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By Theodoric Meyer | 03/22/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard 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)

"Anti-Trump super PAC ads score better with independents than Republicans," by Campaign Pro's Scott Bland: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849bf5e5ad1f4c124cfa9369a1dc600e93dc943f5820d743d08d

SKIPPING TOWN - As Arizona votes, McCain heads to California: GOP Sen. John McCain is avoiding the presidential primary in his home state, heading instead to California for a fundraiser, according to an invitation obtained by Campaign Pro. The fundraiser will be held at the home of John Chambers, the former Cisco Systems chief executive, and his wife, Elaine, according the invitation. Oracle chief executive Safra Catz and HP chairwoman Meg Whitman and her husband, Griff Harsh, are also hosts. Tickets are $2,700 or $5,400 per person. See the invite: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849b7d7079b008281a8e2119e8bdc12b68e1a753f0287cf36cd3

- Lorna Romero, a McCain campaign spokesman, said in an email that McCain had already voted by absentee ballot "given the uncertainty of his schedule." She would not say which candidate he'd voted for. McCain's Democratic challenger, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, who's been tied with McCain in two recent polls, has criticized the five-term senator repeatedly for declining to disavow Trump.

Days until the Alaska, Hawaii and Washington State Democratic caucuses: 4.

Days until the 2016 election: 231.

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

You can also follow us on Twitter, where we tweet a lot about campaigns and occasionally about "Gilmore Girls" Kickstarters: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @kyledcheney.

CASH HUSTLE - Biden headlining Strickland fundraiser today: Vice President Joe Biden is set to headline a fundraiser in Cincinnati this morning for Ted Strickland, who won the Democratic Senate nomination last week, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Tickets to the 9:30 a.m. fundraiser cost $500. GOP Sen. Rob Portman's campaign, meanwhile, has purchased a Snapchat geofilter that will inform nearby Snapchat users that Strickland "is a rubber stamp for Obama & Biden's failed foreign policy agenda!" http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849b09f969985417726adcecb87f1187b854d4fd1e27ad4792f6

- EMILY's List super PAC raises $1.3 million in February: EMILY's List's super PAC, Women Vote!, pulled in $1.3 million in February, giving the group $2.4 million in cash on hand at the close of the month. Most of the haul game from a single donor, Donald Sussman, an investor and top Democratic donor who wrote a $1 million check. Who might that money be intended to support? Sussman has maxed out to at least a dozen EMILY's List candidates this cycle, including Rep. Dnna Edwards, who's Maryland Senate campaign has been heavily supported by EMILY's List. The super PAC spent nearly $435,000 on ads backing Edwards during the month.

TV TIMEOUT - PLANNING AHEAD - RGA reserves $4 million in fall TV ads for McCrory: The Republican Governors Association reserved $4 million in television ads on behalf of GOP Gov. Pat McCrory. The ads will air after Labor Day weekend in four different markets across the state, the group confirmed. "We did this to make sure voters know Governor McCrory is driving the Carolina Comeback and that North Carolina cannot afford to return to Roy Cooper's failed policies of the past that put the state at a disadvantage for decades," said Jon Thompson, the group's spokesman, in an email. The Charlotte Observer first reported the ad buy. McCrory will face Democrat Roy Cooper in November.

- One Nation is also starting $1.1 million worth of TV ads today backing GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire on her work on the state's opioid epidemic. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849bd59499d0f745b3c479530783db5fc0086a3be33adb8ec002 Here's the ad, which was first reported by NH1: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849b65c8ec346eceaea55ce3fcee84f85d7f51fd0ce2cf1d2e45

- TRADE VALUE - Senate Majority PAC ad attacks Portman on trade in Ohio: The Democratic super PAC's latest spot attacks GOP Sen. Rob Portman for supporting NAFTA and CAFTA while in Congress. "The good news: Rob Portman's helped create jobs. The bad news: they're a long way from Ohio," a narrator says in the new ad. The PAC just made a $640,000 buy, combating Freedom Partners Action Fund's $2 million in anti-Portman spending. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849b283fd8866df24aa6ecedc9c865416edbdc1a2b2e4ef2aed8

- And GOP Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania is debuting two new TV ads today, The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jonathan Tamari reports. "The two 30-second ads, to air on cable and broadcast stations across the state, highlight Toomey's advocacy for police and his bill to toughen background checks on gun purchases, two key selling points in his re-election bid." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849b929bdd022592d3e500543cea5df4bbfd2b58d0b4971c5b74

** A message from Sinclair Broadcast Group: Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest and most diversified television broadcasting company in the country today, delivers not only TV, the primary medium for reaching potential voters, but also targetable digital (mobile, video, email, social media and native) ad solutions. Contact Alan Brittan @ 703-236-9673. Sinclair, busy - Making Political Ads Work! **

THAT WAS FAST - Brannon jumps into Ellmers-Holding member-versus-member primary in NC-02: Physician Greg Brannon, who lost two North Carolina Senate primaries in two years, has jumped into the member-versus-member congressional primary between GOP Reps. Renee Ellmers and George Holding in the state's 2nd District. "This morning, I filed the paperwork to challenge RINO Renee Ellmers in North Carolina's 2nd District," Brannon tweeted Monday. Ellmers and Holding had already announced their intentions to run for the seat.Ellmers and Holding had their old districts scrambled when a court ordered a new congressional map drawn. That new map is still under review by judges, but House elections were
rescheduled for June 7, separating them from the March primary in which GOP Sen. Richard Burr defeated Brannon 61 percent to 25 percent.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Marco Rubio rejected unity ticket with Ted Cruz," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "Ted Cruz's campaign has been exploring the possibility of forming a unity ticket with ex-rival Marco Rubio - going so far as to conduct polling looking into how the two would perform in upcoming primary states. The motivation, hashed out in conversations among Cruz's top aides and donors: to find a way to halt Donald Trump's march to the Republican nomination. ... Utah Republican Mike Lee, one of two senators to endorse Cruz, has emerged as an outspoken supporter of a unity ticket - and as a potential broker. The freshman senator, according to several sources briefed on the talks, has
reached out repeatedly to Rubio to gauge his interest, but has been rebuffed." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849ba07db0e4679a8beb8700a8ffc4b728a294242b26b86ef74b

- "How Trump wins the West, even if he loses," by POLITICO's Patrick Reis: "Donald Trump's rivals are once again going to the extra mile to hold each other back - and Trump is once again set to profit from it. Trump spent the election's first two months opening a large delegate lead, in part because his rivals keep cutting into each other's strength. Now they're set up to do it again Tuesday, when Republicans compete in Arizona and Utah. Trump is already expected to win 58 delegates in Arizona's winner-take-all primary. And in Utah, where 40 delegates at stake, John Kasich threatens to do just well enough to stop Cruz for the big victory the Texas senator would need to keep pace."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849b44ca5c8e2b1845a073ecd545baf3e83e2a25dc380fc673ac

- "Breaking down the Democratic map: Arizona, Idaho, Utah," by POLITICO's Daniel Strauss: "This was supposed to be the beginning of Bernie Sanders' comeback. But if the Vermont senator fails to win the big prize Tuesday - Arizona, where polls show him facing a double-digit deficit - his expected string of victories in the caucus states that follow won't make a dent in Hillary Clinton's daunting delegate lead, or erase the impression that his campaign can't win in states with diverse Democratic electorates. Still, after losing all five March 15 contests, the primary calendar is suddenly looking better for Sanders. Two of the three states voting Tuesday are in his wheelhouse - Idaho and Utah,
both largely white states holding caucuses. Then, on Saturday, come three more Western caucus states where the Vermont senator could run the table." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849b550fe41383311a1db2504caaebcce3214fd10b0c655f8c4f

- "Most Republicans feel embarrassed by campaign, poll says," by The New York Times' Patrick Healy and Megan Thee-Brenan: Forty-six percent of GOP primary voters nationwide would like to see Donald Trump as the nominee, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll. But "six in 10 Republican primary voters say the overall tone of their party's nomination fight has been more negative than in past campaigns, while only one in 10 Democratic primary voters hold the same view of their party's campaign. And 60 percent of Republican primary voters said the campaign had made them feel mostly embarrassed about their party, while only 13 percent of Democratic primary voters expressed that opinion."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849bd70e9cafe8ccb55d9db6e6fde1d60b34a12a54e1d731ae92

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It was all about making America great again." - Rep. Chris Collins of New York, one of five House Republicans who've endorsed Donald Trump, on what went down at a meeting of Trump supporters in Washington on Monday (via @seungminkim). http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=95c7fcd13574849b2ab26acb115536a0e65e20ae14967c41a758fa37cf335c4c

** A message from Sinclair Broadcast Group: The race for influence in the 2016 election cycle is gaining speed. Everyone is looking to reach as big of an audience as possible and get significant portions of that audience motivated and educated enough to vote and mobilize probable supporters. As the pace quickens, more will be trying to find an edge to influence voters their way. Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest and most diversified television broadcasting company in the country today, can help you break through the clutter. Utilizing both TV, the primary medium for reaching potential voters and targetable digital (mobile, video, email, social media and native) ad solutions, Sinclair
Makes Political Ads Work! The bottom line is the bottom line - winning elections. At the Sinclair Broadcast Group, we have the ad tools necessary to help you to persuade, enlighten and activate voters. Contact Alan Brittan, Sinclair's Director of Political Ads for more details @ 703-236-9673. **

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