Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: House primary candidates latch onto Trump — GOP turning Murphy's super PAC into a liability — NRCC robocalling eight swing districts
From: Morning Score <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 16 May 2016 08:01:54 -0600

By Theodoric Meyer | 05/16/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard and Elena Schneider

The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro's Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races - and for a more comprehensive aggregation of the day's most important campaign news - sign up for Campaign Pro today. (http://www.politicopro.com/proinfo)

THE TRUMP BOUNCE? - "Primary candidates try to feed off Trump's victory," by Campaign's Pro's Theodoric Meyer: "In the two weeks since Donald Trump became the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, House Republicans across the country have hedged on supporting him. But Mike Pape, a congressional candidate seeking an open seat in Kentucky, is among a number of primary candidates taking the opposite tack. ... Pape and a handful of other Republicans battling in upcoming competitive primaries have enthusiastically backed Trump since he effectively clinched the GOP nomination, hoping the populist tide that lifted the businessman above more established rivals will fuel their own campaigns as
 well." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b855168e0d8e1639740a545ac118a7f9f0402bb8ad8914a624b7

DONATION DOWNSIDES - "Super PAC funding becomes liability for Murphy in Florida," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Super PACs backing Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy have turned into a primary source of Republican attacks against the Florida Senate hopeful, illustrating the downsides that come with the single-candidate outside groups growing in popularity across the congressional landscape. Murphy's opponents have latched onto the super PACs' donors, and sometimes their connections to Murphy's House votes ... The most recent example came last week, when Murphy's campaign returned cash from Ibrahim Al-Rashid, a major Democratic donor who was convicted of domestic assault." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b8556520ea536e2892100792166cfb2d3a5958e6c2a673403981

FIRST IN SCORE - NRCC robocalling voters in eight swing districts: The National Republican Congressional Committee is attempting to flip the script on the presidential race in a series of robocalls this week, using the ongoing Hillary Clinton-Bernie Sanders battle to drive a wedge between Democrats. "'The primary race between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton is heading to a contested convention, where it will be decided by Democratic Party insiders who are not bound to honor the choice of voters like you in Colorado," the voice says in the call in Colorado's 6th District, where Democrat Morgan Carroll is trying to oust GOP Rep. Mike Coffman. "Colorado voters deserve to know where party
 insiders like Morgan Carroll stand. But Morgan Carroll has refused to tell us whether she supports Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton."

- The caller then urges listeners to call Morgan Carroll and ask who she's backing. The robocalls will also go out to voters in seven other swing seats: Arizona's 1st District, Michigan's 1st and 7th Districts, Nevada's 3rd District, New York's 21st and 22nd Districts and Wisconsin's 8th District. Listen to the Colorado robocall: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b85530d00beb7f1edf6d4893df2ead8a62af365c19a586721006

Days until the Oregon, Kentucky and Idaho primaries: 1. Days until the 2016 election: 176.

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], and [email-masked].

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about capeless heroes: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

FIRST IN SCORE - Hard-hitting new Senate ad - 'Tammy Duckworth sacrificed. Mark Kirk told lies': Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth goes directly for the gut with her first TV ad of the Illinois Senate general election campaign. The 30-second spot opens with 15 seconds of background on how Duckworth lost her legs, and her military service and advocacy for veterans. It then cuts to a grainy image of her opponent, GOP Sen. Mark Kirk: "Now Mark Kirk, who lied repeatedly about serving in combat, is attacking Tammy with desperate and false ads," the male narrator says, adding: "Tammy Duckworth sacrificed. Mark Kirk told lies." The ad is a response to Kirk ads attacking Duckworth over a workplace
 retaliation lawsuit stemming from her time as the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b8559bfcbd7872a28e7d1410e7511bddb54156a4bfda506a56ac

HE'S BACK - "The return of John Boehner," by POLITICO's Jake Sherman: "The former House speaker will spend late July and all of August on a cross-country bus trip raising money and campaigning for House Republicans, according to multiple sources familiar with his plans. The trip - on Boehner's bus, dubbed 'Freedom One' - will begin after the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and end Labor Day weekend." He has a dozen events lined up already, and he's setting up more, for incumbents and GOP hopefuls alike. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b8552d126a91230567417f1dabaf0c82a387325ccf3eabf59397

'ONE SWIFT STROKE' - "State GOP leaders crush 'Never Trump' rebellions," by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney: "Republican activists chose party unity over 'never Trump' resistance Saturday, with party leaders in one state after another pressuring their members fall in line behind the presumptive nominee - and even punishing those who refused. ... In Nebraska, this meant overwhelming passage of a resolution that indirectly scolded conservative Sen. Ben Sasse for leading the #NeverTrump movement ... In Maryland, it meant the ouster of a veteran Republican committeeman - Louis Pope - by Citizens United chief David Bossie, a conservative activist who's close to Trump ... In Arkansas, it meant packing the
 state's national delegation with Trump allies and granting them influential leadership positions to shape Republican Party rules and policy doctrines at the convention." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b85565d3b3c07d3f8cefcb638e7b0b1547b465173e93de576f74

AIR FRESHENERS - California Senate candidates launch TV campaign: Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez released English and Spanish TV and digital ads Friday, highlighting her resume in the House and her national security credentials as she runs in the California Senate primary. The ads will "run in key markets and online statewide through the primary," according to a campaign statement. She also released three Spanish-language ads. One tackles immigration policy, another gives her biographical story, and a third described her national security experience. State Attorney General Kamala Harris also launched a series of TV ads Friday, featuring Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Dolores Huerta.

- Super PAC backing Holding in NC-02 preparing TV ads: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b855ab1af1692c20526139ac43bfe29075cbbcda08a0c493d064

- House candidates around the country are hitting the air: Democratic Rep. Janice Hahn is endorsing state Sen. Isadore Hall to fill her seat in California's 44th District in a new TV ad. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b855ae9acb0dae79b8b01b6c8e4b0530bdf2c44420da00a0f3fa Susie Lee is going up with her first TV ad in Nevada's 4th District, where she's fighting two other Democrats for the right to face GOP Rep. Cresent Hardy. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b855438ab813c05cf384feff17119ba7cba92ee89f0668a724d8

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Trump backers face 'scam PAC' charges," by POLITICO's Isaac Arnsdorf and Kenneth P. Vogel: "As Donald Trump rushes to start collecting the $1 billion expected to be necessary to compete for the White House, one of his biggest challenges may come from those claiming to support him. An increasing number of unauthorized groups are invoking the presumptive GOP nominee's name to raise money, suggesting that they'll use the cash to support his campaign, even as some appear to be spending most of their money on contracts with favored consultants. Trump's campaign and its allies worry that the groups are doing little to help the campaign, and may be doing more harm than
 good by siphoning off cash that would otherwise go to the campaign's fledgling fundraising effort." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b8550cbe3179f2b0708d3f9a1e8fc3b1646231d1d77e4c89ced8

- Trump: Bad for the Jewish Republicans?" by POLITICO's Katie Glueck: Republicans had thought that after eight years of rancor between the Obama administration and the Israeli government, 2016 would be the year American Jews began to abandon the Democratic Party. But the conservatives who worked for years to win over Jewish voters now say Donald Trump is driving them away. 'Without question, I think there were probably more Jews willing to jump over to the Republican aisle, precisely because of the Iran deal and the Republican Party's staunch opposition to it,' said Noam Neusner, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, who also served as a Bush White House Jewish liaison and worked for
 Jeb Bush. 'But I don't think the opportunity exists anymore, largely because Trump is just anathema to many Jews, including Jewish conservatives.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b855d42f62cefb719fa3fe699dbe30908dc7e58dd30131cd302a

- "Centrist Democrats: We can work with President Trump," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim: Several Democratic senators from Republican-leaning states who are up for reelection in 2018 say they're willing to work with Donald Trump if he becomes president. But Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid can't stomach the thought. 'I can't even discuss such a disgusting idea, OK? No. You're saying if he's elected president? Oh, I'm not going to talk about that. I can't imagine something so horrible,' Reid said in an interview." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b85566eaffb396a74da0b22383991a08a3a7bed35454925cc083

- "Even supporters agree: Clinton has weaknesses as a candidate. What can she do?" by The Washington Post's Anne Gearan and Dan Balz: "When Democrats assess Clinton, they tend to zero in on her communication skills: She is scripted and thin-skinned, they say. And with a sigh, they acknowledge the persistent feeling among a lot of Americans that they just don't like her. Polls long have shown that many voters do not trust Clinton and that a majority view her unfavorably. [Democratic pollster Peter] Hart said being seen as likable is 'about the lowest bar' for a candidate, and yet Clinton has lower likability numbers today than she did when the campaign began. It is cold comfort that Trump's
 are worse, several Democrats said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b8550ab21e7daedf899bc5b5b6c887d929744b07506a5155c10e

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I will be blunt. I want Alan Grayson to lose." - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, in a fundraising email for Rep. Patrick Murphy's Senate campaign on Sunday. Reid is doubling down on his remarks last week, when he told Grayson to his face that he wanted him to lose the Democratic primary. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ca5eb78a8db1b8558218736b2d34ac42e28f55c3d3f58e563017c0f3fe2c2ff4

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