Subject: POLITICO’s Morning Score, presented by POWERJobs: GOP grows confident in Senate chances as Dems figure out how to deploy Obama—Club for Growth poll finds Amash with big lead in MI-03 primary—Dueling newspaper endorsements in FL-13—Star-Ledger regrets Christie endorsement—San Diego mayor’s race enters final two days
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 04:57:06 -0600

By Emily Schultheis ([email-masked]; Twitter: @emilyrs)

With Jose DelReal

THE BIG PICTURE-GOP GROWING CONFIDENT IN SENATE CHANCES: POLITICO's James Hohmann reports this morning on how, for Republicans looking at their Senate chances this fall, the tide seems to have turned: "Worries last fall that the party would pay a heavy price at the ballot box for forcing the government to shut down have faded as quickly as attention has shifted to frustration with the health care law. No one is saying that the party has solved its underlying problems - deep distrust between the establishment and tea party wings, and the disconnect with young and minority voters that was on display in 2012. And Republicans were similarly optimistic in 2010 and 2012 about retaking the Senate
 until poor candidates blew winnable races. But there's a palpable sense of optimism that 2014 will be the GOP's year." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=273317896c1ccbc88ba7b65b5cc95e5f56b87545d36e908638bc56d8c976b615 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=273317896c1ccbc88ba7b65b5cc95e5f56b87545d36e908638bc56d8c976b615 

AND-DEMS DON'T WANT OBAMA ON THE TRAIL: The White House is working to figure out how to deploy a president who's highly unpopular in many of the states that will determine Senate control. POLITICO's Isaac Dovere, Manu Raju and Katie Glueck: "Obama's unpopularity could cost Democrats the Senate, but vulnerable incumbents need the full resources of the White House to hang onto the majority. So the president and party leadership are exploring how to deploy Obama and his team in a way that minimizes complications for Democrats in places like Colorado, Georgia or Kentucky where his polls are underwater. The White House also needs to buck the historic trend of the president's party losing seats
 in the midterm election of his second term. The president has committed to half a dozen Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraisers ... He's also pledged to attend fundraisers for the Senate Majority PAC. Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama and former President Bill Clinton will hit the road instead. Democrats hope Hillary Clinton - whose office didn't respond to requests for comment - will campaign as well." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=273317896c1ccbc87e41922ec55b54625f0acb94ae1ed0ffdfe5ed1bf11f8994 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=273317896c1ccbc87e41922ec55b54625f0acb94ae1ed0ffdfe5ed1bf11f8994 

FIRST IN SCORE-CLUB POLL FINDS AMASH CRUSHING ELLIS: A new poll commissioned by the conservative Club for Growth finds GOP Rep. Justin Amash with a big lead over his primary challenger Brian Ellis in Michigan's 3rd district. In a head-to-head ballot matchup, Amash leads Ellis by 48 points: he takes 60 percent in the poll, compared with 12 percent for Ellis (and 28 percent who were undecided).The Club endorsed Amash last November, and its super PAC, Club for Growth Action, has put $200,000 behind ads attacking Ellis in the district. Ellis's negatives show it: despite having low name ID, Ellis's unfavorables are surprisingly high. He's viewed unfavorably by 21 percent of those surveyed,
 compared with just 8 percent who view him favorably. (Forty-six percent say they have no opinion and 25 percent haven't heard of him.) Full results of the poll, conducted by Basswood Research: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=273317896c1ccbc802e673ac1d0663dbaeedef7f7de43e710131ce2493b58a9d 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=273317896c1ccbc802e673ac1d0663dbaeedef7f7de43e710131ce2493b58a9d 

As the Star-Ledger airs its regrets, California Democrats start picking a Waxman successor and the race for San Diego comes to a close, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the 2014 midterms.

DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION: 267.

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Good Monday morning and welcome to Morning Score. As always, send your tips, thoughts, and suggestions to [email-masked] or tweet them to @emilyrs.

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD-

1) Will either Alex Sink or David Jolly get any big endorsements or new outside help in the race for Florida's 13th?

2) What kind of reception does Chris Christie get on the rest of his fundraising tour?

3) Will there be any other retirements this week?

4) Who will win the San Diego mayoral race tomorrow?

5) What new revelations come out about Hillary Clinton this week? 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a0eb258f916ce2e21862cac268b65fd30c751b91eec51734b7 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a0eb258f916ce2e21862cac268b65fd30c751b91eec51734b7 

STAR-LEDGER ON CHRISTIE ENDORSEMENT-'WE BLEW THIS ONE': In the wake of the Bridgegate scandal, the Newark Star-Ledger laments its decision to endorse New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for reelection last fall: "Yes, we knew Christie was a bully. But we didn't know his crew was crazy enough to put people's lives at risk in Fort Lee as a means to pressure the mayor. We didn't know he would use Hurricane Sandy aid as a political slush fund. And we certainly didn't know that Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer was sitting on a credible charge of extortion by Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a053f2e51d7564ac2c86e737171170f365dd00f1b47c239b7a 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a053f2e51d7564ac2c86e737171170f365dd00f1b47c239b7a 

MORE-The four GOP candidates for governor in Illinois, where Christie is raising RGA money on Tuesday, aren't planning to attend the fundraiser: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a01ff5a51a523721ec46164ef9e515bd8bae88f1d17874240f 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a01ff5a51a523721ec46164ef9e515bd8bae88f1d17874240f 

SAN DIEGO MAYOR'S RACE IN A DEAD HEAT: San Diego's mayoral race is looking closer than ever-and there's only a day left until Election Day. A new poll from the San Diego Union-Tribune/10News finds Republican Kevin Faulconer at 47 percent, in a statistical dead heat with Democrat David Alvarez at 46 percent. (The margin of error on the poll is 4 percent.) The poll's toplines are the same as one conducted in early December, just after the two candidates made it to the runoff (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a019cdce6d8d90d5477b7582fb50a52015372f942fbce08dbd 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a019cdce6d8d90d5477b7582fb50a52015372f942fbce08dbd ). The San Diego race has been making national headlines lately-enough so that Alvarez, who would be the first Hispanic mayor of the city, got an endorsement from President Obama this weekend. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a04053415f11b9d3caba8b5ffc58fcc168ca9a256a16ab42a3 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a04053415f11b9d3caba8b5ffc58fcc168ca9a256a16ab42a3 

DUELING ENDORSEMENTS IN FL-13: With just over a month to go until the special election in Florida's 13th district, Democrat Alex Sink and Republican David Jolly each won their share of newspaper endorsements this weekend. The Tampa Bay Times backed Sink, saying she's better on the issues: "Sink has never been terribly comfortable on the campaign trail, and Jolly is more polished in his campaign sound bites. But there is no comparison when it comes to substance," the paper wrote (
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a0aeb2f0d83847719b50af5c9c91416240316197b1bc45874b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a0aeb2f0d83847719b50af5c9c91416240316197b1bc45874b ). The Tampa Tribune, though, chose Jolly "because of his experience working with Young and his more conservative views." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a0bdd39fb76713704abcb9df39cf211dc48beabef2aac916b9 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a0bdd39fb76713704abcb9df39cf211dc48beabef2aac916b9 

CALIFORNIA STATE DEMS CHOOSE LIU FOR WAXMAN SEAT: At a weekend pre-endorsement meeting, the California Democratic Party strongly backed state Sen. Ted Liu for retiring Rep. Henry Waxman's seat. He got 59 votes to former LA Controller Wendy Greuel's 7, bringing Liu's vote total to 73 percent and making him likely to win the state party's endorsement. Though the race saw initial interest from a whole host of Democratic pols, Liu and Greuel are the only two big-name candidates who've actually entered the race thus far. Greuel got the backing of the pro-Democratic group EMILY's List last week, so even if she doesn't get the state party's endorsement she won't be without outside help. (Other
 news out of the meeting: in CA-17, Rep. Mike Honda's campaign will announce later this morning that Honda received 92 percent of the votes in his district from state party members in his race against primary challenger Ro Khanna.) 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a025deb842b7c07e072f3550683fb17f5946b7845e4f4c7ca8 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a025deb842b7c07e072f3550683fb17f5946b7845e4f4c7ca8 

2012 MEETS 2016-THE DRAW OF ROMNEY'S FUNDRAISING BASE: In case you missed it, POLITICO's Ken Vogel looks at the huge draw of Mitt Romney's fundraising network for 2014 and 2016 GOPers: "Candidates and committees in 2013 paid Romney's still idling campaign at least $675,000 to rent its fundraising lists, while prospective presidential candidates like Govs. Scott Walker and Chris Christie have cozied up to Romney's fundraisers and donors in closed-door meetings and fundraisers. Romney himself quietly slipped into Manhattan in December to headline a big-donor dinner for the RNC, where he was a huge hit, sources tell POLITICO. And last month, Romney, for the first time as an ex-candidate,
 signed a fundraising letter sent to the Romney for President national direct mail list on letterhead bearing Romney's name asking for contributions to another candidate - his 2012 vice presidential pick, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who is often mentioned as a possible 2016 contender." 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a0acf0483955cf4663c416c40291cf653db7d5a59700c21957 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95e65b83d4ea08a0acf0483955cf4663c416c40291cf653db7d5a59700c21957 

ACROSS THE MAP-Here are Score's top quick takes from races around the country:

SENATE-

-KY-Sen: Bill Clinton will campaign for Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes later this month. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a466501b70d980b8fa0178ff19a015952bcd3efe9fb824c9c48 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a466501b70d980b8fa0178ff19a015952bcd3efe9fb824c9c48 

-NH-Sen preview: The New Hampshire Democratic Party takes to BuzzFeed for a gif-filled post on Scott Brown: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a463e9f4849a505d2eec21e54c238b4a32321d9ffff6c2d6882 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a463e9f4849a505d2eec21e54c238b4a32321d9ffff6c2d6882 

-MT-Sen: The GOP group American Crossroads will launch a $138,000 TV ad campaign targeting newly appointed interim Sen. John Walsh, the Democrat who's replacing Sen. Max Baucus. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a465e7707debe9f98e43f3717f464bb1752b6078b829b1e6d68 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a465e7707debe9f98e43f3717f464bb1752b6078b829b1e6d68 

-OK-Sen: Professor Kevin Crow says he&#39;s joining the GOP race for retiring Sen. Tom Coburn&#39;s seat. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a461b8a42d08814ddaf5e308db5e3d444faa1112e03bb580886 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a461b8a42d08814ddaf5e308db5e3d444faa1112e03bb580886 

-NE-Sen: Coburn (of Oklahoma) says he's supporting GOP candidate Ben Sasse in Nebraska's Republican primary: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a468626355e54e46e63fb24a44c0d27a3b0d96736043eab97b7 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a468626355e54e46e63fb24a44c0d27a3b0d96736043eab97b7 

HOUSE-

-FL-26: House Majority PAC is going on the air to defend Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia, who's getting bombarded with TV ads by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a4622c8f437fd18ca4188630e0af63fa2044ae17c149bc0103b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a4622c8f437fd18ca4188630e0af63fa2044ae17c149bc0103b 

-IL-13: Democratic candidate George Gollin, looking to go up against GOP Rep. Rodney Davis in the general election, likens his own campaign to the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" in his first TV ad: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a4673346471975c3fc466798281edf46b9dd2abc9542bf6055d 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a4673346471975c3fc466798281edf46b9dd2abc9542bf6055d 

-NY-21: Republican committee chairs in the 21st Congressional District endorsed Elise Stefanik in the race for the seat. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a46da0e260ff0455fe3c9fd71db8e4c07573704605c3ca756a4 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a46da0e260ff0455fe3c9fd71db8e4c07573704605c3ca756a4 

-MT-AL: Ryan Zinke, one of the GOP candidates for Montana's open at-large House seat, released a web video this weekend on his time as a Navy SEAL: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a46de6fa4ad5a4b7659b4506dee0fde45a7182970ccdae9da66 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a46de6fa4ad5a4b7659b4506dee0fde45a7182970ccdae9da66 

GOVERNORS-

-PA-Gov: Democratic Party state committee members voted on Saturday to endorse a gubernatorial candidate in the crowded primary, but none cleared the required two-thirds threshold: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a46e7e34e1c38e06fd79a1d8c6e7b4e2ed50f9c4164630250f9 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=849142bac7069a46e7e34e1c38e06fd79a1d8c6e7b4e2ed50f9c4164630250f9  (Plus, The Philadelphia Inquirer says GOP Gov. Tom Corbett is showing a softer side on the campaign trail: 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=07a2f9963f27864e4ecbf1aa75de299a54aacaff82dbd841241fa3109a9a905e 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=07a2f9963f27864e4ecbf1aa75de299a54aacaff82dbd841241fa3109a9a905e )

-IL-Gov: Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn says he will not debate his primary challenger Tio Hardiman ahead of next month&#39;s primary. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=07a2f9963f27864e9d0b630025417e9784bf5f86bc4c442c1fecb156df6a2605 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=07a2f9963f27864e9d0b630025417e9784bf5f86bc4c442c1fecb156df6a2605 

-MA-Gov: All five Democrats in the governor&#39;s race say they reject the death penalty for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=07a2f9963f27864e11c464be7612f8ba0a4564e91e59808a82191c47a4dc374e 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=07a2f9963f27864e11c464be7612f8ba0a4564e91e59808a82191c47a4dc374e 

CODA-QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It&#39;s important that people think that their government not be used to bully them." -Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, in a not-so-subtle dig at Chris Christie 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=07a2f9963f27864e6ec3eb5561fc43dc3e4b3dc8343c04a528ab2a7948698f82 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=07a2f9963f27864e6ec3eb5561fc43dc3e4b3dc8343c04a528ab2a7948698f82 

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