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By Alexander Burns (@aburnspolitico, aburns@politico.com)


THIS JUST IN - PAWLENTY LANDS AYERS - Fox News reported overnight that Nick Ayers, the former executive director of the Republican Governors Association, has signed on to be Tim Pawlenty's "campaign manager in the likely event that Pawlenty announces a full blown presidential campaign in the next month or two. Nick Ayers [was] Executive Director of the Republican Governors Association under the leadership of Miss. Gov Haley Barbour, who is also weighing a potential White House run." Ayers joined the RGA in 2006 after managing Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's successful reelection campaign. http://bit.ly/gGKBZp


TODAY IN N.H. - DEMS HUG ROMNEY - National Democrats have vowed that Republican presidential candidates won't have the early primary states to themselves over the next year. This morning, the New Hampshire Democratic Party will put that pledge into action with a media offensive praising Mitt Romney for the health care law he signed as governor of Massachusetts. "Five years ago, Mitt Romney laid the foundation for President Obama's Affordable Care Act," state Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley writes in a missive set for release. "Without Romney, it's hard to see how President Obama would have been able to provide quality, affordable health care for every American ... Take a second today or tomorrow to thank Mitt Romney." Tomorrow, Buckley and two state representatives - Cindy Rosenwald and Rich DiPentima - will hold a press conference in Concord to mark the actual anniversary of the Massachusetts law. Buckley's full message here: http://bit.ly/giNNW2


SIREN - CARL LEWIS ENTERS POLITICS - Legendary track-and-fielder and 10-time Olympic medalist Carl Lewis is likely to announce today that he will run in this year's New Jersey state Senate elections as a Democrat. Sources familiar with state politics told Score that Lewis is expected to run for the seat of Republican Sen. Dawn Marie Addiego. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported over the weekend: "If Lewis wants in on the race, he and the Democrats would have to file a nominating petition with 100 Democratic signatures by the close of business Monday. The district encompasses much of Burlington County but also a handful of towns in Camden and Atlantic Counties ... Lewis ... won nine gold medals and one silver for five U.S. Olympic track and field teams. He was voted Sportsman of the Century by the International Olympic Committee." http://bit.ly/f1Mlk6


As the Wisconsin court fight drags on, David Petraeus gets a mention and Tim Kaine takes his first spin on the campaign trail, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


MONDAY STAKES - The countdown clocks have stopped, but the fight over the federal budget is only just beginning. With Washington still overshadowing events in the early 2012 primary states, here's Morning Score's take on who has the most to gain or lose in the week ahead:


(1) House Speaker John Boehner, whose political stature has already grown thanks to the Friday night budget deal, and who can enhance his position even further by shepherding the compromise to passage this week in a smooth and dignified way; (2) Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee and a critic of the budget deal, who can carve out more of a national profile by outflanking Boehner and even House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan on the right; (3) Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who's making his first trip to New Hampshire in months, in an early test of how his shtick will go over in the Northeast; (4) The Paul Krugman wing of the Democratic Party - that is, the lawmakers and pundits who believe that debt reduction is a distraction from economic recovery - who have to decide whether they'll pan President Barack Obama's belt-tightening speech this Wednesday the way they panned Paul Ryan's fiscal blueprint last week; (5) Indiana Rep. Joe Donnelly, who finds out today whether he'll still have a congressional district to run in next year, and who may find the Senate race looking even more attractive if there's no Democrat-friendly House seat for him to seek. http://politi.co/hhRnQT


EARLY-STATE BULLETIN - "Santorum wins big S.C. straw poll" - Jmart reports from Greenville: "Rick Santorum scored a decisive victory in a straw poll held Saturday among Republicans in South Carolina's largest county. The former Pennsylvania senator won 31 percent of the vote from a group of 413 activists who cast ballots at the Greenville County Republican convention. Newt Gingrich came in second place, taking 14 percent, Michele Bachmann and Donald Trump each captured 7 percent to tie for third place ... Performing well in the conservative-heavy upstate of South Carolina is important in GOP primaries and Santorum is working hard to appeal to evangelicals here. He had a group of supporters from the nearby Christian school Bob Jones University in attendance Saturday." http://politi.co/fPuBG0


TODAY IN IOWA - PAUL AND BACHMANN - The two House members most likely to run for president are both in the first-in-the-nation caucus state. Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann are addressing events hosted by the social conservative group, the Family Leader, with Paul slated to visit Dordt College in Sioux Center and Bachmann visiting Pella Christian High School and the University of Iowa. Paul and Bachmann were among just six Republicans to vote against the House GOP's short-term bill to keep the government open and fund the military through 2011. http://bit.ly/fRSU9j


OBAMA'S MAP - POTUS TO TEXAS - The president will take his reelection campaign to Austin next month for a fundraising swing in the heavily Republican state. The Statesman's Jason Embry: "A date has not been set in stone, but organizers are aiming for May 10. One source said he would have a $1,000-per-ticket event, followed by a more expensive one. Obama raised money in Austin last August." http://bit.ly/h91axq


2012 TALKER - "Congressional GOP frets over 2012 W.H. prospects" - Jonathan Martin: "[D]issatisfaction with the likely GOP field - long whispered among party activists, operatives and elected officials - is growing more audible in the House and Senate ... 'I don't see anyone in the current field right now, and people say that to me, as well. I'm reflecting what I hear,' said California Rep. David Dreier, chairman of the House Rules Committee ... The problem for Republicans now, though, is compounded by the lack of an agreed-upon figure to draft into the race - a fact illustrated by the varied answers members offered when asked who they'd like to see in the field. There were politicians who are putting off decisions (Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels), politicians who've said they won't run (former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie), individuals who aren't even politicians (Gen. David Petraeus) and individuals who aren't even named (two members cited a to-be-determined business executive or military leader.) The notion of going outside the traditional party structure to win isn't new, and Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts suggested he has as much in mind, when asked who he is eyeing. 'I talked to Gen. [Dwight] Eisenhower, and he's thinking about it,' Roberts joked." http://politi.co/fB778u


SO THIS HAPPENED - PALIN GOES BIRTHER - ABC News reports: "Sarah Palin said ... she 'appreciates' Donald Trump's repeated questioning of where President Obama was born, saying that though she believes he was born in Hawaii, 'there is something there that the president doesn't want people to see on that birth certificate' ... Palin threw her support behind Trump's questions, even if she said she doesn't think the end result will be showing that Obama was not born in the United States. 'I appreciate that The Donald wants to spend his resources on something that so interests him and so many Americans, you know more power to him,' Palin, a paid contributor to Fox News, said." http://abcn.ws/gkiiRy


TIM KAINE, SENATE CANDIDATE - The former Virginia governor and DNC chairman made his first major campaign stop this weekend, addressing the Loudoun County Jefferson-Jackson Dinner. The Loudoun Times-Mirror: "In framing what he thinks will be the major issues of the campaign, Kaine pointed to the three things he believes that the Congress can learn from the progress made in Virginia. Not surprisingly, creating jobs and stimulating the economy is at the top of the list ... Kaine next pointed to fiscal responsibility, an issue at the forefront of debate with the budget negotiations underway in Washington ... While Kaine declined to comment on the performance of his successor in Richmond, Governor Bob McDonnell (R), he had less kind words about the behavior of elected officials in Washington, telling the crowd in Loudoun, 'Anyone who uses the shutdown of government as a negotiating tool is irresponsible.' Kaine also urged a return 'balance and civility' to Washington." http://bit.ly/gAwHQB


THE AKAKA SEAT - CASE JUMPS IN - Former Rep. Ed Case became the first Democrat to announce for Hawaii's open Senate seat, declaring in a video that "our Hawaii offers a better way forward for our country." KITV Honolulu: "Case lost his bid to unseat Akaka in 2006. Since then, Case has not held office ... Case's most recent bid for office was in 2010 when he lost in a special election for Neil Abercrombie's seat in Congress to Republican Charles Djou ... Case bowed out of the primary election to clear the way for fellow Democrat Rep. Colleen Hanabusa to win the seat." http://bit.ly/efbU2p


WISCONSIN UPDATE - "Prosser open to Waukesha County recount" - The Journal Sentinel: "Justice David Prosser's campaign said Saturday that it was open to a recount of votes in Waukesha County as the state Supreme Court race remained without a declared winner. 'If you need to do a recount in Waukesha (County) and Waukesha (County) alone to satisfy heightened interest, that's fine,' said Prosser campaign manager Brian Nemoir. 'We believe it will only affirm the margin of victory we now enjoy' ... Prosser's margin of victory in Brookfield helped push him ahead of challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. Kloppenburg's campaign manager, Melissa Mulliken, said of the proposed Waukesha County recount, 'That is their talk. Once again, we're evaluating the data, looking at what we've got' ... On Saturday, in a windowless meeting room at the Waukesha County Courthouse, Kloppenburg campaign volunteers completed their initial inspection of the vote totals there. They compared data from poll books to the tape from voting machines. The actual ballots remained locked away in sealed bags." http://bit.ly/hiPhHa


CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I think Utahns realize that one man has a vision for running the country and the other man, a vision for getting his ratings up" - Kirk Jowers, head of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, explaining why Mitt Romney trounces Donald Trump by 72 points in Utah polling http://bit.ly/hbmPtH

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