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12/22/2015 07:56 AM EDT


By Burgess Everett (@burgessev or beverett@politico.com)

GRAHAM STEPS AWAY FROM 2016: It's hard to think of a candidate who's polled more poorly yet has garnered more media attention than Sen. Lindsey Graham. Jim Gilmore and George Pataki are regular punchlines, while Graham has garnered profiles, plenty of airtime and outsize attention for his quips, plainspokenness and hawkish national security strategy. Alas, that's all coming to an end, as Graham must now return to his day job as senator. "'I don't want to be the undercard voice. I cannot tell you how frustrating it has been to have spent all this time and effort preparing myself to be Commander-in-Chief and to be put at the 'kiddie table',' Graham told CNN in his one and only interview of
the day (trust us, we asked). 'I have no intention of endorsing anyone right now.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11f9ef9927ed8afea146b1ab5e29eee519344861fff8e943f22

Inside the GOP caucus: Senators told us that Marco Rubio would have more endorsements if not for Graham, who has kept many politicians on the sidelines as he mounted his improbable run. As Rubio's battle with Ted Cruz heats up, it will be interesting to see whether senators follow through with something they'd only discuss anonymously. "You've got people who don't want to upset Lindsey Graham," said one Senate Republican as we reported out a story in November on Rubio and Cruz.

HECK OF A RACE: While Rep. Joe Heck has ignored my entreaties in the speaker's lobby, The Hill's Jonathan Swan got with the Nevada Senate candidate out in Las Vegas. Heck won't commit to backing Donald Trump and thinks Cruz is a "show horse." "'I consider myself a workhorse,' Heck said of the Texan who many Republicans accuse of glorifying himself through his role in the 2013 government shutdown and similar attempt earlier this year. 'I don't think it's the place of somebody in the Senate to try to influence what is happening in the House.'" The Hill: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11f3a7fb3f94c64652d63cff72404e14b21eeb7e739377c26d0 (Warning, their website will break your computer).

But what does Harry Reid think? I know you were wondering. Let's find out! "You didn't ask this question, but I can't imagine Joe Heck voting to default on the debt of this country and to close the government. I mean, he really must be afraid of Sharron Angle," Reid said of Heck in November. Then I said: You want Angle to do well, don't you? "I don't want her to do well but I just want to make sure that people understand who she is. She's not some kind of a fool. People better be careful. She's got - I'm not sure she can beat Heck, I have no idea about that. But she, in the race I had, had some pretty good people in that race."

FINDING WAY$ TO RAI$E $$$: December was a crazy month on Capitol Hill, but if you thought Congress would take a pass on fundraising you are quite mistaken. Politico Influence writer Isaac Arnsdorf plunges into the weird world of end-of-year congressional fundraising: "Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.) packed a theater at $500 per head for a special Gallery Place screening of the new "Star Wars" sequel. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) asked for up to $5,000 to be a host at a cigar-themed fundraiser at the office of the Keelen Group, a lobbying firm. Rep. Billy Long (R-Mo.) had a $1,000-per-person poker night, and three Michigan Republicans -- Bill Huizenga, Fred Upton and Tim Walberg -- and Democrat
Dan Kildee gathered donors paying various amounts to watch the Detroit Red Wings lose to the Capitals at the Verizon Center." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11fd2ab6641096bcfc5760f8832f9e803a7bc0e094188ca98a2

FIRST LOOK -- Cornyn crows: If you think the Senate and it's bipartisan accomplishments this year is a kumbaya moment for the two parties, think again. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn is out with a new video highlighting the GOP's accomplishments -- and criticizing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for his now-infamous quote about the Republican Senate being "the most unproductive Senate in the history of the country." Cornyn says this year is "the difference between dysfunctional and functional, dysfunctional being the way it ran when Harry Reid basically blocked any minority participation ... so much of what we've done this year is to clean up the Democratic majority, really doing
nothing." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11f85126dc65ef97de087781c491192eae09bb6198d8507528a

Good Tuesday morning. And welcome to the Huddle, your play-by-play guide to everything Capitol Hill, where if you are working too hard today you aren't doing it right. Please send tips to beverett@politico.com and follow along on Twitter @burgessev.

MAKE PREPARATIONS: Because Huddle's last edition of the year comes out tomorrow. We'll be back on Jan. 4, and somehow we hope you survive the Huddle drought.

MONDAY'S MOST CLICKED: Clearly a picture of Sen. Ron Johnson with beard.

BIRTHDAY CRUZ: Shane Goldmacher has the same thoughts I do when the NRSC wishes Ted Cruz well. I mean, Cruz was an NRSC vice-chair just LAST YEAR and stopped doing his job over strategic disagreements. But if you are a GOP donor that gets hit up by the NRSC, you'd think everything is peachy. "'Senator Ted Cruz's birthday is here!' the NRSC wrote more than a week ago, urging supporters to sign a digital birthday card. 'Senator Cruz turns 45 in TWO DAYS,' they reminded over the weekend ... [Ken Cuccinelli says] 'The truth is that anyone who supports Ted Cruz shouldn't give a nickel to the NRSC.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11f196dcb4cec203d986c9477c714294997815cac0cb5b47113

Cruz 2014 flashback: "When I signed on as vice chair at the NRSC, it was based on a explicit commitment from leadership that the NRSC was going to stay out of primaries. ... I participated in the NRSC early on and when the decision was made for them to do otherwise, I stopped participating because I think Washington insiders are notoriously poor at picking winners and losers." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11f00c9e8ac26e9893080756458066e437103e80f8f0187fe97

BIZARRE: Donald Trump mocked Hillary Clinton in Michigan last night "for a 'disgusting' bathroom trip she made during Saturday night's debate, and said Barack Obama 'schlonged' her in the 2008 primaries at a raucous rally here on Monday night." Schreck: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11ffb52dc3e095bcec73eedddb9c9f9bb6baf685c96acf29a9d

@seungminkim: What if Congress were in session and we had to ask Republican lawmakers to weigh in on trump's "schlonged" comments.

'TIS THE SEASON: NYT collected a whole lot of lawmakers' holiday cards, from the Rands to the Rubios to the Ryans to the Scotts. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11fade74691c58af518a6147e433f662d12aabe9b2dab8e4d76

My favorite: Forgive the unshortened link, but you must see Jon and Sharla Tester with their tractor. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11f5b71dba007e7d315a44aa3896044e750999c985d3c913938

ETHICS LISTICLE: Conservative group Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust is out with its most unethical this morning, devoting much of its energy to Hillary Clinton. Oh, but congressional Democrats and Republicans don't get off easily either. The top 7 ethics violators per FACT: Former Rep. Joe Sestak, Sen. Tom Carper, Sen. Claire McCaskill, Rep. Mark Meadows, Rep. Robert Pittenger, Rep. Frank Guinta, Rep. Alan Grayson. It's weird, I must admit, to see a list like this that does not include Sen. Robert Menendez, who is under indictment, and to see Carper and Sestak dinged for fairly minor infractions. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=bb7960e3e20fa11fd943f31188a40abb38b0191be145375c3156acf98081fdf8

ACROSS THE CAPITOL: Sen. Thom Tillis's press secretary Meghan Burris will head over to the House starting in January to take over as communications director for Rep. Ann Wagner. In her goodbye email, Burris revealed that Tillis staff internally call the freshman T2, which I will not forget.

MONDAY'S TRIVIA WINNER - Gregory Gervais, a fellow Mainer, was the first to answer that Pierre, S.D., and Montpelier, Vt., are the two state capitals with fewer people than Augusta, Maine.

TODAY'S TRIVIA - Maine Sen. Angus King has today's question as I prepare to head to Portland on Friday: At age 45, Paul Ryan is the youngest person to become Speaker of the House since this Republican Maine Representative, who assumed the office at age 39. The first person to correctly answer gets a mention in the next day's Huddle. Email me at beverett@politico.com

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