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By Theodoric Meyer | 08/04/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Elena Schneider, Maggie Severns and Scott Bland

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)

THURSDAY PRIMARIES - "New DesJarlais challenge highlights Tennessee primaries," by Campaign Pro's Maggie Severns: Republican primaries in three safely conservative seats are the main events when Tennessee voters go to the polls for their unusual Thursday primary. Two incumbents, GOP Reps. Scott DesJarlais and Diane Black, have primary opponents running challenges to the right, while a flock of 13 candidates is gunning for retiring Rep. Stephen Fincher's district. Ultra-conservative, self-funding 28-year-old Grant Starrett has been attacking DesJarlais on abortion issues while allies of Joe Carr, who is running against Black, are trying to coax Donald Trump voters to turn out on Carr's
behalf. But it's the challenge to DesJarlais, who has been targeted since 2012 revelations that he had affairs with medical patients and urged one to have an abortion, that has attracted the most attention." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd11249144831fa67b3b10ff3fad46110de94aef8227fadf87e9708dca4

GOING FURTHER - "Republican releases ad promising to 'stand up' to Trump," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "As many Republicans delicately distance themselves from Donald Trump's erratic candidacy, one prominent Republican is going further - launching a face-to-camera television commercial in which he promises to "stand up" to the GOP nominee. The commercial, from GOP Rep. Mike Coffman of Colorado, represents the first time a House Republican has used explicitly anti-Trump messaging in paid advertising. ... The 30-second ad opens with a shot of Coffman, a 61-year-old Army and Marine veteran who fought in Iraq, looking directly at the camera. 'People ask me, "What do you think about Trump?"'
he says. 'Honestly, I don't care for him much.' A few moments later, he says: 'I'm a Marine - for me, country comes first. My duty is always to you. So if Donald Trump is the president, I'll stand up to him. Plain and simple.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd1124914480e3e61bfc041dc6c3073d00f796f7f7b06a42edaf2aaf354

NEW THIS MORNING - Club for Growth super PAC attacks Jones in new ad in AZ-05: The Club for Growth's super PAC is debuting a new ad going after Christine Jones, one of several Republicans running for retiring GOP Rep. Matt Salmon's seat in Arizona. "What does Christine Jones say when she thinks Republicans aren't listening?" a narrator asks. "Jones called Hillary Clinton a 'capable and respected leader' and 'an effective' secretary of state. When Obama was reelected, Jones offered support and said, 'Get excited.'" "Can you say phony?" the narrator concludes. The Club has endorsed Jones' opponent Andy Biggs in the Aug. 30 primary. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd112491448f9aa72be0f2802ededaf7f9f1678f307c72eca55256ca9d9

- Cortez Masto goes up with her own positive ad in Nevada: Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto is going up with a new TV ad, a positive spot telling the story of her immigrant grandfather. "This is Edward Cortez," Cortez Masto says in the ad, holding up an old certificate of naturalization. "Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, he immigrated to the U.S. and was proud to serve our country in World War II. He settled in Nevada, became a baker and raised a family." The spot never mentions her Republican opponent, Rep. Joe Heck. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd112491448a77315c3d4cc2251abb3d6569138933c9a32e3b21ea9de65

Days until the 2016 election: 96.

Days until the Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin congressional primaries: 5.

Thank 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 mseverns@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about errant pitches: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

POLL ALERT - Clinton, Hassan score double-digit leads in new WBUR New Hampshire poll: The Democratic ticket got a major post-convention bump in WBUR's latest survey of New Hampshire, a sharp departure from recent tight polls in the state. In the Senate race, Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan leads GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte 50 percent to 40 percent, while Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump 47 percent to 32 percent. The poll of 609 likely voters was conducted from July 29-Aug. 1 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. See the results here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd11249144848850fe732b0210ae7eedb02396d92c5af5a3863149e4110

- We'll have to see if such a lead pops up in other surveys (Ayotte has a slim average advantage right now.) In the meantime, the survey does illustrate the down-ballot danger Trump poses. Senate Republicans have so far maintained some separation from Trump in the battleground states; in New Hampshire, Ayotte has run 3 to 5 points ahead of Trump in recent surveys, and she stretched that to 8 points in the WBUR poll. But even senators with their own well-defined identities could be in deep trouble if Trump sinks too low.

- FIRST IN SCORE - Poll: Paul 50, Gray 38 in Kentucky Senate race - Heading into Fancy Farm weekend, Harper Polling and RunSwitch PR (the workplace of GOP consultant Scott Jennings, this year's Fancy Farm host) are out with a new survey of the Kentucky electorate. In the Senate race, GOP Sen. Rand Paul leads Democratic Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, 50 percent to 38 percent. A major problem for Gray: He's winning just 60 percent of the state's Democrats, who are often conservative. On the presidential level, Donald Trump bests Hillary Clinton, 49 percent to 36 percent, with Libertarian Gary Johnson drawing 5 percent. The poll also found Gov. Matt Bevin's approval rating at 52 percent and
Republicans leading a generic state legislative battle. (The state House is up for grabs.) Read the polling memo here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd1124914483cb44371c0c67911d2b5af0f5ce868f8c2c6cd41c79a136b See the toplines here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c9e872982d946afa640251abad74b0cac71769dd64071750ce929cef55359fe2

- Super PAC internal poll: Wasserman Schultz leading challenger: Patriot Majority PAC, which recently spent about $100,000 on mailers backing Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in her primary, released an internal poll showing the incumbent leading Democratic challenger Tim Canova 59 percent to 26 percent. Wasserman Schultz, who resigned from her post as chair of the Democratic National Committee last week, still maintains high favorability, according to the survey. Sixty-one percent of voters view her favorably, while 23 percent see her unfavorably. Canova's campaign released its own internal poll last week, showing Wasserman Schultz ahead just 46 percent to 38 percent.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd1124914489b7d3e98a78eed478f3f4f89cfb118dfb557a4b6b3c7d076

AVALANCHE OF ADS - FIRST IN SCORE - Young debuts first ad in IA-03: GOP Rep. David Young will start airing his first television ad of the cycle on Friday as he seeks to keep his seat in Iowa's 3rd District, a top target for Democrats. Young is spending six figures to air the positive ad, which highlights Young's Iowa roots. "His story is pure Iowa: David Young, a six-generation Iowan from Van Meter. He walked beans, had a paper route and worked summers at the state fair," a narrator says in the ad. "In Congress, David is working to control spending, make Washington accountable to the people, create jobs and keep our family safe." Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd112491448b0a083959ee4ffd8f71388eca6839c8f97239555f5d731b2

- NRSC going up on TV in Indiana: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd1124914485235b5f9efb54dcd8a86b74837b867cafbba755bb49498dc

- See more ads here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd112491448116ec1d1da7b0e429f7d3bf91fd9b8575cfbf6923c432240

FORWARDING FAIL - "Errant email reveals Rep. Comstock's political strategist side," by The Loudoun Times-Mirror's Trevor Baratko: A local reporter got a glimpse into GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock's campaign on Wednesday thanks to an accidentally forwarded email. "Just before 11 a.m., Comstock sent an email with the subject line 'we really need to blast this around' to her deputy chief of staff, Jeff Marschner, and a regional press secretary for the NRCC, Chris Pack. Neither email was sent using an official government address. The congresswoman's note directs a media play against her Democratic challenger, LuAnn Bennett. The Comstock operation hoped to highlight a then-deleted, now-edited
Bennett interview with the liberal Blue Virginia blog. 'We need to get Loudoun Times and/or Politico to call about the deleted items,' Comstock writes. ' ... Let's get this heavy on twitter and FB and push with the press.'"

STILL COUNTING - Jayapal's Democrats opponent remains unclear in WA-07: Democratic state Sen. Pramila Jayapal took the most votes in the "top two" primary to fill retiring Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott's Seattle seat on Tuesday, but the race for second is still uncalled. With more votes counted, state Rep. Brady Walkinshaw has taken a slight lead over King County Councilman Joe McDermott (no relation), with 21.3 percent of the vote to McDermott's 20.9 percent. But the two remains separated by fewer than 500 votes.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Donald Trump's man on Israel," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck in New York: "Donald Trump's chief Israel adviser doesn't believe in briefing books, or in sharing topical news articles with his boss. He has no formal background in foreign policy. And his most extensive writing about the Middle East comes in the form of a family travel guide to Israel that he penned with his wife. What Jason Greenblatt does have is a fierce loyalty to Donald J. Trump. Greenblatt, 49, is the chief legal officer at the Trump Organization and an executive vice president there. He also now serves as one of Trump's top advisers on Israel and is helping to spearhead a nascent Israel Advisory
Committee for the Trump campaign." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd112491448bd73fbc92a5edc2409340a4abad36d0f4aa4f3831b377771

- "Trump's shrinking electoral map," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti in Commerce City, Colo.: "The 2016 battleground map may soon have one fewer state on it. With a clear lead in the polls, demographic advantages, and a rival who is out of sync with local GOP leaders, Hillary Clinton is beginning to put some distance between her campaign and Donald Trump, raising the prospect that Colorado, a pivotal swing state, is too far gone for Trump to catch up. No one close to the Clinton team is ready to say the state's nine electoral votes are in their column. But with just over three months until Election Day, Clinton and her allies are showing outward signs of self-assurance here by cutting
Colorado out their recent ad buys." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd112491448e1e9395950b6b348221b5be6afebcc1ec59cdb0ede869868

- "Gaps in Melania Trump's immigration story raise questions," by POLITICO's Ben Schreckinger and Gabriel Debenedetti: "Nude photographs published this week are raising fresh questions about the accuracy of a key aspect of Melania Trump's biography: her immigration status when she first came to the United States to work as a model. The racy photos of the would-be first lady, published in the New York Post on Sunday and Monday, inadvertently highlight inconsistencies in the various accounts she has provided over the years. And, immigration experts say, there's even a slim chance that any years-old misrepresentations to immigration authorities could pose legal problems for her today."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd11249144858dbdb70791394e7ff9e7722a86db8eb661bd32a71a073b5

- "Billionaire Klarman slams Trump, vows to work for Clinton," by Reuters' Lawrence Delevingne: "Billionaire hedge fund manager [and GOP donor] Seth Klarman said on Wednesday he would work to get Hillary Clinton elected president of the United States because he finds recent comments by Donald Trump 'shockingly unacceptable.' 'His words and actions over the last several days are so shockingly unacceptable in our diverse and democratic society that it is simply unthinkable that Donald Trump could become our president," Klarman said of the Republican presidential nominee." Klarman is an independent, but he's given mostly to Republicans. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd112491448600d71c2ee398123988f12908e38b896939f748e3906288a

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I go to bed at night hoping I'll wake up and it will all be a bad dream." - Dale Dykema, a Republican donor who has given to a super PAC backing Donald Trump but told BuzzFeed News the last few days have been "extremely discouraging." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=5788cbd112491448855db1e182606b9beab17e00da1d546d74d6a28ae663b90e

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