Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Friday Standings - What the DCCC is up to today - Dino held hostage - About that poll - The week ahead
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:11:46 -0400 (EDT)

POLITICO's Morning Score:

By Charles Mahtesian (@charliepolitico, [email-masked] )

FRIDAY STANDINGS -- ARE YOU BETTER OFF NOW? There's a little more than 10 weeks -- 74 days -- left before Election Day. Here's Morning Score's weekly look at how some of the top campaigns, groups and other midterm election actors should answer the question: Are you better off now than you were seven days ago?

YES: (1) New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie, whose careful, applause-winning position on the mosque issue may make him the only major politician to come out of this debate completely untarnished. On Thursday, the Quinnipiac Poll reported that his approval ratings with Jersey voters are higher than Barack Obama's; (2) Florida TV stations, thanks to Rick Scott and Jeff Greene's get-elected-or-die-trying attitude; (3) Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek, who is ahead in the latest Senate primary polls and watching his foe drown in bad press. He also got a visit from Bill Clinton AND some White House warmth; (4) Pat Toomey, the Republican who got pounded by the DSCC for his Wall Street ties but nevertheless saw 2 polls released giving him a 9-point advantage in the Pennsylvania Senate race (prompting the release of a Dem poll contending the lead is actually just 2 points). The Michael Bloomberg endorsement of Rep. Joe Sestak? Virtually every news account of the visit cited the NYC mayor's role in the mosque debate.

NO: (1) Dynasties, after Colin Simpson, son of former Sen. Alan Simpson, finished a disappointing fourth in Wyoming (note: the Matthew Mead/Cliff Hansen connection is too attenuated to count); (2) Howard Dean, whose mosque stand angered his dwindling group of devotees; (3) Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who got an early preview of what the fall will look like if national Democrats decide to stick with Kendrick Meek; (4) Jocks, after former Redskin Clint Didier and former University of Wyoming standout Pete Gosar failed to translate their gridiron heroics into primary election wins Tuesday.

WHAT THE DCCC IS UP TO TODAY: Thursday was a rough day for David Rivera, the GOP candidate in Florida's 25th District, who was the subject of a tough Miami Herald piece exploring domestic violence allegations against him. Friday might be even worse: the DCCC plans to frame him as the poster boy for what it calls a series of NRCC “damaged recruits.” They'll also be reminding the world that NRCC Chair Pete Sessions gave a shout out to Rivera, a Young Gun, in his July 18 Meet the Press appearance.

As the White House puts out the Muslim fire, Tom Ganley gets in hot water and Clint Didier plays hard to get, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily cheat sheet for the 2010 midterm elections.

DINO HELD HOSTAGE, DAY 3: In Washington state, Clint Didier spokeswoman Kathryn Serkes told Score the former NFL star would make an announcement Friday about a possible endorsement of Dino Rossi and unveil a new grassroots group for Didier supporters to channel their energy into.

In advance of the 10:30 AM announcement, there was some doubt over whether Didier-who won 12% and carried three central Washington counties over Rossi and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in Tuesday's primary-would pull the trigger for Rossi. Another Republican with knowledge of the negotiations between the two principals said late Thursday it was unclear whether Didier would sign on, due to a cluster of his conservative supporters who were urging him not to.

"As is happening in other places across the country, many of the newly energized grassroots who were lured out of political hiding or first-timers who have never been involved before are people who don't necessarily have a lot of party loyalty. They are not ready to give their votes to Rossi just because he has an R by his name. The chatter flying around is that they want some guarantees that he will toe the conservative line, rather than move to the middle?," said a Republican who requested anonymity in talking about the negotiations.

WIN A DATE WITH THAT DREAMY SCOTT BROWN: Fresh from Tuesday's primary, GOP nominee Dino Rossi rolls out the heavy artillery-Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown. From a campaign email titled, “Meet Scott Brown.”

“In less than two weeks, we'll welcome Scott Brown to our state. Now a U.S. Senator, you'll remember him as the former legislator who won in Massachusetts and broke the filibuster proof majority in the Senate. And, if they can do it Massachusetts, we can certainly do it here!

Today, I'm kicking-off our online drawing to win 2 free tickets to dinner with me and Scott Brown - but you have to sign up in the next 48 hours to be entered in the drawing. Or, with an online contribution of $25 in the next 48 hours, you can be entered in the drawing to win 2 tickets to the photo reception and dinner.”

DANIELS PROFILE SPEED READ: What you need to know about The Economist's profile of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels…Hed: “The Right Stuff”…Deck: “likable wonk”…Art: The guv in sunglasses, riding a Harley…Lede: Humbly introduces self to small town Chamber as “Mitch Daniels, your employee in public service”…Revealing line: “it is unclear that a clever, measured candidate stands a chance within the Republican Party.” http://bit.ly/aC0yR8

ABOUT THAT MUSLIM POLL: The Pew Research poll that found a growing number of Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim occupied far too much of the White House's attention Thursday. White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton told reporters that most people are reading news about the economy and wars instead of Obama's religion.

“The president is obviously a -- is Christian,” Burton said on Air Force One Thursday. “He prays every day. He communicates with his religious adviser every single day. There's a group of pastors that he takes counsel from on a regular basis. And his faith is very important to him, but it's not something that is a topic of conversation every single day.”

Another WH statement Thursday spoke directly to the poll: "President Obama is a committed Christian, and his faith is an important part of his daily life…The poll's findings are not surprising given the scope of the issues we are focused on-a recovering economy, bringing troops home from Iraq, putting healthcare and financial reform implementation in place. The President's strong Christian faith is what guides him through these challenges but he doesn't wear it on his sleeve."

THE NEW BIRTHER ISSUE?: The first congressional candidate to get tripped up by the Obama/Muslim issue was Republican Tom Ganley in Ohio's 13th District. After Ganley raised eyebrows by telling Roll Call Thursday, “I don't have a position on whether he's a Muslim,” he quickly clarified his stance by issuing a statement that said he believed a question he was asked about Obama's religion was “irrelevant to the story being written about my campaign for Congress.”

“According to the White House, our president is a Christian, and I have no reason to believe otherwise,” Ganley said. http://politi.co/a3tceg

SARAH PALIN, CATEGORY KILLER: There were just two primaries this week and Sarah Palin's record was mixed-her two safe endorsements won and her two riskier candidate picks fell short. Still, the former Alaska governor remained center stage, unprecedented in her ability to dominate a news cycle.

On Tuesday, EMILY'S List launched its anti-Palin campaign, “Sarah Doesn't Speak for Me.” On Wednesday, she won notice for endorsing four additional female House candidates and a handful of candidates for statewide office. Thursday, she made headlines for defending embattled talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

BLAGO, THE NON EST MEA CULPA TOUR: Impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich will be in the TODAY Show studios Friday giving his first interview since a jury found him guilty on one count of lying to the FBI. On Sunday, he's the segment 1 guest on Fox New Sunday with Chris Wallace. The next evening, Jon Stewart interviews him for The Daily Show.

How the Daily Show, which hosted the former governor in September 2009, is publicizing the interview: “The Return of Scumdog Million-Hairs.” http://bit.ly/18d6v

ENDORSEMENT WATCH: The Club for Growth issued a round of endorsements Thursday bringing the total number of candidates backed by the Club's PAC to 21: Republicans Mick Mulvaney in South Carolina's 5th District, Tim Griffin in Arkansas' 2nd, Stephen Fincher in Tennessee's 8th and Todd Young in Indiana's 9th.

OTHER ENDORSEMENTS: The Chamber of Commerce for Adam Kinzinger in Illinois' 11th; The House Conservatives Fund for Daniel Webster in Florida's 8th; Tea party fave and former California Senate candidate Chuck DeVore for Bruce O'Donoghue in Florida's 8th.

POLL OF THE DAY: Rasmussen, always in the moment, surveys Washington state. The findings? Obama 53% approve, 47% disapprove. Sen. Patty Murray 48%, Dino Rossi 44%. http://bit.ly/9ckS0O

AND: In Kentucky, Rand Paul and Jack Conway tied at 41 percent, according to a cn|2 Poll. http://bit.ly/98W0f0

IN FLORIDA, WITH BILL MCCOLLUM THIS WEEKEND: Rudy Giuliani in West Palm Beach Friday, Mike Huckabee in Jacksonville Sunday morning at the First Baptist Church.

THE WEEK AHEAD - Score will be paying close attention to four big primaries Tuesday: Arizona GOP Senate, Alaska GOP Senate, Florida Democratic Senate and Florida GOP primary for governor…Other Tuesday races of note: Vermont Democratic primary for governor, the GOP runoff in Oklahoma's 5th District.

ACROSS THE BIG MAP -- with POLITICO's Tim Alberta and Jessica Taylor:

WMUR looks at New Hampshire 1st District Republican Frank Giunta's strange omission from his financial disclosure form. http://bit.ly/daqaci

Beau Biden's back. http://bit.ly/dzpkF9

If this guy's for real, it's a big problem for Republicans in the seat being vacated by Rep. Bart Stupak http://politi.co/cxlxTg

Target feels backlash from shareholders after backing Republican Tom Emmer in the Minnesota governor's race. http://bit.ly/awI2sX

Go to Morning Score Now >> http://www.politico.com/morningscore

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