Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: DCCC launches national ad campaign — Trump heads to Capitol Hill — Missouri Rising stockpiles ammo against Koster
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2016 08:04:48 -0600

By Theodoric Meyer | 07/07/2016 10:01 AM EDT

With Elena Schneider and Kevin Robillard

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)

NEW THIS MORNING - DCCC launches national cable buy to bind House Republicans to Trump: The DCCC is going all-in on its efforts to tie House Republicans to Donald Trump, launching a seven-figure national ad campaign ahead of the Republican National Convention. Two ads will air on cable nationwide. The first features voters wondering how Republicans in Congress could support Trump. "If he's our standard-bearer, what the heck happened to our standards?" an older man leaning against his porch says in the ad. The words: "If your Republican Representative supports Trump, should they be representing you?" then appear on the screen. The second ad accuses House Republicans of not "standing up to
 the bully." Watch the first ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=48a580f723bafad96425233c43d12f8bc8af37d52427a73916abf364eba67443 Watch the second ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=48a580f723bafad9461f94055dabd17b874d122f6185e71a8f6df5409cff0a57

- The ads will start airing Monday on cable networks like CNN and MSNBC, as well as online, and run through the Republican convention. The DCCC will also run localized versions of the ads, targeting 10 House Republicans whom Democrats see as especially vulnerable with Trump at the top of the ticket. They include Reps. Steve Knight of California, Mike Coffman of Colorado, David Young of Iowa, Bob Dold of Illinois, Erik Paulsen of Minnesota, John Katko of New York, Will Hurd of Texas, Barbara Comstock of Virginia and John Mica and Carlos Curbelo of Florida. Notably, Dold and Curbelo have all ruled out voting for Trump in November.

TRUMP DAY - "2016 White House race comes to Capitol Hill," by POLITICO's John Bresnahan and Rachael Bade: "The 2016 presidential election will hit Capitol Hill with full force on Thursday. House Republicans are slated to meet with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump first thing in the morning - followed later by their Senate GOP counterparts - and then grill FBI Director James Comey over the Hillary Clinton email controversy." The high-profile "events also are Republicans' last chance to unite around Trump prior to their party's Cleveland convention while reminding voters of Clinton's biggest problem - trustworthiness, or more accurately, a perceived lack thereof."

- "Yet there are likely to be a large number of GOP no-shows who miss - or outright skip - Trump's appearance. In fact, some of the excuses they offer for not going seem suspiciously flimsy and signal just how hard it will be for Trump to win the support of his own party establishment. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) told reporters he had 'a longstanding appointment downtown.' Another member said he had to be at the doctor's office and couldn't make it. A third said he had a 'breakfast meeting.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=49d081fd16c220c939117703f442e2d0dd9185dc555d7baf3392587f41ea61a4

Days until the 2016 election: 124. Days until the Republican National Convention: 11.

Thank for joining us. You can 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 blink-182: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

TODAY ON CAMPAIGN PRO - "America Rising's new Missouri outpost," by Campaign Pro's Maggie Severns: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=48a580f723bafad9891710ed6b6b100847a6da4b222bcf50f3cd6b8e080fb422

AIR WAR - U.S. Chamber, Senate Leadership book airtime to back Rubio, by POLITICO Florida's Matt Dixon: "Outside groups have reserved $3 million in television time to begin flooding Florida airwaves in support of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, the type of spending spree Republicans had hoped to trigger when they urged Rubio to get into the race. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has reserved $1.5 million in air time, according to publicly available ad buy data, to attack Democrat Patrick Murphy, starting Thursday; and the Senate Leadership Fund has reserved $1.5 million to begin running ads in the Tampa and Orlando markets." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=49d081fd16c220c91f644f0569de123ec2e9146b65092db6c02bbcb72239e30c

- New Cortez Masto ad features Sandoval: In Nevada, Democratic Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto released a new television ad that prominently features Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval complimenting the former state attorney general for her work on a sex-trafficking law in 2013. "For you to have the passion that you have had, and the dedication, and the determination, and the tenacity to pursue this legislation is just very fortunate for the people of the state of Nevada," Sandoval says in the ad, which shows footage of a 2013 bill-signing event. The ad will air in the Las Vegas and Reno markets on broadcast and cable television, per a statement from the campaign. Watch the ad: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=48a580f723bafad903377a1940d8b6f39e51c16b768538bad2dc7a3c8d26c0ac

CASH HUSTLE - Feingold raises $4.1 million in second quarter: Russ Feingold raised $4.1 million in the second quarter for his race against GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. The quarter is Feingold's best of the cycle, and it came with a little help from his friends: President Barack Obama sent out an email appeal for him, and he was the only Senate candidate for whom Democratic presidential candidate and online fundraising powerhouse Bernie Sanders solicited contributions. Feingold's campaign did not disclose its cash on hand. Johnson, who raised $2.1 million last quarter, is yet to release his second quarter fundraising numbers.

FIRST IN SCORE - Peters outraises Gitsham in CA-52: Democratic Rep. Scott Peters of California pulled in about $558,000 in the second quarter, outraising his Republican opponent, Denise Gitsham. Peters had nearly $2 million in cash on hand. Gitsham raised about $304,000 and did not release her cash on hand.

REVERSE, REVERSE - "Rubio, in reversal, won't attend GOP convention," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim: First he reversed his decision to leave the Senate. Now, Marco Rubio has changed his mind about attending the Republican convention. The Florida senator will stay home to campaign for reelection in one of the country's hottest Senate races, a Rubio official confirmed today. The Tampa Bay Times first reported that Rubio has decided to stay away from the convention in Cleveland. 'Florida has always been a competitive state and it will be this fall. Marco had planned to go to the convention before he decided to seek reelection. Since Marco got into the race late, he will be in
 Florida campaigning and meeting with voters instead of going to Ohio,' said Rubio spokeswoman Olivia Perez-Cubas in an email." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=49d081fd16c220c9eb4adce6b30ca0886f1db855a0dd053570964f4d55fe259e

ANNALS OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE - "Can super PACs be put back in the box?" by The Washington Post's Matea Gold: A powerhouse legal team representing a bipartisan group of congressional members and candidates is unleashing a new effort to overturn the case that birthed super PACs, part of a novel strategy to rein in the big money that has poured into campaigns since 2010. Their immediate target is not Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the polarizing decision handed down by the Supreme Court that year. Instead, they are going after a lesser-known case decided by U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit just two months later: SpeechNow.org v. FEC . ... A team of attorneys including
 Laurence Tribe, a professor of constitutional law at Harvard University, and Richard Painter, who was the chief ethics lawyer for former president George W. Bush, are taking aim at SpeechNow.org with a new complaint they hope will reach the Supreme Court before the 2020 elections." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=49d081fd16c220c9e224f522247ff21cc2a586cf6622d0fce77af76a64e4579e

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "In a defiant, angry speech, Donald Trump defends image seen as anti-Semitic," by The New York Times' Maggie Haberman, Michael Barbaro and Jonathan Mahler: Donald J. Trump on Wednesday offered a defiant defense of his campaign's decision to publish an image widely viewed as anti-Semitic - saying he regretted deleting it - and vigorously reaffirmed his praise of Saddam Hussein, the murderous Iraqi dictator. In the span of 30 minutes, an often-shouting Mr. Trump breathed new life into a controversy that was sparked on Saturday by his posting of an image on his Twitter account of a six-pointed star next to a picture of Hillary Clinton, with money seeming to rain down
 in the background. ... 'You shouldn't have taken it down,'" Mr. Trump recalled telling one of his campaign workers. 'I said, "Too bad, you should have left it up." I would have rather defended it.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=48a580f723bafad999baf2901d6e08937ad4e3b378f2c67b1bbbbf8ff43678e5

- "Cruz allies press Trump to hand over convention speaking spot," by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney: "Donald Trump's carefully crafted convention lineup may include an uninvited guest: Ted Cruz. Delegates from Colorado and Maine have begun collecting signatures to place Cruz's name into nomination at the convention alongside presumptive nominee Donald Trump. If enough other states follow suit, it would guarantee Cruz a high-profile opportunity to address convention delegates. And that could create an uncomfortable split screen as Trump and the party try to present a unified front heading into the general election. It remains unclear, however, whether Cruz would accept a speaking role if his allies
 succeed in securing one for him." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=48a580f723bafad9fad98d6bca811288cf40266e8c200e6a9b4540d6e964fbc1

- "Trump's dwindling VP options depress senators," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim: "Donald Trump has said he wants a vice president with Capitol Hill relationships who can help get his agenda through a divided Washington. But his options in Congress are rapidly dwindling as Trump approaches the Republican convention. On Wednesday, two top contenders - Joni Ernst, the fresh-faced, first-term Iowa senator, and Bob Corker, a top GOP foreign policy hand - crossed their names off Trump's list or stopped just short of doing so. That leaves Sens. Jeff Sessions, a staunch immigration reform opponent from Alabama and Trump's closest Hill ally, and long-shot pick Tom Cotton, the
 youthful and hawkish freshman from Arkansas, as the most prominent names remaining from the congressional pool." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=48a580f723bafad92ab6644b917143ea27fee3a6968420faa69d6007e49c6edf

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "His best running mate, by the way, would be Ivanka." - Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who suggested a Trump-Trump ticket after taking himself out of consideration on Wednesday. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=48a580f723bafad99fad1cff5f6eac2a3274f1289fc2654dd0f295395b7d5b38

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