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By Kyle Cheney


With Sandhya Raman and Steven Shepard

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. (
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POLITICO CAUCUS - "Some Republicans think Cotton letter hurts GOP," by POLITICO's James Hohmann: "One-third of Republican insiders believe that Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and his GOP colleagues - including several potential presidential candidates - crossed the line when they published an open letter to Iranian leaders warning about a possible nuclear deal. This week's survey of
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The POLITICO Caucus - a bipartisan group of key activists, operatives and thought leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire - also finds that Democratic insiders unanimously believe that Cotton & Co. behaved inappropriately. Liberals feel strongly that the GOP would cry treason if a Democrat did what Cotton has under a Republican president. Though there is a split on the letter, conservatives across the board are deeply skeptical of any agreement between President Barack Obama's administration and the Islamic Republic. 'The GOP letter - while sound in substance - caused the debate to shift from the administration's wrongheadedness to the GOP's tactics,' said a New Hampshire Republican, who - like
all 92 respondents this week - completed the survey anonymously in order to speak candidly. 'That's not helpful.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1bc2f426290721d1231430d537a2c359c40dc67d34b64a4dfc
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1b985bed00528e9342cbd42f004474a14d3f4fddad77c7b06b 2016 GOP - "Christie's challenge: Reassure nervous supporters," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "Chris Christie's political team has a problem: Even their own supporters need to be reassured that he's still in the presidential game. In a recent closed-door 'campaign update' meeting with high-powered lobbyists, PR professionals and attorneys in a downtown Washington office, Christie's defenders were under the gun ... On this day, the duty to address the widely held perception that the New Jersey governor is flailing fell to Bill Palatucci, Christie's political consigliere ... Christie was going through the grinder, he conceded, according to
accounts from several attendees. But Palatucci insisted it would be a serious mistake to write the governor off."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1b25fb50543ffc0710d203d2bc8000e055870083b80e7b4ff1
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1b25fb50543ffc0710d203d2bc8000e055870083b80e7b4ff1 - Perry: I'll be better prepared this time: The former Texas governor acknowledged in an interview with NH1 that his 2012 presidential bid lacked preparation: "It was obvious and it was a pretty short lived campaign. This time people are going to see a substantially better prepared, whether it's on the issues or whether it's the organization that we put together, whether it's the boots on the ground right here in New Hampshire. They will see a very, very, well thought out campaign if we decide to pull that trigger."
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1b21a121340ce516cee1e3f5acbbf42b2ccc420febb61d4e36 IN THE TRENCHES - Conservative group targets Democratic ballot initiatives - The State Government Leadership Foundation, a conservative 501(c)(4) and ally of the Republican State Leadership Committee, is launching an effort intended to help defeat ballot initiatives backed by liberal interests. "The left has made it clear since their significant losses last November that they will increasingly throw their efforts - and money - behind ballot initiatives, understanding that they no longer have control in state chambers to push through their liberal policies," said SGLF Executive Director Matt Walter in a statement. The group is launching the
Center for Conservative Initiatives to "provide important information that is readily available to the public and offers a balance to the left's efforts." The group says it is prepared to "raise millions" to support the effort.


As Tom Perez bails on the Senate race and Anthony Brown opts for the House, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: daily news, notes and essential information for the 2015 and 2016 election cycles.


Days until the 2015 election: 235; Days until the 2016 election: 606


Thanks for joining us. We're eager for your news and feedback. Email us at
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kcheney@politico.com or find us on Twitter at @
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kyledcheney .


AMES FIRED - "Iowa GOP moves straw poll to Boone," by Campaign Pro's Kyle Cheney and POLITICO's Katie Glueck: "The Iowa Republican Party is moving its controversial presidential straw poll from its traditional Ames venue about 20 miles west to the Central Iowa Expo near Boone. The final vote was unanimous among State Central Committee members, an Iowa GOP spokesman confirmed. The party touted Boone's easy access from all points in the state - no more than three hours from the edges of Iowa. They also described it as a more affordable location to hold the event, ensuring maximum participation. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has previously questioned whether the poll was still useful. But on
Thursday, he gave the event his blessing.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1be172f2a3cc72ccbd9fac3535c76e2594c05492e3f64ee378
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1be172f2a3cc72ccbd9fac3535c76e2594c05492e3f64ee378 MARYLAND FILE - Labor Secretary Tom Perez has ruled out a Senate bid, Roll Call reports.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1b0e9bc7f68528a7b58c61c7c95ab63f847ef79f7c56bf55a4
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1b0e9bc7f68528a7b58c61c7c95ab63f847ef79f7c56bf55a4 - Former lieutenant governor jumps into MD-04 field: Former Maryland Lt. Gov Anthony Brown, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2014, announced his candidacy Thursday for the state's 4th Congressional District, a seat currently held by Rep. Donna Edwards. Brown, who lost to Republican Larry Hogan last November, stopped short of endorsing Edwards in a recent statement but offered her high praise when she entered the Senate primary, which opened up her House seat. Brown already has a competitor for the Democratic nomination - former state's attorney Glenn Ivey, who formally announced a bid for Edwards' seat on Wednesday and has signed up
SKDKnickerbocker - the firm that worked for then-Attorney General Doug Gansler in last year's gubernatorial primary - as a consultant. And Brown could also have one more hurdle: a $500,000 campaign debt left over from last year's governor's race.


THE NUMBERS - Poll: Connecticut a safe seat for Democratic senator: Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal - the longtime state attorney general who survived a scandal surrounding his embellishment of his military record and a $50-million onslaught by Republican Linda McMahon to win a Senate seat in 2010 - is one a glide path to a second term, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll out today. Blumenthal's approval rating is a gaudy 64 percent in the new poll, compared to just 26 percent who disapprove. And 59 percent of voters say they feel he deserves reelection, while only 29 percent think he doesn't. The poll was conducted March 6-9, surveying 1,235 registered voters by
landline and cellphone. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
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u MISSOURI GOP ROILED -"Missouri GOP chair denies leading whisper campaign against Schweich," by POLITICO's Nick Gass: "The chairman of Missouri's Republican Party fired back Thursday at allegations he led a 'whisper campaign' against the late gubernatorial candidate Tom Schweich, who committed suicide at his suburban St. Louis home on Feb. 26. John Hancock said his 'heart aches for the Schweich family,' but made it clear that he hopes to go forward as the state's party chair in a statement broadcast on KMOX Radio. He also said Schweich's chief of staff, Trish Vincent, misrepresented on Wednesday a conversation they had in December in which she said he told her he had been telling party
donors that Schweich was Jewish but that he wasn't saying that anymore."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1ba2546a0c78019ef38c8074b2fb1bb1def4859e54cd8e3c85
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=f4e7921581365d1ba2546a0c78019ef38c8074b2fb1bb1def4859e54cd8e3c85 CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "You know, we have raised a little money, but nothing serious. Do we have, for example - I suspect that we do have the potential to raise a decent amount of money through modest donations on the Internet. Can I swear to you that that's the case? I can't." - Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), on a potential presidential campaign
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