In this Oct. 18, 2011, file photo, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Pool photo by Kevin Lamarque via AP)

Secretaries of State often deal with seemingly intractable problems, so it was probably much to Hillary Clinton’s relief in 2012 when she came across one with a relatively easy fix: how to create a smiley face emoji on her new BlackBerry.

On Friday, the State Department released the latest batch of Clinton’s emails, and one gem drew some notice on social media. In an April 3, 2012, email to aide Philippe Reines, Clinton asks: “Here’s my question: on this new berry can I get smiley faces?”

Reines writes back 11 minutes later, explaining the process to Clinton:

Screengrab of an email in which Hillary Clinton sought help on a smiley face emoji. (State Department)

We can only hope somewhere in the Clinton email annals is an emoji-filled review of the latest on Gefilte fish.

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee (Andrew Burton, Getty Images)

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus announced Friday that he had informed NBC News that the party was suspending its partnership with the network for a scheduled debate in February.

In a letter to NBC News chairman Andrew Lack, Priebus said the RNC’s job was “to ensure that our candidates are given a full and fair opportunity to lay out their vision for America’s future” and said CNBC had handled Wednesday’s debate “in bad faith.”

Priebus said the moderators had “engaged in a series of ‘gotcha’ questions, petty and mean-spirited in tone, and designed to embarrass our candidates.”

While acknowledging NBC didn’t “exercise full editorial control” over CNBC, the committee needed “to ensure there is not a repeat performance,” Priebus wrote.

NBC News and Telemundo are scheduled to host a GOP debate in Houston on Feb. 26, 2016.

Priebus added in his letter that the party still plans to hold a debate that day “and will ensure that National Review remains part of it,” referring to the conservative magazine that was also hosting the Feb. 26 forum.

NBC News issued a statement following Priebus’ announcement, calling it “a disappointing development.”

“However, along with our debate broadcast partners at Telemundo we will work in good faith to resolve this matter with the Republican Party,” the network said.

Advisers for a number of campaigns are gathering in Washington on Sunday for a private meeting to discuss the debate process and how to move forward with their concerns — a meeting that will not include representatives from the RNC, according to news reports.

CNBC moderators John Harwood, Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick drew sharp criticism during and after Wednesday’s debate in Boulder, Colo., for many of their questions, such as when Harwood asked Donald Trump if his campaign was a “comic book version” of a presidential bid.

Network spokesman Brian Steel defended the moderators’ questions after the debate and reiterated that Friday in response to Priebus’ letter.

“People who want to be the leader of the free world should be able to answer substantive, challenging questions,” Steel said.

The”Growth and Opportunity Party” is the last big field-wide Republican cattle call before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. (Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

During the Iowa State Fair, the Varied Industries Building is an indoor mall jam-packed with booths displaying hot tubs, adjustable beds, kitchen cutlery, life-size handcrafted palm trees and gutter protection systems.

The exhibitors Saturday will be Republican White House hopefuls, selling themselves.

The last big field-wide Republican cattle call before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses will be a fall festival of politics, with a Soapbox-like stage ringed by candidate booths featuring kids’ games, free cotton candy and TVs for football watching.

Three days after the third Republican debate and 93 days before Iowa leads the nation in kicking off presidential voting, the Republican Party of Iowa’s “Growth and Opportunity Party” event will give caucusgoers the chance to hear 10 candidates speak and to stop by their booths for a personal conversation.

Organizers say they went out on a bit of a limb to make it interesting. “It’s not your typical ‘come in, sit down and listen to speeches for five hours,'” said Charlie Szold, spokesman for the Iowa GOP.

Marco Rubio speaks during the CNBC Republican debate, on Oct. 28, 2015, in Boulder, Colo. (Robyn Beck, Getty Images)

1. 10 CANDIDATES

Who’s coming to try to have “a moment” and who’s coming just to check a box?

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie arrive riding a wave of praise for their strong showing in Thursday night’s debate.

Party organizers intend to run a taut schedule and have allotted 15 minutes of speaking time to each candidate. The group also includes former Florida governor Jeb Bush, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum.

The top two poll leaders in Iowa, Ben Carson and Donald Trump, both of whom were seen as being somewhat overshadowed in the debate, won’t be here to restake their ground.

Carson didn’t respond to the Iowa GOP’s invitation, nor did former New York governor George Pataki. Trump, who did two big rallies of his own in Iowa in the last 10 days, declined, as did Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore, who has come to Iowa for only one event this election cycle, wasn’t invited.

2. FAN FORCES

Which candidate will have the biggest crowd presence?

Look for comparisons to the big Jefferson Jackson dinner one weekend earlier, where the Democratic presidential candidates exhibited beefy organizing strength by busing in thousands of revved-up, sign-waving fans and equipping them with glow sticks, T-shirts and a sense of unified purpose.

“Organization is an important part of defeating the Democrats in 2016, and these next 90 days will show which Republican has already built a solid foundation,” Szold said.

Rick Santorum’s “picture yourself in the White House” theme will feature a photo booth at Saturday’s event. (Jeremy Papasso, Daily Camera via AP)

3. BOOTH WARS

Which campaign will have the most popular booth?

Some campaigns are going all out to design booths to attract and entertain Iowans. Others mock the idea of wasting time building the Taj Mahal of booths when their priority is cranking out calls to caucusgoers.

The teams wanted to save some surprises for Saturday, but a few offered a tease:

Rubio will have a tailgate-themed space where sports fans can gather around a DirecTV feed and, if they like, drink beer. The Hawkeyes and Cyclones football games and Game 4 of the World Series don’t start until after the GOP event ends, but the University of Northern Iowa Panthers play at 1 p.m.

Bush, honoring the Iowa GOP’s request to make this a family-friendly event, is doing a fall carnival theme with cotton candy, popcorn, cider and games for the kids. His wife, Columba, and their daughter, Noelle, will be there with him.

Christie will have some carnival- and tailgate-themed games where Iowans can compete to win prizes.

Santorum’s “picture yourself in the White House” theme will feature a photo booth.

Graham will have children’s activities, as well as cookies, pumpkin bars, candy and hot chocolate.

The Paul campaign, known for doing its own thing, is more focused on its big costume party Friday night at Buzzard Billy’s, where guests are coming dressed as their favorite “political character from history or today,” as well as strategizing how to try to filibuster the deal to fund the federal government, aides said.

Organizers say some kids might come dressed in costumes and go trick-or-treating at the booths.

4. GUNS AND DISEASE, ETC.

Special-interest groups will be pushing messages to Iowa Republicans.

One booth will have a farmers market where eventgoers can take a bag and collect apples, eggplants, squash, peppers and pumpkins free of charge. The message from the Iowa Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease is that chronic disease is “the No. 1 cause of death, disability and rising health care costs.” Guest speaker will be former Oklahoma congressman J.C. Watts, who endorsed Paul for president in April.

The National Rifle Association will have a sweepstakes for a Browning BPS 12-gauge shotgun, and will recruit volunteers to help campaign for local and national pro-Second Amendment candidates, an NRA spokeswoman said.

Renewable fuels advocates will make sure Iowans “are aware of the scary answer we heard at the GOP debate last night,” said Majda Sarkic, spokeswoman for America’s Renewable Future.

That’s a reference to Carson, who raised a big red flag for Iowa agribusiness Wednesday night.

A moderator reminded Carson that he’d told The Des Moines Register that he doesn’t like government subsidies because they interfere with the free market, then asked whether that’s a contradiction because Carson had also said in Iowa in May that he “would probably be in favor of taking that $4 billion a year we spend on oil subsidies and using that in new fueling stations” for 30% ethanol blends.

Carson answered during the debate: “I was wrong about taking the oil subsidy. I have studied that issue in great detail and what I have concluded is that the best policy is to get rid of all government subsidies and get the government out of our lives and let people rise and fall on how good they are.”

Sarkic said in a statement: “Carson clearly does not recognize that ethanol does not receive government subsidies, while the oil industry does and has for the past 102 years. … Iowans want a candidate who will take the time to learn about the issue, not just repeat the oil industry’s talking points.”

5. BEER AND WINE

A cash bar will give comfort if anyone feels the need to have a drink while they’re watching a candidate with whom they disagree. Or, for those heading to the tailgate-themed booths, beer will offer an authentic feel.

6. HAUNTED HOUSE

A creepy back room with fog and strobe lights will be filled with information on the Democrats and “all their scary ideas,” Szold said.

The Iowa Democratic Party, meanwhile, has spent the week highlighting GOP policies they say “spook the heck out of Iowa families,” such as refusal to pass legislation requiring paid family leave and a desire to tamper with Social Security and Medicare.

“If the 2016 GOP field’s tax plans were the rules for Halloween night, the wealthy few would get a majority of the treats, while the rest of us would be left feeling tricked,” said Sam Lau, spokesman for the Iowa Democrats.

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush (Charles Krupa, AP)

Message from Jeb Bush: His presidential campaign is still alive.

“It’s not on life support,” Bush told reporters Thursday, the day after his widely panned debate performance raised questions about the state of his campaign.

“We have the most money,” he said. “We have the greatest organization. We’re doing fine.”

The debate, coming in the wake of campaign cutbacks and other stumbles, led to pundit speculation that Bush may not be able to survive the race much longer — speculation the former Florida governor quickly shot down.

“There are eight more debates,”  Bush told reporters. “There’s ample time to do what candidates do.”

He added: “The end is not near — memo to file. Life is good.”

Martin O’Malley speaks in Boulder, Colo., on Oct. 28, 2015. (Andrew Burton, Getty Images)

The United States “has no business” being on the list of countries that executes its citizens, even those convicted of brutal crimes, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley said Thursday.

The Democratic presidential hopeful’s remarks came the day after front-runner Hillary Clinton said she’s against abolishing the death penalty because there are “certain egregious cases” where it could still be merited, according to The New York Times. She went on to say she’d “like to see those be very limited and rare, as opposed to what we have seen in some states where there are hundreds of people on death row and they would not be on death row in a comparable state.”

O’Malley countered that capital punishment is “inconsistent with our principles as a nation.”

“It’s very hard to have any sympathy for mass murderers, for people like the Boston bomber or any of these individuals,” he said in a short interview after meeting with The Des Moines Register‘s editorial board. “But the principle is this: Capital punishment is not a deterrent.”

O’Malley has been a critic of capital punishment on the campaign trail leading up the Iowa caucus, and he abolished the death penalty in Maryland during his time as governor. He also commuted the death sentences of the four inmates on the state’s death row at the time.

“Our children don’t deserve to be complicitous in the taking of lives, even lives that have done really, really horrible things,” he added.

Clinton at a New Hampshire breakfast Wednesday said that the death penalty is “flawed” and “too often applied in a discriminatory way.”

“I think we have to take a hard look at it,” she said.

O’Malley has recently ratcheted up his direct attacks on the former secretary of State. The former governor on Monday accused Clinton of changing “her position on virtually every defining issue in this race” on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

O’Malley on Thursday compared Clinton’s stance on the death penalty to her position on other issues, including gay marriage. In 2006, Clinton supported letting individual states make decisions on gay marriage before announcing her own support in 2013, according to PolitiFact.

“Secretary Clinton seems to have a default position to state’s rights on many things,” he said. “She was very much one who said marriage equality was a state’s rights thing, and now she’s saying (the death penalty) is a state’s rights thing. She has said immigration issues like driver’s licenses for new American immigrants was a state’s rights issue. I think the way that we forge consensus and the way we get things done and the way we solve problems is being very clear about our principles, and I think that leaders who are effective don’t wait for the polls to tell you that it’s safe.”

Rodgers reports for The Des Moines Register.

That’s Mitch McConnell’s happy face. (Win McNamee, Getty Images)

As one security guard used to wish us at the end of every week, fabulous Friday, For the Record peeps! While you were sleeping, the Senate passed that two-year budget deal everyone’s been talking about (really!). That puts the debt limit craziness into the hands of the next Congress and the next president, whoever that may be. So many days until then, so many promises to keep, so many miles to go before we sleep.

Let’s get down to the headlines.

Paul Ryan, Speaker of the House*

We only now just realized that the Tear-o-meter doesn’t really apply to Paul Ryan. (Andrew Harnik, AP)

*To the tune of Les Miserables’ “Master of the House”

Speaker of the House
Keeper of the zoo
Ready to relieve ’em
Of a bill or two
Stacking up the votes
Making up the gains
Giving lots of speeches
When they’re being such pains
Everybody loves a leader
Every congressman’s good friend
He really hopes he pleases
Jesus! Hope that Freedom Caucus bends

Paul Ryan officially became @SpeakerRyan on Thursday. He may have gotten here reluctantly, but hey, now that he’s arrived, he’s going to make the most of it. “The American people make this country work, and the House should work for them,” he said after his election. Does he have what it takes to make the 114th Congress more productive than the 112th and 113th sessions? If a government shutdown doesn’t happen under his watch in December, he’ll already be way ahead of the game. USA TODAY’s Erin Kelly has more.

Related: On the outgoing Speaker John Boehner Tear-o-meter, we peg the “long, slow struggle” for a smaller, more effective government at an 8.5. After all, Congress is no Pope Francis.

Speaking of Congress, Marco ain’t going anywhere just yet

That’s SENATOR Marco Rubio to you. (Darren McCollester, Getty Images)

Marco Rubio’s absenteeism from the Senate floor isn’t being looked upon too kindly (see: his public break-up with Jeb(!) Bush the other night). And he keeps complaining about his job. So why not just leave and focus on his presidential run full-time? His campaign has no direct response. But we think it’s pretty clear: Quitters can’t be winners. That’s probably on a bumper sticker somewhere. USA TODAY’s Ledyard King explains what’s happening.

2012 is so last season

Sweater vest not pictured. (Charlie Neibergall, AP)

Somehow, it has already been nearly four years since the political fashionistas swooned over Rick Santorum and his sweater vests. That first one he wore in December 2011 worked campaign magic (as did the speech he made while he was wearing it); he won the Iowa caucuses weeks later. So, given that he’s polling at about 2 percent, will Santorum break out his signature clothing item now that autumn is here? Yes… but not to the degree he did last time: “I think we might just break it out only for special occasions.” His daughters are apparently What Not to Wear-ing him and giving him a “new style.” We look forward to the reality TV show. The Des Moines Register’s William Petroski has the lowdown.

More from the campaign trail

• Jeb(!) swears he is not becoming Jeb(!?) (USA TODAY)
• We’ve swum in the Chesapeake Bay, and we agree with O’Malley: ‘Scars’ is the right word (Des Moines Register)
• CNBC may have been the debate’s loser… (USA TODAY)
• But at least it won in the ratings? (USA TODAY)
• So maybe firing back isn’t going to work for Kasich after all (Cincinnati Enquirer)

Thank you for making it this far. A GIF(t) for you.

We’ll see you on the Twitterz (@jmestepa, @RGJBrettMcG, @joannaallhands) and in your inbox.