Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score, presented by the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities: Cornyn wins Rubio, Paul support to lead NRSC - Murkowski moves ahead, trashes Palin - Vander Plaats eyes 2012 - Pence vs. Bernanke
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2010 05:58:11 -0500 (EST)

By Alexander Burns (@aburnspolitico, [email-masked]) 

CORNYN'S DAY - TWO MORE YEARS: Texas Sen. John Cornyn is expected to be reelected to the chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee today, facing no apparent opposition after leading the NRSC to a six-seat pickup in this month's elections. Cornyn will be formally nominated for a new term by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and New Hampshire Sen.-elect Kelly Ayotte, according to a GOP source, and he's already locked up support from other high-profile senators-elect, including Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rob Portman of Ohio. South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who endorsed against his party establishment's preferences in several Senate primaries this year, is also supporting Cornyn, the source said. 

The NRSC is coming off its best fundraising month since 2002, bringing in $14.2 million in the month of October. And several of the newest Republican senators are already anteing up more: Ayotte has pledged $50,000 to help pay down the committee's debt, as has Pennsylvania Sen.-elect Pat Toomey. North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, who was overwhelmingly elected to the Senate two weeks ago, has pledged an even stronger total of $100,000. 

As Mark Ritchie sets a date, Bill White skips a cycle and Jay Rockefeller marvels at the power of the teevee, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign. 

BREAKING OVERNIGHT - THE COMEBACK MURKOWSKI: Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski officially passed Republican opponent Joe Miller in their state's vote tally for the first time, taking a lead of under 2,000 votes. The Anchorage Daily News reports that Miller's bet on absentee ballots doesn't seem to be paying off: "The current count stands at 92,164 votes for Murkowski and 90,448 for Miller. Murkowski's numbers will grow as the state reviews more write-ins. The Division of Elections has at least another 10,000 write-in ballots to review, and the trend has been for the state to count more than 97 percent of them for Murkowski. If that trend continues, Murkowski could win the race outright no matter what happens with Miller's lawsuit asking for misspelled ballots to be thrown out." http://bit.ly/aGMLNb  

MORE - SHOTS FIRED: Murkowski tore into Miller endorser Sarah Palin during an interview with CBS News's Katie Couric, questioning the former governor's "leadership qualities" and "intellectual curiosity." "I would like to think that if there were an opportunity to help do something good for Alaska, she would call me, or I could call her," Murkowski said. "But in fairness, she is not really that keyed into the state anymore. She is looking, obviously, at a bigger pond, and so we don't see her up north as much." http://bit.ly/cdhPSw  

2012 SIREN - BVP RETURNS: Iowa activist Bob Vander Plaats, who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor and lieutenant governor this year, plans to make the Iowa Family Policy Center a major player in the next presidential campaign when he takes over the social conservative group. The Des Moines Register's Tom Beaumont: "Vander Plaats of Sioux City gives the new coalition of socially conservative groups a familiar face as it is plans a more influential role in the caucus campaign than four years ago, including offering its endorsement for the first time. 'We are going to be very engaged in the 2012 cycle. We believe it is our responsibility and our duty to be actively involved in taking a look at the candidates, vetting the candidates and then either recommending a candidate or candidates for consideration by the people who support us,' Vander Plaats told The Des Moines Register ... The new group's name, The Family Leader, is expected to be adopted ... at the Iowa Family Policy Center's board meeting. ... Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, the winner of the 2008 caucuses, is scheduled to speak at the event." Vander Plaats endorsed Huckabee in 2008. http://bit.ly/9DnyGx  

ELSEWHERE IN IOWA - NEWT'S BACK: The former House speaker is in Iowa for a two-day trip this week promoting his new book, Valley Forge, a historical fiction novel about the Revolutionary War. His caucus-state itinerary: "November 16, 2pm, West Des Moines, IA, Borders ... November 16, 6:30pm, Ames, IA, Iowa State University ... November 17, 7pm, Cedar Rapids, IA, Barnes & Noble." 

PALIN GETS RESULTS: Almost 5 million viewers watched the first episode of "Sarah Palin's Alaska," according to TLC, making it the strongest opener in the network's history. TVNewser has more details: "TLC says 4.96 million total viewers tuned in, including 1.8 million adults 25-54, and 1.6 million adults 18-49, two of the network's key demos. That is the best premiere in network history with regards to total viewers, beating the 2003 debut of 'What Not to Wear.' ... While five million is a great debut for the show and TLC, the question now becomes what will it draw on a regular basis for the network?" http://bit.ly/ayduSJ  

MIKE PENCE VS. THE FED: America's next top Ben Bernanke-basher is Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, who plans to introduce legislation forcing the Federal Reserve to focus solely on fighting inflation. Business Week reports: "The Fed's dual mandate has failed,' Pence, of Indiana, said in a statement. The central bank is currently required by a 1977 amendment to the Federal Reserve Act to promote stable prices and full employment. Matt Lloyd, communications director for the conference, said in an e-mail that Pence intends the bill to be considered in Congress's current lame-duck session. ... Pence said the Fed's second round of quantitative easing will monetize the U.S. government's debt and ignite inflation. ... House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said today that 'it would be a very dumb fight' for Republicans to press legislation to eliminate the Fed's dual mandate." http://bit.ly/csvYQf  SAVE THE DATE - Minnesota's gubernatorial recount will begin on Nov. 29, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced. KARE-TV has the details: "The Minnesota State Canvassing Board convenes on Nov. 23 to canvass the results of this year's general election and determine whether any recounts are required under Minnesota law. Unofficial results have Mark Dayton leading Tom Emmer in the governor's race by less than one half of one percentage point, which would force an automatic recount." Early vote audits in a handful of precincts showed little change in Dayton's lead of just under 9,000 ballots. http://bit.ly/a0U2Af   

2012 BEGINS (OR NOT) IN TEXAS - Former Houston Mayor Bill White, who fell short in his challenge to Republican Gov. Rick Perry this year, isn't interested in running for Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate seat in 2012. The conservative Democrat told the Houston Chronicle flatly: "I'm not running in 2012. ... I've looked forward to being in business for a little while, and if you're running for something in 2012, you'd have to start running now." That doesn't mean it's time to take your eye off the 56-year-old White, who also told the paper: "The pendulum will swing in Texas ... [T]here's a lot of people who want a sort of traditional, more fiscally conservative Texas Democrat." http://bit.ly/cE7GbD  

POLL OF THE DAY - MAKING THE MOST OF IT? Temporary Sens. George LeMieux of Florida and Carte Goodwin of West Virginia have both been bandied about as future candidates for office - with LeMieux as a potential challenger for Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. Neither man has left a particularly deep impression on his state, according to Public Policy Polling: "For Carte Goodwin and George LeMieux the main response to their service was ambivalence. 61% of voters on our final West Virginia poll expressed no opinion about Goodwin with those who did have one breaking down 17% favorably and 22% unfavorably. LeMieux similarly made no impression on 61% of voters but the ones who did express an opinion about him were quite negative with only 11% approving of him and 28% disapproving. ... Even with Republican voters his reviews are pretty negative at 14% approving and 24% disapproving. His year of free media simply has not done much to help him build up a positive image with Florida voters." http://bit.ly/dzVvaO  

PLUS - READING NOV. 2 - POLITICO's newest "Power and the People" asked both the general public and D.C. elites what lessons they drew from this month's elections and what it all means for 2012. Spoiler alert: D.C. is more upbeat about the Obama reelect than the rest of America. Check out the poll here: http://politi.co/bSivT3  and read POLITICO's Andy Barr on the results: http://politi.co/9mm6Du  

CATCH A RISING STAR - CONN. EDITION: Former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy will face a grim budget situation when he's sworn into office as governor of Connecticut. That crisis could also be an opportunity, columnist Ben Davol writes, for Malloy to emulate another northeastern governor's budget-cutting act. "Last year New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie faced similar budgetary challenges. Contrary to all the 'talk' of tea party Republicans, Christie has walked the talk and made tough and unpopular decisions," Davol writes. "Connecticut is a great state with world-class universities, major corporations and some of the wealthiest and smartest people in the country. These attributes, combined with a diversity of cultures and history is a canvas on which Dan Malloy can become the Democrat's Chris Christie and much more." Score's take: Check out the brand strength for Christie! http://bit.ly/b0ixml  

ROCKY EXPLAINS IT ALL: West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller said Monday that his newest Senate colleague, Gov.-turned-Sen. Joe Manchin, aimed right with his famous anti-cap and trade ad. POLITICO's Darren Samuelson reports that Rockefeller told the press: "It's so funny and so tragic. The power of television. He went up in polling by four to five points on that one ad. Which I'd not be able to pull off." In contrast, Rockefeller knocked defeated Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold for not running enough negative ads. "To me that's admirable but its crazy in today's atmosphere. But he wouldn't do it," Rockefeller said. 

ELSEWHERE IN WEST VIRGINIA - TOMBLIN'S TROUBLES: Acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, the Democratic state Senate president who took over Manchin's office, will have some convincing to do if he wants to hold that post for long. A survey from West Virginia pollster Mark Blankenship says 49 percent of likely voters want a quick special election to fill the governor's office, versus 45 percent who are happy to see Tomblin stick around for the next two years. More: "About 60% of Republicans questioned support an immediate Special Election compared with 44% of the Democrats surveyed. ... South Charleston Attorney Thornton Cooper was scheduled to file a lawsuit calling for a Special Election on Monday, but has delayed that filing for a number of reasons." http://bit.ly/cVgtju  

POST-MORTEM OF THE DAY - HOW BRADY LOST - Capitol Fax's Rich Miller decodes the surprise outcome of the Illinois governor's race, which ended in the reelection of a politician - Democrat Pat Quinn - with high unfavorable ratings and a background as Rod Blagojevich's lieutenant governor. Miller looks toward social issues a nd a familiar troublemaker for explanations: "One of the very top officials in Bill Brady's campaign told me a few days after the election that he believes Brady lost to Gov. Pat Quinn for one reason: The pro-choice group Personal PAC. Brady's election-day model, the top campaign official said, had him taking 43 percent of the suburban Cook County vote. Instead, Brady took only 40 percent. That extra 3 points definitely would have won race for the abortion opponent Brady. 'The North Shore went to hell,' this uppermost Brady operative added, blaming Personal PAC's mail, TV ads and robocalls for the loss. ... [Personal PAC CEO Terry] Cosgrove also determined early on that independent millionaire Scott Lee Cohen would help Quinn." http://bit.ly/bJ2GGJ  

CODA - OUT-OF-CONTEXT QUOTE OF THE DAY - "We have now officially entered into Bizzaro World." - Liberal web impresario and prominent lawsuit respondent Arianna Huffington http://politi.co/aRyY8O  

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