Morning Must Reads: Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

–As Michael mentioned, the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll (pdf) shows a little movement on health reform opinions in Obama’s favor, but it is mostly consistent with recent surveys showing a nation split on the merits of the plan. Pollster Peter Hart suggests the 21-point enthusiasm gap could present a real problem for Democrats in November, and extrapolates that passing health reform is the only way to rally the base.

–It’s coming right down to the wire. With the last CBO score still not out, there’s a shrinking window for Democrats to pull things off as planned.

–The New York Times credits Mitch McConnell’s knowledge of process for his success in keeping his caucus unified in opposition. Republicans have been very effective at turning the focus to process in the closing weeks (as Kate and Jay note in their story today). Greg Sargent argues congressional Dems haven’t been able to adequately explain or spin their tactics.

–Process, specifically the self executing rule, has indeed become the topic du jour. Please read Karen here, here and here. I would also recommend Marc Ambinder’s explanation. Enough said.

–Obama is working the phones between St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

–Kucinich says yes.

–Both the U.S. and Israel simmer down the back-and-forth over settlements.

–Stuart Rothenberg suggests keeping an eye on Patty Murray.

–Andrew Romanoff claimed victory in the Colorado caucuses Tuesday night, but underperformed expectations; he’s a long way from ousting incumbent Michael Bennet for the Democratic Senate nomination. On the GOP side, Ken Buck managed to stay even with Senate frontrunner Jane Norton.

–And votes are still being counted from Iraq’s recent parliamentary elections, but the Times points to an unexpectedly strong showing from the Sadr bloc.

What did I miss?