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03/15/2019 10:00 AM EDT

By ZACH MONTELLARO (zmontellaro@politico.com; @ZachMontellaro)


Editor's Note: This edition of Morning Score is published weekdays at 10 a.m. POLITICO Pro Campaign subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 6 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro's comprehensive policy intelligence coverage, policy tools and services, click here.
QUICK FIX
- Many House freshmen, wary of the "socialism" label, are looking to distance themselves from their more progressive classmates, with an eye on their reelection battles.

- Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke kicked off his presidential bid with a video before heading to Iowa to campaign.

- Most Republicans who are expecting a competitive reelection battle in 2020 sided with President Donald Trump in a vote on his national emergency declaration.

Happy Friday! Email me at zmontellaro@politico.com or DM me at @ZachMontellaro.

Email the Campaign Pro team at sshepard@politico.com, dstrauss@politico.com, jarkin@politico.com and lbarron-lopez@politico.com. Follow them on Twitter: @POLITICO_Steve, @DanielStrauss4, @JamesArkin and @lbarronlopez.

Days until the NC-03 primary election: 46

Days until the NC-09 primary election: 60

Days until the Kentucky and Mississippi general elections: 235

Days until the 2020 election: 599

PLAYBOOK POOL: March Madness is here, which means it's time for the third annual Playbook Pool bracket challenge hosted by our Playbook authors across the country (Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Florida and California). Track who's up and who's down throughout the tournament as you compete against your friends, top Playbookers, political insiders and VIPs to win prizes including an Amazon Echo, Apple Watch Series 3, iPhone XR and more. Create your bracket starting on Selection Sunday (March 17) after the highly anticipated field of teams in this year's tournament are chosen. Click here to get in the game.
THE TOPLINES
THE HOUSE BATTLEGROUND - Freshmen Democrats like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are her allies may suck up the most oxygen. But their more moderate freshmen classmates want to create some distance.

"They are the ones on the front lines of the battlefield, defending Democrats' House majority," Campaign Pro's Laura Barrón-López wrote. "And many of the endangered Democrats already see their outspoken colleagues as a potential obstacle standing between them and reelection in 2020."

"As we run up to this presidential [election], we need to show that Democrats, as a whole, are not socialists," Rep. Katie Hill (CA-25) told Laura. "You have these four members frankly that were elected from seats that are going to be Democratic no matter what and represent a very small fraction of the party as a whole."

Many of these moderate Democrats have occasionally bucked the party and are trying to duck most national issues in favor of fulfilling local promises. Keep an eye on the upcoming March fundraising deadline for how strong these freshmen are looking.

MILKEN INSTITUTE GLOBAL CONFERENCE: Ben White will once again bring POLITICO's Morning Money newsletter to the Milken Institute Global Conference from April 28 through May 2. The special edition newsletter will detail highlights, major conversations, evening festivities and VIP gatherings throughout the conference. Sign up today to receive exclusive, in-depth coverage from the scene of #MIGlobal.
IN THE TRENCHES
PRESIDENTIAL BIG BOARD - O'Rourke officially rolled out his presidential bid Thursday, with a video of him talking straight-to-camera with his wife sitting next to him. He told the El Paso Times' Vic Kolenc and Madlin Mekelburg that his campaign would be headquartered in El Paso, and that he won't totally swear off hiring consultants or polling. POLITICO's David Siders, our man in El Paso (and Iowa, and wherever else O'Rourke goes), has more on how he got to yes: "A protest rally that drew thousands of supporters [in El Paso in February] confirmed to O'Rourke the durability of his appeal to Democrats beyond the 2018 Senate campaign. It offered the border-state politician a rationale for a
campaign focused heavily on immigration. And it marked a turning point in O'Rourke's deliberations about a run for president." O'Rourke is also going to have a kickoff rally March 30 in El Paso, David reported. Here's more from David on O'Rourke's first day on the trail as an official candidate, in Iowa.

O'Rourke scooped up four House endorsements on his first day in the race: Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas), Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.) and Sean Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.). Check out our endorsement tracker for more.

- Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will join Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) for an event in the Detroit area next week, The Detroit News' Melissa Nann Burke reported (Whitmer is not expected to endorse Gillibrand).

- Is America ready for a millenial? McClatchy's Alex Roarty talked with South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg about his focus on his age on the trail. "Part of what I'm trying to do is just help people understand the experience of this generation," Buttigieg told Roarty.

- In the 1970s, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) supported nationalizing most major industries in the U.S., CNN's Andrew Kaczynski and Nathan McDermott reported. A think tank founded by his family is also shutting down (at least temporarily) to avoid even an "appearance of impropriety," per the AP's Steve Peoples and Stephen Braun.

SPLITTING WITH THE PRESIDENT - Republicans facing tough 2020 reelection bids largely stuck with the president on a Senate resolution looking to block his national emergency declaration. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) flip-flopped on his decision to buck the president when he ultimately voted against the bill (Tillis was for the resolution before he voted against it), while Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) also voted no (The Denver Post editorial board wrote it now regretted endorsing Gardner in 2014). Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and 11 other Republicans sided with all of the Democrats and independents to vote for the resolution (other interesting yeses include Ohio's
Rob Portman and Utah's Mitt Romney and Mike Lee).

And what does this say about 2020? "The vote underscores how little Republicans on the ballot in 2020 want to break with the president, even on an issue that divided the party and in states where Trump's approval rating is low," POLITICO's James Arkin and John Bresnahan reported.

POWER MEETING - Democrat Stacey Abrams and former Vice President Joe Biden met in Washington, as both plot their next moves, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein reported. Playbook also spotted Abrams having breakfast with Gillibrand in D.C. on Thursday.

THE ELECTORATE - Is there such a thing as the fabled independent swing voter? According to Pew Research Center, not really! "An overwhelming majority of independents (81%) continue to 'lean' toward either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. ... In their political attitudes and views of most issues, independents who lean toward a party are in general agreement with those who affiliate with the same party."

NC-09, FOREVER - Three Republicans filed to run on Thursday: Dan Bishop, Stevie Rivenbark Hull and Kathie Day (the U.S. House clerk also officially took over constituent services for the district until the election, per WSOC's Joe Bruno).

SENATE BATTLEGROUND WATCH - Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has quietly been working behind the scenes for a potential Senate run. "Gallego is talking to potential supporters and prospective campaign staffers about what a race against [fellow Democrat Mark] Kelly would look like," the Arizona Republic's Yvonne Wingett Sanchez reported. "Gallego has not recorded videos to announce his decision, but his team has developed some messaging reflecting what a potential progressive campaign would look like."

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM... - Republicans have bemoaned the practice of ballot harvesting in California, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blaming the (legal) practice for his party's near-total wipeout in the midterms (and many in the party criticized it during the H.R. 1 debate). "But the behind the scenes, GOP leaders and on-the-ground operatives are privately strategizing ways to improve their own ballot-harvesting operations in California," The Washington Post's Amy Gardner reported. "While the Democrats had an operation on the ground that was actually doing the ballot harvesting, we did not have a corresponding organization that was doing that," NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer said in a
private meeting to donors, according to a recording obtained by Gardner. "That won't happen again."

PRIMARY PROBLEMS - Some Twin Cities Democrats are looking to recruit a primary challenger to Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, The Hill's Reid Wilson reported. "There's definitely some buzz going around about it, but it's more a buzz of is anyone talking about finding someone to run against her than it is anyone saying they're going to run against her or contemplate it," Democratic state Sen. Ron Latz told Wilson.

BIG MONEY - Democrats have turned their attention (and wallets) to Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida. Super PACs American Bridge and Priorities USA "are planning at least a $130 million campaign to attack [Trump] and build support for Democrats" in those states, while For our Future, another liberal outside group, has also said it'll spent $80 million on those states and others, The Wall Street Journal's Julie Bykowicz reported.

PAC ATTACK - Republican Corey Stewart, who was crushed by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) in the midterms, will head up the pro-Trump super PAC, Keeping America Great PAC, The Washington Post's Antonio Olivo reported. Trump's campaign also wrote to the FEC (spotted by the Center for Public Integrity's Dave Levinthal) to "disavow" the PAC because it's "concerned about the likelihood of confusion among the public."

STAFF CHANGES - Raffi Krikorian, the DNC's chief technology officer, is stepping down to join the Emerson Collective, a philanthropy company, BuzzFeed News' Ruby Cramer reported.

CODA - HEADLINE OF THE DAY: "ROSARIO DAWSON: Cory Booker Rumors are True ... WE'RE DATING AND IN LOVE!!!" from TMZ.

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