339 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY… 247 DAYS UNTIL THE AUGUST PRIMARY

BREAKING THIS A.M. — POLITICO: “The unemployment rate dropped to 8.6 percent in November from 9 percent, the Labor Department reported Friday. The country added 120,000 jobs, a figure that was in line with expectations.” 

— Nate Silver (@FiveThirtyEight): “September job gains revised upward to +210K. It’s not a home run, but perhaps the best jobs report since Great Recession began. … The recovery is still fragile, though, so it’s good there’s not an entire continent whose currency might collapse or anything like that.” 

ZWEIFEL CHALLENGE — ‘McNary to challenge Treasurer Zweifel,’ PoliticMo: “State Rep. Cole McNary, R-Chesterfield, announced Thursday that he will seek the Republican nomination for State Treasurer next year. McNary, the first Republican to enter the field to challenge State Treasurer Clint Zweifel, enters the race with less than $30,000 in his campaign account and no announced quarrel with Zweifel’s performance thus far. McNary’s announcement came the day after the panel tasked with redrawing the state legislature’s district lines merged his district with two adjoining districts.” http://bit.ly/vkGCQx

— Missouri Dems’ Caitlin Legacki: “It’s not surprising Treasurer Zweifel’s new opponent has only positive things to say about him. It underscores the work Treasurer Zweifel has been doing to protect Missouri’s investments in a tough economic time. At a time when voters are frustrated with the bitter partisanship in Jefferson City and Washington, Clint is the kind of serious leader we need who puts results for taxpayers ahead of politics.”

REDISTRICTING FALLOUT — ‘St. Louis trio charts political course after redistricting,’ PoliticMo: “State Rep.’s John Diehl, Rick Stream, and Cole McNary, each from different districts near Town and Country, were drawn into the same district — the new 89th district, encompassing part of Town and Country, Frontenac, Des Peres, and Kirkwood. But late Thursday afternoon, the trio appeared to come to a solution. McNary, who was elected to the House in 2008, announced he would undertake a statewide campaign for State Treasurer. Hours later, Stream and Diehl announced in a joint statement they would seek reelection to the House.

“Speaking to the St. Louis Beacon, McNary said his announcement had nothing to do with the new map. ‘I’m sorry that the maps came out the same day I decided to go for it … It’s not related at all,’ he said. Charles Hinderliter, a spokesman for Stream, said McNary and Steam had not even spoke since the map was released, and that Stream didn’t even know McNary would be making the announcement. Diehl, a rising leader in the House many think may be Speaker in a few years, plans to run in the new 89th district. … Avoiding a primary, Stream, who said his family has lived in Kirkwood for six decades, said he plans to cross over and run in the new 90th district.

“Across the state, more than two dozen incumbent Representatives were mapped into the same districts. Some activists allege the new map, created by a panel of judges, is motivated by partisan politics. The judicial panel was tasked with creating the map after a bipartisan panel of citizens failed to reach an agreement.” http://bit.ly/rXANd0

RUMORLAND — Per a GOP source, “Jeannie Riddle will run for the new Calloway district …, and is front runner as her husband is from Montgomery county.”

MONTHLY RANKINGS — POLITICO’s Dave Catanese published his monthly ‘Top 10’ lists of nation wide Senate and Gubernatorial races, and, no surprise: Missouri is still in both. 

— MOSEN (Steady at number four): “Sarah Steelman certainly has her obstacles. Her fundraising is stagnant. Some in the GOP hierarchy still don’t trust her. But she’s the only Republican who defeats Democrat Claire McCaskil in the latest Rasmussen Reports survey. … McCaskill would likely match up most favorably against the wayward Todd Akin, a congressman saddled with a dozen years of votes to defend, and a clunky campaign. Businessman John Brunner is the wild card, but it’s too soon to tell whether his early ad blitz has paid any dividends. Who won November: Steelman” http://bit.ly/uNSgAs 

— MOGOV (Down one spot since last month):  “[W]hile [Lt. Gov. Peter] Kinder’s ouster removes a glaring liability from the ticket, it hasn’t erased the internal chaos. Political neophyte Dave Spence swiftly scooped up Kinder’s team and his blessing, and state auditor Tom Schweich and congressional candidate Ed Martin are also weighing runs. The anticipated scrum would benefit Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, but no opponent would have been as much of a political gift as the scandal-plagued Kinder. … Who won November: Spence.” http://bit.ly/tkXkmz

— Since his announcement, Spence has started meeting privately with potential supporters and donors across the state. YESTERDAY AND TODAY, Spence has spent time in SWMO, per a GOP source, meeting with supporters in Springfield and Branson. 

MISSOURI DEMOCRATS ZING BRUNNER ON JOBS — The state Democratic Party released research memo this morning (authored by Caitlin Legacki — check the meta data!) blasting John Brunner for his jobs record: “Brunner may play a ‘job  creator’ on television, but in reality, John Brunner is a greedy business executive who ships jobs out of state, imports goods from China, claims credit for other people’s  innovations, profits off the bad economy, and is even laying off Missouri workers as recently as last month. While any other candidate would be horrified to film political ads in the factory where  he just laid off dozens of workers, Brunner’s shamelessness is symptomatic of his profits-before-people mentality.” The document, per POLITICO: http://politi.co/rMZO8i

HAPPY FRIDAY, and welcome to this edition of PoliticMo Rundown. Send your tips, comments, and scoops to eli@politicmo.com. 

SEN. ROY BLUNT will be in Washington, Mo., this afternoon to “discuss economic development and infrastructure” with local officials. 

GOV. JAY NIXON, this morning, will be joined by Lawson Elmentary School second graders in decorating the Capitol Christmas tree. In the evening, Nixon and the First Lady will light the Christmas tree at the Governor’s Mansion. Several High School choirs will be in attendance, including one from Joplin High School. 

RUNDOWN TRIVIA — Q: How long has the mansion been the home of Missouri governors? 

A: Since 1871. #Fact

WAYS NOT TO HANDLE A REPORTER — ‘Am I really that scary?,’ Columbia Tribune’s Rudi Keller: “I’ve followed people out of legislative committee rooms in an attempt to interview them hundreds of times, but an incident after yesterday’s Mamtek hearing was the first time anyone ever called for security protection and one of the rare instances where someone physically tried to prevent me from doing my job. After the committee finished, I followed Department of Economic Development Director David Kerr out into the hall to ask some questions. As I caught up with Kerr and his entourage at an elevator, I stepped between him and the closed door to address him. … [I]nstead of answering my questions, Kerr directed them to department spokesman John Fougere, who was standing right beside him. It was one more frustration in my attempts to report this story. Kerr has not answered reporters’ questions about Mamtek since the second week of September. … 

“When the elevator door opened, I stepped in as I sought to gain the interview I was seeking. ‘Call security. Let’s get security,’ Fougere said as he folded his arms and pushed against me to get me out of the elevator. I told Fougere not to touch me, and again turned to Kerr. I asked when we could schedule an interview. By then, the elevator had reached the second floor. Kerr stepped off and I followed him in silence. ‘Alright, you will have to excuse us, we have to go in here,’ were the only other words Kerr said as he stopped in front of an office door. He was on his way to report to Gov. Jay Nixon.” http://bit.ly/sInGZd

TODAY IN RDB — ‘Senator who expressed concern about fairness for AT&T has familial tie to the company,’ National Journal: “Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who expressed concern this week about how federal regulators treated AT&T’s $39 billion merger with T-Mobile, has a connection to the carrier: His son is a lobbyist for AT&T. Andrew Blunt, a son of the senator, is registered to lobby for AT&T in Missouri, according to a disclosure filing. He is also listed as a strategist for Washington lobby shop Cassidy & Associates, which had AT&T as a client worth $150,000 this year, though Blunt is not assigned to that account. Sen. Blunt was one of the only members of Congress to take a public stand questioning the Federal Communications Commission’s process on AT&T’s proposed merger. Sen. Blunt’s spokeswoman Amber Marchand said there’s no conflict of interest. … Sen. Blunt does not have a position on the merger, she added.” http://bit.ly/w3jX1d

— Arguing non-story, a Missouri GOPer messages: “Andy has lobbied for at&t for years.”  

WHITE HOUSE PUSH — ‘Slay joins push for extended payroll tax break,’ Post-Dispatch: “In the final hours before close votes on key tax relief proposals, the Obama administration recruited St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and two other Democratic mayors to make the president’s case this afternoon. … In the political jockeying leading up to the vote, the mayors were called in. ‘Middle class families are struggling; they do need this extra income,’ Slay said, speaking on a White House-arranged conference call. ‘This is not money they are going to sock away somewhere. This is money that they are going to spend.’ Also endorsing the White House proposal were Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.” http://bit.ly/tnWdCm

THE PLEDGE — ‘Norquist Says Payroll-Tax-Cut Expiration Isn’t a Tax Hike,’ National Journal: “Antitax campaigner Grover Norquist advised a room of House Republicans on Thursday that a failure to extend the  payroll-tax cut would not be tantamount to raising taxes, regardless of what President Obama and other Democrats say. … Norquist’s comments to the lawmakers appears to give a type of dispensation on any claim they have violated that pledge, should the payroll tax expire. Norquist declined to discuss exactly what he told the gathering of about 32 lawmakers dubbed the House GOP “Theme Team,” but several confirmed he made similar comments to them regarding the payroll-tax cut.

“‘He says this was sold last year as a one-year thing and that he did not think that not extending it should be considered a tax hike,’ said Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo. Akin and others in attendance said that Norquist emphasized it’s not what he says that counts. ‘It’s what passes the laugh test when you sit around with your own constituents, when you go to the local coffee shop, and you explain how this was sold as a one-year thing,’ said Akin, who believes the cut should expire.” http://bit.ly/uoyqBy

2012 LEGISLATING — ‘Mo. lawmakers start filing bills for 2012 session,’ AP: “Missouri lawmakers on Thursday suggested shortening their annual legislative session and changing how voters elect governors and lieutenant governors. Thursday the first day lawmakers could begin submitting legislation for the 2012 session, and dozens of measures were filed in the House and Senate. Along with proposed constitutional amendments cutting the length of the legislative session and requiring candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run on a single ticket, proposals included bills focused on payday loans and tax breaks to help residents construct storm shelters. … The Missouri legislative session starts Jan. 4 and ends in mid-May. Filing legislation early gives favored ideas a small head start.

“In the Senate, proposals would have voters jointly choose a governor and lieutenant governor starting in 2016, creating a single ticket similar to the national vote for president and vice president. Missouri currently holds separate elections for each office, and the state’s governor and lieutenant governors can be political rivals.” http://apne.ws/vxGyjr

MOSIRA CHALLENGE — A new lawsuit challenging the law was filed yesterday, per AP: “Opponents of a newly created fund that would offer state incentives to science or technology companies filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to halt its creation, again citing concerns the program could lead the state to pay for human embryonic stem cell research. Lawmakers approved the Missouri Science and Innovation Reinvestment Act earlier this year. It would offer incentives to companies that conduct research or make products in a variety of high-tech fields, including agricultural biotechnology, homeland security, information technology and pharmaceuticals. … 

“In a lawsuit filed Thursday in the Capitol’s home of Cole County, the Missouri Roundtable for Life and Missouri Right to Life said Thursday the new fund should be declared void because of the contingency clause. The groups are among critics who contend the law does not contain sufficient protection to bar state funds from going to human embryonic stem cell research.” http://bit.ly/sTWZDa 

OP-ED — ‘Move the Money Home,’ Sen. Claire McCaskill in the Huffington Post: “The spending on infrastructure in Afghanistan simply isn’t working. The majority of the money we spend in Afghanistan is used to support our troops on the ground, to train the Afghan army, and to integrate and train the Afghan police so that there can be rule of law and stability in that country — and my measure wouldn’t affect any of those resources. But the amount of money originally set aside to fund small-scale humanitarian and repair projects to build goodwill in local populations has ballooned. … If America is going to build roads and bridges, I believe they ought to be built here, not in an unstable war zone. Let’s use that money instead to build roads in the United States, where we don’t have to hire security to keep workers from getting shot or run the risk of funds being funneled to our enemies. By passing my measure, we could immediately infuse up to $800 million into the U.S. Highway Trust Fund to start making headway in our country’s backlog of infrastructure needs, and — even more importantly — put folks back to work here at home.” http://huff.to/u1K67p