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By James Hohmann (
mailto:jhohmann@politico.com
jhohmann@politico.com ; Twitter: @jameshohmann)

LAS VEGAS-MARTINEZ JOINS GROWING CHORUS: New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, the GOP's most prominent Latina, chastised Mitt Romney's rhetoric in an interview here last night and called on the Republican Party to play ball on immigration reform. "That unfortunately is what sets us back as a party-our comments that are not thought through carefully," she said of Mitt's "gifts" gaffe. She called the 47 percent video "a ridiculous statement to make."

On immigration, Martinez told us that Republicans should avoid "amnesty" BUT that any solution needs to deal with those in the country illegally. "You cannot be insensitive, but you also have to be very thoughtful about people who have been in line for many, many years to become a citizen and have done all the right things," she said. "We want the best and brightest to come to our universities. But don't put 10 million, 12 million people in front of those who have been working very hard to become citizens because you also impact those people and I don't find that to be fair."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=153348c1350769342c65b9532ab9f1330870e68113091e3ae97e5a934b774e05
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=153348c1350769342c65b9532ab9f1330870e68113091e3ae97e5a934b774e05

PEW STUDY: "The Hispanic Electorate is Likely to Double by 2030."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=153348c13507693420d19c170f80dae8065631c1a43639b6e37de746f9e5003b
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=153348c13507693420d19c170f80dae8065631c1a43639b6e37de746f9e5003b

CHRIS CHRISTIE, on Morning Joe, agreed that "gifts" was a terrible thing to say: "Do I wish he hadn't said those things?" the New Jersey governor added. "Of course. BUT on the other hand, I'm not going to bury the guy for it."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=153348c1350769347d3f576222258a84742e65019d099bdcca1c60680fa740b4
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=153348c1350769347d3f576222258a84742e65019d099bdcca1c60680fa740b4

BRANDING-FRESH GALLUP NUMBERS HIGHLIGHT GOP IMAGE PROBLEM: Obama's favorable rose from 55 percent pre-election to 58 percent post-election. That's his best number in over three years. "For the first time since the late summer of 2009, a majority of Americans have a positive opinion of the Democratic Party. Views of the party had generally been more positive than negative in 2009 and before, but more negative than positive in 2010 and 2011. Meanwhile, Americans' opinions of the Republican Party remain more negative than positive, with 43% having a favorable and 50% an unfavorable view of the GOP. Americans have been negative on balance toward the Republican Party since late 2005 -- apart
from 2008, after the party's convention nominated John McCain and Sarah Palin as its presidential and vice presidential candidates, and January 2011, shortly after the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives took office."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=153348c135076934a619e621b344a544b4c0d63b903bb073c2c2aae5ae2328cd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=153348c135076934a619e621b344a544b4c0d63b903bb073c2c2aae5ae2328cd

THE BIG PICTURE-MOST GOP LEADERS RESISTANT TO BIG CHANGES: Colleen McCain Nelson really captures the zeitgeist in today's Wall Street Journal, explaining that "some top GOP officials worry their message is wrong for a rapidly diversifying population, and that fundamental shifts in policy may be required. BUT the more dominant voice, and the one gaining currency within the center of the party, says such drama isn't necessary." Colleen's story:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc7698309f0d8aab80ac16425c3b052bedccdce703f175d90d9a2a0
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc7698309f0d8aab80ac16425c3b052bedccdce703f175d90d9a2a0 . NBC First Read posts a 14-slide RNC PowerPoint presented behind closed doors by Reince Priebus on what went wrong:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc769839c90bb8059db80be72c7321aac52e6377b5db19bbc9ab3c4
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc769839c90bb8059db80be72c7321aac52e6377b5db19bbc9ab3c4 .

ROMNEY SAYS CLINTON TOLD HIM THAT SANDY LET OBAMA WIN: "I spoke with President Clinton the day before yesterday, he called and spent 30 minutes chatting with me," Mitt said on the Wednesday donor call, according to a transcript released by ABC News. "He said a week out I thought you were going to win. And he said, but the hurricane happened, and it gave the president a chance to be presidential, and to look bipartisan, and you know he got a little more momentum, and of course he also said that when he was watching Ann speak at the Republican convention, he decided he was tempted to join the Republican Party. So he may have just been effusive with generous comments as he chatted."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc769835bbb0e74674a433683ed68eef6107f9e3006b00eb9c50e09
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc769835bbb0e74674a433683ed68eef6107f9e3006b00eb9c50e09

MESSINA FELT CONFIDENT 10 DAYS OUT: Obama campaign manager Jim Messina tells Slate's John Dickerson that it was about 10 days before Election Day when he looked at numbers on a computer dashboard set up for him, specifically the early-vote tallies, and began to smile. "That's when I started to feel pretty good," he said. "I looked at the numbers and we were crushing it out there." His computer had a screen that showed how many doors volunteers had knocked on the night before, how many phone calls they had made, how much money had been raised, and what was moving on Twitter and other social networks.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc7698367e7ca233f2bcf9121a08936b61fad4fc07afd7e7a336f15
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc7698367e7ca233f2bcf9121a08936b61fad4fc07afd7e7a336f15

As Scott DesJarlais' situation gets worse, Elizabeth Warren crusades against filibusters and Bobby Jindal takes the helm at RGA, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

DAYBOOK-OBAMA in the ROOSEVELT ROOM: 10:15 meeting with Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden to discuss fiscal cliff. Then he has a 2 p.m. meeting with leaders of civic organizations and other outside groups on these issues.

POLLING SHOWS DIMINISHED EXPECTATIONS-

PEW: "66% say that relations between Republicans and Democrats will either stay about the same (52%) or get worse (14%) over the next year. And while 56% of voters think Obama will be successful in his coming term, that is down from 67% who thought his first term would be successful at this point four years ago."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc7698371d1967fff0fedcad927d917cbaa37d80cb015906cae631c
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc7698371d1967fff0fedcad927d917cbaa37d80cb015906cae631c

GALLUP: "Americans are most optimistic that the Obama administration will be able to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan, improve conditions for minorities and the poor, improve education, and keep the U.S. safe from terrorism. On two major policy issues now facing the country, however, Americans are less positive, with less than half saying the Obama administration will be able to substantially reduce the federal budget deficit or avoid raising 'your' taxes."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc76983f1e086fb540ada9b1006fd1ddc8e33c8f6935ad0e7d66f62
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc76983f1e086fb540ada9b1006fd1ddc8e33c8f6935ad0e7d66f62

BIG MESSAGING SHIFT-GOP GOVERNORS SOFTEN TONE ON TAXES: Some Republican governors are softening on the party's hard-line toward tax increases for the wealthy, suggesting that GOP congressmen at least be open to rate hikes in exchange for a comprehensive fiscal agreement on taxes and entitlements. "The people have spoken, I think we're going to have to be [flexible] now," said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, when asked if his party would now have to open to taxes on the highest earners. "Elections do have consequences. The president campaigned on that." McDonnell made clear that raising taxes isn't his first choice. But he said that the political reality of a Democratic president and Democratic
Senate makes it unlikely that a grand bargain can be struck without some compromise on raising revenues. Jonathan Martin and I quote Haley Barbour, Butch Otter, Terry Branstad, John Kasich, Paul LePage, Pat McCrory and Rick Scott on the subject:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc76983b47ac4c7ea8b2ba50c0687cfd66703bc516dbc5c90f0b7c0
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc76983b47ac4c7ea8b2ba50c0687cfd66703bc516dbc5c90f0b7c0 .

GAY VOTE SHOWN AS KEY TO OBAMA COALITION: "Mr. Obama's more than three-to-one edge in exit polls among the 5 percent of voters who identified themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual was more than enough to give him the ultimate advantage, according to the study, by Gary J. Gates of the Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law, in conjunction with Gallup," the New York Times reports.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc769831bb575f684c28ec204c0369c1a13d1fafd65a96c61c14024
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc769831bb575f684c28ec204c0369c1a13d1fafd65a96c61c14024

THE JUICE-

STEVE ISRAEL STAYS ON AS DCCC CHAIR: His executive director for his second cycle at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will be Kelly Ward. Jesse Ferguson will be Deputy Executive Director and Communications Director and Missy Kurek will be Deputy Executive Director for Finance.

NEW RGA LEADERSHIP TEAM TAKES OVER: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association today and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was elected to serve as vice chairman yesterday. These six will make up the executive committee: Florida's Rick Scott, New Jersey's Chris Christie, New Mexico's Susana Martinez, Pennsylvania's Tom Corbett, South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Virginia's Bob McDonnell.

THE HOUSE-

BALLOTS REMAIN UNCOUNTED IN FLORIDA, ARIZONA: "Florida Rep. Allen West is threatening a Bush v. Gore-style legal brawl after a county election official admitted 'mistakes' in his still uncalled race," Alex Isenstadt reports. "Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' handpicked successor, Democratic Rep. Ron Barber, is waiting for his home state of Arizona to tally more than 100,000 ballots still uncounted nine days after the election - a portion of which will decide whether he returns to Congress." In other news, Ami Bera was officially declared the winner over Dan Lungren in California yesterday.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc76983f0395aa870175685d9098150dc3bac3b23cf95720f2bbfbd
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc76983f0395aa870175685d9098150dc3bac3b23cf95720f2bbfbd

NEW LETTER-ALLEN WEST'S LAWYER HIGHLIGHTS INCONSISTENCIES: Jason Torchinsky and P. Christopher Winkelman write to the Florida Division of Elections. "While we have not yet been provided access to the poll book information for votes cast on Election Day, our examination of the early and absentee ballot information raises significant questions relating to nearly 1,000 votes. We can provide a detailed spreadsheet containing our precinct by precinct analysis of the early votes and absentee ballots in the event your office desires additional detailed information. We hope to continue our examination of records upon receipt of additional information from the St. Lucie County Supervisor of
Elections, but we believe it is incumbent upon the Secretary of State to examine these returns and take any action necessary to ensure that the votes cast in St. Lucie were accurately counted. Based on the information we have examined, we still believe that serious doubt exists as to the accuracy of the vote count so far reported by St. Lucie County." 3-pages:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc76983acbc86dfee2d9cb21b6edd1d7c2d05ed12668c2ac7469a4e
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3c689a0e3dc76983acbc86dfee2d9cb21b6edd1d7c2d05ed12668c2ac7469a4e .

TENNESSEE - DESJARLAIS SUPPORTED EX-WIFE'S TWO ABORTIONS: "A decade before calling himself 'a consistent supporter of pro-life values,' Tennessee physician and Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais supported his ex-wife's decision to get two abortions before their marriage, according to the congressman's sworn testimony during his divorce trial. Obtained by the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the couple's 2001 trial transcript also confirms DesJarlais had sexual relationships with at least two patients, three coworkers and a drug representative while he was chief of staff at Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, Tenn. During one affair with a female patient, DesJarlais prescribed her drugs,
gave her an $875 watch and bought her a plane ticket to Las Vegas, records show. DesJarlais spokesman Robert Jameson did not respond to requests for comment. The attorney for the congressman's ex-wife said that at this point she does not have any comments to issue on her ex-husband's testimony."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad2688dfdedc32e72bc203e23ca200e8f85d08959721d470e0ec
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad2688dfdedc32e72bc203e23ca200e8f85d08959721d470e0ec

LIGHTER CLICKS -

JOE BIDEN's cameo on NBC's "Parks and Recreation" aired last night. Story:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad2667a0f4ec6d540a407af838a6b12bfdc550e5acf5da6006bf
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad2667a0f4ec6d540a407af838a6b12bfdc550e5acf5da6006bf . Video:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad26bb600bc6cfda8dbc220810424ad81deb23768ce2e69ba0bf
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad26bb600bc6cfda8dbc220810424ad81deb23768ce2e69ba0bf .

JOHN MCCAIN got testy with CNN when asked why he missed a classified briefing on Libya. Video:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad26df9ea79a22f4dcd3293328dd31813bd0a757d40e849ca5c7
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad26df9ea79a22f4dcd3293328dd31813bd0a757d40e849ca5c7 .

DAVID PETRAEUS discouraged Paula Broadwell from running for Senate in North Carolina after she claimed to have been approached by Republican moneymen:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad264ff85f36e229911775e3c3d86198adeddf49ff4a504052c0
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad264ff85f36e229911775e3c3d86198adeddf49ff4a504052c0 .

JON STEWART made fun of Bill O'Reilly's fears about the end of traditional America:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad266e31d81093dbb6f00ecbaae265c58f2e0815ba3aef23bf3f
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad266e31d81093dbb6f00ecbaae265c58f2e0815ba3aef23bf3f .

ELIZABETH WARREN, the Massachusetts senator-elect, writes an op-ed against filibusters for the Huffington Post:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad26e516c654873b48aa8e30c39e7915cdefe630310458bb0844
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad26e516c654873b48aa8e30c39e7915cdefe630310458bb0844 .

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Did I just do the Not Impressed face with the President..?" - Star gymnast McKayla Maroney tweeted after an Oval Office meeting
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad26c847d928b85ad8765b27ff17a941ca49bf0d2cddb311aced
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8ba76eef317cad26c847d928b85ad8765b27ff17a941ca49bf0d2cddb311aced

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