AP

President Obama before a speech in Washington today. According to a new Quinnipiac poll, the president's approval rating has slipped to 42%.

The Washington Post writes on the latest from Libya: "The rebels’ chaotic retreat from the town of Bin Jawwad, which they had captured from troops loyal to Gaddafi just two days earlier, reversed the momentum they had seized over the weekend and suggested that the ad hoc and lightly armed opposition force may have reached the limits of its capacity."

Tom Friedman says he hopes Obama is lucky. "I hope Qaddafi’s regime collapses like a sand castle, that the Libyan opposition turns out to be decent and united and that they require just a bare minimum of international help to get on their feet. Then U.S. prestige will be enhanced and this humanitarian mission will have both saved lives and helped to lock another Arab state into the democratic camp. Dear Lord, please make President Obama lucky."

Obama’s approval is at an all-time low in a new Quinnipiac poll -- just 42% approve; 48% disapprove. And by a 50%-41% margin, those surveyed say he does not deserve reelection. That’s a switch in less than a month from a 46%-46% job approval and 45%-47% split on his reelection. (He’s upside down with independents 39%-51%.) On Libya, by a 47%-41% margin, voters oppose U.S. involvement, and by a 58%-29% margin respondents say the president hasn’t stated the goals clearly.

The New York Daily News on Obama’s fundraiser in New York: “The cash bash raked in a cool $1.5 million for the Democratic National Committee. As hundreds of New Yorkers jammed the streets outside hoping to get a peek at the Prez, Obama rubbed elbows with movers and shakers inside the hot spot. He received a standing ovation as he emerged from the kitchen after being ushered in through a back alley.”

More on Obama’s New York trip from the Daily News here.

“President Obama will not throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Washington Nationals's opening day game on Thursday,” The Hill writes. “The 44th president participated in the long-standing tradition last year, when he stepped on the mound at Nationals Park donning a Nats jacket and the cap of his favorite team, the Chicago White Sox.” And it wasn’t pretty.

The question has been raised: Where was Biden on Libya? The New York Post: “While President Obama was putting the finishing touches on his Libya conflict speech, and Moammar Khaddafy was plotting his next attack on his people, an apparently stressed-out Joe Biden took a minibreak to a ritzy Aspen-area ski resort. The vice president spent four nights at Snowmass Village in Colorado, arriving in the snow-covered town late Thursday night and leaving Monday -- while members of Congress wrangled over the federal budget. ‘It's a pretty low-key visit, definitely a vacation,’ Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo, whose office helped provide security for the visiting veep, told the Aspen Times.”

“The number 2 Republican in the House said yesterday that the chamber will not pass another short-term federal funding bill to avert a government shutdown if talks between the GOP and the White House fail to produce a 2011 spending agreement by an April 8 deadline,” the Boston Globe writes. “Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader, said ‘time is up’ and that it is up to Democrats controlling the White House and the Senate to offer more significant spending cuts as part of legislation to fund the government for the rest of the budget year. ‘We’re going to need to see a deal struck where our members can go home and tell their constituents that we’re doing what we said we would do,’ Cantor said.”

“While most of Capitol Hill is focused on the partisan showdown over federal spending, House Democrats are embroiled in a separate battle: whether to produce an alternative to the GOP budget,” Roll Call writes, adding: “Democratic leaders are particularly sensitive about putting forth a budget this year since Republicans hammered them for months in 2010 for failing to produce one. Factions within the Democratic Caucus, meanwhile, are moving forward with plans to produce their own budget, complicating the Democratic leadership’s position even more.”

“Conservatives are turning to a new message in the escalating budget fight: A government shutdown is not actually a shutdown,” The Hill reports. “It’s a ‘slowdown,’ according to the new refrain from Tea Party leader Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). Or as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) put it on Monday, the stalemate over spending could cause the government ‘to partially shut down.’ … ‘Calling it New Coke didn’t make it taste better, and trying to change the name of Speaker [John] Boehner’s [R-Ohio] government shutdown won’t make it hurt middle-class families and seniors any less,’ said Jesse Ferguson, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says of riders de-funding Planned Parenthood and limiting the EPA, per The Hill: “We will not accept those riders. And any thought to the contrary is wrong. We believe that they don't belong in a budget bill," he added. "There can be debate on these issues. We believe they would be defeated in the Senate."

“Republicans have found a new foil in their war with the White House over the deficit and spending: Senate Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Charles Schumer,” Roll Call writes.

“Senate conservatives plan to filibuster legislation to increase the nation’s debt ceiling above $14.3 trillion, a move that will make it harder for President Obama to garner the votes he needs,” The Hill reports.

“California Democrats are trying to brand Rep. Dan Lungren with a new nickname to use in their race against the Republican in 2012: ‘Styrofoam Dan,’” Roll Call reports.

Anthony Weiner had more than $2,000 in unpaid parking tickets in DC.

“There’s an unusually high number of presidential flirts this year — that is, they say or hint that they might, but they probably won’t,” writes The Hill’s Heinze, singling out Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie.

BOLTON: Former UN Ambassador John Bolton is only entertaining a run for the presidency because of his “frustration at the lack of serious foreign policy thinking in the presumptive Republican field,” the Washington Post writes. “Although Bolton happily joins fellow GOP hopefuls in bashing President Obama’s response to the recent upheaval in the Arab world, that turmoil has revealed another political reality: The Republicans are all over the map.”

GINGRICH: At an event in Milwaukee to promote his documentary, Newt Gingrich told the crowd that “had he not left the House of Representatives in 1999 he wouldn't be in a position to make a run at the GOP nomination for president because now ‘I've had a chance to renew my energy and thoughts,’” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes.

HUCKABEE: Mike Huckabee and blogger Andrew Breitbart will headline the “Family Arena” show on May 1^st in St. Charles, Missouri, the St. Louis Tribune writes.

“Mike Huckabee continues to generate the strongest favorable reactions from Republicans who recognize him, with a Positive Intensity Score of 26,” Gallup notes. “Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann follow, with Positive Intensity Scores of 20. Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain are at 19, and Sarah Palin is at 18.”

“Sources close to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee are denying reports that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is seeking an endorsement from him for the 2012 Republican nomination,” Fox News writes.

HUNTSMAN: Huntsman’s campaign in waiting tells The Daily Caller that it will avoid focusing resources in Iowa, citing “a huge disadvantage” when it comes to fundraising, infrastructure and time, according to a Republican strategist aligned with the campaign.

PAWLENTY: Pawlenty said he thinks the U.S. is headed for a double-dip recession. "I think we're headed for a double-dip. That's my personal view," Pawlenty said on Fox, per The Hill.

ROMNEY: Former New Hampshire GOP Chairman John H. Sununu, who was always expected to endorse Romney, is already arranging high-level private meetings for the prospective candidate, NH Journal reports. “According to more than one source, Sununu arranged a dinner meeting at the Bedford Village Inn earlier this month between Sununu, Romney, Romney’s wife and Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid... McQuaid was harsh on Romney during the 2008 New Hampshire primary. His paper endorsed Sen. John McCain and criticized Romney repeatedly.”

In an interview with Jonathan Gruber, an MIT professor with whom the Massachusetts health and human services department worked closely to develop then-Governor Mitt Romney’s health care coverage plan, the Washington Post writes that Gruber thinks it’s “sad” that Romney is running away from the plan, which Gruber says “gave birth to one of the greatest pieces of social legislation in our history,” President Obama’s health care reform legislation.

A survey of Republican heavy-hitters reveals that the majority of “Insiders” think Mitt Romney is the favorite to win the GOP presidential nomination, the National Journal writes. “’Romney still has fundamental advantages no one else has going into this race even with carryover questions from 2008,’ said one Republican Insider. ‘Probably the shakiest GOP front-runner in modern history, but it’s still his to lose,’ said another.”

SANTORUM: In an interview with a Laconia, New Hampshire radio station, Rick Santorum “said the Social Security system would be in mulch better shape if there were fewer abortions,” the AP writes. “He says the system has design flaws, but the reason it is in big trouble is that there aren’t enough workers to support retirees. He blamed that on what he called the nation’s abortion culture. He says that culture, coupled with policies that do not support families, deny America what it needs — more people.”

IOWA: The state’s Democratic Party announced its caucus campaign team yesterday, the Des Moines Register writes.

Real Clear Politics lays out the many reasons why the Iowa caucuses will be a total crapshoot this year -- and, as they always have, will pick a very different candidate than its early-primary cousin New Hampshire. “Will [Tim] Pawlenty fit all of the state's coalitions like a glove -- or is he trying too hard to appease too many different people? Where will Christian conservatives come down on economic issues and the elusive concept of electability -- and will evangelicals coalesce around a single candidate as they did in 2008? What about tea partiers?”

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Union-Leader: The state GOP held a fundraiser last night in honor of former state party chairman and former Gov. John H. Sununu, which was the first major event since Jack Kimball took over as party chairman. RNC Reince Priebus headlined the evening, saying of President Obama’s policies, “Here's the problem. Hope isn't hiring."

New Hampshire tea party groups are working with Iowa congressman and conservative kingmaker Steve King to plan a major event with presidential candidates in early June, Politico reports.

NORTH CAROLINA: “North Carolina is losing out on a congressional seat and future tax dollars because so many of its military personnel were deployed during the U.S. Census and counted in population totals for other states, according to an Associated Press review… North Carolina officials estimate more than 40,000 troops were deployed from the state's military bases around the time of the Census one year ago, but only 12,200 of the nation's overseas military personnel listed North Carolina as their home state, according to Department of Defense data provided to AP. The gap of some 28,000 troops was costly: The state was about 15,000 people shy of getting an extra congressional seat from Minnesota.”

The Republican-led state legislature has introduced a bill that would move the state’s presidential primary to the first Tuesday in March, electoral blog Frontloading HQ writes.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, along with partners NBC News and Politico, today will announce that it's moving its GOP presidential debate -- originally scheduled for May -- to the fall. The debate now will take place on Sept. 14.

The reason: So far, few prospective Republican candidates have formed exploratory committees, and none has formally announced a presidential bid.

“Although there will be a long and impressive list of Republican candidates who eventually take the field, too few have made the commitment thus far for a debate to be worthwhile in early May," said John Heubusch, the Reagan Foundation's executive director. "The Reagan Foundation’s first Republican presidential primary debate will move to the fall, allowing enough time for the full slate of candidates to participate.”

The NBC/Politico debate will be moderated by NBC's Brian Williams and Politico's John F. Harris. 

In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams, President Obama didn't rule out the U.S. would give arms to the Libyan opposition.

"I'm not ruling it out," the president said. "But I'm also not ruling it in. We're still making an assessment partly about what Khaddafy's forces are going to be doing. Keep in mind, we've been at this now for nine days. And the degree to which we've degraded Khadaffy's forces in those nine days has been significant."

The president continued, "Operations to protect civilians continue to take out Khadaffy's forces, his tanks, his artillery on the ground, and that will continue for some time. And so one of the questions that we want to answer is: Do we start getting to a stage where Khadaffy's forces are sufficiently degraded, where it may not be necessary to arm opposition groups? But we're not taking anything off the table at this point."

Also in the interview, Obama commented on the end game in Libya: "What we've also done is put Khaddafy back on his heels -- at this point. In addition to maintaining a no-fly zone, protecting civilian populations, we also have political tools, diplomatic tools, sanctions, freezing his assets, all of which continue to tighten the noose. And so our expectation is that as we continue to apply steady pressure, not only militarily but also through these other means, that Khaddafy will ultimately step down."

And he discussed if the U.S. intervention in Libya applies to other countries as well. "I think it's important not to take this particular situation and then try to project some sort of Obama Doctrine that we're going to apply in a cookie-cutter fashion across the board. Each country in this region is different. Our principles remain the same. We want to make sure that governments are not attacking their own citizens. We believe in core, fundamental human rights, like freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. We want governments that are responsive to their people. And so we'll use all our tools to try to accomplish that. But Libya was a unique situation where a limited military intervention that had a strong international mandate and strong international participation could make the difference -- life or death difference -- for a lot of people."

From msnbc.com's Tom Curry:  According to NBC's Jim Miklaszewski, the Defense Department puts the cost of the U.S. military operation against Libya’s Gadhafi regime at $550 million through March 28. On a per diem basis, that would average out to about $55 million a day.

Defense Department officials also said that with non-U.S. NATO forces now assuming most of the burden of the Libya mission, the U.S. military cost should be approximately $40 million over the next three weeks. That would equate to less $2 million a day.

Obama has stressed the cost reduction argument in his speeches on Libya, saying Monday night, “Because of this transition to a broader, NATO-based coalition, the risk and cost of this operation -- to our military and to American taxpayers -- will be reduced significantly.”

Obama added that “if we tried to overthrow Qaddafi by force” the dangers to U.S. forces “would be far greater. So would the costs and our share of the responsibility for what comes next. To be blunt, we went down that road in Iraq.”

Welcome to the era of what political scientist Michael Mandelbaum calls “the Frugal Superpower.”

How does the cost so far of the Libya intervention compare to the U.S. military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq?

According to an estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, the Afghanistan operation in the current fiscal year will cost $110 billion, which would average out to more than $300 million per day.

At the height of the Iraq conflict – at least in terms of cost, if not in terms of intensity of combat – it cost $140 billion in fiscal year 2008. That would equate to about $383 million a day.

CBO cautions that most appropriations for Afghanistan and Iraq and for related activities "appear in the same budget accounts as appropriations for DoD’s other functions," so it's not possible "to determine precisely how much has been spent" on those two wars, but CBO's is probably the best estimate we have.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates testified to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees last month that by the end of calendar year 2011, he expects there to be fewer than 100,000 troops deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan with “virtually all of those forces in Afghanistan.”

This will allow him to “begin reducing Army active duty end strength by 27,000 and the Marine Corps by somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000,” Gates said. That will mean reduced future payroll, health care, and other costs.

But maintaining 100,000 troops in the field remains a very expensive proposition.

The larger picture is that the Defense Department this fiscal year will spend about $712 billion (or 19 percent of total federal spending), according to the CBO. That works out to about $1.95 billion a day.

If there were no Iraq and Afghanistan operations in the current fiscal year, Pentagon spending would be about 20 percent less – assuming the money now being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan weren’t used for some other military purposes.

As the New York Times reported, Sen. Chuck Schumer had an unscripted moment on today’s Senate Democratic conference call on the budget negotiations.

Apparently unaware that a phone he was near was not on mute, Sen. Schumer began to speak in a very candid way about the Democrats’ current messaging strategy -- to portray House Speaker John Boehner as beholden to Tea Party Republicans’ demands.

“I always use the word extreme,” Schumer said. “That’s what the caucus instructed me to use this week.”

He went on to say, “What we’re trying to do here,” but reporters on the call never got to hear what he was trying to do, as someone abruptly got Schumer off the line -- leaving a confused bunch of reporters on the other line for a few minutes before the call began in earnest.

Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty called his previous support for cap-and-trade legislation “a mistake” on Monday, noting that other GOP presidential candidates have also backpedaled on similar measures to manage climate change.

“Anybody who’s going to run for this office who’s been in an executive position or may run has got some clunkers in their record,” he said on the Laura Ingraham Show. “As to climate change – or more specifically cap-and-trade - I’ve just come out and admitted and said, ‘Look, it was a mistake. It was stupid. I’m not going to try to defend it.’”

The former Minnesota governor signed a bill in 2007 that authorized a task force “to recommend how the state could adopt" a cap-and-trade system. The same year, he also joined onto an accord with five other governors urging the creation of “a market-based and multi-sector cap-and-trade mechanism.”

And he appeared in a radio ad – played by Ingraham during the Monday segment – in which he and then-Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano urged Congress to curb greenhouse gas emissions and create “enviro-friendly” jobs.  The ad, aired in January 2008, was sponsored by the Environmental Defense Action Fund.

Pawlenty, who last week announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, said on Monday that cap-and-trade measures are a “ham-fisted, unhelpful, damaging thing to the economy.”

Without naming any specific candidates, he noted that he’s not the only GOP hopeful who has previously warned of the dangers of climate change and advocated for market-based solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Everybody in the race, at least the big names in the race, embraced climate change or cap-and-trade at one point or another, every one of us, so there's no one who has been in executive position whose name is being bantered in a first or second-tier way who hasn't embraced it in some way," he said.

Potential Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have backed off of previous support for carbon regulations, as have Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. (Here's Time's guide to some of the major Republican contenders' positions on global warming.) 

From NBC's Jason Seher
Addressing the media at the London Conference on Libya, Secretary of State Clinton today said the United States has not ruled out arming Libyan rebel forces. While she admitted the Obama administration has not made any decision about arming rebels or providing any arms transfers yet, she said U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 would allow the United States to do just that in the near future.
 
Clinton said, "It is our interpretation that 1973 amended or overwrote the absolute prohibition of arms to anyone in Libya, so that there could be a legitimate transfer of arms if a country were to do that."
 
She continued, stating: "It's obvious to everyone that Khaddafy has lost the legitimacy to lead. So he must go."

From NBC’s Ali Weinberg, Shawna Thomas, and Mark Murray
On a conference call with reporters today, Senate Democrats -- led by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer -- blamed House Speaker John Boehner’s acquiescence to the House Tea Party caucus for holding up negotiations over a final agreement to keep the government operating for the rest of the year.
 
“We see now that Speaker Boehner is yielding to the extremes to his party -- basically saying he’s not going to negotiate,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), who also was on the call.

The Republican-led House already passed a long-term spending bill that includes $61 billion in cuts for the rest of the fiscal year. The White House and Senate Democrats are expected to release a plan that would cut roughly half that, but Republicans have expressed discontent that they have not yet seen that proposal.

Democrats today said that they were waiting for an indication from Boehner that he would be willing to compromise.

“The ball is in his court,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

House Republicans fired back at Schumer and the Democratic senators. “Sen. Schumer is not part of the CR negotiations, and he is making up fairy tales trying to derail serious discussions on funding the government and cutting spending, because he believes his party would benefit from a government shutdown," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. "At this point, the House has passed a bill to fund the government through the end of the year while cutting spending. The Senate has not -- and Sen. Schumer’s inaccurate rants won’t change that.”

House Democrats also got into the act of blaming the Tea Party for the impasse. In his pen-and-pad briefing today, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer quoted former Speaker Gingrich about the dangers of a "perfectionist caucus." The 2011 version of the "perfectionist caucus" is the Tea Party, he said, backing up the Senate Democratic rhetoric that it's the Tea Party holding up the compromise, not the Democrats. 

"When the real problem is not that we haven't given anything. The White House is at $20 billion. The White House has been engaged in these negotiations. [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid is right. The problem is not a disagreement between Democrats and Republicans. The problem is disagreement between Republicans and Republicans. The Tea Party has become more and more strife... The government is not going to work by threats."

From NBC's Courtney Kube
A senior administration official says that NATO will not likely take command and control of the overall mission in Libya on Wednesday (as President Obama announced in his speech last night) -- that the full transition will likely be delayed.

The transition will be pushed further in the week, but "no more than a day or two," the official said, adding that this is "not unexpected" and "not unusual."

The official said that media reports of delays "are legit, but minor in the big picture," adding that the process "will take just a bit longer to play out."

"It is a major muscle movement," the official said.

From NBC's Jim Miklaszewski
The Pentagon reports that through March 28, the U.S. military operation has cost $550 million. The bulk of that is for munitions. The cost for the 199 Tomahawk missiles fired alone is somewhere between $220 to $298 million.

Pentagon officials say once NATO forces takeover the bulk of the mission, the U.S. military cost should be approximately $40 million over the next three weeks.

Summing up Obama’s speech in three words: necessary, realistic, and unsatisfactory… Obama’s answers (or non-answers) on the endgame, the cost, the Libyan opposition, and future humanitarian crises… The president, in New York today, sits down for an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams… Also in New York, he speaks at a dedication and attends two DNC events… Will Libya impact the budget debate?... Report: Obama will file for re-election less than three weeks for now… Is Barbour wooing Huckabee?... Santorum remains in New Hampshire, while Newt is in Wisconsin… And "Daily Rundown" interviews Stephen Hadley and Martin O’Malley, while "Andrea Mitchell Reports" has Susan Rice, Joe Lieberman, and Amy Klobuchar.

From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Necessary, realistic, and unsatisfactory: President Obama's speech on Libya last night was necessary, realistic, and unsatisfactory. NECESSARY because, nine days after the military campaign began there, he needed to update the American public on its status, aims, and future (arguably this should have happened at the start). REALISTIC because while he said U.S. intervention was needed to avert a humanitarian crisis, it had to be limited and multinational to avoid repeating the mistake of Iraq. And UNSATISFACTORY because it pleased very few, which in retrospect shouldn’t be too surprising given how complex and fluid the Middle East is right now. Despite all the backseat driving (Obama should have acted earlier! He shouldn't have acted at all! He should have gotten Congress' approval first!), the president will ultimately be judged by voters how he's navigating these difficult waters -- not by every paddle stroke, but rather by if the boat eventually gets to shore safely.

*** On the endgame: Yesterday, we said we were looking for Obama to answer four questions in his speech. Here are his responses (or lack thereof). Our first question: What's the end game for U.S. involvement? What happens if Khaddafy's forces and the rebels are locked in a months-long stalemate? Will the U.S. continue to intervene? The president’s answer: "Going forward, the lead in enforcing the no-fly zone and protecting civilians on the ground will transition to our allies and partners, and I am fully confident that our coalition will keep the pressure on Khaddafy’s remaining forces. In that effort, the United States will play a supporting role -- including intelligence, logistical support, search and rescue assistance, and capabilities to jam regime communications."

*** On the cost: Our second question: How much has the mission cost, and how much will it cost? His answer: "Because of this transition to a broader, NATO-based coalition, the risk and cost of this operation - to our military, and to American taxpayers - will be reduced significantly." Bottom line: He didn’t fully answer that question.

*** On the Libyan opposition: Our third question: If the rebels triumph, what kind of governing order would they bring to Libya? His answer: "[Today], Secretary Clinton will go to London, where she will meet with the Libyan opposition and consult with more than 30 nations. These discussions will focus on what kind of political effort is necessary to pressure Khaddafy, while also supporting a transition to the future that the Libyan people deserve -- because while our military mission is narrowly focused on saving lives, we continue to pursue the broader goal of a Libya that belongs not to a dictator, but to its people." He avoided showing direct support for the opposition, even as U.S. actions clearly show the administration taking sides.

*** On future humanitarian crises: Our fourth question: What happens the next time there's a humanitarian crisis and the international community supports an intervention? What does that mean for Syria? What about Iran? His answer: "In this particular country - Libya; at this particular moment, we were faced with the prospect of violence on a horrific scale. We had a unique ability to stop that violence: an international mandate for action, a broad coalition prepared to join us, the support of Arab countries, and a plea for help from the Libyan people themselves." This, as we’ve said before, is the Obama Doctrine: The U.S. will take military action to avert a humanitarian crisis if its scope is limited and if it has the backing of the world community.

*** Start spreading the news… : President Obama’s answers to those questions -- or the lack thereof -- will be fodder when he sits down for an interview this afternoon in New York City with NBC’s Brian Williams, which will air on "Nightly News" tonight. Also in New York, Obama delivers remarks at the dedication of the Ronald H. Brown United States Mission to the United Nations Building at 4:45 pm ET. And then he hits two DNC events in the Big Apple. The first is a fundraiser at the Red Rooster Restaurant with roughly 50 supporters, a DNC official tells First Read. The cost is $30,800 a plate, and it will raise $1.5 million for the DNC. The second event is a "thank you" event with about 250 supporters at the Studio Museum. (Most of March has been about other Democratic committees getting the president's help to raise money, because once the calendar turns to April, the president's fundraising focus will be mostly trained on himself and 2012.)

*** The surprisingly partisan reaction: Here’s a final thought on Obama’s speech last night: The congressional reaction was surprisingly partisan, especially for a foreign policy speech. A typical Republican response: "When our men and women in uniform are sent into harm’s way, Americans and troops deserve a clear mission from our commander-in-chief, not a speech nine days late," said GOP Sen. John Cornyn. "President Obama failed to explain why he unilaterally took our nation to war without bothering to make the case to the U.S. Congress." Meanwhile, the Dem responses largely backed the speech, albeit unenthusiastically. "I support this lifesaving effort, which has been authorized by the United Nations and backed by our European allies and the Arab League," said House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer. "I also applaud the service and courage of the American troops who are helping to carry it out. It is essential, however, that the president continue to inform and consult with Congress." The GOP reaction confirms the White House view that most of the criticism coming from Congress is political in nature, which may explain why they seem so uninterested in responding to it.

*** Will Libya impact the budget debate? A question worth pondering: Will the situation in Libya play a role in the current standoff over the budget? Could it end up strengthening the Democrats’ hand (if, say, Khaddafy is ousted in the next week or so)? Or could it help House Republicans (if Khaddafy remains in power and the violence in Libya escalates)? Or more likely, does the Libya situation overshadow the Beltway debate about the budget -- making it easier for back-channel negotiations between the White House and Speaker Boehner to take place?

*** Obama to launch re-election effort in the next couple of weeks? Turning to the emerging 2012 presidential race,

National Journal has some details how Obama will file for re-election. "President Obama is fewer than three weeks away from formally announcing his reelection campaign, and will make it public with an online video his aides will post on his new campaign website, Democratic sources familiar with the plans said. Obama’s team will try to keep the exact date and time a surprise, letting supporters know first by text message and e-mail. By that point, Obama would have opened his campaign account with the Federal Election Commission. But a major Democratic National Committee fundraiser is set for April 14 in Chicago, and Democratic donors are being told that it will coincide with the announcement. Obama will attend the event."

*** Barbour wooing Huck? On the GOP side,

Politico writes how Haley Barbour is wooing Mike Huckabee. "Representatives of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour have been trying to set up a time with Huckabee aides for the two Southern governors and longtime friends to meet... It’s a delicate topic for the two prospective candidates. Barbour wants to be respectful of Huckabee’s decision-making process and not be seen as pressuring the 2008 winner of the Iowa caucuses. And Huckabee, despite doing little of what he himself has said would be necessary to mount a campaign, wants to keep the possibility of running open and isn’t quite ready to play kingmaker. But for all their aides’ coyness, the two principals have been openly flirting with one another in recent weeks."

 *** On the trail: Rick Santorum remains in New Hampshire, where he attends multiple events. And Newt Gingrich screens the documentary "Nine Days that Changed the World" at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI

*** Programming notes: MSNBC's "Daily Rundown" features interviews with Bush National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), and GOP Rep. Peter Roskam. Meanwhile, MSNBC’s "Andrea Mitchell Reports" interviews U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, as well as Sens. Joe Lieberman and Amy Klobuchar.

Countdown to continuing resolution’s expiration: 10 days
Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 136 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 224 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 314 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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"Facing accusations that he has not explained the United States’ interest in Libya’s war, Obama said the nation had a responsibility to prevent a mass killing after Gaddafi pledged to carry out a brutal reprisal campaign against civilians in rebel-held territory," the Washington Post writes. "He emphasized that the mission was undertaken with the United States’ closest allies, and that command of the military operation will be transferred to NATO on Wednesday.

"‘To brush aside America’s responsibility as a leader and — more profoundly — our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are,’ Obama told an audience of mid-career military officers, who remained quiet during much of the 27-minute address. ‘Some nations may be able to turn a blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States of America is different.’"

The front page of the Boston Globe: "Brutality in Libya required swift action, Obama says." From the Globe’s story: "The swift Libyan intervention — which marks the first time Obama has ordered US troops into a new conflict — is considered a key test of his presidency and a moment that allowed him to delineate his most comprehensive vision yet for America’s role in the world and the role of the military abroad."

The New York Daily News over a photo of Obama: "My war is over."

The New York Post’s cover: "No Mo!"

Some of the reactions to last night’s speech. Here’s the take by Politico’s Ben Smith: "The doctrine is there is no doctrine. President Barack Obama answered questions about America’s mission in Libya Monday night with a 27-minute address that focused narrowly on "this particular country, Libya, at this particular moment" and shied away from making sweeping statements about America’s role in the world, the larger principles that guide his decisions on using force or about the U.S. response to the unfolding Arab Spring."

(But upon closer inspection of last night’s speech, the Obama Doctrine was clearly there. "There will be times, though, when our safety is not directly threatened, but our interests and our values are. Sometimes, the course of history poses challenges that threaten our common humanity and our common security… In such cases, we should not be afraid to act -– but the burden of action should not be America’s alone.  As we have in Libya, our task is instead to mobilize the international community for collective action.  Because contrary to the claims of some, American leadership is not simply a matter of going it alone and bearing all of the burden ourselves.  Real leadership creates the conditions and coalitions for others to step up as well.")

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) writes in an op-ed in The Hill that President Obama needs to be clearer about the goal of the mission in Libya, how much it will cost, and bring a belated debate to Congress.

Joshua Greenman, writing the top story in the New York Daily News, picks up on Tom Ricks’ point last week of Obama’s "realistic ambiguity" vs. Bush’s "false clarity." "Just a few years ago, we had a President who valued clarity so dearly that he labeled three utterly different countries, presenting drastically different security problems, an ‘axis of evil,’" Greenman writes. "Didn't really make sense, but lumping them together was catchy and, at least as far as it went, clear. … Barack Obama isn't an all-or-nothing kind of commander in chief or an all-or-nothing kind of man. He gambled in pushing health care reform, but in his bones he's a cautious leader who overcomplicates where others oversimplify. He turns bumper stickers into dissertations, not the other way around. Those who are grousing about that fact now should count their blessings - and remember the alternative."

Politico's Roger Simon: "It was 'Mission Accomplished' but without the banner. In a strong, almost pugnacious, speech Monday night, President Barack Obama said he had achieved his initial goals in Libya. 'So for those who doubted our capacity to carry out this operation, I want to be clear: the United States of America has done what we said we would do,' he said. Slashing the air with his left hand, he used language that was not only robust, but martial: 'We struck regime forces….We hit Gaddafi’s troops….We targeted tanks.' BAM! ZAP! POW!"

On the budget negotiations, a top House GOP aide was critical of Democrats’ handling of the situation, NBC’s Luke Russert reports. "It’s hard to get a straight answer from Democrats these days because their position changes almost daily, depending on whether you talk to the White House or Senate Democrats. First they didn’t believe one dime in spending could be cut. Then they relented and agreed to cut $10 billion after Republicans forced the issue. Then Democrats said they could offer $11 billion more, but most of it was gimmicks.  And suddenly days later they say they can offer $20 billion, but they won’t share it with anyone. Republicans have passed a credible plan; it’s called H.R. 1. Where is the Democrats’ bill, and where is their plan? Americans have a right to know."

The aide said that will be the House GOP leadership’s message. House Speaker Boehner and leadership will hold a news conference at 4:00 pm ET for what they say is "inaction" on the budget.

To that point, AP writes, "With the clock ticking toward a possible shutdown April 8, Democrats have prepared a proposal to cut $20 billion more from this year’s budget, a party official said, but they have not yet sent it to House Republicans. That’s because they say it’s unclear whether the Republicans, who hold a majority in the House, would accept a split-the-difference bargain or will yield to demands of GOP freshmen, many backed by the Tea Party movement, for a tougher measure."

"Democrats are deploying a divide-and-conquer strategy in their negotiations with House Republicans over spending cuts," The Hill reports. "After being put back on their heels earlier in the budget message battle, Senate Democrats are now trying to drive a wedge between Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Tea Party freshmen."

"As the White House prepared an offer to cut an additional $20 billion to end the budget stalemate on Capitol Hill, House and Senate leaders ramped up their rhetoric over who would bear the blame if the government shuts down," Roll Call writes.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) delivers the keynote speech at the National Journal Insiders Conference at this morning. He will talk about Democrats’ "Make It In America agenda" and will announce items Democrats will introduce, including his bill on promoting job-training partnerships. "Democrats’ overwhelming priority in the 112th Congress is job creation," he will say per prepared remarks shared with First Read. "[I]t’s surprising and disappointing that, almost three months into this new Congress, Republicans have failed to even propose a single job-creating bill." 

A new Pew poll finds a religious divide among Republican primary voters, with church-goers and evangelicals going 30% for Mike Huckabee, and 24% of GOP voters who are not regular church-goers picking Mitt Romney. More from Pew: “Within the GOP, one-third of those who are not religious or belong to a smaller faith group want Romney as the Republican nominee. Only 7 percent said they preferred Huckabee.”

BACHMANN: PolitiFact grades Rep. Michele Bachmann’s claim that “secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress, over $105 billion was hidden in the Obamacare legislation" as Barely True, writing that “[s]he’s right that there’s about $105 billion of already approved spending in the health care bill that may be difficult to rescind. But that does not mean that the process was secret. While the pre-approved spending provisions didn’t attract media attention, they were in the plain language of the bill and did not vary dramatically from past congressional practice.” http://is.gd/Itw4Tn

Bachmann will be in South Carolina on April 15 to attend a reception at a private home, as well as “a number of events in the following days,” the State Column reports.

Bachmann will also attend the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in June, Politico reports.

BARBOUR: Politico points out that Haley Barbour’s declaration that “slavery was the primary, central, cause of secession” might be old news for most Americans, but less so for a Republican governor of Mississippi. It also demonstrates the degree to which Mississippi has changed – no longer the staging ground for Democratic defection to the GOP due to Southerners’ objections to advancements in civil rights.

The Nashua Telegraph reminds us that Barbour was supposed to be in New Hampshire today and yesterday – his first since naming his top New Hampshire operative – but he canceled the trip because of a budget crisis in Mississippi.

CAIN: The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, assailed Hermain Cain for saying at the Conservative Principles Conference that he would not appoint a Muslim to his cabinet or as a federal judge, CNN reports.

DANIELS: Indiana’s state Treasurer says that while he never expected Gov. Mitch Daniels to endorse him for Senate, Daniels did encourage him to mount a challenge to Sen. Richard Lugar, even as Daniels said he planned to vote for Lugar on Meet the Press earlier this month, National Journal writes.

HUCKABEE: Mike Huckabee insisted over the weekend that he is in fact still considering running for president, telling a talk radio host that he “most certainly” has not made a decision not to run, The Hill writes.

HUNTSMAN: The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that Huntsman’s PAC has hired “two prominent” GOP strategists: “Paul Collins, a nearly 30-year political campaign organizer and former congressional and U.S. Senate chief of staff, and Brad Blais, a key player in U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass' 2010 campaign, are joining the Horizon PAC as consultants to organize its political operations in the first-in-the-nation primary state.”

JOHNSON: Fox News reported on Friday that Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico, says he will bypass the exploratory stage and announce his candidacy for president sometime in April after tax day.

PAWLENTY: Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that President Obama had been “belated and timid” in ordering air strikes to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Libya. He also said that if he were president, he “wouldn’t recognize and legitimize Syria,” calling the country’s president Bashar al Assad a terrorist and a killer, and saying he would recall the ambassador and denounce Assad publicly.

ROMNEY: Mitt Romney gave $25,000 to the New Jersey Republican party yesterday, according to a release from his political action committee, Free and Strong America PAC. Romney today announced that he would be re-hiring the chief domestic policy adviser for his 2008 campaign, Lanhee Chen, to serve as the policy director of Free and Strong America PAC, the Boston Globe reports. Chen also served in the Bush administration and was the deputy campaign manager for Steve Poizner’s failed GOP California gubernatorial bid.

SANTORUM: CNN reports that Rick Santorum did not attend the Conservative Principles Conference on Saturday because his daughter, Isabella Maria, became very ill (her condition has since improved).

*** UPDATE *** This story was first reported by CBN’s David Brody.

Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, maybe Rand Paul, and now Roy Moore?

The Wall Street Journal:

Remember Judge Roy Moore? He was the Alabama Supreme Court chief justice removed from office over the Ten Commandments monument he erected outside the state courthouse. Now, he’s about to jump into the presidential election in Iowa, GOP officials say.

Eight years after a state panel removed him from the bench over the commandments spat, and five years after he lost in the Republican primary in the Alabama governor’s race, the 64-year-old judge is preparing to launch a presidential exploratory committee and enter the Iowa fray, according to multiple Iowa GOP officials.

Moore lost GOP gubernatorial primaries in Alabama in 2006 and 2010. In fact, I wrote this piece below in '06 about Moore's rise and fall. The obvious question: If someone can't win GOP primaries -- twice! -- in Alabama, can he even be competitive in a presidential contest?

Three years ago, Roy Moore was well on his way to becoming the Next Big Thing in American politics.

Despite being ousted as Alabama’s chief justice for defying a federal order to remove his controversial 5,300-pound monument of the Ten Commandments inside the state’s judicial building, Moore quickly became one of the most popular figures in Alabama and an icon among religious conservatives. Supporters saw him as a possible candidate for governor, senator -- or even president.

Then came President George W. Bush’s re-election in 2004, which was greatly aided by a wave of evangelical voters, a further sign of Moore’s political potential. Indeed, a poll from January of last year showed Moore leading Alabama's incumbent Republican Gov. Bob Riley, who had been wounded politically from his failed $1.2 billion tax increase of 2003.

Moore, a fellow Republican who believes that God is the sovereign source of America’s laws and government, will face Riley in the gubernatorial primary on June 6. Yet, in what seems to be one the biggest political reversals in recent memory, Moore is trailing Riley in the polls by nearly 50 points. 

From NBC's Athena Jones
At a town hall meant to highlight the importance of increasing educational achievement in the Hispanic community, President Obama talked about the need to invest in early education programs, improve teacher quality, increase parental involvement and fund bilingual and immersion programs for students who have trouble speaking English.

He also reiterated his support for the DREAM Act for young immigrants and for Pell Grants and loan-reduction programs to help make college more affordable.

The White House dubbed March "Education Month" and the president has traveled to several states -- including Florida and Massachusetts -- making the case at each event that the country must invest in improving schools and boosting high-school and college-graduation rates in order for America to better compete in the global economy. As he has at nearly every stop, Obama told the audience at Washington's Bell Multicultural High School on Monday that America "can't afford" to have students drop out of school. 

"This is an issue that's not just important for the Latino community here in the United States; this is an issue that is critical for the success of America generally," the president said. "If our young people are not getting the kind of education they need, we won't succeed as a nation."

Obama's trip to Latin America, his interview with CNN's Spanish-language channel, and today's education event -- which will air on Univision tonight -- come as new Census figures show big gains for the nation's largest and fastest growing minority group. Hispanics, who have heavily favored Democrats in recent elections -- could prove key in 2012. They accounted for more than half of the U.S. population increase over the last decade, with much of that growth in Southern states, like North Carolina, Louisiana, and Alabama -- and roughly one-in-four children in the U.S. is Hispanic.

The president spent an hour Monday taking questions submitted through a Univision website and from an audience of some 600 students, teachers and parents on everything from immigration reform and ways to stop bullying. After the event, bilingual staff from the Federal Student Aid Office held a Spanish session with the parents to talk about preparing their children for college and paying for it.

In a conference call previewing the event, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said there were nearly 12 million Latino students in public elementary and secondary school system, making up more than one-in-five -- or 22% -- of all pre-K to 12th-grade students. Fewer than half of Latino children are enrolled in an early-learning programs and only about half earn their high-school diploma on time, Duncan said.

"Both President Obama and I believe that reducing dropout rates and boosting student achievement among Hispanic students is absolutely essential to the future of our economy and the future of our country," Duncan told reporters on the call.

Only one-in-eight -- about 13% of Latinos -- have a bachelor's degree, according to Duncan and just 4% have anything beyond an undergraduate degree, said Juan Sepulveda, Director of White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics, which works with groups across the country to try to improve educational outcomes among Hispanics.

Duncan and Sepulveda also attended Monday's event, along with DC Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson.

Liberal blogger Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic said he wants President Obama to address the cost to the United States of the Libya offensive in his 7:30 pm address to the nation tonight.

A president addressing the nation on a war should be quite explicit on how it will be funded, under a range of scenarios. Some reports this time around suggest that the Saudis may pay the bill. Fine, but tell us. And each year of the costs needed for Afghanistan and Iraq should come out of some other part of the defense budget or require cuts in domestic spending elsewhere. Of course, none of this would be necessary if the Congress just did its job - and demanded fiscal responsibility from the increasingly trigger-happy executive branch. 

On the right, Victor Davis Hanson at NRO asserted that the United States has two options: take Mummar Khaddafy out immediately or patrol the skies of Libya endlessly, eventually earning the resentment of the rebels and enabling Khaddafy to overpower them. He also laid out some other assumptions about ground and air intervention that he said have been established in previous engagements in the Middle East. Regardless of what the president says tonight, Hanson wrote that he should be working to remove Khaddafy from power.

● Those we are seeking to help are usually the weaker of the two parties, and may at some point make deals with our enemies by deprecating the hand that feeds them.

● With the exception of Britain, any allies, European or Arab, will not stay to the end, and reappear only when it is in their interests, either in the financial or political sense.

● We can take whatever level of public support there was in the beginning and after three months halve it; the most prominent politicians and pundits who championed the intervention will be the most likely, as support withers and the unexpected becomes the norm, to claim the intervention was a mistake, they were misled, or their brilliant original intervention was screwed up the administration’s disappointing (fill in the blanks).

● When it is all over, the president always takes a hit: Carter’s screwed-up rescue operation, Bush I with Kurds in the cold on the hills, Bush II with the Iraq insurgency, Clinton with American bodies dragged through Mogadishu, Reagan’s empty shelling after the Marine barracks, etc. Democratic presidents operate without much of an antiwar movement either in Congress or in the public, but their failures tend to confirm, fairly or not, inherent ill-at-ease with and incompetence in the use of force.

● Gas prices will either rise or be predicted to rise.

Given the above, and given the fact that this intervention was a bad idea, poorly articulated and not thought out from the very beginning, the best denouement is to get Qaddafi and get him quickly. Let us hope that, whatever the president says, he has advisers who see what must be done. 

 

 

From NBC's John Yang
Ohio Gov. John Kasich's (R) legislation curbing public workers' collective bargaining rights -- the most extensive being considered, much more far-reaching than Wisconsin's -- begins its final push this week.

The bill, which passed the Ohio Senate by a slim 17-16 vote (with five Republicans opposing it), is scheduled for a vote Tuesday in the House Commerce and Labor Committee. House and Senate Republican leaders met through the weekend trying to work out changes to the legislation that would guarantee House passage while not threatening the Senate's slim margin.

Some Republicans are pressing for a change to allow police and firefighters to negotiate over safety equipment. There is also disagreement over a provision doing away with binding arbitration to settle contract disputes, instead allowing elected officials to implement their own last offer in the case of negotiation deadlocks.

Once the bill is signed into law, unions have vowed to take it to a statewide ballot referendum -- perhaps as soon as this November.

Union protests are scheduled for the State House in the heart of Columbus Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Obama to make his case on Libya in televised address at 7:30 pm ET… Previewing what Obama will say… And what he hasn't said yet about the situation there… While the policy appears to be working (the rebels have the momentum), what has hurt the White House has been the messaging… The budget debate on Capitol Hill resumes… Bachmann and Cain stole the show at Saturday’s cattle call in Iowa… Will Rand Paul soon join them?... Today’s cable catnip: Robert Gibbs is in talks to join Facebook… And Santorum’s in New Hampshire.

From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Making his case: When President Obama addresses the nation tonight at 7:30 pm ET on the situation in Libya, he’ll have yet another opportunity to explain why the United States should be intervening in that country’s civil war, especially when the U.S. is involved in two other wars and when U.S. unemployment remains so high. It’s a challenge that was highlighted by Defense Secretary Gates, who said on "Meet the Press" yesterday that Libya isn't a "vital" U.S. interest. “I don’t think it’s a vital interest for the United States,” Gates said. “But we clearly have interests there. And it’s a part of the region, which is a vital interest for the United States.” Secretary of State Clinton added, “[Libya] didn’t attack us, but what they were doing and Khaddafy’s history and the potential for the disruption and instability was very much in our interest… And seen by our European friends and our Arab partners as very vital to their interests.”

*** What Obama will say: Here is what we’ve learned Obama will likely say tonight, according to sources. One, he’ll announce that the one-week campaign (to establish a no-fly zone and to immobilize the Khaddafy’s army) has worked. Indeed, due to the Western airstrikes, rebel forces have the momentum and are now at the doorstep of Khaddafy’s home town. Two, the president will stress that the U.S. has handed over command and control to NATO. A senior administration official confirmed to NBC’s Courtney Kube yesterday that NATO has agreed to take over the mission to protect Libya’s civilian population. And three, he’ll discuss the lives that the campaign has saved. One other thing to note: The reason why the president is making his speech from the National Defense University and not from the Oval Office is that it’s more of a “policy” speech (which presidents typically deliver from different venues) than an “action” one (which they typically give from the Oval Office).

*** What Obama hasn’t yet said: But here are questions we’re looking for Obama to answer in tonight’s speech. One, what’s the end game for U.S. involvement? What happens if Khaddafy’s forces and the rebels are locked in a months-long stalemate? Will the U.S. continue to intervene? Two, how much has the mission cost and how much will it cost? Three, if the rebels triumph, what kind of governing order would they bring to Libya? And four, what happens the next time there’s a humanitarian crisis and the international community supports an intervention? What does that mean for Syria? What about Iran? As Obama said in his weekly address over the weekend, “I firmly believe that when innocent people are being brutalized; when someone like Khaddafy threatens a bloodbath that could destabilize an entire region; and when the international community is prepared to come together to save many thousands of lives—then it’s in our national interest to act.”

*** It’s the messaging, stupid: Despite all the criticism the Obama White House has received on Libya -- and much of it has been pure politics (see: Gingrich, Newt) -- the policy appears to have worked, at least for now. But what the administration has struggled with is the messaging. And this has been a constant theme we’ve witnessed from Team Obama that goes all the way back to the presidential campaign of 2007-2008. It always seems to take them a day or two or three to get it right. And once they do, they do it with overkill (examples: tonight’s speech and tomorrow’s interviews with the network anchors).

*** Budget debate resumes: The real fight on Capitol Hill isn't Libya, however. Rather, it's the budget. As the Wall Street Journal reports, “The White House and Democratic lawmakers … are assembling a proposal for roughly $20 billion in additional spending cuts that could soon be offered to Republicans, according to people close to the budget talks. That would come on top of $10 billion in cuts that Congress has already enacted and would represent a deeper reduction than the Obama administration and Senate Democrats had offered previously in negotiations. But it isn't clear that would be enough to satisfy Republicans.” The White House feels pretty confident it can cut a deal with Speaker Boehner. The question remains: Can Boehner get his caucus to accept a deal? And here’s why the GOP -- so far -- has been winning the budget debate, at least message-wise: because the debate has been over numbers, not policies.

*** Bachmann and Cain steal the show -- again: We know we’re beginning to sound like a broken record, but it’s true: The GOP’s presidential “top tier” has some work to do. The best-received speakers at Rep. Steve King’s (R) cattle call in Iowa on Saturday? Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain, even though Haley Barbour and Newt Gingrich also spoke. Haley and Newt were both politely and fairly well received, but they weren't met with the raucous, rally-like atmosphere of Bachmann, who was followed by Cain. And it's not the first time that folks who probably won’t be president (or even the eventual GOP nominee) overshadowed the supposed top tier. At an earlier Iowa cattle call, Cain and former Gov. Buddy Roemer stood out. And at CPAC, Ron Paul, Donald Trump, and a “fake” Sarah Palin drew the most buzz. What’s more, it was striking that Barbour chose to focus on the economy in his speech before a crowd of social conservative activists, which drew a mild rebuke from a speaker on a family values panel. And Gingrich was left defending his position(s) on Libya.

*** Enter Rand Paul? While Bachmann -- as well as Trump -- sucked up most of the oxygen in the early GOP presidential field last week, the next entrant in the “Andy Warhol” primary could very well be Rand Paul. The freshman GOP senator was in South Carolina last week and said he was likely to run for president if his father doesn’t. As Al Cross in the Louisville Courier-Journal wrote over the weekend, there’s probably not enough Tea Party room for both Paul and Bachmann, even though they represent different strands of the Tea Party (Bachmann is more a social conservative, while Paul is more a fiscal/libertarian one).

*** Today’s cable catnip: Per the New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin, Robert Gibbs might go to work for Facebook. “Facebook is in talks to hire Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s former White House press secretary, for a senior role in helping to manage the company’s communications, people briefed on the negotiations said… Mr. Gibbs, who left the White House in February after two years on the job, had been planning to help establish President Obama’s re-election campaign before taking a private sector job, these people said.”

 *** On the trail: Rick Santorum, who didn’t attend Saturday’s Iowa cattle call because of a family emergency, is in New Hampshire today, where he speaks at the Grafton County Lincoln Reagan Day Dinner at 8:00 pm ET.

Countdown to continuing resolution’s expiration: 11 days
Countdown to Iowa GOP straw poll: 137 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 225 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 315 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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USA Today: “President Obama makes his case on Libya tonight at 7:30, a major address that he and aides have previewed in recent days. ‘Along with our allies and partners, we're enforcing the mandate of the United Nations Security Council,’ Obama said in his Saturday radio address. ‘We're protecting the Libyan people from (Moammar) Gadhafi's forces. And we've put in place a no fly zone and other measures to prevent further atrocities.’” 

So far, the strategy appears to be helping the rebel forces. “Rebels surged westward along Libya’s coast Sunday, seizing at least three more key towns and capitalizing on their new momentum after more than a week of airstrikes by an international coalition,” the Washington Post says. “The rebel stronghold of Benghazi erupted in gunfire and rockets early Monday amid rumors that that Sirte, the home town of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, had fallen. But those reports appeared to be unfounded."

The New York Times adds, "As rebel forces backed by allied warplanes pushed toward one of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s most crucial bastions of support, the American military warned on Monday that their rapid gains could quickly be reversed without continued coalition air support. As rebel forces backed by allied warplanes pushed toward one of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s most crucial bastions of support, the American military warned on Monday that their rapid gains could quickly be reversed without continued coalition air support."

“The taxpayers' bill for operations in Libya is headed to at least $1 billion in a conflict that the Pentagon chief said Sunday was not ‘a vital interest for the U.S.,’” the New York Daily News writes.

The Boston Globe profiles “Mahmoud Jibril, a reform-minded former Libyan official and the face of the rebel movement to the West, has played a key role in persuading the United States and its allies to offer a lifeline to Libya’s rebellion.” More: “Those who have met him — including Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France — have emerged from their meetings more confident that Libya’s fledgling opposition is steered by democratic and Western-leaning visionaries, not Islamic extremists. But Jibril, who earned a PhD in political science from the University of Pittsburgh, also underscores a major weakness of the movement to topple Khadafy: their lack of military might. Seven members of the 31-person interim council set up to coordinate the opposition are university professors, while only three are generals, according to a US official who has met with the opposition.”

President Obama will visit Harlem tomorrow.

The Chicago Sun-Times' Sweet says that Obama's campaign headquarters will be in Chicago's Prudential Building. "A source inside the Obama operation confirmed what I learned on my own -- that the headquarters will be in the Prudential Building and that a skeleton crew of Obama 2012 staffers are already in Chicago, including Obama 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina. The headquarters is not yet up and running; it will open for business at a later date."

“Vice President Joe Biden is known for putting his foot in his mouth. Now, his staff is allegedly stuffing reporters in closets,” the New York Daily News reports. “A Florida newspaper reporter claims Biden’s staffers placed him in a storage closet last week to keep him from chatting up guests during a high-priced fundraiser. … Biden spokeswoman Elizabeth Alexander said in a statement Sunday that the decision to put Powers in the storage room was a "mistake" and that the reporter accepted her apology on Wednesday.”

“Lawmakers return to Washington this week with the threat of a government shutdown revived because staff-level talks on a long-term spending bill have made little headway,” Roll Call writes.

The Wall Street Journal: “The White House and Democratic lawmakers … are assembling a proposal for roughly $20 billion in additional spending cuts that could soon be offered to Republicans, according to people close to the budget talks. That would come on top of $10 billion in cuts that Congress has already enacted and would represent a deeper reduction than the Obama administration and Senate Democrats had offered previously in negotiations. But it isn't clear that would be enough to satisfy Republicans.”

“A significant new White House proposal -- appearing to double the $11 billion offer on the table -- was being reviewed by Senate Democrats over the weekend in hopes that an agreement can still be reached with Boehner on a top-line number,” Politico adds. “But the harsh rhetoric Friday night suggests GOP leaders still fear a tea party rebellion. And the continued absence of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) from the talks makes it harder to predict a final deal before the next shutdown deadline of April 8.”

Roll Call: “The White House’s effort to play catch-up with Congressional leaders on U.S. military intervention in Libya has done little to placate lawmakers who have become increasingly frustrated with President Barack Obama,”

“Sen. Chuck Schumer called on the federal government Saturday to probe the 2010 U.S. Census' finding that New York City had grown by a mere trickle,” the New York Daily News reports. "These numbers cry out for investigation," Schumer said.

“Sen. Dick Durbin’s leadership role in the Democratic Conference is a sensitive topic,” particularly with Sen. Chuck Schumer’s ascension, Roll Call writes.

The New York Post’s obit of Geraldine Ferraro.

At the Conservative Principles Conference in Iowa this weekend, the speakers focused on criticizing President Obama and Democrats, and rarely tried to highlight differences among themselves, the AP writes. Health care was another big topic, with Rep. Michele Bachmann getting the “noisiest reception” when she told the Des Moines crowd that voters are ready to overturn the health care law and oust President Obama, calling the law “the ultimate arrogance.”

Des Moines Register: “The five possible prospects who spoke at the conference sponsored by Iowa Rep. Steve King focused primarily on their uniform opposition to President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and his policy initiatives,” but that was where the similarities ended, as Bachmann, Gingrich and Cain spoke about social and economic issues, while Barbour focused solely on the economy.

The speakers at the conservative confab demonstrated the growing rift in the Republican Party between those who believe fiscal issues trump social ones and vice versa, the New York Times adds.

Several likely presidential candidates participated over the weekend on “Rediscover God in America,” a day-long broadcast that reached more than 200 evangelical churches across the country, the Washington Post writes.

Before he delivered the keynote speech at the Conservative Principles Conference, kingmaker Sen. Jim DeMint told the New York Times that the presumed presidential field “might not be sufficient to inspire voters and he would welcome a last-minute entry by another candidate.” The only actual name he floated? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has said he has no interest in running but has boasted that he would do well if he did run. http://is.gd/iAuIUR

BACHMANN: Juan Williams, writing in The Hill: “If Capitol Hill is really one big high school, the ‘It’ girl of the moment is Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.). A recent Gallup poll of Republicans found Bachmann had the second-highest positive intensity rating of any of the potential 2012 candidates in the GOP field. Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and my colleague at Fox, came in first.” And: “Bachmann’s rock-star status on the far right has put the House GOP leadership in a difficult position. She is undermining the ability of the Republican majority in the House to govern.”

BARBOUR: Speaking at the conservative Iowa Renewal Project on Friday, Gov. Haley Barbour vowed not to adhere to any social-issue “truce” if he runs for president, fighting back tears as he spoke, Politico reports.

DANIELS: Dick Armey, the leader of the tea party group FreedomWorks, said he would endorse Gov. Mitch Daniels if Daniels decides to run, the Indianapolis Star reports.

GINGRICH: Newt Gingrich’s courting of an evangelical church -- the pastor of which, John Hagee, called Catholicism (to which Gingrich converted) a “false cult” -- is a good example of how Gingrich is making up for lost time with a constituency he never previously had to pay much attention to, Politico writes.

Gingrich told Fox News Sunday that he expects to be jumping into the presidential race “within a month.” He also “defended his role leading the charge against former President Bill Clinton over his affair, saying he didn't believe that role was hypocritical since the Clinton impeachment centered around the issue of perjury. ‘The question I raised was very simple -- should a president of the United States be above the law?’ he said. ‘I don't think a president of the United States can be above the law.’”

HUNTSMAN: Even though Jon Huntsman himself has been relatively mum on his presidential aspirations, a team around him has a full operation in place, complete with money and messaging, just waiting for a candidate, the AP writes. “They’re floating a rationale for his candidacy — Huntsman could attract independents and centrists while the other candidates fight over — and split the vote of — conservatives who dominate GOP primaries. His support of civil unions for gay couples and belief in humans’ role in climate change, not to mention his time in the Obama administration, could enrage the party’s powerful right wing or alienate tea party voters.”

PAWLENTY: Tim Pawlenty is reaching out to the evangelical community by reaching out to Mike Huckabee’s network of pastors through his own interdenominational church, Real Clear Politics writes.

Team T-Paw today is releasing the names of its fundraising team.

ROMNEY: The Boston Globe notes that Romney and Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) are on a collision course. “[A]fter four years of largely ignoring each other, they are crossing paths again. The Democratic governor and his Republican predecessor are heading onto the national stage, eyeing each other warily and trading a few initial barbs as they do the talk-show circuit, promote their books, and stake out opposing territory in the 2012 presidential race.”

It’s too early to say that Mitt Romney won’t compete in Iowa, where he came in second in 2008, Real Clear Politics writes. Evidence: “Republican activists keyed into Romney's operation say he has been invited to two large fundraising events in this state in the coming months and said it's rumored that an event could be on the books soon… Romney apparently has been quietly tapping Republican aides for a second presidential effort, but they aren't on a Romney payroll just yet.”