out.” Rubio responded by unloading on Christie as inconsistent on issues important to conservatives, The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports.

ABSENT: The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: Marco Rubio is defending his record of missed votes in the Senate while pointing to Chris Christie’s time away from New Jersey.

DEM INFIGHTING: The Hill’s Jordain Carney reports: Bernie Sanders is calling on President Obama to end the crackdown on immigrants in the country illegally.

PICK ONE: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Jeb Bush ranked how much he loves his family members, and his mother took the top spot.

MODERN LIFE: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Hillary Clinton is bemoaning the “tyranny of the selfie.”

GUNS: The Hill’s Jordan Fabian reports: The White House is calling Ted Cruz’s new ad hitting President Obama over guns “irresponsible.”

BLUNT TALK: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Rand Paul and Stephen Colbert joked about smoking weed on the comedian’s late night talk show.

BOOT-GATE, DAY TWO: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Marco Rubio’s flashy heeled boots are still attracting a lot of buzz, provoking the GOP presidential contender to ask whether people have lost their minds.

 

THE DAILY TRUMP

GETTING PERSONAL: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Donald Trump released a new Instagram ad hitting Bill Clinton for his past marital infidelities and questioning Hillary Clinton’s commitment to women’s rights.

THREATS: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Donald Trump says he’ll pull the $1 billion he has invested in the United Kingdom if the British Parliament votes to ban him from traveling there.

NOT THROUGH WITH YOU: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Donald Trump is reigniting his feud with the New Hampshire newspaper that has been critical of him.

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Washington, D.C. is a much different environment in 2016 than when I was elected in 2004. I know all too well the challenges the new representative will face.”

— Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), who announced he won’t seek reelection this year.

 

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

VEEPSTAKES: The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports: GOP hopes of maintaining a majority in the Senate may be hampered by the fact that some of the party’s potential vice presidential picks are running for reelection in key battleground states.

 

MONEY WATCH

STILL RAKING IT IN: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: A super-PAC supporting Jeb Bush got a $10 million donation from insurance executive Hank Greenberg. However, The Hill’s Jonathan Swan reports that Greenberg is seeking to distance himself from the gift.

SUPER PAC-MAN: The Hill’s Megan R. Wilson reports: One man is responsible for creating 752 super-PACs so far this cycle. Critics say he needs a better hobby.

 

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY, TOMORROW AND THE WEEKEND

(All times Eastern)

Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally in Burlington, Vermont at 7 p.m. today, another at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. at 7 p.m. on Friday and one in Clear Lake, Iowa on Saturday.

Bernie Sanders will be on MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes,” which is broadcasting live from Burlington, Vt.., today at 8 p.m. MSNBC is touting the interview as a counter to Trump’s appearance in the same city the same night.

Hillary Clinton has more fundraisers in California on Friday. On Saturday, actress Lena Dunham campaigns for Clinton in Iowa.

Bernie Sanders holds a press conference on paid family leave in Cedar Rapids at 11 a.m. on Friday, followed by three town meetings in the state. He has two Iowa events on Saturday and three on Sunday.

Seven Republican presidential candidates will attend the Jack Kemp Foundation’s forum on expanding economic opportunity in Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday beginning at 8:30 a.m. The forum will be hosted by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.).

John Kasich holds a town hall in New Hampshire on Friday.

Chris Christie will fundraise in Baltimore on Friday evening.

Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley will speak on Saturday in Iowa at a “Putting Families First” Presidential Forum

Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina will speak at the Jack Kemp Foundation Kemp Forum on Expanding Opportunity in South Carolina on Saturday.

Ted Cruz continues his Iowa bus tour with a town hall in Mason City and five other stops on Friday. He has another five on Saturday.

Marco Rubio holds a rally in Raleigh, N.C. Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, Rubio heads to Palm Beach for a fundraiser at the home of Bill Koch, brother of the more famous Koch brothers.

Carly Fiorina holds three events in New Hampshire on Friday.

Jeb Bush holds a town hall in Pendleton, S.C. on Friday.  He heads to Columbia for a Saturday South Carolina Citizens for Life Rally and then on to Hilton Head for a town hall.

Ben Carson is at a pastors roundtable in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday and tours the S.C. Military Museum that day. He’ll attend Sunday services at two churches in Iowa.

Rand Paul has an event in Iowa Friday morning.

Rick Santorum will hold 13 events across Iowa from Thursday to Sunday.

Martin O’Malley has 11 stops planned across Iowa beginning Thursday night and stretching into Monday.

 

TWEET OF THE DAY

W/ crowd of 500 @RealBenCarson just called out to 5th grade class: who’s dumbest kid in class? At least half dozen kids point to 1 student.

— Timothy Meinch (@timeinch) January 7, 2016

The boy said in an interview with reporters afterwards that he wasn’t embarrassed, and Carson took a picture with the young man and told him he’d “go on to do great things in life.”

 

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: Jonathan Easley, Ben Kamisar, Jonathan Swan, Lisa Hagen.

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