Overnight Campaign: Who wants to have a beer with Ted?

by Ben Kamisar - 12/02/15 6:24 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.

From acting out scenes in The Princess Bride to promoting corny Christmas sweaters on his website, Ted Cruz is working on his likability, a weak spot for the Texas senator who has otherwise conducted one of the most effective campaigns of any of the GOP presidential candidates.

He’s not the only candidate with that problem–while Hillary Clinton has the Democratic nomination well within sight, her allies continue to worry about her own likability, an issue that dogged her in 2008.

Check back with The Hill tomorrow for more on efforts to make Cruz the candidate voters want to crack a Lone Star beer with, as well as a look inside Hillary Clinton ally David Brock’s group, The Bridge Project, which keeps an eye on the Koch brothers’ political activities. Read a preview of Thursday’s Republican Jewish Coalition candidate forum and then check back throughout the day for updates from the event.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

STORM PERSISTS: The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports: Donald Trump continues to double down on his assertion that New Jersey Muslims celebrated the 9/11 attacks amid a flurry of criticism. His campaign on Wednesday pointed to a local CBS report that refers to celebrations.

CRUZ CRITIQUE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Sen.Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is pushing back against the Obama administration’s plan to send a number of U.S. special forces to Iraq and Syria in the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

CHRISTIE SLAM: The Hill’s Elliot Smilowitz reports: Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) reminds voters that he’s been the brash, tell-it-like-it-is politician since before Trump’s campaign was even born, slamming Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as working “against the intelligence community to make us less safe.”

CLIMATE BURN: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: The super-Pac aligned with Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a new Internet ad on Wednesday targeting several Republican presidential hopefuls for their stances on climate change.

DNC CHAIR HITS ON REFUGEES: The Hill’s Lisa Hagen reports: Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (R-Fla.) on Wednesday condemned Republican presidential candidates their calls for pausing Syrian refugees from entering the country, comparing it to turning away Jewish refugees ahead of the Holocaust.

FRESHMAN FEUD: National Review reports: As Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Maro Rubio (Fla.) continue to rise at the polls, a “head-on collision seems more likely by the day.” The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports that Cruz upped the war against Rubio on Fox News Tuesday night.

ODDS AND ENDS:

O’MALLEY BUSTS A RHYME: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D-Md.) channels his inner Busta Rhymes, rapping about his distaste for guns.

STRUGGLE: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Former Gov. Jeb Bush (Fla.) said “I struggle” with the death penalty because of his Christian faith.

SANDERS GOES LATE NIGHT: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will make his “The Tonight Show” debut this coming Tuesday.

CLINTON WINS POP STAR ENDORSEMENT: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin is all in for Hillary, he announced ahead of a campaign rally in Florida. I will spare you any “Livin’ la Vida Loca” jokes.

NAACP SUES ALABAMA: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: The NAACP filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of Alabama’s voter ID law, arguing it disproportionately prevents minorities from voting.

POLL POSITION

CARSON SLIPPING: The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports: Donald Trump continues to hold a commanding national lead over the field of Republican presidential contenders, as Ben Carson falls back into the race for second place, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows.

ELECTABLE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Bernie Sanders scored better against Republican presidential hopefuls than Hillary Clinton in that same Quinnipiac Poll, after facing questions over whether his embrace of democratic socialism could hurt his electability.

THE DAILY TRUMP

TRUMP GOES MICHAEL CORLEONE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Trump suggested Wednesday that when fighting terrorists, “you have to take out their families.”

IT’S A DATE: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: Trump will host a weekly interview on Periscope, in case anyone was concerned about his lack of media presence.

IMPEACHMENT? TOO EASY: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports:Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump gave an interview to radio personality and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Wednesday where he agreed that impeaching President Obama could make him a martyr.

TOO FIERCE FOR TRUMP: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.) said Wednesday that Donald Trump shouldn’t be president because Russian leader Vladimir Putin is too much for the GOP front-runner to handle.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I have great respect for President Obama…I think that he sets the right tone, he’s an intelligent guy, it’s about time we have an intelligent guy in that office.”

— Donald Trump, in a 2009 interview on CNBC unearthed by Buzzfeed.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

JUMPING IN: The Baltimore Sun reports: Chrys Kefalas, an openly gay Republican who served in the Obama administration, is officially running for the GOP nomination in the open Maryland Senate seat.

NEW MAPS: The Tampa Bay Times reports: The Florida Supreme Court approved a new congressional map in a 5-2 decision, which could imperil the reelection chances of several incumbents in the state.

TRUMP ROAD MAP: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: The National Republican Senatorial Committee’s contingency plan for Donald Trump’s nomination, published by The Washington Post, amounts to a mixed embrace of the candidate’s populism but warnings not to get sucked into his controversy.The release comes hours after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) warned that Trump could hurt the party down the ticket if he wins the nomination.

‘12 GOING TO BAT FOR ‘08: The Washington Examiner reports: 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is set to endorse 2008 GOP nominee John McCain in his reelection battle.

BLESSING: Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D), who is vacating her seat in a bid to topple McCain, endorsed Democrat Tom O’Halleran to take her place, according to a release from his campaign.

MONEY WATCH

BATTLE FOR THE BILLS: Politico reports: The House Freedom Caucus is bucking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over a controversial campaign finance rider that could lift spending limits on political parties.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW:

(All times Eastern)

Donald Trump has a rally at the Prince William County Fairground in Manassas, Va., at 7:30 tonight. He’s also scheduled to be on “The O’Reilly Factor” at 8 p.m. today on Fox News.

Carly Fiorina and Chris Christie are scheduled to appear on tonight’s “Hannity” on Fox News at 10. Fiorina and her husband Frank are scheduled to appear on “Morning Joe” Thursday on MSNBC.

All GOP candidates will speak at the day-long Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Forum on Thursday, which will be broadcast by C-SPAN. The speeches start at 9:15 a.m. with Ted Cruz and are followed by Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, George Pataki, John Kasich, Donald Trump and Ben Carson before lunch. The event starts back at 2 p.m. with Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum, Carly Fiorina and Jim Gilmore.

Martin O’Malley is a scheduled guest on “MSNBC Live with José Díaz-Balart” at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Rick Santorum is scheduled to appear on “Andrea Mitchell Reports” on MSNBC at noon Thursday.

Marco Rubio has a fundraising reception at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in New York.

Hillary Clinton will host a New Hampshire Women’s Economic Opportunity Summit in Manchester, N.H.

Mike Huckabee has two “Huckabee Huddles” in Virginia on Thursday.

TWEET OF THE DAY