Subject: POLITICO'S Morning Score
From: "POLITICO'S Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
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Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:11:10 -0400 (EDT)

POLITICO's Morning Score, June 25, 2010 6:07 am
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Romney doubles Branstad support - Ayotte ad swats back at Hodes - Friday stakes: Who had a good week? - AFL-CIO eyes new races - Hayworth apologizes for infomercial - Palin picks Tiahrt

By: Alexander Burns
Fri 25, 2010 06:05 AM EST

IOWA EXCLUSIVE -- BOLSTERING BRANSTAD: Mitt Romney's PAC has sent a new $10,000 donation to former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's campaign, doubling Romney's previous contribution to Branstad as the Republican nominee heads into the general election as a favorite against incumbent Democratic Gov. Chet Culver. Romney's Iowa investment follows his massive $42,000 donation to South Carolina state Rep. Nikki Haley's campaign for governor, deepening the former Massachusetts governor's goodwill reserve in two early primary states.

AND -- NEW HAMPSHIRE SNEAK PEEK: Former New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte is defending her record as the state's top prosecutor in a new spot for her Senate campaign, accusing Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes of pushing a "false attack" on her with an ad about her handling of a major fraud case. Ayotte's ad, "False," features law enforcement officers talking up her work. "Kelly Ayotte was a tough attorney general," says one, and another adds: "I think people are trying to score cheap political points." Former Gov. Steve Merrill also appears in the spot to praise Ayotte's "outstanding record of openness, transparency, integrity." Ayotte's still competing in a contested Republican primary, but both she and Hodes have evidently decided it's in their interests to get a jump on the general election campaign. Watch the ad here.

As the House tweaks the rules, Haley Barbour tweaks the RNC and the mustache makes a comeback on the campaign trail, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily cheat sheet for the 2010 midterm elections.

FRIDAY STANDINGS -- ARE YOU BETTER OFF NOW? There's a little more than 18 weeks left before Election Day, and some campaigns made more progress in the last seven-day stretch than others. Every Friday, Score examines candidates through the lens of the question: Are you better off now than you were one week ago? Here's how we'd answer for some of the most important campaigns:

YES: (1) Arizona Sen. John McCain, who MAY ALREADY BE A WINNER, thanks to reports on GOP primary challenger J.D. Hayworth's work as a pitch man for a shady company promising free government money; (2) Former Houston Mayor Bill White, who honed an aggressive message targeting Texas Gov. Rick Perry's work ethic and picked up an endorsement from former President Bill Clinton that signals national Democratic investment in the race; (3) Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who appears increasingly likely to face Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, the less well-funded and more opposition researcher-friendly of the GOP's possible general election candidates.

NO: (1) North Carolina Rep. Larry Kissell, who saw Republicans in his district nominate broadcaster Harold Johnson, a competitive general election contender, over baggage-laden tea partier Tim D'Annunzio; (2) John Kasich, whose campaign for governor of Ohio managed to offend residents of Appalachia and fans of LeBron James in the same week; (3) Bob Vander Plaats, who was passed over for the lieutenant governor's slot on Terry Branstad's ticket, and may have been boxed out of an independent run by Branstad's selection of conservative state Sen. Kim Reynolds as his running mate.

BEHIND THE SCENES -- TRAINING DAYS: The AFL-CIO is gathering its 2010 state directors over the weekend for briefings on messaging and polling ahead of the union giant's general election push. The group's more than 20 state-based campaign leaders will be putting together staff and field plans. The AFL-CIO has already named California, Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Ohio as its top priorities, but labor sources suggest that the Colorado, Connecticut and Kentucky Senate races and the Texas governor's race are looking like strong targets of opportunity.

MAKING THE SALE: Terry Branstad's campaign is moving quickly to win support from social conservatives for his choice of Kim Reynolds as his running mate, POLITICO's Jonathan Martin reports, running robo-calls touting the pick and blasting out an e-mail highlighting Reynolds's conservative credentials. "Kim is a pro-life, pro-family, pro-taxpayer, limited government conservative," wrote Branstad campaign manager Jeff Boeyink in a message to delegates attending this weekend's GOP convention.

NEW RULES: The House of Representatives passed the DISCLOSE Act last night, putting the legislation, crafted in response to the Citizens United ruling that opened new avenues for corporate and special-interest spending in elections, one big step closer to becoming law. USA Today summarizes the main points of the act: "Corporate CEOs would have to appear in campaign ads they fund. ... The bill, approved by a 219-206 vote, was opposed by Republicans who cast it as violating free-speech protections and filled with exemptions for powerful groups, such as the National Rifle Association and labor unions. ... The bill would require that most groups running independent ads to disclose their top five donors. Companies with government contracts worth more than $10 million, along with corporations receiving federal bailout money, would be barred from spending on such advertising. The measure also bans companies with more than 20% foreign ownership from funding independent political activity."

SHOTS FIRED: RGA Chairman Haley Barbour knocked his party's central political committee at a luncheon on Thursday, taking a dig at the RNC's performance under Chairman Michael Steele, POLITICO's Ben Smith reports. "I had to raise the RGA budget by $10 million because the RNC is in such bad shape," Barbour said. Smith notes: "The Republican Governors Association has had a good year in part by taking advantage of a perception among big donors that Michael Steele's Republican National Committee can't be trusted with their money."

THE NEW TODD: Sarah Palin has endorsed Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt's campaign for Senate, calling him "a protector of our Constitution, a pro-family, pro-Second Amendment Commonsense Conservative who has never voted for a tax increase." Tiahrt's running against fellow Rep. Jerry Moran in an Aug. 3 GOP primary, and polling has shown Moran with an upper hand in the nominating vote that's likely to be the equivalent of a general election in the conservative state. Moran spokesman Dan Conston responded to Palin's endorsement: "Jerry likes Sarah Palin and has enjoyed a good relationship with her. He's proud to have the endorsements of many of America's leading conservatives including Senator Tea Party, Jim DeMint, Sen. Tom Coburn and Sen. John Thune."

MASTER OF THE SENATE CAMPAIGN: The vice president is making campaign trips for two Midwestern Senate candidates in two weeks, starting with a visit to Wisconsin today for incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold's reelection campaign. Then, next Wednesday, Biden's heading to Cleveland to boost Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher's campaign for retiring Republican George Voinovich's Senate seat -- holding a fundraiser for Fisher on the last day of the second reporting quarter.

THUNE MOVES: South Dakota Sen. John Thune, often talked up as a possible Republican presidential contender, is holding a fundraiser for Kelly Ayotte's Senate campaign during the New Hampshire candidate's upcoming visit to Washington. The Union Leader's John DiStaso reports: "An e-mail sent by her Washington fund-raising consultant, which we've obtained, lists one event on Monday and three on Tuesday, including separate receptions featuring GOP Sens. John Thune and Jim Inhofe."

WEEKEND READING: No matter what happens in November, there's already one big winner for the 2010 cycle -- the political mustache. POLITICO's Emily Schultheis reports: "North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven's Facebook page for his U.S. Senate campaign has more than 7,000 fans. The Republican's mustache has its own page, with 750 fans and counting - nearly double the number of his Democratic challenger. In past years, an ambitious politician like Hoeven might not have been eager to rock a 'stache, which until recently has been as taboo for blow-dried, television-era politicians as the mutton-chop sideburn. ... The bipartisan trend is most obvious in statewide races, where two mustachioed former governors - Democrat John Kitzhaber in Oregon and Republican Terry Branstad in Iowa - are seeking their old jobs in November. Mike Gelman, owner of the popular D.C. men's salon The Grooming Lounge, said mustaches have been associated with the most sinister people who have sported them - such as Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein. 'There are certainly some ominous mustaches out there,' he said."

THE BIG MAP -- with POLITICO's Tim Alberta:

SENATE:

ARIZONA: Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth is apologizing for helping a discredited firm hawk "free" government grants in an infomercial, after initially defending his work for National Grants Conferences. "I did not completely check out the organization," Hayworth conceded. "As a former broadcaster, I would often make ads for clients, but I regret my association with this firm."

FLORIDA: Gov. Charlie Crist is drawing financial support from Democrats and Democratic-leaning interests in his bid for Senate, the Times/Herald reports, including prominent trial lawyers, union lobbyists and even a handful of elected officials. Explained Democratic strategist Steve Schale: "There is certainly a 'Can Kendrick win?' or 'Can Jeff win?' factor ... but I think most of it is personal loyalty (to Crist)."

MISSOURI: State Sen. Chuck Purgason, who's challenging Roy Blunt in the Aug. 3 GOP Senate primary, has launched a radio ad aligning himself with 2010's other insurgent Senate candidates. "In Nevada, the voters trounced the Washington insider with Sharron Angle, who had no money and her family running her campaign," Purgason says in the ad. "And how about Kentucky: Rand Paul took their version of Washington insider Roy Blunt to the cleaners."

WASHINGTON: Democratic Sen. Patty Murray invoked Sarah Palin and Karl Rove in the latest fundraising appeal for her reelection campaign, warning that President Bush's former top political adviser "and his right-wing cronies are targeting me for defeat this November." Palin is backing former NFL player Clint Didier's campaign, but former gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi is Murray's leading Republican challenger.

HOUSE:

KS-04: A SurveyUSA poll released Thursday shows Republican Mike Pompeo taking the slimmest of primary leads over self-funder Wink Hartman, edging ahead of Hartman, 39 percent to 37 percent. That's a reversal since February, when Hartman held a wide lead over the field. Pompeo and Hartman are the two leading candidates for outgoing Rep. Todd Tiahrt's seat.

PA-11: Democratic Rep. Paul Kanjorski is on the defensive after saying that certain government programs weren't just helping "minorities" and "defective" people, but also "average, good American people." Republican challenger Lou Barletta's campaign has responded by accusing Kanjorski of "insulting his constituents," though the congressman's spokesperson says the remarks were taken out of context.

TN-08: Stephen Fincher, one of the Republicans running for retiring Democratic Rep. John Tanner's seat, is taking fire from his top primary opponent for having voted in Democratic primary elections. While Fincher says there were no Republican primaries to vote in when he cast ballots in Democratic elections, the flap comes as Fincher has been calling rival Ron Kirkland's party loyalty into question.

GOVERNORS:

CALIFORNIA: Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman again addressed reports that she had a physical altercation with an employee in 2007, calling it an "anomaly" that taught her "to be thoughtful about your interactions." And take note: Whitman's comments came at a Los Angeles shoe store, where she made her FIRST public appearance since California's June 8 primary, according to the AP.

FLORIDA: A telecom company owned in part by GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott crowed to investors in March that one of its subsidiaries had won more than $60 million in stimulus grants and USDA loans in a "huge step forward" for its broadband strategy. That's great news for XFONE, Inc., but tricky for Scott, who has been a vocal opponent of the Recovery Act throughout his campaign.

MORE FLORIDA: A 527 group supporting Scott is going on the air with $1.5 million in new ads, Jonathan Martin reports, with spots scheduled to air in Florida's 10 media markets. Scott's primary opponent, state Attorney General Bill McCollum, has been hitting the former health care executive on television this week and a pair of 527s supporting his campaign have spent $4 million in an effort to combat Scott's deep pockets.

MICHIGAN: State House Speaker Andy Dillon landed an endorsement from the Teamsters Union, which represents some 90,000 active and retired members statewide. That gives Dillon some organized labor support of his own in the primary campaign against Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero, who's strongly backed by the AFL-CIO.

2012:

CASH MACHINE -- POLITICO's Ken Vogel and Catherine Cheney report that Haley Barbour's PACs have been sucking up money this year as the Mississippi governor continues to mull a run for president: "The Georgia committee, called Haley's Leadership PAC, has quietly accepted at least $78,500 in checks from corporations and their PACs in the past six months ... The federal PAC brought in $425,000 - more than it raised in the preceding five years - while Barbour' Mississippi leadership PAC was sitting on $77,000 at the end of last year. ... A Republican operative close to Barbour said the governor is strongly inclined to run for president because he sees weakness in the field of likely candidates and strength in his own political operation."

ILLEGAL DEFENSE: A legal defense fund set up for Sarah Palin was ruled illegal by Alaska officials Thursday, because of language on its website describing the group as an "official" fund and implying that Palin had set up and sanctioned the group herself. The Alaska Fund Trust raised around $390,000 prior to Palin's resignation as governor -- money that will be returned to donors. A new defense fund has already been set up, according to the AP.

Go to POLITICO's Morning Score Now >> http://www.politico.com/morningscore

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