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


HAPPENING NOW - MISSION TO MASSACHUSETTS: Guy Cecil, the executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is on a two-day trip to the Bay State aimed at gearing up a 2012 challenge to GOP Sen. Scott Brown. Cecil will meet with party leaders and donors as part of what one Democratic strategist called a "long-term, coordinated strategy" to take down the Republican. Polls show Brown will not be a pushover: A Western New England College survey published Monday put Brown just over the 50-percent mark against two possible opponents. But Democrats are confident that Brown's voting record and party label will catch up with him in the presidential election cycle. "No incumbent Republican in the country is more at odds with the political reality of his or her state than Scott Brown," the Democratic strategist said. The Boston Globe has more: http://bo.st/htvwuL


BREAKING IN WISCONSIN - GOPAC ON THE AIR - The conservative organizing group GOPAC is up with a television ad defending one vulnerable Wisconsin Republican legislator who voted to end public-sector collective bargaining. The commercial praises state Sen. Randy Hopper for voting "to create jobs and fix government spending" - a message that state Republicans are sure to echo in the coming months. "Amid all the shouting and contention in Madison, let's remember these facts: State government is broke. Wisconsin has lost over 150,000 jobs," the ad says. "Without these reforms taxes will go up and more jobs will be lost." The spot is paid for by GOPAC Wisconsin and targeted to conservatives in the Fond Du Lac and Osh Kosh media markets, according to a source familiar with the buy. Watch it here: http://bit.ly/frvVOp


MORE - POLLING BULLETIN - Three Republican state senators, including Hopper, currently trail in recall match-ups with generic Democratic challengers, according to a Daily Kos/PPP survey. State Sen. Dan Kapanke is down 14 points, Hopper is down 5 points and state Sen. Luther Olsen - who's on the receiving end of ads from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee - trails by 2 points. Two other Republicans lead, but are under 50 percent. Democrats need to pick up three seats to seize the chamber and announced Monday that they're about halfway to the number of signatures they need to touch off eight recall elections. http://bit.ly/fFH1n1


THE BIGGER LANDSCAPE - GOING NATIONAL - In a memo due out today, the AFL-CIO casts the fight in Wisconsin as part of a larger struggle against Republicans who "spend their time giving political favors instead of creating good jobs." Targeting GOP state executives from Maine and Michigan to Pennsylvania and Iowa, media director Alison Omens writes: "Last Thursday, over 20,000 teachers, firefighters and policemen joined with community members at the Indiana Statehouse to protest against 'right-to-work-for-less' legislation ... On Tuesday, hundreds of Miami teachers, firefighters, police, healthcare workers and others met at the Mahi Shrine Auditorium to express their outrage at a slew of bills ... Working people are galvanized as politicians spend their time taking away the rights of workers instead of creating jobs and building the economy." Read the whole thing: http://politi.co/fZpuV3


As Jerry Brown picks a date, the Florida primary gets crowded and Evan Bayh finds a way to keep annoying the left, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


KAINE WATCH - IN OR OUT? DNC Chairman Tim Kaine told a University of Richmond class that he intends to "give it a shot" and run for Senate in 2012, according to the Collegian newspaper. The campus publication contradicts the official Democratic line that Kaine said merely that he's leaning toward the race: "Kaine told his class that he was planning a trip to China and would discuss some of the details of his decision with his students when he returned to class in two weeks ... University of Richmond student Gray Delany called The Schilling Show, a radio program in Charlottesville, Va., and said that two friends had told him that Kaine announced the decision during class. Multiple sources within the Democratic Party claimed that Kaine only said he was 'increasingly likely' to run, but The Collegian has confirmed that he told the class that he had made his decision." http://bit.ly/fdtNqE


THE 2012 SCORE - "Barbour assails Obama ahead of Iowa visit" - The Chicago Tribune: "Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a prospective GOP presidential candidate, used a speech to Chicago business executives [Monday] to excoriate hometown President Barack Obama's economic and energy policies but stopped short of criticizing the Democratic incumbent's cautious approach to Libya ... Barbour contended the American public has told the White House that 'bigger government means a smaller economy' ... He also hailed the controversial actions of Republican governors in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, saying they were waging a 'courageous and necessary fight to rein in excessive government spending' by reforming 'unsustainable entitlement in public-sector union benefits.'" Barbour flew to Sioux City, Iowa, last night and speaks later this evening to a state GOP fundraiser in Davenport. http://bit.ly/ewGQJG


ON THE OFFICIAL SIDE - TURNER OUT: Dan Turner, the press secretary in Barbour's gubernatorial office, resigned Monday after POLITICO reported on a series of questionable jokes he made in staff e-mails. The Clarion Ledger wraps up the episode: "According to Politico, a Friday e-mail from Turner wrote that on that day in 1968: 'Otis Redding posthumously received a gold record for his single, '(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay.' (Not a big hit in Japan right now.)' In other e-mails, Turner also joked about former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno's gender, as well as the Cambodian genocide ... Deputy Press Secretary Laura Hipp will now take over his duties, according to Barbour's release." http://bit.ly/gq85bc


FOX PUMPS UP HUCK: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is planning a series of fundraisers for his PAC that represent his most serious campaign activity in months, relays the Huckabee-employing Fox News network. From the vague report: "Sources close to Mike Huckabee tell Fox News the former Arkansas Gov. is 'literally 50-50' on whether or not to make another run at the presidency in 2012 ... Fox News has learned there are some fundraisers on the horizon for HuckPac, Huckabee's Political Action Committee ... The first fundraiser will take place in Texas within the next two weeks." http://bit.ly/f7gUly


CAN'T - LOOK - AWAY: Donald Trump has committed to appearing at a New Hampshire breakfast event this June, around the same time as he said he'll decide on a 2012 presidential run. WMUR's James Pindell: "Trump will speak in June to state business leaders at the popular 'Politics and Eggs' series, according to a source involved with the planning. This would be Trump's first visit to the state since he began openly exploring a run for president." http://bit.ly/euZrMP


POLLING LIBYA - BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NUMBER '56' - That's the percentage of the population that favors multilateral action to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, according to CNN/Opinion Research and ABC News/Washington Post surveys. Presidential candidates have hesitated to stake out clear positions on Libya, for obvious political reasons. CNN's polling shows Americans only favor some kinds of intervention: "The survey indicates there is vast opposition to injecting U.S. ground troops into the conflict, with 76 percent saying they would oppose such a move. But 53 percent say they would favor Washington and other countries sending arms and supplies to the Libyan forces fighting to remove Gadhafi from power. 'The no-fly zone wins support from Democrats and Republicans alike, with virtually no partisan differences. That's rare in politics these days,' says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland." http://bit.ly/ik8WcK and http://bit.ly/fhLzNx


TODAY - President Obama may be coming soon to a station near you, according to the White House guidance: "Later in the morning, the President will conduct local interviews with KOAT Albuquerque, KDKA Pittsburgh and WVEC Hampton Roads from the Map Room on the importance of education reform and the need to fix No Child Left Behind. These interviews are closed press."


SAVE THE DATE - FIGHT NIGHT IN JERSEY - Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is headed to the Garden State next month for the state Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson dinner. Since taking over as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, O'Malley has been Gov. Chris Christie's most determined out-of-state critic. And Sean Downey, executive director of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, told the Washington Post that's part of the reason O'Malley was invited: "Governor O'Malley has been a great defender of New Jersey working families against the attacks of Governor Christie." http://wapo.st/fJIG2r


FLORIDA DELIVERS - GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES: Former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner and ex-U.S. Sen. George LeMieux are both taking steps toward announcing for Senate sometime next month, the St. Petersburg Times reports. Adam Smith had the story: "Former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner has formed an exploratory committee ... Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos already announced his campaign and is raising hundreds of thousands of dollars. Soon after the first fundraising period ends March 31, Hasner and former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux are expected to make their candidacies official ... LeMieux also has been talking to campaign consultants, including Jon Lerner, who earned praise from conservatives last year by helping elect Nikki Haley governor of South Carolina." http://bit.ly/eT9eRe


NEARBY - ELECTION DAY IN MIAMI - Forget about Wisconsin for a minute. There's a recall election happening today in the political battleground of Miami-Dade County, where voters may oust Mayor Carlos Alvarez. The Wall Street Journal offers a snapshot of the race: "Alvarez, a Republican, first took office in 2004, campaigning as a reformer of shady South Florida politics ... Amid a high jobless rate and shrinking real-estate values in Miami-Dade County, Mr. Alvarez last fall agreed to increase pay and unfreeze some benefits for unionized public employees. At the same time, he raised property taxes for two-fifths of the county's homeowners, by an average of 13% ... If recalled by a yes or no vote Tuesday-a simple majority is required-Mr. Alvarez would be out and a special election would likely be held." http://on.wsj.com/gLutPw


THE CALIFORNIA SPECIAL - BROWN SETS THE TIMELINE: Voters in California's 36th Congressional District will vote May 17 in a special congressional primary and choose a successor for former Rep. Jane Harman in a July 12 general election. Gov. Jerry Brown announced the timetable Monday, the Sacramento Bee reports: "Unless one candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the May primary, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the July runoff ... Brown had hoped to consolidate the contest with an early June statewide election on extending temporary tax increases, but a deal to put the taxes on the ballot did not materialize by today's deadline for setting the congressional election dates." http://bit.ly/dSOH2L


AND IN UPSTATE NEW YORK: Republican state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin was endorsed for Congress by the New York Conservative Party, closing off the Democratic dream scenario of a GOP-Conservative Party split. The Daily News: "Corwin's name will now appear on three ballot lines - [Republican, Conservative and Independent] - when the special is held on May 24 ... It now remains to be seen what the plan is for David Bellavia, an Iraq War vet who had hoped to capture the Conservative line. Meanwhile, plans are for county Democrats to interview seven candidates this Saturday." http://nydn.us/eDFgGq


CODA - TWEET OF THE DAY: "Wow. Evan Bayh joins Fox News. I'm utterly shocked. And when I say 'utterly' I mean 'not in the flipping least'" - Former MSNBC host @KeithOlbermann http://bit.ly/goO3Bf

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