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By Elena Schneider | 10/27/2015 10:01 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Theodoric Meyer and Steven Shepard

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 DAVID VITTER P.I. SAGA, CONTINUED -- The Baton Rouge Advocate's Jim Mustian provides context to Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand's arrest of an investigator working for Sen. David Vitter's gubernatorial campaign, noting the two are long-time political rivals. Normand was even groomed to challenge Vitter when the latter was still a state representative and considered running for governor this year. "Sadly, he's been on a campaign against me for a long time," Vitter told the Monroe News Star. "I've reached out to him numerous times about legislation affecting law enforcement and other issues [to no avail]. Obviously, [the sheriff's] motives in the arrest were political. It was a
bizarre and silly incident." Normand countered that the two did meet, and he told Vitter he "would be the worst governor in the history of the state of Louisiana." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed06f1200dd8765c9301b85e0b452652c687925e620c8c42049

-- And Jason Brad Berry, the blogger who has been posting about Vitter's 2007 prostitution scandal in recent weeks, told WWL-TV in New Orleans he saw Robert Frenzel, the private investigator who was arrested on Friday, drive by Berry's house several times on Thursday. "I don't know whether it was incompetence, whether he's like Inspector Clouseau, or whether the guy actually wanted me to see him, but it was pretty clear what was going on when I made eye contact with him and he smiled at me." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed0c7b485fe2444b154d62aa3f26852a91ce9daf21974cf79ec

-- The Vitter campaign continued its efforts to dismiss discussion of the investigator's arrest as ridiculous on Monday night by blasting out to reporters a photo of a tracker from American Bridge. "He was filming private citizens having private conversations at a restaurant in Lafayette this evening that Sen. Vitter was also at," spokesman Luke Bolar wrote in an email. "It remains to be seen whether or not he will be arrested, jailed, and have his phone and car searched. However, by John Bel Edwards standards, this is 'Nixonian' political spying. I expect major breaking news."

FIRST IN SCORE -- One Nation goes up for Portman: One Nation, a conservative nonprofit group linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, bought $1.12 million worth of television, radio and digital ads advocating for jobs legislation sponsored by Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. The ad will air on broadcast and cable stations in the Buckeye State for ten days, starting Wednesday. They will also go up with a week of accompanying radio ads and two weeks of digital ads.

Days until the 2015 election: 7. Days until the 2016 election: 378.

Thanks for joining us. Email tips to the whole Campaign Pro team at sshepard@politico.com, kcheney@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, krobillard@politico.com and tmeyer@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about Amtrak: @politico_steve, @kyledcheney, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin and @theodoricmeyer.

IF YOU HAVE NOTHING NICE TO SAY -- Bevin, Conway debate for final time: The moderator of last night's final debate between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Matt Bevin on Kentucky Educational Television asked the two gubernatorial candidates to compliment one another. Bevin couldn't do it. "I look forward to you having the opportunity to join the private sector," Bevin said, according to the Associated Press. Conway complimented Bevin for making a "wonderful home" for his nine children, including four adopted from Ethiopia. The two also tangled on a new issue, with Bevin calling the state's agreement with tobacco companies a "shakedown," arguing it cost the state jobs. Conway said the
agreement helped fund cancer and agriculture research. Here's the summary from the AP's Adam Beam: "Republican Matt Bevin implied Democrat Jack Conway was not smart enough to lead the state. Conway said Bevin was too angry to be Kentucky's next chief executive. The candidates spent an hour on Kentucky Educational Television talking over each other as they tried to reach voters." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed064709b630164c202dd82f9e1c2a80eca177955db1cbe8649

-- RGA boosting spending by $365,000 in final week: Putting Kentucky First, the RGA-backed outside group in the Kentucky governor's race, is adding at least $365,000 worth of spending to their existing buy attacking Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway, according to sources tracking media buying. A huge chunk of the additional spending -- $105,000 -- comes from the Nashville media market. Campaigns often skip the Nashville market in Kentucky buys, since it's relatively expensive but covers only a tiny portion of the Kentucky electorate. Kentucky Family Values, the DGA and union-backed outfit supporting Conway and attacking Bevin, has also boosted its spending by $85,000.

-- Bevin is up with a new ad, declaring Conway is "just like Obama." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed0a45fd46b467f0d251d82c72cb305fe3332e460f44a6527ea

AIR WAR -- Koch-backed vets group up for Toomey: The Concerned Veterans for America, a conservative group, launched a $270,000 digital ad campaign in support of Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Pat Toomey on Monday, backing his track record on the Veterans Affairs Accountability Act. "Sen. Pat Toomey actually fought for us when the V.A. was letting us down," said Sgt. Jed Johnson, a veteran featured in the ad. Watch the ad here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed0e84e20fc9127218b570b3679b78568a6d035d664a7e0caa7

FIRST ON CAMPAIGN PRO -- "The most endangered Republican in the country," by POLITICO's Anna Palmer in Northbrook, Ill., and Burgess Everett, with Lauren French: "It's hard to tell sometimes that Mark Kirk is running for reelection here as a Republican: In a span of two days on the campaign trail last week, the first-term senator name-checked Bernie Sanders as an ally, pitched himself as a champion of the environment and pledged that the federal government wouldn't shut down over Planned Parenthood. ... A centrist on social issues and a hawk on foreign policy - he praised Sanders for backing his push for sanctions against Iran - Kirk has long been among a shrinking number of moderate
Republicans in Congress. But now the 56-year-old lawmaker is in the fight of his political career - the most vulnerable Republican senator on the ballot next year who occupies one of five seats Democrats must win to take back the Senate. To make matters worse, Kirk has been largely written off by national party operatives, who have the unfortunate task of defending a staggering 24 seats in 2016." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed072f8d8e5f6abd181975802fa65f956ea0dda7ff8c999e666

-- In case you're tired of U.S. politics, the New York Times explains why elections in Argentina, Poland, Tanzania, Guatemala, Haiti and the Ivory Coast, which held their votes on Sunday, matter to us and the rest of the world. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed02dd07c725d6c407213d8cc487b8d64b98bb55283e79f569c

BUT LET'S BE REAL -- BACK TO THE PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ -- "Ted Cruz's plan to pick off the competition," by POLITICO's Shane Goldmacher in Glenwood, Iowa: "From the start, Cruz and his political brain trust have divided the 2016 primary into four clear lanes: a moderate-establishment lane, in which he would not compete; a tea party lane, which he needed to dominate; an evangelical lane, where he had strong potential but little initial traction; and a libertarian lane, which began as the turf of Rand Paul. 'The players that were expected to be formidable in those lanes have not got the traction they had hoped,' Cruz said. 'The most encouraging thing I would say is that I think three of the
lanes are collapsing into one, which is the evangelical lane, the conservative tea party lane, and the libertarian lane are all collapsing into the conservative lane and we're seeing those lanes unify behind our campaign.'" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed052bc81ed12060f9c610601da2e72e829ae6e30efd8fc1875

-- "Bush camp disses Rubio as 'GOP Obama,'" by POLITICO's Eli Stokols in Houston: "As Jeb Bush's campaign wrapped up its two-day family-and-friends sales job to top donors, there was one figure who loomed large - Marco Rubio. Senior campaign officials were not shy about addressing Bush's former-protegee-turned-presidential-rival straight on, breaking out a 45-panel slide show that outlined the campaign's finances, its polling, its communications strategy, its overall view of the race and its specific view of Rubio. ...The presentation was followed by a luncheon, with former President George W. Bush and younger brother Jeb entertaining about 150 donors here, and with Rubio continuing to be a
lingering presence." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed03de005886fa7f640f6e26e4a3557c2799664313de068d391

-- League of Conservation Voters and Conservation Colorado will release statements Tuesday, urging the CNBC moderators to ask the 2016 GOP candidates about the economic implications of climate change.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Look, did I remove a picture? [laughs] Probably. But, no, I am who I am. And I want the voters to accept me on those terms." -- 31-year-old Ohio Senate candidate P.G. Sittenfeld, explaining that he probably took down a Facebook picture or two before jumping in the race. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=c3371781c08a2ed0327e77d23bc86e2d0c6a4c601fd0f2fa7d992236d395c1ee

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