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–President Obama is on the road again Wednesday, trying to carry health reform over the finish line. The consensus on Monday’s outing: “fiery.” Expect more of the same today in St. Louis, plus plenty of knocks on health insurers, the administration’s favorite foil.
–Speaking of which, HHS Secretary …
–We’re at an interesting point where both parties are trumpeting their intentions to run on health reform if/when it goes through, pro and con respectively. But I’m very skeptical of Senator McConnell’s assertion that every election in November will be a referendum on the issue. The notion that health care will totally overshadow …
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza via Flickr
–President Obama heads to Arcadia University just outside Philly today to continue his closing argument on health reform. There’s not much in the way of new material, but I expect him to focus on one thing: urgency. He’s looking to keep the momentum going for the final push and …
Normally, I don’t pay much attention to staff hires by gubernatorial hopefuls, but Independent Tim Cahill, the Massachusetts State Treasurer who is challenging Governor Deval Patrick for his seat, sent out an interesting press advisory this morning. A recent poll showed Cahill in a statistical tie with the Republican candidate, Charles …
Politico got an exclusive look inside the Republican National Committee’s fundraising scheme for the rest of the year. It seems chairman Michael Steele is going to try and scare donors into giving him cash by fear-mongering about the “socialist” government President Obama will usher in without their help to oppose him. I would say …
–Charlie Rangel, embroiled in an ethics investigation, temporarily relinquished the powerful Ways and Means chairmanship this morning. As far as replacements go, Democrats have pretty slim pickings on the committee. Pete Stark or Sandy Levin may take the baton for now.
–President Obama will announce “the way forward” on health care …
–Texas holds its primaries today, and most national attention is directed at the Republican gubernatorial contest. Current Governor Rick Perry is expected to come away with a win after having successfully defined his opponent, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, as too Washington for the Lonestar crowd. The real question is whether he can …
–As if Blanche Lincoln’s re-election effort wasn’t hard enough already, it just got worse for the Senator. Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, a fellow Democrat, just threw his hat into the ring for a primary challenge.
–Jim DeMint continues to seek a role as conservative king-maker in Republican Senate primaries, setting up an …
There’s a legend in Hawaii about a surfer named Eddie Aikau. In the 70’s Eddie was the top lifeguard in Waimea Bay on Oahu, winning dozens of surf competitions. He was always the guy willing to risk his life, no matter how rough the water, to make a save. Eddie volunteered for the 1978 Polynesian Voyaging Society’s 30-day, …
–Paterson’s friends are leaning on him to abandon his campaign, while the never subtle Post and Daily News trumpet “Time To Go.”
–As Michael mentioned, Charlie Rangel is being officially admonished by the House for an ethics violation stemming from a failure to disclose financial details of some Caribbean trips. The Times has the …
–Robert Gibbs insists today’s health care summit won’t be “kabuki theater.” Biden goes off message and says it might.
–Mike Allen has an excerpt of Pelosi’s opening remarks.
–Mark Blumenthal reminds us that not too many people actually watch these things.
–It looks like Michael Bennet’s public option letter may have panned …
—Tech President charts the origin of that jobs graphic.
–A politician may finally be allowed to use John Mellencamp songs at rallies: John Mellencamp.
–It’s impersonation day; the NRCC channels Nancy Pelosi in a fundraising e-mail and Charlie Crist ghostwrites a CPAC address for Marco Rubio.
—Bush 43 asks, “Who the [heck] is …
Hey Swamplanders. As Karen mentioned, I’m going to be chipping in around here. One of the things I plan on doing is a daily “Morning Must Reads” post to share a few things that we’re currently following. Here is its maiden voyage:
–Consistent with the tenor of past health reform negotiations, Republican leadership and the White …
