Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Emails, FBI dominate penultimate weekend of campaign — Parties press for November Senate surprises in Florida, WIsconsin — Inside Darrell Issa's reelection fight
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2016 08:03:40 -0600
List-Id: <1376319_5999648.xt.local>

By Theodoric Meyer | 10/31/2016 10:00 AM EDT

With Maggie Severns and Elena Schneider

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)

OCTOBER SURPRISE - "How Clinton plans to deal with Comey's October surprise," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "In the hours after FBI Director James Comey threw a wrench into Hillary Clinton's homestretch plans, her campaign launched into an uncharacteristic frenzy of activity, quickly trying to turn the development into a base-energizing tool. But in her New York headquarters and her battleground state outposts, the news sent shivers down operatives' spines and immediately had them scrambling to gauge the effect on voters they need most. ... It's a headache that joins a suite of other concerns dogging Clinton in the race's final days, from Donald Trump's consolidation of core Republican
 voters to her continued weakness among white men without a college education." Full story.

- "FBI obtains warrant for newly located emails," by POLITICO's Rebecca Morin: "The FBI obtained a warrant Sunday for a set of longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin's emails found on a laptop belonging to her estranged husband Anthony Weiner, a U.S. official told POLITICO. The warrant comes two days after FBI Director James Comey announced a review of the emails in connection with Clinton's private email server, which she used during her tenure as secretary of state. Comey indicated it was unclear how significant the newly located emails were, if at all." Full story.

- "Abedin tells colleagues she's in dark about new email trove," by POLITICO's Josh Gerstein: "Longtime Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin has told colleagues she was taken aback when she learned that the FBI found her emails on a laptop belonging to her estranged husband Anthony Weiner and doesn't know how the messages got there, a source familiar with Abedin's account told POLITICO Sunday. ... Abedin had an account on that server, but there were conflicting news reports about whether the newly found set of messages was from her clintonemail.com account and whether it contained messages exchanged with Clinton. Until the warrant was issued Sunday, legal concerns limited the analysis the FBI
 could do of the messages." Full story.

NOVEMBER SURPRISES? - "Democrats hope to spring November surprise against Rubio," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard in Miami Gardens, Fla.: "Democrats' most-mocked Senate candidate of 2016 believes he is within striking distance of getting the last laugh. Marco Rubio has never trailed a public poll since he jumped into the race for his old Senate seat, three months after his presidential bid faltered, and Rubio and his party have spent millions portraying 33-year-old Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy as a rich kid, a lightweight, a resume-inflater and a pushover. Meanwhile, Democrats pulled most of their advertising money out of Florida to redistribute it to less expensive states this fall,
 leaving Murphy at a huge disadvantage. But Florida Republicans have felt twinges of discomfort as they've watched Donald Trump trail this October and Democratic early votes flood in. If the bottom falls out for Trump on Election Day - a scenario that may have just become less likely following the FBI's Friday email announcement - Republicans fear he could drag Rubio down with him." Full story.

- "Wisconsin Senate race becomes a battleground," by POLITICO's Seung Min Kim and Burgess Everett: "Wisconsin's Senate race is suddenly back in play, as Democrats are pouring money into a race they fear is tightening. Senate Majority PAC, the super PAC dedicated to electing Democrats to the Senate, is pouring $2 million into a last-minute ad campaign to boost former Sen. Russ Feingold in his bid to oust GOP incumbent Ron Johnson in Wisconsin, a spokesman for the group confirmed Friday. The late investment is a bit of a surprise, considering Wisconsin - along with Illinois - had long been considered easy pickups for Senate Democrats. But recent public polls have indicated some tightening in
 the race, including a Marquette University poll from early October had Johnson down by just two points. ... The Club for Growth's campaign arm spent $700,000 last week and just raised enough money to plow $150,000 more into the race on digital, President David McIntosh said in an interview Friday afternoon." Full story.

- Chamber attacks Feingold on Obamacare: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is airing a new TV ad in the Wisconsin Senate race, attacking Democrat Russ Feingold for casting "the deciding vote for Obamacare." "He told us it would be great for the country, that it would lower insurance rates 14 to 20 percent" the ad's narrator says. "He said we could keep our doctors and our plans. It was rated as the lie of the year." Watch the ad here.

'WHY WOULDN'T YOU?' - "Embattled Issa: I'd advise Clinton if she asked," by POLITICO's Heather Caygle in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.: "For most of Barack Obama's presidency, Rep. Darrell Issa has relished his role as White House enemy No. 1, taunting the president as "corrupt" and even floating the idea of impeachment. Now Issa says he would have signed on as an adviser to Hillary Clinton's campaign - if only she'd asked. 'I would've said the same thing if Hillary Clinton's people had called me the same day. Why wouldn't you?' Issa said in a recent interview here when asked about his decision to join Donald Trump's campaign as a national security adviser. ... The eight-term lawmaker and
 former House Oversight chairman is in serious jeopardy of losing to a Democrat few people had even heard of a few months ago - in a leftward-drifting district that's left the long-time incumbent and symbol of partisan rancor scrambling to adapt." Full story. 

Days until the 2016 election: 8.

Thanks 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 about campaigns and the Cubs and that's pretty much it nowadays: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

NEW THIS MORNING - Veterans voice support for Ross in new TV ad: Democrat Deborah Ross is hitting the air with a new TV ad featuring three veterans explaining why they support her. "Deborah Ross opposes flag burning," the veterans - an older white man, a younger white man and a younger black woman - say in the ad. "She's fought to support the freedom that I've fought for," the younger man says. Watch the ad here.

- Cooper debuts new positive ad in North Carolina: Democrat Roy Cooper is out with a new TV ad with a bipartisan message. "As governor, I'll put partisan politics aside so we can turn around our economy and fix our schools," Cooper says in the ad. "No more social legislation that divides our state and hurts our reputation" - a not-so-veiled reference to GOP Gov. Pat McCrory's "bathroom bill." Watch the ad here.

POLL-Y ROMAN EMPIRE - Polls: Rubio holds high-single-digit lead over Murphy: GOP Sen. Marco Rubio is ahead of Democrat Patrick Murphy by almost identical margins in two new polls of the Florida Senate race. Rubio leads Murphy 51 percent to 42 percent among likely voters in a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted Oct. 25-27. Rubio leads Murphy 51 percent to 43 percent among likely voters in an NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll conducted Oct. 25-26. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points for the Siena poll and plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for the Marist poll. Full Siena poll results here. Full Marist poll results here.

- North Carolina poll: Burr 48, Ross 46 in Senate race; Cooper 51, McCrory 45 in governor's race: GOP Sen. Richard Burr has a slight lead over Democrat Deborah Ross in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll of the North Carolina Senate race. Burr leads Ross 48 percent to 46 percent among likely voters. In the governor's race, Democrat Roy Cooper leads GOP Gov. Pat McCrory 51 percent to 45 percent. The poll was conducted Oct. 25-26 and surveyed 780 likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Full results here.

MORE ADS - DCCC debuts with attack ad in IN-09: The DCCC hit the air for the first time this weekend in the race for an open House seat in Indiana, with an ad mocking Republican Trey Hollingsworth for moving into the district last year from Tennessee. More here.

- RGA airing Obamacare-themed attack ad: The RGA is out with a new ad attacking Democrat Roy Cooper in North Carolina. "Roy Cooper refused to join attorneys general across America to stop Obamacare," the ad's narrator says. "Now, families and businesses are getting hit: higher costs, canceled policies. Just like Roy Cooper didn't do his job with SBI and rape kits, he refused to fight Obamacare and people are suffering." Watch the ad here.

- Stupak cuts ad for Johnson in MI-01: Former Democratic Rep. Bart Stupak, who represented northern Michigan for nearly two decades, stars in a new TV ad for Democrat Lon Johnson, who's running for his old seat. "I try to stay out of politics these days," Stupak says in the ad. "But when [Republican] Jack Bergman said he'd privatize Social Security, I knew we had to talk. The choice is clear: Lon Johnson will protect Social Security and Medicare. I've known Lon for years. He's smart. He works hard. He's one of us." The DCCC and the Johnson campaign are paying to air the ad. Watch the ad here.

- NRCC debuts new Spanish-language ad in FL-26: The NRCC is airing a new Spanish-language TV ad attacking former Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia for praising Communism and supporting the Iranian nuclear deal, and reminding voters that they rejected Garcia two years ago. "Now, it would be dangerous to rely on him again," the ad's narrator says. Watch the ad here. 

- New DSCC ad attacks Burr as insider: The DSCC continues to hit Sen. Richard Burr with the Washington insider label, this time taking "a $16,000 Christmas trip to Paris paid for by the special interests." The ad shows postcard after postcard, saying, it's "just one of Richard Burr's 26 special interest trips to Prague, Barcelona, Seville, Stockholm, Madrid." The spot concludes: "Richard loves Europe," which is why he "voted against cracking down on special interest trips." Watch the ad here. 

- Senate Leadership Fund releases new Missouri ad: Senate Leadership Fund is airing another TV ad that shows Democrat Jason Kander's face morphing into the faces of high-profile Democrats, in this case Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. "It turns out the real Jason Kander is more like Hillary Clinton," a narrator says as a photo of Kander's face turns into Clinton's. "The real Jason Kander? He's been with them, not Missouri." Watch the ad here. 

- TRUMP IN TV ADS, WITH A TWIST - Democrats' intra-party general election for an open House seat in Seattle has gotten contentious with days left. Brady Walkinshaw aired the race's first attack ad, hitting Pramila Jayapal, one of Bernie Sanders' earliest down-ballot endorsees this year, on missing state legislative votes. Jayapal's response ad opens with an image of Trump before fading to Walkinshaw, while a narrator says, "The attacks. Demeaning women's accomplishments. Enough." It's one of only a handful of times this year that Trump has been invoked against a Democratic candidate in a TV ad.

THINK THEY KNOW SOME GOOD LAWYERS? - "Law firm 'bonuses' tied to political donations," by The Boston Globe's Andrea Estes and the Center for Responsive Politics' Viveca Novak: Two partners in a Boston law firm, David Strouss and Garrett Bradley, each donated $2,400 to Democratic Sen. Jon Tester's campaign in 2010 - and got bonuses for exactly the same amount from the firm. It wasn't an isolated incident. "From 2010 through 2014, Strouss and Bradley, along with founding partner Michael Thornton and his wife, donated nearly $1.6 million to Democratic Party fund-raising committees and a parade of politicians - from Senate minority leader Harry Reid of Nevada to Hawaii gubernatorial candidate
 David Ige to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Over the same span, the lawyers received $1.4 million listed as "bonuses" in Thornton Law Firm records; more than 280 of the contributions precisely matched bonuses that were paid within 10 days." Full story.

- Democratic Senate candidate Maggie Hassan says she'll return $51,000 in contributions from the firm

CASH HUSTLE - "Schumer deploys last-ditch Senate money drop," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett: "Chuck Schumer is pumping nearly $1.7 million into competitive Senate races, hoping the last-minute infusion of money for Democrats will ensure he enters 2017 as the Senate majority leader. The New York senator is seeding nearly $1 million from his personal campaign coffers into four competitive Senate races, a source familiar with the moves said." Those races: Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri and North Carolina. "He's also distributing $725,000 from a joint fundraising account to candidates across the country." Full story.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "In final sprint, Trump targets Democratic states while Clinton tries to gin up enthusiasm among minorities," by The Washington Post's Robert Costa and Abby Phillip: "Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is redirecting his attention to traditionally Democratic states in the final days of the 2016 campaign in an urgent attempt to expand what for weeks has been an increasingly narrow path to victory. Following FBI Director James B. Comey's surprise announcement Friday that the agency would once again examine emails related to Hillary Clinton's time as secretary of state, Trump and his advisers see a fresh opportunity to make gains in states that most public
 polls have shown as out of reach. They spent the weekend deliberating ways to seize on what they see as a dramatic turn in the campaign's closing chapter and scramble the political map following a rough stretch beset by controversy. Trump rallied Sunday in Colorado and New Mexico, and he was scheduled to make two stops Monday in Michigan - and visit Wisconsin the day after that." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Oh, God." - Vice President Joe Biden, on CNN, upon being told that Anthony Weiner was at the center of new Clinton-related emails found by the FBI.

To view online:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e1ad798f9e659e43415879bcaa72248033973e55d8180c149169e17ea517e1b8
 To change your alert settings, please go to http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e1ad798f9e659e43aabd18e9c3fd020cacba960e4b413411188aa5208b60d8f6 or http://click.politicoemail.com/profile_center.aspx?qs=c1c81b2ef644fde1dd3c1f6178ef6a8ea3ee660992025bd41eeb85d7ede3d1e9fea72b937bf526ba6ffe901818be398309e8bc692a41cb90
This email was sent to [email-masked] by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

To unsubscribe,http://www.politico.com/_unsubscribe?e=00000158-1b0a-d73d-af58-5b1f624e0000&u=0000014e-f0fe-dd93-ad7f-f8fffbc40000&s=3fe868140d7c3ff0e618251caf12a7378d7d69fc7f40bf20d5b957d906364903af3ee4a400e35b7a392f177f17a502d8a89957abbce1b01def7f4b3d957dd389