The Note: Can Jeb Fix It?
— -- NOTABLES
--BUSH INVOKES LINCOLN: Jeb Bush launched his "Jeb Can Fix It" tour, invoking a U.S. president who he said would have faced the same challenges he faces today. "If Lincoln were alive today, imagine the foolishness he would have to suffer. Advisers telling him to shave his beard. Cable pundits telling him to lose the top hat," Bush told an enthusiastic crowd gathered yesterday at the Tampa Garden Club in Florida. He added that he has gotten advice, too: to ditch his glasses, change ties, prompting laughter and applause from the crowd. The tour and the release of his e-book, "Reply All today," are all in an effort to jumpstart a campaign that many say has been flailing, after tumbling poll numbers and a widely panned debate performance, ABC's CANDACE SMITH notes. http://abcn.ws/1KTlXo5
--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: Jeb Bush's campaign theme is and has always been about that "it," that it takes a Bush -- more specifically, Jeb! -- to fix the mess voters believe the country has found itself in. But the fix-it list has grown for Bush since the long-ago time of his campaign announcement. He'll have to fix his debate performances, his campaign structure, and calculations about his path to the nomination before he can hope to recapture enthusiasm about his candidacy. There's something bigger Bush hopes to fix that is inherently problematic for him. He needs to fix what the 2016 campaign has become, and make it into what he has always hoped it would be. "This election is not about a set of personalities," Bush said, somewhat hopefully. "It's about a set of principles." This campaign has been about Donald Trump and Ben Carson and what the massive television events called the presidential debates should look like. It has also been about, in part, the master-apprentice relationship between Bush and Marco Rubio, whom his campaign team sees as his biggest ultimate obstacle to the GOP nomination. When it has been about Bush, it's been about his last name far more than his first. The campaign to date has not been about the principles of leadership that Bush wants it to be about, at least not yet. http://abcn.ws/1GIk82v
--WHY DONALD TRUMP THINKS BEN CARSON 'JUST DOESN'T HAVE THE EXPERIENCE' TO BE PRESIDENT: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ripped into his Republican rivals today, saying Ben Carson doesn't have the experience or the temperament to be president. "It's not his thing. He doesn't have the temperament for it," the New York real estate mogul told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America." "I think Ben just doesn't have the experience." Trump also blasted Marco Rubio, emerging from the pack as an establishment alternative to Jeb Bush. "I'm not a fan. I think he's overrated," he said. as "overrated," adding that "Putin would eat him alive." He then went on to criticize Jeb Bush, saying that he should "absolutely" drop out of the 2016 race. "He doesn't have a chance," he said. http://abcn.ws/1k7uwqw
THE BUZZ
with ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ
PRESIDENT OBAMA MAKES FUN OF GOP CANDIDATES' DEBATE COMPLAINTS. President Obama poked fun at the Republican presidential candidates tonight for their complaints about the moderators at the CNBC debate last week. "They can't handle a bunch of CNBC moderators," the president said at a DNC fundraiser held after a showing of Hamilton on Broadway. "I mean, let me tell ya, if you can't handle, if you can't handle those guys, you know then I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you." The Republican presidential campaigns met Sunday to devise a new plan for their party's debates, according to ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ. Their meeting arose in the wake of last week's CNBC Republican presidential debate, which was widely panned by the candidates and Republican officials. http://abcn.ws/1H0ZsCF
ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: Is it a genuine shock that the Republican presidential candidates couldn't agree on this on? Just hours after emerging with something resembling consensus out of a Sunday night meeting on debate format, the idea of a joint letter to networks to shape future debates started falling apart. Donald Trump let it be known that he's a better negotiator by himself. Chris Christie and John Kasich said, in essence, stop whining and start debating. Carly Fiorina's campaign had the most fun of it, informing meeting organizers that campaign aides had dinner at an Applebee's in Iowa rather than attend a "closed door meeting" outside of Washington. In short, individual campaigns are doing what individual campaigns do: advocate for the interests of their individual candidates. If anything, the events of the last week have validated what the RNC sought to do at the beginning of the process of scheduling and organizing debates.
DONALD TRUMP SAYS HE'S BETTER LOOKING THAN MARCO RUBIO. He pulled out the Trump card -- in the looks department. Donald Trump said that he not only had higher poll numbers than fellow GOP presidential contender Marco Rubio -- he was also better looking than his rival, ABC's ALI DUKAKIS notes. Trump made the comments on Bloomberg Television's "With All Due Respect," referencing the media fawning over Rubio, who had a successful performance at last week's Republican debate. "I watched someone on [MSNBC's 'Morning Joe'] this morning...He's fawning over him. He says how handsome he is," Trump said. "I don't know, I think I'm better looking than he is." Trump also called the Florida senator overrated. "I think he's highly overrated, I think he's an overrated person, I've called him a light weight. I think he's a light weight -- I hope I'm wrong about that." http://abcn.ws/1WvkCdU
BERNIE SANDERS STARTS TO NAME NAMES TO SET HIMSELF APART FROM HILLARY CLINTON. The first event of Bernie Sanders's swing through New Hampshire this weekend was uncharacteristically small. No large, chanting crowds commonplace to his campaign. Instead the Vermont senator visited a senior center in Manchester and spoke to a thoughtful group of about 20 people before taking their questions. But it was not just the setting that was unusual for Sanders, something had changed in his remarks too. Just minutes into his speech, he said her name. "Let me tell you a word about Social Security. I understand Secretary Clinton was here the other day. I think she and I have a strong disagreement on this," he began, going on to talk about his proposal for maintaining and expanding Social Security by "scrapping the cap" on taxable income. By comparison, Clinton has only said she would consider such an idea. ABC's MARYALICE PARKS has more. http://abcn.ws/1Q28YIK
JEB BUSH'S BOOK REVEALS DEATH PENALTY DOUBTS, THOUGHTS ON RACISM. Monday, Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, released a compilation of hundreds of emails from his two terms as governor of Florida. The e-book, "Reply All," spans the years of 1999-2007 and encompasses the many issues Bush dealt with; fighting to cut state budgets, dealing with the Florida recount of 2000, the eight hurricanes that hit during his tenure. It also offers insight into his thoughts on controversial issues that continue to reverberate into this current campaign, ABC's CANDACE SMITH notes. http://abcn.ws/1Ws71JI
ON THE HILL
HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN GETS NEW OFFICE, OLD SMELL. John Boehner left something for new House Speaker Paul Ryan to remember him by: the smell of his cigarette smoke. When the Wisconsin Republican inherited the speaker's office Friday, it still smelled of Boehner's cigarettes, which he was known to smoke frequently. "It's like when you get a rental car or a hotel room that's been smoked in; you know someone has smoked in it," Ryan, a fitness buff, joked to ABC News' Martha Raddatz Friday. According to ABC's BENJAMIN SIEGEL, staffers are using a filtration machine to air out the speaker's office -- which boasts the best view of the Washington Mall in town -- before Ryan's arrival. http://abcn.ws/1N9HMBC
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
LOOK AT THE CELEBRITIES SUPPORTING OHIO MARIJUANA BALLOT ISSUE. Ohioans will vote Tuesday on a measure to legalize marijuana with a surprise twist. The ballot issue has several celebrity backers who plan to become part of the marijuana business if it passes. The ballot measure, called Issue 3, would make it legal for people 21 or older to grow, use or share up to 8 ounces of marijuana for recreational use. ABC's STEPHANIE EBBS reports, it would also grant exclusive commercial growth rights to 10 landowners who would supply the roughly 1,100 dispensaries across the state. Millions of dollars were donated to support the ballot initiative, along with big-name supporters like NFL player Frostee Rucker, former NBA star Oscar Robertson and fashion designer Nanette Lapore, who're listed on the website of a PAC supporting the measure. http://abcn.ws/1HnbtNH
WHO'S TWEETING?
@RosieGray: Ben Carson's Campaign Is Spamming People With Phone Calls And They're Getting Annoyed http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/ben-carsons-campaign-is-spamming-people-with-phone-calls-and?utm_term=.fwy8jxwjp ...
@CNNPolitics: .@tedcruz aide's firm targets @SenJohnMcCain, prompting tensions with the GOP http://cnn.it/1NogN9K
@bpolitics: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders enter a new phase in the battle for New Hampshire http://bloom.bg/1KSH7Tn
@jeneps: New Clinton ad on fighting gun violence, airing as part of previous buy in Iowa & NH. She'll talk guns today in Iowa https://youtu.be/K7Dn-4LDUw4
@NYTnickc: After Cruz campaign complains publicly about their super PACs silence, Keep the Promise 1 releases more radio ads http://bit.ly/1Mewobg
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