Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Manchin draws line on debt ceiling - Barbour lands Sally Bradshaw - NRCC knocks health care anniversary - Indiana GOP pressures fugitive Dems - DNC, DCCC win Feb. - Palin visits Western Wall
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 05:20:36 -0400 (EDT)

By Alexander Burns (aburnspolitico. [email-masked]) 

SENATE SIREN - MANCHIN SPLITS ON DEBT CEILING - West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin will announce this morning that he plans to vote against raising the U.S. debt ceiling unless it's tied to a plan that addresses the nation's broader fiscal problems. That's a major break from party leaders and the White House, coming from one of the strongest red-state Democrats up for reelection in 2012. "We must get our fiscal house in order. We must be honest about what we value and what we need to spend your taxpayer dollars on - not just what sounds good," Manchin will tell students at the University of Charleston, according to prepared remarks. "That is why I will vote against raising the debt ceiling unless the vote is linked to a real budget plan that begins to address our fiscal mess. We cannot make our budgets based on the next election; they must be based on the next generation." 

MORE - ICEBERG, RIGHT AHEAD - Manchin will make the announcement at the start of his "Our Values, Our Priorities" tour, which will run the length of the week. Over the course of the next few days, Manchin will detail the priorities that will guide him in the budget debate. "In the coming weeks, we will face many difficult budget decisions," he'll say today. "But we cannot ignore the fiscal Titanic of our national debt and deficit." 

BARBOUR ON A ROLL - BRADSHAW SUITS UP - Florida-based GOP strategist Sally Bradshaw, a veteran of the Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney political operations, has signed on to work for Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's political action committee. The Miami Herald had the story first: "Bradshaw told the Herald/Times that she is joining the Barbour campaign and will be doing work for his political committee. 'If he becomes a presidential candidate I'll work for him here,' she said ... She is not returning to the fold of the assumed frontrunner [Romney], however. After surveying the field for 2012, Bradshaw believes it's 'wide open' and that Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman and head of the Republican Governors Association, 'is the right fit for me.'" http://bit.ly/ibkhh3  

THE LARGER 2012 CONTEXT - Getting Bradshaw is the latest in a series of recruitment coups for Barbour, who has also signed former RNC communications director Jim Dyke, New Hampshire operatives Mike Dennehy and Paul Young and online strategist James Richardson. That's a powerful and fast expansion of Barbour's operation ahead of an expected national campaign. 

As Reince Priebus explains, Charlie Bass makes a new friend and Kathy Hochul hears the starter pistol, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign. 

MONDAY STAKES - The military action unfolding in Libya isn't just a test for the White House; everyone in Washington will be judged for how they handle this moment. That includes folks on the Hill and potential presidential candidates, as well as high-profile members of the Obama administration. Here's Morning Score's take on who has the most to gain or lose - politically - in the week ahead: 

(1) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose disavowals of interest in the presidency were almost lost last week amid overwhelmingly positive, still-ongoing coverage of the role she played in launching Operation Odyssey Dawn; (2) Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar, who has an opportunity as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to show the GOP primary voters back home that he's a statesman with the experience to handle a crisis; (3) House progressives, who have to decide exactly how strongly and publicly they'll criticize a Democratic president for launching military operations without congressional approval; (4) First-term tea party Republicans, who were propelled into office by a grassroots conservative movement with no particular foreign policy philosophy and must navigate the most internationally oriented news cycle since they took office; (5) Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who finds herself in Israel as allied warplanes strike Libya, and needs to use this opportunity to show she's seriously engaged in world affairs. 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FROM THE NRCC - The House GOP's campaign arm will fire off a tough research hit this morning, hitting the Affordable Care Act two days before its anniversary for "raising costs for small businesses" and weakening the economic recovery. While most Republicans will go after the law on Wednesday, the NRCC is jumping on the anniversary of the House health care vote - and targeting not only current members of Congress, but also defeated Democratic lawmakers who may be thinking about running for their old seats. From the soon-to-be-released document: "[A] coalition of Obama administration allies is trying to spin its way out of ObamaCare's devastating impact on small businesses ... [I]t's little wonder the public widely wants to see the law repealed. Recent polling backs that up, even in numbers from groups friendly to ObamaCare. When will Democrats abandon their defense of their job-destroying law?'" 

POPPING TODAY - THE NEXT WISCONSIN - Indiana Republicans are launching a web-based campaign to put pressure on Democratic legislators who have fled the state to return to work in Indianapolis. The state GOP will unveil a site - www.INDemsGPS.com  - that allows users to track the activities of Democratic lawmakers while they remain outside Indiana's borders. There's an accompanying Twitter account: @INDemsGPS. State GOP Chairman Eric Holcomb said voters can use the website to "encourage [Democrats] to get back to work": "Indiana's House Democrats should be at the Statehouse working, but instead followed their minority leader for the past month hiding out in Urbana, taking trips to museums, giving out-of-state lectures ... Now Hoosier taxpayers can follow them." Democrats have camped out in Illinois as they demand that Gov. Mitch Daniels and state Republican drop several of their most ambitious items, including an overhaul of the education system, from the legislative agenda. 

THE MONEY RACE - DEMS IN THE LEAD: Four out of the six federal campaign committees have reported back their February fundraising totals. So far, the news is better for Democrats than for Republicans. The DNC outraised the RNC, $6.9 million to $5.2 million. With $10.5 million in the bank, the DNC has five times more cash on hand. The RNC also holds more debt - $21 million to the DNC's $17.9 million. On the House level, the DCCC raised $5.2 million and had $5.9 million on hand, while the NRCC raised $4.9 million and had $4.3 million on hand. But the DCCC has substantially more debt, owing $17.3 million to the NRCC's $9.5 million. We're still awaiting updated information from the DSCC and NRSC ... 

PRIEBUS RESPONDS - The RNC chairman released a Sunday statement to put the best possible face on his committee's painful position: "We have reexamined contracts, cut overhead by 35 percent, and exceeded our major donor fundraising goals by 200 percent in just two short months ... We continue to receive bills from previous commitments but we have turned a corner and feel good about the direction of our Committee and our Party. Based on the success of the past two months, I am confident we will have the resources to defeat President Obama." 

WIRE FROM JERUSALEM - "U.S. politician Sarah Palin visits Israel" - AP: "Sarah Palin visited a Jewish holy site in Jerusalem soon after arriving in Israel Sunday ... Palin did not comment to Israeli reporters at the airport and was whisked away in a white van. Although the trip is private, she is to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. 'As the world confronts sweeping changes and new realities, I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the key issues facing his country, our ally Israel,' Palin said in a statement ... She visited the Western Wall, a retaining wall of the compound where the biblical temples stood 2,000 years ago and which is now the holiest place where Jews can pray." http://bit.ly/hDrWVW  

TODAY - From the White House guidance: "[T]he Vice President will travel to Boston, Massachusetts. At 4:00 PM, the Vice President will attend an event for the Democratic National Committee." 

BUT FIRST - SET YOUR DVR: Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn will be on NBC's "Today" show this morning to talk caucus politics. The hit time is 7:15 a.m. Eastern,, according to the Iowa Republican Party. http://bit.ly/eMwim8  

WRAPPING THE WEEKEND - HALEY GOES WEST - The Mississippi governor described his blueprint for the GOP's 2012 campaign in a speech to the California Republican Party. "America is ready for leadership that is plainspoken," Barbour said. "They are sick of happy talk." The Los Angeles Times: "In a sometimes vague address threaded with familiar party mantras, folksy jokes and allusions to happier times for Republicans under his former boss Ronald Reagan, Barbour told delegates to the state GOP convention in Sacramento that they should not despair after their losses in November ... 'What works in the rest of America will work in California if y'all try hard enough,' Barbour said ... He insisted that if Republicans stay focused on those policy issues, they can regain the White House: 'When campaigns are about issues, it's good for Republicans,' he said. 'When campaigns are about anything else it helps the Democrats.'" http://lat.ms/gJppTu  

PLUS - WORSE THAN A STRAW POLL - California Republicans were asked to participate in an "applause poll" by conservative message-maestro Frank Luntz, with three candidates reportedly receiving the lion's share of acclaim. The Sacramento Bee: "Those winning the loudest applause were former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin also received a good amount of applause. Other names such as Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour ... and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels received less applause ... New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie received one [of] the loudest - if not the loudest - rounds of applause in the informal poll. However, Christie has said repeatedly that he won't run for president in 2012." http://bit.ly/gpeTB2  

NO, SERIOUSLY, GUYS: New Hampshire Rep. Charlie Bass said he's willing to meet with real estate mogul and supposed presidential aspirant Donald Trump after a conversation with a member of Trump's circle. WMUR's James Pindell: "Speaking to WMURPoliticalScoop.com, Bass said that he was sort of excited about the opportunity to meet Trump, but only in the context that, as a New Hampshire Congressman, he should meet with most candidates. 'Of course I will meet with him. I will meet with anybody,' said Bass." http://bit.ly/iccO0i  

THE NEW YORK SPECIAL - AND THEY'RE OFF: Both parties now have candidates to run for the House seat vacated by ex-Rep. Chris Lee. Democrats selected Erie County Clerk Kathy Hochul as their nominee over the weekend, while Republicans had previously chosen state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin. The Tonawonda News captures the state of play: "Corwin was quick to pounce on what will likely be a familiar line of attack against Hochul, a former Hamburg councilwoman, who doesn't actually live in the 26th district ... Democrats have countered, pointing out Corwin's personal wealth ... Democratic leaders, before officially choosing Hochul, had been referring to Corwin as a 'Wall Street banker'... Demographics in the district indicate an advantage for Republicans; there are 27,000 more of them in the district than Democrats." http://bit.ly/eYI2xU  

ANGLE MEETS THE PRESS - Former Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle will take questions from the media today, holding an "open forum where Angle will go around the room and take questions," according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. More from KOLO-TV: "Angle wants to change her image and be more accessible to the media, says a representative from her campaign. She was known for avoiding the media during her unsuccessful bid for Harry Reid's senate seat. But now that she plans to run for Representative Dean Heller's seat, her campaign representative says she wants to be more accessible." http://bit.ly/dE8m4N  

CODA - TWEET OF THE DAY: "Sad news! Just learned knut the polar bear died suddenly at 4- callista and I visited him in berlin when he was 5 months old-he was cute" - Former House Speaker @newtgingrich, on the passing of the Berlin zoo's most famous resident http://bit.ly/fTSUxd  

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