Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Field forms to succeed Coats -- Benishek bails on term limit pledge -- Nebraska’s Ashford gets a meaty challenge
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 25 Mar 2015 08:02:00 -0600

By Kyle Cheney

With Sandhya Raman and Theodoric Meyer

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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HOOSIER HOT STOVE - The race to succeed retiring Indiana Sen. Dan Coats launched quickly on Tuesday, with a slew of would-be senators lining up on both sides of the aisle. A quick rundown of the developments and names that emerged:

- Eric Holcomb (R): Dan Coats's chief of staff seems to have the inside track on the senator's support, if unofficially. Coats declined to endorse him Tuesday but said he had the right qualities to be a senator and that they shared the same values. Holcomb took a leave of absence to consider a bid

- Evan Bayh (D): The two-term senator, two-term governor and Democratic dream candidate has a pile of cash but doesn't seem interested in running for his old seat. Through a surrogate, he told reporters that he isn't a candidate - but stopped noticeably short of saying wouldn't be a candidate later on.

- Baron Hill (D): The former congressman had been considering a gubernatorial bid in 2016 but now says he's giving serious consideration to a Senate run as well.

- Marlin Stutzman (R): Rep. Stutzman is a conservative favorite who has bucked the GOP establishment and bring conservative street cred to the GOP primary. He confirmed that he's seriously looking at the seat.

- The rest of the GOP delegation: Reps. Todd Young, Todd Rokita and Jackie Walorski are also in the Senate mix and could be viable contenders.

The full story:
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BENISHEK BREAKS PLEDGE - Michigan Rep. plans to run for fourth term: Michigan GOP Rep. Dan Benishek said Tuesday that he&#39;ll seek a fourth term next year, despite pledging to serve only three terms when he first ran for Congress in 2010. 'Serving Northern Michigan has been - and continues to be - a privilege, and it is my sincere hope that the voters of the 1st District will allow me to continue representing them and their families,' Benishek said in a statement. 'I recognize this conflicts with past statements I made when first running for office.' Michigan Democrats immediately attacked Benishek for the reversal, which was first reported by Interlochen Public Radio, a northern Michigan
 NPR affiliate. "Disappointed to hear that Congressman Benishek will break his three-term pledge,' Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Lon Johnson 
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wrote on Twitter . 'Northern Michigan deserves better.'

As Jeb hits bumps in South Carolina and Lindsey Graham tells it like it is, here&#39;s POLITICO&#39;s Morning Score: daily news, notes and essential information for the 2015 and 2016 election cycles.

Days until the 2015 election: 223; Days until the 2016 election: 594

Thanks for joining us. We're eager for your news and feedback. Email us at 
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ASHFORD CHALLENGER JUMPS IN - "Citing military and foreign policy as priorities, retired Brig. Gen. Don Bacon announces bid for Congress," by the Omaha World-Herald's Robynn Tysver: "Retired Brig. Gen. Don Bacon of Papillion became the first Republican to formally enter the Omaha-based congressional race Tuesday, calling himself a 'conservative outsider' who will work to ensure the nation&#39;s military is prepared to handle any threat. He also said he planned to put his unique last name to great political use ... 'I think I can one-up Joni Ernst with this slogan: A vote for Bacon will always be a vote against pork,' smiled Bacon." 
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WAITING FOR HILLARY - "Report cites favoritism for McAuliffe and brother of Hillary Clinton," by POLITICO's Josh Gerstein: A Department of Homeland Security watchdog report issued Tuesday blasted the agency's No. 2 official for repeatedly intervening on behalf of well-connected participants in an investor-visa program, including Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D-Va.) and Tony Rodham, a brother of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The inspector general report faults Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for creating 'an appearance of favoritism and special access' as a result of highly unusual steps he took while serving as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
 Services, which oversaw the investment-based program known as EB-5. 
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- "Ready for Hillary's activity surges ahead of campaign launch," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "As Hillary Clinton approaches her 2016 campaign kickoff, one of the main political action committees backing her is ramping up its activity, despite expectations that it would be quietly winding down by now. Ready for Hillary has signed up at least one new member for its finance council - donors pledging $25,000, the group's self-imposed limit - every day since March 5, leaders of the group told POLITICO ... The intensified interest in the PAC suggests her allies are rallying to support her ahead of an expected April announcement that she will run for president." 
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2016 GOP - "Jeb's South Carolina firewall fails to take shape," by POLITICO's James Hohmann from Greenville, S.C.: "While Jeb Bush - who made his first trip to the state last week as an all-but-announced candidate for the presidency - is undeniably the beneficiary of the goodwill generated by past family campaigns, more than two dozen interviews on the ground show that the reservoir of support is neither as wide nor as deep as he might have hoped. 'There's going to be some resistance to a Bush III here,' said Fred Payne, a member of the Greenville County Council who backed George W. 15 years ago and is now uncommitted ... While nearly everyone agrees that the 2016 field is currently wide
 open, the buzz at the grass roots is about neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (who has been spending a lot of time here) and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul - but not Bush." 
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- "Bush 'disagrees' with Baker's position on Israel," by POLITICO's James Hohmann: "Jeb Bush distanced himself Tuesday from James Baker, who is advising him on foreign policy, after the former secretary of state directed criticism at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a testament to the potency of the topic in Republican politics, the former Florida governor's campaign said that Baker - a close family friend over five decades - is merely one of 'a wide range of advisers on foreign policy.' ... In a speech to the left-leaning advocacy group J Street on Monday, Baker blasted Netanyahu for 'diplomatic missteps and political gamesmanship.'" 
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- "Jeb fundraiser gets special guest: George W.," by James Hohmann and Alex Isenstadt: "Jeb Bush knows he pays a price for his last name, so he might as well fully collect on its benefits too. On Wednesday, the former Florida governor, who stresses in public appearances that he is his "own man," heads to Dallas for his first fundraiser of the year with George W. Bush. Dealing with his brother, the 43rd president, is one of the most difficult needles Jeb must thread as he prepares for a formal launch of his own presidential campaign in the coming months. Insiders say Jeb's team is still figuring out how to utilize George W. For now, aides are happy to maximize the advantages, particularly
 when it comes to raising money, getting outside advice from old administration hands and leveraging the Bush mystique to establish him as the frontrunner." 
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- "Cruz dodges digital blunder," by POLITICO's Darren Samuelsohn: "Ted Cruz's digital troubles eased a bit Tuesday after an anonymous fan who owns the rights to two key "tedcruz2016" websites agreed to redirect traffic to the Texas senator's official campaign page. The transfer, set to happen later Tuesday night, doesn't involve any money or promises of meetings with the Republican presidential candidate, said Troy Kadavy, an Omaha, Neb., marketing executive who represents the unnamed man who purchased the domains tedcruz2016.com and tedcruz2016.org back in 2012. 
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- "Lindsey Graham: The GOP's straight-talk 2016 hopeful," by POLITICO's Manu Raju: "As he prepares his own likely 2016 bid, Graham is positioning himself as the realist in the GOP field, a battle-tested pol who knows what it takes to cut a deal and isn't afraid to pour cold water on the lofty promises of his would-be rivals. In an interview with POLITICO, the South Carolina senator made clear that he plans to talk in sober detail about the need to overhaul the social safety net and reform the immigration system to allow foreign workers into the United States. He's intending to look Republican primary voters in the eye and tell them the GOP needs to - yes - cut deals with Democrats if it
 wants to survive as a party." 
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- "Jindal assembles 2016 finance team-in-waiting," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck: "Bobby Jindal is pressing forth with plans for a presidential campaign, lining up a finance team-in-waiting for a likely but long-shot bid. The Louisiana governor is expected to decide whether he's running after his state's legislative session ends in June. Jindal aide Alexandra Bautsch Grunewald is on deck to serve as campaign finance director, a source close to the Jindal operation told POLITICO. She has been with the Republican since his days in Congress in the early 2000s and has worked both as a fundraiser and finance director for his gubernatorial campaign ... Janice Knopp, a former finance director of the
 National Republican Congressional Committee who specializes in direct mail, would be a fundraiser on the campaign, the source said. Timmy Teepell, a former chief of staff to the governor, is a likely candidate to be campaign manager, though the Jindal source stressed that no final decision has been made on that role. 
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CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Reubin Askew taught me an important lesson: When you are the senior member in the entire state, you don't get involved in a primary." - Florida Sen. Bill Nelson on why he doesn't plan to pick a favorite in the developing Florida Senate field (despite praising Rep. Patrick Murphy). Via the Tampa Bay Times: 
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