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


FIRST IN SCORE - 'SICK' - The DGA, already on offense in the New Mexico governor's race with ads questioning Susana Martinez's ethics, is putting up a new commercial today that hammers away at the Republican prosecutor's use of tax dollars in her office. 'Susana Martinez is using misleading and unsupported ads to attack her opponent, because she can't defend her own record,' the ad declares. 'A $60,000 sweetheart deal to a friend, hundreds of thousands in bonuses to political insiders. The [Albuquerque] Journal wrote the Martinez deal 'flunks the smell test.' It's 'the kind of insider dealing voters are sick of.'' The kicker: 'Republican politician Susana Martinez: She's not on your side.' The commercial is running statewide at saturation levels. Watch it here. http://bit.ly/cu2ZUG


The Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, is also getting some on-the-ground help in addition to the DGA's ad campaign: Former President Bill Clinton is due in Española to rally support for Denish on Oct. 14. http://bit.ly/9Q1oXJ


SENATE EXCLUSIVE - TROPHY HUNTING: Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is in Illinois today to campaign for Rep. Mark Kirk, visiting Chicago's western suburbs to raise money for the Republican Senate candidate. After the Delaware primary, Kirk may represent the GOP's best shot at winning one of the three so-called 'trophy' Senate seats - the ones previously held by President Obama and Vice President Biden, and the seat currently occupied by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. This is McConnell's fourth trip for Kirk during the general election.


As Des Moines awaits, Lincoln Chafee reflects and Lisa Murkowski walks to the edge of the diving board, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily cheat sheet for the 2010 midterm elections.


FRIDAY STANDINGS - ARE YOU BETTER OFF NOW? The most tumultuous primary week of the year is over and just 46 days remain before Nov. 2. After Hawaii votes tomorrow, primary season will officially be over. Here's Morning Score's take on how some of the top candidates and campaign actors should answer the question: Are you better off now than you were one week ago?


YES: (1) Republican Senate candidates Linda McMahon and John Raese, whose races are even more important to Republicans now that they must offset a lost opportunity in Delaware; (2) Dayside cable, which will have Christine O'Donnell to kick around at least until Election Day; (3) EMILY's List, which was one of several leading progressive groups that helped deliver the Democratic primary in New Hampshire's 2nd District to Ann McLane Kuster, one the top EMILY's List candidates this cycle.


NO: (1) Washington Senate candidate Dino Rossi, who has now trailed Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in several consecutive polls and allowed the incumbent to creep across the 50 percent mark; (2) The Union Leader newspaper, which endorsed Ovide Lamontagne in the GOP Senate primary and Rich Ashooh and Jennifer Horn in the state's two Republican House primaries, and picked not one winner; (3) The people of Delaware, whose tiny congressional delegation will have lost more than half a century of seniority between Joe Biden's 2008 promotion and Mike Castle's 2010 defeat.


TODAY - HOMECOMING: Vice President Biden travels to Wilmington Friday afternoon to campaign with Democratic Senate candidate Chris Coons, in a clear sign of the White House's new enthusiasm for the Delaware Senate race. Coons's campaign announced: 'Coons will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden, to greet and speak with volunteers from the Delaware Democratic Party's Coordinated Campaign ... This event will be closed to the public.'


** A message from Washington's NewsChannel 8: Comcast has hired a vast army of lobbyists to rush through the largest media merger in American history. The Comcast/NBC monopoly would present serious problems for local news in communities across our country. Washington's decision makers must resist the pressure from Comcast and take the necessary time to carefully review this controversial merger to protect the public interest. **


ZERO HOUR IN ALASKA: Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski will announce today whether she plans to campaign for reelection as a write-in candidate, and every hint she's given so far suggests she wants to go for it. The NRSC preempted the senator's decision in a statement from communications director Brian Walsh, who said the committee hopes 'she will step forward and fully endorse Joe Miller's candidacy.' One Republican strategist told Score the idea of a write-in bid 'political suicide.' 'Setting aside the obvious fact that her team wasn't even competent enough to beat Joe Miller so how could they possibly expect to wage a highly technical write-in campaign,' the strategist said, 'she might want to take note of Charlie Crist's sinking poll numbers -and he's actually on a ballot. If she does go down the Crist/Specter path, Joe Miller will still win this seat but it would require far more resources and earn her the enmity of many Republicans. She should do the right thing, be an adult and respect the decision by the voters in Alaska.'


LAST NIGHT - W.H. VS. WWE: President Barack Obama took a hard shot at Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon Thursday evening, jabbing at her background in professional wrestling during a fundraiser in Stamford for Democratic state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. 'This is the kind of leader you want representing you,' Obama said of Blumenthal. 'Somebody who shares your values. Somebody who doesn't just show up and try to get a victory by writing a big check and flooding the airwaves with negative ads.' Speaking to his party's Senate nominee, Obama continued: 'Dick, she has more money than you. ... And I understand she has promised a 'smackdown.' ... I can see how somebody who's been in professional wrestling would think that they're right at home in the United States Senate if they were watching some of the behavior that's been going on. But the truth is - and Dick understands this - public service is not a game.'


MORE - Obama also dialed up his rhetoric ion the Citizens United decision during his trip to Connecticut, warning again about a 'corporate takeover' of elections. Watch him here. http://bit.ly/az4chT
KASICH IN THEIR SITES: The AFL-CIO is going on the attack this weekend in the Ohio governor's race, hitting work sites with three new flyers aimed at Republican gubernatorial candidate John Kasich. One calls Kasich hostile to government employees ('John Kasich: 'We don't want public employees,'' it quotes), while another accuses him of 'cutting, privatizing and outsourcing jobs' and 'voting against job creation.' A third flyer highlights embattled Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland's position on guns, saying the Democrat 'defends the Second Amendment,' while Kasich 'backs down on gun rights.' See the flyers here http://politi.co/aOYqVF here http://politi.co/draR1N and here: http://politi.co/9wz6u3 HOUSE RACE PREVIEW - MCDOWELL'S ONE-TWO: Michigan state Rep. Gary McDowell, the Democratic nominee for retiring Rep. Bart Stupak's seat, is up with a pair of ads that define his race as a choice between a local fighter (McDowell) and an ideological opponent of Social Security (Republican physician Dan Benishek). In one ad, McDowell tells the story of fighting the Canadian government over sewage contamination in Michigan's waters. 'Right here in my backyard. I was angry,' McDowell says. 'And now the lakes are cleaned up... I see this type of devastation, I'm gonna fight 'em.' In the second ad, McDowell sets his Republican rival in opposition to grandmothers, your favorite uncle, the waitress who serves you coffee every morning,' warning: 'Benishek has called Social Security a disaster and wants to abolish Medicare, too.' See the ads here http://bit.ly/bJ8ri0 and here: http://bit.ly/9AEakx


2012 TALKER - TOUGH CROWD - Radio Iowa's O. Kay Henderson raises the curtain on Sarah Palin's first Iowa visit of 2010: 'Her last splash on the Iowa political scene was in early June when she posted messages on Twitter and Facebook, endorsing Republican Terry Branstad's bid for a fifth term as governor. That didn't sit well with some Tea Party activists or with some of the Republicans who were supporting Branstad's opponent, Bob Vander Plaats. ... Bryan English, director of public relations for the Iowa Family Policy Center, supported Vander Plaats and he has 'no intention' of buying a ticket to see Palin. 'Governor Palin certainly caused herself some additional hurdles in the state of Iowa among a big chunk of the conservative activists simply by engaging in the gubernatorial primary the way that she did,' English says.' http://bit.ly/b2fqD1


PLUS - 'Palin's celebrity faces Iowa test' - From POLITICO: 'She's the biggest Republican celebrity in the world, but can she run a campaign in Iowa? ... If Palin decides to run for president, Republicans say, [her] distant style could be harshly tested by an electorate that expects familiarity and is known for cutting larger-than-life figures down to size.... 'Sometimes we bestow celebrity status on people in this state, but that doesn't necessarily translate to votes,' said Dave Roederer, who chaired John McCain's 2008 campaign in Iowa. 'You want to fill a room in this town, any size, Rudy Giuliani could do it. Problem is, people weren't willing to vote for him.'' http://politi.co/beHzDP


STEALING THE SHOW: Christine O'Donnell will be in Washington Friday afternoon to speak at the Values Voter Summit, an event usually most notable as a GOP presidential cattle call. The Wilmington News Journal reports: 'The event - sponsored by FRC Action PAC, the political committee of the Family Research Council - is being billed as her first address to a national gathering of conservative activists since her win. 'Christine O'Donnell has spoken out on behalf of the average person in her state who has been burdened by excessive tax and regulatory policies,' said Tony Perkins, chairman of FRC Action. ... Other speakers include Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who chairs the Senate Conservatives Fund ... former governors and presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney; Reps. Mike Pence of Indiana and Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.' http://bit.ly/bGE8iH


AND - NO-SHOW? The Austin American-Statesman's Jason Embry writes that it's less and less likely that Texas Gov. Rick Perry will agree to debate Democratic challenger Bill White. 'As for the newspapers' offer for an Oct. 19 debate, organizers still hold out some hope that Perry will agree. ... It sounds like a number of options are on the table if the ideal scenario - Perry and White in a televised debate - does not come through.' http://bit.ly/arOi4r (The race also got New York Times ink here: http://nyti.ms/bI7fK2)


O FOR KANJO: Pennsylvania Rep. Paul Kanjorski is the latest Democrat to win a campaign message from President Obama, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reports. '[W]ith so much still left to be done, and too many families struggling to get by, we need to keep America moving forward -- which means I need you to support Paul Kanjorski for Congress,' Obama wrote to supporters in an e-mail. 'Just like in 2008, you can make the difference this year.' Kanjorski has trailed in GOP polling to Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, whom he defeated in 2006 and 2008. http://bit.ly/9MGnxo


CODA - FENTY WINS, SORTA - TBD bulletin: 'D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty can claim his primary victory, just not with the Democratic Party. Early Friday morning, the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics announced that Fenty has won as a write-in candidate for the Republican party, according to unofficial results. He received 822 votes. ... This scenario has been discussed, but Fenty has previously dismissed suggestions that he would switch party affiliation in the event of a primary loss. 'I'm a Democrat, that is why I wouldn't run as a Republican,' Fenty told the Washington Post.' http://tbd.ly/8YDNsa


** A message from Washington's NewsChannel 8: If the Comcast and NBC merger is rushed through the process, our country risks losing a powerful part of our democracy - locally-owned, independent voices in markets where Comcast/NBC will control both access to the home and multiple channels of news. Dropping the independent news voice won't serve the consumer. It will only serve the interests of Comcast which would also own the other news channels. Please make sure that any merger approval serves the public interest and protects the local news consumers you represent. Don't let Comcast ram this monopoly merger through the review process. **

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