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By Alexander Burns (@aburnspolitico, aburns@politico.com)


RGA SIREN - SPECIAL FROM SAN DIEGO - POLITICO's Jonathan Martin reports: "Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's prospects for a second term dimmed Wednesday as Republicans went public with their concerns about the committee's fundraising and two prominent governors indicated a preference for new leadership atop the party. Asked in an interview at the Republican Governors Association meeting here if there should be a new chairman of the party, Mississippi Gov. and outgoing RGA Chairman Haley Barbour flatly said: 'Yes. ... To defeat an incumbent president, even one that's got the political problems of this one, the RNC has to operate at absolutely maximum capacity and this year they operated far, far, far below that in terms of fundraising, in terms of grassroots organization, and in terms of building strong, self-reliant state parties."


READ ON - Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the incoming RGA chairman and one of the nation's longest-serving governors, didn't say directly that Steele should go but made an impassioned case for the members of the RNC to consider Nick Ayers, the executive director of the governors association. 'In 2012, the RNC is going to play a very, very important role ... 'And I know that Nick Ayers is a very capable young man.' Citing a lesson from the Book of Timothy to boost the 28-year-old Ayers, Perry said RNC committee members ought not 'hold youth against anybody.' ... Top Republicans said the scathing resignation letter written by RNC political director Gentry Collins Wednesday added a new air of urgency to efforts to find a replacement for Steele and deepened doubts about his tenure. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the RGA vice chairman and almost-certain presidential candidate, told reporters after a press conference that Collins' assessment about the RNC's lackluster fundraising and diminished voter-turnout operation 'concerns me a great deal.'" http://politi.co/darn9B


As Grover Norquist stakes out ground in the RNC race, Tom Perriello gets a statewide trial run and Joe Miller keeps hope alive, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


BREAKING OVERNIGHT - Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski declared victory in her write-in bid for Senate shortly after the AP called the race in her favor. "I think we can say our miracle is here," Murkowski told supporters in Alaska, according to the Anchorage Daily News. State Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich has already released a statement urging Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller to stand down and "respect the will of the voters and end his campaign in a dignified manner." Miller shows no sign of giving in, telling the paper: "'It's not that we believe necessarily that we're going to come out on top'... Instead, he said, the campaign wants to make sure the counting process is a fair one. Asked if he sees any scenario in which he could still win, he said: 'I don't think it's impossible.'" But barring astonishing developments, the electoral math is decisively in Murkowski's favor at this point and a senior GOP aide told Morning Score: "I'm sure Republicans will congratulate her on her victory and welcome her back to the conference." http://bit.ly/9LfC7B


THE 2012 SCORE - PARSING PALIN - Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leaned into the possibility of a campaign for president in a pair of interviews published within hours of each other Wednesday, confirming that she's giving 2012 a look and predicting that she could defeat President Barack Obama. Speaking to the New York Times's Robert Draper for an extended profile, Palin said that she is actively considering a campaign, explaining that she's "engaged in the internal deliberations candidly, and having that discussion with my family," and critiquing her own political operation: "Yes, the organization would have to change. ... I'd have to bring in more people - more people who are trustworthy." In an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters, Palin responded confidently when asked if she could best Obama in a head-to-head race. "I believe so," Palin said.


ON THE ONE HAND, Palin's comments are not definitive - her comments to Draper leave her plenty of room to pass on a bid and it's unlikely that any politician would tell an interviewer like Walters that they could not beat a potential opponent. A cynical analyst would point out that Palin has everything to gain from amping up 2012 buzz ahead of her Nov. 23 book release. On the other hand, Palin's comments are at least a shade more candidate-like than her previous, I'll-run-if-nobody-else-does position. "It's pretty consistent with the public posture we've seen and heard before from her about a run. But it's also very similar to what other prospective candidates are offering, ones who are a sure bet to get in," said one Republican operative. "Pondering out loud whether the support is there when they know very well it is, otherwise the question wouldn't be asked. And she knows it's in her interest to be the focus of the media's attention, just as she knows even the slightest twitch from her about 2012 can launch a thousand ships when it comes to coverage." http://nyti.ms/bxHdg1 and http://bit.ly/91fq6B


MORE FROM THE RGA - RECOMMENDED READING: Tim Pawlenty has penned an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune arguing that as "Congress takes important steps toward eventual repeal, governors can use their authority to stop and delay implementation of Obama ... Merely restoring the status quo of skyrocketing costs, narrowing access, and structural dysfunction would be a mistake. Our health care system needs to be more effective and affordable. Reforms should feature timeless conservative principles applied to the challenges and opportunities of our time." http://bit.ly/9K5vDZ


AND - NEWT'S NEXT STEP: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will announce plans for five web seminars on state-based "transformational change," the AP reports. Gingrich is in town for the RGA conference, where he'll urge "GOP governors to turn what he calls 'the rejection of the left' into 'the replacement of the left' by enacting conservative, transformational policies in the states." http://bit.ly/duTIop


SAVE THE DATE - RNC FACEOFF: The conservative small-government group Americans for Tax Reform will hold a debate for RNC candidates on Jan. 3, taking place at the National Press Club and airing online and on C-SPAN. The group held a successful debate during the 2009 RNC race and ATR president Grover Norquist suggested in a statement that the event would help make the committee more accountable: "The actual vote for RNC Chairman will be made by the 168 members of the Committee, but the impact will be felt by all. Therefore, every activist should play a role in questioning the candidates and communicating with RNC members who cast votes." http://bit.ly/a59OVD


GREGOIRE STEPS UP: Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire was elected to lead the National Governors Association Wednesday, replacing Gov.-turned-Sen. Joe Manchin and putting Gregoire in a position of enhanced national stature as she heads toward the end of her second term. The NGA announcement put the spotlight on education, saying Gregoire "will continue the 2010-2011 NGA Chair's Initiative, Complete to Compete, which focuses on increasing the number of students in the United States who complete college degrees and certificates and improving the productivity of the country's higher education institutions." Dave Heineman, Nebraska's Republican governor, is the NGA's vice chairman. http://bit.ly/bYpb7g POLL OF THE DAY - ALLEN'S FLOOR OR CEILING? Virginia Sen. Jim Webb first won election to the Senate in 2006 by defeating incumbent Republican George Allen by less than half a percentage point. The two will start out closely matched if they compete again in 2012, according to a PPP survey that shows Webb with a 49 percent to 45 percent lead over Allen. Neither candidate is a lock for the race, however: Webb hasn't committed to running again and Allen hasn't formally announced his intentions either. PPP also tested races involving former Gov. Tim Kaine and soon-to-be-ex-Rep. Tom Perriello on the Democratic side, and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli on the Republican side: "Allen looks like he would be a much more formidable opponent at this point than either of Virginia's down ballot statewide office holders, Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Cuccinelli trails Webb 49-39 and Kaine 50-39 in possible contests, while Bolling trails Webb 49-38 and Kaine 48-41 in head to heads. ... [Perriello] trailed Allen 47-42 and Bolling 42-41 but led Cuccinelli 44-41 in hypothetical matches." http://bit.ly/a0iJeN


PLUS - LUGAR'S PUSHBACK: Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar's office released an internal poll taken at the end of October, showing the senator with the highest favorability rating of any official in his state as he prepares to run for a seventh term. Sixty-six percent of likely voters said they had a favorable impression of Lugar, versus only 19 percent who said their impression was unfavorable. That compares with Gov. Mitch Daniels's 59 percent favorable-32 percent unfavorable rating and Sen.-elect Dan Coats's 45 percent favorable-33 percent unfavorable rating. State Treasurer Richard Mourdock, a possible Lugar primary opponent, is largely unknown: Just 14 percent of respondents said they had a favorable impression of him, versus 9 percent who said their impression was unfavorable. The American Viewpoint poll tested 800 likely voters on Oct. 26 and 27.


WRAPPING 2010 - STILL UP IN THE AIR - From your Morning Score correspondent: "[T]he nation's most important unresolved race may be a down-ballot election in California - a contest for attorney general that will give one party control of a powerful regulatory office that's also a prime political steppingstone. The lower-profile contest pitted San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris - a 46-year-old multiracial Democrat once described as 'the female Barack Obama' - against Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, a Republican former police reservist best known to national audiences for having called the Robert Blake jury 'incredibly stupid.' ... 'Democrats have been able to take every single statewide office. With Kamala Harris winning as attorney general, we will have a complete sweep,' said San Francisco state Sen. Leland Yee ... [If Cooley wins, that] "will set him up to be looking at governor in four years,' Republican strategist Adam Mendelsohn said. 'If he wins, he'll be No. 1 on the California Republican bench.'" http://politi.co/9ak7pU


ELSEWHERE IN CALIFORNIA - Defeated gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman reached a settlement Wednesday with her former housekeeper, Nicky Diaz, who charged that Whitman underpaid her for work Diaz performed as an undocumented worker in the Whitman household. The San Jose Mercury News: "Whitman on Wednesday agreed to pay her former maid back wages of $5,500, an amount dwarfed by the political fallout created when the illegal-immigrant housekeeper came out of the shadows to accuse the billionaire of cheating her. ... Diaz Santillan's celebrity attorney, Gloria Allred, stood by and held Diaz Santillan close to her with one arm, never letting go. Another arm would have made it a bear hug. 'We are very, very happy with the settlement,' Allred said. 'It's a victory for us.' A few minutes later, Whitman campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds said the maid's claim of being exploited was false from the beginning and politically manipulated to the end." http://bit.ly/aFUhtN


ENSIGN WATCH: Nevada's two senators, Harry Reid and John Ensign, have traditionally kept the gloves on during each other's reelection campaigns. Yet Jon Ralston reports in the Las Vegas Sun that the Republican Ensign helped coach Reid's 2010 challenger, Sharron Angle, prepare for her debate with the majority leader: "Ensign, who Reid has not laid a glove on since June 16, 2009, helped Angle prepare for the only debate on Oct. 14. Ensign played Reid during one day of debate preparation at the Trump Tower in Las Vegas. Hmmm -- I wonder if he gave Angle the 'Man, up' line. Or if Reid will man up when Ensign runs for re-election...." http://bit.ly/9nrkwX


CODA - TWITTER FLASHBACK: "Think I'll do some house hunting while I'm in DC ... Guess I should pick up some office furniture, as well ... My sincere appreciation for the warm welcome, including from future colleagues" - @JoeWMiller http://aol.it/92jVpP

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