Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Zero hour in NY-26 - Israel fills out DCCC leadership team - Thad McCotter eyes 2012 - Brown, Newsom endorse Hahn - Kristy Campbell to ACU - NYT: Elizabeth Warren 'intrigued' by Senate run
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 05:42:26 -0400 (EDT)

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

POPPING AT THE DCCC - SCHWARTZ MOVES UP - POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt scoops: "Pennsylvania Rep. Allyson Schwartz ... will oversee candidate services - a position left vacant after Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was tapped to chair the Democratic National Committee ... The committee is also fleshing out its leadership ahead of the 2012 campaign. [DCCC Chairman Steve] Israel announced that Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, a sophomore Democrat, will head Frontline, a fundraising and support system benefiting the party's most endangered incumbents ... Israel has also tapped Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards and Colorado Rep. Jared Polis to lead the DCCC's Red to Blue program, which provides a support network for Democratic candidates running in GOP-held districts." Israel: "Reps. Allyson Schwartz, Jim Himes, Donna Edwards and Jared Polis [have the] perfect combination of drive, experience, political know-how and leadership savvy to make this the shortest Republican majority in history." http://politi.co/iZbaEs  

THIS IS NOT A DRILL - "Thaddeus McCotter weighing White House bid" - Jmart writes: "In an interview Monday with POLITICO, Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter said he's seriously considering a White House bid and will decide within the next two weeks ... McCotter said his party must address four major issues: 'The challenge of globalization, the war for freedom against terrorists, the rise of Communist China and whether moral relativism erodes a nation built on self-evident truth' ... There have been whispers about the possibility of a McCotter run, but the extent of his plotting is little-known. He has quietly reached out to potential campaign attorneys and early-state Republicans and counts longtime GOP communications guru Mark Corallo and Eric Ueland, a former chief of staff to Bill Frist, as informal advisers." http://politi.co/j2CT6t  

MORE - "On Capitol Hill, though, the possibility of a McCotter campaign is being greeted with a mix of puzzlement and speculation about what he's really after. The same words tend to come up when congressional Republican aides are asked about McCotter, who favors old-style suit vests: 'weird,' 'strange,' 'odd.'" http://politi.co/j2CT6t  

EXCLUSIVE - ACU GETS CAMPBELL: Kristy Campbell, the former press secretary to Jeb Bush and Florida communications chief of Mitt Romney's 2008 campaign, is joining the American Conservative Union as its new communications director. A veteran of former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum's 2010 gubernatorial bid, Campbell wins praise from Republicans and Democrats alike as a highly effective and "extremely smart" communicator. She's the latest in a series of big hires for ACU under the leadership of Al Cardenas, the former Florida GOP chairman who took over the organization this year. Cardenas praised Campbell in a statement: "Kristy Campbell is an experienced, respected conservative communicator ... There has never been a more critical time to unite conservatives behind our common goals." 

AND - CAMPBELL'S COMMENT: "I am thrilled to join the American Conservative Union under the leadership of Chairman Cardenas and the ACU Board. The opportunities and the challenges in the coming months are unprecedented, and the ACU remains the country's premier organization for energizing and uniting the conservative grassroots." 

As Terry Branstad leans on Mitt, Rush toasts TPaw and Joe Biden keeps it all on the table, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign. 

MATCH GAME 2011 - NEW YORK EDITION - Put the interested party from New York's 26h District special election with the CYA spin they'll be using if tonight turns out badly for them: (1) Paul Ryan; (2) the NRCC; (3) the DCCC; (4) Andrew Cuomo; (5) Siena College and Public Policy Polling. 

SPIN OPTIONS: (a) The other guys had to outspend us by a wide margin in order to keep a district that shouldn't have been competitive to begin with; (b) We had a flawed candidate and there was a spoiler in the race - what do you want from us?; (c) This was an unpredictable race with a wild-card independent and a turnout model that threw everybody - everybody - for a loop; (d) Democrats embraced disgraceful scare tactics at a long-term cost - voters will ultimately reward real leadership; (e) What special election? 

LAST APPEALS - Bill Clinton robo-calls: "Kathy Hochul will fight to cut wasteful spending in Washington. You can count on Kathy to say no to partisan politics that would end Medicare as we know it to pay for more tax cuts for multi-millionaires." And so does Chris Christie: "Jane Corwin is a fighter who knows how to get things done. We're in critical times for our country, and Washington needs stand-up leaders who will fight to control spending and change business as usual." http://bit.ly/ixZpIE  

FIRST IN SCORE - RALLY 'ROUND HAHN: California Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom are endorsing Los Angeles Councilwoman Janice Hahn's campaign for the open 36th Congressional District, unifying Democrats for the home stretch of the special election race. Hahn was the lone Democrat to emerge from last week's open primary and is strongly favored against Republican upstart Craig Huey in the July 12 general election. From Brown's statement: "Janice Hahn is a fighter with a track record of helping Californians and getting things done." And Newsom's: "What's remarkable about Janice is that she listens to people, she responds, and she gets results. That's what she did for her constituents when they were concerned about pollution and jobs, and it's what she will do for us when she is in Congress." 

S.W.A.K. - RUSH HUGS TPAW - The king of the EIB Network gave a hero's welcome to Tim Pawlenty after he announced for president Monday, telling him on the air: "I know you're qualified. You have the guts, too. One of the things that frustrates Republicans is that there seems to be this reluctance on the part of everybody in this party to take President Obama on. Frankly, the reason Donald Trump excited people is because he took it straight to Obama ... You're debating Obama. You're gonna have the ability to say, 'Mr. President, you're just flat-out wrong about the way you've gone about creating jobs,' if you think he's wrong. Are you gonna be able to say that to his face?" Pawlenty's answer: "Of course, Rush." http://bit.ly/ieu6FW  

NEXT STOP - TAMPA - After announcing his campaign in Iowa, Pawlenty took his act to Tampa for an event with high-powered Florida Republicans. And the buzz was good, per the St. Petersburg Times's Adam Smith: "Pawlenty's appearance Monday night in Tampa underscored the cracks in [Mitt] Romney's support and how much hunger there is for an alternative Republican nominee. 'I would have been with Mitch Daniels, but I'm very impressed with Tim Pawlenty. I'm inclined at this point to support him,' former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez said after listening to Pawlenty for 20 minutes ... The reception was at the home of Tampa lawyer and GOP fundraiser Martin Garcia, a Romney backer in 2008 who had been ready to help Daniels this year. Now he's with Pawlenty." http://bit.ly/iBhbcE  

MORE RUSH - PREDICTION TIME - Now that Mitch Daniels - a favorite elite punching bag for Limbaugh - is out of the 2012 running, the radio talker says he thinks party brass and the media will turn their eyes to Jon Huntsman: "I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you see a very visible and concerted effort to push Huntsman to the top on the part of the inside-the-Beltway Republican elite and the media ... [D]on't forget the name Jon Huntsman. His name's out there already, but don't be surprised if you see a concerted effort by Washington Republican elites in the media to put Huntsman near the top of this list in the field." http://bit.ly/j0BdnN  

SPEAKING OF WHOM - ASKED AND ANSWERED: We wondered yesterday when Huntsman would sit for an interview with Fox News. It turns out - he already has! See his sit-down with Carl Cameron here : http://bit.ly/lIAVcO  

CANTOR PULLS FOR RYAN: The House majority leader told reporters in Washington that Paul Ryan should run for president in 2012, declaring: "What Paul Ryan is about is real leadership." The Los Angeles Times reports that Cantor said "he expects to see the GOP's presidential contenders embrace the Ryan budget proposal as they seek the White House ... 'The presidential candidates -- I'm looking for them to embrace our formula in the Ryan budget,' Cantor said. 'I'm looking for them to embrace a leadership role that takes the tough positions.'" http://lat.ms/iqjJjS  

TONIGHT - BACHMANN AND DONATELLI - Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann will be the featured guest in a tele-town hall hosted by GOPAC, the national conservative organizing and training group. She'll participate alongside GOPAC Chairman and veteran Republican operative Frank Donatelli, according to a Facebook post for the event: http://on.fb.me/jqIkqv  

AND THEN THERE'S THIS - @cbsjancrawford tweeted late yesterday: "Rudy is 'very close' to jumping into the presidential race, Rep. Peter King says at a dinner in DC tonight." http://bit.ly/m0OxC3  

IN THE EARLY STATES - UNDISPUTED: Mitt Romney is still a strong favorite in the New Hampshire primary, leading his nearest competitor by more than 20 percentage points in a CNN/WMUR poll. Thirty-two percent of Republican primary voters said Romney was their first choice and 20 percent named him as their second choice. Ron Paul was the nearest runner-up in first-place votes, with 9 percent. But CNN's Paul Steinhauser reports the race is hardly locked in: "[T]he race is far from settled, with nearly nine in ten potential Republican primary voters saying they haven't come close to making up their minds and more than four in ten saying they're not satisfied with the field of GOP candidates running for president." http://bit.ly/jEbk35  

AND IN IOWA - BRANSTAD NUDGES ROMNEY: Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad once again urged Republican presidential candidates to compete in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, telling reporters in his weekly news conference that Mitt Romney shouldn't "skip Iowa." Radio Iowa: "[L]ater this week Romney will make his first appearance in Iowa this year. 'I understand if you're from Massachusetts, you're at a disadvantage when you're competing with people from neighboring states,' Branstad says. 'Nevertheless, I do think it's important to compete here and maybe you don't have to win, but doing relatively well - and he's considered the national front-runner, so I think being in the top three is important in Iowa.'" http://bit.ly/ksoHMP  

THE SCOTT BROWN SEAT - LOBBYING WARREN: Liberal Democrats have long eyed Elizabeth Warren as a wish-list candidate for the Massachusetts Senate race. Now, the New York Times reports that some Democrats are going beyond crossing their fingers and hoping: "Officials in the Democratic Party are wooing Elizabeth Warren to run for the Senate against the Massachusetts Republican Scott P. Brown rather than have her continue to set up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ... If she chose to run - party officials say she is intrigued but far from decided - she would emerge as the most high-profile contender among those currently in the mix." http://nyti.ms/iB3k2P  

THE 2016 SCORE - DOOR'S OPEN - Vice President Joe Biden isn't ruling out a run for president in 2016 and told donors to keep him in mind for the race, reports POLITICO's Ben Smith: "Biden, who started in the Senate young and would be just 70 in 2012, raised the possibility unprompted during a wide-ranging conversation at the May 19 dinner with major Democratic Party donors, a source in the room said. The Vice President, who has never ruled in or out running in six years, told the group he hadn't made up his mind, and cited both political conditions and his own health as relevant factors. But the spontaneous suggestion caught the attention of at least some in the audience, said the guest, 'given he volunteered that without prompting...and given the audience.'" http://politi.co/iJ5IDd  

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Well I got that one spectacularly wrong." - RedState founder Erick Erickson, on his announcement last week that Mitch Daniels was about to declare for president http://bit.ly/iQ0jDH  

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

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