- ObamaCare turns two.
- Romney health care op-eds, then and now.
- The etch-a-sketch attack isn’t as effective as casting Romney as out of touch or indifferent to the middle class.
- His campaign tightens up its budget.
Must Reads
Morning Must Reads: Painful
- New rhetorical ground for Romney: Crediting Bush, Paulson and TARP for the recovery.
- What the federal government would look like in 2050 under Ryan’s plan.
- Another budget showdown could mar election-season.
- Obama tries to reclaim lost ground by expediting the southern portion of Keystone XL.
Morning Must Reads: Coalescing
- Romney coasts in Illinois.
- The coalescing continues: Tea Party behemoth FreedomWorks drops its opposition to Romney.
- Erick Erickson dubs him the nominee.
- Bill Kristol is still in the throes of despair though.
Morning Must Reads: Ryan
- Tonight could be only Illinois’ second competitive primary in a century, even if the larger race is anything but.
- Paul Ryan, debuting his new budget today, introduces it with a WSJ op-ed.
- He will propose massive tax cuts.
Morning Must Reads: Backstory
- Romney takes 20 delegates from an easy win in Puerto Rico.
- He leads by 15 points in Illinois, which is looking favorable.
- Santorum engages in a little class/geography warfare.
Morning Must Reads: Saturation
- Romney viewed less favorably and with less enthusiasm than McCain was in 2008.
- The next six weeks favor him heavily.
- Why Santorum could pull off the upset in Illinois.
- Obama’s 17-minute, Guggenheim-directed, Hanks-narrated propagandtacular is now online.
Morning Must Reads: Invention
- Biden will hold an opening ceremony for Obama’s overt campaign against Republicans.
- Why Santorum is outperforming the polls.
- Gingrich is tired of everything being “methodically and deliberately stupid.”
- Romney donors just want this thing over with already.
Morning Must Reads: Tests
- Romney finished within 3 to 6 points of the lead in two states where he’s demographically weakest last night.
- CNN projects Santorum won nine more delegates than Romney did in Alabama and Mississippi, a gap more than erased by Romney’s wins in American Samoa and Hawaii. So, unless last night persuaded Gingrich to get out, it didn’t
…
Morning Must Reads: Decline
- Administrations officials weigh accelerating Afghan withdrawal in the wake of killings.
- A CBS/NYT polls finds a worse outlook on Obama and the economy.
- Alabama and Mississippi wins would be a big deal for Romney.
Morning Must Reads: Drag
- High gas prices put a major drag on Obama’s economic and re-election numbers.
- The limits of presidential persuasion.
- Romney is in the hunt in Alabama and Mississippi as Santorum and Gingrich split conservatives.
- Geography has been most predictive this year.
Morning Must Reads: Employment
- The economy added 227,000 jobs in February as the unemployment rate remained unchanged despite a swelling labor force, and January and December numbers were revised up, good signs all.
- How Santorum would fare with Gingrich out of the picture.
- Romney’s keeping pace with McCain in share of delegates, states won and vote share.
Morning Must Reads: Engineers
- Here’s the trailer for Obama new super-celebrity re-election documentary:
[youtube=http://youtu.be/NXtJhLUOFXE]
- Pro Publica Reverse engineers Obama’s fundraising messages.
- His campaign scientists are trying to piece the old coalition back together.
Morning Must Reads: South
- Various lessons of Super Tuesday.
- The new popular metaphor is Groundhog’s Day: six more weeks of Santorum.
- The Republican race heads south.