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By Theodoric Meyer | 09/30/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Elena Schneider

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)

THE MAINE EVENT - "Maine's presidential moment," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer in Bangor: "The small cities and struggling mill towns of Maine's rural north have become the backdrop for Donald Trump's best opportunity to start ripping up President Barack Obama's electoral coalition this fall. Hillary Clinton is leading in most polls of the entire state of Maine, but the state also allocates two of its electoral votes by congressional district - and Trump is trouncing her in recent polls of Maine's northern congressional district ... The state is split between the more liberal 1st District, which includes Portland and its suburbs, and the more rural, conservative 2nd District, along what
Rick Bennett, the state GOP chairman, calls the 'Volvo line.' 'North of that you don't see any Volvos,' Bennett said, adding: 'They've always talked about the two Maines, but I think it's really becoming politically palpable now.'" Full story.

INSIDE OUT? - "Democrats try to harness anti-insider sentiment against Blunt," by Campaign Pro's Maggie Severns: "GOP Sen. Roy Blunt has survived decades in public office and mastered Washington politics in the process. But it's now threatening his reelection campaign in Missouri. Democrat Jason Kander is trying seize on Blunt's status as a career politician - and though anger at political insiders is running high everywhere, Kander is trying to harness that anger more than perhaps any campaign outside the presidential race. Democrats believe it has given them an unexpectedly good shot to flip Blunt's seat in November. It has prompted the party's outside groups, led by the DSCC, to invest
more than $7 million in the race in recent weeks, after months of waiting and watching to see if Kander's message - hammering Blunt as a politician enmeshed in D.C.'s lobbying culture while presenting himself as a fresh-faced veteran - would resonate enough to challenge Blunt." Full story.

Days until the 2016 election: 39.

Days until the vice presidential debate: 4.

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 blame the baby boomers: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @maggieseverns.

FIRST IN SCORE - Bennet debuts new ad in Colorado: Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet's campaign is releasing a new TV ad today that features a children's choir singing "You Are My Sunshine." Then words flash across the screen: "Sunshine and wind power will fuel their future. Senator Michael Bennet worked with Democrats and Republicans to expand tax credits for wind and solar." The ad ends with Bennet high-fiving the singers (who have some trouble staying on pitch. to be honest). The ad will air on broadcast and cable stations in Denver. Watch the ad here.

MORE ADS - NRCC out with new attack ad in NY-03: The NRCC is going up with a new ad attacking Democrat Tom Suozzi, who's running for retiring Democratic Rep. Steve Israel's swing seat on Long Island. "I raised property taxes my first year in office as county executive by a pretty big chunk," Suozzi says in a clip at the start of the ad. "He raised property taxes 19 percent his first year as county executive, taking a big chunk out of family budgets," the ad's narrator says. "He did the same as mayor of Glen Cove, pushing a budget through that increased taxes 29 percent." Watch the ad here.

- American Unity PAC jumps into Nevada's Senate race, via KTNV's Jon Ralston. The pro-gay-rights Republican group is hitting Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto on the Iran nuclear deal, reinforcing other GOP messagin in the state. "Her opponent, Joe Heck, has not been a gay marriage supporter but he did vote in April with Democrats to try to stop the GOP from gutting the president's executive order on LGBT job discrimination. He also cosponsored the Juror NonDiscrimination Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the Veterans Spouses Equal Treatment Act, which made same-sex spouses eligible for benefits. The PAC's senior adviser, Tyler Deaton, told me Heck's medical
experience makes him more sensitive, adding, 'He has a personal touch, and really cares.'" Story here.

- "NRA launches Benghazi attack ad bashing Murphy in race against Rubio," by POLITICO Florida's Marc Caputo: The National Rifle Association has trained $1 million in TV-ad firepower on Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy in his bid to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. In a 30-second spot narrated by one of the military contractors who fought off terrorists at the U.S. consulate in Libya, the ad accuses Murphy of "weakness" for supporting Hillary Clinton, who was Secretary of State when four Americans were killed at the Benghazi compound in 2012. The ad is airing in three conservative areas loaded with military veterans: Pensacola, Panama City and Jacksonville." Watch the ad here.

- GOP Rep. Ed Royce's CA-39 is not on this year's battleground map, but his latest ad (produced by GOP media consultant Bob Honold) caught the eye: It features a testimonial from a woman named Kathleen who credits Royce's work on anti-stalking legislation with saving the lives of numerous victims of stalking like herself. "There was finally someone that could help solve this problem, and that was Ed Royce," says Kathleen, who narrated the ad. Watch here.

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POLL OR HIGH WATER - Democratic New Hampshire poll: Hassan 47, Ayotte 44: A new internal poll from a group backing Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan gives her a slight advantage over GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire's gubernatorial race.Hassan takes 47 percent to Ayotte's 44 percent in the poll, which was conducted for End Citizens United by the Democratic polling firm GBA Strategies. Libertarian Brian Chabot picks up up 7 percent. In a two-way, head-to-head matchup, Hassan leads Ayotte 49 percent to 47 percent.The results are slightly better for Hassan than End Citizens United's previous poll, in July, which showed a tied race. GBA Strategies surveyed 600 likely voters Sept. 25-27. The
poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Full story.

- WBUR/MassInc released New Hampshire presidential poll results this morning; stay tuned this later today to see the Senate results and whether or not ECU's internal looks like the independent polling.

- UT-04 Tribune-Hinckley poll: Love 53, Owens 35: GOP Rep. Mia Love has an 18-point lead over Democrat Doug Owens in the latest poll of their Utah congressional district. The new Salt Lake Tribune-Hinckley poll shows Love with 53 percent of the vote to Owens' 35 percent. About two-thirds of voters said they view Love positively, while a third viewed her negatively. Back in June, an independent SurveyUSA poll found that she was trailing Owens by 6 points. But by August, another survey showed Love with a double-digit lead over Owens, whom she beat by a closer-than-expected 5 points in 2014. Dan Jones & Associates interviewed 409 likely voters from Sept. 12 to Sept. 19, with a margin of error
of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

- Harris 40, Sanchez 29 in California SurveyUSA poll: A SurveyUSA poll conducted for four California TV stations found Democratic Attorney General Kamala Harris remaining in the lead against Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez in the state's intra-party Senate race, though nearly one-third of voters say they remain undecided. Harris has not trailed in a public poll of the race so far. Crosstabs here.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Inside Trump's 'cyborg' Twitter army," by POLITICO's Ben Schreckinger: "When Donald Trump confronted revelations that he used money from his charitable foundation to settle private legal disputes and purchase portraits of himself, a tireless army of tweeters went to work to keep the focus on Hillary Clinton's foundation instead. Then Trump stumbled on a debate question about why he refuses to release his taxes, and the same army has since rushed to create the appearance of a grass-roots demand that Clinton be held accountable, instead. ... The accounts pumping out the tweets created the appearance of authentic outrage but had all the hallmarks of fakes, according
to researchers who specialize in "bot" networks - short for robot - that shower social media with phony messages appearing to spring up from the grass roots." Full story.

- "Trump Foundation lacks the certification required for charities that solicit money," by The Washington Post's David A. Fahrenthold: "Donald Trump's charitable foundation - which has been sustained for years by donors outside the Trump family - has never obtained the certification that New York requires before charities can solicit money from the public, according to the state attorney general's office. Under the laws in New York, where the Donald J. Trump Foundation is based, any charity that solicits more than $25,000 per year from the public must obtain a special kind of registration beforehand. Charities as large as Trump's must also submit to a rigorous annual audit that asks - among
other things - whether the charity spent any money for the personal benefit of its officers. If New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) finds that Trump's foundation raised money in violation of the law, he could order the charity to stop raising money immediately." Full story.

- "Donald Trump pointed to 9/11 attacks in asking SEC for leniency during fraud probe," by The Wall Street Journal's Reid J. Epstein and Dave Michaels: "When Donald Trump's casino company was facing a civil fraud investigation over its accounting practices, the New York businessman asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to show mercy because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr. Trump's December 2001 plea, revealed for the first time in 1,240 pages of documents related to the investigation that the SEC posted on its website this week, showed how Mr. Trump and his attorneys aggressively resisted the SEC's claim that Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts Inc.'s conduct amounted to
fraud. The company's lawyers argued that its cooperation with the SEC's probe and the distress caused by the terrorist attacks ought to win it some leniency." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Knock-down drag-out, sort of like a knife fight in a phone booth."- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, on how he expects the battle for the Senate to play out over the next 39 days, via The Washington Post.

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