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By Theodoric Meyer | 12/04/2015 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard 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)

HOW THEY VOTED - Only four GOP senators back background checks bill: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) reintroduced his 2013 measure to expand background checks for gun purchases during Thursday's vote-a-rama, following the San Bernardino shootings on Wednesday. The bill failed, 48 to 50. Only four GOP senators joined most Democrats in voting for it, including Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania (who introduced the bill with Manchin two years ago) and Mark Kirk of Illinois, both of whom face tough 2016 reelections. Susan Collins of Maine and John McCain of Arizona, who faces a GOP primary challenge, also backed the bill. On the Democratic side, only Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota - who's expected to
face a tough reelection fight in 2018 - voted against the measure. Two senators didn't vote: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who's running hard for reelection, and Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.).

- Kirk and Collins also split on Obamacare repeal: The main vote of the evening was on a Republican effort to repeal Obamacare, and Kirk - considered the most vulnerable Republican incumbent up in 2016 - again split from the GOP pack, voting against repeal along with Collins and every present Democrat. The repeal passed the Senate 52-47.

RE-MAP TO IGNITION - "Central Florida House districts become potential battlegrounds," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b9fec654ef254fa2127bfdb5d83a58652a6c151e1bc3dc97cba498c139190ce5

RELAX, JOHN - Mike Huckabee says John Boozman's got nothing to worry about: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee dropped by POLITICO on Thursday to chat about his presidential run. Campaign Pro asked how he viewed the Senate race in his home state, where Democrat Conner Eldridge outraised GOP Sen. John Boozman in the third quarter. "Should John Boozman truly be shaking every night when he goes to bed that he's going to lose?" Huckabee said. "No. I just don't see that happening." He noted Boozman's excellent constituent service and said he didn't see him losing when Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor lost his own reelection bid last year, taking less than 40 percent of the vote.

Days until the 2016 election: 340.

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.

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

FIRST IN SCORE - Outside group to air radio ad attacking Martha Roby in AL-02: An outside group called the American Jobs Alliance will start airing a radio ad on Monday attacking GOP Rep. Martha Roby from the right. The ad criticizes Roby for voting to give President Barack Obama "fast-track" trade negotiation authority and urges her to vote against the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. "It will kill our jobs and surrender America's sovereignty," a fast-talking narrator says. "Here's what Donald Trump says." The ad segues to a clip of Trump bashing the deal. Becky Gerritson, a tea party candidate, has filed to challenge Roby in Alabama's 2nd District, which is safe Republican
territory.

SCORE INTERVIEW - The GOP state senator challenging John McCain opens up: GOP state Sen. Kelli Ward, who announced on Wednesday that she'd resign to focus on her campaign against Arizona Sen. John McCain, caught up Campaign Pro in a phone interview on Thursday. The last couple of months of campaigning had driven home the need to step down, she said. "It takes a lot of time," she said. "It takes a lot of effort." Her biggest challenge now: Raising her name identification across the state. Ward also panned Mitt Romney's planned endorsement of McCain next week. "It's two guys who lost to Barack Obama who are coming together to maintain the status quo in Washington," she said.

RULING IT OUT - Mitch Landrieu won't run for Senate: New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu won't run for Louisiana's open U.S. Senate seat in 2016, he told Louisiana Politics on Thursday. Landrieu, the brother of former Sen. Mary Landrieu and a former lieutenant governor, also passed on running for governor this year. Fellow Democrat Edwards went on to beat GOP Sen. David Vitter last month, and Vitter announced during his concession speech that he wouldn't run for reelection. Louisiana Politics' Jeremy Alford reports Democrats are now looking at Don Cazayoux, a former U.S. attorney who spent less than a full year in Congress in 2008 and 2009. Like Edwards, Cazayoux supports gun rights and
opposes abortion rights. They're also looking at state Sen. Gary Smith.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Trump, Carson flop with Jewish Republicans," by POLITICO's Ben Schreckinger: Donald Trump joked about Jewish stereotypes, declined to affirm his support for a united Jerusalem, and told his audience they wouldn't back him because he did not want their money. Reading from a prepared text, Ben Carson repeatedly pronounced the name of the Palestinian group "Hamas" as if it were a delicious spread made with chickpeas. The performance of these two outsider candidates left attendees at Thursday's summit of the Republican Jewish Coalition amused, but not impressed. ... 'I don't think either one helped themselves particularly,' said Ari Fleischer, former White House press
secretary to George W. Bush, who attended the event." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b9fec654ef254fa2c0f9c93081aa045baa9986d1d4c77636e23d63371c2f1522

- "Campaigns turn to a cheaper medium to get voters' ears: radio," by The New York Times' Nick Corasaniti: Television advertising is still king, but Republicans and Democrats are increasingly turning to radio ads this cycle. "Political advertising on iHeartMedia, one of the biggest radio conglomerates in the country, with 858 stations in more than 150 markets, was already up 30 percent for the fourth quarter over the same period in 2011, the company said. Mr. Trump, whose campaign has dominated television news coverage of the Republican primary, has bought ads only on radio, with six different commercials playing across the country. A big 'super PAC' supporting Mr. Cruz, Keep the Promise I,
has spent $1.3 million on the radio so far and nothing on television." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b9fec654ef254fa267be24d484b5d4f87afd4c217228fd5061858f67618f8bcb

- "Before Senate win, Rubio turned political 'juice' into personal profits," by The Washington Post's Rosalind S. Helderman: "Even before [Marco Rubio] left office in late 2008, his longtime aide sent a letter on behalf of a new private consulting group Rubio was launching, seeking business from a potentially major client: Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami's busy public medical center. That was an initial step in what became a profitable two-year stretch for Rubio between his time as a state legislator and his 2010 election to the U.S. Senate. Although he spent much of his time on the campaign trail, Rubio built a consulting and legal practice that made more than half a million dollars."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b9fec654ef254fa23bb6bbbc9749ac285cabc0d6d52fadae1ffce2e64c4e7efe

- "Clinton donor walks back supportive Assad comments," by The Boston Globe's Annie Linskey: "Hillary Clinton was scheduled to attend a Boston fundraiser for her presidential campaign Thursday hosted by a philanthropist who penned a fawning e-mail to one of Bashar al-Assad's top advisors pledging to 'argue loudly and convincingly' that the Syrian dictator 'is actually the most critical part of the solution.' Bobby Sager, who is also the chairman of the board of Polaroid, sent the e-mail in March 2011 after a trip to Syria where he met Assad and said he came to believe that if properly pushed, the leader would improve the direction of the country." "I thought it was a good idea to massage
his [Assad's] ego and tried to have his ear," Sager said. "In retrospect that was wrong." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b9fec654ef254fa2612c64fd22a97a69d21ecdfddff723c08e35dc8ef04c3da6

- "Bush 'super PAC' to 'tell Jeb's story' in 15-minute documentary," by The New York Times' Ashley Parker: "Voters will soon get 15 unfiltered minutes of the Jeb Bush story. Right to Rise, the 'super PAC' supporting Mr. Bush, has produced a 15-minute documentary featuring him and will release it online on Saturday and will later show it on television. Mike Murphy, the super PAC's executive director, briefed Bush donors on the video at a breakfast meeting in Washington on Thursday morning before the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual gathering." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b9fec654ef254fa2aab1f243a9a8d74b9a74fc36a2ff3be83611b884ed3104db

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Some people want me to." - Sen. Lindsey Graham. "How's retirement?" Graham asked Jon Stewart after bumping into the comedian in the Capitol on Thursday. "You should try it sometime," Stewart replied. This was Graham's comeback. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b9fec654ef254fa23384c2405551b301b9e7aa141f856a0e61e67e507b292cd2

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