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By Elena Schneider | 02/27/2017 10:03 AM EDT


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.

THE WAY FORWARD - "Sanders revolution resists DNC loss," by POLITICO's Edward-Isaac Dovere in Atlanta: "Sen. Bernie Sanders and his supporters went hard after anyone who wouldn't back Keith Ellison in the run-up to the Democratic National Committee chair election. On Wednesday, Sanders phoned Jaime Harrison, the South Carolina Democratic chairman, who was on the verge of dropping out of the race, and made a heavy pitch for him to endorse Ellison as a transformational moment for the party. ...Ellison's loss in the second round of voting dashed the Sanders wing's hopes of taking over the party establishment. But to the surprise of most in the room, the announcement that Perez won was met
mostly with applause, rather than an outbreak of chaos and screams. Chants of "Party for the people, not big money" briefly interrupted the proceedings, but they came from a total of nine very loud Ellison supporters who were sitting in the seats left open to the general public. What happens next for the party's Sanders-aligned movement, said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed - who backed Perez - 'is an open question.'" Full story.

- "Democrats pile up election post-mortems," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti in Atlanta: "Unable to get closure on the party's stunning losses in November, nearly 20 Democratic interest groups, operatives, and state committees have commissioned their own private 2016 election autopsy reports. The projects, which aim to diagnose the party's ills and pave a path forward, are designed in part to fill the void left by Hillary Clinton's campaign, which has yet to offer any formal explanation for its defeat. Instead, leaders of her campaign effort have let the candidate's complaints to donors about Russia and FBI Director Jim Comey's intervention stand alone, leaving a public silence about the
details of her defeat that has spawned tangible frustration among party operatives." Full story.

KEEPING IT BLUE - "Dems win special election, hold to Delaware state Senate," by The Associated Press: "Still reeling from the election of Donald Trump, Democrats in Delaware can take solace in maintaining their grasp on state government. Stephanie Hansen, an attorney and former New Castle County Council president, won a special election Saturday for the Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat Bethany Hall-Long, who was elected lieutenant governor last year. The vacancy left a 10-10 tie in the Senate and a chance for Republicans to take control of the chamber for the first time in more than 40 years, but Republican John Marino came up short. Democrats raised about $1 million for the
high-stakes election and enlisted former Vice President Joe Biden to campaign for Hansen." Full story.

FIRST IN SCORE - The DLCC is out with a memo today to highlight the 1,000 volunteers they mobilized in Delaware to knock on 90,000 doors and make over 60,000 phone calls.

COMING SOON? - Rep. Tim Walz on the Minnesota governor's race: Democratic Rep. Tim Walz told MPR that he will make a decision on a statewide bid by April. "This rural, urban divide has to end. Being a Democrat and progressive in a more conservative area, and still having support from folks - I think that bodes well. So I'm going to take a look at it," he said. Other Democrats already running: St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, State Auditor Rebecca Otto and state Rep. Erin Murphy. GOP state Sen. David Osmek and Democratic state Rep. Tina Liebling told The Minneapolis Star Tribune that they're considering their own statewide bids.

- A Walz run for governor could mean a problem for Democrats in MN-01, which Trump carried by 15 percentage points and Walz, surprisingly, nearly lost despite not being targeted with outside spending by either party. (Walz got just 50.3 percent of the vote in his district last year.)

BRING EM OUT - "Manchin invites primary challenge from Sanders supporters in call," by POLITICO's Gabriel Debenedetti: "West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin invited Bernie Sanders supporters to mount a primary challenge against him in a Friday phone call with West Virginians, according to a recording of the call viewed by POLITICO. The sometimes contentious, roughly 15-minute conversation was largely focused on the prospect of Manchin scheduling a town hall for his constituents - an idea he said he was open to, while also repeatedly asking what the objective would be. The conference call, which involved several political activists, was recorded by one of the activists, and Manchin can be heard
responding to various questions and challenges. But as the town hall conversation got chippy - and activists on the call brought up points of disagreement with the senator - Manchin exclaimed, 'What you ought to do is vote me out. Vote me out! I'm not changing. Find somebody else who can beat me and vote me out.'" Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 253.

Days until the 2018 election: 617.

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.

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TRUMP WHO - "Best tactic for some governors is to avoid mention of Trump," by The Associated Press's Ben Nuckols: "These should be heady times for the GOP as the nation's governors prepare to gather for their winter meeting in Washington, D.C. Republicans hold 33 governorships, compared with just 16 for Democrats, and the GOP has full control of the legislatures in two-thirds of the states. But there is a sense of unease for Republican governors in Democratic-leaning states. They criticize President Donald Trump gently, picking their spots to appease the Democratic and independent voters they need to remain in office. At the same time, they don't want to alienate Trump supporters. For some,
the best strategy is to avoid mentioning Trump at all." Full story.

- Speaking of AGs ... California AG Xavier Becerra clearing the field, per The Los Angeles Times: "What was shaping up to be a free-for-all with several strong candidates before Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Becerra last month is now looking to be a much narrower race, with some candidates signaling they may drop out." Full story.

FIRST IN SCORE - NRSC targets Sen. Sherrod Brown in newspaper ad: The NRSC is attacking Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in a full-page ad in today's Youngstown Vindicator for taking "11 minutes," which is how long "it took Senator Sherrod Brown to oppose Judge Neil Gorsuch," with an accompanying image of a pocket watch. "He didn't wait to meet the Judge. He didn't ask him any questions. He didn't respect Ohio voters," the ad continues.

FACT CHECK - "In Virginia governor's race, Frank Wagner's website is at odds with facts," by The Virginian-Pilot's Brock Vergakis: "State Sen. Frank Wagner's campaign materials have proclaimed for months that the Virginia Beach lawmaker is the only Republican candidate for governor who was raised in Virginia, who is a military veteran and who has successfully run a business. The facts show otherwise. All three of Wagner's Republican opponents in the June 13 primary own businesses. One of them served in the Air Force. This contradicts much of what Wagner has said since launching his campaign to try to set himself apart in a crowded race where many voters are unfamiliar with the candidates."
Full story.

SIGN OF THE TIMES - "Primary for Virginia Governor Tests Power of an Anti-Trump Campaign," by The New York Times' Jonathan Martin: "Ask Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, a Democrat, what defines this year's race for governor in Virginia, and he does not mention President Trump. Ask the same question of former Representative Tom Perriello, Mr. Northam's rival for the Democratic nomination, and he invokes the president in the first sentence. ...The campaign for Virginia governor was already expected to offer insights about the political landscape: the first statewide election of the Trump era set in a state that both major parties' presidential nominees contested last year. But by trying to
nationalize the race and make it a referendum on the depth of opposition to Mr. Trump, Mr. Perriello has transformed the primary into a test of whether the boiling liberal rage toward the new president can be harnessed to win a state campaign." Full story.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Sean Spicer targets own staff in leak crackdown," by POLITICO's Annie Karni and Alex Isenstadt: "Press secretary Sean Spicer is cracking down on leaks coming out of the West Wing, with increased security measures that include random phone checks of White House staffers, overseen by White House attorneys. ... Last week, after Spicer became aware that information had leaked out of a planning meeting with about a dozen of his communications staffers, he reconvened the group in his office to express his frustration over the number of private conversations and meetings that were showing up in unflattering news stories, according to sources in the room. Upon entering
Spicer's office for what one person briefed on the gathering described as 'an emergency meeting,' staffers were told to dump their phones on a table for a 'phone check,' to prove they had nothing to hide." Full story.

- "A divided White House still offers little guidance on replacing Obamacare," by The Washington Post's Juliet Eilperin and Amy Goldstein: "A meeting Friday afternoon between President Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, his former rival in the GOP primaries, had no set agenda. But Kasich came armed with one anyway: his hope to blunt drastic changes to the nation's health-care system envisioned by some conservatives in Washington. Over the next 45 minutes, according to Kasich and others briefed on the session, the governor made his pitch while the president eagerly called in several top aides and then got Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price on the phone. At one point, senior adviser
Jared Kushner reminded his father-in-law that House Republicans are sketching out a different approach to providing access to coverage. 'Well, I like this better,' Trump replied, according to a Kasich adviser. The freewheeling session, which concluded with the president instructing Price and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus to meet with Kasich the next day, underscores the unorthodox way the White House is proceeding as Republicans work to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something else. The day after Kasich delivered his impromptu tutorial, Trump spent lunch discussing the same topic with two other GOP governors with a very different vision - Scott Walker of Wisconsin
and Rick Scott of Florida." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We as a party have not reached out enough and not translated over these last years that we ... do believe in the people, our constituents." - Rep. Darrell Issa said at the California GOP convention, The Los Angeles Times reported.

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