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By Elena Schneider | 01/25/2016 10:00 AM EDT


With Scott Bland

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)

IOWA SPLIT WIDENS - "Pro-Cruz super PAC ad attacks Iowa governor," by POLITICO's Shane Goldmacher: "A super PAC backing Ted Cruz is attacking Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad in a new radio ad in response to the longtime Republican's governor declaration last week that Cruz should be defeated in the caucuses. The new ad, part of a $40,000 statewide buy by the Courageous Conservatives PAC, lumps together Branstad and Donald Trump, Cruz's chief competition in the state, as stooges of the powerful ethanol industry. 'America wants a leader who walks tall and stands up against the lobbyist thugs and the politicians they own. Branstad and Trump. Branstad values; Trump values. Cruz can't be bought and
they hate him for it,' says the narrator in the ad." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a6620673d24d3f59fcccf4a3399bcf27c92478bf8cfe986f1f06

GRASSLEY INTROS TRUMP RALLY, by POLITICO's Anna Palmer: "Sen. Chuck Grassley gave a rousing introduction speech at a Donald Trump rally, but he didn't go so far as to endorse the 2016 Republican candidate. 'We have an opportunity once again to make America great again,' Grassley said, echoing Trump's campaign slogan. 'I'm excited to be invited to be here. I'm excited as I see so many large crowd at various events around Iowa,' Grassley said." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a662b806f5963a2db2d050b26ca243607949a9d61b4369791117

- Grassley is also set to appear at an upcoming Marco Rubio event in Iowa.

RICK PERRY, Y'ALL - "Rick Perry endorses Ted Cruz," by POLITICO's Katie Glueck: "Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is endorsing Ted Cruz in the Republican presidential primary, Perry told POLITICO in an interview Sunday night. Perry, who also sought the GOP nomination before dropping out in September, said he now sees the race as one that is between Cruz, a fellow Texan, and Donald Trump. Through phone calls and during a December day spent driving around his Round Top, Texas, home in his truck with Cruz, Perry said he found the senator to be a good listener who respects the Tenth Amendment, "knows what he does not know" and is more conservative than Trump."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a662d056e84f93a0d4244409c88f451c76be53607efef4b29591

NOW, YOUR LOCAL SUPER PAC - Outside group boosts Republican Trey Hollingsworth in IN-09: A new super PAC that only formed two weeks ago, Indiana Jobs Now, has started a TV campaign boosting businessman Trey Hollingsworth for the GOP nomination in this Republican-leaning district, according to multiple sources. With GOP Rep. Todd Young running for Senate, the seat is open, and though the crowded race includes state Attorney General Greg Zoeller and several state legislators with electoral experience, Hollingsworth's outside help could stimulate his campaign. Indiana Jobs Now's initial TV buy included about $24,000 on Fox News starting this weekend and running through Feb. 4, as well as
$12,000 in local broadcast news commercials running this week.

Days until the Iowa caucuses: 7. Days until the 2016 election: 288.

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 the movies we watched during the blizzard: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and @kyledcheney. Send us your best snow pics, we're still not over this blizzard.

- Exclusive: President Obama on 2016 and the choice between Clinton and Sanders," by POLITICO's Glenn Thrush: "Barack Obama, that prematurely gray elder statesman, is laboring mightily to remain neutral during Hillary Clinton's battle with Bernie Sanders in Iowa, the state that cemented his political legend and secured his path to the presidency. But in a candid 40-minute interview for POLITICO's Off Message podcast as the first flakes of the blizzard fell outside the Oval Office, he couldn't hide his obvious affection for Clinton or his implicit feeling that she, not Sanders, best understands the unpalatably pragmatic demands of a presidency he likens to the world's most challenging
walk-and-chew-gum exercise.

- "Bernie came in with the luxury of being a complete long shot and just letting loose," he said. "I think Hillary came in with the both privilege - and burden - of being perceived as the front-runner... You're always looking at the bright, shiny object that people haven't seen before - that's a disadvantage to her." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a66285abcd9b27d161ddc701a81d6a50626acc6357234f2ad438

PLAN B FOR RAND PAUL - Even though he's currently focused on his presidential prospects, Rand Paul's team is still preparing for its likely Senatorial back-up plan. Paul's team said it will cost "well over $10 million" to keep his seat, so they're organizing "campaign chairmen in all 120 counties, while reaching out to local GOP Party leaders to ensure they'd be on board for the campaign," CNN reported. Even if the prospects of taking out Paul are slim, at best, Democrats are still preparing for the possibility and urging Lexington Mayor Jim Gray to consider it. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a6625ce3275f9f59f7aad2ab32abbab2aa626b1c509b1fe0fc74

TAKING A TOLL - Controversial new tolls on I-77 in North Carolina jeopardize GOP Gov. Pat McCrory reelection: The Charlotte Observer reported that the tolls will be added to a two-county wide stretch of the interstate that cuts through "an area that has been a bastion of support" for McCrory and could "cost the governor votes" there. Local Republicans emphasized their anger with the incumbent: "What you're gonna see is either people not voting for Pat McCrory or people voting for an alternative because he has demonstrated that he's not listening," said Bill Russell, president of the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce, the article reported. But McCrory's campaign spokeman said that any backlash
would be short-lived and voters are more interested in jobs and the economy. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a6626ee6a7b2c20cac0987b2178b0776df3d2f14238338b3773e

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "Bloomberg drawing up plans for presidential run," by POLITICO's Glenn Thrush: Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg - a onetime moderate Republican who has crusaded on gun control - is considering throwing $1 billion of his vast fortune into an independent, stop-Donald Trump bid for president, according to a person familiar with his plans. He has set March as a deadline, according to the source, and his decision will likely be contingent on the results of early primaries, and he's more likely to take the leap if the "extremes" - meaning Trump, Ted Cruz or Democrat Bernie Sanders prevail. ...Bloomberg would be less interested in running if Hillary Clinton or
a more moderate GOP candidate emerges from the early contest, two sources in Bloomberg's circle told POLITICO." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a662e1c96d49d2848887d4605cec0a20b5010a50e92facbf8930

- FIRST IN SCORE - American Bridge out with new digital ads - The Democratic oppo research super PAC is out with two new web ads going after Chris Christie for his positions on gun control and abortion rights. "If you like Donald Trump, but wish he were a little bit angrier - a little more of a bully - consider Chris Christie," the press release reads. Watch the ads, "Gun Crazy Christie," here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a662fc8c67b696b476fe27001e9b285d6ec453de029f6c527ad2 And "Anti-Choice Bully," here: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a6623248d314841ff4fd898bda44996480c858f8e51e069f393b

- "Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst to attend rally for Marco Rubio," by the Washington Post's Katie Zezima: "Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) will attend a rally here in Iowa next week for presidential contender Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), as signs mount that the state's GOP establishment and elected officials are turning against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Ernst said she doesn't plan to endorse, but will introduce Rubio at a rally here." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=ee9bfd1ded24a662cea3591acc4f430dc191922162b7343003ea6fb7cb3283f2

- Rubio's leadership PAC made a $150,000 ad buy backing Ernst before her primary, plus additional independent expenditures helping her before she won GOP's 2014 Senate nomination in the state.

- "Bernie-Mania's Barrier: Democratic Delegate Math," by the Cook Political Report's David Wasserman: "In the wake of new Iowa and New Hampshire polls showing Bernie Sanders gaining, some say it's time for Hillary Clinton to hit the panic button. ...There are just two obstacles in this theory's way: demographics and delegate arithmetic. In poll after poll, Sanders's best group within the Democratic Party is liberal whites. Unfortunately for Sanders, Iowa and New Hampshire couldn't be much further on the extreme end of the party's demographic or ideological spectrum. According to our estimates, based on past exit polls and Census data, there is only one state where whites who self-identify
as liberals make up a higher share of the Democratic primary electorate than Iowa and New Hampshire. You guessed it: Vermont." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=60e18859e3c63b156f77dd45cceefd2294bb5229f68b4403102461ca3a97ec54

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters." - Donald Trump politi.co/20l5ymZ

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