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By Elena Schneider | 02/06/2017 10:00 AM EDT


The following newsletter is an abridged version of Campaign Pro's Morning Score. For an earlier morning read on exponentially more races - and for a more comprehensive aggregation of the day's most important campaign news - sign up for Campaign Pro today. (http://www.politicopro.com/proinfo)

THAT'S A 'NO' - Rep. Pat Meehan opts not to challenge Casey: The Republican congressman said in a statement Saturday that he will not challenge Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in a state Trump won by just over one point, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. "Rep. Meehan's seat on the influential House Ways and Means Committee enables him to play a critical role in the most important coming legislative debates: health care, tax reform and trade," said John Elizandro, Meehan's spokesman. "He believes, at this time, our region is best served by him remaining in the House of Representatives and focused on the legislative opportunities ahead."

HE'S WATCHING - "TV networks hiking ad rates for shows Trump watches," by POLITICO's Daniel Lippman and Anna Palmer: "MSNBC and Fox News are capitalizing on President Donald Trump's TV watching habits, dramatically increasing issue advocacy advertising rates in recent weeks as companies and outside groups try to influence Trump and his top lieutenants. The ad rates for 'Morning Joe' have more than doubled post-election, according to one veteran media buyer. Trump, who reportedly watches the show most mornings, has a close relationship with 'Morning Joe' host Joe Scarborough, and they talk regularly. Fox News' 'The O'Reilly Factor' and other primetime programs on Fox News have boosted their
rates about 50 percent. Trump also is a frequent viewer of the network's primetime shows." Full story.

SETTING THE BOARD - "Trump sets Democratic field ablaze with anger," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "The Democratic base is so roiled and enraged after only two weeks of Donald Trump's presidency that a take-no-prisoners posture toward the White House is emerging as the price of entry for the 2020 primary. An election that could have focused in on economic inequality and the excesses of Wall Street - the issues that animate the left's leading tribunes, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren - is already shaping up as a contest about the intensity of the resistance to Trump. 'In almost 20 years of doing this, I've never felt like we're in a moment like we are now,' said Anne Caprara, a
senior advisor for the Priorities USA Action super PAC and a veteran Democratic campaign operative. 'This is the moment in history. People will look back and ask what you did, and there's a real palpable recognition of that among elected officials.' The urgency of the moment is not lost on the party's leading 2020 hopefuls. Many of them - including Warren and fellow Senators Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Kamala Harris - abandoned their schedules last weekend to appear at protests in their home states or in Washington ... Then Warren, Sanders, Gillibrand, and Booker voted against approving Elaine Chao for Secretary of Transportation, one of Trump's least controversial picks and an
unmistakable thumb in the eye of Chao's husband, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell." Full story.

THE HEADLINER - "President Donald Trump to headline NRCC fundraiser," by CNN's Tom LoBianco: "President Donald Trump is set to headline the National Republican Congressional Committee's March fundraiser, giving a hand to the group tasked with protecting Republican majorities in the House, the event's organizer said Friday. ...The March 21 dinner at the National Building Museum is one of Congressional Republicans' most important fundraising tools and has brought in large hauls before." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 274.

Days until the 2018 election: 638.

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, krobillard@politico.com and dstrauss@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin and @danielstrauss4.

PAGING CARLOS BERUFF? - "Missing: Outsider businessman in GOP primary for governor," by The Tampa Bay Times' Adam C. Smith: "Gov. Rick Scott may have his eyes on unseating U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018, but that doesn't mean he will sit by idly as Republicans nominate a career politician to succeed him. Scott, the controversial and mega rich ex-CEO of a hospital chain, came out of nowhere to run for governor in 2010, and The Buzz among Republicans in Tallahassee is that Scott is actively recruiting a wealthy outsider like himself - and like Donald Trump - to run for governor in 2018." Full story.

COMING SOON - Rep. Cheri Bustos to decide on gubernatorial run in 30 days: Democratic Rep. Cheri Bustos said over the weekend that she'd decide on a statewide run against GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner in the next month, MyStateline.com reported. Bustos said her experience representing a swing district means "she can get both Democratic and Republican support."

- TODAY IN CALCULATED NON-ANSWERS - Romney weighs in on possible 2018 Senate run: The former Republican presidential nominee, asked about Utah's 2018 Senate race, told The Deseret News: "I don't have any predictions on what I might do. I'm not going to open a door and I'm not going to close a door. All doors are open."

DIGITAL STRATEGY - "As a conservative Twitter user sleeps, his account is hard at work," by The Washington Post's Craig Timberg: "...Today's digital soapboxes are little like the old-fashioned kind. Researchers have documented the power of automation technology to magnify some points of view while drowning out others. Much of that research has focused on 'bots,' accounts programmed to follow instructions, such as automatically replying to tweets from other accounts. ...When [researcher Jonathan] Albright studied the most prolific Twitter accounts during the final two weeks of the election, he found that all of the top 20 appeared to support the eventual winner, Donald Trump. Among accounts
using major pro-Trump hashtags such as "#MAGA," for "Make America Great Again," two of the top three belonged to [retiree Daniel] Sobieski." Full story.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Trump Clashes Early With Courts, Portending Years of Legal Battles," by The New York Times' Peter Baker: "President Trump is barreling into a confrontation with the courts barely two weeks after taking office, foreshadowing years of legal battles as an administration determined to disrupt the existing order presses the boundaries of executive power. Lawyers for the administration were ordered to submit a brief on Monday defending Mr. Trump's order temporarily banning refugees from around the world and all visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. An appeals court in California refused on Sunday to reinstate the ban after
a lower court blocked it. As people from the countries targeted by Mr. Trump struggled to make their way to the United States while they could, the president for the second day in a row expressed rage at the judge in the case, this time accusing him of endangering national security. Vice President Mike Pence defended the president's tone, but lawyers and lawmakers of both parties said Mr. Trump's comments reflected a lack of respect for the constitutional system of checks and balances." Full story.

- "Trump and Staff Rethink Tactics After Stumbles," by The New York Times' Glenn Thrush and Maggie Haberman: "...During his first two dizzying weeks in office, Mr. Trump, an outsider president working with a surprisingly small crew of no more than a half-dozen empowered aides with virtually no familiarity with the workings of the White House or federal government, sent shock waves at home and overseas with a succession of executive orders designed to fulfill campaign promises and taunt foreign leaders. ...But one thing has become apparent to both his allies and his opponents: When it comes to governing, speed does not always guarantee success. ...This account of the early days of the Trump
White House is based on interviews with dozens of government officials, congressional aides, former staff members and other observers of the new administration, many of whom requested anonymity. At the center of the story, according to these sources, is a president determined to go big but increasingly frustrated by the efforts of his small team to contain the backlash." Full story.

- "Trump escapes D.C. for a few rounds of golf and a Super Bowl party," by The Washington Post's Abby Phillip: "After two frenetic weeks of governing, the first signs that President Trump has taken a break from governance came this weekend, when he decamped Washington for the "Winter White House," as he has dubbed his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The president stayed largely out of sight on Saturday and Sunday, except for a few social engagements at Mar-a-Lago and the nearby Trump International Golf Club. After declining to say what the president was up to for most of the weekend, the White House acknowledged Sunday afternoon that he may have also played a few rounds of golf at his resort,
where he spent several hours on Saturday and Sunday mornings." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "What, you think our country's so innocent?" - President Donald Trump, responding to Fox News' Bill O'Reilly saying Vladimir "Putin's a killer" during a pre-Super Bowl interview. More here.

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