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


RETIREMENT RIPPLES - TOP OF THE LIST - Nevada Sen. John Ensign's surprise retirement has opened up the third Republican-held Senate seat this cycle - and created one of the best openings yet to elect a new Democratic woman to the Senate. EMILY's List sources say the state is a premier pick-up opportunity for the group, with a long list of talented female candidates in the wings. Among them: Rep. Shelley Berkley, state Treasurer Kate Marshall, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Controller Kim Wallin. It's the second open seat in a week where a Democratic woman is likely to run - the race for Sen. Daniel Akaka's seat could feature one or both of Hawaii's two Democratic congresswomen. More on Nevada below ...


BUT FIRST - THE 2012 SCORE - LOOKS LIKE A CANDIDATE: Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has taken two big new steps in the direction of running for president, hiring Jim Dyke as a communications adviser and committing to a March 26 forum in Iowa hosted by Rep. Steve King. Snagging the South Carolina-based Dyke, a former RNC communications director, is a major recruitment coup for Barbour. Haley's PAC treasurer Henry Barbour trumpeted the hire in a release: "Haley is delighted to have someone as talented as Jim Dyke joining his team to help us managed the increased national media interest and demand in the Governor. Jim's knowledge and experience will prove invaluable to Haley in the coming few months." More on Barbour's upcoming Iowa trip: http://bit.ly/e0ZcYm


LAST NIGHT IN IOWA - UNDERDOGS WIN THE EVENING: Five Republican presidential hopefuls gathered to court the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition in what Gov. Terry Branstad dubbed "the first significant event of the caucus season." POLITICO's Haberman and Martin were on the ground: "in the end, it was [former pizza executive Herman] Cain and [former Louisiana Gov. Buddy] Roemer - the least known and probably longest-shot of the hopefuls - who got the most praise from a group of influential Hawkeye State conservatives ... After the speeches, [Rep. Steve] King, an ardent conservative, had praise for all the hopefuls but said he thought Roemer's down-home preacher routine had the audience rapt. 'Buddy really had the crowd captured,' said King. Other activists singled out Cain, like Roemer a native Southerner with a homespun pitch." http://politi.co/gFG4lS


MORE - Radio Iowa's O. Kay Henderson runs down the messages from the other three participants: "Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told the crowd fundamental political principles are based on morality ... Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty said the country needs leaders who don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk when it comes to faith ... Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum joked that his kids used to think his first name was 'Ultra' because he was repeatedly referred to as an "ultra-conservative' senator in the newspapers." http://bit.ly/ekRywz


KEY QUOTE - From the Faith and Freedom Coalition's Ralph Reed: "Some have suggested that we call a truce on social and moral issues. ... I'd like to have a leader who can walk and chew gum at the same time." http://politi.co/gFG4lS


As Michael Steele plots his return to the limelight, Gary Locke gets his next assignment and Nevada's long nightmare comes to an end, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


TODAY - From the White House guidance: "[T]he President will travel to Boston, Massachusetts ... In the afternoon, the President will visit a classroom at TechBoston Academy with Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan ... In the evening, the President will attend a DCCC fundraiser at the Museum of Fine Arts."


HERALD FRONT PAGE - "Why he's failing (...and how to get it right)" - The paper welcomes Obama with a front-page column from Romney, blasting the president's economic leadership. Romney: "When Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1980, he hung the Misery Index around Jimmy Carter's neck. It consisted of the sum total of unemployment and inflation. Today, we have a different set of ailments. Instead of unemployment coupled with inflation, we have a toxic blend of unemployment, debt, home foreclosures, and bankruptcies.... Where should we go from here? Having spent my career in the private sector, I know a thing or two about how jobs are created and how they are lost." More: http://bit.ly/hZUR0D ; see the front page here: http://bit.ly/eH75w3


THE BIGGER 2012 PICTURE - IT'S CALLED THE 'KISS OF DEATH' - Jmart and your Morning Score correspondent report on the White House's favorite new political tactic: "President Barack Obama has come to praise his Republican challengers - and to bury them. Over the last few weeks, Obama and his top allies couldn't seem to stop applauding several of the GOP's potential 2012 contenders. To listen to them tell it, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is a health care visionary and U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman is a loyal foot soldier of the administration.... Obama adviser David Axelrod told POLITICO that Huntsman has 'been a fine representative and we're grateful for his service' ... And on the topic of Romney's main albatross, the health care law, Axelrod enthused: 'So much from the Massachusetts experiment informed the decision-making around [federal health care reform]' ... And, said a top Obama adviser, when the president visited China in 2009 Huntsman 'could not have been more supportive.' 'He indicated that he appreciated what the president was trying to do on health care,' said the official." http://politi.co/fzuSxO


MORE - DECODED: "That's the kind of talk that for candidates like Romney and Huntsman, already viewed warily by some elements of the GOP base, could do real damage. ... 'You'd have to be naïve to believe that they aren't trying to influence the primary,' [Huntsman adviser John] Weaver said. 'They want to run against the weakest Republican possible in the general election.' ... 'This is fairly easy. At some point, it's just going to get picked up by their rivals,' said one Democratic official." http://politi.co/fzuSxO


ROMNEY'S NEWEST FAN: It's former National Economic Council Director Larry Summers, who pulled out the "laboratories of democracy" line to praise Massachusetts health care plan. "Governor Romney, in some of his iterations, has been correct," Summers said. http://bit.ly/hDo9dP


CALENDAR WATCH - ACT LIKE AN EARLY STATE: The Florida Republican Party has officially announced plans for a presidential straw poll in September. The event, dubbed "Presidency V," will take place from Sept. 22-24. The St. Petersburg Times: "The Republican Party of Florida will hold a 2012 presidential straw poll and FOX News-partnered debate ... 'I am proud to announce the details of this important event,' said RPOF Chairman Dave Bitner. 'Presidency 5 will give the candidates an opportunity to bring their message directly to the people of Florida while allowing voters to participate in a poll that has historically predicted the eventual Republican nominee for president.'" http://bit.ly/eebGyx


MICHAEL COHEN'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE: Donald Trump wasn't in Iowa yesterday, but his lawyer was. Michael Cohen, a top adviser to Trump, visited Des Moines to scope out the 2012 landscape. Reuters: "'We are very anxious to learn about Iowa and be able to report back to Mr. Trump when he hopefully decides to run in June,' Cohen said. Cohen insisted Trump was not involved in the planning of his trip. He said he came in his capacity as co-creator of the website ShouldTrumpRun.com. 'I took a personal day today so my hope is that when I ultimately finish this I can go back and I can gauge the feeling that I have from Iowa and for Mr. Trump,' Cohen told reporters." http://reut.rs/fAnBi9


MORE FROM NEVADA - ENSIGN OF THE TIMES - The pundits agree: Republicans are better off now than they were 24 hours ago, thanks to John Ensign's unexpected decision not to run for reelection. The Las Vegas Sun: "Ensign realized what most in Washington and Nevada already knew: that his chances for re-election were nearly non-existent ... And challengers from his own party - most notably Rep. Dean Heller - were nipping at his heels." POLITICO's Bresnahan and Raju: "Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other top Senate Republicans appear to have played little direct role in forcing Ensign out, but the relief over that decision was palpable ... There were virtually no public tributes to the scandal-plagued Ensign." The Los Angeles Times: "The Senate Ethics Committee recently named a special counsel to investigate whether Ensign violated ethics rules and federal law in the wake of his affair with Cynthia Hampton ... Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called for Ensign's resignation." http://bit.ly/fnqZ7P and http://politi.co/eTsGJj and http://lat.ms/dVCVr3


NOT RULING IT OUT: Sharron Angle, whose campaign adviser, John Yob, noted in an e-mail Monday that she'll be "a tremendously strong candidate for whichever office she chooses to run for." http://politi.co/eXMaR4


LIFE AFTER HUNTSMAN - LOCKE TO BEIJING: President Barack Obama has already settled on a successor to Jon Huntsman in the U.S. embassy in Beijing: Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on the former Washington governor's next act: "Locke, the son and grandson of Chinese immigrants, would be the first Asian-American to hold the Beijing post ... Locke was co-chair of then-Sen. Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign in Washington. As ambassador, he would work for Secretary of State Clinton ... One of Locke's first trips as governor was to visit his ancestral village in China, where he received a near-rapturous reception. A former Seattle state legislator, he was the first Asian-American to be elected governor on the American mainland." http://bit.ly/gVEaPn


POLL OF THE DAY - HANDICAPPING WILSON: Former New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson announced her campaign for Senate Monday, pulling in early endorsements from ex-Sen. Pete Domenici and an impressive roster of state legislators. PPP scopes out her odds: "Last month we found her favorability with primary voters to be 71/18, and actually even better with conservatives at 74/14 than with moderates at 64/25 ... Wilson's real problem is with independents. New Mexico is a Democratic state. For a Republican to win statewide requires winning independents, and generally winning them by a lot. But they don't like Wilson. Her favorability with them is a 39/43 spread. In a hypothetical contest with her successor Martin Heinrich she trails with independents by a 22 margin at 50/28." http://bit.ly/hiXGJk


THEY REALLY LIKE HIM - @maghabepolitico reports: "A source says Sen. Rand Paul had praise for @GovChristie at the Monday Meeting conserv confab tonight in #nyc" http://bit.ly/escyZM


STEELE'S NEXT GIG - ACT SURPRISED: So Michael Steele is finally thinking of doing a little TV. "I'm looking at doing some television. I'm certainly doing some writing," the former RNC chairman told ABC News Monday. "You know, to make some money because I've got to keep the kid in school and, you know, get him graduated." http://abcn.ws/fYECUA


NOT A GOOD HEADLINE - "Former aide files sexual harassment suit against Rep. Alcee Hastings" - The Palm Beach Post: "A woman who worked for U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, on an international commission claims in a lawsuit that he subjected her to 'unwelcome sexual advances,' crude comments and unwanted hugging over a two-year period and retaliated against her when she complained. Hastings denied the 'ludicrous allegations' in the lawsuit filed today by attorneys from the conservative group Judicial Watch on behalf of plaintiff Winsome Packer." http://bit.ly/gNmvPj


CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "You know, grandchildren now don't write a thank-you for the Christmas presents, they're walking on their pants with the cap on backwards listening to the enema man and Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dogg, and they don't like them!" - Former Wyoming Sen. and presidential deficit commission co-chairman Alan Simpson, telling it like it is. http://politi.co/hETvpk

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