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By Scott Bland | 03/20/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard, Daniel Strauss 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)

ON TAP - "5 things to watch as Gorsuch gets grilled," by POLITICO's Seung Min Kim: "1) How will Trump factor into the hearings? ... 2) Who are the senatorial stars? ... Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has won plaudits for his sharp questioning of Trump Cabinet nominees ... 3) What is the Democrats' line of attack? ... Trump's relationship with the judiciary, Gorsuch's involvement with controversial national security policies as a George W. Bush administration lawyer, and his rulings against Obamacare's contraceptive coverage requirements are but a small sampling of the issues where Democrats will try to trip him up. Another narrative to watch for: A series of decisions where Democrats say Gorsuch
favored major corporations over individuals." Full story.

- "Comey confronts an angry Congress," by POLITICO's Austin Wright and Martin Matishak: "FBI Director James Comey is set to face probing questions Monday about Russia's involvement in the presidential election at a highly anticipated public appearance before the House Intelligence Committee. He's expected to be asked to confirm or deny the existence of criminal investigations into Trump or his campaign aides over ties to Moscow, though several committee members said Comey will likely decline to comment because doing so could undermine active probes." Full story.

2018 WATCH - Source tells Star-Tribune Rep. Tim Walz is "telling people he's running" for governor as state LG says no: Democratic Lt. Gov. Tina Smith posted on Facebook Friday that she will not run for governor in 2018. Smith "would have been a formidable candidate," the Minneapolis Star-Tribune's J. Patrick Coolican writes, but with her out, "The focus is now on U.S. Rep. Tim Walz ... A DFL source said Walz is telling people he is running. Expect an announcement soon." Full story.

- If Walz runs, that would open up MN-01, which Walz won by a surprisingly small margin in 2016 (0.8 percentage points) as President Donald Trump carried the district 52.9 percent to 38.1 percent over Hillary Clinton. Former President Barack Obama carried the district twice, but Trump's showing was his third-best margin in any Democratic congressional district in 2016 (with the other two also in Minnesota), and it will be an especially enticing 2018 target for Republicans as an open seat. 2016 Republican nominee Jim Hagedorn is already running again.

2017 WATCH - "Northam turns up the heat on Trump in Virginia," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "If the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary hinges on wooing the party's biggest activists and insiders, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam flexed his muscles at a straw poll in critical Fairfax County Friday night. And if turns into a contest about which Democrat can better oppose President Donald Trump's agenda, Northam demonstrated he could compete there, too. In a speech before he took 78 percent of the straw-poll vote at Rep. Gerry Connolly's annual St. Patrick's Day fundraiser, Northam delivered his harshest critique yet of the president, which has so far been Democratic rival Tom Perriello's
calling card in the battle for support within the party." Full story.

HAPPENING THIS MORNING - Democratic state Sen. Daniel Biss enters Illinois governor's race: Biss, a former University of Chicago mathematics professor, will announce Monday morning on Facebook Live that he plans to enter the Democratic primary to challenge GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner, who's already pumped $50 million into his reelection bid. "The people of Illinois are hurting because of the failed policies of the last two years and the failed politics of the last thirty years," Biss said in a statement shared with Campaign Pro. Watch the announcement at 11 a.m. EST here.

- The Chicago Tribune notes that Biss ran a super PAC that collected money from several notable Democratic donors.

Days until the 2017 election: 232.

Days until the 2018 election: 596.

Thanks for joining us. You can email tips to the Campaign Pro team at sbland@politico.com, eschneider@politico.com, krobillard@politico.com and dstrauss@politico.com.

You can also follow us on Twitter: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin and @danielstrauss4.

FIRST IN SCORE - NRSC launches "Confirm Judge Gorsuch" Snapchat filters: The NRSC's love affair with Snapchat is continuing this cycle, with the group paying for a "Confirm Judge Gorsuch" filter, pegged to this week's hearing on Capitol Hill. There will be a new filter for each day of the hearings. See Monday's filter here.

WEB WAR - Senate Leadership Fund targets Sen. Manchin in first 2018 buy: The Senate Leadership Fund is going after West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin in its first ad expenditure of the cycle, warning voters to not be "fooled" by Manchin's chummy relationship with Trump. It splices together footage of Manchin backing Hillary Clinton - endorsing her and calling her trustworthy. The five-figure ad campaign, which targeted Trump voters in West Virginia, kicked off over the weekend and will run for the next week. Watch the ad here.

GROUND GAME - CLF launches field offices in competitive House districts: The Congressional Leadership Fund rolled out its ground game operation in 20 swing House seats, where it will recruit full-time staff and volunteers to knock on "2.7 million targeted doors and have set a goal of 10 million doors by the end of the cycle," per a statement from the group. They'll also provide digital ad cover in each of these districts with additional buys. CLF will make a "concentrated effort to turnout new Trump voters, up to 20% of which do not regularly vote in midterm elections," the group said.

- Wall Street Journal got a sneak peek into how that operation will run, highlighting GOP Rep. Don Bacon's district in Omaha, Neb. We also found out that Bacon checks Facebook in church. Read more here.

WEST WORLD - "Western Democrats spearhead Trump resistance," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "A collection of ambitious Western pols is attempting to muscle into Democratic Party politics and move its center of gravity away from the East Coast. They've seen two decades of presidential nominees who hail from east of the Mississippi River. Now they are intent on taking the lead against the Trump administration policy agenda and setting the terms for the 2020 Democratic presidential primary." Full story.

CHOOSING SIDES IN VIRGINIA - Podesta: "Perriello is the better choice for the party's future during a Trump presidency," in the Washington Post: 2016 Clinton campaign chairman and former Obama White House adviser John Podesta supported Tom Perriello for governor of Virginia in an op-ed: "Both [Perriello and Lt. Gov Ralph Northam] are strong candidates for Virginia governor, but Perriello is the better choice for the party's future during a Trump presidency. ... The future of the Democratic Party will be defined by who can tap the anxieties, frustrations and energy of millions of Americans rising up to resist the Trump administration and forge a different path forward. Tom Perriello is
offering a blueprint. Democrats should pay attention." Full story.

MEET THE PRESS - "Elizabeth Warren finally busts out of her media bubble," by POLITICO Massachusetts' Lauren Dezenski: "Elizabeth Warren's creative media-dodging habits are a running joke among her home-state press corps. ... [But] in just the last week alone, the notoriously press-averse progressive icon held three open-to-media events back home, followed by lengthy huddles with reporters on a wide range of issues ranging from her Senate votes to Donald Trump's wiretapping accusations to the 2020 race. ... With Warren up for re-election in 2018, the first-term Democratic senator now has plenty of incentive to amp up her media profile back home." Full story.

BRINGING HOME THE GOLD - NRSC, Johnson campaign strategists win awards: Former NRSC Executive Director Ward Baker won campaign strategist of the year and Ron Johnson campaign manager Betsy Ankney won campaign manager of the year on Thursday night at the annual American Association of Political Consultants conference. The Trump campaign also took home some awards, with pollster Tony Fabrizio and digital strategist Brad Parscale winning in their respective categories. A slew of other campaigns also won awards, including Rep. Rick Nolan's direct mail from Bergmann Zwerdling Direct, Revolution Messaging digital campaign for Bernie Sanders, and Something Else Strategies' work on Missouri Gov.
Eric Greitens' television ads. See a full list of winners here and here, and the AAPC's 40 Under 40 list here.

PERSONNEL MOVES - Warren adds senior adviser: Kristen Orthman, who was previously a spokeswoman for former Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, is joining Sen. Elizabeth Warren's office as a senior adviser. Orthman also served as a spokeswoman and senior adviser for the Nevada state Democratic Party.

- Kurtz to manage Whitmer gubernatorial campaign: Full story.

- Wagner names High campaign manager: Full story.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "White House squeezes GOP hard-liners as Obamacare vote nears," by POLITICO's Rachael Bade, Josh Dawsey and Burgess Everett: "The White House began signaling to conservatives this weekend that negotiations are closing on the GOP Obamacare alternative, nudging the far-right to get in line before a crucial Thursday House vote on the bill. ... Multiple administration and Hill sources close with GOP leadership now expect a couple smaller tweaks to the legislation this week before the vote. But by-and-large they feel talks with the far-right are just about done, and that they can't give conservatives everything they want. That marks a major shift in the White House's
recent posture - news that will come as music to House GOP leaders' ears. The White House last Monday instructed Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to make a number of smaller concessions to conservatives ... But Ryan and his top lieutenants worried that if they kept moving too far right, they'd lose a bunch of centrist Republicans. Some have already started to peel off or threatened to." Full story.

- "White House installs political aides at Cabinet agencies to be Trump's eyes and ears," by the Washington Post's Lisa Rein and Juliet Eilperin: "The political appointee charged with keeping watch over Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and his aides has offered unsolicited advice so often that after just four weeks on the job, Pruitt has shut him out of many staff meetings, according to two senior administration officials. ... Most members of President Trump's Cabinet do not yet have leadership teams in place or even nominees for top deputies. But they do have an influential coterie of senior aides installed by the White House who are charged - above all - with
monitoring the secretaries' loyalty, according to eight officials in and outside the administration. ... The White House has installed at least 16 of the advisers at departments including Energy and Health and Human Services and at some smaller agencies such as NASA, according to records first obtained by ProPublica through a Freedom of Information Act request." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I feel very good about it, actually; I feel like it's exactly where we need to be." - House Speaker Paul Ryan, speaking about the GOP health care bill on Fox News Sunday.

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