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


2012 SNEAK PEEK - SANTORUM'S TRIFECTA: Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is preparing to power through the early presidential states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina - all in one week. The tour begins in Iowa: On Monday, March 7, Santorum will make a previously announced appearance before the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. He'll follow up Tuesday with a visit to the Crawford County Republican Women Lunch, an evening forum with the Woodbury County Republican Party and radio interviews with WHO's Jan Mickelson and KSCJ's Sam Clovis. Next up is South Carolina: On Thursday, Santorum will be a featured speaker at the Easley Boy Scout Dinner. Then, New Hampshire: Santorum speaks to the Strafford County Republican Committee's Lincoln-Reagan Dinner on Friday of that week.


HOURS AWAY - GINGRICH CLEARS IT UP? The AP reports the former House speaker will enter a "testing the waters" phase for 2012 when he visits Atlanta today: "Gingrich is set to talk about the step at a news conference Thursday at the state Capitol in his home state of Georgia where he has a meeting with the governor. Rick Tyler told the AP that Gingrich 'is entering the exploratory phase' of a presidential candidacy. He is stopping short of setting up an exploratory committee, which would have made him a legal candidate. Gingrich and his wife, Callista, oversee a web of commercial and nonprofit ventures and must tie up some loose ends with those businesses before they can take that step, Tyler said. However, 'this is a serious exploratory phase,' Tyler said." http://apne.ws/fzt3xy


POLITICO'S TAKE - "Newt's route: 2012 path paved with questions" - From Jonathan Martin and your Morning Score correspondent: "Gingrich appears poised to become the first major Republican to enter the race for president ... Before the former House speaker can start competing against his Republican rivals in earnest he must bring order to the unruliness and chaos that surrounds almost every aspect of his candidacy - from Gingrich's organization, to his message, to the candidate himself. He'll have to answer questions about his record in office and, perhaps more importantly, his three marriages. By getting into the race first, Gingrich would have extra time and space to explain all that, set his political house in order and refashion himself as a candidate for the first time since the 1990s." http://politi.co/hI4HUA


MORE - "I think being able to get in gives him an opportunity to confront those questions in the genuine context of a campaign and answer them as the demands of a campaign would dictate,' said Ralph Reed, the former Georgia Republican Party chairman who heads the Faith and Freedom Coalition ... One veteran Republican who knows Gingrich suggested an early start would give the at-times impulsive candidate, who hasn't run for office since 1998, some spring training before the thick of the campaign. 'He's going to have to go through a transition,' the Republican said. 'He'll need time to adjust to what is a very different role. He's going to have to be a little bit more measured.'" http://politi.co/hI4HUA


As Sheldon Adelson runs into trouble, the Jindals go through NYT vetting and Rand Paul books a trip to Des Moines, here's POLITICO's Morning Score: your daily guide to the permanent campaign.


SURPRISE IN HAWAII - "Akaka will not seek re-election in 2012" -The Honolulu Star-Advertiser: "U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka announced [Wednesday] that he will not run for re-election in 2012 ... Akaka had said previously that he planned to run for re-election, but had not raised much money for a campaign. Several Democrats, including [Sen. Daniel] Inouye, have expressed concern about his fundraising. ... Former Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican with proven fundraising prowess, is thinking about a potential Senate run ... Akaka's seat will likely be one of several that could tip the balance of power in the Senate after the 2012 elections." http://bit.ly/gD0ZNL


THE NAMES YOU NEED TO KNOW - On the Democratic side: Reps. Mazie Hirono and Colleen Hanabusa, Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, former Rep. Ed Case ... On the Republican side: Lingle, former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, former Rep. Charles Djou ... Are we missing anyone? Reply to this e-mail...


BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NUMBER '5' - As in how many open seats Democrats now have to defend next year. The biggest thing Democrats have going for them in Hawaii is Barack Obama at the top of the ticket. The biggest thing they need to worry about is a crowded and bitter primary.


THE 2012 SCORE - FOX SORTS THE FIELD - Two potential presidential candidates had their contracts suspended by Fox News yesterday. For the next 60 days, Santorum and Gingrich won't be paid employees as they decide their plans for 2012. The Los Angeles Times explains why certain others contributors will remain on active duty: "Fox News still has two other potential White House contenders on the payroll: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. 'As soon as each of them shows some serious intention to form an exploratory committee, we would take the same action,' [Fox VP Dianne] Brandi said. 'Huckabee is on a book tour, so I think his present intention is to sell books.' As for Palin, 'She hasn't yet shown a serious intention to form an exploratory committee.'" http://lat.ms/hio7GF


WILD CARD - MEET BUDDY ROEMER: The maverick former Louisiana governor will form an exploratory committee today to mount a long-shot bid for president in 2012. Jmart got the in-depth preview: "Roemer explained that his experience at the helm of a small bank that didn't get bailout money and doesn't exert much political influence in Washington has him worried about the country and wanting to join the debate. Testing out a line he said he will use while on a maiden trip to Iowa next week, Roemer said: 'The nation is hurting with 9 percent unemployment, 9 percent underemployment and 5 percent of the people who have quit looking for jobs, yet Washington is a boom town - what's wrong with that picture?' The Louisianan indicated he would run as both a reformer and a populist, promising to limit his contributions to $100 per person, swear off PAC dollars and target what he depicted as the scourge of Big Money's impact on politics." http://politi.co/e4QSqV


SPEAKING OF - "Inquiry into gambling group threatens to hurt Gingrich" - FT's Stephanie Kirchgaessner: "The investigation into Las Vegas Sands, a big US gambling company with operations in Macao, could cast a cloud over former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich's expected announcement that he is exploring a presidential run. The Sands, which is headed by Sheldon Adelson, the conservative activist, is listed as the single largest donor to a non-profit organisation headed by Mr Gingrich and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars more to other Republican candidates ... On Tuesday, the company announced it had received a subpoena from the US Securities and Exchange Commission over its compliance with anti-bribery laws." http://on.ft.com/gowB06


TODAY IN WASHINGTON - STRAWN BRIEFS: Iowa Republican Party Chairman Matt Strawn is set to speak with reporters at Republican National Committee headquarters this morning. An Iowa GOP source said Strawn "will deliver a broad briefing on 2012 as candidate activity in continues to build. He will also speak to the changes in the Iowa political landscape since President Obama won Iowa in the '08 general, and Iowa's commitment to remain the 'first in the nation' caucus state." Strawn met with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus over dinner in DC last night.


MORE IOWA - SON ALSO RISES: This time it's Rand. The Kentucky senator will give the main address at the Iowa Republican Party's "Night of the Rising Stars" on April 2. From the release: "The event will also highlight many of Iowa's newly elected leaders from the sweeping Republican victories of last November ... 'Senator Paul represents the new energy of Republicans in Washington. His dedication to the cause of limited government not only resonated with the voters of Kentucky but catapulted him on to the national stage,' Strawn [said]." http://bit.ly/g6r8aX


DANIELS UNENTHUSED, PART 173: The Indiana governor publicly mused that a time-consuming state legislative session may compromise his chance to run for president. He didn't sound too upset about that, either. The AP: "An ongoing standoff caused by boycotting House Democrats has the potential to cause the legislative session to drag on past its scheduled end in late April. Daniels told The Associated Press today that his legislative agenda remains his top priority. He said a long-term impasse 'could well get in the way of any national participation. If it does, it does.'" http://bit.ly/fJjYc8


RYAN VOTES NO: It's no surprise that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan isn't a fan of Massachusetts health care. What's notable is just how strongly he criticized the Mitt Romney-approved system at a breakfast event Wednesday. The Weekly Standard: "Asked about the Massachusetts health care plan signed into law by Mitt Romney, Ryan said, 'It's not that dissimilar to Obamacare, and you probably know I'm not a big fan of Obamacare' ... 'I haven't studied in depth the status of it,' he continued, 'but I think it's beginning to death spiral. They're beginning to have to look at rationing decisions. I don't think this health care system works.'" http://bit.ly/eJV77F


CENSUS READING - WHY N.C. MIGHT BE A SWING STATE - The News and Observer reports the fastest-growing parts of North Carolina are the parts that make it winnable for Democrats: "About 1.6 million people live in the six-county Triangle region, anchored by Wake County, which remains the state's second largest county after Mecklenburg, according to census numbers released today. The Triangle added about 400,000 residents in the decade since the last census, an increase of about 34 percent. Wake County was not only the largest, with 900,993 residents, it also grew faster than any other in the region, 43 percent ... The numbers also show the state's population becoming more ethnically and racially diverse ... as the state's Hispanic population grew 111 percent." http://bit.ly/eJxL9L


THE JINDAL REELECT - NYT ENGAGES: The newspaper has turned its attention to a potential conflict of interest between Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and a foundation controlled by his wife, which can take huge contributions from companies doing business with the state. The Times: "AT&T, which needed Mr. Jindal, a Republican, to sign off on legislation allowing the company to sell cable television services without having to negotiate with individual parishes, has pledged at least $250,000 ... Marathon Oil ... also committed to a $250,000 donation ... A spokesman for the governor said he had not personally intervened to help any of the charity's corporate donors ... Any suggestion that the foundation is a way to lobby the governor or thank him for a past action is ridiculous, Mr. Jindal's press secretary said." http://nyti.ms/fpzzls


THE SENATE LANDSCAPE - COATTAILS EXPLAINED - A rising Barack Obama could lift all Democratic Senate candidates next year. According to an analysis from the University of Virginia's Larry Sabato and Isaac Wood, fifty-right percent of competitive Senate races in presidential years break for the winner of a state's Electoral College votes. From the Center for Politics: "There are quite a few 2012 contests almost certain to be substantially influenced by the downdraft from the presidential race, including but not restricted to Florida (Sen. Bill Nelson-D), Massachusetts (Sen. Scott Brown-R), Missouri (Sen. Claire McCaskill-D), Montana (Sen. Jon Tester-D), Nevada (Sen. John Ensign-R), North Dakota (open seat of Sen. Kent Conrad-D), Ohio (Sen. Sherrod Brown-D), and Virginia (open seat of Sen. Jim Webb-D). When you watch these nine seats, seven of them currently held by Democrats, remember to include the presidential factor in your calculus." http://bit.ly/epyW6c


CODA - QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Like everybody else, he tips good ... We only charge $16, and he gave me $20. That's fine with us." - Atlanta barber Tommy Thomas, on having Mitt Romney as his customer http://bo.st/hJv9IZ

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