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By Theodoric Meyer | 08/30/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Maggie Severns, Elena Schneider and Kevin Robillard

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)

DOWN THE BALLOT - "George Soros' quiet overhaul of the U.S. justice system," by Campaign Pro's Scott Bland: "While America's political kingmakers inject their millions into high-profile presidential and congressional contests, Democratic mega-donor George Soros has directed his wealth into an under-the-radar 2016 campaign to advance one of the progressive movement's core goals - reshaping the American justice system. The billionaire financier has channeled more than $3 million into seven local district attorney campaigns in six states over the past year - a sum that exceeds the total spent on the 2016 presidential campaign by all but a handful of rival super-donors."

- "His money has supported African-American and Hispanic candidates for these powerful local roles, all of whom ran on platforms sharing major goals of Soros', like reducing racial disparities in sentencing and directing some drug offenders to diversion programs instead of to trial. It is by far the most tangible action in a progressive push to find, prepare and finance criminal justice reform-oriented candidates for jobs that have been held by long-time incumbents and serve as pipelines to the federal courts - and it has inspired fury among opponents angry about the outside influence in local elections." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a8c1b49b05782b2fd7d547e1158ab9031d7a74a6b3b42fe27

CONGRESSIONAL SUPER TUESDAY - "Democratic party leaders look to complete Senate primary sweep," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "The Democratic establishment is poised to complete a perfect year of Senate primaries Tuesday night in Florida, where yet another party leadership-backed candidate is set to deny a money-starved progressive challenger. DSCC-endorsed candidates have a 100 percent record so far in 2016, and polls indicate Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy will complete the sweep by dispatching scandal-plagued Rep. Alan Grasyon in Florida. ... The progressive struggle has many root causes: a lack of dollars backing Democrats willing to buck the establishment, issue-oriented
progressive groups happy to back the most electable candidate, and candidates who focus more on process than policy."

- Progressive strategists, however, have a warning: They insist Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign has shown down-ballot candidates a path to fundraising and political success that hasn't existed in the past. What candidates failed to do in 2016 could become common in 2018, they say. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1ae3c1b6299b80c5cc96c938a8d9dea12fde82ee2e620ddc50

- "Florida's open House seats attract major outside spending," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: "Outside groups have already spent nearly $5 million on Florida's open-seat House races - and it's not even September. But the state's large number of open seats have offered groups an opportunity to get extra bang for their bucks by directing cash into primaries that could install House members in Washington for years representing safe districts. ... And Florida has plenty this year: Incumbents, some nudged by court-ordered redistricting in the middle of this cycle, retired in 8 out of 27 congressional districts." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a939d254ea2fe3e6b85d4ceee50611b931eb29e50cca7d95e

- "McCain braces for squeaker in Tuesday primary," by POLITICO's Burgess Everett in Phoenix: "John McCain is hoping for a blowout in his primary on Tuesday. He's bracing for a squeaker. McCain says people in his state are angry, the economic recovery is uneven and the atmosphere is volatile. He expects to prevail over conservative challenger Kelli Ward, but the margin of victory will decide whether he barrels or limps into the toughest general election fight of his 34-year political career, against Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick. 'It's not so much I think it's close. I just don't think you should heighten expectations,' McCain said in an interview. 'The one thing you never want to do in
politics is heighten expectations. You always want to lowball it.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a3df26070f412be87f58ec685c699261c7e49a99c078f4393

- KelliPAC's final ad goes after McCain for not "complet[ing] the dang fence," clipping from McCain's famous 2010 ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a86897568d852033f4551a4a752af1d2e7194006c03550a92

Days until the 2016 election: 70.

Days until the Massachusetts congressional primary: 7.

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 mseverns@politico.com.

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

ADS ADS ADS - NRSC debuts new ads in Ohio and Indiana: The NRSC is going with new TV ads attacking Evan Bayh in Indiana and Ted Strickland in Ohio. "I am an active voter in Indiana," Bayh says at the start of the first ad. "D.C. deception from Evan Bayh," the ad's narrator cuts in, as a newscaster notes that Bayh's primary address is in Washington. "His D.C. charitable foundation helped finance the Clinton Foundation, but cut off contributions to local charities he once backed, stiffing Hoosiers who suffer to pad Clinton's slush fund." The second ad features a faux TV news reporter in a car who says she's "looking for the 8,000 jobs lost when Ted Strickland was governor." Watch the Indiana
ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a296100c293706ca207c08541c9359cbe1fdcf57b7ffaa1a8 Watch the Ohio ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a9bc7eeaa05831ef69cf6af6ba167c8365d56d35ff66e68ca

- Democrats, meanwhile, are pulling back in Ohio. "The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had reserved advertising time on Ohio TV stations starting Sept. 13. Now, according to political ad trackers in both parties, the national Democrats won't launch that campaign until Sept. 22," The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis and Paul Kane report. "The DSCC has not withdrawn its support from Strickland entirely - the committee is currently funding a Strickland campaign ad through its limited coordinated-spending accounts that seeks to tie [GOP Sen. Rob] Portman to GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump - but the delay in unleashing ads from the committee's more substantial independent
expenditure arm comes amid rising doubts about Strickland's viability against Portman." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a845780bfe27218bc799c041cf64d204110c7279284fc7ad9

- And Portman is out with a new ad of his own. It's a 60-second spot that ties Strickland to Hillary Clinton and accuses him of shirking the needs to coal miners. "Ted Strickland siding with Hillary Clinton. It's a slap to the face. They want to put us good working, hard working coal miners out of jobs," an Ohio coal miner, Jerry Murphy Jr., says in the ad. "You can't turn your back on Ohio and then come back here and say 'I'm here for you.' It just don't work like that. Rob Portman is on the side of the coal miners," another coal miner, P.J. DeLuca, says. Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a7ca7f1f79e8107c3128b53ab2455f01fd3a352814db19d1d

FIRST IN SCORE - Bayh stays positive in new TV ad: Democrat Evan Bayh is keeping up his bipartisan message in a new TV ad, vowing to work with either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. "Hardworking Hoosiers don't benefit from loopholes in the tax code, special interests do," Bayh says in the ad. "I'm going to work with both parties and whoever the next president is to change that. ... While the extremes in both parties will fight, I'll stand with Hoosiers and we'll get it done." Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a476009a06d5e542e5b93962188bded8b0a45e5f55cd46571

THE MAN WHO POLLED THE WORLD - GOP MN-03 internal: Paulsen 57, Bonoff 31: GOP Rep. Erik Paulsen leads his Democratic challenger, state Sen. Terri Bonoff, by a 26-point margin in a new poll from the GOP nonprofit American Action Network. Among registered voters, 57 percent support Paulsen and 31 percent support Bonoff, according to the survey from Newton Heath LLC. Paulsen is also running far ahead of Donald Trump, who is losing to Hillary Clinton in the affluent, suburban Minneapolis district. More here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a38f18cb43fab49d1c177a3913ead51ea6c949b8404c58c0d

- Democratic CA-49 internal: Issa 45, Applegate 42: An internal poll from GOP Rep. Darrell Issa's Democratic opponent found Issa with a narrow 3-point advantage in his GOP-leaning district, while Donald Trump trails Hillary Clinton in the presidential race. The survey from Democrat Doug Applegate's campaign showed Issa, an eight-term incumbent, taking 45 percent of likely voters to 42 percent for Applegate. ... Meanwhile, Trump trails Hillary Clinton by 5 points, 46 percent to 41 percent. More here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a537dd2e047490625ed00c02a2d327fb45301280c04707b9e

- Johnson super PAC poll: Feingold 50, Johnson 47: A new poll from a super PAC backing GOP Sen. Ron Johnson shows him slightly behind former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, closer than public surveys have shown the race. The poll, conducted by Jim McLaughlin for Let America Work, found Feingold at 50 percent and Johnson at 47 percent. Let America Work's top strategist, Curt Anderson, also said the group would launch a national security-themed ad on Friday, just days before the Johnson campaign began airing its first ads after a hiatus of more than three works. More here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1acca71e326c893a55de72fb9fc80c6ad4eacfe165bfac5a30

BERN NOTICE - Bernie Sanders rolled out four new Senate endorsements on Monday: Sanders endorsed New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan, Nevada's Catherine Cortez Masto, Pennsylvania's Katie McGinty and Ohio's Ted Strickland, adding the core of the Senate battleground map to his earlier endorsement of Wisconsin's Russ Feingold. Not included were the party's moderates, like Indiana's Evan Bayh and Florida Rep. Patrick Murphy. (The lack of a nod for Murphy could also involve his primary.)

- Roll Call's Alex Roarty reports Sanders is eager to help Senate Democrats, but also wants to keep his hands on his email list. "Anybody who has given to Bernie in 2016 can be rest assured that their info won't be turned over to the DSCC," a source said. Other sources said Sanders is planning a post-Labor Day blitz of campaign rallies and fundraisers. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a2d706dab06549d39fc785563a1fac7cc72c04648ca3f297a

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Meg Whitman to campaign for Clinton in Denver," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "Hillary Clinton's campaign has been touting the support of high-profile Republicans opposed to Donald Trump for weeks, but those GOP leaders have yet to actually appear for Clinton on the campaign trail. Until Tuesday, that is. Meg Whitman, the Hewlett-Packard executive and former California Republican nominee for governor, is set to make her battleground state debut for Clinton in Denver, beginning to answer the question of how Clinton will publicly use her aisle-crossing backers in the campaign's homestretch." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1ae8e15db5cd5a167df911e1ef7524a0fe9454e39796567e3c

- "As Hillary Clinton does exhaustive debate research, Donald Trump scorns it," by The New York Times' Patrick Healy and Matt Flegenheimer: "Hillary Clinton's advisers are talking to Donald J. Trump's ghostwriter of 'The Art of the Deal,' seeking insights about Mr. Trump's deepest insecurities as they devise strategies to needle and undermine him in four weeks at the first presidential debate, the most anticipated in a generation. Her team is also getting advice from psychology experts to help create a personality profile of Mr. Trump to gauge how he may respond to attacks and deal with a woman as his sole adversary on the debate stage. ... Mr. Trump is taking the opposite tack. Though he
spent hours with his debate team the last two Sundays, the sessions have been more freewheeling than focused, and he can barely conceal his disdain for laborious and theatrical practice sessions. 'I believe you can prep too much for those things,' Mr. Trump said in an interview last week. 'It can be dangerous. You can sound scripted or phony - like you're trying to be someone you're not.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1a8292f1c83f712075efe6d72a9d690ff20180991fb59b0c91

- Clinton is sending out mailers attacking Trump in Utah, The Salt Lake Tribune's Matt Canham reports: "Hillary Clinton's campaign is calling Donald Trump 'unfit and unprepared' in a mailer sent to some Utah voters, a rare dip of the toe into Utah's electoral waters by a Democratic presidential candidate. The campaign wouldn't say how many mailers were sent out or what segment of voters they were targeting, but it is obviously not Democrats. The piece includes the image of a stern-looking woman above a paragraph that says: 'You care about your community and the future of the country. That's why the thought of Donald Trump as president is so alarming.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1aa01f5e87be8b18ca7cbf65c9955082bda716eeb35588134a

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Progressive wing candidates tend to talk way too much about process and intraparty dynamics. That's not a reason to vote for you. The DSCC is a bunch of people sitting behind desks. There's no man behind the curtain. Chuck Schumer isn't leaving horse heads in people's beds." - Kevin Franck, a former staffer for Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, urging progressive candidates to keep working and not complain when Senate Democrats endorse against them in primaries. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8bf54ca01c6a8c1ae3c1b6299b80c5cc96c938a8d9dea12fde82ee2e620ddc50

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