Overnight Campaign: Team Clinton braces for more email releases

by Jonathan Easley - 10/08/15 6:30 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.

The Hill’s Julian Hattem reports:

Hillary Clinton has been on the offensive over the controversy surrounding her use of a private email account and server, hitting Republicans for politicizing the issue in her first national campaign ad.

Now, the GOP is striking back. Republicans on the House Select Committee on Benghazi are promising to release some “remarkable” new emails sent to and from Hillary Clinton from her time at the State Department.

The move is a counter-offensive by Republicans, who have been struggling to deal with blowback over House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s remarks about the political nature of the Benghazi panel.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

JOE’S CONUNDRUM: The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports: Vice President Biden is nearing a decision on whether to run for president, provoking the question – how would he go after Hillary Clinton? Here’s what Democrats are saying.

STRATEGY: The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports: Ted Cruz held a bull session with House Republicans on Wednesday where he discussed his path to victory.

ENDORSE: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Carly Fiorina has landed her third lawmaker endorsement. The other two outsiders in the race, Donald Trump and Ben Carson, still have none.

DONE: The Hill contributor Lanny Davis writes: House majority leader Kevin MCarthy’s comments about the political nature of the Benghazi Select Committee pulls back the curtain on Republicans’ intention to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential prospects.

NOT DONE: The Hill’s A.B. Stoddard writes: Hillary Clinton’s email and server woes are from from over.

COMEBACK: The Hill contributor Brent Budowsky writes: Vice President Biden should rethink entering the race, because Hillary Clinton is primed for a comeback.

ODDS AND ENDS:

VIVA LAS VEGAS: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Sheryl Crow will perform at the first Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas next week.

CROSSOVER: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Bernie Sanders believes he has support from more than a few Republicans.

GOOD ONE, McCARTHY: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Ben Carson offered “kudos” to House majority leader Kevin McCarthy for dropping out of the race for Speaker.

LESSIG: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports:Democratic presidential candidate Larry Lessig, who raised $1 million this month, went after Marco Rubio in his first campaign ad.

STEPPING IN IT: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Rupert Murdoch is apologizing for saying Ben Carson would be “a real black president.” That’s not a debate Ben Carson is interested in engaging in.

HARSH: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Hillary Clinton compared the NRA to Iranians and communists.

FIORINA: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Carly Fiorina accuses the media of spreading Planned Parenthood “propaganda.”

DEM PR: The New York Times reports: A private equity firm run by Mark Penn, a former key aide on the 2008 Hillary Clinton campaign, has bought the PR shop SDKnickerbocker, which works on behalf of many major Democratic-leaning clients. Its staff includes a host of former Democratic campaign operatives and touts that its been involved in the last six presidential campaigns.

POLL POSITION

SENATE SWING STATES: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Ted Strickland has a narrow lead over Rob Portman in Ohio in a new poll, while Florida Democrats are running strong against their potential counterparts, and Pat Toomey has a healthy lead in his reelection bid in Pennsylvania.

KASICH: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Ohio Gov. John Kasich is well-liked in his home-state, but still only gets third place there in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

THE DAILY TRUMP

I DID THAT: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Donald Trump is taking credit for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) dropping out of the race for Speaker.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeye’s,” — Ben Carson remembering an encounter with a gunman at a chicken restaurant. Carson says he directed the perpetrator to the cashier behind the counter.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

BALANCE OF POWER: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Democrats have their eyes on a Senate majority in 2016. They’re path runs through two blue states, a GOP firewall in a handful of battleground, two wild-card purple states, and two states where each party has suffered a recruitment failure.

MISSOURI-SEN (BLUNT): The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:Democratic challenger Jason Kander, Missouri’s secretary of state, announced that he raised $825,000 in the third fundraising quarter, to bring him to $1.6 million in cash on hand. Incumbent Sen. Roy Blunt (R) hasn’t announced his haul, but has a war chest of $3.8 million from last quarter.

MONEY WATCH

STARS OUT IN ILLINOIS: ABC7 WLS in Chicago reports: David Letterman and Sen. Al Franken will fundraise on behalf of Rep. Tammy Duckworth’s (D-Ill.) Senate bid later this month.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TOMORROW AND OVER THE WEEKEND:

(All times Eastern)

Ben Carson discusses his new book “A More Perfect Union” at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. at 1 pm on Friday, and has book appearances scheduled in suburban Atlanta, Gainsville, Ga., and Chattanooga over the weekend.

Bernie Sanders holds a rally in Tucson, Ariz. on Friday at 7 pm and one in Boulder, Colo., on Saturday.

Bobby Jindal will campaign in Iowa on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Ted Cruz will campaign in Iowa on Friday.

Lindsey Graham will campaign in New Hampshire with Sen. John McCain on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

John Kasich, Chris Christie and Rand Paul will campaign in New Hampshire on Friday.

Mike Huckabee will visit the U.S.-Mexico border with Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) on Saturday.

Marco Rubio has three campaign stops in Las Vegas on Friday.

Jeb Bush joins a Tennessee Volunteers football tailgate Saturday ahead of the team’s game against the University of Georgia.

Martin O’Malley will campaign in Iowa on Friday.

TWEET OF THE DAY

It is obscene that people are getting arrested at near record rates for smoking marijuana, but not one Wall Street CEO has been prosecuted.

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) October 8, 2015

Write us with tips, suggestions and news: Jonathan Easley, jeasley@digital-staging.thehill.com; Ben Kamisar, bkamisar@digital-staging.thehill.com; Jonathan Swan, jswan@digital-staging.thehill.com.