Morning Must Reads: Slog

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–Secretaries Clinton and Gates will brief Congress on Libya next week. Is there a legal reason not to call it war?

–Speaker Boehner is reportedly convinced a bipartisan budget deal — that is to say, one without the GOP’s coveted restrictions on various federal agencies that Dems are unlikely to ever accept —  would lead to revolt.

–Mitt Romney’s team is preparing for a “slog” to the nomination. At least one key seems to be Florida; He’s sunk a lot into New Hampshire this time around, and he’s always been strong in Nevada, but Iowa and South Carolina are the early states where Evangelicals play a big role. Winning a state like Florida would put a lot of momentum behind his bid.

–Census data show the Hispanic population grew 43% in the last decade, but that bloom isn’t showing up yet in the electorate, in part because so many are under 18. That’s expected to correct over time.

–Ben Bernanke, peeking out of from the citadel of a increasingly politicized Fed, will start giving regular press conferences. (Perhaps related: When government economists’ public meetings go wrong.)

–As civil unions pass the Colorado senate, a Republican legislator’s floor speech leaves colleagues in tears.

–Cuckolded John Ensign aide Doug Hampton has been indicted for lobbying his former employer’s office. He could face five years in prison for each of seven counts.

Deaths per watt in the power industry.

–And what makes for good prediction?

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