 | | Tuesday, January 12, 2010 |  | |  | | MORNING FIX
BY CHRIS CILLIZZA | | | | washingtonpost.com/thefix
Democrats launch full court press in Mass. special election
1. Sensing that the once-safe Massachusetts Senate special election might be slipping from their grasp, Democrats moved on a number of fronts over the last 24 hours in an attempt to re-establish state Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) as the race's frontrunner in her now surprisingly tough fight against state Sen. Scott Brown (R). On the staff level, both Democratic National Committee spokesman Hari Sevugan, a veteran of a number of campaigns including a 2004 Senate race in Kentucky, and Michael Meehan, a longtime Democratic operative with ties to Sen. John Kerry (Mass.), were dispatched to stabilize Coakley's campaign. On the ad front, Coakley -- with an assist from the state Democratic party -- launched her first negative commercial of the contest, attacking Brown for being in "lockstep with Washington Republicans." And finally on fundraising, President Obama sent an email to his list insisting that "the outcome of this race couldn't be important" and asking donors to dig deep to help Coakley. Given that level of activity, it's clear that Democrats are concerned about the state of the race with just one week before voters head to the polls to choose a replacement for the late Ted Kennedy. A few questions to keep an eye on over the coming days: 1) Does the National Republican Senatorial Committee invest in ads in the state and, if so, how heavy is the buy? 2) Do outside conservative groups join the American Future Fund on the airwaves attacking Coakley and, if they do, are there a handful of liberal outside groups who move quickly to counter that strategy? 3) Does the White House send in a surrogate like Vice President Biden -- or even the president himself -- in the final days on the race to remind Massachusetts Democrats of what's at stake? 4) How much more money can Brown raise off of his newfound national notoriety -- he crested $1.1 million collected in just 24 hours on Monday -- and how quickly can he get that money on television to counter what almost certainly will be a negative onslaught from Coakley? 5) How many more independent and/or internal campaign polls will be released in the coming week and what will they say? If Brown can get one or two more polls to validate this is a real race, momentum will be all on his side. The answers to these questions will go a long way to determining whether Brown has a legitimate chance to win or not. Today, Coakley remains a favorite thanks to her financial advantage and the Democratic lean of the state but she is in a much tougher race than she could have imagined even a few weeks ago.
2. Most Americans don't know Indiana Rep. Mike Pence but come 2012 they just might. Pence, a darling of fiscal conservatives, is doing the sorts of things that suggest he may take a hard look at running for president next time around. To wit: Pence brought on Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway and attorney Bill Neale, who previously served as campaign treasurer for Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle (R), to serve as his advisers to his campaign on Monday. Pence, of course, has no real campaign as he had held the 6th district since 2000 with little serious challenge and, as such, his moves are better understood through the prism of interest in national office. Less publicly, Pence is also moving to broaden his team of advisers and consolidate his support among conservative groups -- allowing them to use his name in fundraising appeals, according to a source familiar with the moves. Here's a look at Pence's circle of advisers: former Texas senator Phil Gramm, a senior adviser to Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) 2008 presidential bid, former representative David McIntosh (Ind.), former attorney general Ed Meese, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and Republican election lawyer Cleta Mitchell.
3. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in an interview Monday with the Fix that his decision not to run for governor of Colorado was "not a very agonizing one" but left open the possibility he would return to the state to run for office at some point in the future. "I think I could have done well and I could have won," Salazar said of the opening caused by Gov. Bill Ritter's (D) surprising retirement last week. Of his decision to wade into a potential primary to support Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for the vacancy, Salazar said that he and the mayor had worked to bring the Democratic National Convention to the state in 2008 and that Hickenlooper represents "real and authentic leadership." Former state House speaker Andrew Romanoff is reportedly being urged to switch from the Senate race where he is primarying appointed Sen. Michael Bennet to the governor's race although it remains to be seen whether he will make the leap. Salazar left the door open to a return to elected office but said he has "no plans at the current time."
4. Jill Hazelbaker, communications director for Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) 2008 presidential campaign, starts today as the director of corporate communications for a little company named Google. Prior to her work for McCain, Hazelbaker handled press for the 2006 Senate bid of state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey as well working on a House and Senate race in her native Oregon. After McCain, Hazelbaker moved to New York to serve as a communications adviser to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's (I) 2009 race. She will work out of Google's Mountain View, California headquarters.
5. Washington-area political junkies, do we have the event for you. Tonight at 6 p.m. on the first floor of the Post building -- 1150 15th Street NW -- the paper's own White House correspondent Anne Kornblut will be moderating a panel discussion on the 2008 campaign and the historic candidacies of then Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. The panelists: Nicolle Wallace, a senior aide to John McCain's presidential bid, Dee Dee Myers, former Clinton White House press secretary and Washington Post syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker. Aside from a terrific discussion, you will also have the chance to buy Kornblut's new book -- "Notes from the Cracked Ceiling: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and What It Will Take for a Woman to Win" -- and maybe even get her to sign a copy or two. Added bonus(?): Yours truly will be introducing the panel.
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