The Note: The 2016 Money Race Heats Up

— -- NOTABLES

--HILLARY CLINTON AND BERNIE SANDERS ALMOST EVEN IN QUARTERLY FUNDRAISING: As Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders inch closer in the polls, so it seems do their fundraising numbers. Clinton raised roughly $28 million in the second quarter of her presidential campaign, a Clinton campaign official familiar with Federal Election Commission filings said. This figure, while strong, is just slightly ahead of her Democratic opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who raised roughly $25 million during the same period, which ends Wednesday. This figure is a significant bump for Sanders, who raised just $13.6 million in the previous quarter. (Clinton, in contrast, raised $47.6 million in the previous quarter.) ABC's LIZ KREUTZ has more details: http://abcn.ws/1Wzy1na

--THIRD GOP DEBATE COULD EXCLUDE GRAHAM, GILMORE: South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore may be cut from the next GOP debate. Criteria released yesterday by CNBC could leave the two Republican presidential candidates off the stage at the next GOP presidential debate on Oct. 28 in Colorado. In order to gain a spot at the so-called "undercard" debate, Graham and Gilmore need an average of 1 percent in voter support in at least one national poll over the next three weeks, ABC's RYAN STRUYK reports. According to an ABC News analysis of recent national polls, neither candidate currently meets the threshold. http://abcn.ws/1N2fcr8

--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: House speakers only occasionally speak for the House. When they do speak, people listen - though those people do not necessarily include those who chose the speaker to lead, at least not recently. It's the public scrutiny that matters, and that's what makes the comments by the likeliest next speaker, Kevin McCarthy, so damaging to himself and to the House Republican brand he'd be charged with improving. In the space of a few sentences in a television interview, the current House majority leader threatened to undo years' worth of careful work by Rep. Trey Gowdy, and House Speaker John Boehner in separating the Benghazi inquiry from presidential politics. "We put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping," McCarthy said. The "her," of course, is Hillary Clinton, whose campaign has been looking for such admissions to dismiss the ongoing work being led by Gowdy. Boehner has been uncommonly blunt over the years in admitting that there are parts of his job that are making policy, and parts that are making politics. There's a zone for both, and McCarthy forgot that lesson at a critical moment.

--TODAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal are in Iowa today. This evening Rubio holds a town hall in Cedar Falls and just about an hour away at about the same time Jindal holds a town hall in Cedar Rapids. Mike Huckabee is in Alabama and holds four events, including two press conferences in Sylacauga and Selma, the city critical in the civil rights movement. He also has two rallies on his schedule this morning and this evening in Florence and Dothan.

MUST WATCH -- DONALD TRUMP OFFERS ABC NEWS' TOM LLAMAS A 'LOVE TAP'. Presidential candidate Donald Trump offered ABC's TOM LLAMAS a tap on the cheek following a Wednesday event in New Hampshire. The encounter occurred after Trump wrapped his town hall speech at Keene High School. He spoke for one hour to a crowd of 3,500, touching on everything from Syrian refugees to the relationship between his GOP rivals Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush. When Llamas commented that Trump seemed fired up, the billionaire responded, "I was fired up, you better believe it. When I see what's happening to this country I'm fired up. I hope you see the new polls that are coming out." That's when Trump gently tapped Llamas on his cheek and walked to an overflow room. http://abcn.ws/1PP9x5o

FROM HILLARY CLINTON'S INBOX:

--WHAT TOP AIDES WERE SHARING ABOUT ANTHONY WEINER SCANDAL. Newly released email from Hillary Clinton's private account showed a top aide sent her stories about long-time aide Huma Abedin's husband, Rep. Anthony Weiner, during his congressional scandal. Cheryl Mills, Clinton's chief of staff at the State Department, forwarded Clinton articles about the New York representative around the time he resigned from Congress after sending lewd photos on social media. One Washington Post article sent to Clinton was titled "Only Ones Not Giggling Are Therapists" and analyzed Weiner's behavior and whether it was treatable. Mills sent Clinton at least nine messages pertaining to Weiner's scandal, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ reports. The email shows how closely Clinton and her aides were following the scandal involving Weiner. http://abcn.ws/1O2Y5nF

--CLINTON RECEIVED SPEEDING-TICKET SCAM EMAIL ON PRIVATE ACCOUNT. Clinton received email on her private account that appeared to be part of a phishing scam, newly released documents show. On the morning of Aug. 3, 2011, Clinton received five pieces of email with the subject line "Uniform traffic ticket," with two attachments included. The email came from an address that resembled a New York City government account and contained a heading from the "New York State - Department of Motor Vehicles." "We have no evidence to suggest she replied to this email nor that she opened the attachment. http://abcn.ws/1OHGtPF

--CLINTON 'FIGHTS' WITH WHITE HOUSE OPERATOR WHO DOESN'T BELIEVE IT'S HER CALLING. It seems it's not enough to be Hillary Clinton -- or sound like the former Secretary of State -- to get directly through to the White House. When Rep. Diane Watson was about to announce her retirement from Congress back in 2010, Clinton was hoping to call the California Democrat, but was tied up with an unexpected hurdle on another call. "I'd like to call her. But right now I'm fighting w the WH operator who doesn't believe I am who I say," a frustrated Clinton wrote in an email sent to her aide Huma Abedin February 2010, according to ABC's VERONICA STRACQUALURSI. http://abcn.ws/1M2qPbG

THE BUZZwith ABC's PAOLA CHAVEZ and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

HOW 2016 CANDIDATES FINESSE THE 'DROP OUT' QUESTION. It's the question no candidate wants to answer, but that many of them can't avoid these days: Are you going to drop out of the presidential race? Rick Santorum, for instance, was asked the million-dollar question Wednesday on ABC's "The View," making it clear that despite his lackluster poll numbers, he's not going anywhere. "Four years ago, I was at 1 and 2 percent and was getting that question continually, up until about three weeks before the election," the former Pennsylvania senator who carried three states in 2012 said. "Then all of a sudden people started to have to make their decision; they wanted to look at not just who was on the media, but who actually is going to be the best person to be the president and that's why we rose to the top, and were able to win and so I think that will and can happen again." ABC's PAOLA CHAVEZ looks at how other candidates are answering this awkward question. http://abcn.ws/1LQs2at

HOW THE 1 PERCENT CLUB IS (OR IS NOT) RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT. It may be lonely at the top, but it's also tough campaigning at the bottom. Several candidates in the crowded 2016 presidential field are scraping the bottom of the barrel in the polls, vying for every fraction of a percentage point and spinning any tick upward as a sign of real momentum. Support on the Republican side is currently splintered among 15 candidates. On the Democratic side, two main candidates (and one main maybe-candidate) have left the others in the dust. ABC's RYAN STRUYK has more on how the lower-tier candidates in this 2016 field are handling running on empty. http://abcn.ws/1Ghm5Nl

MITT ROMNEY CONFIDENT DONALD TRUMP WON'T BE GOP NOMINEE. The 2012 GOP presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, isn't sure who will succeed him as the party's standard-bearer in 2016, but he can't imagine it being front-runner Donald Trump. "I will support the nominee. I don't think that's going to be Donald Trump," Romney told Atlantic Editor-in-Chief James Bennett at the Washington Ideas Forum Wednesday, ABC's ALANA ABRAMSON reports. "My party has historically nominated someone who's a mainstream conservative, and someone who has a foundation of foreign policy that gives people confidence that can guide ship in a state of troubled waters," Romney said, adding that Trump's suggestion on "60 Minutes" that ISIS take over Syria was "absurd and dangerous." http://abcn.ws/1VrnYhp

WHY JEB BUSH SEES HIMSELF AS THE JOHN MCCAIN OF 2016. As polls show Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush slipped, and though his donors may be worried, he's certainly not, at least visibly. Bush offered an anecdote about a previous GOP candidate whose chances seemed slim. ABC's CANDACE SMITH has more. http://abcn.ws/1WyKuYj

BEN CARSON CANNOT SAY HOW HE WOULD TACKLE HURRICANE JOAQUIN. Ben Carson could not say how he would deal with Hurricane Joaquin, the storm that's intensifying in the Atlantic and headed toward the Bahamas and the East Coast. "Uh, I don't know," Carson said with a giggle in response to an ABC News question asking what steps he would take if he was president today. In contrast, Jeb Bush gave a rather detailed response, including an evacuation plan for certain areas in Joaquin's path, ABC's KATHERINE FAULDERS notes. http://abcn.ws/1LkTe2n

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

JEB BUSH ON WASHINGTON REDSKINS TEAM NAME:'I DON'T THINK IT SHOULD CHANGE'. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is siding with the Washington Redskins' right to keep the team's name, despite protests from Native American groups and pressure from Congress to force a change, ABC's RICK KLEIN reports. "I don't think it should change it," bush said on the inaugural episode of "The Arena" radio program, set to debut Friday afternoon on Sirius XM's POTUS Channel 124. "But again, I don't think politicians ought to be having any say about that, to be honest with you. I don't find it offensive. Native American tribes generally don't find it offensive." http://abcn.ws/1iLcR6v

WHO'S TWEETING?

@ItsDavidFord: FUSION's @JorgeRamosNews asked Al Gore a few times if he'd run for president again, and he wouldn't say no... http://fusion.net/video/207008/jorge-ramos-al-gore-interview/ ...

@PounderFile: Is it possible that @BernieSanders could have more Cash on Hand than @HillaryClinton going into the 4th Quarter?

@PowerPost: Why some GOP campaigns think the path to the White House this year may run through paradise - via @katiezez: http://wapo.st/1Oa5cwh

@samsmithNC: Top Iowa Republicans Join @ChrisChristie's Leadership Team http://christiene.ws/1Oa64kn #IACaucus

@DavidMarkDC: Ousted Brookings economist lashes back at Warren http://thehill.com/policy/finance/255529-ousted-brookings-economist-lashes-back-at-warren ...