Subject: POLITICO’s Morning Score: Minnesota is ground zero for Romney rebuke--Texas to push back primary--Turnout down from 2008 again--Conservative pundits: last night was Romneycare referendum--Obama takes lead in Virginia
From: "Morning Score" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:16:57 -0600

By James Hohmann (
mailto:[email-masked] 
[email-masked] ; Twitter: @jameshohmann)

APPLE VALLEY, Minn.-We'renot sure whether to call it a hat trick or a trifecta, but Rick Santorum has now won more states than Mitt Romney. The former Pennsylvania senator reset his campaign by sweeping all three Tuesday contests, and he finally got the moment of glory he was denied in Iowa. The closest and most stunning of the outcomes came in Colorado, where polls showed the frontrunner comfortably ahead. While it was Romney's worst day since South Carolina, Newt Gingrich was probably an even bigger loser. He's now gasping for relevance against a surging Santorum, going into the long lull before two primaries at the end of the month.

THE MONEY QUOTE IN SANTORUM'S VICTORY SPEECH:'Ladies and gentlemen, I don&#39;t stand here to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama." Full transcript:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8282f5db6362a492014cd1a333b2d6c8e4dae069194b9d07b8f0530d472e4241 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8282f5db6362a492014cd1a333b2d6c8e4dae069194b9d07b8f0530d472e4241 . Video:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8282f5db6362a4926e2b9f80002c10fe2932951c07ebc19c420c29634617b159 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8282f5db6362a4926e2b9f80002c10fe2932951c07ebc19c420c29634617b159 .

MINNESOTA IS GROUND ZERO OF THE ROMNEY REBUKE:Even with Gingrich on the ballot to divide the conservative vote, Santorum trounced the former Massachusetts governor by almost 30 points here. He received less than one-third his vote total from 2008. He lost all 87 counties despite visiting last week, sending targeted mailers and having ads on the air from his Super PAC. Conservative activists, who hold disproportionate influence at the lower-turnout caucuses, soundly rejected the choice of Tim Pawlenty and Norm Coleman. In fact, Pawlenty attacked Santorum very aggressively on the eve of the election and it got extensive earned media in the Twin Cities - to no avail. Dakota County, home to
 Pawlenty (and where your Morning Score correspondent grew up), should have gone for Mitt. He got 20 percent! The Star Tribune's Rachel Stassen-Berger calls it a "clobbering":
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8282f5db6362a492dfc96647ee1a36f328dc51a9ff458029aacbdd27752d87ee 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=8282f5db6362a492dfc96647ee1a36f328dc51a9ff458029aacbdd27752d87ee .

STRONG 2ND IN MINNESOTA - RON PAUL HAD HIS BEST NIGHT YET:Paul beat Romney by 10+ points in Minnesota, and he could still end up with more delegates than Santorum when the state GOP holds its convention in May. He lagged in Missouri and Colorado, but his performance offered some needed validation for his caucus strategy. According to Smart Politics, it was his best performance in any state during both of his runs for president as a Republican (he's still never won a state):
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475cbe48ea2184b97a53636a6fe048a0ab57cd854425e24fac2f 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475cbe48ea2184b97a53636a6fe048a0ab57cd854425e24fac2f . My story from his party in Golden Valley (not to be confused with the superior valley on the other side of the Twin Cities):
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c76bf916d465df6592385865ee74dd4a810947a7be96e1280 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c76bf916d465df6592385865ee74dd4a810947a7be96e1280 .

LATEST RESULTS -

COLORADO, with 99.79% reporting: Santorum: 26,372 - 40.24%; Romney: 22,875 - 34.9%;

Gingrich: 8,394 - 12.81%; Paul: 7,713 - 11.77%.

MINNESOTA,with 95% reporting: Santorum: 21,436 - 44.8%; Paul: 13,030 - 27.2%;

Romney: 8,096 - 16.9%; Gingrich: 5,134 - 10.7%.

MISSOURI, with100% reporting:Santorum: 138,957 - 55.2%; Romney: 63,826 - 25.3%;

Paul: 30,641 - 12.2%.

2008 BENCHMARKS-Back when Romney was the "conservative alternative" to John McCain, he won Minnesota with 41.4 percent and 26 thousand votes. He won Colorado with 60 percent. Even in a four-way race, he took 29 percent in Missouri.

NATE SILVER PREDICTS DRAWN-OUT NOMINATING BATTLE:"Whatever your perspective on how likely Mitt Romney was to lose the Republican nomination race prior to Tuesday evening, it should be acknowledged that he had about the worst results conceivable," he writes on his 538 blog. "Mr. Romney has had deep problems so far with the Republican base, going 1-for-4 in caucus states where turnout is dominated by highly conservative voters. Mr. Romney is 0-for-3 so far in the Midwest, a region that is often decisive in the general election."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c195d9a475d6454b20588c70008f3b3fe31b2f7bcdf2552b1 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c195d9a475d6454b20588c70008f3b3fe31b2f7bcdf2552b1 

SADLY - We have no exit or entrance polls to dissect.

** As Kerrey passes, Gingrich says he's one all but two of the debates and Texas pushes back its primary, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

SANTORUM'S HEAVY LIFT - MANY OBSTACLES LIE AHEAD:

THE OPEN QUESTION:"The results on Tuesday shook the political world, which appeared to once again make the mistake of believing the Republican race for the presidency was finally set on a stable trajectory," Jim Rutenberg writes on A1 of the New York Times. "But it was an open question whether the defeats were a momentary embarrassment or a prolonged setback for Mr. Romney."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c439f61de9407b30321cdbd7de685e724c097ffb0ba688573 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c439f61de9407b30321cdbd7de685e724c097ffb0ba688573 

REMEMBER: Zero delegates were technically at stake last night, and Missouri was widely dismissed as a beauty contest by local Missouri media.

FIVE WAYS SANTORUM COULD CAPITALIZE:Position himself as the wonk in the field, dominate the culture war moment, challenge Romney on electability, hit the late-night circuit and pick a fight on national security. Alex Burns:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475cd0d06122da2f4d41eccc0caff7025360242d87170303e514 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475cd0d06122da2f4d41eccc0caff7025360242d87170303e514 

HIS FAVORABILITY IS ABOUT TO TAKE A BIG HIT:Santorum's going to become a lot less likeable to the many conservatives who don't really know much about him, as the Romney juggernaut spends millions to define him as a Washington insider.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c9d54a48119deadf77b68c80928c4cc7a8f85c74b0bbaadd7 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c9d54a48119deadf77b68c80928c4cc7a8f85c74b0bbaadd7 

HE'LL NEED TO RAISE A LOT OF MONEY...AND FAST:There's a lot of buzz online about how the biggest benefactor of Santorum's legally independent Super PAC stood over Santorum's right-shoulder as he delivered the Missouri victory speech. The Huffington Post's Sam Stein notes that "the proximity of the donor to the candidate on Tuesday night is a wonderful illustration of the dangers of the new campaign finance system: Where big checks don&#39;t just get you a seat at the table, they get you a spot on the stage."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c3815300d3b10f7889d20acf70917df85c761fae9d4236713 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c3815300d3b10f7889d20acf70917df85c761fae9d4236713 

Some smart TAKEAWAYS from Maggie Haberman about last night-

TURNOUT DOWN FROM 2008 AGAIN:In Nevada, Florida and all three of last night's contests, turnout has gone down.

ISSUE MATRIX BREAKING SANTORUM'S WAY: Economic issues are becoming less salient in the wake of employment gains, undercutting Romney's message. Meanwhile, social issues - where Romney's weak and Santorum's strong - are coming to the fore. The headlines about the Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood controversy, as well as the Proposition 8 court ruling in California, are terrific message points for the 1990s-era culture warrior...It is late in the game for anyone to stop Romney, but this is Santorum's best shot at it.

In case you missed this Prop 8 development on the trail yesterday: "A federal appeals court declared California&#39;s 2008 voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, concluding that the prohibition served no purpose other than to 'lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians,'" per the Los Angeles Times.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c9042bfa71be02db63115e51f73ac6ee0d2f9b34fe5d24f24 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c9042bfa71be02db63115e51f73ac6ee0d2f9b34fe5d24f24 

ABSENCE OF COMMERCIALS HELPED DOOM ROMNEY:For the first time in any of the early contests, Romney and his affiliated super PAC did not blanket the airwaves with ads. It may not be the only reason Romney won some of his races, but it certainly was a big one - and it helped in a paid media state like Florida.

GINGRICH MUST FIND A WAY TO STAY IN THE CONVERSATION:Short of setting himself on fire at CPAC this week, Gingrich is low on options to make himself part of the conversation. Of course, the one person who might want Gingrich to linger, as he's promised he will, is Romney, who needs a fractured conservative base.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c06f6a899754cdfb834cf1c61ece44bffa65729cf0537a898 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c06f6a899754cdfb834cf1c61ece44bffa65729cf0537a898 

THE PRE-SPIN - ROMNEY CAMP TRIED TO LOWER EXPECTATIONS:Here's the memo they distributed not long after Score went out yesterday to preemptively pooh-pooh their weak showing:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475ceee36c253dcc163ddda5bd0e58a25a0eee547fcb34aa30e4 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475ceee36c253dcc163ddda5bd0e58a25a0eee547fcb34aa30e4 .

FOUR CONSERVATIVE PUNDITS REACT -

DAILY BEAST's John Avlon argues that Gingrich has been supplanted as the Romney alternative:"It was the day when Newt's narrative of a two-man race collapsed. Because right now, angry and almost broke, Newt is no longer the leading candidate to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. That man is Rick Santorum. And what makes Gingrich especially grumpy is that the man he is losing to was once just a pimply backbencher in the 1994 Republican Revolution."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03926aec6744c3c50455380126ab48b48d7ff026d97c7f1597 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03926aec6744c3c50455380126ab48b48d7ff026d97c7f1597 

THE WEEKLY STANDARD's William Kristol thinks Santorum has an opening on OBAMNEYCARE:"Santorum has a chance. He&#39;s run an impressive campaign, but he'd better be wearing armor and kevlar tomorrow morning, when the Romney team unleashes all of its negative artillery against him. But what can Romney dwell on that would damage Santorum as much as Romneycare harms Romney? When Santorum was assailing Romney on health care in Jacksonville, Romney told Santorum, 'It&#39;s not worth getting angry about.' Well, the voters in Missouri and Minnesota may not have been angry, but something about Mitt Romney concerned them. I suspect at the heart of their concern was Romneycare. And I suspect it&#39;s
 worth Mitt Romney getting worried about."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03e8df68167f6f33a63574737b2dabc29e87d4ffc5244c2c0e 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03e8df68167f6f33a63574737b2dabc29e87d4ffc5244c2c0e 

LARRY KUDLOW, quoted in National Review, sees the results as a referendum of sorts on health care:"A vote for Rick Santorum tonight was the easiest and most immediate voter path to protest Obamacare and Obama's pro-abortion view.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c030819e99d99facc04f5b305cc832348246fdea9539349acb9 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c030819e99d99facc04f5b305cc832348246fdea9539349acb9 

THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER's Byron York thinks the nasty Gingrich-Romney attacks in Florida turned voters off of both in later states:"'I think this started in Florida, when Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich went at each other with such personal attacks,' says Chuck Laudner, a longtime ally of Rick Santorum, calling late on election night from Minneapolis. 'They weren&#39;t really on the issues.' ... Laudner, the Iowa conservative political operative ... and driver of the 'Chuck truck' that carried Santorum across Iowa ... spent the last ten days in Minnesota, trying to persuade influential Republicans to support Santorum. 'Ten days ago, I couldn&#39;t get a single statehouse or senate member to
 go public with an endorsement,' he says. Then, after the fighting in Florida ... things changed. 'By the end of the week, we got a couple of endorsements, and they helped us get a couple more, and then we had a lot of names.'"
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03a9d220faae49c3a146bd0611e504ab41fc8a95326d1d3dbc 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03a9d220faae49c3a146bd0611e504ab41fc8a95326d1d3dbc 

HOW IT'S PLAYING IN THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA -

USA TODAY:"Three-state sweet by Santorum BOLSTERS HIS CASE."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03617cf87c85f14ff09b3a3b9a3eed9a5ab6d8ffa50fff0f09 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03617cf87c85f14ff09b3a3b9a3eed9a5ab6d8ffa50fff0f09 

NEW YORK TIMES:"Results raise NEW DOUBTS about Romney."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c439f61de9407b30321cdbd7de685e724c097ffb0ba688573 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b859590c495b475c439f61de9407b30321cdbd7de685e724c097ffb0ba688573 

WASHINGTON POST:"Santorum REVIVES campaign."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03a53b35742873bd1aa0d1f038bf446cfa9138a77b992008bf 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03a53b35742873bd1aa0d1f038bf446cfa9138a77b992008bf 

WALL STREET JOURNAL:"Santorum delivers a GOP STUNNER."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03feff5338850e02e2de7d533a2d5cd4c74075884708418726 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03feff5338850e02e2de7d533a2d5cd4c74075884708418726 

BLOOMBERG:"Santorum sweep SLOWS Romney's drive."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03936c4f6cdb84689e6507dace1f66c5fd1da7affcb9682d4f 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03936c4f6cdb84689e6507dace1f66c5fd1da7affcb9682d4f 

NBC:"Santorum gets SECOND WIND."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c031df08b7e6325067d620d44f988652cbcc0ca46bddba1c0ac 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c031df08b7e6325067d620d44f988652cbcc0ca46bddba1c0ac 

WHAT THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES ARE UP TO TODAY:Santorum heads to North Texas, with stops in McKinney, Allen and Plano. Gingrich continues his Ohio swing, with a visit to Cleveland. Romney goes to the state Gingrich represented in Congress so long ago - with for a rally and fundraiser in Atlanta. Paul's taking the day off.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03c5faef73b1885afafa5d957d270c150658242c6de2812cd4 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=34e685445f7d5c03c5faef73b1885afafa5d957d270c150658242c6de2812cd4 

WHAT'S NEXT? -

SANTORUM WON'T WIN MAINE THIS WEEKEND:It's a Paul-Romney race, and he's not competing there. If for some reason Paul managed to win, it would feed the narratives that Romney is vulnerable and that the base is unenthused for the frontrunner.

ROMNEY'S MONEY ADVANTAGE WILL BE KEY ON FEBRUARY 28:"Look for Romney and the pro-Romney Super PAC to start to reload and regroup in Arizona and Michigan - the next two major contests on the docket on Feb 28," ABC's Amy Walter writes. "Romney is hoping his money and organizational muscle will pull him through in these states, much like money and organization helped him win Florida."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c1ebc2d34d2b5810f577104f85b1f72470f857e8b523a571b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c1ebc2d34d2b5810f577104f85b1f72470f857e8b523a571b 

SUPER TUESDAY IS MARCH 6 -

OHIO BUS TOUR - GINGRICH AVOIDED THE SPOTLIGHT LAST NIGHT:"When results started rolling in, he was in transit between Columbus and Cleveland," Ginger Gibson writes. "Instead of attacks against Romney that appeared like buckshot, scattered and without a real target, Gingrich focused in on a few points. He stepped up his criticism of Santorum, who he expected before the polls closed was going to do well." Ginger:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c4d0219b9e0930c8601b28076d0b96257104d9f6bbddf4db7 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c4d0219b9e0930c8601b28076d0b96257104d9f6bbddf4db7 .

HOW NEWT'S TRIP IS PLAYING IN COLUMBUS:"Gingrich yesterday sought to recharge his stalled campaign by getting an early jump on Super Tuesday's big prize - Ohio. The former U.S. House speaker from Georgia embarked upon a two-day, four-city bus tour mapped to expose his campaign to about 80 percent of Ohio's GOP primary voters," the Dispatch reports. "But even as Gingrich appealed to conservative audiences in America's political bellwether, his path to the nomination appeared to get bumpier as results came in from contests yesterday in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75ce1cb32d8680d8dfca0722c787ea507b0a9b063f8967e54e3 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75ce1cb32d8680d8dfca0722c787ea507b0a9b063f8967e54e3 

During a CNN interview last night, Gingrich asserted that he's won 15 of the 17 debates:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c28b975f27d60e9825cd580ebe75c6dc4c8b3d7f3de0892a6 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c28b975f27d60e9825cd580ebe75c6dc4c8b3d7f3de0892a6 .

ROMNEY SUPER PAC GOING ON THE AIR IN OHIO TODAY:Restore Our Future has reserved $137,928 in statewide broadcast and cable buys. Alex Burns: The flight currently includes a heavy cable presence statewide, including time on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN, with a modest broadcast to start, the source said.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75ca469a41c8158a00097ae2e34dd8e5b9562fd51484c067446 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75ca469a41c8158a00097ae2e34dd8e5b9562fd51484c067446 

NEW VIRGINIA POLL - MITT WILL WIN HANDILY:Romney leads Paul 68-19 among likely primary voters in a Quinnipiac poll out this morning. They're the only two on the ballot.
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c42b3e4110eb23e7532f93e1d59510560e994a3e6f5f7ec82 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c42b3e4110eb23e7532f93e1d59510560e994a3e6f5f7ec82 

CALENDAR UPDATE - TEXAS PRIMARY WILL NOT HAPPEN APRIL 3:As Santorum heads for the Lone Star State today and Gingrich continues to cite Texas as a central part of his Southern Strategy, Texans are poised to push back their primary to a point where it might not be relevant in the nominating calendar. "A few weeks ago, everyone involved in Texas&#39; redistricting fight praised the idea of keeping all the state&#39;s primaries on a single election day in early April. On Monday, those who had praised the April 3 primary effectively buried it when a court-imposed deadline to negotiate compromise interim redistricting maps passed without a deal," according to the San Antonio Express-News. "'The
 April 3 primary date is dead. It&#39;s not doable,' said Paul Bettencourt, a former Harris County tax collector who serves on the Republican Part of Texas' redistricting committee. 'Even at warp drive, it&#39;s (at least) 75 days' to get ready for an election without the complication of redistricting, he said. 'Even April 17 is doubtful,' he said about an alternative date offered by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott on Monday."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75ce650997715b3669f6af252e695d4f71dd7077dcf521890d6 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75ce650997715b3669f6af252e695d4f71dd7077dcf521890d6 

MORE ON ROMNEY-

NEW VIRGINIA POLL SHOWS HIM SLIPPING AGAINST OBAMA:A Quinnipiac poll out this morning puts Obama ahead of Romney 47-43 in the key battleground. The university's December poll had Romney up 44-42. "In the Obama-Romney matchup, independent voters favor the president 45 - 41 percent, compared to a 41 - 41 percent tie in December. A gender gap is opening up as women shift to the president, backing him 52 - 40 percent, compared to a 43 - 45 percent split in December," Quinnipiac says in a press release. "The president also leads former House Speaker Newt Gingrich 51 - 37 percent, as he tops former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum 49 - 41 percent and Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul 47 - 40 percent."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c42b3e4110eb23e7532f93e1d59510560e994a3e6f5f7ec82 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c42b3e4110eb23e7532f93e1d59510560e994a3e6f5f7ec82 

THE SECRET SERVICEprotected him from a would-be glitterbomber in Denver. Video:
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c7bbf489c149ce35bdd24675d4f0a7daca7660f6e5890b66b 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75c7bbf489c149ce35bdd24675d4f0a7daca7660f6e5890b66b .

WASHINGTON POST - "AS MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR, ROMNEY'S RECORD ON JOBS WAS UNREMARKABLE":"There was not one measure where the state did well under his term in office. We were below average and often near the bottom," said Sum, who is also the director of Northeastern's Center for Labor Market Studies.Who will be first to cite this story in an ad?
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75cbc5ab8dce67c8897bc8f24b15294381a24e18cda8b8cc5a2 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75cbc5ab8dce67c8897bc8f24b15294381a24e18cda8b8cc5a2 

WHAT THE PRESIDENT IS UP TO:"In the morning, the President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing and meet with senior advisors in the Oval Office. In the afternoon, the President will attend the Democratic Senate Caucus Retreat at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. Later, the President and the Vice President will meet with Secretary of State Clinton in the Oval Office.

LA MAYOR IN DC - HE'LL ATTACK ROMNEY ON IMMIGRATION TONIGHT:AntonioVillaraigosa will attacking Mitt Romney during a speech in D.C. tonight on immigration reform to the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO).An early excerpt:"For the first time in modern memory, a major political party is poised to nominate a presidential candidate who has abandoned immigration reform and instead advocates self-deportation.We have a candidate who on Martin Luther King Day, a day celebrating racial reconciliation, had the architect of Arizona and Alabama's draconian anti-immigration laws campaign for him.This is beyond the pale.And we are obligated to say so.We must defend the tradition of
 sensible immigration reform...A tradition that until recently was a bipartisan one that ran from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton to George W. Bush."

EMILY'S LIST - ADDING THREE WOMEN "TO THE LIST":Thepowerful women's group will announce they are placing congressional candidates Kyrsten Sinema, Lori Saldana, and Kathy Boockvar "On the List."This gets them in front of the group's million members. It's one stop short of an endorsement. EMILY's List is now supporting 19 House candidates, along with a record 11 Senate candidates. The list will grow again soon.

NEBRASKA SENATE - NO GOOD DEM CANDIDATES AFTER KERREY PASSES:"First Ben Nelson disappointed Nebraska Democrats when he decided not to seek a third term. Now Bob Kerrey has dashed their dreams of a high-profile 2012 candidate for U.S. Senate," The Omaha World-Herald reports. "Kerrey ended his flirtation with a Senate bid Tuesday, leaving the Democrats with a field of two potential candidates, neither of whom has ever run a statewide race: State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha and University of Nebraska Regent Chuck Hassebrook of Lyons. The two have until next Wednesday to file for office. Both have expressed interest, but both said they will be talking to potential donors over the next couple of
 days to see if enough money will be available to run."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75ceb140d8df3f9a3a32f4ed2115e99d306e615e04008c4ddf6 
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=d51c56f820cde75ceb140d8df3f9a3a32f4ed2115e99d306e615e04008c4ddf6 

NORTH CAROLINA HOUSE - SUE MYRICK WILL RETIRE:She's the fourth North Carolinian to announce a retirement in two weeks. "Myrick, a ninth-term Republican, held a conservative 9th District seat in the southern part of the state and served on the House Energy and Commerce Committee," Alex Isenstadt explains. "Myrick is one of 11 surviving members of the class of 1994, when House Republicans surged into the majority with a 54-seat gain. The North Carolina Republican has typically skated to election, winning with at least 62 percent of the vote in each contest. Democrats have little chance of winning the seat in the fall - Republicans in the state Legislature redrew the district last year to
 ensure it would remain in GOP hands."
http://go.politicoemail.com/?qs=b16aa1087bd1e9256e94fbe4a24b3cee0ad301754bdeee48328272d63901eb64 
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CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY:"I'm always winning. I'm never losing." - Ron Paul unintentionally channeled Charlie Sheen in Minnesota last night as he explained why the libertarian movement he's leading prospers in spite of electoral defeat

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