“The debate that will define this year and is likely to set the terms for the 2012 elections began in earnest over the weekend, with President Obama and Republican leaders presenting competing visions for reducing the deficit and expanding the economy,” the Washington Post writes. “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that Republicans will do everything in their power to stop the new spending increases that Obama says are necessary in a video preview of his State of the Union address sent to supporters late Saturday.”

The New York Times: “Each side is trying to gain the upper hand in the spending debate. Where Republicans campaigned on a theme of deep reductions in federal spending, calling for $100 billion in cuts this fiscal year alone, Mr. Obama is trying to sell the public a more nuanced, gradual approach.”

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is vowing to push ahead with the repeal bill in the Senate this week, but Sen. Chuck Schumer, in charge of Democrats’ messaging, says the bill will look like “swiss cheese” once he’s through with it.

Roll Call: “It’s only been two months since Republicans took control of the House, and Speaker John Boehner is already earning a reputation for telling President Barack Obama, ‘No.’ The Ohio Republican last week turned down a White House invitation to attend a state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao. A week earlier, Boehner declined an offer from Obama to fly with him on Air Force One to attend the Tucson, Ariz., memorial ceremony. And unlike last year’s House GOP retreat, the president was not asked by Republican leaders to make an appearance at this year’s getaway.”

Roll Call notes that “civility doesn’t pay.” Members of Congress are able to raise money much more easily off of hot rhetoric.

After their retreat, “House Democratic leaders are returning to the strategy that helped them win the majority in 2006, hoping that a strong message and a catchy slogan will allow them to reconnect with the voters who abandoned them on Nov. 2.”

“President Obama’s potential challengers are busy cultivating donors, recruiting staff and testing campaign messages — conducting proxy campaigns that illuminate the approach they would take as White House hopefuls,” the Los Angeles Times writes. “By waiting to register with the Federal Election Commission as presidential candidates, they can raise money in large-dollar amounts and also keep lucrative television gigs that they would have to relinquish as candidates.” 
 
“Republicans' confusion about their presidential nomination contest runs deep: They are confused about who may actually run and about who might be their strongest candidate against an incumbent president who looks more formidable today than he did just three months ago,” the Washington Post’s Dan Balz observes.

BACHMANN: “U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) warned guests of an event organized by Iowans for Tax Relief Friday night that America is ‘under attack’ by a ‘thundercloud of debt weighing upon [the U.S.],’” the Iowa Independent reports.

GINGRICH: “Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich has touched base with several prominent Republicans in his former home state, telling them that he intends to make a run for president in 2012 using Georgia as his base,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. “The visits and conversations – some face-to-face, others on the phone — appear to be an attempt by Gingrich to revive his old campaign network and lock down as much support as possible in a state won by Republican Mike Huckabee in the 2008 presidential primary.”

HUCKABEE: Speaking at King’s College in New York City, Huckabee explained why he would not announce his presidential intentions until later in the year, in response to a question about “why Republicans and conservatives spend a year and half discussing the presidential election if Republicanism is supposed to be about small, local governments,” the Christian Post writes.
 
"’That's one of the reason I've told people that if I do choose to run, it's not going to be until much, much later in the process,’ responded Huckabee, a Republican presidential candidate in the 2008 election. ‘[It will be] probably sometime in the latter part of the summer of this year, if at all.’”

PALIN: Sarah Palin writes an op-ed in tribute to Ronald Reagan, whom she calls “America’s lifeguard,” in USA Today.

PAWLENTY: The Hill: “Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) touted his recording of ‘taming’ government spending in Minnesota, suggesting it could become a model for the nation as he explores a presidential bid. ‘I think what Minnesota experienced over the last eight years is what the country is going to experience in the upcoming eight-year period,’ Pawlenty said on Fox News.” 
 
PENCE: The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette tracks Mike Pence’s journey from failed Congressional candidate to rumored gubernatorial and presidential contender. 
 
ROMNEY: “Mark DeMoss, a well-connected figure in the evangelical community and Mitt Romney supporter, sent a memo last week to Christian conservatives urging them to consider ‘a new litmus test’ beyond traditional cultural issues,” Politico’s Ben Smith writes. “DeMoss, a public relations executive who also backed Romney in 2008, offered an impassioned case for the former Massachusetts governor but also took some barely-veiled swipes at Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin.” 
 
IOWA: “Iowa's tea party organizers are laying the groundwork that could allow their movement to exert extraordinary influence in nominating a president,” the Des Moines Register writes. “They're developing plans for a series of workshops around the state and a fundraiser with Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a presidential prospect and a favorite of the tea party audience.” 
 
NEW HAMPSHIRE: “Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) took the top spot in a presidential straw poll of the 493 members of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee [Saturday] while tea-party-backed businessman Jack Kimball bested an establishment candidate to become the state party's new chair,” the Washington Post writes. “Kimball's victory is a boon for New Hampshire's tea-party activists, who have become a rising force within the state party, while Romney's win is a sign that on the presidential level, key party insiders are backing a more establishment candidate a year out from the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary.”

VIRGINIA: Former Sen. George Allen (R) is expected to announce today he’s running for his old seat against Sen. Jim Webb. Allen lost to Webb in 2006 narrowly in a Democratic wave year after missteps, including his “macaca” gaffe.

The Washington Post’s Cillizza asks: Can Allen exorcise the ghosts of 2006? “The central challenge for [Allen’s advisers] is to avoid the same pitfalls that turned Allen from a front-running presidential candidate to a former senator in the space of six months time. While his utterance of the now infamous term ‘macaca’ is what most people remember about Allen's 2006 campaign against Webb -- and rightly so -- his inability to immediately understand the damage done by the comment or quickly (and effectively) shut it down as an issue spoke to a broader hubris that had infected the incumbent.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee issued this statement: “"George Allen's offensive macaca moment will be the least of his worries. Allen is a Republican establishment candidate who spent his years in Washington shilling for corporate interests, wildly spending taxpayer dollars, and racking up our national debt. We don't come across a lot of voters these days hungering for that type of experience."

As White House press secretary Robert Gibbs plans his departure, who will the White House choose to take his spot in the briefing room?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Thanks to Pat in Boston, MA for the question!

Don’t forget to submit questions for the Boiler Room segments next week. Write questions below, post them on our Facebook page, or tweet it, to @NBCFirstRead or @mmurraypolitics or @DomenicoNBC.

Edited by Ali Weinberg. Video was shot by Ali Weinberg.

What can we expect from President Obama's State of the Union Speech next week?

Thanks to Ron, Indiana for the question.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Don’t forget to submit questions for the Boiler Room segments next week. Write questions below, post them on our Facebook page, or tweet it, to @NBCFirstRead or @mmurraypolitics or @DomenicoNBC.

Edited by Ali Weinberg. Video was shot by Ali Weinberg.

Tomorrow morning, NBCWashington.com is livestreaming Sargent Shriver's funeral mass, which begins at 10:00 am ET.

Here's a link for the livestream.

Today, the Tea Party Express announced that Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann (R) will broadcast her own response to President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Bachmann's response will be broadcast on the Tea Party Express' Web site.

But a Republican staffer with knowledge of the situation says that Bachmann's address won't be a rival response to GOP Rep. Paul Ryan's official response.

Rather, the staffer said, it's "a response of a member of Congress that was arranged by Tea Party Express well before GOP named its response."

A preview of the week ahead in politics, including the themes President Obama will likely touch on in his State of the Union speech, the Senate's back to work, Pawlenty, Gingrich to early nominating states.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From NBC's Catherine Chomiak
In an appearance yesterday on FOX, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) was asked about his earlier comments that appeared to compare slavery to abortion.

Referring to President Obama's pro-choice stance, Santorum told Christian News Service: "I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say, 'We're going to decide who are people and who are not people.'"

When asked point-blank by FOX's Greta Van Susteren if his comments were racially charged, Santorum responded, "This is one of these great taken-out-of-context [moments]." He added, "When I use the word 'black,' all of a sudden it gives people a reason to say, 'Ah, he's trying to make some sort of racial comment.' I was not. I was trying to talk about a historical fact about how the Constitution was interpreted and how it’s interpreted today," he continued.

Santorum maintained he was arguing a fetus should be considered a person under the 14th Amendment, and given the same protections as people under the Constitution. "This is an argument that has been made by the pro-life movement for as long as I've heard the argument," he added.

From NBC's Athena Jones
A new jobs council marks the next phase in America's recovery from the worst recession since the Great Depression, President Obama said today as he named General Electric Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt to head the new board.

Established by executive order, the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness will focus on finding new ways promote growth and spur private-sector hiring and investment. The new panel replaces the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB), which was headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, who is stepping down. The PERAB sunsets on Feb. 6.

The change reflects the administration's determination to focus on job growth -- as well as a recognition that while economic indicators show the world's largest economy is recovering, the slow pace of that recovery has not done enough to bring down the unemployment rate, which stands at a "still unacceptably high" 9.4%.

"Over the last year, businesses have added more than a million jobs. The pace of hiring and growth is picking up. And that's encouraging news. But at the same time, while businesses are adding jobs, millions of people are out there looking for work," the president said after touring the GE plant, home to GE's largest energy division, with Immelt.

"The past two years were about pulling our economy back from the brink. "The next two years -- our job now -- is putting our economy into overdrive."

Today's announcement also represents another move by this White House to reach out to the business community. Earlier this month, the president named William Daley, a former Commerce secretary and banker with strong ties to business, as chief of staff. Also this week, Obama announced a review of federal regulations to make sure they don't put an undue burden on businesses. And the president is scheduled to speak at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 7.

The hope is that these appointments could push corporate America to take the roughly $2 trillion it has sitting on the sidelines and invest it to help create jobs.

The president said Immelt understood the important role the private sector plays in creating jobs. Immelt has had a relationship with this White House for some time, having served on the PERAB for the past two years, and having attended numerous other meetings here. He was also on the guest list at the state dinner for China on Wednesday night.

"I am so proud and pleased that Jeff has agreed to chair this panel, my council on jobs and competitiveness," Obama said, calling Immelt one of the nation's most respected and admired business leaders in the country.

Jobs and the economy will take center stage in the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday, according to the White House, along with getting government spending under control -- a key concern among Republicans who now control the House of Representatives -- and improving America's ability to compete globally.

After touring the Schenectady, NY plant in with the president, Immelt spoke to the audience of assembled employees and local and federal politicians, thanking Obama for the honor of serving.

"Despite fact that 60% of GE revenues are outside of the United States, I personally -- and this company -- share in the responsibility and the accountability to make sure that this is the most competitive and productive country in the world," Immelt said.

In an op-ed in the Washington Post published this morning, Immelt wrote that he wanted the new council -- which will include small and large businesses, labor, economists and government -- to be a "sounding board" for ideas. And he said it would focus on innovation, manufacturing, exports, and promoting free trade agreements to help meet and exceed the goal Obama set in last year's State of Union of doubling U.S. exports over the next five years.

"We must set as our highest economic priority not just increasing our exports, as the president has pledged, but also making the United States the world's leading exporter in the 21st century," Immelt wrote. "Those who advocate increasing domestic manufacturing jobs by erecting trade barriers have it exactly wrong."

Obama echoed those sentiments in New York state, touting the free trade agreement reached with South Korea and saying America's success would be determined not only by what can be built in places like Schenectady, but also what we can be sold in places like Shanghai.

The president also highlighted the tax-cut legislation he signed into law last month, which included incentives to encourage business investment -- like allowing companies to deduct 100% of investments in equipment for the next two years -- and tax credits to support investments in renewable energy -- credits that have already helped companies like GE.

Early reaction from the other side of the aisle was lukewarm.

"A new commission will only be helpful if it yields a new way of looking at the economy in the White House," Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner said in an email. "The American people are looking for Washington to move past the now thoroughly discredited notion that economic recovery lies in greater government spending, and this announcement doesn't exactly do that."

NBC's Luke Russert reports that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) will deliver the GOP's response to President Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The news was first reported by Politico.

The House GOP’s first impression isn’t on jobs… Boehner’s office disagrees with that assessment… Obama taps GE CEO Immelt to head new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and he'll announce this in a speech in Schenectady, NY at 1:05 pm ET… The White House’s makeover… New NBC/WSJ poll gives us a glimpse of Facebook Nation… The draft-Pence movement… Bachmann’s in Iowa…T-Paw signs books in Texas… And Eric Cantor on “Meet” this Sunday.

From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** The House GOP’s first impression: As President Obama discusses the economy today and taps GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to lead a new White House board (more on that below), the GOP-led House has spent its first two weeks in power focusing on other issues. On Wednesday, it voted to repeal the president’s signature health-care law. On Thursday, it introduced legislation permanently barring taxpayer subsidies for abortion. And today comes the headline that House conservatives want an immediate cut of $100 billion in discretionary spending, a higher amount that GOP leaders have called for, as well as federal outlays to be reduced by $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years. So after spending months talking about how the Obama administration wasn’t talking about jobs, House Republicans are, well, not talking directly about jobs. First impressions are everything in politics. And the House GOP’s first impression has not been jobs.

*** What does the country want? House Republicans disagree with that assessment. “We're focused on spending and jobs,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel emails First Read. “ObamaCare destroys jobs -- that's why we need to repeal it and replace it with common-sense reforms that lower cost. We've also begun the fight to cut spending. In the very first days, we took the first step by cutting Congress' budget -- and there is plenty more to come.” While Republicans argue that repealing health care is about jobs, it’s a tough sell; just ask the White House when it tried to sell health care as a jobs/economy issue. By the way, per our new NBC/WSJ poll, here is what the public wants to hear Obama address in his State of the Union address on Tuesday: 34% said job creation and economic growth, 18% said deficit and government spending, 15% said bringing the country together, 10% said health care, 6% said public education, 6% said illegal immigration, and 4% said Afghanistan.

*** Obama taps Immelt: As mentioned above, President Obama -- on his visit to Schenectady, NY this afternoon to tour a GE facility and deliver an economic speech at 1:05 pm ET -- will announce that GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt will head the White House’s new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. This new council replaces Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board led by Paul Volcker, who stepped down from his position (the Recovery Advisory board expires next month). As the Wall Street Journal writes, "Putting a prominent chief executive atop a panel is the latest gesture by the White House toward strengthening ties to business." And Immelt has penned a Washington Post op-ed, saying: “My hope is that the council will be a sounding board for ideas and a catalyst for action on jobs and competitiveness. It will include small and large businesses, labor, economists and government.” (General Electric is NBC’s parent company, and will retain a minority ownership when Comcast’s acquisition becomes official.) 

*** The White House’s makeover: Here’s a way to look at the transition going on at the White House: Obama has replaced key advisers -- both internal and external -- who were primarily associated with Washington or academia (Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers, Paul Volcker) with folks associated with business and the pragmatic center (Bill Daley, Gene Sperling, and Jeff Immelt). And here’s an additional thought on Immelt and GE: The president has been criticized by the business community as not being friendly to them. But the last two days provide more evidence of the White House’s efforts to improve that relationship. Yesterday, Michelle Obama held an event with Wal-Mart -- the nation’s largest private-sector employer -- on healthy foods. And then today, the president is naming the CEO of the world’s second-largest company to this new council.

*** Manufacturing and 2012: By the way, the manufacturing sector plays a MAJOR role in electoral politics. Just look at the industrial Midwest swing states and their struggles to see the manufacturing sector come back. Schenectady may be GEOGRAPHICALLY in New York, but it's CULTURALLY in the industrial Midwest. And speaking of Immelt, it's also worth noting that in announcing this new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, the president turned to a CEO. He's not making a labor leader as co-chair. Yes, labor leaders will be ON the council, but the Immelt appointment sends the message: business first. 

*** The rest of Obama’s day: After the president returns from upstate New York later in the afternoon, he heads to Cambridge, MD to attend the congressional Democrats’ retreat, where he’ll speak in the evening.

*** Facebook Nation: Our most recent NBC/WSJ poll did something different: It measured those who use social media sites like Facebook or LinkedIn (51% of respondents said they did), and those who don’t (49%). Not surprisingly, those who have a profile on those sites are younger, more affluent, and are better educated. Surprisingly, however, there isn’t much of a partisan divide: 50% of Dems, 49% of Republicans, and 48% of independents say they use social media. Yet this Facebook Nation -- as an aggregate -- has slightly different political views that the rest of the country, especially since it’s so much younger. Obama’s approval among this group is 55% (versus 53% for the whole country); its fav/unfav of the Dem Party is 42%-32% (vs. 39%-35% overall); its fav/unfav of the GOP is 34%-38% (vs. 34%-40%); and 42% think the economy will improve in the next year (vs. 40%).

*** Views on birthright citizenship, health care, Afghanistan, and 2012: On the issues, 54% of Facebook Nation favors birthright citizenship (vs. 50% overall); 41% thinks the health-care law is a good idea (vs. 39%); 20% wants to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan now (vs. 23%); and 54% wants stricter laws covering the sale of firearms (vs. 52%). And looking at the 2012 presidential race, Obama leads Huckabee by 14 points among this group (vs. 10 overall), and he leads Gingrich by 22 points (vs. 19). 

*** The draft-Pence movement: Politico today writes how some conservatives, unhappy with how the GOP presidential field appears to be shaping up, are trying to persuade Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (R) to make a White House bid. “[A] group of longtime Republicans – including former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and former Rep. Jim Ryun – are working with a well-connected conservative PR firm to urge the congressman to head to Des Moines and Manchester instead of” run for Indiana governor. Per NBC’s Catherine Chomiak, Pence said on Sean Hannity’s radio program that he would make up his mind between running for Indiana governor and the White House by the end of January.

*** 2012 watch: Tea Party favorite Rep. Michelle Bachmann – does she have eyes on a Senate race or the White House? -- is in Iowa today speaking at an Iowans for Tax Reform event at 6:30 pm ET. Meanwhile, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) signs books in Dallas and Houston, TX.

*** On “Meet the Press” this Sunday: NBC’s David Gregory has an exclusive interview with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. The roundtable consists of Dem Rep. James Clyburn, former George W. Bush adviser Karen Hughes, the Center for American Progress’ John Podesta, Atlantic Media’s Ron Brownstein, and CNBC’s Erin Burnett.

Countdown Chicago’s mayoral election: 32 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 291 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 381 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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Per the Wall Street Journal, "President Barack Obama will announce Friday that Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of General Electric Co., will head a new White House board aimed at finding ways to foster private-sector job growth. The board will replace an existing panel called the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, led by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker."

More: "The name of the new panel stresses competitiveness and job creation, which are expected to be themes of Mr. Obama's State of the Union Address next week. It will be called the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness."

Immelt writes in the Washington Post, “My hope is that the council will be a sounding board for ideas and a catalyst for action on jobs and competitiveness. It will include small and large businesses, labor, economists and government.”

General Electric is NBC’s parent company, and will retain a minority ownership when Comcast’s acquisition becomes official.

“President Obama is shifting senior White House staffers to his hometown of Chicago and opening a campaign headquarters there as he steps up preparations for the formal launch of his reelection bid this spring,” the Boston Globe writes. “The moves, widely reported for weeks though confirmed by the White House for the first time yesterday, open a new chapter in Obama’s presidency; he will soon juggle dual roles of candidate and president for the remainder of his first term.”

The New York Times adds, “The president has signed off on the plan to set up his campaign headquarters away from Washington, a first for a modern-day presidential re-election campaign. To avoid turf battles, chaotic communications and duplicated efforts, aides said, a significant realignment is under way in the West Wing, with the duties of the political office being taken up by the Democratic National Committee.”

“Mr. Obama intends to make a formal declaration of his candidacy in about two months by filing papers with the Federal Election Commission, aides said. That step would allow him to raise money and hire a team of advisers, who would seek to make Mr. Obama follow Bill Clinton as the second Democrat since Franklin Delano Roosevelt to be elected twice to the White House.”

Rahm has raised $10.6 million for his Chicago mayoral bid.

“A day after their vote to repeal President Obama’s landmark health care law, House Republicans moved yesterday to put their own stamp on the issue, starting with the volatile topic of abortion,” the AP writes. “GOP lawmakers introduced two separate bills to toughen restrictions on taxpayer funding of abortions, arguing that the language now in the law is weak. Leaders promised swift action.” More: “Among other health care issues getting immediate attention from Republicans: curbs on jury awards in medical malpractice cases, rescinding an unpopular requirement that businesses report purchases of $600 or more to the IRS, and a rollback of cuts to private Medicare Advantage plans.”

The Washington Post says, “Congressional conservatives on Thursday demanded far more dramatic reductions in government spending than House GOP leaders have recently proposed, in the first sign of a fissure between old-guard Republicans and tea-party-backed newcomers.”

The Boston Globe: “Behind the scenes, conservatives are pressuring GOP leaders to deliver on a promise to immediately pass legislation cutting Cabinet budgets by $100 billion this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1 and is already one-third over. The committee proposed eliminating several programs outright, including the Legal Services Corp., which provides legal help to people who can’t afford a lawyer; Amtrak subsidies; community development grants popular with local officials, and economic aid to Egypt. It advocated a five-year pay freeze for federal workers and cutting the federal work force by 15 percent through attrition.”

Hu’s stiff arm: “Boehner pressed Hu on reports that the Chinese government has forced women to have abortions under the ‘one child policy.’ House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) criticized China’s incarceration of human rights activist and Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo. Hu rebuffed the pressure by telling the leaders: ‘You have to respect the differences we have in our respective cultures,’ according to a lawmaker who attended the meeting.”

“John F. Kennedy’s call 50 years ago for American commitment and civility around the globe and in each citizen’s heart sparked inspiration, reflection, and more than a touch of nostalgia yesterday among congressional leaders,” the Boston Globe notes. “In the grand rotunda of the Capitol, congressional officials, aides, and Kennedy family members listened in silence to the 14-minute inaugural address that the 35th president delivered on a blustery day in 1961.”

So far, 76 people have filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to start raising money for the 2012 presidential race, USA Today writes. “The early filers are Randy Crow, a North Carolina Republican who is making his fourth White House bid, and Dennis Knill, a home remodeler from Sedona, Ariz., who can't remember exactly the last time he voted.” 
 
BACHMANN: Rep. Michele Bachmann was invited to speak at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition’s forum on March 7th, MinnPost reports. “It's not a debate, rather each candidate would get 10 minutes to ‘make a pitch’ to the audience.” 
 
Bachmann speaks to an Iowa anti-tax group tonight. “Although she says her mission in visiting Iowa today is to help shape the debate of the nascent 2012 campaign, the Minnesota congresswoman plans to touch all the bases usually trod by would-be presidential candidates in the leadoff caucus state,” the Des Moines Register writes. 
 
GINGRICH: Here’s Gingrich to the conservative Human Events magazine: "It's sort of fascinating: You're sort of seeing the beginning of the third term of the Clintons, because the first two years of Obama was such a failure, in popular acceptance.” But yet he then says, "It must be fascinating to be one of those left-wing activist groups, that spent so much time and energy beating Hillary Clinton, because they didn't want to see this kind of an administration, to now watch a member of the famous Daley machine in Chicago emerge." he said. (Here’s the video.)

GIULIANI: Rudy’s leaving the door open for a presidential run. On CNBC’s “Kudlow Report,” Giuliani was asked, “Will you take a look at 2012, there are lots of rumors in New York City?" Giuliani responded: "I will take a look at 2012. It's really a question of, can I play a useful role? Would I have a chance of getting the nomination? Those are things that I'll have to evaluate as the year goes along.” KUDLOW: "But the door is open, that's what I'm hearing from you tonight?" GIULIANI: "Yes, yes, Absolutely Larry."

Just remember, however, Giuliani spent $65.7 million in the 2008 cycle and won -- drum roll, please -- one delegate.

HUCKABEE: “Mike Huckabee will visit six cities in Iowa and five in South Carolina during his upcoming book tour,” CNN reports, which means he’ll be spending “more than a quarter of his 40-city tour in two states that play a major role in determining who the GOP presidential nominee will be in 2012.”

PENCE: “[A] group of longtime Republicans -- including former House Majority Leader Dick Armey and former Rep. Jim Ryun -- are working with a well-connected conservative PR firm to urge the congressman to head to Des Moines and Manchester instead of Indianapolis and Muncie,” Politico writes. “Their efforts have intensified in recent days as Pence’s own self-imposed end-of-January deadline for a decision grows near… The pro-Pence crowd consists of a group of traditional conservatives who, while sympathizing with her, don’t view Sarah Palin as a serious presidential candidate. They doubt Mike Huckabee will run again or can broaden his appeal. And they believe the rest of the field features has-beens or candidates insufficiently pure on cultural issues.”

ROMNEY: “As the former Massachusetts governor lays the groundwork for a possible second presidential run, he has largely shunned Tea Party activists in key primary states, including the state he must win if he enters the race, New Hampshire,” the Boston Globe writes. “But the approach carries potential risks, as the insurgent Tea Party movement shifts its focus from last year’s midterms and seeks to exert its influence on the presidential election.”

“The candidate with the most to gain or lose [tomorrow’s New Hampshire] straw poll is almost certainly former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has consistently led polling on the New Hampshire primary by solid margins,” Politico writes.

(But we’ve gotta ask: Why do this straw poll before a single major GOP candidate has officially entered the race and started to compete?)

THUNE: “One of Sen. John Thune's top fundraisers quietly has been making calls in New Hampshire on Thune's behalf, a further sign that the South Dakota Republican is nearing a decision on whether to run for president,” the Sioux Falls Argus Leader writes.

A spokesman for The Family Leader, a social conservative group that is holding a presidential lecture series starting Feb. 7, said the group could not reach Mitt Romney. ““We have made several attempts to reach Gov. Romney or those close to him in order to extend an invitation to our Presidential Lecture Series.  None of those attempts have been successful as of today,’ said the group’s spokesman Chris Nitzschke.”

ARIZONA: “The Arizona Republican Party is preparing to pass a resolution Saturday that would bump its primary date to February, when traditional early states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and now, Nevada, will hold their nominating contests. The move could touch off a scramble for the early states to go even earlier,” writes Real Clear Politics.

From NBC's Suzy Kianpour and Domenico Montanaro
First Lady Michelle Obama has, for the first time, teamed up with a single company, Wal-Mart, to roll out a new initiative yesterday that is intended to provide healthy and affordable food.

Wal-Mart is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, and, though it’s known more for its retail, is actually now the country's largest grocer.

Some may find it ironic that the first lady teamed up with Wal-Mart, considering that during the 2008 campaign, then-candidate Barack Obama criticized Wal-Mart for not paying its employees a "living wage." “I won’t shop there,” he said, per the Chicago Tribune.

Michelle Obama, however was on the board of a Wal-Mart vendor, TreeHouse Foods, reported Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun-Times. She resigned from the board just eight days after Barack Obama said he wouldn’t shop there.

Through the initiative, Wal-Mart pledged to reduce sodium, a catalyst to high blood pressure, by 25 percent and added sugars, one of the leading causes of diabetes and subsequently a growing health problem in the Unites States, by 10 percent over a five-year period. Over this period it will also work on development for front-of package seals to make healthier food easily identifiable, address food dessert issues, and increase support for nutrition programs.

On the longevity of the time frame and slow introduction of the changes, Andrea Thomas, senior vice president of sustainability at Wal-Mart, said the company wanted to make sure taste wasn’t adversely. Wal-Mart is also vowing price cuts on fruits and vegetables.

Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs Leslie Dach said the company has "not looked at this from an economic perspective" during a question-and-answer session following the launch yesterday. CEO and President Bill Simon noted, "Wal-Mart prices are on average between 10-15% lower than other stores."

Of what the White House has called "the first collaboration of this magnitude" the initiative directly correlates with the first lady's “Let's Move!” campaign to fight childhood obesity, one which she has vigorously been pushing resulting in both successes with the passing of the School Nutrition Act Reauthorization and the Health and Hunger Free Kids Act and also criticism -- most notably from Sarah Palin who argued the campaign reflects the "government thinking that they need to take over and make decisions for us."

"To say I'm excited is an understatement," Michelle Obama said yesterday, after revealing her initial fears when creating “Let's Move!” about whether or not the program could actually make a difference in fighting childhood obesity.

"It's not about government telling people what to do," Obama added. "It's about each of us in our own families, in our own communities, standing up and demanding more for our kids. And it's companies like Wal-Mart answering that call."

In concluding her remarks, the first lady called for other companies to follow Wal-Mart's example and help American families keep their children healthy.

From NBC's Lauren Selsky and Mark Murray
In a move that appeared more about self-promotion than actually winning, anti-abortion activist Randall Terry today announced his bid for the 2012 Democratic -- yes, Democratic -- nomination for president in front of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C.
 
He said that, above everything else, his campaign is about the rights of fetuses that are "being brutally slaughtered and thrown in dumpsters and landfills."
 
Then Terry added that his campaign will be about the "human rights of the slave labor force on Obama's plantation," becoming the second social conservative to recently invoke race and slavery when discussing abortion. 
 
Terry argued that he can "pummel Obama's policies" and show him to be "the arch promoter of child killing in the Western Hemisphere" in a Democratic primary. He did acknowledge the obvious: that defeating Obama would be a long shot.

Yes, the 2012 election apparently is upon us already.

With the announcement that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I/D-CT) would not seek reelection, Connecticut already has two Democrats officially vying to replace him.

First, it was former state Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz. Now, it's Rep. Chris Murphy. Murphy released an announcement video, in which he pledges to respond to every single constituent phone call, e-mail, and note.

Here's the video:

On Murphy's entry, Bysiewicz released this statement:

“I welcome Congressman Murphy to the race. I look forward to a spirited discussion of the issues over the course of this campaign, focused on creating jobs right here in Connecticut.”

From NBC's Shawna Thomas
We noted earlier that 14 Democrats voted for the resolution that passed earlier instructing committees to come up with a health-care replacement bill.

Most of those Democrats are the same people who voted against the final passage of the health care bill in 2010, except two.

Here are the 14:

Jason Altmire (PA)
John Barrow (GA)
Dan Boren (OK)
Corrine Brown (FL)
Ben Chandler (KT)
Mark Critz (PA)
Tim Holden (PA)
Larry Kissell (NC)
Daniel Lipinski (IL)
Jim Matheson(UT)
Mike McIntyre (NC)
Collin Peterson (MN)
Mike Ross (AR)
Heath Shuler (NC)

Brown and Critz are the anomalies. Brown voted for health care in 2009 and 2010.

Brown’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry from NBC to explain her vote. Critz was John Murtha's replacement and did not come into the House until May of 2010, thus he did not participate in the other health care votes.

By the way, 34 Democrats voted no on final passage of the health care bill in March of 2010. Of those 34, just 13 are left in Congress. Only one of these voted against the Republican resolution -- Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, who voted against the original bill from the left.

Those 13 are: Jason Altmire, John Barrow. Dan Boren, Ben Chandler, Tim Holden, Larry Kissell, Daniel Lipinski, Stephen F. Lynch, Jim Matheson, Mike McIntyre, Collin C. Peterson, Mike Ross, and Heath Shuler.

A clue that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) might not run for president in 2012 -- or, if he does, he'll do it very late in the process?

Huckabee has sent a note to his email list advertising an Alaska cruise he'll be going on in June.

This June I am headed to Alaska to participate in the Alaska Freedom Cruise organized by Frank Arnold Presents. We will also be joined by some of the nation's leading musical artists and entertainers. You can find the full set of details by clicking the banner in this email or the link at the bottom.

I am incredibly excited to be a part of such a great event and to see such a beautiful part of our nation.
Again, I hope you will consider joining me June 5-12th for this wonderful experience. Learn more about the trip by visiting the cruise website here.

Sincerely,
Mike Huckabee

From NBC's Ken Strickland and Carrie Dann
Democratic leaders have vowed to prevent a measure to roll back the health care law from even coming to the Senate floor, but Republican leader Mitch McConnell "assured" the public yesterday that he would force a vote on repeal.

And there's a reasonable chance that he can pull it off.

"The Democratic leadership in the Senate doesn't want to vote on this bill," McConnell said in a YouTube video Wednesday. "But I assure you, we will."

The chances of McConnell getting a straight up-or-down vote to repeal the law are slim. But Republicans will likely force procedural votes that serve as a proxy of sorts to get their Democratic colleagues on the record. 

Because any vote that would ultimately lead to repeal would require 60 or even 67 votes, no GOP-led efforts would actually pass the Senate.

But Republicans say they'll happily take the consolation prize that comes with an official roll call vote: the ability to force Senate Democrats who are up for re-election to vote again in support of a health care measure that remains unpopular in their home states.

There are two things McConnell could do that would all but ensure a vote tied to repealing the law.

First, McConnell could withhold any deals or agreements to proceed to any legislation without a guarantee of a repeal vote, effectively throwing sand in the Senate's procedural gears until the law is addressed.

Another way to force a vote is for McConnell or any Republican senator to offer a "motion to suspend the rules," essentially asking for a change in Senate rules to require a vote on a repeal amendment. If all members are present, it would take 67 votes to succeed.

This was the rule Republican Sen. Tom Coburn used recently to force a vote to ban earmarks after Reid refused to bring the measure to the floor. And there is nothing that prevents any senator from using this strategy.

Don Stewart, McConnell's spokesman, says it's unclear how soon the GOP leader will act or what strategy he will use.

For Republicans, negotiating the public relations fallout of the repeal effort could prove even trickier than choosing the right procedural chess moves to set it in motion.

Democrats are expected to counter the GOP strategy by emphasizing efforts to pass legislation to bolster the economy and painting Republican maneuvers to push repeal as costly obstructionism.

Reid previewed that battle plan in a written statement yesterday, as the House was taking up the repeal measure.

"This is nothing more than partisan grandstanding at a time when we should be working together to create jobs and strengthen the middle class," he said.

From NBC's Mark Murray and Chuck Todd
Re-election campaign, here we come.

First Read has confirmed the reports that President Obama, within the next two months or so, will formally declare his candidacy by filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (which will allow him to start raising money)

Also, former White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina will manage the campaign, which will be based in Chicago.

And White House political director Patrick Gaspard is heading to the Democratic National Committee to become its executive director, while current executive director Jennifer O'Malley Dillon is leaving the DNC for the re-election campaign.

More from the New York Times:

President Obama will close the office of political affairs at the White House, aides said, restructuring his organization to prepare for his re-election campaign, which is to start building a fund-raising and grassroots operation based in Chicago by late March.

Mr. Obama has signed off on the plan to set up his campaign headquarters away from Washington, a first for a modern-day presidential re-election campaign. To avoid turf battles, chaotic communications and duplicated efforts, aides said, a significant realignment is underway in the West Wing, with the duties of the political office being taken up by the Democratic National Committee.

From NBC's Shawna Thomas
The House just passed a bill that instructs five four House committees to work on producing a replacement bill to the current health-care law, which the House voted to repeal yesterday. 

The final vote was 253 in favor, 175 against.

There were 14 Democrats who voted for the "instructing resolution." Most of those are the same ones who voted against the original health-care bill in 2009.

We're shooting another edition of Inside the Boiler Room. Got a question for Mark and Domenico? Post it below!

Are the political winds changing? … New NBC/WSJ poll has Obama approval at 53%... Also, 40% now label him a political moderate -- which is maybe why we haven’t heard “Obama is a socialist” in a while… But is this bump for Obama a transition or a transitory moment?... Poll also shows a short honeymoon for the GOP… Handicapping 2012… And polling birthright citizenship.

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Are the political winds changing? Exactly two years ago today, Barack Obama was sworn in as the country’s 44^th president -- a sign that the political winds were firmly at the Democratic Party’s back. Then, a year ago today, we had discovered the winds had shifted with the news that Scott Brown (R) had just captured Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat, ending the Dems’ filibuster-proof majority. It began a slow descent for the Democrats and culminated with the November "shellacking." But are the political winds once again changing? After a stretch that included the bipartisan legislative achievements in the lame duck, mostly positive economic news, and Obama’s speech in Arizona come these numbers in the new NBC/WSJ poll: Obama’s approval is at 53% (where he hasn't been since before those summer town halls in ‘09, that's 18 months ago); confidence that the economy will improve in the next 12 months jumped eight points from last month; and the Dem Party’s fav/unfav went from a net negative (37%-41%) to a net positive (39%-35%). “The last six weeks have been the best six weeks the president has had in his first two years in office,” said NBC/WSJ co-pollster Peter Hart (D).

*** Maybe this is why we haven’t heard “Obama is a socialist” in a while: We’ll take it one step further: These might have been Obama’s best six weeks since Fall 2008. Indeed, the bump in Obama’s approval was across the board -- independents moved from 35% approval to 46%; Democrats went from 76% to 86%, and Republicans went from 11% to 15%. Perhaps the most surprising result in the poll? Try 40% labeling the president as a political moderate, compared with 45% who see him as a liberal and 11% who view him as a conservative. That moderate number is the highest for Obama in the NBC/WSJ poll, even higher than it was before his inauguration. 

*** A transition or a transitory moment? But Hart and co-pollster Bill McInturff (R) say these poll numbers present this question for Obama, especially with the 2012 election on the horizon: Is this a transition, or is it a transitory moment? After all, Bill Clinton saw a bump after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, but it lasted just a couple of months. (Of course, Clinton went on to easily win re-election.) And there are still plenty of warning signs for Obama and the Democrats. A majority (56%) thinks the county is on the wrong track; 50% disapprove of Obama's economic handling; and a combined 82% say the Afghanistan war has either gotten worse or stayed the same, and 71% believe the U.S. will ultimately have to withdraw and leave the country without a stable democratic government. Here’s one other way to look at Obama’s numbers: This might be a ceiling for him, at least in this current economic climate. If you’re not going to approve of his job after Arizona, then you aren’t going to approve of it later…

*** The GOP’s short honeymoon: But the bigger warning signs in the poll appear directed at the party that's been in control of the House for just two weeks. Only 25% say the Republicans in Congress will bring the right kind of change (versus 42% who said that about the Dems in Jan. 2007, and 37% who said that about the GOP in Jan. 1995). In addition, a majority (55%) believe congressional Republicans will be too inflexible in dealing with Obama, while an equal number (55%) say Obama will strike the right balance. And then there's this: The GOP's fav/unfav has gone from a net positive in December (38%-37%) to a net negative now (34%-40%). "I think this has been a pretty short Republican honeymoon," McInturff says. Hart adds, "I think the president has the benefit of the doubt, and the Republicans -- based on this data -- have the burden of proof."

*** Handicapping 2012: Looking ahead to the 2012 presidential race, the NBC/WSJ poll shows Obama leading Mike Huckabee by 10 points (51%-41%) and Newt Gingrich by 19 points (54%-35%). The December poll had him leading Mitt Romney by seven (47%-40%) and Sarah Palin by 22 (55%-33%). But keep in mind: At this stage of the 1996 cycle, McInturff says, Bob Dole was leading Bill Clinton in the NBC/WSJ poll. That tells us one of two things: Either these polls aren't that reliable this far out, or that Obama enters the 2012 in a much stronger position than Clinton did in '96. For the first time, our poll also handicapped the ’12 GOP field. Leading the pack are Romney (the first choice of 19% of Republicans and independents) and Huckabee (18%) -- followed by Palin (14%), Gingrich (10%), Ron Paul (8%), and Tim Pawlenty (at 5%). We also asked "second choice," and if you take Palin out, the person who benefits the most is Huckabee. He would lead a Palin-less GOP primary, not Romney. By the way, here’s another 2012 poll: Per Quinnipiac, 48% of Ohio voters say Obama deserves re-election, while 44% say he doesn’t. The president’s approval in the Buckeye State is 49%-46%.

*** Polling birthright citizenship: We’ll leave you with a final set of numbers from our NBC/WSJ poll. In it, 50% believe the U.S. should continue to grant citizenship to all children born in the country, including children of illegal immigrants. Yet 47% think this should be changed so children of illegal immigrants aren’t automatically granted citizenship. The divide breaks along party lines: 67% of Democrats want to continue granting automatic citizenship, while 69% of Republicans don’t. By the way, Hispanics support birthright citizenship by a nearly 80%-20% margin. Does this make the issue untouchable for Republican presidential candidates who think they might be the nominee?

Countdown Chicago’s mayoral election: 33 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 292 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 382 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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