Overnight Campaign: Islamic faith a focus for 2016 Republicans

by TheHill.com - 11/19/15 6:13 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.

Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz are injecting religion into the Republican primaries, after radical Islamic terrorists killed and wounded hundreds in coordinated attacks across Paris, France last week.

Trump, the GOP front-runner, has been ratcheting up his rhetoric surrounding Muslim Americans already living in the U.S., calling for unprecedented surveillance methods focused on mosques but extending to ordinary citizens.

Cruz, meanwhile, has focused on supporting Christians feeling turmoil in the Middle East, as he seeks to lock down the Evangelicals that make up a majority of the caucus-goers in Iowa.

Check The Hill in the morning for the full story from reporter Jesse Byrnes.

The Hill’s Overnight Campaign newsletter will be on hiatus next week, returning Nov. 30. Please continue to check The Hill’s website for all campaign news and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

CLINTON’S NATIONAL SECURITY MOMENT: The Hill’s Julian Hattem reports: Hillary Clinton called for the U.S. to be more aggressive in fighting ISIS in a major foreign policy address on Thursday. She ripped the Republican presidential contenders and lawmakers on Capitol Hill for seeking to block Syrian refugees from resettling in the U.S.

CLINTON AIDE IN SPOTLIGHT: The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Bob Cusack report: Sens. Harry Reid and Chuck Grassley are battling over leaks related to longtime Clinton adviser Huma Abedin.

SANDERS DEFINES DEM SOCIALISM: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Bernie Sanders mounted a vigorous defense of democratic socialism Thursday as he sought to persuade Americans to go beyond the stigma of the phrase and see him as electable. He also called to add Russia to a new organization like NATO to help destroy the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

HIS OWN ADVISER: RealClearPolitics reports: Donald Trump has still yet to roll out his long-promised team of foreign policy advisers, likely because he doesn’t have any.

MAYBE NOT HIS OWN ADVISER: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on Thursday pushed back against the notion that his close friend, business partner and top outside adviser, broadcasting mogul Armstrong Williams, speaks on his behalf.

RUBIO ENDORSEMENT: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah) backed Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) presidential bid on Thursday, bringing his congressional endorsement total to 15.

OUT OF THE CLUB: The fiscally conservative group Club for Growth determined that Carly Fiorina would not be a strong pro-growth president, citing past inconsistencies and conflicting positions in this white paper.

ODDS AND ENDS:

NEVERMIND PART I: The Hill’s Jonathan Swan reports: Bernie Sanders, who has made it a point of pride that he disavows all super-PAC money, welcomes the $569,000 super-PAC support from one of the two unions that have endorsed him. “We are honored to have the support of National Nurses United,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said.

NEVERMIND PART II: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: John Kasich is moving away from comments he made this week advocating for a new federal agency that promotes Judeo-Christian values.

HOW TO GRAB A HEADLINE: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Ben Carson on Thursday likened some Syrian refugees to “rabid dogs.”

FEUDING: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Ted Cruz is calling rival Marco Rubio’s charge that the Texas senator voted to degrade U.S. national security “silliness.”

PLAYING WITH FIRE: The Hill’s Jonathan Swan reports: Hillary Clinton made a risky foray into New Hampshire politics, attending a fundraiser Thursday hosted by the law firm whose investigation of Deflategate led to the suspension — since overturned — of New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady.

AIMING AT THE TOP: A super-PAC supporting John Kasich’s campaign released a new TV ad on Thursday attacking GOP front-runners Donald Trump and Ben Carson for lacking foreign policy experience. Watch the ad HERE.

THINKING AHEAD: Marco Rubio bashed President Obama’s “strategy of weakness and neglect” in a new Politico op-ed and expanded on how he would rid the world of ISIS “when I am president.”

O’MALLEY STANDS WITH REFUGEES: Martin O’Malley penned an op-ed in the New York Daily News pushing back against the push to stop accepting Syrian refugees.

WIGGED OUT: The Hill’s Judy Kurtz reports: Hillary Clinton is making light of rumors that she wears a wig. “Would I have paid for this?,” Clinton quipped Thursday.

POLL POSITION

TRUMP ON TOP:The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Trump holds a 7-point lead over Carson, a new national poll found.

CARSON LEADS: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: Carson slightly leads Trump and Rubio in Wisconsin, according to a new poll.

THE DAILY TRUMP

ESCALATING: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Donald Trump is calling for unprecedented surveillance of American Muslims, saying warrantless searches, special IDs and a registration database should be considered.

WAR WITH WILL: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Donald Trump tweeted, then deleted, a tweet saying that conservative pundit George Will should be booted off Fox News.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“This so-called leader of ISIS – he’s not a mastermind, he’s a punk. They ought to call him what he is. He’s garbage. The press should not be referring to these guys as masterminds.”

— Donald Trump.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

LEARNING QUICKLY: Penn Live reports: Pennsylvania Democrat Katie McGinty has only been running for Senate for a short time, but she already knows who the enemy is: the Koch brothers.

BY THE BOOK: Politico reports: Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), who is running to replace Marco Rubio in the Senate, may have run afoul of Federal Election Commission rules by not reporting that he has handed out copies of his book to supporters.

MONEY WATCH

MAKE IT RAIN: The Hill’s Jonathan Swan reports: Some of the nation’s most influential donors are plotting how to take on money in politics.

CLINTON NETWORK: The Washington Post reports: An investigation into the Clinton’s extensive donor network that the former president and secretary of State has forged over 41 years.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY, TOMORROW AND THE WEEKEND:

(All times Eastern)

Marco Rubio is a scheduled guest on “The Kelly File” on Fox News at 9 p.m. today.He holds four events in Iowa on Saturday..

Martin O’Malley is a scheduled guest on “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC at 9 p.m. today and on “Morning Joe” Friday morning.

Rubio rival Ted Cruz is scheduled to appear on “Hannity” at 10 p.m. on Fox News today.

Bernie Sanders will host a town hall in Charleston, S.C. at 7 p.m. Sanders will file for the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, and hold a handful of other campaign events across the state throughout the weekend, before heading to Savannah, Georgia for a town hall on Sunday evening at 6 p.m.

Chris Christie will attend a house party in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire on Friday.

Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson and Rick Santorum will speak at the Family Leader Foundation Presidential Family Forum in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday night.

Rand Paul will meet with voters in Davenport, Iowa on Saturday morning and then tailgate at the University of Iowa football game.

Lindsey Graham will campaign with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in New Hampshire at seven events spread over Friday and Saturday.

Donald Trump will attend a town hall in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Friday.

Mike Huckabee will make four campaign stops in Iowa on Friday.

Hillary Clinton holds a town hall in Clinton, Iowa, on Sunday.

John Kasich will hold several town halls in New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday.

Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, will be interviewed by Barbara Walters at 10 p.m. Friday on ABC.

TWEET OF THE DAY

Trump is contemplating making Muslims wear a star + crescent. Carson compares refugees to rabid dogs. Palin thinks Jesus would join the NRA.

— rebkah howard (@pink_funk) November 19, 2015