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


BREAKING OVERNIGHT - "Ohio legislature passes bill curbing union rights" - Reuters: "Ohio's legislature on Wednesday passed a Republican measure to curb the collective bargaining rights of about 350,000 state employees, and Governor John Kasich said he will sign it into law. Its passage marks another success for Republicans who are pursuing measures in several U.S. states to limit the rights of public-sector unions ... Kasich, a Republican, did not indicate when he would sign the bill but he is expected to do so by Friday ... Ohio Democrats hope to put the new law on the ballot for a referendum vote in November in an effort to overturn it." http://reut.rs/ehBQbZ


2012 TALKER - RUBIO FOR REGIME CHANGE - Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has written to the Senate leadership to request their support for a "bi-partisan resolution .... authorizing the president's decision to participate in military action in Libya" and endorsing the ouster of Muammar Qadhafi. The Weekly Standard obtained a copy of Rubio's proposal, which Bill Kristol dubs a "striking bid by a freshman senator to exercise foreign policy leadership." Kristol: "This is by far the boldest move Rubio has made-it's perhaps the boldest move any freshman senator has made-in the three months since the beginning of the 112th Congress. Rubio is taking on those in his own party who wish to distance themselves from what they consider Obama's war in Libya ... If he succeeds in galvanizing Republican support for the war and influencing the administration's conduct of it, it will be a remarkable achievement." http://bit.ly/ibIpAb and http://bit.ly/eTjiFv


LAST NIGHT - HE'S NOT RUNNING, BUT ... New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie went after President Barack Obama at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner last night, slamming Obama as a "poser" and calling on Republicans to stick to their principles. POLITICO's Maggie Haberman has more: "Christie, who headlined the event that raked in a whopping $10 million, talked about the importance of leadership in his speech ... Christie called Obama 'a poser and a preener,' according to a tweet from conservative writer Michael Goldfarb. Faith and Freedom Coalition head Ralph Reed, also at the dinner, tweeted that Christie said, 'We will be judged at this moment of crisis. We must stand up, tell the truth, do the difficult thing.'" http://politi.co/fIjimG


AND COMING THIS A.M. - CHRISTIE'S TOP FIVE - It's not just the NRCC hoping to raise money off the Garden State governor this week. In a message going out this morning to Christie supporters across the country, the New Jersey Republican Party will ask readers to vote on their favorite "Christie moment" from a list of YouTube videos. The greatest hits are all there: Christie telling off a reporter who questions his "tone" ("You think that's a confrontational tone, you should really see me when I'm pissed"), taking a two-by-four to labor leaders ("My argument is not with teachers ... my argument is with a union") and being told by a voter that he's "hot and sexy." This isn't just an online game. It's an attempt to translate Christie's national brand into resources for the party: The videos come along with an appeal to "assist the NGOP's efforts to help elect Republican legislators and enact Governor Christie's reform agenda." http://on.fb.me/ftqh0z


As David Paterson reflects, Christina Romer gets a new fan and Newt Gingrich returns to the scene of the shutdown, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


AT THE BUZZER - WHO WE'RE WATCHING: The first fundraising quarter of the year closes at midnight, which is also when some proud campaigns will start to tout their cash totals. The reports will trickle out over the next few weeks, but here are the candidates Score is watching most closely: (1) Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who raised an incredible $13.4 million last cycle and could transfer any money she's raised this year into a presidential campaign account; (2) Former Virginia Sen. George Allen, whose fundraising prowess is expected to be a major asset in his 2012 comeback bid, and now has the chance to prove it; (3) Former Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman, whose haul will either confirm her status as the GOP frontrunner against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, or not; (4) New York Rep. Charlie Rangel, who has filed for reelection and now needs to prove he means it by actually collecting money for a 2012 run; (5) Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whose allies have taken care of her campaign account while the congresswoman remains in medical rehabilitation, in an effort to ensure that Giffords will be in a position to run for reelection - or for the Senate - if she wants to.


THE 2012 SCORE - FROM BROWNBACK TO HUNTSMAN - Rob Wasinger, who managed Kansas Sen.-turned-Gov. Sam Brownback's 2008 presidential run, has signed on to help Jon Huntsman's potential 2012 bid. And in an interview with LifeNews.com, Wasinger said it was Huntsman's record on abortion that drew him to the cause. From the website: "'There are some candidates out there who claim to be pro-life, but as Governor, Jon Huntsman did the hard work of advocating for the cause of life when others would run and hide,' Wasinger said ... Huntsman signed a trio of pro-life bills in February 2009 that the Utah legislature approved - including legislation to make second-trimester abortions illegal ... Huntsman has also lived out his pro-life views in that he has seven children, two of whom were from international adoptions." http://bit.ly/hvV7Vp


TODAY - NEWT ON THE FRONT - As leaders in both parties struggle to avert a government shutdown, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is coming back to Capitol Hill for a meeting with first-term members of the House GOP conference. The Los Angeles Times observes that the visit is "undeniably loaded with symbolism ... Gingrich has said he plans to talk to the freshman about the lesson of 1995-96, when he presided over a government shutdown, and encourage them to 'be bold' and appeal to the American people for support. But those Republican leaders who've spent weeks trying to tamp down shutdown talk and to preemptively blame Democrats view Gingrich's visit as tone-deaf and poorly timed. 'We're not trying to shut down the government; we're trying to cut spending,' one GOP aide said. House leaders are not scheduled to meet with Gingrich, aides said." http://lat.ms/f5G61D


ODD COUPLE - ROMNEY HEARTS ROMER: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney opens a USA Today op-ed this morning with a quote from former Obama adviser Christina Romer, who recently said policymakers "need to realize that there is still a lot of devastation out there." Then Romney dives into a stump speech-like riff: "President Obama didn't cause the recession, but he made it worse and caused it to last longer. From the outset, he inaugurated the most anti-investment, anti-business, anti-jobs policies we have seen since Jimmy Carter. Further, the White House has still not crafted any discernible plan to put Americans back to work." More, including his bullet points for recovery, here: http://usat.ly/gKboA8


THE FLORIDA PRIMARY - BARBOUR TO TLH - Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is the latest 2012 hopeful planning a trip to the Sunshine State Capitol to "rub elbows with the House Republican caucus on April 7 at 7 p.m.," according to the Miami Herald. It's not Barbour's first move in Florida: He recently recruited Florida operative Sally Bradshaw, consigliere to former Gov. Jeb Bush, to help with his likely presidential bid. http://bit.ly/dFfWrA


AND - T-PAW TO BOSTON: The former Minnesota governor will address a major tea party rally on tax day next month. The Boston Globe's Glen Johnson has the details: "The third annual event, sponsored by the Greater Boston Tea Party, will occur from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on April 15 ... It [puts Tim Pawlenty] in a Tea Party spotlight enjoyed last year by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who was the event's 2010 keynote speaker. 'Governor Pawlenty's leadership in Minnesota has put his state on a course towards economic success,' said a statement issued by Christin Varley, the group's president." http://bo.st/h9XFHM


TAKING THE BAIT - AGAIN: Last week, Sarah Palin said she was done criticizing the media's coverage of her. Yesterday, she issued a 965-word statement responding to a Daily Caller story about a measure enacted during her time as governor to give tax credits to filmmakers. The details of the complaint? Palin explains: "Goodness, cleaning up the sloppiness of reporters could be a full time job. In response to The Daily Caller's online inquiry, I gave them a statement that the writer buried on his story's second page ... [T]he spent the first page completely spinning a situation to give the impression that Alaska's film production tax credit legislation was somehow solely my idea hatched up to benefit the Palins years before I was ever involved in a documentary series on TLC/Discovery Channel." Read on: http://on.fb.me/feOR9U


REDISTRICTING READ - "Is creating 'safe' districts a dying art?" - Rhodes Cook, senior columnist for the Crystal Ball at UVA's Center for Politics, argues that it is in a column dropping today: "Altogether, 100 House districts in 40 states switched party hands at least once after 2002, a number representing nearly one out of every four congressional seats ... More House incumbents were beaten under the current lines than in any other period since the 1970s ... One might guess that most of the shifts from one party to the other occurred in swing districts. But that was not the case. Nearly half (49) took place in "red" districts that had supported Republicans George W. Bush and John McCain ... Another 22 switches came in 'blue' districts that had voted in recent presidential elections for Democrats John Kerry and Barack Obama. In short, 71 of the 100 districts where partisan changes took place could be considered reasonably safe, or at least clearly leaning to one party or the other ... [S]afe congressional seats will always be with us, but probably not as many as their most ambitious creators would want." http://bit.ly/glxBL6


(INTERNAL) POLL OF THE DAY - BERKLEY'S LEAD: Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley would start out with a 4-point lead over GOP Rep. Dean Heller in a face-off for Nevada's open Senate seat, according to a survey taken by Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. The results are expected to inform Berkley's decision on whether to run. Jon Ralston reads into the data: "The survey also showed that approximately half of the electorate doesn't have a fully formed idea of who Heller is ... Said one Democrat: 'It shows Dean Heller does not exert the kind of magical hold on Nevada that Republicans assume.' Berkley, from what I understand, is encouraged by the poll but unsure whether to give up her seat. But she now has most of the data that she can gather, including the certainty that if she gets in, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will suddenly become her new best friend." http://bit.ly/eW7Bm4


COURTING THE DANGED SHERIFF: Arizona Reps. Jeff Flake and Trent Franks, who are poised to compete against each other in next year's Republican Senate primary, will both help raise money for Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu's reelection bid in DC next week. Babeu is the shiny-pated lawman who campaigned hard for John McCain's 2010 campaign, talking tough on immigration and raising his statewide profile in the process. The sheriff has a record of endorsing in competitive primaries - he supported freshman Reps. Ben Quayle and Paul Gosar in their nomination fights - and a source said he's open to backing a candidate for the Senate in 2012.


CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Maybe I just had problems with management." - Former New York Gov. David Paterson, speaking with the Observer about his time in office http://bit.ly/eqK7QK

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