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<p>By Alexander Burns (@<a href="http://twitter.com/aburnspolitico">aburnspolitico</a>, <a href="mailto:aburns@politico.com">aburns@politico.com</a>) <br />
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<strong>SCORE EXCLUSIVE -- DGA DOES VEGAS:</strong> Netroots Nation, the liberal blogosphere's annual organizing bash, kicks off in Las Vegas today and at least one of the Democratic Party's campaign committees is planning to court the activists there aggressively. The Democratic Governors Association is putting multiple sets of boots on the ground, including executive director Nathan Daschle's, and launching an eye-catching web offensive to coincide with the conference. The committee's message is a blunt one, designed to appeal to the Democratic Party's most fired-up members (think CPAC with better wireless). “We must fight back against a tea party/Sarah Palin/GOP fringe which -- if they win -- will take our nation and our states in a terrible new direction,” Daschle told Score. The DGA will be drawing bloggers' attention to a group of high-value governor's races, which just happen to feature the kind of lightning-rod conservative candidates the netroots might get excited about beating. <br />
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Those elections include the Texas governor's race, pitting former Houston Mayor Bill White against incumbent GOP Gov. Rick Perry, the open-seat races in California (between Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman) and Florida (between Alex Sink and a Republican TBD), as well as the fight to reelect Gov. Ted Strickland in Ohio. The committee's launching a site, fighttheright2010.com, that casts the midterm elections as a battle royale between Democrats and an extreme Republican base. There's plenty of web candy for the Netroots Nation crowd there, including a “Six Degrees of Sarah Palin” feature linking GOP candidates to their party's most divisive leader; a “Fringe 16” tournament that lets users vote for the most polarizing GOP candidate of the year; and most of all, a pep-rally video that channels films from “Animal House” to “Die Hard” to urge activists: “We never surrender.” <strong>Watch it here.</strong> <a href="http://bit.ly/dzTiQS">http://bit.ly/dzTiQS</a> <br />
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As Mitt Romney does Georgia, Joe Biden does North Carolina and Ken Buck gaffes it up, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily cheat sheet for the 2010 midterm elections. <br />
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<strong>SECOND ACTS -- ROB SIMMONS RETURNS:</strong> The former Connecticut congressman who suspended his Senate campaign after losing the state GOP endorsement to wrestling executive Linda McMahon -- is back. Simmons is airing what he calls a “public service announcement,” helpfully reminding Connecticut voters that they can still vote for him. “Everywhere I go people ask me if I am still running for the U.S. Senate because they want to lend their support. My response has been 'I'm still on the ballot,'” Simmons explained in a message. “Reckless bailouts and tax increases have crippled the economy and cost us jobs. This failure of our current leadership will have a long-lasting effect if we don't make them pay for these mistakes. I also feel it is important for people to know that I am still on the ballot and to provide my fellow Republicans with a choice.” McMahon's team ripped Simmons in a statement, calling his behavior “strange and erratic.” <br />
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<strong>VICTORY LAP -- THANKS TO REID:</strong> In the wake of President Obama's signing ceremony for the banking reform bill, Americans United for Change is going on the air in Reno with a television commercial praising Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for his role in enacting the landmark legislation. The commercial isn't just about his legislative prowess -- it also presents him as an independent voice for his state. “Last year Big Wall Street Banks sent 1,500 lobbyists to Washington. Last week, Sen. Harry Reid sent them home empty handed,” the ad's narrator says. “The big banks spent over $400 million dollars to keep Congress from holding them accountable for the reckless speculation that cost millions of Nevadans their homes and their jobs. But they couldn't buy Harry Reid.” <strong>Watch it here.</strong> <a href="http://bit.ly/cLNqKH">http://bit.ly/cLNqKH</a> <br />
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<strong>NO APOLOGY, NO DEAL:</strong> Mitt Romney endorsed former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel for governor Wednesday, backing her as she heads into a competitive runoff primary with former Rep. Nathan Deal. Romney -- who praised Handel's “blend of executive, political and business experience” -- makes three potential 2012 candidates who have placed bets on the Georgia race. Sarah Palin endorsed Handel several weeks ago, while Newt Gingrich endorsed Deal and cut robo-calls for his campaign. <a href="http://bit.ly/94zQ6X">http://bit.ly/94zQ6X</a> <br />
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<strong>ALL IN THE FAMILY:</strong> Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy steered $155,000 from his late father's campaign account to the DCCC, the AP reports, and added a $30,000 donation from his own pocket. The congressman cited the passage of health care reform as a prime reason for his generous financial support, calling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's performance “a stroke of political genius.” No other House member has maxed out to the DCCC with a $30,000 donation, according to the wire. <a href="http://bit.ly/aMgdd3">http://bit.ly/aMgdd3</a> <br />
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<strong>MANCHIN'S OPPONENT:</strong> West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin caught a break Wednesday when GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito decided not to fight him for their state's vacant Senate seat. But Manchin's path isn't totally clear: former Rep. and West Virginia Secretary of State Ken Hechler is challenging him in the Democratic primary. Hechler, 95, said he's in the race as a protest against mountaintop removal mining. “I'm running to give people an opportunity to cast their votes against mountaintop removal,” he told the Charleston Gazette. “This is the only way I can get [the issue] on the ballot.” <a href="http://bit.ly/9DehPb">http://bit.ly/9DehPb</a> <br />
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<strong>WE WONDER:</strong> Who will be the first to say, “That's not the Manchin seat -- it's the people's seat!”</p><p><strong>BIDEN TO N.C.</strong> -- From today's White House guidance: “The Vice President will ... travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina. At 5:00 PM ET, the Vice President will attend a reception for the Democratic National Committee. At 6:15 PM ET, the Vice President will attend an event for the Democratic National Committee.” <br />
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<strong>CRIST EXPLAINS:</strong> The Florida governor and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid got their stories straight Wednesday, after Reid appeared to contradict Crist's account of having spoken with him twice by phone. Reid implied that he and Crist had only spoken once; it turns out Reid only CALLED Crist once, but Crist called him back a second time. Both deny that they were talking about which party the independent Crist might caucus with in the Senate. “There was no commitment requested, and there was no commitment made,” Crist said Wednesday, according to POLITICO's Carol Lee. “I've said I'll caucus with the people of Florida and that continues to be my answer.” <a href="http://politi.co/9wHlsS">http://politi.co/9wHlsS</a> <br />
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<strong>JEB WATCH -- BACKING COX:</strong> Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush endorsed Chris Cox's campaign for Congress, boosting a fellow presidential scion in the GOP primary for Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop's Long Island district. It's a welcome bit of good news for Cox, the grandson of former President Richard Nixon, who's had a rough few weeks after his team of brand-name consultants headed for the exits. Bush called him a “leader with fresh ideas, a dedication to government accountability, and a commitment to serving the best interests of his constituents.” Cox is competing in the primary with electronics recycling magnate Randy Altschuler and attorney George Demos. <a href="http://bit.ly/9e3cGR">http://bit.ly/9e3cGR</a> <br />
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<strong>POLL OF THE DAY -- STILL THE ONE:</strong> Former President Bill Clinton, already a sought-after commodity on the campaign trail this year, is more popular than President Obama (and former President George W. Bush) in a new Gallup poll. Clinton clocked a 61 percent favorable rating in the poll, compared with 52 percent for Obama and 45 percent for Bush. Independents gave him the highest marks of all three, with 60 percent favorability. <a href="http://bit.ly/a37lQm">http://bit.ly/a37lQm</a> <br />
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<strong>ACROSS THE BIG MAP -- with POLITICO's Tim Alberta:</strong> <br />
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-- <strong>Murkowski's sea wall.</strong> Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is taking her primary challenger, attorney Joe Miller, seriously enough to debate him. But the senator holds a massive financial advantage, Alaska Dispatch reports, with $2.4 million on hand versus $125,000 for Miller. And that's after he loaned his campaign $104,000. <a href="http://bit.ly/9jAq9A">http://bit.ly/9jAq9A</a> <br />
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-- <strong>Ken Buck fumbles</strong>. The Colorado Senate candidate veered off message at a campaign stop this week, joking about gender as he competes in a Republican primary with former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton. “Why should you vote for me? Because I do not wear high heels,” Buck told a voter. His campaign insisted it was a crack about Norton's recent ad saying Buck wasn't “man enough” to take responsibility for outside groups attacking her. <a href="http://politi.co/ddV0zQ">http://politi.co/ddV0zQ</a> <br />
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-- <strong>Dockery edges toward Scott.</strong> Florida state Sen. Paula Dockery, who ended an unsuccessful campaign for the GOP's gubernatorial nomination earlier this year, will join her onetime rival Rick Scott on the campaign trail Friday. Their appearance together doesn't mean she's endorsing Scott, Dockery said, explaining in a statement that the former health care CEO's “message is very similar to mine.” <a href="http://politi.co/aU57S5">http://politi.co/aU57S5</a> <br />
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-- <strong>How to win friends and influence people.</strong> Democratic billionaire and Florida Senate candidate Jeff Greene cut a $4,000 check to DNC member Jon Ausman earlier this year, just days before Ausman announced his endorsement of Greene over Rep. Kendrick Meek in the Democratic primary. Greene's campaign says the candidate was just paying Ausman for strategic advice. <a href="http://bit.ly/ahmBv7">http://bit.ly/ahmBv7</a> <br />
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-- <strong>Tea for Hoekstra.</strong> With none of Michigan's Republican gubernatorial candidates cornering the market on tea party support, Rep. Pete Hoekstra made a play for that constituency by joining Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's House Tea Party Caucus. For the few months he has left in his congressional term, Hoekstra will be among the founding members in the group. <a href="http://bit.ly/bGY6Rr">http://bit.ly/bGY6Rr</a> </p><br>
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