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By Theodoric Meyer | 01/05/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard and 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 SCORE PROFILE - "With humor, Kevin McLaughlin helps carry NRSC," by Campaign Pro's Elena Schneider: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4332b9e707f4385163b52c6ba8525ba496758f63da37e58b7a89e060bf595e57

CASH HUSTLE - Pence outraises Gregg in Indiana: Indiana Gov. Mike Pence raised $3.5 million in the second half of 2016, Howey Politics reported this afternoon, giving him a $3 million-plus cash on hand advantage over Democrat John Gregg. Pence has $6.8 million in the bank to Gregg's $3.5 million. During the first half of the year, Gregg's fundraising barely edged out Pence. "There is no question that having a 2-to-1 cash on hand advantage over our opponent is an encouraging sign of momentum. We are grateful by the support, and are just getting started," Pence campaign manager Marty Obst said in a statement.

SEATTLE SCRAMBLE - Democrats consider runs for WA-07 seat: Who will run for Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott's deep-blue seat now that he's retiring? "One possible contender who'd have serendipitous name identification is King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, whose full name is James Joseph McDermott," The Seattle Times' Jim Brunner reports. "Joe McDermott, who is not related to the congressman, confirmed he's "carefully weighing" entry into the race and will have a decision within a week. In addition to [state Rep. Brady] Walkinshaw, who announced a challenge to McDermott last month, several state legislators have been mentioned as possible candidates. State Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle,
and state Sen. David Frockt, D-Seattle, both said they're also considering a run. ... A spokesman for Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said he will not run. Other names floated as potential candidates include former Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and former U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4332b9e707f438519f2c2290480423ae381a27328d52cbda3cfa11092d3840dd

Days until the 2016 election: 308.

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 people from our hometowns who are running for president (in this case, "Toy Testicles"): @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @kyledcheney.

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SO IT BEGINS - Rubio super PAC hits Chris Christie, POLITICO's Daniel Strauss reports: Conservative Solutions PAC has a new target: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The pro-Rubio group calls him "high-tax, Common Core, liberal-energy loving, Obamacare Medicaid-expanding" and "not what we need in the White House." Christie punched back in a TV interview "Well, I guess, I just wonder what happened to the Marco who so indignantly looked at Jeb Bush and said, 'I guess someone must have convinced you that going negative against me helps you.' I guess that same person now must have convinced Marco that going negative against Chris Christie is what he needs to do."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4332b9e707f4385100ec841daf0ac26cdb2bb240ecbd7d271121b1201d691c65

- The attack confirms Christie's rise in recent New Hampshire polls, and the threat to the rest of the "establishment" lane: Usually, it's conservatives who split their votes, but Rubio, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and now Christie could all conceivably soak up meaningful shares of the New Hampshire primary vote and deny any of them a serious chance at challenging Donald Trump. And if the ad kicks off a Christie-Rubio feud, that makes one more direction from which Rubio will be taking slings and arrows. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee's super PAC, and more have already been targeting the Florida senator as he appeared to start peaking at the right time.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS - Major Democratic pollster merging with public opinion research firm: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4332b9e707f438519095c52b0b4d9f7a12611654f0043c2b745d058a3764ef3f

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Trump and Cruz send shivers down GOP spines," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "With only weeks before GOP primary voters first cast their ballots, the level of alarm among establishment Republicans about the enduring dominance of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is reaching new heights. In private conversations with several former aides, Mitt Romney, who in March will keynote the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner, has expressed rising frustration about Trump's prolonged lead in polls and has argued that the real-estate mogul could inflict lasting damage on the party's brand. In Washington and elsewhere, meanwhile, Republicans are on
the hunt for a political entity that can be used to stop Trump. In recent weeks, Alex Castellanos, a veteran TV ad man who was a top adviser to George W. Bush and Romney, has been meeting with top GOP operatives and donors to gauge interest in launching an anti-Trump vehicle that would pummel the Manhattan businessman on the television airwaves." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=4332b9e707f438518a16b9502c363ab325f3528b2934b68ff3c0ac5ddb72a5d1

- "Trump ads to blitz Iowa, New Hampshire," by POLITICO's Steven Shepard: "Donald Trump is finally putting his money where his mouth is. After claiming for months that he would join other top-tier GOP presidential candidates in running paid television advertisements, the real-estate mogul has reserved about $1.9 million for a seven-day ad blitz beginning Tuesday in New Hampshire and Iowa. ... According to ad trackers, Trump is set to spend more than $1 million this week in Iowa: about $750,000 on broadcast TV and another $340,000 on cable and satellite. Trump's purchases in New Hampshire, where he is leading in the polls, are almost as robust. He's set to spend about $800,000 on broadcast
and cable combined there." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2b375501330fcb45f8bd1f3fbaa56ecb9590eb86e452cb0b47fd7e03aa842340

- "The Bernie Sanders campaign has a plan to steal voters from Donald Trump," by BuzzFeed News' Evan McMorris-Santoro in Muscatine, Iowa: "In the days before Christmas, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders criss-crossed some of the reddest parts of Iowa looking for Donald Trump voters, especially men, to join his progressive political crusade. ... Last Tuesday, in a crowded auditorium at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, Sanders had a message for working-class men looking to Trump: The Donald is not the answer." "People are asking why is it that male worker today, with all of the increase in technology and productivity, why is the median male worker, that guy right in
the middle of the economy, making $700 less in inflation-adjusted for dollars then he did 40 years ago," Sanders told the crowd, pitching his own ideas as the answer. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2b375501330fcb453cf5c42718d52169d62fc535d17d93204cf5a3c24fc7fa6c

- John Kasich is campaign in Iowa by comparing himself to Sen. Chuck Grassley: "Grassley's nothing but a troublemaker," Kasich said in West Des Moines, referring to the popular Republican senator, who isn't expected to face any trouble getting reelected in November. "He goes and he stirs everything up. He has no fear, and nobody tells him what to do. Nobody tells me what to do. We have our differences, Chuck and I would, but I respect and admire the fact that he's an independent guy. He doesn't report to the Republican Party or anybody, and that's what I do. So we're unusual in this business." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2b375501330fcb45b538d045ab97384e8f9524287c5a1d598f93e684832676c4

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I am blessed with a young family I want to see grow and thrive. I want to be there for youth sporting events, for important milestones in their lives, and to thwart anyone from dating my beautiful daughter prior to her 21st birthday." - State Sen. Bill Stanley (R-Va.), who says he won't run for the seat GOP Rep. Robert Hurt is vacating in Virginia's 5th District. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=2b375501330fcb453f80fff126ec42844702d359b4ea39b72c9415b2c428d4fc

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*Nielsen Study June 2015 **

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