Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Trump pledges to remain Trump — Do GOP victories leave Freedom Caucus without a cause? — Democrats reevaluate leadership after ‘disastrous’ cycle
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2016 09:03:34 -0600
List-Id: <1376319_6051016.xt.local>

By Elena Schneider | 11/14/2016 10:00 AM EDT

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)

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE - "Trump pledges to stay Trump," by POLITICO's Eli Stokols: "Donald Trump did what president-elects do: an extended sit-down interview with the country's most venerated television news magazine show. But his Sunday night sit-down on '60 Minutes' did little to clear up the opacity of what his first 100 days in the White House, never mind the rest of his term, will look like from a policy standpoint. As for the future of FBI Director James Comey or a potential investigation into Hillary Clinton? Trump hasn't decided. On his top three agenda items - healthcare, immigration and taxes? No specifics. On the implications of the conservative majority he's likely to appoint
 to the Supreme Court? He'll talk about that later. Why would a candidate who pledged to 'drain the swamp' of Washington insiders add so many D.C. lobbyists to his transition team? Change, Trump said, takes time." Full story. 

- DUELING POWER STRUCTURES - "Trump names Priebus and Bannon as top aides," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt and Marc Caputo: "President-elect Donald Trump made an overture to establishment Republicans on Sunday, tapping Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, but the reassuring gesture was tempered by his decision to name Steve Bannon, an insurgent firebrand, as his chief strategist. The move creates a dueling power structure within Trump's still-developing White House and shows how the incoming president is attempting to navigate the oppositional forces in his nascent administration - staying true to the populist base that delivered him a victory while reckoning with the realities of governing.
 It also provides a window into Trump's management style. The president-elect has a reputation for pitting top aides against one another, sometimes with disastrous consequences." Full story.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR DEMS - "'Disastrous' election for House Democrats triggers request to Pelosi," by POLITICO's Heather Caygle and John Bresnahan: "A group of House Democrats is pushing to delay its leadership elections, saying lawmakers need more time to evaluate what went wrong and map out next steps after the party's "devastating" showing in the election. The group is not explicitly calling for a change in House leadership but wants to have a discussion about it. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other top House Democrats are aware of their request. Reps. Seth Moulton (Mass.), Kathleen Rice (N.Y.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.) and Tim Ryan(Ohio) have signed on to the letter. More than 20 other
 Democrats are also supporting the delay, but their names have not been released yet. Pelosi had earlier considered delaying leadership elections before settling on holding them Nov. 17. A source close to the issue says the group of junior members wants to wait until sometime in December." Full story. 

- Dem donors meet to start plotting the way forward, via POLITICO's Kenneth P. Vogel: "The conference, which kicked off Sunday night at Washington's pricey Mandarin Oriental hotel, is sponsored by the influential Democracy Alliance donor club, and will include appearances by leaders of most leading unions and liberal groups, as well as darlings of the left such as House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairman Keith Ellison, according to an agenda and other documents obtained by POLITICO. The meeting is the first major gathering of the institutional left since Trump's shocking victory over Hillary Clinton in last week's
 presidential election, and, if the agenda is any indication, liberals plan full-on trench warfare against Trump from Day One. Some sessions deal with gearing up for 2017 and 2018 elections, while others focus on thwarting President-elect Trump's 100-day plan ... Yet the meeting also comes as many liberals are reassessing their approach to politics - and the role of the Democracy Alliance, or DA, as the club is known in Democratic finance circles." Full story.

- WHAT'S NEXT FOR HOUSE CONSERVATIVES - "Can the Freedom Caucus survive Donald Trump?" by POLITICO's Rachael Bade: "... With Republicans about to control the White House and both chambers of Congress - and with Trump now the undisputed leader of the party - the group's critics say the Freedom Caucus may become the textbook definition of rebels without a cause. 'In a Trump world, I don't think the Freedom Caucus has legs. ... I don't know what their purpose is anymore,' said one senior Republican source. 'They existed to leverage concessions out of House Republican leadership, but [Speaker Paul] Ryan is no longer the lead Republican negotiator in the room. Now, that person is at 1600
 Pennsylvania Avenue.' Freedom Caucus members rejected the notion that they're on the cusp of irrelevance. But they conceded their strategy and tactics will likely change. While they once relished being a thorn in the side of Washington Republicans leaders, some are hoping to find new purpose as foot soldiers for a president-elect seeking to shake up Washington." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 358.

Days until the 2018 election: 722. 

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UNCALLED RACES UPDATE - Applegate cuts Issa's lead under 4,000 in CA-49: After additional ballots were counted on Friday (and also over the weekend in San Diego County, which has supported Democrat Doug Applegate), GOP Rep. Darrell Issa's lead over Applegate stands at 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent, with 3,734 votes separating the two. - Bera slightly extends lead in CA-07: Democratic Rep. Ami Bera has padded his margin a bit in Sacramento County, where the latest count gives him a 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent edge over Republican Scott Jones, who trails by 2,583 votes.

SIZING UP 2018 - Pennsylvania gubernatorial race: "The 2018 race for governor might come down to two businessmen from York County. State Sen. Scott Wagner, R-Spring Garden Township, told The York Dispatch Thursday that he intends to run for governor. Wagner said he is in the preparation stages and will set up his campaign committee before making a formal announcement in January. He said he will use millions of his own money but stopped short of saying he would self-fund the entire campaign," York Dispatch reported. 

- South Carolina gubernatorial race: "Two of South Carolina's most popular Republicans, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, are weighing a joint run for governor and lieutenant governor in 2018, The Post and Courier learned Friday. A ticket with a pair of influential members of the state's congressional delegation could clear the 2018 GOP field that is expected to include S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson, the son of a congressman, and Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, an early supporter of President-elect Donald Trump," The Post and Courier reported. 

- Massachusetts gubernatorial race: Newton Mayor Setti Warren said he wasn't going to run for reelection, leading Democrats to speculate whether he plans to challenge Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, The Boston Globe reported. 

- More on 2018 here.

AND YOU THOUGHT ELECTIONS WERE OVER - "NRCC Chair Candidates Seek to Increase Member Input," by Roll Call's Lindsey McPherson: "Regardless whether House Republicans elect Rep. Steve Stivers or Rep. Roger Williams as their next campaign chief, they'll be doing so with the understanding that the future chairman wants members to be more involved in the National Republican Congressional Committee. Stivers of Ohio and Williams of Texas have been quietly campaigning for NRCC chairman for weeks, making pitches to their colleagues about their plans for the 2018 midterm elections before the 2016 cycle had even concluded. The House Republican Conference will hold its closed-door leadership elections
 Nov. 15 and NRCC chair is one of only two contested leadership posts. The other is conference vice chair." Full story. 

... And now, for DNC chair - "The man hoping to counter President Trump," by POLITICO's John Bresnahan and Daniel Strauss: "Donald Trump will be in the Oval Office in January, and Republicans will have full control of Congress. But Rep. Keith Ellison - an African-American Muslim from Minnesota - thinks he can lead Democrats back to power. Ellison, a 53-year-old five-term House member, is already running - although not yet officially - to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He's been endorsed by incoming Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.). Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said it would "terrific" if Ellison got the job.
 ...The Minnesota Democrat will get strong support for a DNC bid from Hill Democrats, who are convinced his energy and commitment to progressive principles will help revitalize the party." Full story.

2016 REAX - "Breitbart, Reveling in Trump's Election, Gains a Voice in His White House," The New York Times' Michael M. Grynbaum and John Herrman: "There is talk of Breitbart bureaus opening in Paris, Berlin and Cairo, spots where the populist right is on the rise. A bigger newsroom is coming in Washington, the better to cover a president-elect whose candidacy it embraced. Mainstream news outlets are soul-searching in the wake of being shocked by Donald J. Trump's election last week. But the team at Breitbart News, the right-wing opinion and news website that some critics have denounced as a hate site, is elated - and eager to expand on a victory that it views as a profound validation of
 its cause." Full story. 

- "Inside the anti-Trump protest movement," by Buzzfeed's Blake Montgomery: "Protests against the Trump presidency began hours after Trump was declared president-elect early Wednesday morning and have continued - largely peacefully, with the exception of Portland - nightly around the country. Many of their early organizers, like Clark, have roots in the 20th century's radical left, but protests led and organized by anarchist and radical groups and advertised on Facebook have drawn thousands of Americans who share only a sense of outrage at Trump's election. Now the question is whether those protests will coalesce into a movement - whether the anti-Trump protests will flow into liberal and
 Democratic American politics, or whether their more radical early organizers will continue to play a major role." Full story. 

- "Revenge of the rural voter," by POLITICO's Helena Bottemiller Evich: "It was supposed to be the year of the Latino voter. Unfortunately for Hillary Clinton, white rural voters had an even bigger moment. Now Democrats are second-guessing the campaign's decision to largely surrender the rural vote to the GOP. With their eyes turned anxiously to 2018, they're urging a new strategy to reach out to rural voters to stave off another bloodbath when a slew of farm-state Democrats face tough reelection battles. 'Hillary lost rural America 3 to 1,' said one Democratic insider, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the campaign. 'If she had lost rural America 2 to 1, it would have broken
 differently.'" Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Fact check? #real." - Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), tweeting that he was indeed picking up passengers as an Uber driver this weekend.

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