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By Theodoric Meyer | 12/17/2015 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Scott Bland and Elena Schneider

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)

TEAM REBUILDING - Grayson replaces top campaign staffers who left: Rep. Alan Grayson, who's running against Rep. Patrick Murphy is the Democratic primary for Florida's open Senate seat, has made two campaign hires after losing three top staffers, The Miami Herald's Kristen M. Clark reports. David Damron, who had been Grayson's congressional press secretary, will be his campaign spokesman. "Damron also worked on Grayson's 2014 re-election campaign and, before that, was a reporter covering politics in Florida for nearly two decades. The campaign also hired as political director Mario Piscatella, who was formerly the executive director of the Florida Young Democrats and has worked on a variety
of campaigns throughout the country." Grayson's campaign manager and spokesman worked their last days on Tuesday, and Grayson's deputy campaign manager is also gone. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b52be4c4de7a86c391ea864279357feaa3e6829ea000889ac5

COSTUME CONFLICT - American Bridge mocks Portman over tire outfit: In their ongoing quest to have a costumed mascot to bother every Democratic Senate candidate, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has recently deployed a man dressed as a costumed tire to follow around former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland. (The group has labeled Strickland "Retread Ted.") Here he is: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b5a477cc47deb39f607524ac0a52a1bc5f548fb3c90041c49a

- But the Democratic super PAC American Bridge is attacking Strickland's opponent, GOP Sen. Rob Portman, over the costume, noting it's made in China by the Kindfar Mascot Costume Factory and that Portman worked for a law firm that represented Chinese businesses in a trade dispute over tire production. Here's the factory's website: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b5566b4eebfac5cd32e83e26a5c656e66de1044884b26fc26f "Rob Portman and his Washington Republican friends talk a big game, but when the rubber meets the road they're happy to let American jobs go overseas to China," American Bridge President Jessica Mackler said in a statement. "It's not just this campaign costume, either - it's his record. Portman's employer represented
Chinese tire manufacturers in a dispute against American workers, even after Chinese tire imports resulted in Ohio jobs being shipped overseas."

Days until the 2016 election: 327.

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

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RADIO PLAY - NRCC goes after Coffman challenger: The National Republican Congressional Committee will go up with 60-second radio ad this week attacking Democratic state Rep. Morgan Carroll, saying she "wants to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and bring terrorist detainees to Colorado." Carroll is running against GOP Rep. Mike Coffman in Colorado's 6th District. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ran radio ads last week, targeting Coffman and other legislators, for "allowing suspected terrorists to buy assault rifles" because they blocked consideration of gun control measures.

SCORE INTERVIEW - Chatting with Democratic Rep. Gene Green's primary challenger: Former Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia said he got into a Democratic primary for Texas' 29th District, in Houston, partially because of Donald Trump's "vitriolic" comments about the Hispanic community. But Rep. Gene Green told The Texas Tribune that Gargia's challenge is not about Trump, but a personal attack. "If he wants to run against Donald Trump, he needs to go file in the Republican primary," Green said. Garcia, who recently lost in the Democratic primary in the Houston mayoral race, insists that he wants to represent his predominately Hispanic district. Here's what he told Campaign Pro's Elena
Schneider:

- On Trump: "He threw the gauntlet down in front of my community, saying 'I challenge you to take me on,' and I feel like I'm taking up that challenge."

- On the primary being about his community, rather than policy or personal differences: "This is not about incumbent, it's about empowerment. It's about giving the community to elect someone who can truly represent their issues."

OUTSIDE MONEY - Now or Never PAC says it won't attack Huelskamp next year: Jeff Roe, a GOP political consultant who's worked with the Now or Never super PAC, sent a letter to GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp last week, The Topeka Capital-Journal's Justin Wingerter reports. "I can confirm that Now or Never PAC, which attacked you in 2014, and with whom my firms work on a regular basis, also will not expend any funds in your election," Roe wrote. The decision is a reprieve for Huelskamp, who represents Kansas' 1st District and is facing two primary challengers, including one won 45 percent of the vote last year. Now or Never spent nearly $234,000 against Huelskamp last cycle.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b57029a8decd91178ffb6820f449c259e502edfc999a6bd52d

- Speaking of outside money: "Campaign finance reformers mourn demise of IRS 'dark money' reg," by POLITICO Pro's Katy O'Donnell: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b5e1e7c534c87a8ddb1d3b5850557d592b1b53a0cd4efe0b5a

POLLING UPDATE - Poll: McCain leads Kirkpatrick by 15 points: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b58a25aaadaa6a9523286899acb159f909cb3022a643b49dd7

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Window for an independent Trump bid is wide open," by POLITICO's Ben Schreckinger: "Donald Trump could campaign for the Republican nomination well into March before deciding to ditch the GOP and mount an independent bid for the White House. According to a POLITICO analysis, the obstacles standing in his way are few, so long as he's willing to spend seven figures to secure a place on the ballot. In fact, more than two-thirds of delegates could be awarded before the window would begin to close on an independent Donald Trump campaign. At this week's GOP debate, Trump said that he's no longer considering a third-party run. But his sporadic, strategic flirtation with
an independent campaign has Republicans taking their poll leader's commitment with a grain of salt." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b556e5044b615517cfea278027a3ba310fdadb7580fb875e1f

- "Chris Christie's post-New Hampshire plan: A wing and a prayer," by POLITICO's Daniel Strauss: Chris Christie is putting everything he's got into winning New Hampshire. He's visited the state at least 50 times this year, holding 112 events in total. But it's unclear what happens next if he does well there in February. "'I certainly agree with making New Hampshire the priority. It appears to be working to some extent,' said Mike Dennehy, who ran Sen. John McCain's campaign efforts in New Hampshire. 'However, if you have next to nothing in the following primary state then any strong showing will be as useful as it is for Jon Huntsman in 2012. Which is basically worthless.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b508dc4d5826eb3fa47c7046833c0eaad54a0ffeb7be185830

- "Bernie Sanders has now received 2 million campaign contributions, aides say," by The Washington Post's John Wagner: "The number reflects an operation that has focused on raising money in small increments from an exceptionally wide range of donors -- with the vast majority of contributions coming over the Internet. As of Wednesday, the average donation to Sanders's campaign was less than $30, aides said. The campaign did not release the number of unique donors to the Sanders -- many people have given more than once -- but aides said that figure is approaching 1 million." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b537eeb2bf897934d30243c5e1c4a849d16122cce5ff33257a

- The Twitter campaign: Jeb Bush tweeted a Photoshopped image of himself on Wednesday that had caught fire on Reddit. The image features a real shot of Bush looking a little like a vampire on the campaign trail inserted into an iconic photo of a grunge concert by the photographer Charles Peterson. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b5931247701e9ffae663449b1fd89d17d1d2399380f511387e

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I want to be as good a president as Beyoncé is a performer." - Hillary Clinton, setting an unmeetable standard for herself should she win the White House. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8d40de48614a82b5b646b0e892fe2f9cde1cddc5ff7aae5f0f223a85b5b28cd7

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