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By Alexander Burns (
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2012 SIREN - NEWT FORGES AHEAD - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich plans to tell supporters in an email this morning that he will overcome the upheaval in his campaign and "carry the message of American renewal to every part of this great land, whatever it takes." A day after losing nearly all of his top staff in a wave of resignations, Gingrich will make it clear that he has no intention of backing away from the 2012 race. Instead, he says he'll run a citizen-driven campaign focused strongly on the economy. "When I announced my candidacy for President of the United States on May 11, I set out to run a substantive, solutions-oriented campaign built upon an alternative idea. To make
Washington smaller, we as citizens must become bigger," Gingrich writes in an as-yet-unreleased message. "Because the renewal of America can only begin with you, this will be your campaign. As someone who has been in public life for nearly forty years, I know full well the rigors of campaigning for public office. I will endure them."

MORE - DEBATE STILL ON - Gingrich says he'll be at the first New Hampshire candidate debate on June 13: "Next Monday, I will take part in the first New Hampshire Republican primary debate. The critical question of how we put Americans back to work will be asked of me and the other Republican candidates. It is the most important question of this campaign. The road ahead will not be easy for America. As a citizen who loves his country and does not want to see it fail, I will humbly offer my vision for renewing America's future alongside the other candidates. And I will work every day of this campaign to make this vision of American renewal a reality. But in the end saving America and getting
us out of the Obama Depression and back to a working, prosperous America will take your voice, your work, and your support." More on the Gingrich campaign resignations here:
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POPPING THIS MORNING - HEINEMAN FOR ROMNEY - Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman is throwing his support behind Mitt Romney's campaign for president, giving Romney his first 2012 endorsement from a sitting governor. In a statement set for release, Heineman praises Romney's credentials as an economic leader. "Mitt Romney has a proven record of balancing budgets, keeping taxes low and creating an environment for job growth," Heineman says. "As a governor, I understand the challenges this country faces and Mitt Romney has the experience to meet those challenges. ROMNEY: "I am proud to have the support of Governor Dave Heineman ... Governor Heineman shares my principles of promoting job creation and
getting our exploding deficits under control."

MORE - THE VIEW FROM OMAHA - The World-Herald writes: "Heineman's endorsement could help Romney in western Iowa, which holds the nation's first presidential test with its famed caucuses. However, it is unknown how actively Romney plans to compete in Iowa."
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SPEAKING OF WHICH - TACTICAL RETREAT - Romney's campaign announced Thursday evening that he won't be participating in the Ames straw poll this summer, or in fall straw polls in Florida and Michigan. The decision on Ames was not a surprise, as the St. Petersburg Times explains: "While officially meaningless, [straw polls] can help shape perceptions and expectations for candidates and show the organizational strength of a campaign. In 2007, Romney spent millions of dollars in Iowa preceding its widely watched Ames straw poll, but Mike Huckabee drew much of the attention with a strong second place showing." Romney aides told the Times and the Des Moines Register that the former governor still
plans to participate in debates that coincide with the straw polls in Iowa and Florida.
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As Steve Beshear looks strong, Cory Booker cleans things up and the first DWS-Priebus debate approaches, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

THE SMOKE CLEARS - ENTER PERRY? The Texas governor was already putting out word of his interest in 2012 before Gingrich's very bad Thursday. Now that Perry's top 2010 campaign advisers - Rob Johnson and Dave Carney - have left the Gingrich camp, all eyes are looking toward Austin for new signs on a presidential run. Yesterday Carney tamped down the Perry talk, Jmart reports: "Speculation immediately started to build as to whether Johnson and Carney, Perry's chief political adviser, will start planning a presidential campaign for the Texan ... But Carney insisted his decision was unrelated to Perry. 'It has no impact, nor will it [on Perry],' he said."
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YOUR TAKES - We asked yesterday whether Morning Score readers think Rick Perry is really the white knight Republicans are waiting for, and whether he could be a stronger general election candidate than Mitt Romney. A few of your on-the-record answers: (1) Joshua Baca, campaign director at the unaffiliated consulting firm DDC Advocacy: "He's the only GOP candidate who can rally fiscal and social conservatives. While the election will be about fiscal issues, his appeal will rally social conservatives to turn out and help him win the primary." (2) Mike Scudiero, Florida Republican consultant and '07 Giuliani volunteer: "Parochially, he puts us in position to win back NC and VA as a legit
southerner." (3) Max Greenberg, who graduates next week from Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown, Pa.: "Gov. Rick Perry's fiscal conservatism paired with a distinct record of economic growth is a far more compelling economic case than that offered by Romney, Pawlenty or Huntsman."

ONE SKEPTICAL REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST EMAILED, RE PERRY: "The very thing that revived him and sent him from 20 points down to Kay [Bailey Hutchison] to winning the primary is the same thing I would think may be his Achilles heel in a general election: secession. Imagine how disqualifying that could be with independents in the I-4 corridor or the Columbus suburbs ... Being from Texas alone isn't too bad, per se, but the secession thing seals the TX/cowboy fatigue."

HOURS AWAY - THE PALIN EMAILS - In a boon to Newt Gingrich, Anthony Weiner and other embattled politicians, the buzziest political story of the day will likely break at 1 p.m., when 24,000-plus emails from Sarah Palin's tenure as governor hit the public record. The release is the product of a long campaign by news organizations, which filed open records requests immediately after John McCain chose an unknown first-term governor as his 2008 running mate. The Alaska state government dragged its heels in response. Even now, Palin's successor has redacted 2,200 pages and the emails will only go through September 2008 (she stayed in office until July 2009).

HOW THEY'LL COVER IT - Several news organizations plan to experiment with crowd-sourcing: The Washington Post is leaning on 100 online volunteers to help sift through the emails. The New York Times has created a form on its website for readers to flag interesting nuggets. The Los Angeles Times will post a searchable archive of the messages and ask readers to email a special account they've created. POLITICO will gang tackle the story - check back on the site and follow @POLITICO2012 for news as it breaks.

THIS WON'T BE A ONE-DAY STORY - Based on the volume of emails coming out, the Associated Press sent this notice over the wire: "Please advise your weekend editors to watch for developments on this story."

WEEKEND TALKER - "Debbie Wasserman Schultz has shaky DNC start" - POLITICO's Molly Ball reports, ahead of the first "Meet the Press" showdown between DWS and the new-to-Sunday-morning Reince Priebus: "In the four weeks since she succeeded Tim Kaine, Wasserman Schultz has been called out by four nonpartisan fact-checkers for mischaracterizing the GOP's Medicare plan. She's accused Republicans of wanting to reinstate segregation and of waging a 'war on women' ... A rank-and-file member of Congress typically wouldn't get noticed for inflammatory language and rhetorical slip-ups. But Wasserman Schultz has a higher profile now - and was hired precisely because of her skills as a communicator."
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RNC STRIKES FIRST - 'BUSY WORK' - From the research department comes this attack on Wasserman Schultz, who's headed to a Democratic fundraiser tonight in Indianapolis: "Indiana Democrats tout Wasserman Schultz's 'countless hours championing' Democrats ... Those 'countless hours' have been spent on defense for outrageous rhetoric and blatant falsehoods." The full hit:
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2012 HANDICAPPING - SABATO SORTS THE FIELD - From the UVA Center for Politics comes this overview of the 2012 primary, granting top-tier status to only two candidates: "Leading the first tier of contenders is former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA), who is an exceptionally weak frontrunner, perhaps the weakest GOP frontrunner since 1964 ... Nipping at his heels is the only other front-line contender, ex- Gov. Tim Pawlenty ... If [Michele] Bachmann is Pawlenty's kryptonite, then former Gov. Jon Huntsman (UT) could be Romney's."
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POLL OF THE DAY - STILL NOT HELPING - Romney's more immediate concern may be Republican opposition to the universal health care law he passed in Massachusetts. A CNN survey released Thursday confirmed just how problematic that might prove: 80 percent of Republicans said they oppose the individual mandate. The electorate as a whole is against insurance mandates, 54 percent to 44 percent. Overall, 56 percent of voters oppose the federal health care law - underscoring why Romney has to distinguish his plan from the one President Obama signed
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ANTHONY WEINER, SURVIVOR? Just a third of the embattled Democrat's constituents want him to resign, according to a NY1/Marist College poll that seems to increase Weiner's odds of political survival at least slightly. Fifty-six percent of Weiner's constituents think he should not step down. Whether they'll vote for him again, though, is a different story: "42 percent have an unfavorable view of him, versus 38 percent with a favorable view...Asked if they would vote for him again, 31 percent say they would be definitely would not...Thirty percent say they are definitely for Weiner's re-election, but 38 percent are not sure." Plus: "Only 11 percent say he did something illegal and 9 percent
say he did nothing wrong." This is the first survey this week testing only Weiner's constituents - other polls have tested all New York City voters about Weiner's problems.
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AND - 'DEFIANT' - That's how the New York Post described Weiner after interviewing him outside his lawyer's office in Rockefeller Center Thursday. "I'm going to go back to my community office and try to get some work done," Weiner said.
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ONE MORE POLL - BESHEAR CRUISING - Kentucky's Democratic governor has a 21-point lead over GOP challenger David Williams, according to a new cn|2 survey. Beshear's just over the 50-percent mark, at 51 percent, but after a bloody GOP primary and a barrage of TV ads from the incumbent, the Democratic ticket is in solid shape: "Beshear has been running ads for three weeks virtually unchallenged ... Williams is having trouble with Republicans on both wings - more moderate Republicans, especially those in Louisville, and some ultra-conservatives who were more in line with the tea party." The Williams camp released a polling memo swatting cn|2 and its pollster: "Braun has a history of conducting
faulty research on behalf of cn|2 ...The inaccuracy in most cases was a bias against the performance of Republican candidates who won handily."
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BOOKER WALKS IT BACK - BUT NOT REALLY: Newark Mayor Cory Booker sought to quiet reports about his interest in running for Senate in 2014 - without really slamming the door on a possible campaign. Patch grabbed the mayor at a ceremony to honor a local Portuguese activist and he wouldn't rule out running for governor of New Jersey in 2013, either: "For now, I will remain as mayor of Newark for the next three years," Booker said. Patch also reported that the "Booker camp had to reassure staffers from U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg's office that nothing is going on."
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CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I'll leave it to the pundits and voters to assess the wisdom of skipping an event of tremendous importance to tens of thousands of Iowa Republicans." - Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn, on Romney's decision to skip Ames.
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