Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Iowa GOP Senate candidates debate — N.C. pre-primary reports show big outside spending in April — Tea party eats its own in Oklahoma
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 08:05:02 -0600

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

With help from Elizabeth Titus and Tarini Parti 

The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro&#39;s Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races - and for a more comprehensive aggregation of the day&#39;s most important campaign news - sign up for Campaign Pro today. (
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FIGHT NIGHT IN IOWA - ABOUT THE GOP DEBATE: GOP Senate candidates Joni Ernst, Mark Jacobs, Matt Whitaker, Scott Schaben, and Sam Clovis faced off yesterday in the GOP primary&#39;s first televised debate. Tidbits from local news outlets - Des Moines Register: "For the most part, instead of turning the knives on each other, the candidates were forceful in their criticism of U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, the sole Democrat in the race. The seat is open because Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, 74, has decided to retire." (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f6bf0fbad4ee35cbbbef1c004bf5c3d266c2ed890e85c7cc9 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f6bf0fbad4ee35cbbbef1c004bf5c3d266c2ed890e85c7cc9 ) ... The Omaha World-Herald: 'It was tough to differentiate Thursday among the five Republican candidates for Iowa&#39;s open U.S. Senate seat because they agreed on virtually everything. ... Even after the debate, several candidates were stumped when asked how they stood out from their opponents.' (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f683a2b80be6829bc7564193424b96c05720fa4f0ee6c35aa 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f683a2b80be6829bc7564193424b96c05720fa4f0ee6c35aa ) ... Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier: "One of five Republican U.S. Senate candidates faced the question of whether his conservatism would be a general election liability during an Iowa Public Television debate Thursday night. ... Had they all been asked, each would have likely given an answer similar to the one by northwest Iowa professor Sam Clovis." (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f4fb7d5eb583d8ca43b1bc1ab826c0d17d8ee400cb62d30f7 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f4fb7d5eb583d8ca43b1bc1ab826c0d17d8ee400cb62d30f7 ) ... Associated Press: "The five Republicans seeking Iowa's U.S. Senate nomination seemed to agree more than disagree Thursday in their final formal debate before the June 3 primary. There were no political attacks, only nuances during the 90-minute debate held at Iowa Public Television's studios near Des Moines." (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2ff3fb79437110c6f83011d583f5d4ebb0980f79ab13eef941 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2ff3fb79437110c6f83011d583f5d4ebb0980f79ab13eef941 )

IOWA AD WARS: Braley released his first TV ad, a 60-second biographical spot that emphasizes his humble roots. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f24ef0a09f91062cb085663431bbc9d7c396280a47a2a54e8 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f24ef0a09f91062cb085663431bbc9d7c396280a47a2a54e8 

And a new outside group, Trees of Liberty, is spending $257,000 against GOP businessman Mark Jacobs over his position on cap and trade. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f6e16b1a70c54f7400bb50092b61e40fb5404b374cba29e24 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f6e16b1a70c54f7400bb50092b61e40fb5404b374cba29e24 

N.C. PRE-PRIMARY REPORTS ARE IN: Primary season is about to heat up! The pre-primary FEC filing deadline ahead of North Carolina's May 6 primary was yesterday - and while we're still waiting on numbers from state House Speaker Thom Tillis and physician Greg Brannon, the early numbers from one GOP candidate and from a handful of outside groups are instructive. North Carolina Senate candidate Mark Harris, who polls have shown is in third place in the GOP primary, brought in about $44,000 in the first two weeks in April, according to his campaign. He's directing most of his campaign cash toward adding to his media buy in a last-minute effort to get on the runoff ballot. Harris has $75,000
 left. Senate Majority PAC raised about $830,000 in the first two weeks of April, according to the group's pre-primary FEC report filed Thursday. It spent $1.9 million just between April 1 and 16 on media buys opposing Thom Tillis in North Carolina and Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, and supporting Bruce Braley in Iowa. Senate Majority PAC also gave $265,000 to the pro-Begich super PAC Put Alaska First. The Pro-Tillis super PAC Grow NC Strong is spending about $100,000 on media buys in support of Thom Tillis, according to the latest FEC reports. The group's pre-primary reports show that it received $60,000 from the Karl Rove-affiliated American Crossroads, days before it made the ad buy.

TILLIS NEAR 40: A SurveyUSA/Civitas poll has Tillis leading the GOP primary with 39 percent support among likely voters. Brannon follows with 20 percent; Harris with 15 percent; and 19 percent remain undecided. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2fe960356c607c6c99ff4540b3a7a00550693957106efa44c5 
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OTHER N.C. MONEY HIGHLIGHTS: NC-03: GOP Rep. Walter Jones brought in $52,800, has $78,780 on hand and spent $131,720 between April 1 and April 16; meanwhile, primary challenger Taylor Griffin brought in $31,675, has $34,325 on hand and spent $94,970. ... NC-02: Democrat Clay Aiken brought in $53,525, has $74,288 on hand and spent $104,163; his primary opponent, Keith Crisco, brought in $204,255, has $2,080 on hand and spent $240,052.

As Det Bowers shares his thoughts on women and adultery, Thom Tillis gets close to 40 percent and people forget about Herman Cain, here&#39;s POLITICO&#39;s Morning Score: your daily guide to the 2014 midterms.

DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION: 193.

Good Friday morning and welcome to the abridged version of POLITICO Campaign Pro's Morning Score. As always, send your tips, thoughts, and suggestions to 
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TODAY ON CAMPAIGN PRO-

http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f7bb95436ace076de5357129bd886e7d72b2c1c2cf62cb8b8 
VA-10 FIREHOUSE PRIMARY BRINGS UNCERTAINTY TO LIKELY COMSTOCK WIN 

http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2fe09d823b5a72ac8da57f44fc82e8e74b767fa8ce6e94b57a 
NEW GOP POLLING FIRM - CAPITO BY 16 IN W.VA. 

FRIDAY STANDINGS-Here&#39;s Morning Score&#39;s take on how some of the most important candidates, campaigns and political players should answer the question: Are you better off now than you were a week ago?

YES: (1) Curt Clawson, who used his own money to help him win a particularly nasty FL-19 primary; (2) Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, for whom the NYT/Kaiser poll was the latest (and albeit a bit high) in the trend of polls showing him leading GOP Rep. Tom Cotton; and (3) AZ-02 Republican candidate Martha McSally, who's leading Democratic Rep. Ron Barber in her most recent internal poll of the race.

NO: (1) Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, who's running pretty much even with GOP Rep. Cory Gardner in a series of polls all released this week; (2)South Carolina pastor Det Bowers, whose comments from a decade-old sermon are going to make it tougher for him to have any shot against Lindsey Graham; and (3) AFP, which is taking heat over the use of some images of President Obama and Udall in the aftermath of the Aurora shooting and had to change its ad as a result.

TODAY ON POLITICO - 

GRAHAM OPPONENT SAYS WOMEN OFTEN CAUSE HUSBANDS' ADULTERY: Yikes. POLITICO's Manu Raju has the story on pastor Det Bowers, one of the half-dozen candidates challenging South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham in the GOP primary: "During a sermon on the Book of Peter delivered at the Christ Church of the Carolinas, Bowers said it was an 'abominable idolatry' when wives love their children more than their husbands, arguing that's what causes divorces most of the time. He added that in the 'vast preponderance' of situations where men are adulterous, women are to blame because they have showered too much emotion on their children instead of their husbands. 'And yet, I find that in about 95 percent of
 broken marriages, though the husband's the one that ran out on his wife, the wife loves her children more than she does her husband,' Bowers said in an audio recording obtained by POLITICO. 'That is an abominable idolatry.' 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f6b488d0934104a66da7c93a71455c79ce1b0f856692bc99b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=91055b8511603a2f6b488d0934104a66da7c93a71455c79ce1b0f856692bc99b 

TEA PARTY EATS ITS OWN IN OKLAHOMA: Tea party favorites Sarah Palin, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee were in Tulsa, Oklahoma last night to campaign for former state House Speaker T.W. Shannon, who is running to replace retiring GOP Sen. Tom Coburn. POLITICO'S Burgess Everett reports from T-Town: "By embracing Shannon, they are leaving behind Rep. James Lankford, the fifth-highest-ranking member of the House GOP leadership, who is also bidding for the last two years of Coburn's term. Lankford could be forgiven for thinking he had a shot at such prominent endorsements, since he rode the tea party wave of 2010 to a seat in the House. But the conservative glitterati think Shannon is a true believer and
 that Lankford has disappointed them by voting to raise the debt ceiling and joining Speaker John Boehner's team. It's a new strand of Republican civil war: not the typical insurgent-versus-establishment story in the Sooner State, but a battle on the right for the deepest conservative bona fides. And if Shannon pulls off [the victory] over Lankford, it would send a message to Republicans: Watch out, the tea party can still shake up a primary." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e4336a0a032680a4f1094d73e8532d15ef93abca907f97048f1 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e4336a0a032680a4f1094d73e8532d15ef93abca907f97048f1 

IN RELATED NEWS: Graham has agreed to debate his GOP primary challengers on June 7, just three days before the primary. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e435e6728a694af1902e1430e063cc6b52de7b572f135de9264 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e435e6728a694af1902e1430e063cc6b52de7b572f135de9264 

TIED RACE IN FLORIDA? A new Mason-Dixon poll finds GOP Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Charlie Crist tied at 42 percent each, closer than other public polls. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e439752746dd0067b5837418d561e8feadfb69c95b1e67b8c7c 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e439752746dd0067b5837418d561e8feadfb69c95b1e67b8c7c  (Flashback: Mason-Dixon's final 2012 Florida poll: Romney 51, Obama 46: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e4344575d97b4748b3a21d2bcbc08421a35c9a9ba365d89653c 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e4344575d97b4748b3a21d2bcbc08421a35c9a9ba365d89653c )

LIGHTER CLICK: None of the Jeopardy contestants earlier this week remembered Herman Cain. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e438903b62fdac7496a9f2370b4d151563523e44ad00a1f3096 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e438903b62fdac7496a9f2370b4d151563523e44ad00a1f3096 

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "When you've written 10 books and have six on the New York Times best-seller list ... I think you have a right to be a member of Congress." -Marianne Williamson, independent candidate for retiring Rep. Henry Waxman's seat, in NYT's fantastic profile of the CA-33 race by Mark Leibovich. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e43947d871d7e75e1c174ed824f245b76bb01468031e2be7815 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=fb2e3bccba088e43947d871d7e75e1c174ed824f245b76bb01468031e2be7815 

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