270 DAYS UNTIL ELECTION DAY… 179 DAYS UNTIL THE AUGUST PRIMARY

AD WARS — Two groups launched two new ads against U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill today. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as part of a national campaign of TV spots in eight States with competitive U.S. Senate Races. Chamber president Thomas Donohoue: “We’re engaging earlier and more aggressively than ever to educate constituents about which leaders recognize the role free enterprise plays in leading our economic recovery. It comes down to a simple question: is big government or free enterprise the solution to our country’s economic problems? … American families deserve to know who has the courage to fight for job-creating policies in Washington and who is hurting their pocketbooks. We’re asking the public to hold members of Congress accountable for their positions on Obamacare, job-killing regulations, energy security, and a culture of wasteful spending in Washington.” THE MISSOURI SPOT: http://bit.ly/wDCJJy

— DSCC’s Matt Canter:  “Every one of the Republican Senate candidates that is benefiting from these ads sides with private insurance companies over seniors, with big oil companies over small businesses, and with billionaires over middle class families. Voters are going to see these attacks for what they are and all the money in the world won’t be able to distract from the Republican special interest in agenda.” 

— THE MISSOURI GOP launched their own radio ad, targeting McCaskill for her support of the health care law provision mandating contraceptives in health care insurance. The script: “First, they took over the banks. Then, they put government in charge of our healthcare. And now what are Barack Obama and Claire McCaskill focused on?  Regulating the Catholic Church.  Obama and McCaskill want to force the Catholic church and Americans of faith to abandon tenets of their religion—mandating that the church pay for medical procedures and drugs that go against their beliefs. And if the church won’t comply? The Obama-McCaskill law punishes them, forcing them to pay fines and penalties just for doing what they believe is right. It is a direct attack on religious freedom.  Obama and McCaskill already forced us to pay for government bailouts, a wasteful stimulus and Obamacare.” LISTEN (w/ the now famous pic from ’08 of CMC smiling over Obama’s shoulder):http://bit.ly/ysEu0N

#MOSEN —  ‘McCaskill challengers shy from presidential endorsements,’ PoliticMo: “With an unsettled field of Republican presidential candidates, Missouri’s Republican U.S. Senate candidates are staying quiet about who they voted for in Tuesday’s non-binding selection primary. Representatives for U.S. Rep. Todd Akin and St. Louis businessman John Brunner’s campaigns confirmed to PoliticMo that the two did in fact vote in the primary, but neither would disclose for whom they voted. … Even though they won’t endorse, both campaigns made a point to have a presence at Sen. Rick Santorum’s election night watch party in St. Charles Tuesday evening. Campaign volunteers for Brunner and Akin were on hand to distribute campaign literature to attendees, and stuck around throughout Santorum’s rally. … Former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman’s campaign did not have a presence in St. Charles Tuesday night, and her campaign was not immediately responsive to inquiries questioning whether she voted in Tuesday’s primary.” http://bit.ly/zlw5F4

— ‘Brunner and Dems Clash Over his $372K Salary at Time of Company Lay-Offs,’ Michael Mahoney: “Missouri Democrats are asking what Republican Missouri Senate candidate did last year to earn a $372,000 salary as the company laying off workers. Last year Brunner’s St. Louis company, Vi-Jon, also laid off part of the work force just weeks after Brunner entered the race in October 2011. … Brunner’s campaign spokesman, Todd Abrajano says Brunner left his role as Vi-Jon CEO in 2009. Brunner left his position as Chairman last September just before he joined the race. He is still closely associated with Vi-Jon. He remains on the board. Sometimes he has described his role now as ‘chairman emeritus’.

“The Democrats are trying to paint Brunner as a job killing executive who drew a big salary while the firm struggled. Vi-Jon will not say how many workers were laid off. Abrajano called the charge ‘truly despicable’. … The campaign spokesman says it was the policies of President Obama and Sen. Claire McCaskill that led to the nation’s sluggish recovery. [Missouri Dems’ Caitlin] Legacki says Brunner needs to ‘tell the truth about his role in Vi-Jon’s lay-offs and why he didn’t do anything to stop it’.” http://bit.ly/A3obb0

MISSOURI CAUCUSES (37 DAYS!)—  ‘Santorum will find different landscape when he returns to Missouri for caucuses,’ AP: “[W]hile the former Pennsylvania senator carried the Show-Me State by a wide margin — he won every county and had more votes than all of the other GOP contenders combined — he’ll find a much different landscape when he returns to Missouri for next month’s caucuses, which, unlike Tuesday’s vote, will actually count toward awarding convention delegates. [Rick] Santorum ran virtually uncontested on Tuesday. He was the only candidate to do any campaigning in the run-up to the vote. GOP front-runner Mitt Romney avoided the state altogether, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich wasn’t even on the ballot. … Santorum’s success on Tuesday may indeed give him a foundation of support and even mark him as the favorite to win the state’s March 17 caucuses. But the unpredictability of the process and the tendency for momentum to be fleeting in this year’s nominating contest means when it comes to looking ahead, little is certain. … 

“Whether the path to the nomination ultimately leads through Missouri remains unclear. It will largely depend on what happens on March 6 — ‘Super Tuesday’ — when 10 states weigh in on the Republican candidates for president. If Romney performs especially strong on Super Tuesday, the likelihood of a meaningful Missouri caucus could be greatly diminished. But if the race grows even tighter, look for the national focus — and the candidates — to zoom in on Missouri again.” http://bit.ly/zLrJJF 

— Sen. Roy Blunt, Romney’s key backer in Congress, said he wished the campaign had focused more energy on Missouri’s primary, on a conference call with reporters this morning: “Rick Santorum is a friend of mine, in fact, all four of these candidates are people I know pretty well…  I wish [the Romney campaign] would have tried harder in Missouri. … I think this process is one you can’t pick and choose.” 

TWEETERS — @JMaz: “Tipped the primary to Santorum RT @JamesMNHarris: Bizarre fact of the day: 50% of privately owned #Chimpanzees in the USA live in #Missouri.” 

— @MattBlunt, in Twitter convo w/ @TonyMess and @Bshelly: “I am not an expert on #Chimpanzee law. Nor do I wish to become one.”   

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

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tyler Holman… KOMU’s Ben Wagner… 

FLY-AROUND — Attorney General Chris Koster will be in Kansas City, St. Louis, and Jefferson City today to lay out Missouri specifics on the national mortgage bank settlement and what it means for the state.  

DRIVING SOME COVERAGE — Sen. Roy Blunt held his weekly press conference call this AM. Discussed the election Tuesday, health care contraception mandates, and gov’t spending. He also mentioned that he, and a slew of other top Missouri officials, will be in Colubmia this weekend to discuss levee rebuilding. 

STATE TREASURER CLINT ZWEIFEL will be in Festus today to return lost military medals to a WWI family. 

GOV. JAY NIXON will deliver remarks to the MIssouri Press Association luncheon today at 1 PM. 

BIG GET —  ‘Former Bush chief of staff joins Emerson board,’ Post-Dispatch: “For much of the 2000’s, Josh Bolten helped steer the country. Now he’ll help steer Emerson. The Ferguson-based manufacturer said Wednesday that Bolten, who held several top posts in the George W. Bush administration, has joined its board of directors. … Since leaving the White House he has worked as a visiting professor at Princeton University, served as CEO of the ONE Campaign, which combats global poverty and disease, and now runs a firm that advises multinational companies on economic and regulatory policy.

Bolten will be the 14th member of Emerson’s board, and 11th indepedent director. Two directors retired last year. Emerson’s board members collected between $205,964 and $269,833 in cash and stock compensation last year.” http://bit.ly/wy0Kuz

BIZARRE — ‘St. Louis man carrying petition forms for A Safer Missouri is fatally shot,’ Post-Dispatch: “A man who was found shot multiple times and carrying petitions to support A Safer Missouri’s local control ballot initiative Tuesday night has died, according to police. Police found 55-year-old Darryl Winston … in an alley…  just before 9 p.m. Tuesday. He was taken to a hospital, where he died at about 11 a.m. Wednesday. … Police say witnesses heard two men arguing before the shooting. Police did not have any information on a suspect. It was unclear whether Winston had been collecting petitions in that neighborhood at the time of the shooting. A Safer Missouri Citizens’ Coalition is sponsoring the 2012 ballot initiative to return control of the St. Louis police department to the city from the state. … 

“About 100 workers signed up to work at polling places [Tuesday] to collect signatures from registered voters, said National Petition Management president Lee Albright. … Albright said it is unlikely the man was collecting signatures at the time of the shooting because it is not the company’s protocol to have workers out that late at night. He said the company employs its workers as independent contractors and pays them per signature.” http://bit.ly/zvplco

EDUCATION FUNDING’ — ‘$40 million to higher education could temper possible tuition increases,’ Missourian, with a fantastic infographic on what the new funding means for budgets across the state: “If a nationwide mortgage settlement nets money for the state, proposed MU tuition hikes might be softened, university Budget Director Tim Rooney said Wednesday. … Gov. Jay Nixon said Tuesday that $40 million from the settlement might be allocated to two- and four-year public colleges and universities in Missouri, lessening the 15 percent cut to higher education he proposed in January. … Rooney emphasized at the presentation that the allocation of the money — and its potential effects on MU’s budget — are far from certain. Even if the money comes through, it won’t change anything after the 2012-13 fiscal year, Provost Brian Foster said. … Rooney described MU’s budget as a tree. The roots are tuition and state funding. The trunk is the operating fund, which is the $510 million part of the budget that MU can freely allocate. It includes funding for building maintenance and salaries for faculty and staff. … The branches of the tree represent funding designated for specific areas, such as grants, gifts and school- and service-specific fees. University-based businesses, such as KOMU, MU athletics, the bookstore and the hospital, cover their own expenses and generate their own income, but pay an overhead cost to MU. … None of those branches could function without academic programs, Rooney said. The roots must balance each other: Rooney said when state funding goes down, tuition must go up.” http://bit.ly/yDDDA8

2012 LEGISLATING — ‘Mo. senate gives approval to workplace discrimination measure, sending it on to the House,’ AP: “The bill would require workers who fight firings or other adverse decisions to prove in court that discrimination was a ‘motivating factor’ — and not just a contributing factor. It passed on a party line 25-8 vote Wednesday. … Republicans, including sponsoring Sen. Brad Lager, say the legislation would merely bring the state in line with federal laws. The Senate bill now goes to the House, which endorsed similar legislation in a close vote earlier this week.” http://bit.ly/yQkare

2012 BALLOTS — ‘Opponents of Missouri payday loan ballot measure hold rally at state Capitol building,’ AP: “Opponents of a proposed ballot measure targeting payday and other small loans warn that the measure would limit Missourians’ ability to get credit. The group Stand Up Missouri held a rally Wednesday at the state Capitol to oppose the measure. They say the ballot measure overreaches and would make it impossible to offer installment loans that are safe, responsible and needed. … Under the proposed initiative, interest, fees and charges for payday, car title and installment loans would be capped at 36 percent. If supporters gather enough signatures, the measure could appear on this year’s ballot.” 

— Sean Nicholson from Progress Missouri, pushing for the payday loans reform: “Stand Up Missouri working, just like the shadowy payday lender front group, Missourians for Equal Credit Opportunity, to oppose a very popular ballot initiative that would cap the rate on predatory loans in Missouri. The misleadingly-named Stand Up Missouri organization is financed almost entirely by out-of-state companies who want to keep charging triple-digit interest rates to struggling Missourians.”

AG RACE — Ed Martin calls for Mo. to object to federal birth control order, AP: “Republican attorney general candidate Ed Martin wants Missouri to object to a federal decision requiring church-affiliated employers to cover birth control. … Martin on Wednesday urged Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to object and to file a lawsuit if necessary. Martin was speaking from a St. Louis-area Catholic hospital where his fourth child was born this week. Koster, a Democrat, was elected in 2008 and is serving his first term. A spokeswoman for Koster did not immediately return a call seeking comment.” http://bit.ly/wThDXB

THIS HAPPENED — ‘Billy Long makes his comedic debut in D.C.,’ POLITICO’s Click: “Stealing the show with a self-deprecating, crowd-pleasing routine at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s congressional dinner on Wednesday: Rep. Billy Long. ‘This is my coming out party tonight!’ the Missouri congressman exclaimed at the start of his speech, admitting that he’s not very well-known on the Hill. Long joked that despite his low-profile, he’s frequently confused with other lawmakers who get more TV airtime than he does. But there’s one guy he’s never mistaken for, he said. Displaying an image of Rep. Aaron Schock on the cover of Men’s Health magazine, Long asked, ‘How can they prove Aaron Schock has the best abs in Congress? They never wanted to see mine!’ A less successful joke: Long made fun of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s hair, comparing her to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, drawing some winces from the crowd.” http://politi.co/Acy3yu

SPORTZZZZ — ‘Haith, English perfect fit; each rejuvenates career at Mizzou,’ CBS Sports: “Kim … English said that, as much as anything, it’s the senior leadership and chemistry that has played into this team thriving while a near-identical group from a year ago struggled. … English has heaped plenty of praise on new coach Frank Haith, who would have coached the Baltimore native at Miami if not for DeQuan Jones committing the weekend prior to his visit to Florida. … But now the pair are a perfect fit. Both have revitalized their careers with one another, English regaining his focus after a brutal junior campaign and Haith getting a new lease on life after being on the verge of being let go at Miami.” http://bit.ly/wEJ01N