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By Theodoric Meyer | 01/21/2016 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)

FIRST IN SCORE - Crossroads-aligned nonprofit launches radio ads backing Shelby: One Nation, a political nonprofit that's part of the American Crossroads network, is starting a new statewide radio ad campaign in Alabama today backing GOP Sen. Richard Shelby. "We need to protect Medicare and keep our promise to seniors," the narrator says. "Senator Richard Shelby is fighting tooth-and-nail against Obama's Medicare cuts, to guarantee that we keep that promise to our seniors." The spot also touts Shelby's work fighting terrorism.

- Shelby is facing several candidates including Jonathan McConnell in the March 1 GOP primary. One Nation says it's spending $140,000 on the ads, which will run through Jan. 30.

MONEY TROUBLE - McCain challenger's fundraising plummets in fourth quarter: Kelli Ward, the former state senator who's challenging Sen. John McCain, raised about $140,000 in the fourth quarter of 2015, a steep drop that dents her hopes of beating McCain later this year. Ward's fourth-quarter haul, which her campaign announced Wednesday, was down sharply from the $528,000 she raised in the third quarter. What's more, her cash on hand fell by more than $70,000, from $321,000 at the end of the third quarter to $250,000 at the end of the year.

FARM FRESH - "Ag conflict threatens Stutzman's Senate campaign," by Campaign Pro's Kevin Robillard: politico.pro/1UdoG2D

Days until the Iowa caucuses: 11. Days until the 2016 election: 292.

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 coming apocalypse: @politicoscott, @ec_schneider, @politicokevin, @theodoricmeyer and@kyledcheney.

FIRST IN SCORE - Super PAC starts MD-06 TV ads: Maryland USA, a super PAC backing Republican candidate Amie Hoeber in Maryland's 6th District, will start running a new TV ad Thursday. "With threats all around, Amie Hoeber has the experience a dangerous world requires," the narrator says in the 30-second spot. Hoeber is looking to unseat Democratic Rep. John Delaney, who won reelection in the western Maryland swing seat last year with less than 50 percent of the vote. But she has to fight through a GOP primary first.

- Watch the ad: http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e1e37c5a8a15f1b5d828487b7aed729d589eb3bc9c223341610b93b569f776c9

DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS - "How campaigns and super PACs can share one type of staff," by Campaign Pro's Theodoric Meyer: politico.pro/1SyVCVy

DEBATE SQUABBLE - Zopp wants four more in Illinois Senate race: Rep. Tammy Duckworth's Senate campaign tried to set the debate agenda in the Illinois Democratic Senate primary, saying the front-runner would participate in three debates, all of them in February: one with the Chicago Tribune's editorial board, one with the Sun-Times editorial board and one hosted by Chicago's ABC and Univision affiliates. Zopp's campaign fired back Wednesday morning, looking for five more debates, including four additional televised debates.

** 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! **

THE 2017 CAMPAIGN - "Gillespie sets brisk fundraising pace in bid for Virginia governor," by The Washington Post's Lauren Vozzella in Richmond, Va.: "Despite a substantial head start, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam raised less money over the past three months than Republican strategist Ed Gillespie, his leading rival for Virginia governor in 2017, according to fundraising figures released Wednesday. Gillespie, who confirmed that he was running for governor in early October and who formed a PAC in November, raised $483,000 by the end of December, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project."

- "Northam (D), who nearly a year ago began spreading the word that he was running, raised $85,000 for his political action committee in the last quarter. He also raised $319,000 over the past six months for his campaign account. It was unclear from reports how much of the $319,000 came in over the past three months. Even if it had all been raised in the last quarter, that would make for a combined PAC and campaign haul of $404,000 - $80,000 less than Gillespie took in." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e1e37c5a8a15f1b5f85ab6028aa6c2128abf09bd8159b2a743a9197bebe2196d

FIRST IN SCORE - FreedomWorks backs Walter Jones in NC-03: FreedomWorks PAC will endorse GOP Rep. Walter Jones as he stares down a potentially bruising primary rematch against Taylor Griffin, who came within about 5 points of unseating the 10-term incumbent last time around. "Walter Jones doesn't go along to get along. He bases his actions on what is constitutional and right, rather than toeing blurred party lines," Jason Pye, a FreedomWorks spokesman, said in a statement.

LINES OF ATTACK - The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will send out press releases today going after nine Republican Senate candidates for failing to push campaign finance reform. The attacks are timed to the sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which opened the door to more big money in politics.

PRESIDENTIAL SPEED READ - "The Bush blame game begins," by POLITICO's Anna Palmer and Eli Stokols: "They think he wasted money on everything from an iPad-sized video mailer to direct mail for donors in states that don't yet matter. They think his attacks on Marco Rubio are doing more harm than good. And they worry that, at the end, all he will have accomplished is the destruction of the Bush family brand. The big-money supporters fueling Jeb Bush's super PAC have found their boogey man: Mike Murphy, a sharp-witted, Twitter-obsessed veteran GOP ad man who runs Right to Rise. ... [T]hat donors and GOP operatives are already sniping at Murphy before the first votes are cast demonstrates the
depth of frustration and displeasure with the Bush-world loyalist." politi.co/1ZOhu3C

- "Bill Clinton questions Hillary's Super Tuesday plan," by POLITICO's Annie Karni: "Bill Clinton is getting nervous. With polls showing Bernie Sanders ahead in New Hampshire and barely behind, if at all, in Iowa, the former president is urging his wife to start looking toward the delegate-rich March primaries - a shift for an organizing strategy that's been laser-focused on the early states. Bill Clinton, according to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation, has been phoning campaign manager Robby Mook almost daily to express concerns about the campaign's organization in the March voting states, which includes delegate bonanzas in Florida, Illinois, Ohio and Texas. Many Clinton
allies share the president's desire for more organization on the ground; they see enthusiasm that's ready to be channeled, but no channel yet in place." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e1e37c5a8a15f1b5ed4d8875e4a60c58cfd996b652ed10365562afe6b5a27bdf

- "Cruz says the 'establishment' has bailed on Rubio to get behind Trump," by The Washington Post's David Weigel in Hollis, N.H.: Ted Cruz is trying out a new way to go after Donald Trump. "'Right now the establishment is abandoning Marco Rubio,' said Cruz. 'They're making the assessment that Marco can't win this race, and the Washington establishment is rushing over to support Donald Trump. We're seeing that every day. And Mr. Trump is welcoming the support of the Washington establishment.' The source of Cruz's happy outrage was an interview" in which former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) told The New York Times that Trump could "probably work with Congress, because he's, you know, he's got the
right personality and he's kind of a deal-maker." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e1e37c5a8a15f1b54277d1eecb15621675062e53b63b28a88453cfc8f464d4c7

- "Goldman Sachs contributions surge despite attacks," by POLITICO's Isaac Arnsdorf: Goldman Sachs employees are shaping up to be one of the biggest sources of campaign cash for Hillary Clinton and her Republican opponents alike this cycle. "Goldman Sachs employees are the top contributors to the Republican campaigns of both Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, according to an analysis of federal campaign finance records the Center for Responsive Politics conducted for POLITICO. They've given $483,500 to the campaign and super PAC supporting Bush and $79,600 to Rubio's campaign and aligned super PAC, the analysis shows." http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e1e37c5a8a15f1b5a9b19846d204f91f780175d7ddd049e5378ef7223a7be2d8

CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I don't know why he's so worried about me, maybe he thinks that I'm a real threat to him, 'cause I am." - Jeb Bush, speaking about Donald Trump. Bush called Trump a "junkyard dog" in the same interview. http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=e1e37c5a8a15f1b5d1278cc8c4f8c42e6a7356bb0bc16b4dd37ffc86f053b7a9

** 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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