Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score, presented by Pandora: Koch network identifying primary candidates – Score Q&A with Jason Kander
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2015 09:04:57 -0600

By Elena Schneider | 11/12/2015 10:03 AM EDT

With Kevin Robillard, Burgess Everett and Theodoric Meyer

The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro's Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races - and for a more comprehensive aggregation of the day's most important campaign news - sign up for Campaign Pro today. (http://www.politicopro.com/proinfo)

TOP TALKER -- "How the Kochs created Joni Ernst," by POLITICO's Kenneth P. Vogel, with Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer: "Joni Ernst was surprised to receive an invitation in the summer of 2013 that she later credited with starting her meteoric rise to the U.S. Senate. Ernst was then a little-known Iowa state senator and lieutenant colonel in the National Guard who was considering a long-shot campaign for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.  ... Operatives affiliated with the Kochs' political network invited Ernst to the network's August 2013 gathering of wealthy conservative donors at a posh resort in Albuquerque's Santa Ana Pueblo."

-- "[T]he network's financial support for Ernst ― detailed here for the first time ― offers the first signs of a move into GOP primaries. The Kochs and their allies are investing in a pipeline to identify, cultivate and finance business-oriented candidates from the local school board all the way to the White House, and Koch operatives are already looking for opportunities to challenge GOP incumbents deemed insufficiently hard-line in their opposition to government spending and corporate subsidies." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=584395a31660ccf80bc241cb759851ce63251416c6ea881d7d75044c5f8a8df5

SCORE Q&A -- Kander: "I think we need more people in Congress that have done something harder than run for reelection": Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard and POLITICO's Burgess Everett sat down in D.C. last month with Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, the likely Democratic nominee to take on GOP Sen. Roy Blunt. A transcript of their conversation, condensed and edited for clarity, follows:

POLITICO: Why are you running for Senate?

Kander: It's become a cliche to say that Washington is broken, unfortunately that's the only bipartisan consensus out there now. I think it's so much worse than that. I think we are dangerously close to people just sort of throwing up their hands and saying 'Maybe this is permanent.' For me, as somebody who has really put themselves on the line for the idea that this country, this democracy, can work, it bothers me a lot that people feel that way. And that makes me feel a sense of obligation to step up and try to do what I can to make it better. 

POLITICO: How much do you need to separate yourself from the national Democratic party to win this race?

Kander: I just don't think about it that way. I've always been somebody who, I stand up for what I believe, and I say what I believe, and that has always worked for me. In Missouri, this is always going to be the case, people are just tired of folks saying what they think they are supposed to say or whatever. There's obviously been times when I disagreed with people in my party, all the way going back to the state house. I think we need more people in Congress that have done something harder than run for reelection. And I have. 

POLITICO: Did you think it was going to be a risk politically to come out against the Iran deal? 

Kander: I felt strongly about it, so I opposed it. I felt no pressure whatsoever to take the position I took, but a lot of people pressured me, there was political pressure to come out for it. I lost an endorsement over it. I'm in this to do what I believe. 

POLITICO: Did you talk to Sen. Claire McCaskill, a supporter of the deal, about your position?

Kander: We disagreed on the issue, but we agreed that we both were doing what we thought was right. It's not the only place we're going to disagree.

POLITICO: Did you expect the GOP to get in early against you?

Kander: I expect to win this race, so I expect the people who currently hold the seat to put up a pretty good fight for it. 

** A message from Pandora: When Pandora plays your message works. Audio advertising is the perfect mobile ad solution to communicate and engage with today's connected voter. Pandora reaches over 70 million monthly voting-age listeners who spend an average of 2+ hours per day listening to Pandora. We can help you engage your target voters anytime, anywhere with premium audio, display, and video solutions across all platforms. **

Days until the Louisiana runoff: 9. Days until the 2016 election: 362.

Thanks for joining us. Email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked], [email-masked] and [email-masked].

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about death row: @politico_steve, @kyledcheney, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer.

GOT PLANS THIS MORNING? -- POLITICO's Steve Shepard will moderate a panel on "the New American Electorate: How will we know what they're thinking?" A conversation on the future of polling and how American voters are diversifying, becoming harder to reach, and less willing to participate in traditional telephone surveys. Featured speakers: Neil Newhouse, Partner and Co-Founder, Public Opinion Strategies; Margie Omero, Managing Director, Purple Insights; Patrick Ruffini, Co-Founder, Echelon Insights and Founder, Engage; Scott Keeter, Director of Survey Research, Pew Research Center ... When: Thursday, November 12 - Doors at 8:00 a.m. ... Where: The Grand Hyatt - 1000 H St. NW 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d4d412e11ec940ae740707169571ef5a550d0d2f689c385363e69fc13de1c1b1 

SO FAR, IN COLORADO -- One state's unlikely Obamacare replacement plan: single-payer," by POLITICO Pro Health's Rachana Pradhan, with Jennifer Haberkorn: "One of the most detailed plans to replace Obamacare this year comes not from a Republican critic, but from a group in swing-state Colorado that is proposing to scrap it for a single-payer model long sought by liberals. Supporters, who won approval this week for a 2016 ballot measure after securing nearly 110,000 signatures deemed valid, will sell the overhaul as an Obamacare replacement plan designed in Colorado, instead of in Washington. ... [T]the National Republican Senatorial Committee has tried to tie Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet
 to the plan as he runs for reelection. In October, the group wrote that because of his support of Obamacare, 'a Bennet-backed single-payer health care plan is no stretch for the imagination.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d4d412e11ec940ae7294af35e963aa1145c8e6e69fb833970feedbc85bc503d2

CUBA LIBRE -- "The coming fight between Rubio and Cruz," by POLITICO's Eli Stokols and Katie Glueck, with Daniel Strauss and Steve Shepard: "Going into the week, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio seemed to be the rivalry to watch in the GOP primary. After the fourth Republican debate, that's been replaced by a new and perhaps more consequential storyline: the coming collision of Rubio and Ted Cruz. The two Cuban-Americans, both 40-something, first-term senators with Tea Party credentials, continue to trail outsider candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson in the polls. But they're increasingly viewed as the candidates to beat in their respective lanes - Rubio as the new establishment front-runner and
 Cruz beginning to consolidate support from the party's more conservative wing. The consensus view that they outperformed their rivals Tuesday has only served to cement that impression." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d4d412e11ec940ae501b2db93b58a0cbe325569edce4031970e5cf023f1d7a04

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Is it a cheap shot to say I came but the other guy didn't?" -- Vitter, who attended a forum at Southern University in New Orleans Wednesday night that Democrat John Bel Edwards skipped. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d4d412e11ec940aeb6b897159580c2b586fdbb4af0507f25d3d292c9951261a6

WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER: LEGISLATIVE COMPASS - POLITICO Pro, POLITICO's premium subscription service, arms policy professionals with the ability to do more than just track bills. With Legislative Compass, Pros can quickly compare bill language, get whip counts, understand where bills originate and track who supports specific legislation in Congress. Become a Pro and empower yourself to make smarter decisions. Schedule your demo today. 

** A message from Pandora: Music streaming is on pace to double by the end of 2015* as millions of listeners tune in every day. Pandora offers precision targeting solutions to target voters by age, gender, location, political affiliation and more with premium audio, video and display advertising solutions across all devices and platforms.

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*Next Big Sound-Midyear Report 8/11/15. **

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