Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–Obama departs on a whirlwind tour of the Gulf Coast today with stops in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida before delivering his first Oval Office address to the nation Tuesday night. Reportedly included in the speech: a case for comprehensive energy and climate legislation, including some form of carbon pricing. But it’s not yet clear how prominently it will figure in his primetime rhetoric — he has a lot of other ground to cover.
–Mitt Romney has adopted the spill into his germinal 2012 stump speech.
—John Harwood points out Obama’s poll numbers are holding steady. Something Republicans should be worrying about: In the midst of several major crises and with unemployment hovering near 10 percent, Obama’s approval floor is right around 50 percent.
–James Risen reports the discovery of nearly $1 trillion worth of mineral deposits beneath Afghanistan. The potential implications for the destitute nation’s economy, the Taliban’s will to fight for control, a regime already rank with corruption, and international resource interests boggle the mind.
–Marc Ambinder says note the timing and the sources: “The story is accurate, but the news is not that new; let’s think a bit harder about the context.”
–Sharron Angle is hitting the East Coast power centers of New York and D.C. this week to try to rally establishment support and raise coin for her bid to unseat Harry Reid. Her opener was a somewhat bizarre appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
–The newly formed Republican independent expenditure group American Crossroads is going on the air for her this week in Nevada.
–Reid is out with his own brutal opening negative spot:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBuI655UzRc]
–Just to be clear, Nikki Haley closes her runoff ad with “I am a woman who understands through the grace of God, with Him all things are possible.”
–The NRA’s first endorsement of the cycle is Ohio’s Democratic governor Ted Strickland.
–And Alabama ad makers strike again.
What did I miss?