Subject: POLITICO's Morning Score: Previewing the 2020 Senate battlefield with American Bridge — Trump’s SOTU and Abrams’ response — Woman who accused Virginia Lt. Gov. of assault hires same law firm as Christine Blasey Ford
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Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2019 09:03:02 -0600
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02/06/2019 10:00 AM EDT
        
By ZACH MONTELLARO ([email-masked]; @ZachMontellaro)

        
Editor's Note: This edition of Morning Score is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Campaign subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro's comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.
          QUICK FIX         
- American Bridge, the Democratic oppo shop, laid out the state of the 2020 Senate battleground in a POLITICO Pro Q&A.

- In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump celebrated the record number of women in Congress (many of whom ran opposing him), and Georgia's Stacey Abrams touted progressive priorities in the Democratic response.

- The woman who has accused Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault hired the same law firm that represented Christine Blasey Ford, who accused now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of the same. Meanwhile, the state Democratic Party said it will "continue to evaluate the situation."

Good Wednesday morning. Email me at [email-masked] or DM me at @ZachMontellaro. 

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Days until the 2019 election: 272

Days until the 2020 election: 636
          THE TOPLINES         
THE SENATE MAP - The 2020 battle for the Senate is already well underway, if you ask American Bridge. The group's vice president, Shripal Shah, and Senate campaigns communications director, Amelia Penniman, sat down for an extended Q&A with me and James Arkin to discuss how they see the fight for the upper chamber.

"The Senate is in play," Shah told us. "The landscape that we're fighting on is dramatically different than it was in 2018." The duo listed six top targets, with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine as the most endangered Republican incumbent. "The fact that there's already millions of dollars that have been raised against her, waiting for whatever candidate is recruited or emerges to challenge her, is significant," Shah said." And if you're looking for where else the group could play, outside the top tier: "I'd say it is always fun to look at the Mitch McConnells and the Lindsey Grahams and why not throw a couple punches where we can," Penniman told us.

The pair conceded that Alabama Sen. Doug Jones was the most endangered Democrat, but outside of him said it was a struggle to think of who else could be in trouble on their side. "If the map is littered with opportunity after opportunity for Democrats and maybe at best two opportunities for [Republicans], right now all we can think of is one, I'll take that," Shah said.
          IN THE TRENCHES         
PRESIDENTIAL BIG BOARD - Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is turning her attention to the early states. "Harris' travel over the final two weeks of February will first take her back to South Carolina, a state she's aggressively targeting," POLITICO's Chris Cadelago reported. "Harris will then make two-day swings through New Hampshire (Feb. 18-19) and Iowa (Feb. 23-24), where she appeared in the CNN town hall, before finishing up the early-state blitz in Nevada (Feb. 28-March 1)."

- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) apologized for identifying as Native American. "I can't go back," Warren told The Washington Post's Annie Linskey and Amy Gardner. "But I am sorry for furthering confusion on tribal sovereignty and tribal citizenship and harm that resulted." The Post also dug up a copy of Warren's registration card for the Texas bar from 1986, where she identified herself as an "American Indian."

Warren also filed her financial disclosure forms to the FEC. Here's what's in them, per The Center for Public Integrity's Sarah Kleiner: The filing "indicates she's earned royalties from book sales, maintains her seven-figure wealth largely in garden-variety bond and mutual funds and retains her title as 'emeritus professor' at Harvard University."

- A potential timeline for former Rep. Beto O'Rourke: In a taped interview with Oprah Winfrey (that is a very 2019 sentence), he said would make up his mind on running "really soon, before the end of this month," per The Daily Beast's Gideon Resnick.

- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is (probably) running for president. When asked by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night if she's running, Klobuchar said, "Sunday, come to Boom Island, Minneapolis ... and then you'll find out." Earlier on Tuesday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune's tipsheet (the fantastically named Morning Hot Dish) spotted a city park board permit application for an event from a former Klobuchar staffer in Boom Island Park. And my POLITICO colleagues Natasha Korecki and Elena Schneider reported that Klobuchar will headline a local Democratic Party group's fundraising banquet on Feb. 21, and that "her team is exploring events elsewhere in Iowa that are likely to be added to
 that itinerary." 

- Howard Schultz is set to make a "major policy address" on Thursday at Purdue University, per The Washington Post's Michael Scherer. 

THE STATE OF THE UNION - Trump gave his second State of the Union address, cycling through dubious calls for bipartisanship, criminal justice reform and some red meat for his base - such as talk about immigration and abortion that wouldn't seem out of place in his stump speech (here's POLITICO's transcript and analysis). One line sure to draw the ire of Democrats: "An economic miracle is taking place in the United States, and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous, partisan investigations." The line that might have drawn the biggest cheer of the night: Trump highlighting the record number of women in Congress, many of whom ran against him.

- Abrams gave a partially biographical response to the president (and no, she didn't announce she was running for the Senate). She criticized the government shutdown and defended various progressive policies like gun control and union membership (POLITICO's transcript and analysis). She said America is "stronger with immigrants, not walls" and also called fighting voter suppression "the next battle for our democracy," highlighting her nonprofit Fair Fight.

THE LATEST IN VIRGINIA - The woman who accused Fairfax of sexual assault retained the law firm of Katz, Marshall and Banks, the same firm that represented Ford, POLITICO's Caitlin Oprysko reported. Fairfax has strongly denied the allegations. NBC News' Geoff Bennett said the woman's name is Vanessa Tyson, an associate professor of politics at Scripps College who gave permission to be identified. The state Democratic Party treaded lightly, putting out a statement that said "all allegations of sexual assault deserve to be taken with profound gravity. We will continue to evaluate the situation regarding Lieutenant Governor Fairfax." A joint statement from the state House and Senate Democratic
 caucuses said "the facts here are still being determined."

- But for now, Gov. Ralph Northam still refuses to resign. The Washington Post's Gregory Schneider and Laura Vozzella have a deep-dive into Northam's various moves and meetings so far - including that the governor "has even toyed with the idea of leaving the Democratic Party and governing as an independent."

THE CASH DASH - House Democratic candidates had bonkers fundraising hauls in the midterms. But can they do it again? "Donor fatigue after a successful midterm election could hurt many vulnerable freshmen who are looking to post strong numbers in the first fundraising quarter," Roll Call's Bridget Bowman wrote. "Donors may not be as excited about defending the new majority as they were about ousting House Republicans last cycle."

WHO'S TO SAY - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo avoided talk of any potential 2020 Senate run at the Missouri-Kansas Forum breakfast Tuesday, The Kansas City Star's Lindsay Wise and Bryan Lowry reported. But an interesting quote from retiring Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.): "[Pompeo's] got a full-time job and I think he's doing a good job ... but I wouldn't rule it out."

POLLS POLLS POLLS - A poll on the Utah 2020 gubernatorial race is here. The Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley Institute of Politics poll for the GOP primary found current Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox leading the field with 28 percent, followed closely by former Rep. Jason Chaffetz at 27 percent, with current Rep. Rob Bishop in third at 10 percent (311 registered GOP voters, Jan. 15-24). 

CHALLENGER APPROACHING? - Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld has re-registered as a Republican, CommonWealth Magazine's Michael Jonas reported. Weld has reportedly been considering running in the GOP primary in a longer-than-longshot challenge to the president - and remember that he was on the Libertarian ticket in 2016.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I got a boo." - Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), when asked about his relationship status on radio show "The Breakfast Club."
    
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