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


THE NEW YORK SPECIAL - RUBIO TO THE RESCUE - POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt reports: "Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is rushing to the assistance of New York Republican Jane Corwin, recording a robo-call for the special election candidate who's trying to lock in last-minute conservative support. 'This is Sen. Marco Rubio with a short but important message: D.C. needs strong conservatives like Jane Corwin. We have changed the debate, we are moving in the right direction but we are in the middle of the fight. Jane Corwin will be a voice we need to keep that momentum up,' Rubio says in the call, which was recorded on Wednesday. 'Join me in supporting Jane and please go vote this coming Tuesday, May 24th in the Special Election. It is CRITICAL.'" Corwin and Democrat Kathy Hochul debated again Wednesday, with entitlements still at the center of the campaign fight: http://bit.ly/mrIm3D


SNEAK PEEK - NRSC BUDGET BLITZ - It has been 750 days since Senate Democrats passed a budget bill and the National Republican Senatorial Committee wants Americans to know it. In a memo to Republican Senate campaigns and state parties, NRSC communications director Brian Walsh urged GOP messengers to stay on offense in a budget debate increasingly defined by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and Democratic attacks on his spending plan. "Senate Democrats have not only failed to pass a budget in 750 days, they haven't even introduced a budget in this Congress," Walsh wrote. "Democrats, who control the Senate, want to demagogue the House Republican budget proposal, yet they themselves have failed to do for 750 days what every American family has to do every month - develop and live by a budget."


MORE - COMING SOON - The NRSC will go after individual Democrats today for campaigning on spending restraint in 2006, and failing to follow through. For example: "As a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2006, Claire McCaskill (D-MO) repeatedly expressed her support for a balanced budget and routinely pilloried Republicans for their fiscal record in Washington ... And in just the 750 days since McCaskill and her fellow Democrats who run the Senate have failed to pass a budget, the federal debt has risen by an additional $3.1 trillion."


POPPING FROM THE DCCC - TheGrandOilParty.com - The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will unveil a "Gas Prices Action Center" online, designed to keep tying the GOP to oil companies as both parties struggle to address rising fuel prices. This is the contrast point Democrats have embraced most enthusiastically for 2012: "While repeatedly voting to protect Big Oil's taxpayer giveaways, House Republicans have voted to end Medicare and raise health care costs for seniors."


As Reince Priebus opens his checkbook, Facebook claims another victim and Pete King has greatness thrust upon him, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


GO TIME - "Huntsman hype faces N.H. test" - From your Morning Score correspondent and POLITICO's Kasie Hunt: "Jon Huntsman's days as an international man of mystery are about to come to an end. The former ambassador to China is embarking on a five-day campaign swing through New Hampshire, a trip that will put him in the center of the 2012 fray amid growing Republican alarm about the weakness of the party's presidential field ... But five months after floating himself as a potential presidential candidate - and several weeks after leaving his post in Beijing - Huntsman remains a political cipher ... 'He obviously needs to dispel any suspicion that he's not conservative enough to win the Republican nomination,' said [Windham Republican Chairman Travis] Blais, who does not plan to endorse a candidate. 'The guy's got a great resume, but so does Tim Pawlenty. So does Rick Santorum. It's got to be, 'Why Jon Huntsman?'" http://politi.co/lroe7y


MORE - THE ANSWER? "Huntsman has only started to outline his campaign message in private, sketching out the themes for his bid in the most general of terms and talking about '21st Century competitiveness' in a series of meetings with operatives, fundraisers and lobbyists. Republicans who have heard Huntsman's closed-door sales pitch describe it as an upbeat, economically-oriented 'soft sell' ... 'There was a little bit [of detail] on competitiveness - free trade agreements and a competitive tax system,' said one Republican who heard Huntsman at an event in Washington. 'A little bit on where China is going, how they can see 8 to 10 percent growth per year, for infinity, and how that compares to where we are' ... Several Republicans said Huntsman planned on making a final decision on 2012 in a matter of weeks." http://politi.co/lroe7y


TAKE TWO - NEWT DOES SUNDAY - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, still in damage control mode over his comments on the Ryan budget on "Meet the Press," is headed back to the Sunday circuit. But he's not returning to NBC, reports POLITICO's Kendra Marr: "He's committed to appear on 'Face the Nation,' spokesman Rick Tyler told POLITICO. Meanwhile 'Meet the Press' ... is hosting Ryan." http://politi.co/kQPND9


IN FOR THE KILL: Democrats are continuing to exploit Gingrich's off-message remarks in ways that are profoundly unhelpful to the Republican presidential candidate. On a conference call reported by the Washington Post, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer praised Gingrich for his "candor" and vowed to use his description of Ryan's plan in the 2012 campaign. "Gingrich was saying what everyone knows to be true: The plan is extreme," Schumer said. "What Newt seems to realize is that it would be impossible to win the White House if they embrace the Ryan plan." And White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer played pundit on Twitter, musing: "Biggest takeaway from the Gingrich flap - ending Medicare as we know it is the new GOP litmus test." http://bit.ly/jyS2oq and http://wapo.st/mpQNk3


MITCH INCHES FORWARD: Tennessee Republicans are either going to be very excited or very let down when Mitch Daniels speaks at a state party function next month in Nashville. The Indiana governor has landed a prime speaking slot, CNN reports: "Daniels, who could be just days away from announcing a Republican presidential bid, will keynote the party's Statesmen's Dinner in Nashville on July 15 ... Last year, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty addressed the fundraising banquet, and other presidential hopefuls like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush have addressed the group in the past." http://bit.ly/ke9RjS


AND - HERE WE GO AGAIN - Getting a big hug from Democrats over health care reform isn't just for Mitt Romney anymore. Protect Your Care, the Affordable Care Act-defending group launched last month, will begin praising Mitch Daniels today for allowing a number of health care reform provisions (such as insurance exchanges) to go into effect in his state. The organization will run online ads asking users to "Thank Mitch Daniels for implementing health care reform," and push out this message: "While Governor Daniels has certainly used a lot of the 'correct' language for the far right, when push comes to shove on actual policy, his administration in Indiana has been pretty good at helping to implement the Affordable Care Act." See the ads here: http://politi.co/lnYt1F and here: http://politi.co/jAGsBV


FEEDING THE BUZZ - BACHMANN TO N.H. - Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann is making a return trip to New Hampshire over Memorial Day weekend, as her top advisers leak out word that a presidential bid is all but certain. MinnPost's Derek Wallbank: "Bachmann will headline a Memorial Day picnic in Dover, according to an invitation from the Dover and Strafford County Republicans ... Bachmann has said she'd announce her presidential intentions by June, but told Fox News that she's now considering bumping that announcement up to later this month." http://bit.ly/ivRSsT


A VERY SERIOUS MAN - KING TEASES: What is it about New York Republicans that they can't resist pretending to run for president? The latest to go through the motions is New York Rep. Peter King, the perpetual political tease last seen preparing to run for Senate in 2010. AP: "The New York congressman, responding to a powerful hometown Republican's suggestion that he run for president, said he was taking a wait-and-see approach. 'Let's see what happens,' King told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday. 'This is something out of the blue. It is a great honor, but right now I am focused on getting re-elected to the House next year.' Joseph Mondello, the longtime chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee ...drew widespread applause from 1,100 fellow Long Island Republicans at a dinner Tuesday night when he suggested King consider a 'favorite son' candidacy." http://bit.ly/iNJY8B


THE 2011 SCORE - FALL BEGINS NOW: Less than 48 hours after this week's primary elections, Kentucky's two gubernatorial tickets have already positioned themselves for all-out battle. Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has started reserving air time in Louisville, Lexington and Owensboro, according to cn|2 Politics, while Republican state Senate President David Williams is test-driving his message online. The Williams camp is blasting out a cinematic video today, accusing Beshear of having "failed to deliver" on his promises and declaring: "This state needs strong leadership and we can't wait any longer." Watch the video, produced by the firm FP1 Strategies, here: http://bit.ly/l2qosi ... Beshear story here: http://bit.ly/lNBSNz


DRIVING OBAMA'S DAY - From the White House guidance: "[T]he President will deliver a speech on the events in the Middle East and North Africa, and U.S. policy in the region, at the State Department ... In the afternoon, the President will be interviewed by BBC ... In the evening, the President will deliver remarks at the Women's Leadership Forum at the Grand Hyatt ... Later in the evening, the President will deliver remarks at a DNC event. The President's remarks are print pool only." And the VP: "In the afternoon, the Vice President will travel to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At 1:45 PM, the Vice President will attend an event for the Democratic National Committee. The Vice President will then travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he will attend an event for the Democratic National Committee at 5:15 PM."


MONEY WATCH - PRIEBUS CHIPS IN: The Republican National Committee is still $19 million in debt after raising $6 million in April. The Daily Caller reports that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus anted up, literally, to help pay down the bill: "Priebus took over the committee with $24 million in debt, according to Sean Spicer, the RNC communications director. The committee paid off $1 million of that debt in April, he said. 'He personally joined in the effort by making a $5,000 personal contribution,' Spicer said of Priebus. The RNC has about $5 million cash on hand, he said." http://bit.ly/kTx7aW


AND AT THE DNC - DWS HYPES LOCALS: Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz used her platform at the DNC to highlight a Democratic victory in her home state of Florida this week, pointing to the Jacksonville mayor's race as a sign that voters are revolting against GOP rule. In a statement, Wasserman Schultz touted Democratic Mayor-elect Alvin Brown's surprise win, along with an unexpected special election victory for Democrats in the New Hampshire state House. "If last night's results prove anything, it's that the far right wing positions taken by Republicans like Rick Scott, the State House majority in New Hampshire and Congressional Republicans are being rejected by voters casting real and meaningful votes," she said. "Republicans across the country have over-played their hand, and voters [Tuesday] night reacted."


POLL OF THE DAY - TROUBLE IN O-HI-O: A majority of Ohioans oppose the recently passed state law scaling back collective bargaining for public employees, according to a Quinnipiac University poll. Senate Bill 5, which was signed earlier this year by Republican Gov. John Kasich, is the target of a labor-backed campaign to repeal it by referendum. WSYX-TV: "The poll ... shows Ohioans oppose the law by a margin of 54-36 percent ... A spokesman for Gov. John Kasich said the administration rarely comments on polls." http://bit.ly/iQPHZz


NOT A GOOD HEADLINE - "Perdue's son accuses fundraiser of adultery" - POLITICO's David Catanese: "The son of North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue has taken to Facebook to accuse a fundraiser for likely Republican candidate Pat McCrory of adultery. 'Chronic adulterer and town crier to host McCrory fundraiser in New Bern . . . you know who you are . . . HILARIOUS,' wrote 34-year-old Garrett Perdue ... A spokesman for Perdue did not immediately respond to a request for comment about her son's comment ... Garrett Perdue quickly issued an apology Wednesday, also on his Facebook page." http://politi.co/mSqDLu


CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I don't think she's in Gingrich's league - but who is?" - Republican talking head Dick Morris, on Michele Bachmann's intelligence http://bit.ly/lfZCIZ

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