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By Elena Schneider | 01/26/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Scott Bland, Kevin Robillard and Theodoric Meyer

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).

TEACHOUT'S CONGRESSIONAL RUN A CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM TEST CASE - "Super PACs may help decide NY-19 race," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer: New NY-19 Democrat Zephyr Teachout's "position on campaign finance reform is as clear as anyone's. What's still unsettled is how that career of advocacy will square with the practical realities of a competitive House race. Teachout ... said she hadn't decided whether she'd accept super PAC help or speak out against it." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dd27a3d4100efb5df04973e73b47b0697814b3dcb3efb7c46b6db217d2e47826

GUNS ON THE AIRWAVES - Democrats from the presidential race on down are leaning on campaign ads that tout strong gun control stances, like the current focus on background checks and an assault weapons ban in Illinois' 10th District and Maryland's 8th District. Republicans are baffled at this early focus, and the Pew Research Center shows why: It found that 57 percent of Democrats list "dealing with gun policy" as a top priority, compared with 13 percent of Republicans. But Democratic strategists think the issue could morph into a general election boon on national security. After the San Bernardino massacre, "the Republicans' refusal to prevent terrorists on the no-fly list from buying guns
has opened a new front for Democrats to be on the offensive in the debate over who will keep Americans safe," said Isaac Baker, a Democratic media consultant.

- But we're already seeing regional differences in how Democrats are deploying gun control ads. In New Hampshire, one of every four political ads Hillary Clinton's campaign has aired has centered on gun control. But in Iowa, "only 1 in 17 of Clinton's spots has featured her stance on gun control," the Associated Press reported. (POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti notes that Bernie Sanders is still playing defense on guns in the mail in Iowa, though.) Nonetheless, Democrats appear to be seizing on a moment that wasn't as viable before 2016. "I think there's a tipping point for Democrats that is fueling a new sense of confidence in using [gun control] as an issue, which they see as potent both in
the primary and general," Baker said.

AD VALUE - Candidate TV ads dominate rating of top GOP presidential spots: Despite their resources, super PACs have been playing at a disadvantage on TV because stations charge them higher rates for ads. Now, it turns out they've been making less effective ads, too, according to a set of independent ratings. Ratings from Ace Metrix, a TV analytics company that tests ad effectiveness using large online panels, show that 6 of the 9 top-rated GOP ads so far came from campaigns, not super PACs - even though super PACs have spent nearly twice as much cash to put ads on voters' TVs.

- The top-rated ad belonged to Ted Cruz, who faced the camera and said, "We'll rebuild our military; we'll kill the terrorists" if he's elected president. Donald Trump's opening spot came in second.

Days until the Iowa caucuses: 6. Days until the 2016 election: 287.

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 missing Jonas: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @kyledcheney.

FIRST IN SCORE - DGA NAMES SHAFER IE DIRECTOR: Joe Shafer, who managed Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's 2014 win, will run the Democratic Governors' Association's IE side in 2016. Shafer also managed West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's wins in 2011 and 2012. "The DGA is excited to welcome Joe Shafer to direct our Independent Expenditure program," DGA Executive Director Elisabeth Pearson said in a statement. "Joe is an experienced campaign strategist with a proven track record of guiding Democrats to victory in tough races. Joe will play a critical role in the DGA's efforts in 2016."

- STAFFING UP - National Republican Senatorial Committee senior adviser Daniel Huey has been picked to lead the committee's independent expenditure arm in 2016, the NRSC announced Monday. Chelsea Hawker will serve as his deputy. ...Huey was deputy director of the IE unit in 2014 and previously worked at the RGA. Hawker, who currently serves as the NRSC's chief operating officer, was a deputy political director during the 2014 cycle.

PLAYING BOTH SIDES - Ending Spending super PAC releases "negative" Sanders ad calling him "too liberal for Iowa": The Republican super PAC "founded by TD Ameritrade executive Joe Ricketts is spending more than $600,000 on a television ad in Iowa lashing Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont as 'too liberal' in the final days of his close race against Hillary Clinton in the state's caucuses," The New York Times' Maggie Haberman reports. nyti.ms/1SHC15w

- FLASHBACK - McCaskill's pre-primary "anti"-Todd Akin ad: "The most conservative congressman in Missouri as our senator? Todd Akin: a crusader against bigger government ... Todd's pro-family agenda would outlaw many forms of contraception ... Todd Akin: Missouri's true conservative is just too conservative." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dd27a3d4100efb5d5aeffeb10c72b34df2dcbe17739c1977794a556b9f87da66

- QUOTE OF THE DAY - "I see you Joe Ricketts. And I know exactly what you're up to. #ToddAkin Don't fall for it Iowa Dems." - McCaskill, via Twitter.

FIRST IN SCORE - BOOZMAN GOES ON THE AIR: Arkansas Sen. John Boozman's first TV ad reaches back to his father's service as an Air Force gunner in World War II and connects it to Boozman's work in the Senate today. "Today, John Boozman fights to save the nation that they risked their lives to defend," a narrator says over footage of Boozman talking with veterans. "That means a stronger military, secure borders and destoying ISIS." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dd27a3d4100efb5d2672402b87deb37a944ad637e8ac62a78df3215ec99df264

CASH DASH - Poliquin again outraises rivals in ME-02: GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin outraised his two Democratic rivals again in the fourth quarter, adding to his big cash advantage in the race for Maine's 2nd District. Poliquin raised $330,000 in the fourth quarter, his campaign said on Monday, giving him nearly $1.6 million in cash on hand. Former state Sen. Emily Cain, the Democrat running against Poliquin again after losing to him in 2014, raised about $277,000 in the quarter, giving her about $550,000 in cash on hand. Her Democratic opponent, Bangor City Councilor Joe Baldacci, raised about $68,000, giving him about $76,000 in cash on hand.

AD WATCH - Shelby ad attacks bank bailouts: Banking Committee Chair Richard Shelby, in the middle of a primary challenge back home in Alabama, is bragging about voting against the 2008 bank bailout. The 30-second ad features a female small business owner discussing Shelby's opposition to bailout. "He refused to put hard-working Alabama taxpayers on the hook," she says. "Shelby's my kind of conservative." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dd27a3d4100efb5dddec7b15e6cd078abaac85ae7927fbc2eb187b810120be12

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "When Ted Cruz wanted to be part of the establishment," by POLITICO's Shane Goldmacher and Daniel Lippman: "Five years ago, as Ted Cruz plotted his path to the U.S. Senate, the anti-establishment crusader sought a private audience with and the backing of one of the faces of the modern GOP establishment: George W. Bush. In a never-before-reported meeting in Bush's Dallas office, Cruz began to outline his 2012 campaign playbook for the former president, according to people familiar with the conversation. Cruz explained how he would consolidate conservatives yearning for a political outsider, how he would outflank the front-runner on the right, how he would proudly
carry the mantle of the ascendant tea party to victory over entrenched elites. It was impressive foreshadowing. But Bush cut Cruz off before he could finish. 'I guess you don't want my support,' Bush interrupted. 'Ted, what the hell do you think I am?'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dd27a3d4100efb5d8a1feb5284fcd2979b26ac8f1932a196b6310dffe46c68e0

- "Sanders fights off flip-flop charges," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti in West Des Moines, Iowa: " ... as Bernie Sanders comes under the microscope in the run-up to the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, the lifelong liberal is facing criticism that he's recently changed at least a handful of his stances for politically expedient reasons. It's par for the course for more pliant politicians, but for Sanders, it's an unaccustomed - and frustrating - spot that he finds himself in. Over the course of his long career, he's rarely had his ideological purity questioned. But as Hillary Clinton and her allies continue to hammer him for making concessions that appear to position him closer to Democratic
Party orthodoxy, he's been put on the defensive." politi.co/200estd

- "The five words that could come back to haunt Bernie Sanders," by The Washington Post's Abby Phillip: Sen. Bernie Sanders uttered a handful of words that are likely to hang over his campaign - and he probably doesn't mind it at all. 'Yes, we will raise taxes,' Sanders said during the CNN Democratic forum in Iowa on Monday night. ... For a Democratic audience open to the idea of universal health care, Sanders's comments haven't yet hurt him. But in a general election, where moderate and independent voters are the prize, they could pose more of a problem." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dd27a3d4100efb5d404ea0002416e8cb665c73c7971bbd0156118d9320d0217c

- "Chris Christie's stormy return to New Hampshire," by POLITICO's Kyle Cheney and Daniel Strauss in Concord, N.H.: "Chris Christie is touting his handling of this weekend's historic blizzard as another show of his prowess as a crisis manager and reason to make him the Republican nominee. But the New Jersey governor's political rivals are telling a different story, one of Christie's hasty return to the stump in New Hampshire while his administration is still determining the extent of storm damage back home." politi.co/1RJORjt

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I personally saw a similarly costumed person in Columbus on December 14th, when I filed my candidacy for the U.S. Senate with the Ohio Secretary of State's office ... When my staff confronted the person, he admitted that he had been hired by Republicans and immediately threw his 'PG Sent Me' sign in the trash." - Democratic Ohio Senate candidate P.G. Sittenfeld, about a costumed man at fellow Democrat Ted Strickland's event, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=dd27a3d4100efb5dc9265aa2eb7abe9f17926b4c2ce32b0e28a853901f34a0bf

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