- The White House is now open to a short-term debt ceiling extension of “a few days” if it helps secure a larger deal.
- Norm Ornstein shakes his fist at Congress.
- The Gang of Six plans raises far more taxes than the Obama-Boehner grand bargain because it assumes top-tier Bush tax cuts will be allowed to expire.
- Wall Street makes its own debt ceiling contingency plans.
- Romney continues to be cautious, appearing in little more than a few strategic op-eds and skid-row tours.
- Bachmann gets doctor’s note.
- Pawlenty looking desperate: His campaign now says he only needs to place “better than sixth or seventh,” in Iowa’s Ames straw poll.
- His latest ad, “American Comeback,” asks voters to “join me and prove the experts wrong.”
- And Weigel comes up with some new slogans for him.
Morning Must Reads: Desperate
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Obama’s Persuasive Powers on Gay Marriage Manifest in Maryland
When President Obama endorsed gay marriage earlier this month, the media grappled with two basic political questions: Was his personal “evolution” a case of a politician transparently following a national trend toward accepting same-sex unions (accelerated, perhaps, by his chatty No. 2), and would it hurt his re-election chances by alienating socially conservative voters like black churchgoers? Sure, there was a recognition that it marked a gratifying moment for gay-marriage advocates — as well as some grumbling about the President’s view that it remains a state issue, not a federal one. But by and large, there were few suggestions that one man, even the President, would shift public opinion on the issue or affect public policy. Based on a new Public Policy Polling survey out of Maryland, it seems this possibility was underestimated.
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