Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Schwartz’s first ad focuses on children’s health care—Behind the Club’s endorsement process—Five questions for the week ahead—Score Q&A with Lucy Flores—Ending Spending boosts Brown in N.H.
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 07 Apr 2014 03:58:51 -0600

By Emily Schultheis (
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[email-masked] ; Twitter: @emilyrs) and Jose DelReal (
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[email-masked] ; Twitter: @jdelreal)

With help from Elizabeth Titus

NEW THIS MORNING-SCHWARTZ'S FIRST AD TALKS UP CHIP: Pennsylvania Rep. Allyson Schwartz was the only Democratic gubernatorial candidate left who hadn't gone on the air ahead of the May 20 primary-and today she's changing that, with an ad that focuses on her efforts to pass the Children's Health Insurance Program as a state legislator in the 1990s. "There are a lot of kids in our state who did not have access to insurance-but in the state Senate, no one really seemed to care," Schwartz says in the ad. "I pushed, and I pushed hard, and we got it done. And it was signed into law by [former Pennsylvania] Gov. Casey. It became the national model for Bill Clinton and hundreds of thousands of
 children in PA have benefited," she says, concluding it's an example of the kind of "big ideas" and "leadership" she would bring as governor.Schwartz, once seen as the frontrunner in the Democratic race, has found her early polling lead eclipsed by wealthy businessman Tom Wolf, who's been running millions of dollars' worth of TV ads this year. Schwartz presumably waited to advertise until she knew she could sustain the ads through to primary day; now that she's on air, pay attention to the polling numbers to see if or when they narrow. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880158c086918b45d9e6798e43d526c9a63cd78bde8b1ae22f18 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880158c086918b45d9e6798e43d526c9a63cd78bde8b1ae22f18 

CLUB FOR GROWTH&#39;S ART OF WAR: POLITICO&#39;S Alexander Burns and Anna Palmer report on the conservative Club for Growth's demanding endorsement process: "Among the conservative outside groups that have shaken up GOP politics over the last half-decade, no organization matches the intensity of the Club's endorsement process. Nor, for that matter, does any group match the Club in its ability to upend primaries and drag the Republican Party and its candidates to the right. This midterm season, the Club for Growth is the preeminent institution promoting Republican adherence to a free-market, free-trade, anti-regulation agenda. It has endorsed only seven candidates so far, including three who
 are challenging Republican incumbents, and will back each of them to the hilt. The Club's choices - and its screening process - are in essence a road map for the electoral agenda of economic conservatives in 2014. About half a dozen hopefuls tramp through the Club's offices in downtown Washington each week to plead for the group's support, subjecting themselves to an interview and vetting process that several described as intrusive, even offensive, in its scope." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801065800d1cef2f00649fd98de84c2e8e680bcfeaeb5b3f832 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801065800d1cef2f00649fd98de84c2e8e680bcfeaeb5b3f832 

FIRST IN SCORE-TWO NEW DEM AD CAMPAIGNS: The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is launching a series of robocalls in more than 60 House districts, hitting Republican incumbents and candidates over the GOP budget. "You're already getting squeezed, and these Republicans in Congress are just making it worse," the call will say. "Their latest budget would cost 3 million jobs, raise taxes on families like yours, give tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, end the Medicare guarantee and raise costs on seniors." The calls are part of the committee's new "Battleground: Middle Class" initiative, which began last week with a series of online ads. The Democratic Senatorial
 Campaign Committee, seizing on another issue national Democrats hope to use against the GOP this year, is launching a new "GOP Pay Gap" campaign hitting Republicans for voting against the Paycheck Fairness Act and similar legislation. The campaign, which will feature online ads and social media efforts, will focus on what DSCC spokeswoman Regan Page calls the GOP's "baseless opposition to commonsense measures that would end gender based pay discrimination."

As the fundraising numbers keep coming in, Lucy Flores talks Nevada politics and Sarah Palin brings in big bucks for Karen Handel, here&#39;s POLITICO&#39;s Morning Score: your daily guide to the 2014 midterms.

DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION: 211.

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT: You've probably noticed that Morning Score has been going deeper into the most-competitive races in recent days. This is the new and improved Morning Score, designed especially for you-Campaign Pro's community of political professionals. On April 9th this enhanced version of Morning Score will be exclusive for Pros only. Get the campaign intelligence you need to do your job by signing up for Campaign Pro today. Know what #ProsKnow- 
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Good Monday morning and welcome to Morning Score. As always, send your tips, thoughts, and suggestions to 
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[email-masked]  or tweet them to @emilyrs.

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD-

1) Which candidate posts the most impressive fundraising total this week?

2) ...And which incumbents get outraised by their challengers?

3) How do Republicans respond to President Obama's and national Democrats' big equal pay push this week?

4) Which 2016er gets the best reception at the Citizens United/AFP summit in New Hampshire this weekend?

5) Are we finally done with retirements, or will any other member of Congress call it quits before their states' filing deadlines?

FILING DEADLINES THIS WEEK: Today: North Dakota ... Thursday: New York ... Friday: Oklahoma.

FUNDRAISING TICKER: ME-Sen: GOP Sen. Susan Collins raised more than $870,000 and has $3.6 million on hand: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880118ff3e65c7c90e63d9dc1301c2065f568fcfd7390ca8a435 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880118ff3e65c7c90e63d9dc1301c2065f568fcfd7390ca8a435  ... OK-05: Republican Patrice Douglas raised more than $400,000: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880157049e182638b213a475ff74cba5f30b562320ddf0343f20 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880157049e182638b213a475ff74cba5f30b562320ddf0343f20  ... VA-08: Democrat Patrick Hope raised $185,000 and has $140,000 on hand: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801e9d1ca8a6bec7855f3591044bc7ef40cf4c2afca261c5b56 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801e9d1ca8a6bec7855f3591044bc7ef40cf4c2afca261c5b56  ... FL-18: Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy raised more than $675,000, has $2.2 million on hand: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801d1e2f2ec0e70ee6669ca61bf198cb818212cbce164fbf4f7 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801d1e2f2ec0e70ee6669ca61bf198cb818212cbce164fbf4f7  ... CA-07: Republican former Rep. Doug Ose raised more than $255,000 and has more than $415,000 on hand: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801e096d385d3185e7e8120c4bb7c812e4566ff8ac5004efbbe 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801e096d385d3185e7e8120c4bb7c812e4566ff8ac5004efbbe 

SCORE Q&A WITH LUCY FLORES: Your Score correspondent caught up with Flores, the Nevada Democratic state assemblywoman running to be the state's next lieutenant governor, at the AAPC conference in San Diego. As POLITICO's Manu Raju reported, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is putting his political operation behind Flores to keep Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval from challenging him for the Senate in 2016: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801cee5fe03c759aa3bade74f0c81d80bc90c646ade8c330083 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801cee5fe03c759aa3bade74f0c81d80bc90c646ade8c330083 ).

On her relationship with Harry Reid: "We certainly had conversations-I had conversations with him, with the speaker of the House, with the Senate majority leader ... I just really ensured for my own purposes that I put my ducks in a row. And certainly Sen. Reid was one of those ducks. Having his support is certainly critical ... but I have to do it with a broad coalition of support. So of course there were conversations, but there were much broader conversations."

On why Democrats didn't field a credible candidate to run against Sandoval: "I think there's probably several factors: [Sandoval] does have a high favorability rating, but ultimately in that kind of a race, it's going to take a large amount of resources. So I don't know that anyone has $5 to $10 million just laying around. And also, it's not a given: I certainly cannot speak for people and why they decided they weren't going to do it, but ultimately it wasn't going to be a cakewalk race and perhaps that's one of the reasons it was difficult to field a candidate."

On the GOP's relationship with Hispanic voters, nationally and in Nevada: "Certainly nationally, I don't believe [Republicans] are taking the lessons of 2012 and using them ... In Nevada specifically, because of the fact that Latinos are voting and because of the fact that they have overperformed in these last election cycles, you have seen a change from especially Gov. Sandoval. He went from being pro-SB 1070 in 2010 to in 2014, four years later, signing drivers' authorization cards ... agreeing with the Hispanic Caucus that we needed to fund ELL education in Nevada, and doing all these various things that really supported the Hispanic community. Think you are seeing some changes locally
 in Nevada, but I think that's also a testament to the voting strength of the Latino community."

On her GOP opponents, state Sen. Mark Hutchison and former state Sen. Sue Lowden: "I think that they're both nice people. We don't agree on issues, and obviously we're going to talk about that throughout the general. They both have their pros and cons, I suppose, and they're both in the Republican primary talking about the various things they think are important ... I'm not focusing too much on what they're talking about apart from monitoring what they think are Nevada's biggest issues, and preparing for either one of them in June."

SENATE DEMS' INCUMBENT-PROTECTION PROGRAM: In case you missed it last night, POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Darren Goode look at how Senate Democrats are propping up their vulnerable colleagues by giving them big roles in legislating this year: "At-risk senators will get to beef up their back-home cred by taking the lead on bills and amendments tailored to their campaigns. And they won't be stuck in the back row at news conferences but will be in front of TV cameras and taking center stage during Senate debates. ... Leaders are coalescing around giving Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor the lead on a bill to protect the Medicare eligibility age, which has become a key issue in his race. Kay Hagan
 will tout her fight for long-term unemployment benefits rejected by the GOP-dominated North Carolina Legislature and her likely opponent, statehouse Speaker Thom Tillis. And leaders hope to give Jeanne Shaheen a triumph on energy efficiency, a bipartisan breakthrough that would play well in purple New Hampshire. There are other, more narrowly tailored options that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and his lieutenants could consider. Hagan has a bipartisan deal on a sportsman's bill to shore up her hunting cred, while Colorado's Mark Udall and Louisiana's Mary Landrieu want to fast-track U.S. natural gas imports - a key industry in their states." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880185303f34697bc0c7d9bc02ca598ff5682e5073dd1c783804 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880185303f34697bc0c7d9bc02ca598ff5682e5073dd1c783804 

NEW THIS WEEK-ENDING SPENDING BOOSTS BROWN IN NEW AD: The Pete Ricketts-funded GOP group Ending Spending Action Fund is going on the air with a new ad boosting Republican Scott Brown in his New Hampshire Senate bid, according to the New Hampshire Journal. The ad-which doesn't mention Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen at all-shows video footage of Brown in 2010 talking about the harmful effects of Obamacare, a big part of his campaign in that year's special election. "Scott Brown was right on Obamacare-he's right for New Hampshire now," the ad says. No word on the size of the buy, but Ending Spending told the NHJ that it will run on WMUR-TV and cable sports networks in the state. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880156fd1583a818bbebedf01a51bfa9770c49ac76e3fe1197cf 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880156fd1583a818bbebedf01a51bfa9770c49ac76e3fe1197cf 

HANDEL GETS PALIN BOOST IN GEORGIA: Republican Georgia Senate hopeful Karen Handel raised $150,000 in the 10 days after Sarah Palin endorsed her, Handel&#39;s campaign said Sunday, offering a new data point about the impact of Palin&#39;s support these days (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b088018b4bf70dfacc12fd953d7ce9a6bf208ccdd5c5d233ffcf46 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b088018b4bf70dfacc12fd953d7ce9a6bf208ccdd5c5d233ffcf46 ). Palin&#39;s visit to Georgia on Thursday helped the former Komen foundation executive capitalize on primary opponent David Perdue&#39;s recently leaked comments disparaging her qualifications as a high school-only graduate (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880156db1da5f654e59bf8bf8779cd6863ea8b4f451e83657602 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880156db1da5f654e59bf8bf8779cd6863ea8b4f451e83657602 ). She came into the year having to play catch-up against better-financed primary opponents, and she has tended to poll toward the middle or bottom of the pack. But the sudden focus on Handel, the sole woman in the primary, could make things interesting as Republicans vie for the chance to run against Democratic frontrunner Michelle Nunn for the open seat.

HUGE DEM FIELD IN VA-08 SHRINKS BY ONE: The field for retiring Rep. Jim Moran's northern Virginia House seat, one of the most crowded Democratic primaries in the country this year, got slightly smaller this weekend when state Del. Alfonso Lopez decided to exit the race. Citing a lack of sufficient financial resources, Lopez emailed supporters saying he was out-but he didn't endorse one of the many other Democrats in the race. Still running are former Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, state Sen. Adam Ebbin, state Del. Patrick Hope, Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille, state Del. Charniele Herring, Bruce Shuttleworth, Lavern Chatman, radio talker Mark Levine, Satish Korpe and Derek Hyra. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880109ffd4bac50c16bdcbe16098fb29a089de69d04950a040e4 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880109ffd4bac50c16bdcbe16098fb29a089de69d04950a040e4 

LIGHTER CLICK-In honor of last night's 'Game of Thrones' Season 4 premiere, USA Today looks at the political lessons from the show: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880122524fb8ca1b0c22c608db9c6392dfc63871e4a5b554011d 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b0880122524fb8ca1b0c22c608db9c6392dfc63871e4a5b554011d 

ACROSS THE MAP-Quick takes from races around the country:

SENATE-

-VA-Sen first look: The Republican Party of Virginia is out with a new web video today hitting Democratic Sen. Mark Warner on energy issues and the carbon tax, similar to a recent attack from GOP candidate Ed Gillespie. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b088010bc2e54462440d332cb13416328adc5b5c3212df30122edd 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b088010bc2e54462440d332cb13416328adc5b5c3212df30122edd 

-OK-Sen: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee endorsed Republican Rep. James Lankford in the special election to replace retiring GOP Sen. Tom Coburn. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801014136974e9d73b67d63a283520919d7967424431abea315 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801014136974e9d73b67d63a283520919d7967424431abea315 

-SC-Sen: New Hampshire GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte went to Charleston this weekend for a fundraiser with incumbent GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801d630d4a14f2b2bf866a96a4f83e55a02959e43019bf2d82f 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801d630d4a14f2b2bf866a96a4f83e55a02959e43019bf2d82f 

-NH-Sen: Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown hired former aide Colin Reed to serve as his campaign manager. Reed will leave his post as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie&#39;s deputy communications director to move to the Granite State. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b088017c0374f36a867a6df7ada647f5b4198e86bdf3448c498d2f 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b088017c0374f36a867a6df7ada647f5b4198e86bdf3448c498d2f 

HOUSE-

-FL-13: National Democrats are reportedly working hard to recruit former state CFO Alex Sink to run against now-GOP Rep. David Jolly in the general election after falling short in last month's special. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801dc78d49cfeca56c971341f18a6fb6f582157d937efab5507 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801dc78d49cfeca56c971341f18a6fb6f582157d937efab5507 

-RI-01: Republican John Loughlin, who ran against Democratic Rep. David Cicilline in 2010, won't challenge him this year. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801a3d3ab725208fe1f4644e7bf8e63f2d82b23443e5ec43678 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801a3d3ab725208fe1f4644e7bf8e63f2d82b23443e5ec43678 

-CA-33: Democratic state Sen. Ted Lieu picked up an endorsement from the California Teachers Association in the race to succeed Rep. Henry Waxman. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801bd0a79a8699a5913b0cddadf73d2aebcc19f7da8260dee97 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801bd0a79a8699a5913b0cddadf73d2aebcc19f7da8260dee97 

-NY-13: Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel reportedly hasn't paid rent on his district office since before 2013, per the New York Post. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801a3b4a6690793558487ac8c795976d119081a0f0b081822e0 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801a3b4a6690793558487ac8c795976d119081a0f0b081822e0 

-MN-01: Businessman Aaron Miller has been selected by Republican delegates in the First District to challenge incumbent Democratic Rep. Tim Walz. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801886e4a39f5c79484ae0da6109332cf5b3c42925f858c5dc5 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801886e4a39f5c79484ae0da6109332cf5b3c42925f858c5dc5 

-WV-03: Rep. Nick Rahall considered retiring before the Democratic leadership dissuaded him, according to CNN&#39;s John King. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801847a212269e4126af8c79f0ad2f4e12e010fdefe6923aa03 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b08801847a212269e4126af8c79f0ad2f4e12e010fdefe6923aa03 

GOVERNORS-

-DGA: The Democratic Governors Association raised $12.5 million in the first quarter of 2014, about half as much as the Republican Governors Association raised in the same time period. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b088012202d1228e783a0bfd57dca6cb4922718ef7d689f80edb31 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ce58d6a4e7b088012202d1228e783a0bfd57dca6cb4922718ef7d689f80edb31 

-AZ-Gov: Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum endorsed Republican Frank Riggs, who is running to replace outgoing Gov. Jan Brewer in a crowded GOP field. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943db0f71001cd113e42a2955e0ec5e3b07c501d353947b47a5f 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943db0f71001cd113e42a2955e0ec5e3b07c501d353947b47a5f 

-IL-Gov: GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner released a TV ad in which he appears alongside his wife Diana Rauner, who says she is a Democrat (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943de3b0fd506896f5d1e079f85e798cece61d05ccb2b71c3e08 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943de3b0fd506896f5d1e079f85e798cece61d05ccb2b71c3e08 ). Still, the Chicago Tribune notes that she's donated more to Republicans than Democrats: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943d91d3ae7bc5001dd747fd393e5fb0eb69363d96b5e3081fa1 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943d91d3ae7bc5001dd747fd393e5fb0eb69363d96b5e3081fa1 

-CO-Gov: Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin endorsed former GOP Rep. Tom Tancredo in his bid for governor. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943dd59b4e999c2247704745a34b63ea4dcae7595b844d1aa80a 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943dd59b4e999c2247704745a34b63ea4dcae7595b844d1aa80a 

-NE-Gov: Republican Jon Bruning released an attack ad against his GOP primary opponent, Pete Ricketts, hitting him for the third-party attack ads that have been going after Bruning lately (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943ddbd3671074cffa3e086fd03695bb10becb04cda809e8f677 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943ddbd3671074cffa3e086fd03695bb10becb04cda809e8f677 ). Meanwhile, Sarah Palin was in town this weekend to endorse Ricketts: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943dcf8d79575282da4f17aa12670c758ae3eb79082468aa0120 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943dcf8d79575282da4f17aa12670c758ae3eb79082468aa0120 

CODA-QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'll ... give them the best race they've ever seen." -Pennsylvania GOP Gov. Tom Corbett, talking about his reelection bid this weekend 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943d81ec4ec008e2ff232dbc98ea871ac078afb1a7119f4d301d 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dc26cd5d5cee943d81ec4ec008e2ff232dbc98ea871ac078afb1a7119f4d301d 

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