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By Elena Schneider | 07/24/2017 10:00 AM EDT


With Kevin Robillard and Daniel Strauss

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)

WOOF - "Blue Dogs eye comeback in 2018," by POLITICO's Heather Caygle: "The Blue Dog Coalition, a fading wing of the Democratic Caucus in recent years, is leaning on a controversial ally as it tries to gain a toehold of power back to regain a toehold on power in the House: President Donald Trump. The group of moderate and conservative Democrats, which was all but wiped out when Republicans swept the House in 2010, has been slowly rebuilding its membership. And with Democrats eager to woo the white working-class voters who flocked to Trump, the coalition is prodding party leaders to support Blue Dog-backed candidates, saying that's the key to taking back the House in 2018. It's a push that
is quickly running into conflict with the party's energized left flank." Full story.

ON MESSAGE - DCCC pops jobs, economy polling memo: Voters are "not looking for our sympathy," but candidates should share what they will "do about it," Democratic pollsters Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research wrote in a recent memo for the DCCC, as Democrats prepared to roll out their new economic message. The memo provides a data-driven messaging guidance for "A Better Deal," which consultants have been briefed on in recent weeks. A survey of Democratic base and swing voters are "deeply dissatisfied with the economy and their place in it," per the memo, and it cautions that Democrats are "at risk of being seen as prioritizing issues other than jobs and economic growth." The memo urges
candidates to "pivot quickly to a realistic, positive approach that helps small businesses grow and workers get better jobs, wages, and skills." And in a preview of potential 2018 bogeymen: Democrats should "aggressively contrast" to include "Congress, big businesses that send jobs overseas, and Wall Street for a weak economy."

- One naming missing from the guidance? Donald Trump. Read the full memo here.

- But first ... - From one senior Democratic consultant: "This polling is helpful, but non-incumbent candidates this cycle are mostly focused on winning primaries right now."

- "Schumer: Democrats were 'namby-pamby,'" via Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: "Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday promised a bolder economic message for the Democratic Party, including the potential for single-payer health care. 'We were too cautious, we were too namby-pamby,' Schumer said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'This is sharp, bold and will appeal to both the old Obama coalition, let's say the young lady who's just getting out of college, and the Democratic voters who deserted us for Trump, the blue-collar worker. Economics is our strength, and we are going to get at it.'" Full story.

- COUNTER-PROGRAMMING - Congressional Leadership Fund launches digital ads in Trump-Democrat districts: The 30-second ads link Democrats to the most radical elements of the so-called resistance to Trump and to unpopular House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. "The Democrats are the party of the resistance," a male narrator says in the spot, which includes images of Kathy Griffin holding Trump's severed head and of violent protests on the day of Trump's inauguration. "Radical extremists who destroy buildings, burn cars and divide America. Hollywood celebrities who are blinded by their hatred of the president. Nancy Pelosi and the Washington Democrats answer to them." The ads will run in Pelosi's
district, as well as the districts of Minnesota Reps. Collin Peterson, Rick Nolan and Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Rep. Matt Cartwright, Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind, Iowa Rep. Dave Loebsack, New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, New Hampshire Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Arizona Rep. Tom O'Halleran and Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos. Watch the ad here.

CANDIDATE PROFILES - "Meet the lab-coat liberals," by POLITICO California's David Siders: "Dismayed by President Donald Trump's perceived hostility to climate science and other areas of research, a surge of scientists is entering the public arena and running for political office for the first time. They represent an evolving brand of Democrat that has been gaining steam for months. What began with rogue Twitter accounts and protest marches has graduated into candidacies in House races in places as varied as California, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York. The handful of scientists who have formally announced their candidacies so far - and the others who are preparing to join them - have cast
themselves as a counterforce to the Trump administration's dismissal of climate science and de-prioritization of innovation funding." Full story.

THREE WEEKS - Anti-Strange GOP donor begins ad campaign in Alabama Senate special: Alabama GOP donor Stan Pate has begun producing ads focused on Sen. Luther Strange in the Alabama Senate race. Pate, as POLITICO previously reported, registered a PAC in late June called Swamp Drainers PAC and plans to use the organization aggressively against Strange. In a separate interview on Friday Pate said the 17-second ad, obtained by POLITICO, which portrays Strange being appointed by then-Gov. Robert Bentley in exchange for Strange, then attorney general in Alabama, dropping any investigation his office had into Bentley. "Vote No! To Shady Big Luther Strange" a line in the ad reads. Pate said that
the ad is part of a series he plans to air online and on TV focused on Strange. He refused to say how much money he plans to spend on the ads. He said the ads will begin airing this week.

- Brooks gets endorsement from Lamar Smith: "Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is endorsing GOP Rep. Mo Brooks in Alabama's special Senate election, according to the Brooks campaign." Full story.

Days until the 2017 election: 106.

Days until the 2018 election: 470.

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

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

BACK HOME - "McCaskill plays watchdog ahead of tough 2018 race," by POLITICO's Elana Schor in Monroe City, Mo.: "Claire McCaskill has sought to cultivate a familiar brand during her decade in the Senate: the dogged investigator, eager to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse. And the Missouri Democrat has found her next target in the pharmaceutical industry. ...As the top Democrat on the Senate's governmental affairs committee, McCaskill is using her oversight authority to probe the opioid industry's marketing, trying to decipher how the highly addictive drugs sparked a wave of overdoses across the country. Her scrutiny of the opioid epidemic, which has raged across her Midwestern state, also
offers McCaskill a chance to burnish her credentials on an issue of bipartisan concern." Full story.

COMING ATTRACTIONS - 'Tony Evers files paperwork to run for Wisconsin governor but remains noncommittal," by The Journal Sentinel's Patrick Marley and Daniel Bice: "State Schools Superintendent Tony Evers filed paperwork to run for governor Friday, but said he had not yet made up his mind about whether to formally enter the race. Evers won re-election to the nonpartisan job as schools superintendent in April, but has been considering a run as a Democrat against GOP Gov. Scott Walker next year. In a statement, he called Friday's filing of paperwork with the state as the next step as he considers a run. 'I look forward to making a final decision in the near future,' he said in his statement."
Full story.

PRIMARY WATCH - "Despite structural and financial advantages, possible primary still looms for Dean Heller," by The Nevada Independent's Riley Snyder: "Finding Republicans unhappy with Sen. Dean Heller isn't too difficult these days. From radio host Hugh Hewitt to rank-and-file Republicans upset with Heller's chilly relationship with President Donald Trump - who issued a thinly-veiled threat to Heller at a luncheon this week - questions have begun swirling as to whether Heller could be vulnerable to a primary challenge. The nation's most vulnerable Republican senator still has structural and financial advantages with more than 470 days to go before the 2018 election that could fend off an
insurgent primary challenger. And floating in the minds of any potential challenger is the fact that Heller has never lost a race since entering Nevada's political scene in 1990." Full story.

DEBATE POST-GAME - "Candidates for Virginia Governor Employ Trump as a Barometer," by The New York Times' Jonathan Martin: "Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam of Virginia on Saturday used the first debate of the state's race for governor to assail President Trump as a liar and a "dangerous man," wagering that the growing backlash against the president will overwhelm Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee, in a state drifting to the political left." Full story.

CASH UPDATE - DSCC tops NRSC in June fundraising: "The NRSC raised $4.8 million in June, according to its FEC filing, and finished the month with $16.2 million on hand. That trails the DSCC, which announced today it raised $5 million in June and had $17.2 million in the bank." Full story.

ICYMI - "Senator Kid Rock. Don't Laugh," via POLITICO Magazine's Tim Alberta and Zack Stanton: "...Not a single prominent Republican in Michigan told us they'd heard from Ritchie or his associates about a campaign. Good musicians are great marketers, and Kid Rock has been brilliant in terms of creating and selling a brand. His flirtation with electoral politics could be nothing more than a promotional ploy aimed at rekindling interest in his career-he's had only one single reach any of Billboard's charts in the past four years-and boosting his bottom line. And yet this theory doesn't appear consistent with the man himself." Full story.

WAY DOWN-BALLOT - DLCC launches page spotlighting key legislative races: The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's new "Spotlight Races" page features critical seats Democrats are trying to hold and trying to chase in statehouses around the country, in an effort to direct donors and volunteers to below-the-radar battlegrounds. See the page here.

ADMINISTRATION SPEED READ - "Priebus sidelined as Washington outsiders' power grows," by POLITICO's Tara Palmeri: "Reince Priebus took the punishing job of President Donald Trump's chief of staff with the idea that he would stick it out for at least one year. Six months in, with one of his top allies in the West Wing - press secretary Sean Spicer - on his way out, Priebus is in defensive mode, his role diminished and an internal rival hogging the limelight. Trump's decision to bring Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci into the role of communications director shows the rising power of political outsiders and the diminished influence of establishment figures - which Priebus, the former
chairman of the Republican National Committee, epitomizes. One White House official and two outside advisers said that while Scaramucci was brought into the White House for the communications job, he's considered an internal candidate to eventually succeed Priebus as chief of staff. There are also a handful of outside candidates." Full story.

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It's hell. Do I need to say anything else?" - State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, the longest serving Democratic woman in the Texas state legislature on being a Democrat in the Texas state legislature, The New York Times reported.

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