Overnight Campaign: Bush supporters pick up the pieces

by Jonathan Easley - 10/29/15 6:42 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 Jonathan Easley and Jonathan Swan report:

Jeb Bush’s fiercest supporters are struggling to explain away a poor debate performance last night, while top fundraisers and donors are scratching their heads, wondering why the candidate they have so much confidence in has wilted when the lights are brightest.

Top fundraisers and donors aren’t setting their hair on fire just yet, but in interviews on Thursday, they said they were frustrated and puzzled by Bush’s wilting act under the bright lights at the debate on Wednesday night.

Meantime, The Hill’s Jonathan Swan reports on a post-debate fundraiser for Bush held in Washington, D.C., Thursday evening that featured Bush’s brother, George W. Bush, who has been more involved in Jeb’s campaign than before.

RACE TO 1600 PENN

TIME FOR A CHANGE: The Hill’s Jesse Byrnes reports: Republicans were furious with the way CNBC managed last night’s debate, and now Ben Carson is rallying other candidates to join him in pushing for changes going forward.

NOT A RATINGS BONANZA: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar Reports: Wednesday’s CNBC Republican undercard debate brought in almost one-fourth the viewers of the previous second-tier contest, new ratings show.

NOT GOING AWAY: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: It was his strongest moment on the debate stage, but on Thursday morning Marco Rubio was still defending his voting record in the Senate.The reason? He doesn’t want to see Hillary Clinton elected president.

STILL GOING: The Hill’s Bradford Richardson reports: It was his weakest moment on the debate stage, but Jeb Bush on Thursday continued to hammer Marco Rubio for missing votes in the Senate. Bush’s super-PAC, meanwhile, launched an “Is Marco Working” twitter account.

AUTOPSY: The Hill’s Niall Stanage reports: Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz shined at Wednesday night’s debate, while it was a bad night for Jeb Bush. See who else stood out or faltered on The Hill’s winners and losers list.

STAFFING UP: Rick Santorum’s campaign announced in a release that it has added five additional staffers to its Iowa team, doubling its size in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. Santorum, the 2012 Iowa caucus winner, is in 11th place in Iowa, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.

ENDORSE: Jeb Bush picked up the support of former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) in New Hampshire on Thursday.

ODDS AND ENDS:

SWEEPS: The Hill’s Mario Trujillo reports: CNBC attracted the fewest viewers for any of the GOP debates, which coincided with Game 2 of the World Series.

PILING ON: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Newt Gingrich says he learned at Wednesday’s debate that Jeb Bush isn’t much of a fighter.

STAND DOWN: The Hill’s Ben Kamisar reports: Bernie Sanders is distancing himself from comments his campaign manager made that Hillary Clinton would make a great vice president.

POLL POSITION

INTERNET SAYS: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: Donald Trump was the consensus debate winner of Wednesday’s debate according to online polls.

QUAKER STATE RUMBLE: FormerRep. Joe Sestak continues to hold a slim lead in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, where he leads a new Franklin & Marshall poll with 15 percent of registered Democrats. Katie McGinty, the governor’s former chief of staff, is close behind with 13 percent, within the margin of error, while small-town mayor John Fetterman has 3 percent. The vast majority — 65 percent — still don’t know who they would vote for.

THE DAILY TRUMP

FUNNY MAN: The Hill’s Mark Hensch reports: “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert is telling Donald Trump to put his money where his mouth is, and to donate $1 million– the amount of the “small” loan his father gave him — to a children’s charity.

FUNNY WOMAN: The Hill’s Judy Kurtz reports: Kelly Ripa is trying out her best Donald Trump, costume and all.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I advise you to go back and read my 11 hours of testimony, I hope you enjoy it.” — Hillary Clinton responding to a question about Benghazi.

CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGNS

FL-SEN (OPEN): The Tampa Bay Times reports: Rep. Patrick Murphy (Fla.) has announced the endorsement of four new Senators, Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.); Brian Schatz (Hawaii); Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) and Martin Heinrich (N.M.). Murphy is running in the primary against fellow Rep. Alan Grayson (Fla.)

MONEY WATCH

BREAD AND BUTTER: New Hampshire Public Radio reports: Republican donors in New Hampshire are giving more than ever before, and the candidates are pouring the money right back into the state.

WHAT WE ARE WATCHING FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW:

(All times Eastern)

Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Mike Huckabee are confirmed guests at the Iowa Growth and Opportunity Party in Des Moines on Saturday.

Hillary Clinton is the keynote speaker at the Charleston Branch NAACP’s 98th annual Freedom Fund Banquet in South Carolina on Friday night. On Saturday, she’ll speak at a grassroots organizing meeting with Charleston Mayor Joe Riley.

Rand Paul holds a Halloween party in Des Moines on Friday night.

Jeb Bush will hold a town hall in New London, New Hampshire on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. On Friday, he’ll preside over the coin toss at a high school football game in Punta Gorda, Fla., between two teams whose facilities were decimated by Hurricane Charley 11 years ago. On Saturday, Bush will campaign in Iowa and he’ll spend Sunday at home with his family in Miami.

Marco Rubio will campaign in Iowa on Friday and Saturday. He and Bush will cross paths at the state Republican Party’s “Growth and Opportunity Party” event in Des Moines at 12:45 p.m.

Bernie Sanders will campaign in New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday.

Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum will campaign in Iowa on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal will campaign in Iowa on Friday and d Saturday.

Martin O’Malley campaigns in Iowa on Friday and Saturday.

Lindsey Graham will hold a meet-and-greet with supporters in Manchester, N.H. on Friday at 2 p.m.

TWEET OF THE DAY

.@nytimes Can’t read the article because I don’t have a subscription, but I can tell you this – I am not going anywhere.

— Chris Christie (@ChrisChristie) October 29, 2015