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By Edward-Isaac Dovere (
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isaac@politico.com ; Twitter: @IsaacDovere), Dan Hirschhorn (
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danh@politico.com ; Twitter: @DanPolitico) and Juana Summers (
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jsummers@politico.com ; Twitter: @JMsummers)

AND THEY'RE OFF - Despite Newt Gingrich's best efforts to stop the Republican-on-Republican attacks, they kept coming-most of them directed at Rick Perry as he made his debate debut. The Texas governor "battled a withering barrage of attacks in his first debate as a presidential candidate Wednesday night, at times stumbling in the face of harsh criticism - and difficult questioning - at the POLITICO/NBC debate. But Perry proved himself to be an aggressive, often caustic debater, waiting only a few moments to go on the attack against his top rival, Mitt Romney, for his jobs record as governor of Massachusetts."
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NO MISSING THE NARRATIVE (THOUGH THE OTHER CANDIDATES WERE THERE TOO) - Headlines: "Romney, Perry spar over jobs, Social Security" (AP); "Perry and Romney spar over economy, jobs" (Washington Post); "Perry, Romney clash over job creation records," (Chicago Tribune); Perry, Romney square off in GOP debate (LA Times), Perry and Romney Clash at GOP Debate (WSJ).

WHAT WE LEARNED - The GOP presidential debate Wednesday was just the first in a series of fall meet-ups. But it may prove to be the most revealing," writes Maggie Haberman, pinpointing these eight themes of the post-debate analysis: Rick Perry is now the clear frontrunner. Rick Perry is not running away from Rick Perry. Michele Bachmann's window is closing. Mitt Romney's ready to rumble. The Romney campaign thinks it's found Perry's soft spot-It's called "Fed Up!" Newt Gingrich thinks media-bashing is a winning issue. Ron Paul can't modulate. Jon Huntsman isn't going to take the gloves off..
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NEXT UP: OBAMA'S TURN -After backing off of trying to compete with Wednesday's debate, the president will use the jobs speech before Congress to start making his own case. "By proposing a jobs package filled with items that Republicans have supported in the past, President Obama is betting that moderate and independent voters he so desperately needs in next year's elections will flock to his camp." The White House is keeping details quiet, but "the centerpiece of the package will be a proposal for payroll tax relief for workers and perhaps their employers. Mr. Obama has signaled that he will propose to extend for another year a reduction of two percentage points in the 6.2 percent Social
Security payroll tax that employees pay, which means about $1,000 more for the average household. He is also expected to call for an extension of business tax cuts and the infusion of federal dollars into building and repairing roads, rails, airports, schools and other infrastructure projects."
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WHO WON'T BE THERE TO HEAR HIM DO IT - Rep. Ron Paul decided not to stop his own presidential campaign to listen to the president pivot to his, and he won't be the only one skipping: South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, as well as Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh and Georgia Rep. Paul Broun are staying away too. While DeMint said he would prefer to read the speech text, Broun will watch from his office and host a Twitter town hall. Louisiana Sen. David Vitter has bigger plans: while his colleagues are sitting in the chamber, he'll be throwing a NFL season opener party to celebrate his hometown New Orleans Saints match against the Green Bay Packers. 'I will listen to the President's speech tomorrow
carefully ... from my priority area for job creation, Who Dat Nation. Family and friends are coming over for big game. On to recovery - and the Super Bowl,' Vitter posted on his Facebook page. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is likely to be absent too, to tend to his mother, who remains hospitalized after suffering two strokes.

FIRST IN SCORE - #3 N.H. SENATOR BACKS MITT - New Hampshire state Sen. Chuck Morse will endorse Romney on Thursday, citing his "skills needed to turnaround our struggling economy." Romney's looking to shore up his hold on the first-primary state despite Perry's advance. More Morse: 'As a small business owner, I believe we need a fiscally conservative President who understands how the economy works and how jobs are created.'

**As Cheney sounds off on the Republican field, Perry's people clarify what he did for Gore, and Christie gets a new position on the national stage that doesn't involve running for president, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

PERRY STICKS BY "FED UP!" - There's more than enough from Perry's states' rights manifesto that's already been causing him trouble, but on stage at the Reagan Library on Wednesday, he made clear that he's not backing away. "The Texas governor appeared unflustered and unapologetic as he took fire on his record and on some of the inflammatory statements he has made. After declaring Social Security 'a monstrous lie to our kids' and 'a Ponzi scheme,' Perry added: 'Maybe it's time to have some provocative language in this country.'"
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2012 TALKER - CHENEY CHASTISES GOP HOPEFULS - Dick Cheney unloaded on the Republican presidential candidates to ABC's Jonathan Karl. On Rick Perry's 'over-the-top' and 'inappropriate' rhetoric about Fed chairman Ben Bernanke: "I disagree with him. Obviously he's just getting started on the campaign. I'm not sure if he were to get elected he'd want to use that kind of language on the Fed Chairman." On Michele Bachmann's promise to lower gas prices: 'The free market's gonna work on gasoline prices. We need to do everything we can to produce, especially from domestic sources, all of the conventional power we can. But yeah, to make a hard and fast prediction and say, 'Gasoline's never gonna
cost more than $2 a barrel,' I'd be a little careful of that. I don't believe it." On Jon Huntsman's Afghanistan policy: "President Obama has announced he's going to take out the surge forces before the end of the next fighting season. That'd be a big mistake. There's no military reason to do that. I think it's driven primarily by politics - that he wants to get the forces out before the election in 2012 because he made those kinds of commitments and promises. ... I have a sense that that's what Jon Huntsman is advocating. It's a mistake. I think we cannot take the chance of walking away from the importance of staying on top of the situation and helping the Afghans acquire the capacity to
control their own sovereign territory."

PERRY-GORE FACT CHECK - PoltiFact takes a moment to set straight reporters who have for years referred to Rick Perry as Gore's 1988 Texas campaign chairman, a title most recently rehashed in coverage of Ron Paul's TV ad painting Perry as a Gore cheerleader. 'Cheerleader, maybe. But interviews with political players in Texas and Tennessee and news articles from 1988 have convinced us that, although Perry endorsed Gore, he was not his Texas chairman. Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for Perry's presidential campaign, recently told us by email: 'We have no record or recollection of any leadership position' for Perry in Gore's 1988 campaign. Asked why Perry did not say as much when a 1998 opponent
repeatedly lofted such claims, Sullivan replied: 'We did not (have) access to information about the Gore '88 campaign organization and therefore 10 years later could not definitively say one way or the other.''
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COUNTERPROGRAMMING FROM NEW YORK - While we were watching the debate, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was on Piers Morgan boasting about how well he could do if he got in to the race himself. "If Barack Obama remained roughly where he is now, sure, I think I could beat him." He repeated a line from Tuesday about running if he thought no one else could beat Obama, but said, "three or four Republicans could beat him right now given how weak he is and how his approval numbers have pretty much dipped below 40 percent."
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CHRISTIE, WALKER MOVE UP AT RGA - The latest sign that Chris Christie really, really, really isn't running for the White House this time around: he's taking over for Bob McDonnell as the Republican Governors Association new vice chair-the position McDonnell moved up from after Perry resigned as chairman to run for president. The new post will let Christie build his presence and connections on the national stage. The RGA also promoted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to the executive committee, making the RGA's top brass even more of a breeding ground for possible veep candidates and 2016 hopefuls: Haley Barbour, Nikki Haley, Bobby Jindal and Susana Martinez also serve on the RGA's executive
committee.
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INCUMBENT WARFARE WATCH - MICHIGAN AND CALIFORNIA - Democratic Rep. Gary Peters has rolled the dice and decided to face freshman and fellow Democratic Rep. Hansen Clarke, rather than longtime Democratic Rep. Sander Levin. An announcement could come as early as this week. (
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=3d575e007252eb1c090fc0c2c32328ab0593bfbfa898fc1706ece2091eea2531 ) Meanwhile, NRCC chair Pete Sessions might seem like he's picking sides in the California showdown between Reps. Ed Royce and Gary Miller, since he'll be attending Royce's Sept. 17 barbecue, but an NRCC spokeswoman tells POLITICO that Sessions 'does not endorse in Republican member-member races. He attends events for any member in good standing with the NRCC.'

THE WEINER SEAT - CUOMO, NRCC AND RJC PLAY - The unexpectedly close special election in New York is coming down to the wire, with more outside players beginning to mobilize. NRCC chairman Pete Sessions is penning a fundraising appeal for Republican Bob Turner, and the Republican Jewish Coalition is hitting 30,000 Jewish households with mailers quoting a Holocaust survivor who says "I have never voted for a Republican in my life,' but in this election, "I don't even care who the Democrat is; I am voting Republican to show Obama I am upset with his policy on Israel." But they'll be up against popular Governor (and Queens native) Andrew Cuomo, who says he's now ready to appear in ads on behalf
of struggling Democratic candidate David Weprin.
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BOONE CROONS FOR TURNER - But if it comes down to a singing contest, Turner will have a boost: Conservative crooner Pat Boone is set to add to the list of 90 congressional candidates whom he's pitched in for (as noted by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt this summer:
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http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b16ee99bd50dddd48a7133ba3ea6a24ca30f256b402eed17ace5f956f879c5a4 ). But instead of recording another robocall like the ones that hit approximately 7 million households during the 2010 midterms, he'll be making all the calls for Turner personally.

CODA: Count Aaron Perlut, chairman of the American Mustache Institute, among those disappointed former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton won't be in the White House race: "Bolton's candidacy would have been a boost to the Mustached American community without question. The last Mustached American President of the United States was William Howard Taft."
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