Subject: POLITICO'S Morning Score
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:19:37 -0400

POLITICO's Morning Score, June 15, 2010 9:19 am<br>
----------------------------------------------<br>Rogers says just nine GOP members need help - NPR poll: GOP leads generic by 8 - McMaster to endorse Haley - Obama to campaign for Reid - NRA backs Strickland - Palin eyes Thatcher meetingBy: Alexander Burns
<br>Tue 15, 2010 06:05 AM EST<br><br><br>

<p>SCORE EXCLUSIVE -- THE NINE: Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers, the NRCC's incumbent retention chair, urged PAC leaders at a briefing Monday to focus on helping just NINE Republican members of Congress shore up their bids for re-election, telling attendees that the committee's 'Patriot Program' had already shielded a substantial group of members from facing any serious challenge in 2010. 'A year and a half ago, I was giving you the names of 30 members and you know what? It worked,' Rogers said, according to a source familiar with his remarks. 'We feel strongly at this point that only nine incumbents need your help to withstand the attacks by the DCCC and their allies.' Rogers mocked the Democrats' newly updated target list -- the 'Red to Blue' program -- and noted that ten of the targeted districts are already held by Democrats. 'Wouldn't that be 'Blue to Blue'?' Rogers joked, according to the source. 'We've all been having a good laugh about that.' <br />
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The nine members Rogers urged participants to help: California Reps. Dan Lungren and Mary Bono Mack, Hawaii Rep. Charles Djou, Louisiana Rep. Joseph Cao, Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry, Ohio Rep. Pat Tiberi, Pennsylvania Reps. Jim Gerlach and Charlie Dent and Washington Rep. Dave Reichert. Rogers emphasized that the NRCC -- which has trailed its Democratic counterpart in cash on hand -- wants those candidates to run strong and financially independent campaigns: 'Our goal is not just to get every one of them to win... but to get everyone one of them to win with no help from the NRCC.' <br />
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As Vic Rawl protests, Charles Barron goes indy and Nikki Haley takes it one thing at a time, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily cheat sheet for the 2010 midterm elections. <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://n.pr/duVxdA ">STATE OF PLAY</a> -- BOLGER AND GREENBERG REPORT: An NPR-commissioned survey of battleground districts shows Republicans with an eight-point lead over Democrats across 70 of the most competitive House races in the country. The poll, testing 60 districts held by Democrats and 10 held by Republicans, shows 49 percent of voters breaking for a generic GOP candidate and 41 percent breaking for a generic Democrat. Among voters represented by a Democratic member of Congress, just 34 percent say they're inclined to vote for an incumbent, compared with 46 percent who say they would likely vote for someone else. Those are MUCH uglier numbers than in districts represented by Republicans, where 49 percent of voters say they'd likely vote to reelect their member of Congress and 37 percent say they'd opt for someone else. Republican Glen Bolger and Democrat Stan Greenberg were responsible for the poll, which was conducted June 7-10. <br />
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RUNOFF WATCH -- <a target="_blank" href="http://politi.co/dBkKg0 ">AROUND THE FLAG</a>: South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, the third-place finisher in last week's Republican gubernatorial primary, will endorse state Rep. Nikki Haley's campaign in Columbia, POLITICO's Kasie Hunt reports. Rep. Gresham Barrett, who finished second to Haley on June 8 and is now competing against her in a runoff, was also courting McMaster's endorsement and picked up support from the fourth-place finisher, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer. <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/97olTi ">FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION</a>: Former Nevada Assemblywoman Sharron Angle will attend a private luncheon of Senate Republicans Tuesday, where Nevada Sen. John Ensign will introduce her as the GOP's nominee challenging Majority Leader Harry Reid this fall. From the Las Vegas Review-Journal: 'The fellow Nevada Republican knows her best but his profile during the campaign has been lower than low due to the taint from his extramarital affair and his status as the target of dual ethics and criminal investigations into its aftermath. ... Angle will meet with Sen. John Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and NRSC staff, to discuss her bid to unseat Sen. Harry Reid.' <br />
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AND -- <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bWYlFK ">OBAMA FOR REID</a>: The president plans to visit Nevada early next month to boost Reid's reelection campaign, the Review-Journal's Laura Myers reports. Obama last campaigned for the senator in late February. <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bGWCIp ">ALMOST THE SAME THING</a>: Vice President Biden is headed to Illinois next week to headline an event for Democratic state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias's Senate campaign, giving Giannoulias his highest-profile assist from the administration, to date. Biden joins a long list of current and former administration officials -- including Education Secretary Arne Duncan, deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, ex-social secretary Desiree Rogers and former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe -- who have stepped up to help Giannoulias's campaign. Not on that list yet: President Obama.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/aqBEZz ">LOCKED AND LOADED</a>: The National Rifle Association endorsed Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland Monday, giving its first general-election endorsement to the Democrat as he faces a strong challenger in former GOP Rep. John Kasich. The group endorsed Strickland in the 2006 Democratic primary but not the general election, and he accepted its endorsement at a sporting goods store Monday afternoon, saying: 'Ohioans deserve a governor who will not waver on the rights of gun owners.' The Cleveland Plain Dealer notes that Strickland voted to Kasich's right on guns while they were both in Congress, opposing the 1994 Clinton crime bill that Kasich supported. <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bV8nGZ ">ON DEFENSE, OFF MESSAGE</a> -- AGAIN: Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul is accusing critics of mounting a 'personal assault on my ability to make a living' after reports surfaced that as an ophthalmologist, Paul is not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. The Republican candidate said he formed a competing group to give certification because he objected to the mainstream organization's decision to exempt older doctors from having to seek recertification. AP: 'By focusing on an internal struggle within his profession, he said, 'you vilify me and make it out to sound, 'Oh, ... there's something wrong with him as a physician because he chose not to register' with the American Board of Ophthalmology.'' <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/dzknY7 ">PROTEST VOTE</a>: New York City Councilman Charles Barron plans to run for governor on a third-party ballot line to protest the lack of diversity on the Democratic Party's ticket. Barron, who is black, slammed state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo as a 'wasted vote' and called Cuomo's choice of lieutenant governor, Rochester Mayor Robert Duffy, an 'anti-union candidate.' 'We are sick of Democrats taking us for granted -- an all-white slate is outrageous,' he said. Barron will have to gather 50,000 signatures to create a ballot line for the group he's calling the New York Freedom Democratic Party.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://politi.co/cwh339 ">RUNNING OUT OF TIME</a>: House Republican leaders are holding a fundraiser in Washington this Thursday for North Carolina congressional candidate Harold Johnson, who's competing in a runoff primary with Tim D'Annunzio, a self-funding candidate who's drawn strong opposition from state and national Republicans due to past run-ins with the law and charges of drug use. POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt reports that House Minority Leader John Boehner, Minority Whip Eric Cantor, NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions and Vice Chairman Greg Walden are all on the event invitation. The runoff vote is next Tuesday. <br />
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THE BIG MAP -- with POLITICO's Tim Alberta: <br />
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SENATE: <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/duBQus ">ARKANSAS</a>: Political columnist John Brummett confronted Sen. Blanche Lincoln over conflicting claims she's made over her role in shaping health care legislation, saying in a primary ad that she'd cast the deciding vote for reform and then saying the day after the election that a larger group of legislators had been responsible for passing the bill. Apparently it's a question of emphasis: 'She stammered a bit and I decided to cut to the chase with a suggested answer: 'So they were both true?' She said yes, both true.' <br />
<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/9PHSqR ">COLORADO</a>: Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter told the radio station KOA Monday that he had conferred with the White House about possible positions that former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff might consider as alternatives to challenging appointed Sen. Michael Bennet in a primary. Ritter, who named Bennet to his seat, said he tried to talk Romanoff out of a challenge but never offered him a job.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/aKLuqZ ">NEW HAMPSHIRE</a>: Former New Hampshire Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte testified before a legislative panel Monday that her office wasn't at fault in the FRM Ponzi scheme case, explaining that the Legislature took regulatory responsibility away from her office and gave it to the state Banking Department. 'As a leader, the buck stops at my desk,' she said, but not if 'the buck hasn't reached my desk, and that didn't happen here.' <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bN9lG3 ">SOUTH CAROLINA</a>: Charleston City Councilman and Democratic Senate candidate Vic Rawl is filing a formal protest over the primary election last Tuesday that gave unemployed veteran Alvin Greene the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. Jim DeMint. Rawl said there is a 'cloud' over that election, alleging 'strange circumstances' and 'irregularities' in Greene's 59 percent to 41 percent victory. The state Democratic Party's 92-member executive committee is meeting Thursday to review Rawl's challenge. <br />
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HOUSE: <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bdLJLT ">GA-04</a>: Former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin is sticking with Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson as he attempts to fight off two primary challengers, DeKalb County Commissioner Connie Stokes and former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones. Johnson, who's in his second term, picked up Franklin's endorsement at a 'Women for Hank' rally.' <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/b0elYb ">NC-02</a>: Democratic Rep. Bob Etheridge apologized Monday after a video released online showed him responding to a young man questioning him on the sidewalk -- about his support for the 'Obama agenda' -- by grabbing the man's wrist and neck and demanding to know his identity. Etheridge called his actions 'unacceptable' and said he 'profoundly' regrets the confrontation. <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/deViIt ">NJ-06</a>: Publisher Diane Gooch is requesting a recount in the Republican primary for Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone's seat, after she finished just 83 votes behind Highlands Mayor Anna Little. Gooch put her own financial resources into the race, but Little appears to have done a better job cultivating local activists and tea party groups. <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/dgS6JX ">NM-03</a>: Tom Mullins, the Republican nominee against Democratic Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, walked back comments he made during the GOP primary suggesting that land mines could be placed along the U.S.-Mexico border to deter illegal immigration. Lujan said he didn't support the idea, but had heard it offered while campaigning and: 'When I heard it, I said, 'Well, that's an interesting concept.'' <br />
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GOVERNORS: <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bKogL4 ">GEORGIA</a>: State Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine is under fire for blocking the sale of a troubled back to an insurance company which is under investigation for directing $120,000 to his campaign for governor. Delos Yancey III, CEO of State Mutual Insurance Co., called Oxendine's decision a campaign ploy, and blamed a 'negative political and cynical atmosphere.' <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/91AFGF ">IOWA:</a> Iowa Family PAC, the political arm of the conservative Iowa Family Policy Center, plans to sit out the general election for governor after its chosen candidate, Bob Vander Plaats, lost in the Republican primary to former Gov. Terry Branstad. Danny Carroll, who chairs the group, explained: 'If a candidate or their political party would like our support, they will need to offer a plan for promoting public policy that honors both God and the constitution.' <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/9xWlR9 ">MINNESOTA</a>: Former Sen. Mark Dayton, who's challenging DFL-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Margaret Anderson Kelliher in their party's primary for governor, is putting part of his substantial fortune on the line to run his first television ads. The 60-second spots show Dayton driving around the state, the narrator says, 'talking with seniors, workers, farmers ... taking his campaign to the people, where wisdom in Minnesota is found.' Former state Rep. Matt Entenza is also running in the primary. <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bRyQjn ">NEW MEXICO</a>: Dona Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez released a Spanish-language television ad Monday, a 30-second spot titled 'Cada ni&ntilde;o' -- 'Every child.' Martinez says in the commercial that she keeps in her office a photo of a six-year-old girl who was murdered, as a reminder of her charge to 'para que Nuevo M&eacute;xico sea un mejor estado para cada ni&ntilde;o' -- or 'make New Mexico a better state for every child.' <br />
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2012: <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/c7xr97 ">IRON LADY</a>: Sarah Palin announced Monday that she's been invited to London and may meet with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher there. 'I have received an invitation for a visit to London, and part of that invitation included the offer of arranging a meeting between myself and one of my political heroines, the 'Iron Lady,' Margaret Thatcher,' Palin wrote on her Facebook page. 'I would love to meet her and hope I'll be able to arrange the trip in the future.' <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bSye1s">STATE BY STATE</a>: Mitt Romney continues his steady campaign schedule next week with a visit to North Dakota for a state party fundraiser. Couples are being asked to give $1,000 in order to attend and North Dakota's candidates for federal and statewide office have been invited.  <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://politi.co/bnzBec ">NO QUARTER</a>: Mike Huckabee renewed his criticism of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels's statement that the country may need a 'truce' on social issues in order to address its fiscal problems. Calling Daniels a 'friend,' Huckabee wrote that 'his comments mirror those of the GOP establishment who view values voters dismissively as 'single-minded,'' and noted: '[M]any fiscal conservatives and libertarians range from disinterest to contempt for social issues.' <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://politi.co/aWRV9S ">ONE THING AT A TIME</a>: Nikki Haley may be one of the national GOP's newest stars, but if she's elected governor she won't run for anything else in the 2012 cycle. 'We'll serve our full term,' she told POLITICO's Kasie Hunt. 'I'm not a normal elected official that this is like, the next stepping stone.'</p><br>

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