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By Alexander Burns (
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aburns@politico.com ) and James Hohmann (
mailto:jhohmann@politico.com
jhohmann@politico.com )

POPPING THIS MORNING - PAWLENTY'S POST-CHICAGO BLITZ - The former Minnesota governor is hitting the a.m. TV circuit hard in the aftermath of his Windy City economic speech. Already on the schedule: NBC's "Today" show at 7:05 a.m., CNBC's "Squawk Box" at 7:30 a.m., Bloomberg's "In the Loop with Betty Liu" at 8:15 a.m. and Fox's "America's Newsroom (pre-taped) in the 9 a.m. hour. Times all Eastern ...

THEY REALLY LIKE IT - RIGHTY ELITE CHEERS - Despite serious questions about the viability of his proposals, the Club for Growth praised Pawlenty's speech lavishly and the Wall Street Journal editorial board writes him a Valentine in today's paper: "Among GOP Presidential contenders, Tim Pawlenty is offering the most ambitious reform agenda so far, and his economic address yesterday continued the trend ... His policy mix is centered on building a durable expansion and boosting middle-class incomes, and his speech was notable for its optimism, avoiding the austerity temptation that traps many Republican ... Now that Mr. Pawlenty has laid down his marker, what do his competitors have to
offer?" The WSJ was less high on Pawlenty's support for a Balanced Budget Amendment.
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BREAKING OVERNIGHT - GOODMAN, HANCOCK WIN - Carolyn Goodman will be the new mayor of Las Vegas, winning the election to succeed her husband, two-term Mayor Oscar Goodman, with 60 percent of the vote. Unclear whether there are larger implications here, except that this is one of the bigger dynasty campaign wins in a while. Dynastic politics fared less well in Colorado, where Denver elected Michael Hancock, its second black mayor: "The city councilman parlayed a rough childhood into a stunning success story and defeated former state Sen. Chris Romer to claim the job of Denver mayor that he boldly predicted as a teenager he'd one day hold ... Romer, the son of former Gov. Roy Romer, came into
the race with plenty of name ID and the most money, but turned off some voters in the runoff with attacks deemed negative."
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FIRST IN SCORE - RSLC RECRUITS - The Republican State Leadership Committee has hired New York operative Matt Walter to serve as the group's political director, bringing on board a veteran of one of 2010's tougher state legislative campaigns. Walter was a consultant to the RSLC's effort to take back the New York state Senate last November, which very narrowly succeeded. He's a former executive director of the New York Republican Party and Rick Lazio campaign manager, and the RSLC says he'll "play a key role in directing all RSLC political expenditures, expected to exceed $21 million for the cycle." The RSLC - along with its Democratic counterpart, the DLCC - has already run ads in Wisconsin
ahead of the state Senate recall campaigns this summer. RSLC president Chris Jankowski: "Matt is an experienced political professional who is ready to continue the RSLC's groundbreaking success and take the point for the Committee's efforts electing Republicans to state office across the country."

As Barack Obama crosses the river, Dan Boren throws in the towel and Texas Republicans prepare to debate, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.

WILL ANTHONY WEINER BE A CONGRESSMAN NEXT WEEK? The good news for the Democratic congressman is, he hasn't totally lost the battle for public opinion just yet. A NY1-Marist College survey released Tuesday night found 51 percent of registered voters in New York City believe he should not resign, while 30 percent believe he should and 18 percent are unsure. Still, the coverage of his indiscretions may not have fully sunk in yet: Calls for the poll went out on Monday, and the margin of error is plus or minus 5 percent. Already, 56 percent of New Yorkers say Weiner should not run for mayor in 2013. The 14-page NY1-Marist PDF with the crosstabs:
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THE DEEPER WARNING SIGNS - Even if those numbers hold up, Weiner has to contend with a Democratic Party that's increasingly public about how much it wants him to leave. Former DNC Chairman Tim Kaine has now called on Weiner to resign, which makes it safe for other prominent Democrats in competitive races to say the same. POLITICO's David Catanese spotted the quote in a local Charlottesville TV piece: "Lying is unforgivable. Lying publicly about something like this is unforgivable and he should resign," Kaine said. And the New York Times reports that some Empire State Democrats have the long knives out: "One suggestion of his new vulnerability: some New York Democrats have approached former
Councilman Eric N. Gioia of Queens about running for Mr. Weiner's seat, according to two people briefed on the conversations. Mr. Gioia, these people said, is open to the possibility. He declined to comment."
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THE 2012 SCORE - GETTING TO YES - Jon Huntsman isn't ready to say that he's running for president. But he seems to be getting awfully close, telling National Review on Tuesday: "We have basically decided as a family that we are very comfortable moving forward." Ramesh Ponnuru: I said that sounded like a 'when,' not an 'if'; he responded, 'when.' A spokesman called a few minutes after the interview to clarify that while all signs point to a run, no final decision has been made."
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ED ROLLINS, MAN ON A MISSION - Michele Bachmann's new campaign adviser delivered a barrage of criticism against Sarah Palin on Wednesday, first stating that the Alaskan has not been "serious" about the 2012 campaign and then stating flatly on MSNBC's "Hardball": "If she doesn't run, she doesn't matter." POLITICO's Smith and Haberman have more on the brewing Bachmann-Palin duel: "The coming confrontation is being driven by a belief in Bachmann's camp that the same grassroots, conservative primary voters and caucus-goers may have to choose between the two women-and that they will choose Bachmann if she presents herself as a more seasoned, reliable, and serious conservative than her
high-profile rival ... [Rollins] suggested in an interview with POLITICO that Bachmann would profit from the contrast. Bachmann will 'be so much more substantive,' Rollins said. 'People are going to say, "I gotta make a choice and go with the intelligent woman who's every bit as attractive."'"
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PLUS - WHAT THEY'RE SAYING IN THE UK: Remember when, about a year ago, Palin raised the prospect of meeting with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during a visit to London? The Independent reports - for what it's worth - that's not likely to happen: "Baroness Thatcher had to stop making public appearances years ago because of ill health and is seldom at home for guests ... An aide said: 'Nowadays, the Lady rarely meets people at all. If a meeting went ahead it would be very much low-key, and would very much depend on how things were on the day. We don't make firm appointments for this sort of meeting.'" An anonymous Thatcher ally went further with The Guardian: "Lady Thatcher
will not be seeing Sarah Palin. That would be belittling for Margaret."
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ROMNEY DECLINES LDS QUESTIONS - Mitt Romney said it's legitimate for a presidential candidate to be asked about his faith, but told CNN's Piers Morgan last night: "I'm not a spokesman for my church ... If you want to learn more about my church, talk to my church." More: "Morgan pressed him on what the Mormon church says about gay rights, asking, 'What is the Mormon position on homosexuality being a sin? ... Well, do you personally think homosexuality is a sin?' 'Nice try, but I'm not going to get into that,' Romney said."
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FLORIDA, FLORIDA - FLORIDA? Several Republican presidential candidates are treating the Sunshine State as a key stop in their path to the 2012 presidential nomination. But so far, that's not translating into involvement in the Republican Party of Florida's September straw poll. The St. Petersburg Times tells it like it is: "It's time to raise the possibility, however remote, that 'Presidency 5' ... could be an embarrassing flop ... [U]nlike the straw polls the Florida GOP conducted at Presidency 1 (1979), 2 (1987), and 3 (1995), there is zero sign of early straw poll organizing by the presidential campaigns. An aggressive straw poll campaign can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and
this cycle the Republicans so far appear intend on marshaling their resources rather than doll out money for an officially meaningless election in Florida."
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OBAMA'S ECONOMIC MESSAGE - He'll try to drive it in Virginia today, according to the White House guidance: "In the morning, the President will visit Northern Virginia Community College Alexandria Campus and deliver remarks to highlight the importance of training and preparing our workforce to compete for manufacturing jobs across our country. Preparing Americans to enter into the manufacturing sector will not only strengthen the economy and put Americans back to work, it's critical to our nation's success as we compete in a 21st century global economy." The speech is at 11:30 a.m.

BRACKETING - The Republican Party of Virginia is releasing this video, contrasting Obama's economic record with GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell's, later today:
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THE BIGGER 2012 PICTURE - SPLIT DECISION - Gallup confirms the trend: Americans continue to applaud President Barack Obama's handling of the economy and terrorism, but they disapprove by strong margins of his leadership on the economy. On terrorism, his numbers are 63 percent positive, 33 percent negative; on Afghanistan, they're 53 percent positive, 42 percent negative; and on foreign affairs in general he's 8 points in the positive direction. But on the economy, 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Obama. When it comes to the deficit, that number is 63 percent, with just 32 percent approving. Jeffrey Jones still sees a Bin Laden boost: "Gallup has shown a sustained increase in Obama's
overall job approval rating since bin Laden's death, from an average of 44% in the week before it occurred to 51% in the week after. Since then, his approval rating has averaged 50%, suggesting the rally in support is ongoing."
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FIGHT NIGHT IN THE LONE STAR STATE - POLITICO will live stream tonight's U.S. Senate forum, hosted by the Texas Triune at 8 p.m. Eastern. Republican candidates expected to attend are former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz, Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones, former Commissioner Michael Williams, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and former Texas Secretary of State Roger Williams. Check back for more:
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THE HOUSE CAMPAIGN - BOREN OUT: Oklahoma's only Democratic congressman, Dan Boren, won't run for reelection next year, complicating efforts to flip control of the House by putting his conservative-leaning district in play. The Democrats' best hope to hold the seat is likely former Rep. Brad Carson, who represented the district for two terms before running for Senate in 2004. KTUL: "Carson has been serving as professor of business and law at the University of Tulsa as well as director of the National Energy Policy Institute, a non-profit energy policy organization located at TU and funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation."
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ON BEYOND ALBUQUERQUE - MARTINEZ EXPANDS - New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, whose name is already popping up on VP short lists for 2102, announced Tuesday that she's starting a PAC. Her initial sales pitch for Susana PAC asked donors to support an agenda that includes "repealing the law that gives driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, enacting school reforms, and lowering taxes to make New Mexico more competitive with our neighbors." The bare-bones website:
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CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Imagine you go to a restaurant and Anthony Weiner is your waiter. Do you have the stomach for dinner? Imagine you call an electrician and Weiner shows up at your home. Do you let him in?" - The New York Post's Michael Goodwin, on a crusade
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