327 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY… 236 DAYS UNTIL THE AUGUST PRIMARY 

BLUNT RISES TO LEADERSHIP — Less than a year after taking office in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Roy Blunt rose to leadership yesterday in a 25-22 vote over Sen. Ron Johnson: “The fight for the seat was framed as a battle between the establishment and Tea Party wings of the Republican party. Monday, Johnson announced a list of public supporters including freshmen Sen.’s Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and nearly a dozen other conservative members. Blunt, meanwhile, waged a quiet campaign for the post, which opened up earlier this year when Sen. Lamar Alexander announced he would step down from his seat as Republican Conference chairman. ‘I hope this opportunity will allow me to continue contributing to the critical debates that we’re facing in America,’ Blunt said in a statement. ‘If we’re going to rein in federal spending and put Americans back to work, we must work together.’

“Blunt’s colleague from Missouri, Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, offered her support after Tuesday’s vote. ‘Congratulations to my colleague Sen. Blunt on his election to Republican leadership,’ McCaskill said in a tweet. ‘Good for Missouri and for the Senate.’” http://bit.ly/v5iiIw

— A couple from a Q&A afterwards: 

Q: Did it make any difference to you personally, senator, that the challengers for the Republican nomination for the Senate in Missouri didn’t deign to endorse you? “No, they have their own race to run. And I thought that was the right decision for them to make. Actually, I happened to be talking to somebody yesterday, I think the guy running for the Senate in Michigan that endorsed me got six percent in the last poll that came out about 72 hours ago. So, you know, I’ll live with that.”

Q: You have a long history with leadership in the House, from serving over there. How would you characterize your relationship with Speaker Boehner and Eric Cantor today? “Good. Good. Eric was my deputy. Abby and I saw Eric and Diana at dinner the other night. John Boehner and I work well together, and I am confident that’s what he would say. And a lot of that staff, both Eric’s staff and John’s staff, have worked for me at some time in the last 10 years, and those relationships, I think, will be helpful as well.” 

SEN. BLUNT holds his weekly press call today at 11:30 AM CT. 

MOSEN ON AIR  —  ‘Another conservative group running ads attacking McCaskill,’ St. Louis Beacon: “The National Taxpayers Union is the latest national conservative group to jump into Missouri with ads targeting U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. The group has begun airing a series of one-minute radio spots on most major stations around the state. A spokeswoman said the initial buy is for one week but may be extended, with the undisclosed spending enough ‘to get noticed.’ The ads are targeting the jobs-act proposal cosponsored by McCaskill and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Among other things, the bill would increase taxes on the oil and gas industry — which the ad makes clear it opposes.” http://bit.ly/tDYViU

HOW THEY SEE US — The Connecticut Post takes a quick at John Brunner’s latest web video talking about Pleasure Beach, CT: ‘Pleasure Beach earmark topic of Missouri senate race ad’: “An attack ad by the campaign of Republican John Brunner, a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Claire McCaskill, focuses on an earmark that provided funds for Bridgeport’s Pleasure Beach. The ad points out McCaskill voted for the earmark, which set aside $1.9 million to develop a water taxi service to Pleasure Beach. The money was approved in 2009, and the water taxi project has not yet launched.

“Last week, city officials met with the public to unveil a ‘master plan’ for Pleasure Beach, which is not set to open until, at the earliest, the end of 2012. The permitting process has been completed to build a floating dock that would be used by the taxi.” http://bit.ly/s9iyF8

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, and welcome to this edition of PoliticMo Rundown. Send your tips, comments, and scoops to eli@politicmo.com. 

CLEAVER MEETS WITH OBAMA — Cleaver and a group of African American business leaders met with the president on Tuesday. Readout, via the CBC:“The first of its kind, the meeting served as an opportunity to discuss job creation recommendations and cultivate stronger working relationships within the African American business community, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Administration. … The African American business leaders met with the Congressional Black Caucus immediately following their meeting with President Obama.” 

— The business leaders: Robert L. Johnson- Founder & Chairman, The RLJ Companies; Ollie Gates - President, Gates BBQ; Warren Thompson - President & Chairman, Thompson Hospitality Corporation; Weldon Latham - Sr. Partner, Chair, Corporate Diversity Counseling; Practice, Jackson Lewis, LLP; Ernest Green - Partner, Madison Asset Management Group LLC; Melvin Clark - GW Peoples Contracting Company; C. Michael Gooden – CEO, Integrated Systems Analysts; Tom Moorehead – President, Moorehead Properties; Janice Howroyd - CEO, Act 1; Valerie Daniels-Carter - CEO, V&J Holdings Company; Maurice Tose - CEO, TeleCommunication Systems; and Suzanne Shank - CEO, Siebert Brandford Shank.

NIXON CAMP — Tonight, Gov. Jay Nixon’s campaign will hold a conference call with supporters. 7 PM, with Governor Nixon’s Campaign Manager Oren Shur and Field Director Joe Duffy. 

RUMORLAND — Sources close to State Rep. Sarah Lampe say she is rethinking a campaign for Lt. Governor. Sources say she has resumed making phone calls to supporters.  And though she’s staying quiet, Judy Baker is seriously considering a run.   

REDISTRICTING FALLOUT — SWMO State Rep.’s: Eric Burlison will stay in 133, Thomas Long will go to 130. Melissa Leach is considering leaving the 132 for the 131, which already has a contested Republican primary. John Sellars will run in the 134. Lincoln Hough will go to the 134, and Lyndall Fraker will take the 137. 

Bill Reiboldt and Bill Lant have worked out their map. Reiboldt will stay in the new 160, and Lant will move to the 159. “It’s a ride,” his wife told us last evening in Joplin

— ‘Dieckhaus Won’t Seek Third Term in House,’ eMissourian: “Sate Rep. Scott Dieckhaus, R-Washington, announced he would not seek re-election for a third term. Dieckhaus hinted in November he may not run again when he agreed to serve as interim executive director of the House Republican Campaign Committee, (HRCC), Inc. until a permanent replacement can be found.

“The powerful legislative campaign committee recruits, trains and conducts fundraising for candidates for Missouri House seats. Dieckhaus has been involved with the HRCC since 2009 and has traveled throughout the state over the past several years helping with the campaigns of fellow House members. Dieckhaus said his decision not to seek re-election means he is a candidate for the executive director’s position but a formal decision hasn’t been made yet.” http://bit.ly/vnxw9V

— Facts of life: Dieckhaus is the next executive director. 

EDUCATION — ‘New UM President says experience will solve budget woes,’ MissouriNet’s Allison Blood: “[New UM System President Timothy M] Wolfe says he’s worked in businesses before that were short on cash, so he’s ready to implement some of the strategies he’s used before to help the UM system raise more money and use that money better. He says he is open to looking at new funding sources for the system. He says Mizzou is growing as rapidly as any campus in the American Association of Universities and will need to employ the use of new technologies and all available outside funding to realize the potential of the University. He says he will be beginning meetings with lawmakers soon to talk about creating more jobs for graduates to go into following college. His official duties as president begin in Mid-February.

“During Wolfe’s inaugural speech, he joked that in the interest of full disclosure, he had to admit his wife went to the University of Kansas[!!!!!]. The audience laughed and clapped as she promised to wear Black and Gold from now on.” http://bit.ly/ucU0Xv Bio: http://bit.ly/vjed5q

— ‘Governor won’t set timeline for St. Louis schools,’ Post-Dispatch: “It has been more than four years since Missouri’s largest public school district lost its accreditation, but Gov. Jay Nixon isn’t setting a timeline for getting the St. Louis school district back to local control. Nixon was in St. Louis on Monday. KMOX Radio…  asked if he had a goal for when the state takeover of the district would end. Nixon defended progress made in the district, but declined to say when local control would be returned. Rick Sullivan, president of the three-member state panel that now runs city schools, also has no timetable for re-accreditation.” http://bit.ly/w2EIoQ 

AG SIREN — ‘Crop insurance rates skyrocket after summer floods,’ AP: “Midwestern farmers who saw their land swamped by summer flooding may be socked again with steep increases in their crop insurance premiums, the expensive result of the failure to fix broken levees before the winter snow and next spring’s rains. … The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency said $114 million in claims have been paid so far for flooding damage on 436,000 acres along the Missouri River downstream from the Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border. Record high water levels also created havoc along the lower Mississippi River from Missouri to Louisiana.” http://trib.in/rPh6NU

COURTS — ‘Mo. high court examines public defender caseloads,’ AP: “The Missouri Supreme Court is considering the right of public defenders to turn away appointments when their caseloads reach a certain level. The court heard arguments Tuesday over a policy adopted by the public defender system’s top official for setting the maximum caseload offices can handle. When limits are exceeded three consecutive months, the public defender can take action. If agreements are not reached with prosecutors and judges, offices can temporarily refuse new cases.” http://bit.ly/ugNne2

TEXTING BAN (?) — ‘Feds urge states to ban texting, talking on roads,’ AP: “The National Transportation Safety Board … declared Tuesday that texting, emailing or chatting while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed anywhere in the United States. The board is urging all states to impose total bans except for emergencies following recent deadly crashes, including one in Missouri after a teenager sent or received 11 text messages within 11 minutes. The unanimous recommendation from the five-member board would apply even to hands-free devices, a much stricter rule than any current state law. … 

“Currently, 35 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, while nine states and Washington, D.C., bar hand-held cellphone use. Thirty states ban all cellphone use for beginning drivers. But enforcement is generally not a high priority, and no states ban the use of hands-free devices for all drivers. … In Missouri, texting is illegal for drivers 21 and under, which means the law would have applied to the 19-year-old. But the ban isn’t aggressively enforced, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt said.” http://bit.ly/te3Pmr