Overnight Campaign: Bye Joe

by Jonathan Swan - 10/21/15 6:08 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.

A big day in presidential politics with Vice President Joe Biden announcing he will not be running for the Democratic nomination in 2016. The biggest beneficiary of Biden’s decision is party frontrunner Hillary Clinton, whose poll numbers suffer when the VP is factored into the race.

Biden had been struggling with the decision for three months, weighing ambitions he has held for at least 40 years against profound personal grief and family trauma after the death of his eldest child Beau.

The VP ultimately concluded that the window to establish a credible campaign had “closed.” Biden announced his decision in the White House Rose Garden. Standing beside him was President Obama and his wife Jill.

Check back with The Hill later tonight to read more about what this is likely to mean to Clinton’s campaign. And come back tomorrow to read about Donald Trump’s near-100 days on top in the GOP presidential field.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

GOP WANTS HILLARY: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Republicans say they’re happy that Vice President Biden isn’t running for president, saying he’d be tougher to beat than Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus took that tack in a statement reacting to the Biden news, as did GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.

BENGHAZI HARDBALL: The Hill’s Julian Hattem reports: Going against the wishes of Republicans, Democrats on Wednesday released the full transcript of nine hours of closed-door testimony from a former top aide to Hillary Clinton, a day before Clinton’s appearance in an open hearing on Capitol Hill… Clinton was “very engaged” in responding to the crisis… according to the new transcript. Hattem reports in a story on The Hill on Thursday about what Clinton is likely to face at the hearing.

CASH TO THE RESCUE: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Hillary Clinton’s allied super-PAC is releasing its first TV advertisement that piles onto accusations that Republicans are politicizing the investigation into the Benghazi attacks.

AND THEN THERE WERE TEN: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: The third Republican debate will look a lot like the last one. Ten of the 11 candidates on stage for the Sept. 16 debate on CNN are expected to be on the main stage for the CNBC debate on Oct. 28. The only exception is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who dropped out shortly after the last debate.

OH, GO ON THEN! The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has given its official blessing to another presidential candidate forum amid ongoing complaints over the party’s lack of 2016 debates. The DNC also agreed to a Black Lives Matter town hall, according to The Washington Post.

ODDS AND ENDS

STICK TO YOUR DAY JOB: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: A Democratic lawmaker who drew headlines this week for publicly saying that Joe Biden would run for president expressed surprise Wednesday at the vice president’s decision to stay out of the race. “I’m surprised. Clearly something changed,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) tweeted shortly after Biden announced he would not run for president. “Like many, I admire & respect VP Biden. In the meantime I’ll stick to my day job!” Boyle added.

LEFTY-WATCH: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson says he would use the Department of Education to monitor America’s colleges and universities for “extreme political bias.”

POLL POSITION

THOSE DAMN EMAILS! The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton’s email controversy is costing her independent voters in Massachusetts, a new poll says. Forty-seven percent of independents said her use of a private email account would make them less likely to vote for her, according to the latest Emerson College Polling Society survey. Only 24-percent of Democrats expressed such concerns.

THE BRADY PLAY: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Maybe Donald Trump’s admiration for New England Patriots star Tom Brady is paying off. Nearly half of the likely GOP presidential primary voters in Massachusetts want Trump as their presidential nominee in 2016, a new poll says.

THE DAILY TRUMP

TWEET GOODBYE: The Hill’s Neetzan Zimmerman reports: GOP front-runner Donald Trump took to his favorite medium Wednesday afternoon to tweet his response to the news that Vice President Joe Biden had opted against running for president in 2016. “I think Joe Biden made correct decision for him & his family,” Trump told his millions of followers. “Personally, I would rather run against Hillary because her record is so bad.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination” – VP Biden, announcing he will not run for president in 2016.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

ANGLE FOR A COMEBACK? National Journal reports: “Former state assemblywoman and 2010 Senate candidate Sharron Angle (R) reemerged Tuesday as a potential primary challenger to Rep. Joe Heck (R-03) in Nevada’s open Senate race.”

MONEY WATCH

ICAHN DO THIS: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Billionaire magnate Carl Icahn is launching a super-PAC to push Congress on tax reform, he said in a letter posted to his website Wednesday. The Wall Street mogul, who has endorsed Republican Donald Trump for president and said he would be willing to serve as secretary of Treasury in a Trump administration, pledged a $150 million initial contribution toward the super-PAC.

DONORS GONE WILD: The Center for Responsive Politics reports: “Political organizations working to influence the 2016 elections outside the party or official campaign structure had spent more than $25.1 million as of Sept. 21, a five-fold leap over their outlays by this date in the last presidential cycle.’

SMALL MONEY: The Des Moines Register reports: “Only one person in Iowa has donated to Jim Webb’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, and the donor and candidate share the same frustrations about party extremism.”

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW:

(All times Eastern)

Bernie Sanders will make an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Wednesday night.

Donald Trump will appear on the The John Fredericks Radio Show at 8:05 a.m. on Thursday.

Thursday, MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski moderate a town hall with John Kasich at 2:30 p.m at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. That evening, Kasich will attend a Newport Balanced Budget Town Hall Meeting in Newport, NH.

Carly Fiorina, attends the Arkansas GOP Lincoln Day Dinner in Springdale, Ark., on Thursday.

TWEET OF THE DAY