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<p>By Alexander Burns (@aburnspolitico, <a href="mailto:aburns@politico.com">aburns@politico.com</a>) <br />
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<strong>FIRST IN SCORE - THE HOLE NINE YARDS</strong> - Democrats have a lesson today for Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker: “First rule about holes? You find yourself in one, stop digging.” That's the opening line of a new independent expenditure ad against the insurance executive-turned-Republican nominee, paid for by the DGA-led group Bay State Future. The commercial swings a shovel at Baker for his involvement in the Big Dig, the notoriously flawed tunnel and highway construction project in Boston. “Charlie Baker was a chief architect of the Big Dig financing scheme that cost taxpayers nearly 15 billion,” the ad charges. “Yet now Baker says his approval of over a billion dollars in spending, quote, 'meant nothing.'” <br />
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Touted as a powerhouse challenger for Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick, Baker has struggled to pass the limping incumbent in a three-way race that also includes independent Tim Cahill. Patrick led Baker, 34 percent to 28 percent, in a recent State House News poll, with Cahill trailing at 18 percent after a brutal RGA ad campaign broke his momentum but failed to knock him from the race. The DGA-backed ad offers an extra layer of firepower for Patrick as the race heads to a finish. The spot's kicker: “Keep digging, Charlie.” Watch it here. <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/9k3NIT">http://bit.ly/9k3NIT</a> <br />
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<strong>SENATE RACE EXCLUSIVE - IN THE KEY OF CARNAHAN</strong>: Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan can add country music balladeer to her political resume, as the Democratic Senate candidate goes up on radio stations across Missouri with a commercial attacking Roy Blunt's ethics - in song form. The rhyming lyrics begin: “Roy Blunt refused to testify in a bribery investigation. / In Washington, he's number one in lobbyist donations.” The chorus - all together now: “He's looking out for someone, but it sure ain't you and me. / Roy Blunt is the very worst of Washington D.C. The way to spell corruption is B-L-U-N-T / Roy Blunt is the very worst of Washington D.C.” Listening is believing - click here for the full song. <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/9N2VDg">http://bit.ly/9N2VDg</a> <br />
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As Mike Castle teeters, Richard Trumka hits Ohio and Jim Greer greets the new school year, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily cheat sheet for the 2010 midterm elections. Brought to you from Iowa's 3rd Congressional District. <br />
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<strong>PRIMARY NIGHT - VIEWER'S GUIDE</strong>: It's the last multi-state primary day of 2010 and it has the makings of a political bloodbath. Seven states will vote - Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin - and in each state there's at least one insider-versus-outsider race worth watching. A few to keep an eye on: <br />
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(1) The Delaware GOP's Senate and House primaries, where Mike Castle and Christine O'Donnell are fighting for the Senate nomination, and where self-funding D.C. fave Michele Rollins is on the ropes against congressional rival Glen Urquhart; (2) Maryland's gubernatorial primary, pitting former Republican Gov. Bob Ehrlich against tea party- and Sarah Palin-backed upstart Brian Murphy; (3) Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch's health care-themed faceoff with former SEIU organizer Mac D'Alessandro; (4) The New Hampshire GOP Senate primary, where former state Attorney General Kelly Ayotte is fending off a late surge from conservative attorney Ovide Lamontagne; (5) New York Rep. Charlie Rangel's last stand, against a pack of Democratic primary opponents who could divide the vote against him; (6) The people's Kennedy seat in Rhode Island, where openly gay Providence Mayor David Cicilline is favored to win the Democratic primary over a pair of feisty opponents; (7) The Wisconsin gubernatorial primary, where Republican Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has the upper hand against former Rep. Mark Neumann - but has been running anti-Neumann attack ads that show this thing isn't over yet. POLITICO's Charlie Mahtesian has more, detailed primary-day analysis here. <a href="http://politi.co/c92nWy">http://politi.co/c92nWy</a> <br />
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<strong>TONIGHT</strong>: Follow the live results and maps at the POLITICO homepage and <a target="_blank" href="http://politico.com/2010 ">politico.com/2010</a> <br />
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** A message from Washington's NewsChannel 8: Comcast has hired a vast army of lobbyists to rush through the largest media merger in American history. The Comcast/NBC monopoly would present serious problems for local news in communities across our country. Washington's decision makers must resist the pressure from Comcast and take the necessary time to carefully review this controversial merger to protect the public interest. ** <br />
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<strong>THE DELAWARE STAKES - PPP TEASES</strong> - Man of the hour Tom Jensen: “Just finished the general election numbers in Delaware and New Hampshire. Not going to release them until Wednesday when we have nominees but in one case the conventional wisdom about who's more electable was confirmed and in the other it was not: In Delaware Chris Coons polls 26 points better against Christine O'Donnell than Mike Castle. … In New Hampshire though the electability gap has pretty much evaporated.” <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/94z88x">http://bit.ly/94z88x</a> <br />
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<strong>BIDEN POUNCES</strong> - From Monday's pool report at the vice president's fundraiser with Rep. Joe Sestak - Tom Fitzgerald of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes: “[Biden] mentioned Christine O'Donnell, though not by name, calling her 'the woman in Delaware, my home state, who's giving a scare to Mike Castle.' 'This is not your father's Republican Party,' VPOTUS said. 'This is the Republican Tea Party - the party of repeal and repeat.' And 'Joe's opponent [Republican Pat Toomey] is a poster boy for that philosophy,' VPOTUS said.” <br />
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<strong>PALIN AT THE BUZZER</strong>: The former Alaska governor cut robo-calls for both O'Donnell and Murphy, urging the GOP base to turn out for her mid-Atlantic endorsees. In her Maryland message, Palin calls Murphy and his running mate “the only common-sense, pro-life, pro-Second Amendment ticket in the race,” while in her Delaware recording she gets personal: “I can relate to the vicious personal attacks on Christine, and can tell you it's sad to see the establishment's desperation in this.” <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/arxPXR">http://bit.ly/arxPXR</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/cOLlur">http://bit.ly/cOLlur</a> </p><p><strong>DCCC'S SCOREBOARD</strong> - The House Democrats' campaign arm released four more independent expenditure polls late last night, pushing back on the waves of Republican polling that have helped shape the 2010 campaign narrative. The DCCC numbers show all four Democratic members tested in the lead: Kentucky Rep. Ben Chandler by 14 percent, New Mexico Rep. Harry Teague by seven percent, Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader by 13 percent and Pennsylvania Rep. Mark Critz by seven percent. More details here. <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/aPLedv">http://bit.ly/aPLedv</a> <br />
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<strong>HOUSE RACE EXCLUSIVE - MUST-SEE TV:</strong> Illinois Rep. Debbie Halvorson is coming at her Republican challenger on the issue of trade, and she's coming at him hard. The congresswoman's first broadcast commercial of the cycle warns that “politician Adam Kinzinger” favors new trade agreements “that ship our jobs overseas” - and then shows several voters describing their struggles with job loss in emotional terms. “I worked in manufacturing for 37 years,” one woman says. “My job is going to Mexico, Adam, because of politicians like you.” Another man says that “jobs here in America should stay here in America,” looking into the camera to tell Kinzinger: “Young man, you have no idea what you're doing.” Click here for the full effect. <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/cQqReI">http://bit.ly/cQqReI</a> <br />
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<strong>SPEAKING OF TRADE - TRUMKA IN COLUMBUS</strong>: AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka is in Columbus today for a convention of the Ohio AFL-CIO, and he plans on giving what-for to a trio of top Republican candidates. From his prepared remarks: “John Kasich is the poster child for those paper-pushing, job-killing Wall Streeters who tanked our economy and stole our pensions! … Rob Portman helped the Bush administration off-shore 100,000 Ohio jobs, while supporting tax breaks for companies that shipped jobs overseas. … Tom Ganley in Akron - running against our own Rep. Betty Sutton - promises to - and I quote - 'cut the Dickens' out of government programs. That's the same Tom Ganley whose Mercedes dealership made millions off the Cash for Clunkers program … Kasich, Portman and Ganley, equal one ugly future for America!” <br />
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<strong>2012 SIREN - DANIELS IN ACTION</strong> - POLITICO's Jonathan Martin: “Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has been holding a series of private dinners with top Republican business leaders, policy hands and donors from around the country since this spring, an indication that he's thinking more seriously about a presidential bid than he publicly lets on. The dinners, which take place at the governor's mansion in Indianapolis, are meant to introduce Daniels to a class of GOP heavy-hitters who could both finance and advise a White House campaign. … [T]he intimate get-togethers are more like get-to-know-you sessions - the political equivalent of a first date - in which the governor can tell the story of what he's done in the Hoosier State and gauge interest in a possible candidacy and his visitors can get a first-hand look at the Republican who's been winning so much insider buzz.” <a href="http://politi.co/aN3Q0S">http://politi.co/aN3Q0S</a> <br />
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<strong>POLL OF THE DAY - A THIRD WAY</strong>: First the Gallup tracking poll gave Republicans a 10-point generic ballot lead. Then it had the two parties tied. The latest take splits the difference, with Republicans five points up. Choose your own adventure here: <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/adbVRV">http://bit.ly/adbVRV</a> <br />
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<strong>LATER THIS WEEK - WHERE IT ALL BEGAN</strong>: Sarah Palin will appear at a fundraiser in Louisville this Thursday for Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul, dropping in at the Crowne Plaza Hotel during a previously planned trip to the city. Ryan Alessi notes: “Palin endorsed Paul during this spring's Republican primary … Palin already was scheduled to be in Louisville Thursday to be the keynote speaker at the National Quartet Convention, a gospel music conference, at Freedom Hall.” <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/aNSnm4">http://bit.ly/aNSnm4</a> <br />
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<strong>NOT QUITE 'GOEBBELS,' BUT</strong> … California Attorney General Jerry Brown quickly apologized to former President Bill Clinton after making a wisecrack about the Lewinsky scandal over the weekend. “Bill Clinton was an excellent president,” Brown said at a news conference. “It was wrong for me to joke about an incident from many years ago, and I'm sorry.” The joke in question, delivered in response to a Meg Whitman ad showing file footage of Clinton bashing Brown: “I mean Clinton's a nice guy but whoever said he always told the truth? … There's that whole story there about did he or didn't he. OK, I did… I did not have taxes with this state.” <a target="_blank" href="http://lat.ms/ctmzsd">http://lat.ms/ctmzsd</a> <br />
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<strong>BLOOMBERG FOR CHAFEE</strong>: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has chosen former Rhode Island Sen.-turned-gubernatorial Lincoln Chafee as his newest endorsee of the cycle. The mayor will be in Warwick and Providence Thursday to make it official. <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/991t8D">http://bit.ly/991t8D</a> (More on Bloomberg's 2010 endorsements here: <a href="http://politi.co/bOSlbd">http://politi.co/bOSlbd</a>) <br />
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<strong>CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY</strong>: “I apologize to the President for my opposition to his speech last year and my efforts to placate the extremists who dominate our party today. My children and I look forward to the president's speech.” - Indicted former Florida GOP Chairman and '09 presidential back-to-school speech critic Jim Greer. <a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/bWTM5e">http://bit.ly/bWTM5e</a> <br />
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** A message from Washington's NewsChannel 8: If the Comcast and NBC merger is rushed through the process, our country risks losing a powerful part of our democracy - locally-owned, independent voices in markets where Comcast/NBC will control both access to the home and multiple channels of news. Dropping the independent news voice won't serve the consumer. It will only serve the interests of Comcast which would also own the other news channels. Please make sure that any merger approval serves the public interest and protects the local news consumers you represent. Don't let Comcast ram this monopoly merger through the review process. **</p><br>
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