Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Johnson hits Feingold over PAC — Progressives wary of Grayson — 'Jeb!' analysis
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2015 08:04:09 -0600

By Theodoric Meyer

With Elena Schneider, Annie Karni and Burgess Everett

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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TODAY ON CAMPAIGN PRO - "GOP turning the tables on Feingold's financing," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14749e399f54853272bf63e06864ad6fa698b1a60887a55f46 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14749e399f54853272bf63e06864ad6fa698b1a60887a55f46 

STRIFE IN THE CAUCUS - "Progressives balk at Grayson's pitch for leadership post," by POLITICO's Lauren French: "Rep. Alan Grayson, who is eyeing a run for a Florida Senate seat, is hoping to position himself as the progressive alternative to Rep. Patrick Murphy in the Democratic primary. But there's one hitch: Some of the progressives who've worked closely with Grayson in Congress over the years aren't that keen on his candidacy. The wariness of fellow liberal Hill Democrats toward the verbose Floridian crystallized in late April, when Grayson pitched the 70-member Congressional Progressive Caucus on a plan to make a new leadership position for him. Caucus members quashed the effort, in
 part because they didn't want to give Grayson a de facto endorsement from the left wing of the party." 
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Days until the 2015 election: 139. Days until the 2016 election: 510.

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THIS TIME AROUND - DCCC working harder to win House seat in Maine: The National Republican Congressional Committee spent nearly $1 million on TV ads hitting Democrat Emily Cain in the race in Maine's 2nd District last, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee almost nothing attacking Bruce Poliquin, Cain's GOP opponent. Poliquin won. Cain's running again this cycle, and the DCCC is doing more this time around, the Kennebec Journal reports. The DCCC's political director met with her in Maine this month, and Cain was scheduled to come to Washington on Monday for a fundraiser with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and DCCC Chairman Ben Ray Lujan. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be140b87f4b93cc0bf9d950adcce786bf9c73783224ebdcfbfbf 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be140b87f4b93cc0bf9d950adcce786bf9c73783224ebdcfbfbf 

'BRO' BROUHAHA - Kirk apologizes over Graham joke: After 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14c31ff3d1821d399997c2c65e2bc15e83a7ae321705c48be5 
enduring  a 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14f924b000101936bc8d98142e6afc3af9efc91282c1d4378b 
raging  
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14e5395be13b05bd5fed01015de57505135e5e0cf0d5bb2f79 
weekend  of 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14e5395be13b05bd5fed01015de57505135e5e0cf0d5bb2f79 
criticism  back home in Illinois, Sen. Mark Kirk offered a terse apology on Monday evening for calling a potential president Lindsey Graham a "bro with no ho" during official Senate business last week. The Republican senator was grilled by editorial boards and columnists for the past five days after his offhand remarks about the marital status of the single Graham (R-S.C.) at a committee hearing Thursday were picked up by a hot mic. He further upset some in Chicago's black community by saying that his remark is "what we'd say on the South Side." In a statement released Monday evening, Kirk said simply: "I apologize to the people of Illinois for my inappropriate remarks last week." Asked why
 he apologized, Kirk said: "I apologized because it's deserving of an apology." He offered no further comment.

- The Senate Democrats' campaign arm and the Illinois Democratic Party have been mercilessly beating up Kirk over the comment and demanding a more robust apology than the initial explanation, which was that the remark was a joke between friends. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who is challenging Kirk for his Senate seat next year, 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be145542828f3e9c64bc38c0525c2b78e7a7684e6ec134df89e9 
called  Kirk's remarks "really derogatory" at an event in Chicago on Monday. Graham is far less outraged. "He was trying to be funny. I think it didn't work," Graham 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14996f9439bb6b53a323b4baba02d2add4a90925543cc565b6 
told  Katie Couric. "He called our office and I said: 'Mark, don't worry about it.' I know Mark, he's a good guy."

SCORE INTERVIEW - Helene Schneider on her bid to replace Rep. Lois Capps: Schneider, theDemocratic mayor of Santa Barbara, chatted recently with Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider (no relation). For Campaign Pro subscribers: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be1484fdc96f232b04f1bcc8905f3b09b2d491d37813e377f4e8 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be1484fdc96f232b04f1bcc8905f3b09b2d491d37813e377f4e8 

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Five takeaways from Bush's big announcement," by POLITICO's Eli Stokols and Marc Caputo in Miami: Jeb Bush played up ties to the Cuban-American and broader Latino communities in his presidential announcement on Monday and tried to portray himself as a conservative reformer. He "also offered some legacy-making promises - 4 percent annual economic growth and American energy independence in five years after his election." And he sought to brand Hillary Clinton as the "legacy" candidate in the race, rather than himself. "The party now in the White House is planning a no-suspense primary, for a no-change election," Bush said. To hold onto power. To slog on with the
 same agenda under another name." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14526254893f1fef54bd71d4bea05fc0bcd26dad772b9a1cae 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14526254893f1fef54bd71d4bea05fc0bcd26dad772b9a1cae 

- And POLITICO's Katie Glueck has a rundown of the players on Team Jeb: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14ed4fa7158a0a88d53104b064d5575d9182ed7b8401fe0b55 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14ed4fa7158a0a88d53104b064d5575d9182ed7b8401fe0b55 

- "Can Jeb Bush make Republicans believe?" by The Atlantic's Molly Ball: What went for Bush during his lengthy pre-campaign campaign? Ball argues he "just hasn't impressed people since reemerging on the political scene," despite the checks his super PAC's brought in. "Many of the activists I&#39;ve spoken to - even staunch conservatives in rural Iowa - are concerned primarily with nominating a candidate who can win a general election; they are haunted by the unexpected defeat in 2012, and with it, a bewildering sense that they are out of sync with their country&#39;s mainstream. But Bush&#39;s stumbles - and their array of other options - make them wonder if he is the candidate who can turn
 the tide. Why compromise their beliefs for someone who can't close the deal?" 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be140eee4796445389a160179a86b44769cba0911c89287d83af 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be140eee4796445389a160179a86b44769cba0911c89287d83af 

- "Can Hillary match Bernie's frenzied fans?" by Campaign Pro's Kyle Cheney in Des Moines, Iowa: Hillary Clinton's campaign has more than five times the number of paid staffers in Iowa as Bernie Sanders', but her events there haven't matched the energized atmosphere of the Vermont senator's rallies. "Clinton's campaign is battling the perception of an enthusiasm gap, fueled partly by concerns that she's out of sync with the newly aggressive liberal wing of the Democratic Party. How deep that chasm is was hard to discern. As she crisscrossed Iowa all weekend - and moved on to New Hampshire Monday - her events were more heavily orchestrated, high on stagecraft, light on ad libbing. It all
 raises questions about just how deep enthusiasm for her candidacy runs." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14575b31f34370a70a4e782857a3c5e9bb9ea2d965de06faf3 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14575b31f34370a70a4e782857a3c5e9bb9ea2d965de06faf3 

- Meanwhile, Clinton's super PAC has nabbed two veteran pollsters: Priorities USA, the Democratic super PAC backing Hillary Clinton's campaign, has hired two pollsters: Jefrey Pollock, founding partner and president of Global Strategy Group, and Geoff Garin, who oversaw polling on Clinton's 2008 campaign after pollster Mark Penn was pushed out. The hires mark a continuation of the polling team Priorities had in place in 2012, when the super PAC supported Obama's reelection campaign. Pollock's firm also worked on some of the few Democratic wins in the 2014 midterm elections, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's reelection campaign and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy's reelection campaign.
 The pollsters have been working with Priorities and participating in conference calls for months. Their hiring was confirmed to POLITICO after a shakeup of the super PAC's leadership.

CHANGE OF HEART - A retired Blue Dog switches parties: Former Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.), who represented San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles before his defeat in 2012, is now a Republican. "I've always been very conservative in nature," Baca, 68, told The San Bernardino Sun, adding that he'd accused of being a Republican while in the House and asked why he didn't switch parties. "It's always difficult when you change," he added, "but it follows my core Christian values and how I voted the majority of the time I was in office." He didn't rule out another run for office. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be1491870f3e70e161d9f8f933125d601de1d9d1dbe42490eb93 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be1491870f3e70e161d9f8f933125d601de1d9d1dbe42490eb93 

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'That&#39;s a set policy and it&#39;s not me being whatever.' - Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti refused to answer questions on whether he'd gone to a fundraiser during a trip last week to Washington, saying he never discussed "campaign fundraising stuff." The Los Angeles Times reported on Monday evening that he had, in fact, attended a fundraiser. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14b7091e589ea59f711ee48e1b5aad5eb5ed90a78d7e2e66d9 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ebe772c7bc91be14b7091e589ea59f711ee48e1b5aad5eb5ed90a78d7e2e66d9 

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