Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Pawlenty announces Iowa county chairs – DSCC ties Lingle to Palin – Where’s Romney? – Loeb contemplates Florida Senate run – 3 more commit to Florida CPAC – Gingrich denies paying for Twitter followers
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:55:28 -0600

By James Hohmann (
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked] ) and Emily Schultheis (
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked] )

POPPING IN IOWA - PAWLENTY ANNOUNCES 29 IOWA COUNTY CHAIRS -Tim Pawlenty's campaign is releasing the names of 29 Iowa county chairs this morning in an effort to stress the organizational ground game that exists for the former Minnesota governor with just 11 days to the straw poll in Ames. There are 99 counties in the state, but all the major ones are covered. "I am honored to have such strong leadership at the grassroots level, which will be crucial to the success of my campaign in Iowa,' Pawlenty says in a press release going out soon. The release also quotes Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying that Pawlenty's message "is increasingly resonating with Iowans [and] attracting the best talent to
 join his organization." Check out the list:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b803ede79b1e42c026053cfdbdd7c08ae7a707b428eb4d683a3 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b803ede79b1e42c026053cfdbdd7c08ae7a707b428eb4d683a3 .

EXCLUSIVE - DSCC UNLOADS ON LINGLE - Former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle did her first round of interviews over the weekend and rolled out a new message stressing the importance of "bipartisanship" as she prepares to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Akaka next year. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will hit back today, hammering Lingle for the most partisan parts of her past in a deeply-Democratic state. This is the opening salvo in a full assault on the potentially competitive Republican. From the release: "Linda Lingle, who gave the nomination speech for Sarah Palin to be Vice President of the United States and accused President Barack Obama of palling around with
 terrorists, is now trying to make Hawaii residents forget her long record of extreme partisanship as she considers running for U.S. Senate." The DSCC stresses everything nice Lingle said about Palin back in 2008, when the Alaska governor wasn't nearly as polarizing.

***As Bachmann buys broadcast time, Gingrich defends his Twitter presence and another Republican thinks about running for the Senate in Florida, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

2012 TALKER - ROMNEY (KINDA) BREAKS RADIO SILENCE-"THE MITTNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM" - After staying above the fray and letting Washington own the mess for weeks, Romney surprised many when he came out Monday in opposition to a compromise deal supported by John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. Was he bowing to pressure from the conservative base or tired of taking hits for not taking a clear position? We don't really know because Romney has no events scheduled this week to elaborate on his one-paragraph, carefully-parsed statement. POLITICO's Ben Smith used the debt statement as a peg to reflect on just how low a profile the cautious frontrunner has kept all summer: "[W]hile his advisers
 describe the decision as a strategic choice to pick only the big fights, it has obvious negative consequences: Romney's identity remains hazy, voters remain unmet, and his rare appearances raise the stakes for gaffe free - or at least vaguely normal - performances." Romney's statement on the deal:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b80a69ba35ffdf8537da68ee272c754f1d9f78e7b7bed2f1c77 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b80a69ba35ffdf8537da68ee272c754f1d9f78e7b7bed2f1c77 . Ben's story:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b8028b722e55e299fff141d2eb852d75161f5ffdad3ceae0d37 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b8028b722e55e299fff141d2eb852d75161f5ffdad3ceae0d37 .

AMERICA LIVES TO DEFAULT ANOTHER DAY - Speaking of the debt ceiling, the Senate looks poised to raise it in a noon vote. Since yesterday's Score, a host of GOP presidential candidates spoke out against the agreement even as the majority of House Republicans got behind it. Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant: "The deal is nothing to celebrate." Newt Gingrich: "Avoiding default is not a solution to America's jobs and debt crisis." Ron Paul: "I have never voted to raise the debt ceiling, and I never will." Gary Johnson: 'The sound America is hearing today is the sound of the can being kicked down the road -- again."

AIR BACHMANN - GOING UP WITH AN IOWA BROADCAST BUY WEDNESDAY - Michele Bachmann will begin running her TV ads on the broadcast networks in Iowa, starting tomorrow and running through Ames. It's her first broadcast buy since declaring her candidacy. POLITICO's Maggie Haberman notes that so far she's been advertising on cable and with "tiny buys around the Sunday talk shows."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b8030c5dee2aee2ac96e31130989b06506e5c53c9d27621c9fe 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b8030c5dee2aee2ac96e31130989b06506e5c53c9d27621c9fe 

CATTLE CALL - THREE MORE COMMIT TO FLORIDA CPAC - Herman Cain, Gary Johnson and Thad McCotter became the latest candidates to commit to speaking at CPAC Florida, bringing the tally of 2012 hopefuls in attendance to eight. The American Conservative Union, which is hosting the event, announced the three speakers yesterday afternoon. Bachmann, Romney, Santorum, Pawlenty and Gingrich have already agreed to speak. The one glaring omission from the program at this point: Jon Huntsman, who was still President Obama's ambassador to China during February's conservative confab in Washington. The gathering is slated for Sept. 23 in Orlando, Fla., also home to Huntsman's campaign headquarters.

INCREASING CERTITUDE ABOUT A PERRY RUN - Conventional wisdom now firmly holds that Rick Perry will jump into the race. Florida Gov. Rick Scott told reporters visiting his office yesterday that he met with the Texas governor two weeks ago in Aspen and "can't imagine he's not going to run." Meanwhile, The Washington Post obtained an email invitation sent by former Perry campaign finance chairman Jim Lee to an exclusive group of Republicans that suggested the same. Lee wrote that "Perry is poised to enter the presidential race in the coming weeks and, if he does, will completely transform the Republican primary." Organizing a 15-person dinner for Perry this week, he added: "Ours will be a
 condensed and unconventional strategy yet we have a clear path to the nomination." The Scott story:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b80eeacfcec69910b6a70be730261a4050bdd128aff5c0a3cb1 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b80eeacfcec69910b6a70be730261a4050bdd128aff5c0a3cb1 . The Lee story:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b8066b6148e426bd0ba6699248cbad258ab6494d89f551cda3b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b8066b6148e426bd0ba6699248cbad258ab6494d89f551cda3b .

FOR THE CALENDAR - CNBC HOSTS ECON-FOCUSED GOP DEBATE NOV. 9 -The financial news network and the Michigan GOP will co-host a debate at Oakland University's Rochester, Mich., campus on Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. With news to Republican ears, CNBC president Mark Hoffman described Michigan as "a crucial battle ground state with an unemployment rate over ten percent." He called it "the perfect place for the candidates to present their plans to revive the nation."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b80a23538b946b68b1a7d6b067e9df3f9c196a8d2f5d2f150bf 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=1cbaa23117417b80a23538b946b68b1a7d6b067e9df3f9c196a8d2f5d2f150bf 

WHAT THE CANDIDATES ARE UP TO TODAY: Pawlenty attends two Florida fundraisers and a 4 p.m. meet-and-greet at a coffee shop in Tampa. Rick Santorum has five events in Iowa: a town hall in Indianola at 8 a.m., in Perry at 11:30, in Jefferson at 1:30 p.m., in Carroll at 3:30 and Atlantic at 6 p.m. Paul hosts meet-and-greets at the Iowa City Sheraton this morning and then the Davenport River Music Experience midday. Huntsman tours Citronics offices in South Milford, N.H. Cain gives the keynote at the National Cattleman's Beef Association summer conference in Orlando.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff0603de9981d78913ff63a70e1fc8bcb3a28e219f08d4e07eba 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff0603de9981d78913ff63a70e1fc8bcb3a28e219f08d4e07eba 

CAN'T BUY ME LOVE - GINGRICH'S TWITTER FOLLOWING - A former Newt Gingrich aide told Gawker Monday afternoon that the former House Speaker hired a firm to up his follower count on Twitter. According to the story, many of Gingrich's followers are actually dummy Twitter accounts with no major activity. Gingrich, who has by far the most followers of the 2012 hopefuls - more than 1.3 million in total - has recently boasted of his Twitter creds as proof that has campaign still has momentum. Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond responded: "A false accusation which will hurt the feelings of 1.3 million people. #rude PS: be sure to follow us @newtgingrich." He later tweeted that the story is "untrue."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff06b88548889bcf276ca8c8b8278001de648c2c8922641e937e 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff06b88548889bcf276ca8c8b8278001de648c2c8922641e937e 

SIGHTING - IS LOEB GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT FL-SEN? - Nick Loeb, a wealthy heir to a New York banking family, is reconsidering his decision not to run for Senate in Florida in the wake of State Senate President Mike Haridopolos dropping out of the race. A tipster spotted the New York banking family heir huddling at dinner at La Scalinatella with his girlfriend Sofia Vergara and Republican political consultant Roger Stone. Vergara is the popular Modern Family TV star. She's Columbian and supports a bid, which could be useful with Latino votes in the Sunshine State. Loeb has promised a decision by September. One family friend who knows the potential candidate's thinking told Score that he would
 not have the paper trail and voting record that the other candidates would, which might make the race more of a referendum on incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. He could also partially self fund and talk about his business background. He'd certainly face long odds in a crowded field which includes former state House Majority leader Adam Hasner, former Sen. George LeMieux and former Ruth's Chris Steakhouse CEO Craig Miller.

ABSENTEE TRICKERY IN WISCONSIN -The conservative group Americans for Prosperity is distributing absentee ballots to Democratic voters in the Wisconsin recall elections with the wrong election date. POLITICO's Dave Catanese reports that the ballots come with fliers that tell voters in Democratic areas to return them before Aug. 11 - two days after the election takes place on Aug. 9. The fliers come just after AFP purchased $150,000 in airtime to promote GOP candidates in the state. The group says it's an innocent typo.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff0667d2bce26f370d7c2c144636249b3d5c7e96db28c5cf70b0 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff0667d2bce26f370d7c2c144636249b3d5c7e96db28c5cf70b0 

CABLE BOOKERS - CAIN TO TOUR AFRICAN-AMERICAN MUSEUM - Barack Obama went through his entire Iowa campaign without making a stop at the African-American Museum of Iowa, as his campaign chose deliberately not to emphasize race. Herman Cain plans to visit the Cedar Rapids museum next Monday by bus, a stop that might generate conversation about the African-American's role in the race just days before the Ames straw poll. Cain spokeswoman Ellen Carmichael calls it "just another bus tour stop" and the museum distanced itself from Cain. POLITICO's Juana Summers reminds us that "throughout his campaign, Cain's gone so far as to distance himself from the term 'African-American,' instead calling
 himself an 'American black conservative.' ... [H]is campaign says that he's not putting any special focus on [African-Americans] over the next week and a half until the straw poll."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff06409efaadaf8409e1b92ca5b17ebfc49f0e9c8f1303b36621 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff06409efaadaf8409e1b92ca5b17ebfc49f0e9c8f1303b36621 

DEMOCRATS SWALLOW THE DEBT MEDICINE - HOW SENATE CANDIDATES VOTED ON THE DEAL - The nine House members who have declared Senate campaigns split 5-4 in favor of the debt ceiling vote in the House last night. POLITICO's Dave Catanese: "But four of the yes votes came from Democrats -- Rep. Martin Heinrich in New Mexico, Rep. Mazie Hirono in Hawaii, Rep. Joe Donnelly in Indiana and Rep. Shelley Berkley in Nevada. Only one Republican seeking a Senate seat voted yes, and that was North Dakota's Rick Berg, the strongest favorite of all candidates in the country. Of the four nos, just one was a Democrat -- Connecticut Rep. Chris Murphy, who is in a three-way Democratic primary in a dark blue state."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff066be80c8f970cf6a527fc589dc381adf7852a6c2ab55ebd99 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff066be80c8f970cf6a527fc589dc381adf7852a6c2ab55ebd99 

SENATE SIREN - A NEVADA INDEPENDENT? - Facing very public tax troubles, Las Vegas financial lawyer and Democrat Byron Georgiou said Monday that he would consider a "non-partisan" campaign in the race for Nevada's open Senate seat. This could make a marquee race more complicated for Democrats, just as none of the above and third-party tea party candidates did for Republicans taking on Harry Reid last year. "Right now, I am running as an independent Democrat but I am not precluding anything else in the future," Georgiou said. He is in the middle of a public battle with Reid, after Georgiou failed to tell the Senate Majority Leader about his tax issues before Reid appointed him to the
 Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff062960f565a39f0d2bcec17ee451654442c75020eb7fd67cd0 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff062960f565a39f0d2bcec17ee451654442c75020eb7fd67cd0 

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "She makes for good copy-and good photography." - Jon Huntsman describes Michele Bachmann in an interview with New York Magazine.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff0617807c38e5c591252bfd2e970b683948e065075311d15e45 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff0617807c38e5c591252bfd2e970b683948e065075311d15e45 

Go to POLITICO Morning Score Now >> http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=706f1dae7d2dff06f63405a485bc611fe2b7d1edb0400d105d19a97a6695741c

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