HUFFPOST HILL - Obama Campaign Thinks People Will Randomly Start Liking The President Again.. Guy Who Laid Off Air Traffic Controllers To Get Statue At Airport.. Jon Corzine Always Successful Except When Doing Things And Trying Stuff

HuffPost Hill
By Eliot Nelson, Ryan Grim & Arthur Delaney
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In a blow to Satan's minions, the House will reaffirm that the United States' motto is "In God We Trust." We aren't putting it past Herman Cain to perform a John Lennon spoof about his brush with sexual harassment. And unless there's a street named "Wergelandsveien" in an Iowa town called "Oslo," Newt Gingrich is not choosing his campaign events wisely. This is HUFFPOST HILL for Monday, October 31st, 2011 and no, we don't think your Mark Block Halloween costume is clever:

OBAMA ADVISER OUTLINES CAMPAIGN STRATEGY - Sam Stein: "The Obama campaign assumes, off the bat, that any Republican candidate will be guaranteed 47 to 48 percent of the vote. The adviser acknowledged that the president will have a tougher time turning out the Democratic base in 2012 than it did in 2008. The expectation, however, is that once the Republican field is settled and a nominee has been chosen, enthusiasm for Obama's candidacy will grow. It is also expected that African American voters will come out for Obama again, driven by a desire to avoid the first black president becoming a one-term president...The Obama team considers Pennsylvania a safe Democratic state, given party registration numbers. They believe the president will also do well in Michigan, thanks to his stewardship of the auto bailout, and they view New Mexico and Iowa as lean-Obama states. They think Colorado and Nevada will be more difficult, but the increased Hispanic population in each state works in Obama's favor -- even if Perry is on the ticket." [HuffPost]

GIANT BRONZE RONALD REAGAN TO TAUNT LIBERAL TRAVELERS - The Washington metro area is one of the most progressive in the country, so it was a real blow to the region's lefties when National Airport was renamed after the 40th president. Tomorrow, a nine-foot-tall, 900 pound bronze statue of Ronald Reagan will be unveiled at the airport's entrance. At some point, one of the air traffic controllers Reagan fired back in the day will drive by that statue and ... well, "smile" isn't the right word here, but he'll do something. [HuffPost's Dan Froomkin]

DAILY DELANEY DOWNER - Older workers are gloomier about the economy now than they were last year. Nearly two thirds of workers older than 50 first surveyed by AARP's Public Policy Institute in 2010 said things had gotten worse by the time the senior lobbying powerhouse followed up in August. Fewer than one in 10 said their view of the economy had improved. The rest said things had stayed the same. Of the more than 5,000 people surveyed last year, 16.7 percent said they were jobless. Nearly the same percentage said they were jobless when AARP caught up with 1,300 people from the original sample this summer. [HuffPost]

LEGENDARY LEADERSHIP QUOTES - Courtesy of Darrell Issa, today a new Leadership Quote will be inducted into DDD's Leadership Quotes Hall of Fame. It's D.C. Mayor Vince Gray talking to an aide after Sulaimon Brown, the guy Gray's campaign paid to bash Adrian Fenty, had been hauled out of city hall in handcuffs. Herewith, Vince Gray: "What the fuck happened?" [APPLAUSE.] Gray's remark joins famous leader-ish statements by George W. Bush ("This sucker could go down"), Barack H. Obama ("John, I will give you D.C. abortion") and Joe Biden ("Hang in there!"). [House Oversight Committee]

DAVID FRUM LISTS REASONS HE'S STILL A REPUBLICAN - "Democrats were wrong on crime from the 1970s through the 1990s, and I'm still mad about it." [HuffPost]

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KEEPING ITS EYES ON THE BALL, HOUSE TO VOTE ON WORDS - In a nod to social conservatives, the House will vote on a resolution this week reaffirming the United States' official motto. Much to our surprise, it's not "ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOOOOTBALL?!?!?! but is, in fact, "In God We Trust." The resolution is pretty frivolous, unless, of course, you care about that whole church/state thing. "If religion and morality are taken out of the marketplace of ideas," the resolution reads, "the very freedom on which the United States was founded cannot be secure." [LA Times]

HUH? - @SenatorBegich: I'm celebrating Halloween by delivering "No Frankenfish" buttons to all my Senate colleagues. Here's the button: ow.ly/i/kiGc

CAIN DENIES SEXUAL HARASSMENT ALLEGATION - Herman Cain responded to this weekend's Politico story detailing at least two alleged sexual harassment claims that were brought against him while he headed the National Restaurant Association. "It is totally baseless and totally false," he said during a Fox News hit. "Never have I ever committed any kind of sexual harassment. If the restaurant association did a settlement, I wasn't even aware of it and I hope it wasn't for much. If there was a settlement, it was handled by some of the other officers at the restaurant association." Another good response would've been "I was too busy aggressively trying to lower the national minimum wage to offend anyone in person!" [Politico]

Ruh roh "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Daniel Bice has obtained information suggesting that a private Wisconsin-based company footed tens of thousands of dollars to help get Cain's campaign going. Two key aides led Prosperity USA, which allegedly helped finance chartered flights, iPads and other travel expenses. If the report proves to be true, Cain's camp may have violated federal campaign finance and tax laws. An election law expert saw the suspicions as troubling for the GOP candidate." It takes real effort to break a campaign finance law nowadays. Well done, Herman. [HuffPost]

Cain, the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination, sang today at a press conference.

If it's Sunday, it's "Meet the Press" ... unless you're Mitt Romney. Then you're probably making awkward jokes in a Nashua bookstore. Michael Calderone: "The Romney campaign, running this cycle from a frontrunner position, has scaled back on the candidate's accessibility from four years ago and rarely allows for such unguarded moments on the campaign trail. While Romney has taken the stage for primetime debates and has done a few cable news hits, he's avoided lengthy interviews with magazines to which he spoke in 2008 -- such as Time and Newsweek -- and hasn't appeared on any of the Sunday morning chat shows, a traditional pit stop for any presidential contender." [HuffPost]

NEWT GINGRICH HOLDING CAMPAIGN KICKOFF EVENT IN NORWAY - He doesn't care. He really doesn't care. The guy is dialing into a "2012 Election Kickoff" panel in Oslo. How on Earth could he possibly care? As the Norwegian journalist who spotted it so deftly put it: "After a stumbling start to his presidential campaign, to say the least, Newt Gingrich has been experiencing an uptick in the polls lately. So much, in fact, that there's speculation about the former Speaker moving into the top tier, when -- and if -- Herman Cain's support dwindles...But, if Gingrich is indeed a serious contender, then why is he taking the time to speak via video link to a Presidential Election Kick-Off event in Oslo, Norway?" Hey, wanna know who Gingrich's favorite president is? President Fjord, of course! Jokes! [Politico]

JON CORZINE CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT - Two years ago, then-New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine somehow lost an election to a guy who somehow created a public persona that blended the bluster of talk show hosts, attorneys and politicians. How do you lose to the platonic ideal of an asshole? We don't know, but Jon Corzine did. Now, the obscenely well-connected Corzine, a former governor, senator and Goldman Sachs executive, has found a way to drive a Wall Street firm into the ground, even one that gets gobs of free money from the Fed. Times: "Shares in MF Global Holdings were halted for trading early on Monday, as the brokerage prepared to file for bankruptcy protection and sell some of its assets to the Interactive Brokers Group, according to people briefed on the matter...MF Global is a primary dealer, meaning that it is one of 22 firms allowed to trade directly with the Fed and make a market in securities like Treasury notes." #OccupyJonCorzinesEmptyOffice. [NYT]

Most Americans think their lives have progressed in a manner consistent with the inherently flawed nature of human beings. That's basically the finding of a "60 Minutes"/Vanity Fair poll that finds that a majority of Americans think their past would "preclude them from running for public office." "Asked to consider decisions made in the past that could come out in an election, 62 percent of Americans don't think they could run for office, with women (66 percent) more inclined to say they could not run than men (58 percent)." [Atlantic]

GENERAL ELECTION DEBATE DATES SET - We now know precisely when we will be Monday morning quarterbacking the ups and downs of President Obama's debates with Mark Block. Via National Journal, they are as follows: "Oct. 3: University of Denver, Denver, Colo. - Oct. 11 (vice presidential debate): Centre College, Danville, Ky. - Oct. 16: Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y. - Oct. 22: Lynn University, Boca Raton, Fla." [National Journal]

BECAUSE YOU'VE READ THIS FAR - Baby has strong reactions to a movie.

JEREMY'S WEATHER REPORT - So, we all survived the weekend storm, right? Good. As expected, it dropped mostly rain, and left us intact. We'll get some lingering rain Tonight. Meanwhile, tomorrow, we'll warm up a bit, hitting 60, with clear skies. Thanks, JB!

COMFORT FOOD

- If you're reading this today (Monday), check out Google's Halloween doodle video. [http://huff.to/qFfVAa]

- Apple's gift catalog from 1993 is a far cry from the minimalist designs of today. However in two years, all this multi-color Apple swag will be the template for the latest hipster fashion. [http://huff.to/vU4TdY]

- A man reviews a 2000 Toyota Corolla "It won't turn heads, but it'll turn right... and left." [http://huff.to/vew1FA]

- Jaws cat is ferocious ... for a cat that is sitting on someone's bed. [http://huff.to/rvuG2E]

- Tim Tebow got Tebow'd during yesterday's game against the Lions. [http://bit.ly/uCi04U]

- We've completely ignored the Nyan Cat phenomenon, but here are cats dressed up as the feline meme du jour. [http://huff.to/vYQSmQ]

- How much does the Internet weigh? About the weight of a strawberry. It has something to do with electrons. [http://huff.to/sS5mUQ]

- Kitten is tired of eating Pringles. [http://bit.ly/rWyNTE]

TWITTERAMA

@AlexPappasDC Mark Block told me a guy asked him to autograph his cigarette recently

@FakeJimVandehei: I know it's Halloween, but it feels like Christmas! The POLITICO self-reference meter is off the charts!

@ElBloombito: Feliz Halloweenvidad! Tricko oro Treato! Por favor not to TP mi casa.

@ByronTau: Elitist. MT @DStraussTheHill: Sen. Reid using New Yorker cover in speech yfrog.com/hspc9pp

ON TAP

TOMORROW

8:30 am: Pat Leahy and Jon Tester are the men of the hour at a DSCC function. After you drop thousands of bucks on the event, $16 muffins will seem like a steal. [Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave NW]

5:00 pm - 6:30 pm: Bobby Scott welcomes his contributors to a campaign event. You can get in the door for a measly $100. What a cheap date. [Erickson & Co. Townhouse, 38 Ivy Street SE]

5:30 pm: So the invite for Richard Lugar's fundraising reception featuring Saxby Chambliss says it's slated to begin at 5:30 am. As old as Lugar may be, we really don't think it's scheduled for 5:30 in the morning. If it is, the Law of Early Morning Meetings applies and it must begin with him saying "Thank you for joining me here." [Brookfield Office Properties, 650 Massachusetts Ave NE]

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