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


2012 TALKER - ON BEYOND WASILLA - Just when Sarah Palin was starting to fade a bit from the 2012 headlines, the former Alaska governor is striking out on an around-the-world trip that represents her most candidate-like excursion in months. Here's where she's headed:


- TO INDIA: On the first leg of her trip, Palin will speak this weekend to the India Today Conclave, where'll "share her vision of America, according to the newspaper hosting the event. India Today quoted Palin: "Americans have a great respect for the world's largest democracy ... [W]orking together our two nations can build a more peaceful and prosperous world." http://bit.ly/f6LHFI The speech streams here Saturday Morning: http://bit.ly/if87oD


- TO ISRAEL: Palin will meet with Israel's prime minister on Monday and speak with "other members of Israel's right-wing, including Likud MK Danny Danon, a Danon aide told The Jerusalem Post. She was also expected to visit the Western Wall and Nazareth during her short stay." http://bit.ly/hcwbLM


- AND TO FLORIDA: After returning to the U.S., Palin travels to Florida for a public appearance in Naples, on the west coast of the nation's largest swing state. The Fort Myers News-Press relays this vague information: "Palin ... will speak at a town hall meeting March 23 ... Palin will speak about current affairs and other timely topics." http://bit.ly/h2Hrn3


WISCONSIN GOES NATIONAL - BIDEN EDITION - On a conference call with union officials and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden declared that Americans "absolutely, positively need collective bargaining." The AFL-CIO gave this readout on its blog: "In a virtual town hall meeting ... Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis told the workers the Obama administration will stand with them and will stay with them to make sure their rights are protected. Joined by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka in the call, the Vice President opened with a quote from President Obama saying that 'We can't have a strong middle class without unions.'" http://bit.ly/h2eEkh


TODAY - From the White House guidance: "In the morning, the Vice President will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At 1:00 PM, the Vice President will attend an event for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee."


As Jim DeMint issues an ultimatum, Fred Davis gives career advice and Michigan Democrats get too clever by half, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


FRIDAY STANDINGS - BETTER OFF NOW? Chaos overseas and tense budget negotiations at home dominated the news this week, but the pace of the 2012 election still continued to pick up. Here's Morning Score's take on how some of the top political movers should answer the question: Are you better off now than you were seven days ago?


BETTER OFF: (1) Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who staked out a skeptical position on Afghanistan that promises to set him apart from the rest of the GOP field and matches up well with the trend line of public opinion on the war; (2) American Solutions, the conservative advocacy group that relaunched a high-profile campaign to support offshore oil drilling, beginning the process of defining an identity independent from the group's founder, Newt Gingrich; (3) Benjamin Netanyahu, who has drawn yet another 2012 prospect to Israel for a personal visit - proving that when it comes to the Jewish state, even Sarah Palin plays by the same rules as everyone else.


WORSE OFF: (1) Former Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle, whose just-announced bid for Congress has been greeted with a combination of impatient eye-rolling and open hostility from Republicans in her home state and in Washington; (2) Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, whose purity act appears to have finally gotten old in the eyes of House GOP leaders; their frustration with Pence's vote against the continuing resolution boiled over when one congressional aide called the ambitious legislator's position "about as genuine as a $10 Gucci hand bag on Sunset Boulevard"; (3) Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray, who fired his chief of staff just a few months after taking office and faces a congressional probe into charges that he promised a campaign supporter a high-paying city job.


THE 2012 SCORE - MESSINA SETS THE BAR - President Barack Obama's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee are asking their top donors to collect at least $350,000 each for the party in 2011. The New York Times's Jeff Zeleny reports: "Jim Messina, who is managing the re-election campaign for President Obama, announced the new goal during a closed-door meeting of the party's national finance committee and advisory board ... The amount is significantly higher than donors have previously been asked to contribute. In the last campaign, the Democrats were asked to raise $250,000 for the entire campaign cycle. If all members meet their goal, the tally from this group would be $157 million for this year alone." http://nyti.ms/fpAFfN


HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES - COURTING THE BUSH TEAM: Republican presidential candidates are quietly rushing to lock down support from the legendary George W. Bush fundraising network. Bloomberg takes a snapshot of the competition: "With the Feb. 6, 2012, Iowa caucuses less than 11 months away, prospective Republican candidates are courting those who could serve as their Pioneers and Rangers. 'There is a base of hundreds of folks who go back to the Bush campaigns,' [former Rep. and current Haley Barbour supporter Bill] Paxon said. 'I hear from folks who are being asked to go to Boston or Minneapolis or Biloxi' ... Former Bush Ranger Robert Wood Johnson IV, the New York Jets owner, is backing Romney. So is lobbyist Wayne Berman ... Pawlenty can count on the support of at least two other former Bush fundraisers: William Strong, a Morgan Stanley (MS) managing director, and Warren Staley, the former Cargill Inc. chairman and chief executive officer. Others are staying neutral for now." http://bloom.bg/h1osCq


RU-DY, RU-DY: It's back to New Hampshire tonight for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who's still hanging out at the edge of the 2012 presidential field and won't entirely rule out a bid. America's mayor spoke to the Union Leader ahead of the trip: "Giuliani is slated to keynote a fundraiser for the Manchester Republican Committee at the Executive Court on Friday evening (Ovide Lamontagne's Granite Oath PAC is listed as the dinner host.) Although Giuliani referred to 'candidates' and 'the race' a few times in the above interview, he insisted he has no specific timetable for deciding whether to run for President. 'I'm thinking about it but I'm not beyond that,' he said." http://bit.ly/esObnT


DEMINT'S DEMAND: The South Carolina senator backed Mitt Romney for president in 2012, even after Romney enacted universal health care in Massachusetts. Now, according to The Hill, DeMint considers the Massachusetts plan something like a dealbreaker: "DeMint ... 'would never consider' endorsing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president again in 2012 unless Romney repudiates the health reforms he sought as governor, a source close to DeMint said Thursday. A source close to the conservative icon emphasized that, despite comments to The Hill indicating that Romney shouldn't shoulder all the political blame for the Massachusetts healthcare plan, DeMint wouldn't endorse Romney again unless he admits the plan was mistaken." The anonymous quote of the day: "He would never consider backing Romney again unless he admits that his Massachusetts healthcare plan was a colossal mistake." http://bit.ly/hadtJ3


LUCAS FILMS FOR T-PAW: You've seen his videos. You've probably compared them to Michael Bay films on Twitter. Meet Lucas Baiano, the former RGA staffer who's now producing blockbuster web videos for Tim Pawlenty. The Huffington Post's Jon Ward: "Baiano's 90-second video for Pawlenty's book tour, released in January, bears all the distinctive trademarks of Baiano's style ... In short, it could be a political ad, but it could also be a trailer for something like 'Independence Day' ... [Fred] Davis, who also produced John McCain's 'Celebrity' ad targeting Barack Obama in 2008, said that Baiano is 'a great filmmaker, with quite a future out here in Hollywood once he tires of politics' ... Baiano is viewed as something of a one-trick pony by some veteran admakers who think he relies too much on imagery and slick editing. And his flamboyance appeared to irritate his superiors at the Republican Governors Association during his time there last year." http://huff.to/dUg0jW


NOT A GOOD HEADLINE - "RNC hit with bank fee for low balance" - POLITICO's Ben Smith: "New RNC chairman Reince Priebus - who's been faced with a string of financial carry-overs from predecessor Michael Steele, in the form of contracts and unpaid invoices - is also staring down a hefty bank fee of $650,000 that's due immediately, committee officials confirmed for my colleague Maggie Haberman. RNC officials insisted the fee itself wasn't a surprise, but acknowledged the amount was much higher than it has been in the past - and it comes at a time when the in-debt committee is looking to get its fiscal house in order." http://politi.co/gxrLOz


RIPPLES FROM 2010 - MICH. DEMS BUSTED - Two Michigan Democrats have been indicted in a scheme to sabotage Republicans by setting up phony independent "tea party" candidates last fall. The Detroit Free Press: "The indictment alleges that the pair attempted to place two county commission candidates, Aaron W. Tyler and Ruth Ann Spearman, and a state senate candidate, Johnathan M. Young, on the ballot without the candidates' knowledge. The two men forged the signatures on the affidavit of identity and falsely swore under oath to qualify them to run, the indictment says ... Besides prompting a criminal investigation, the plot backfired politically when the Michigan Supreme Court blocked the candidates from appearing on the ballot." http://bit.ly/f1MchJ


CENSUS READING - FLORIDA RISES: The Sunshine State had "quite a decade" in population change, the St. Petersburg Times reports, sifting through detailed census data that shows powerful growth throughout the state. From the paper: "Hillsborough County grew by 23 percent and held its own as the state's fourth most populous county, behind Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Pasco and Hernando counties both grew more than 30 percent ... The state's Hispanic/Latino population continued to surge, increasing about 57 percent ... Asians, while still a relatively small portion of the population, were the fastest-growing minority in the last 10 years. They grew by 71 percent." http://bit.ly/fF20T8


CODA - INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Stay the course." - Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, at a meeting of Senate Republicans yesterday http://bit.ly/hlWjbV

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