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


THE MONEY RACE - TIED IN MARCH - Democratic and Republican campaign committees fought to a draw in the March money contest, with each party raising $22.2 million across its three federal campaign operations. Democrats hold an edge in cash on hand, $19.8 million to $13.8 million; Republicans are in slightly greater debt, $30.6 million to $30.2 million. Two Republican committees outraised their Democratic counterparts: The NRCC narrowly beat the DCCC last month, $10.2 million to $9.9 million, and the RNC beat the DNC, $7 million to $6.7 million. In a close win for Democrats, the DSCC outraised the NRSC, $5.6 million to $5 million. Democrats are quick to point out that their committees clearly outpaced the GOP during the full first quarter of the year, but last month this was a close-run thing.


FIRST IN SCORE - MCCUE JOINS AMERICAN BRIDGE - Susan McCue, the Democratic über-strategist and former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, is joining the board of directors of American Bridge 21st Century, the newly launched Democratic Super PAC. McCue will work with former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and Media Matters founder David Brock in steering American Bridge, an organization that aims to give Democratic candidates powerful outside backup in 2012. American Bridge isn't McCue's only 2012 project: She's also a founder of Majority PAC, another independent expenditure group dedicated to defending the Democrats' Senate majority. A former president of the ONE Campaign, McCue's work with both American Bridge and Majority PAC is a sign of how determined Democrats are to catch up with the outside spending infrastructure the GOP built in 2010.


MORE - WELCOME ABOARD - In statements to Morning Score, American Bridge's David Brock and Majority PAC executive director Monica Dixon praised McCue and said their two groups would complement each other closely in the 2012 cycle. Brock: "Susan is one of the country's brightest political minds and I'm thrilled she is joining us in this critical fight. American Bridge's powerful research and communications operation and Majority PAC's overall strategic campaign management will be a winning combination in 2012." And Dixon: "The alignment of talent and resources to elect Democrats and strengthen the entire progressive infrastructure is unparalleled. We look forward to working with American Bridge 21st Century to reinforce and amplify our messaging in Senate races across the country."


As Christie Vilsack hits the trail, Patrick Murphy returns and John Ensign doesn't, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


2012 TALKER - NIKKI HALEY'S LAMENT - South Carolina's Republican governor isn't inspired by any the GOP's current presidential candidates, telling the Associated Press Wednesday: "No one in the field excites me right now." Those are strong words from one of the most valuable potential early-state endorsers. And there's more: "Haley, who hits her first 100 days in office Thursday, is far from picking a favorite ... 'I think it has to be someone that is not going to talk about the wrongs of President Obama. They have to talk about what they're going to do to make things right,' she said ... 'And if you are going to come in with your typical consultant and do your normal presidential campaigning, you're not going to win.'" http://apne.ws/eFvzr8


SCENES FROM THE REELECT - OBAMA IN CALIFORNIA - The president began a two-day visit to the Golden State yesterday, holding a town hall at Facebook headquarters and attending a pair of fundraisers in San Francisco. The Los Angeles Times: "On Wednesday night, he attended a pair of fundraisers at which guests paid up to the legal limit of $38,500. Proceeds were to be split between the Obama campaign operation and the Democratic National Committee. Young voters seemed a special focus of Obama's Facebook visit. He won election three years ago with help from throngs of young volunteers. Polls show that young voters still support him, but their enthusiasm has waned ... Obama said Wednesday he welcomed youthful activism, even if he was the target. 'If you don't give us a shove, if you don't give the system a push, it's just not going to change,' he said." http://lat.ms/gxD6xv


TODAY - From the White House guidance: "In the morning, the President will deliver remarks at a DNC event at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco, California ... Later in the morning, the President will travel to Reno, Nevada [and] participate in a Shared Responsibility and Shared Prosperity town hall to discuss his vision for bringing down our deficit ... In the afternoon, the President will travel to Los Angeles, California ... In the evening, the President will attend three DNC events."


AND - NEXT WEEK: The first family will be on hand in Florida next week to watch the launch of the shuttle Endeavour. The St. Petersburg Times notes the political context: "Obama is already scheduled to be in the state, to deliver a commencement address at Miami-Dade College. The two-fer gives him added exposure in a state key to his re-election hopes ... The launch of Endeavour is NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight. The mission will be led by Mark Kelly, husband of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who may attend as well, her first public appearance since being gunned down at a shopping center in Tucson in January." http://bit.ly/gY8mkd


WINNING - INDIANAPOLIS EDITION - Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels has added one more accomplishment to his sterling conservative record, signing a law limiting teachers' union contracts as part of his larger push for education reform. The Evansville Courier and Press: "Contracts between teachers' unions and their school corporations would be limited to just wages and benefits under a measure Daniels signed into law Wednesday afternoon. Senate Enrolled Act 575 would bar teachers from having input on education policies such as class size, as well as hiring, firing and layoff policies ... Daniels has also pushed for the expansion of charter schools and a new private school voucher program, and both proposals are on track to win legislative approval before the April 29 end of the session." http://bit.ly/getNGa


JOHNSON'S TURN: Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is expected to jump into the 2012 presidential race in Concord, N.H., this morning. AP previews the libertarian's next move: "Johnson, a Republican who served as governor from 1995 through 2003, is expected to announce his campaign on the Statehouse steps Thursday morning. On Saturday, he plans to ski Tuckerman Ravine on New Hampshire's Mount Washington, which attracts thrill-seekers each spring with snow depths of up to 75 feet." http://bit.ly/ePu9D6


THE TRUMP PHENOMENON - PEW EXPLAINS: Real estate mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump is getting far more attention than the other Republicans circling the 2012 race, according to a study from the Pew Research Center. Twenty-six percent of Americans said Trump was the candidate they had heard the most about lately, with Mitt Romney a distant runner-up at 9 percent. More: "Among Republicans, 39% name Trump as most visible - more than all other possible GOP candidates combined ... Trump is standing out in a contest that has yet to draw much public interest or media coverage. In fact, about half of all Americans (53%) could not name anyone when asked which GOP candidate they have been hearing the most about." http://bit.ly/dJlUlt


JMART'S TAKE: "Trump has capitalized on two defining and interrelated features of the political-media landscape in the Obama era - the symbiosis between political provocateurs and traffic-conscious news organizations and the rise of a conservative constituency that hungers for voices that will attack President Obama in sharp and unapologetic terms." http://politi.co/eJ6Qc9


PLUS - TAKING HIS SHOW ON THE ROAD - Trump has already booked a trip to Nevada later this month and a June appearance in Iowa. And now he's planning a pair of visits to New Hampshire, the Union Leader reports : "Trump's visit to New Hampshire next Wednesday will include a series of meetings with key Granite Staters, including, but not limited to, NHGOP Chairman Jack Kimball ... Trump will confer with 'operatives and grassroots organizers and fund-raisers and major contributors' ... The Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce [also] announced that the potential GOP presidential candidate will be featured at its annual 'Expo Nashua' business-to-business event on May 11." http://bit.ly/dN8xTF


NEWT'S IOWA TRIFECTA - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has scored three big Iowa recruits, in the latest sign that he's going all-out in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. The Des Moines Register: "Iowa House Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, R-Garner, has offered to serve as chairwoman for Iowa for Newt Explore 2012 ... And Newt Explore 2012 hired two lobbyists with caucus and campaign experience: Craig Schoenfeld and Will Rogers ... Schoenfeld was part of George W. Bush's caucus team in Iowa in 2000, then ran the general election campaign for Bush that year ... Rogers, 41, of Des Moines, was campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Tom Latham in 2004." http://bit.ly/h4jQxp


ELSEWHERE IN THE STATE - VILSACK MOVES - Former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack confirmed Wednesday that she's planning to run for Congress in 2012, telling Radio Iowa that she's "in it to win." O. Kay Henderson: "Vilsack issued a written statement this morning, and then spoke by phone with Radio Iowa, saying she'd embark on a 'listening tour' of the new fourth congressional district ... Vilsack grew up in Mount Pleasant, went to college where she met her husband, Tom Vilsack ... He is currently the U.S. Ag Secretary and earlier this week he told a group of legislators a Christie Vilsack versus Steve King race would be a 'holy war.' 'Well, I think my husband two days ago wasn't the spouse of a potential candidate and I don't think he's got the spouse thing down quite yet,' she told Radio Iowa." http://bit.ly/hmUHjS


GETTING CROWDED IN VIRGINIA: Former Sen. George Allen might - might - be vulnerable to a strong conservative challenger in next year's GOP primary. But the list of Republicans trying their luck in the primary keeps getting longer, potentially splitting any anti-Allen constituency out there. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports on the latest candidate to declare: "Timothy E. Donner, a Northern Virginia television production company owner, has filed for candidacy. He joins former U.S. Sen. and Gov. George Allen, Richmond-area tea-party activist Jamie Radtke, Chesapeake minister Earl W. Jackson Sr. and Hampton Roads attorney David McCormick. Donner, founder of Horizons Television Inc. and a member of the Virginia Institute for Public Policy, was described by a spokesman Tuesday as 'very conservative' and 'closely in line philosophically with the tea party.'" http://bit.ly/huJCb1


COMEBACK WATCH - MURPHY FOR A.G. - Former Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Murphy is hitting the campaign trail again, just months after losing his seat in the 2010 elections. This time he's running for state attorney general, an office long held by the GOP. The Morning Call reports: "Murphy says he doesn't mind the long odds. 'I was only the second Democrat to hold my seat in Bucks County and the first Iraq War veteran to win and serve in the U.S. Congress,' said Murphy, who represented Pennsylvania's 8th District on Capitol Hill from 2006 to 2010 ... Two of Murphy's fellow Congressional Democrats, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah of Philadelphia and U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, D-17th District, are supporting his candidacy." http://bit.ly/h9Y7LT


EXIT JOHN ENSIGN: Nevada's Republican senator raised just $97,650 in the first quarter of the year, even as he attempted to gear up for a reelection campaign. That puts a new light on Ensign's decision to bow out of the 2012 race, suggests the Review Journal: "The damaged incumbent held at least three fundraisers in Washington in January and February, trying to rebuild a treasury that had been badly depleted since he admitted in June 2009 that he had carried on an extramarital affair ... The report suggests only about two dozen or so Washington-based lobbyists and representatives of political action committees linked to communications and financial services companies attended the fundraisers and brought with them checks totalling about $27,750." http://bit.ly/e4M7oH


CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'm not running for president" - Former New York Gov. George Pataki, ending the suspense http://politi.co/huut15

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