The Boston Globe: “One of Mitt Romney’s former campaign aides is planning to ­release a new book next week that is being pitched as an insider’s account that provides ‘an unblinking look at the tactical and strategic miscalculations’ made by the former presidential candidate.

The NewsJournal (Wilmington, Del.): “Delaware became the 11th state Tuesday to legalize same-sex marriage after a lengthy debate in the state Senate that saw one lawmaker disclose her longtime same-sex relationship and the surprise support of two senators who could have tipped the outcome the other way. A half-hour after the 12-9 Senate vote, Gov. Jack Markell signed the bill into law on the main stairs in the lobby of Legislative Hall.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune: The Minnesota House will hold a final floor vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage Thursday. House Speaker Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, said he would not bring the measure up for a floor vote until he was certain it had the votes to pass. The Senate is expected to take up the measure soon after. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is a supporter of same-sex marriage and said he will sign the proposal into law.”

Chris Christie at a press conference yesterday on his weight surgery: "I'm doing it for my long-term health. This is about being healthier for the rest of your life." (Christie, by the way, makes another humorous video – this one with him searching for the fleece he wore in the aftermath of Sandy.)

USA Today: “Christie rejected the idea the weight-loss surgery is a bid to boost his political career as he seeks a second term in November and is frequently mentioned as a 2016 presidential contender. ‘This is a hell of a lot more important to me than running for president,’ he said. … Political analysts said Tuesday they take Christie at his word that the surgery was done for his health, but they acknowledged there could be an upside.”

“A coalition of liberal and environmental groups announced Tuesday that members would stop advertising on Facebook for two weeks to object to the ‘cynical advertising strategy’ of a pro-immigration group linked to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg,” USA Today writes.

Politico: “Mark Zuckerberg is used to being disruptive — but this time it’s in politics and that is making some in the tech world uneasy. The Facebook chief executive’s big foray into politics — with a focus on comprehensive immigration reform — has rattled some tech leaders who worry the Zuckerberg group’s cozy ties with conservative lawmakers are damaging the industry’s image. Usually, tech prefers to stay above the political fray.”

GEORGIA: Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) will not run for the Senate in Georgia, a Democratic operative confirmed to First Read yesterday. The conservative Democrat was perhaps the party’s best shot at winning the open seat to replace the retiring Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Sean Sullivan at the Washington Post: “Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.) will not run for the Senate in 2014, he announced Tuesday, ending months of speculation over whether the conservative Democrat would make a bid. … Barrow’s conservative profile would have made him the most attractive Democratic candidate for retiring Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss’s seat. Now, Democrats will likely turn their attention to Michelle Nunn, another potential candidate. She is the daughter of former senator Sam Nunn.”

SOUTH CAROLINA: The Island Packet headline: “Mark Sanford: The new comeback kid.” “The big victory Tuesday suggests First Congressional District voters cared more about a consistent voice for limited government and no new spending than transgressions that seemed certain to torpedo Sanford’s political career four years ago.”

Shortly after Sanford was declared the winner, Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) and the DCCC tried to make Sanford the face of the GOP with women. Israel said in a statement, in part: “House Republicans’ outreach to women voters now has Mark Sanford as the face. Republicans now have to defend him and stand with him until Election Day.”

USA Today: “Republican Mark Sanford won South Carolina's congressional special election Tuesday, but the results may not conclude the drama of a disgraced former governor on the outs with his own party.” For example, “On Thursday, however, Sanford will appear in a televised court hearing to answer a charge of trespassing from his former wife. Then he'll head to Washington, where he made few friends during his previous three terms in office bucking the Republican leadership.”

Said political scientist Danielle Vinson of Furman University in Greenville, S.C.: "I don't see him having a lot of trouble if he can just shut his mouth about his private life and stop making an enemy of his ex-wife." If he can't, Vinson says, "the frustration with being a national punch line is pretty high in that district."

That’s the question – can he do that?

To sum it up, here was Sanford the newly and openly religious Sanford in his victory speech, (h/t Political Wire): "I want to acknowledge a God not just of second chances. But a God of third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth chances because that is the reality of our shared humanity."

VIRGINIA: Jill Lawrence looks at Terry McAuliffe’s potential problem with women voters because of passages in his book that include him “ditching his wife Dorothy while she was in labor, to dash to a party for a Washington Post reporter.” And, Lawrence writes, “The more problematic anecdote to me is one that involves the birth of another baby, in this case a newborn son whom McAuliffe left in the car with Dorothy on the way home from the hospital while he spent 15 minutes at a fundraiser. She was in tears, he writes. How the heck did he think women would react to that?”

On top of that… “Then there’s what McAuliffe told the late writer Marjorie Williams for a profile in Vanity Fair. He said his wife ‘has no idea’ how much money he has, and implied she doesn’t need to know: ‘She’s got a great life. Listen, her credit cards are paid and all that. She knows I do very well.’”

The New York Post reports that Chris Christie had lap band surgery Feb. 16 and checked into a facility for the procedure under a false name. Christie told the Post: “I’ve struggled with this issue for 20 years. For me, this is about turning 50 and looking at my children and wanting to be there for them.”

And Christie says this has nothing to do with running for president. “It’s so much more important than that,” he said. Because of the operation, Christie can’t eat as much, and he says he’s lost about 40 pounds already. “A week or two ago, I went to a steakhouse and ordered a steak and ate about a third of it and I was full,” he said.

“Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio are facing a big obstacle if they seek the White House in 2016 — and it’s not each other,” Politico writes. “State laws could force the two GOP senators into a difficult choice: run for president or run for reelection to the Senate that same year. Because in their home states of Kentucky and Florida, neither Republican can be on the ballot for both offices at the same time.”

HAWAII: EMILY’s List endorsed Colleen Hanabusa in her Senate race against appointed Sen. Brian Schatz (D).

IOWA: Can a Ron Paul Republican win statewide in Iowa? The Des Moines Register: “Former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker is taking steps to run for the U.S. Senate, saying he would vote only for legislation that’s constitutional and would pattern himself after tea party favorite U.S. Sen. Rand Paul.”

Other Republicans, like state Sen. Joni Ernst, are still considering bids. Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds is encouraging Ernst to run. Reynolds passed on a bid.

MASSACHUSETTS: The AFL-CIO endorsed Rep. Ed Markey.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Sanford could win Tuesday, Roll Call notes. But political observers are shrugging their shoulders and giving a collective, “So what?”

Charlie Cook: “If not on Tuesday night, then certainly by Wednesday and maybe even through Thursday or beyond, one party will be crowing that its victory in the special election for now-Sen. Tim Scott’s former seat in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District is a sign that it is doing great and will have a successful 2014 midterm election. The other party will be downplaying the national significance of the special election, declaring that the results have nothing whatsoever to do with what happens next year. Mark me down as agreeing with the latter. The voting in South Carolina means nothing other than which side can lay claim to that seat for the rest of this year and next.”

Stu Rothenberg: “When the results are in Tuesday night, the spinning will begin. But while the contest has received plenty of national attention, it now appears that the outcome will be largely devoid of significance."

The State on today’s special election in SC-1: “More than former S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford’s chance at political redemption is riding on the outcome of Tuesday’s special election for the state’s 1st District congressional seat, political observers say. A win for Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch could ignite hopes that S.C. Democrats again can compete against Republicans for congressional seats and statewide offices, and help them lay the groundwork for picking up support among Lowcountry voters in 2014. A loss, some say, could emphasize just how difficult a statewide win for a Democrat will be.”

NBC’s Michael O’Brien: “Voters in South Carolina’s first congressional district head to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether to offer former Gov. Mark Sanford a chance at political redemption, or instead send the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert to Congress.”

Polls are open from 7:00 am ET to 7:00 pm ET. Results will be posted here on the South Carolina State Election Commission site.

Sanford was on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and was defensive about his personal failings. “I guarantee you’ve made some mistake in your life,” Sanford said to Mika. He said everyone on that set has had some personal failings. But “one offense does not define your life.”

He defended paying the ethics fine. “I think we explain it because it’s explainable,” he contended. He said that half of the fines were because he used business class tickets for legitimate Department of Commerce trips, something he said “was not an anomaly. There was more to the story than met the eye.”

He said he would have voted against the Toomey-Manchin gun background check bill. “I’m a big Second Amendment guy,” he said, adding that what the gun-show loophole is should be defined more clearly. He said a “couple of guys trading guns in the back of a pickup truck” does not qualify in his view.

On immigration, he said he would vote against the Gang of Eight bill: “We can learn from history,” he said, noting that the “last big immigration bill offered amnesty.” He was referring to the 1980s legislation. He added that any immigration reform should “begin with enforcement first before you get to amnesty. I would not support the bill in the present form.”

The bill in its “present form,” however, does not offer amnesty first, as he claims.

TEXAS: Rick Perry says opposing a ban on gay scouts is like supporting slavery? The Dallas Morning News via Political Wire: "Perry, speaking from the library in the Governor's Mansion, referred to a portrait of Sam Houston, whom he called Texas' greatest governor. He told how Houston's principled stand against slavery and Texas' joining the Confederacy cost him his governorship." Said Perry: "That's the type of principled leadership, that's the type of courage that I hope people across this country on this issue of Scouts and keeping the Boy Scouts the kind of organization that it is today. If we change and become more like pop culture, young men will be not as well served, America will not be as well served and Boy Scouts will start on a decline that I don't think will serve this country well as we go into the future."

VIRGINIA: Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) gets a 64% approval in the latest Washington Post poll.

And we’re off: Look at all of today’s (and this month’s) 2016 activity… Rubio takes incoming from the right and responds… Is Biden a 2016 long shot? Only if Hillary runs…. Hillary, Christie headline Clinton Global Initiative gathering in Chicago next month… Our weekly 2016 roundup… April jobs report: 165,000 jobs created, unemployment rate falls to 7.5% (and check out the upward revisions)… Previewing Obama’s speech in Mexico City… And a Senate race watch.

*** And we’re off: Yes, President Obama’s second term is just over 100 days old. And, yes, the 2014 midterms are still a whopping 18 months from now. But like it or not, the early jockeying, traveling, and speechifying for 2016 is now well under way. Tonight, both Vice President Biden and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) deliver remarks in Columbia, SC (Biden addresses the state Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson dinner beginning at 7:30 pm ET, while Cruz speaks to the South Carolina GOP’s Silver Elephant event). Also today, Cruz, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and other Republicans give speeches at the National Rifle Association’s confab in Houston, TX. Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) finds himself on the cover of National Review (although not in a flattering way), and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley is on the cover of the Washington Monthly (with the title: “Should This Man Be President?”). Then are the other 2016-related events later this month: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) speaks in Iowa (on May 10) and New Hampshire (May 20); Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker heads to the Hawkeye State (May 23); and Cruz addresses the New York Republican Party (May 29).

Jason Reed / Reuters

Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., part of the Senate's "Gang on Eight", speaks during a news briefing on Capitol Hill, April 18, 2013.

*** Rubio takes incoming from the right -- and responds: Speaking of the new National Review cover -- entitled “Rubio’s Folly” -- here’s the article by immigration-reform opponent Mark Krikorian: After the 2012 election, “the Republican establishment turns its hopeful eyes, once again, to so-called comprehensive immigration reform. The same senators who pushed such a bill in 2007, prominently including Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham and Democrat Chuck Schumer, are at it again. They have devised a plan that would ease the path to legality for illegal immigrants while making some gestures toward enforcement. But a new element this time around is Marco Rubio.” But the junior Florida senator has a response of sorts in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, defending the pillars of comprehensive immigration reform but also arguing that any shortcomings to the “Gang of Eight” legislation can be improved. “Since my colleagues and I introduced immigration legislation, intense public scrutiny has helped identify shortcomings and unintended consequences that need to be addressed. Many concerned citizens have gone a step further and offered specific ideas to improve it. This kind of constructive criticism is a positive force that should always be welcomed in the political process.”

*** Cover photo of Rubio edits out other Republicans: As an aside to that National Review cover of Rubio, which shows him surrounded by Sens. John McCain and Chuck Schumer, the liberal site Talking Points Memo has this scoop: “The photo on the cover appears to be stripped down version … missing some unlikely attendees at the event. Look closer over Rubio's shoulder and you'll spot anti-tax crusader and right-wing hero Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.” The full photo also includes GOP Sen. Jeff Flake.

*** Is Biden a 2016 long shot? Only if Hillary runs: Also today, with Biden traveling to South Carolina, the Washington Post runs a pretty tough piece on the current vice president. The title: “Biden ponders a 2016 bid, but a promotion to the top job seems to be a long shot.” From the article: “Biden clearly has the experience and gravitas to ascend to the presidency, but many Democrats say he may have been in Washington too long (since 1973) to win an election. He is President Obama’s governing partner yet is rarely seen as Obama’s heir apparent.” We agree that Biden is the longshot (and in fact most likely to run) if Hillary Clinton gets in the race. But if she doesn’t? It would be hard to call him a long shot, at least in a Democratic primary. Yes, Hillary’s absence would likely create a more crowded Democratic field -- with O’Malley, Andrew Cuomo, and others getting into the race. Yet it would be a leap to label Biden a long shot in that competition. Who would have a stronger base than Biden (especially if Obama endorses him)? Who would have better name ID? Of course, this is the reason why so many Democrats are pining for Hillary to run in 2016: The rest of the field isn’t as strong. But it’s not a given -- at least right now -- she gets in the race.

*** Hillary, Christie to headline Clinton Global Initiative gathering: As for Hillary, Politico reports that she and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will headline Bill Clinton’s Clinton Global Initiative event in Chicago on June 13-14. “The focus of the gathering … is on speeding up the United States' economic recovery and the nation's long-term outlook. But the short-term political outlook will be equally interesting, given that Clinton and Christie top most 2016 polls in their respective parties. It marks the first time Hillary Clinton will appear at CGI America, which has become a signature event in her husband's post-White House portfolio. The event will also feature Chelsea Clinton, Clinton ally and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and a slew of business, labor and government officials.”

*** Our weekly 2016 roundup: And here’s a look at all the other 2016 news this week: Two polls showed (here and here) Hillary Clinton blowing away the competition, and EMILY’s List wants her to run… Andrew Cuomo signed a book deal to write his memoir, set to come out next year.  “This is a private book, not a government book,” he insists. But he added, “It’s going to be a book about my experiences, my thoughts, my thoughts about government and the role of government.”… Martin O’Malley signed a death-penalty repeal, making Maryland the 18^th state to abolish the death penalty…. In the Quinnipiac poll, Marco Rubio narrowly leads the GOP with 18%, followed by Jeb Bush 16%, Chris Christie 14%, Rick Santorum 9%.... National Review reported that Ted Cruz is likely to run for president… Rand Paul endorsed Mark Sanford… And Chris Christie’s out with his first ad of his reelection.

*** April jobs report -- 165,000 jobs created, unemployment rate ticks down to 7.5%: In non-2016 news, the April jobs report shows a big improvement from last month’s numbers. The AP: “U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in April, and hiring was much stronger in the previous two months than first thought. The gains trimmed the unemployment rate to a four-year low of 7.5 percent. The Labor Department report showed the job market is improving despite higher taxes and government spending cuts. In addition to the April gains, the government said employers added 138,000 jobs in March and 332,000 in February. That's 114,000 more over the two months.” Read that February number again: 332,000 jobs.

*** Previewing Obama’s speech in Mexico: NBC’s Kristen Welker report that President Obama's speech at the Anthropology Museum in Mexico City at 10:15 am ET will be equally aimed at a U.S. audience, according to a White House official. Obama’s hope is to recast many Americans' impression of Mexico as a poor country plagued by a violent drug war. The president is expected to say that while Mexico still struggles with those problems, it is also a country that has seen major economic strides in recent years.  In addition, Obama's larger theme will be that comprehensive immigration reform will be important to enhancing both economies and will be important for US-Mexico trade, which totaled $500 billion dollars last year. 

*** Senate race watch: And via your authors and our colleague Jessica Taylor, here’s some Senate race-related news to watch: First Lady Michelle Obama will help raise money for Rep. Ed Markey May 29, in what will be her first fundraising effort after the November 2012 election… “U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate on Thursday, setting up a primary showdown that almost certainly will be the state’s marquee race next year,” AP writes… Republicans are still having a difficult time finding a Senate candidate in Iowa… And in Georgia, GOP Rep. Jack Kingston became the third House member to throw his hat into the growing Senate primary, joining his fellow congressmen Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey.

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USA Today table sets Vice President Joe Biden’s speech in South Carolina Friday and looks at whether it’s a preview for 2016. The State newspaper in South Carolina front pages Biden and Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) visit. Headline: “2016 presidential races gets off to its S.C. start.”

Story: “A little more than a year after the last presidential primary in South Carolina, the next one gets an unofficial start Friday night. Vice President Joe Biden and Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas – two presumed 2016 White House hopefuls – are the keynote speakers at the state’s annual Democratic and Republican fundraising dinners in Columbia. Their Friday night appearances enhance the state’s stature as the home of the first presidential primary in the South, political observers said.”

With Biden and Cruz speaking in South Carolina tonight, C-Span is officially launching its “Road to the White House ’16.”

“Rhode Island Thursday became the 10th state to approve same-sex marriage, and the Delaware Legislature holds a key vote Tuesday on the same issue. But Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, denies there is a national tide in support of marriage rights for gay couples,” Susan Page writes.

Politico: “OFA’s pledge to punish senators who voted against gun control was the first big test of the group’s reach – and, undoubtedly, a difficult one, given that many of the senators voting no were in deep-red states where Obama lost badly. Even measured against those odds, there are almost no successes to point to: the group didn’t sway a single vote for the background check proposal, and so far, they haven’t been able to make any of those who voted against it feel any heat. Even in states Obama carried handily – places like Ohio and New Hampshire – the group couldn’t hold big rallies, blanket the airwaves with TV ads or motivate enough supporters to match the volume of phone calls pro-gun advocates. Asked for demonstrations of the strong effort they were mounting, OFA staff pointed to “tweet your senator” pushes they encouraged in the days after the vote.”

Speaking of guns, USA Today goes to Houston for the NRA’s annual conference: “In some ways, the national debate over gun control has been good for the National Rifle Association. The nation's largest and most powerful gun rights group holds its annual meeting in Houston this weekend, and it's expected to be its biggest and most-watched gathering ever — perhaps 80,000 people, more than 400 exhibitors, 600 credentialed media and perhaps a future presidential candidate or two.”

The AP: “After winning a major victory over President Barack Obama with the defeat of a gun control bill in the U.S. Senate, the powerful gun-rights lobby will gather in Houston this weekend for its annual convention. Organizers anticipate a rollicking, Texas-sized party -- one that celebrates the group's recent victory, while stressing that the fight against gun control is far from over. ‘If you are an NRA member, you deserve to be proud,’ Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's no-compromises chief executive, wrote to the organization's 5 million members last week, telling them that they ‘exemplify everything that's good and right about America.’”

More: “Today's big event is a political forum with speeches from several state and national conservative leaders, including Mr. Perry; Sarah Palin, former GOP vice-presidential nominee; Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania's Republican former senator and presidential candidate; and Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a firebrand who has become one of the top Tea Party voices in Washington since being elected last year.” LaPierre speaks Saturday.

Said the NRA’s spokesman: "The geography is helpful. The current [political] climate helps."

Santorum’s group Patriot Voices on what he will say Friday: “Senator Santorum will share with attendees his commitment to defending the 2nd Amendment, his opposition to universal background checks which could lead to a national gun registry, and his belief that we must work to enforce existing laws, not create new laws that do nothing to deter criminals and madmen.”

Reid Wilson: “After taking control of the state legislature earlier this year, Colorado Democrats have become the vanguard of a new movement to tinker with voting rules. The proposal under consideration now would require elections to take place entirely through the mail -- in essence, signing every Colorado voter up for an absentee ballot… Colorado wouldn't be the first state to conduct elections entirely by mail. Two states, Washington and Oregon, moved to an all-mail system over the last decade and a half. What worries Republicans about the Colorado bill is what happened in Washington and Oregon. Hard as it may be to imagine, both states were once presidential battlegrounds.”

Nancy Pelosi prays that Hillary Clinton will run for president.

HAWAII: “U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa of Hawaii announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate on Thursday, setting up a primary showdown that almost certainly will be the state’s marquee race next year,” AP writes. “The former state lawmaker starting her second term in Congress will be running against fellow Democrat and incumbent U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, who was appointed to the post after longtime Sen. Daniel Inouye died in December. Schatz’s appointment by Gov. Neil Abercrombie came as a surprise to some in Hawaii, after Inouye wrote the governor just before he died saying his last wish was to have Hanabusa named to replace him.”

Said Hanabusa: “Brian was not elected. He was appointed. And I don’t think the people have really had an opportunity to weigh in on who they want to represent them in the United States Senate.”

MASSACHUSETTS: First Lady Michelle Obama will help raise money for Rep. Ed Markey May 29, in what will be her first fundraising effort after the November 2012 election.

A Quinnipiac poll shows Hillary Clinton way ahead in a hypothetical Democratic primary. She gets 65% to Joe Biden’s 13%, followed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) at just 4%.

Democrats leads on the congressional ballot in a Quinnipiac poll 41%-37%.

ALASKA: “Gov. Sean Parnell is ready to announce his plans for 2014,” AP reports. “The Republican intends to make the announcement Friday in Fairbanks. … He could seek re-election. … But he's also been mentioned as a possible challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich.”

MASSACHUSETTS: Stu Rothenberg: “There is no reason to rush to judgment on this race, at least for a couple of weeks, and it’s worth watching to see how it unfolds. Obviously, Markey begins as the clear favorite.”

MICHIGAN: “U.S. Rep. Gary Peters made it official: He is running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Carl Levin next year,” the Detroit Free Press reports, adding, “As a Democrat, Peters may enjoy an advantage heading into the race — it has been nearly 20 years since the state elected a Republican U.S. senator. But the e-mail [announcement] never mentions his party affiliation and seeks to establish Peters’ bona fides as an independent politician.”

SOUTH CAROLINA: Even if the NRCC has abandoned him, Mark Sanford’s getting some backup from national Republicans and conservative groups, including the man who just held the job, Tim Scott, as well as Gov. Nikki Haley, Sen. Lindsey Graham, the FreedomWorks PAC, Sen. Rand Paul, ex-Rep. Ron Paul, and the National Right to Life PAC.

Cruz control? Robert Costa reports: “Freshman senator Ted Cruz is considering a presidential run, according to his friends and confidants.”

An FDU-Public Mind poll finds Hillary Clinton way ahead of any Democrats with 63%, followed by Vice President Joe Biden with 12%.

Marco Rubio leads a closer GOP field with 18%, followed by Jeb Bush 16%, Chris Christie 14%, Rick Santorum 9%.

ALASKA: A Sarah Palin comeback? The L.A. Times: “Sarah Palin’s last elective position in Alaska ended early when in 2009 she abandoned the governorship midway through her first term. But tea party activists appear eager for a comeback, urging supporters to contribute money toward recruiting Palin to run for the U.S. Senate in her home state, where, according to an email sent out this week, she has a ‘clear path’ to defeat incumbent Democrat Mark Begich.”

But: “If Palin is enthusiastic about running for the Senate in Alaska, she hasn’t said so. Nor has her popularity in Alaska endured to the degree that it has on the national stage since her nomination to the GOP presidential ticket in 2008 and subsequent years as a conservative media celebrity.”

MASSACHUSETTS: NBC’s Andrew Rafferty: “The race to fill John Kerry's Massachusetts Senate seat is now set with Republican businessman and former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez and long-time Democratic Congressman Edward Markey coming out victorious in primaries on Tuesday. … Markey will probably enjoy frontrunner status in the traditionally blue state, but at his victory rally Tuesday night, he and Sen. Elizabeth Warren warned supporters not to take anything for granted.”

The Boston Globe asks, “Will he be the next Scott Brown? Gabriel E. Gomez, a 47-year-old son of immigrants who became a Navy pilot and SEAL before becoming a private equity investor, won the Republican nomination tonight for the US Senate special election to replace John F. Kerry, bringing a fresh face to a race that had drawn scant interest from an electorate distracted by the Boston Marathon bombings.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is out with a new video, complete with disco music, mocking Rep. Ed Markey's near-40-year tenure.  It even depicts him John Travolta-like in a shiny disco outfit, shirt open, hairy chest revealed. And it’s launching a site called, “OutofDateEd.com.” (The first policy hit in the video is that Markey voted to raise the debt limit. The NRSC will hit Markey later this morning for his suburban, D.C., residence, calling him a “creature of Washington: He Owns A $1.3 Million Home In Chevy Chase, Maryland, One Of DC’s Most Posh Suburbs (ranked 112th most expensive zip code by Forbes). In fact, Markey’s Chevy Chase home was listed as his primary residence by Montgomery County until 2002.”

But National Journal’s Kevin Brennan throws some cold water on all the Gomez buzz and notes he has vulnerabilities of his own, including being the spokesman for an anti-Obama Navy Seal group accusing the president of trying to politically capitalize on the death of Osama bin Laden. The White House derided it as a Swift Boat effort.

Brennan answers this question: “Is Republican Gabriel Gomez the next Scott Brown? The short answer: Probably not…. A confluence of three forces -- a surprisingly strong GOP nominee, a lackluster Democratic campaign and a terrible political environment for Democrats -- allowed Brown to become Massachusetts' first Republican senator in more than 30 years. With that loss still fresh in Democratic minds, the likelihood of those three factors being replicated by Gomez are slim. As Massachusetts conservative radio host Michael Graham told National Review last week, "Scott Brown can't even be Scott Brown."

Markey, who happened to win the Democratic primary with more than three times the votes Gomez got, is treated as a “meanwhile.” The Globe: “Meanwhile, veteran US Representative Edward J. Markey beat fellow Representative Stephen F. Lynch in the race for the Democratic nod in the traditionally blue state.”

For a little more perspective on this race, this is still Massachusetts. Markey got almost double the votes cast in the entire Republican contest. Lynch, for his part, got more votes than the entire GOP field combined. For all the attention Gomez is getting, he got less than a third the votes Markey did and less than half the votes Lynch did.

As AP writes, “National Republicans cheered former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez’s Massachusetts primary victory, but Democratic Congressman Ed Markey enjoys tremendous advantages in the special election to replace former U.S. Sen. John Kerry.”

VIRGINIA: NBC’s Michael O’Brien: “Republican Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell denied any wrongdoing in his business dealings with a family friend and donor, saying Tuesday that an FBI probe into that relationship does not impair his ability to serve as governor.”

Wondering what Rand Paul thinks of this… Ron Paul claims, “Liberty Was Also Attacked in Boston.” From his piece on a libertarian site: “Forced lockdown of a city. Militarized police riding tanks in the streets. Door-to-door armed searches without warrant. Families thrown out of their homes at gunpoint to be searched without probable cause. Businesses forced to close. Transport shut down. These were not the scenes from a military coup in a far off banana republic, but rather the scenes just over a week ago in Boston as the United States got a taste of martial law. The ostensible reason for the military-style takeover of parts of Boston was that the accused perpetrator of a horrific crime was on the loose. The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn what should have been a police investigation into a military-style occupation of an American city. This unprecedented move should frighten us as much or more than the attack itself.”

KENTUCKY: National Journal: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has set an ambitious goal for his reelection campaign: to build the most sophisticated Republican digital and data operation to date. The Kentucky Republican, known more as tactician than technologist, is making a major investment in technology infrastructure in hopes that a treasure trove of real-time data about the electorate will help guide him to a sixth term.”

MASSACHUSETTS: AP table sets today’s Senate special election. Polls open at 7:00 am ET and close at 8:00 pm ET. A light turnout is expected. Rep. Ed Markey’s the favorite on the Democratic side; Gabriel Gomez is the favorite for Republicans.

In fact, reports the Boston Globe: “Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin today predicted an overall lower turnout for Tuesday’s special US Senate primary election than in the same contest in 2009. Galvin said he expected about 550,000 Democratic ballots would be cast Tuesday in the two-person contest, down from the 669,000 in the 2009 US Senate special primary election. On the Republican side, he said he predicts about 200,000 people will cast primary ballots in the three-person race, up from 165,000 in 2009.”

MICHIGAN: “U.S. Rep. Gary Peters is expected to announce his intention to run for Michigan’s soon-to-be-open U.S. Senate seat on Wednesday in Rochester Hills,” the Detroit Free Press reports. “A Democratic source told the Free Press on Monday that Peters, who had been widely expected to run, would announce his intentions and visit several other cities around the state — including Flint, Lansing and Grand Rapids — this week.”

SOUTH CAROLINA: The State: “Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch portrayed her Republican rival Mark Sanford as a dishonest job-killer who voted against the dredging of the Charleston port during a debate Monday, while Sanford characterized her as a wishy-washy union-backer who relies on special interest money from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other national Democrats.”

And how about this exchange when Colbert Busch brought up his extramarital affair (Sanford acted like he couldn’t hear what she said):

COLBERT BUSCH: “When we talk about fiscal spending and we talk about protecting the taxpayers, it doesn’t mean you take that money we saved and leave the country for a personal purpose.”
MODERATOR: “She went there, Gov. Sanford.”
SANFORD: “I couldn’t hear what she said. Repeat it, I didn’t hear it.”
COLBERT BUSCH: “Answer the question.”
SANFORD: “What was the question?”

He went on to answer the original question on spending and not the charge.

Politico: “Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch took the fight to embattled Republican Mark Sanford in a raucous debate here Monday night, at one point tagging the former governor as a hypocrite for preaching lower spending when he used taxpayer dollars to fly to Argentina to visit his mistress.”

An affair site took out two billboards in South Carolina. Over a photo of Sanford, the billboards read, “Next time…” use their site “to find your ‘running mate.’”

The woman who replaced Mark Sanford as governor, Nikki Haley (R), will participate in a fundraiser in Charleston for him Wednesday, NBC’s Ali Weinberg reports. “Nikki believes it is critical that South Carolina speak with as much unity as possible on key federal issues facing our state, such as labor union powers, Obamacare, and deficit spending, and Mark Sanford is clearly the candidate who will stand with our Congressional delegation in fighting Washington's overreach,” Haley adviser Tim Pearson said.

But even the man hosting the fundraiser for Sanford doesn’t know if he can win. Auto dealer Tommy Baker, who with his wife is hosting Wednesday’s fundraiser, declined to handicap Sanford’s chances given his campaign’s recent speed bumps: “I don’t know that. I wish him the best and I think they’re two great candidates,” he said. “If I could answer that I wouldn’t have to be in business today.”

VIRGINIA: The Washington Post: “FBI agents are conducting interviews about the relationship between Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, his wife, Maureen, and a major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor’s daughter, according to four people familiar with the questioning.”

“The FBI has begun examining the relationship between Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen and the chief executive of a nutritional supplements manufacturer that is the subject of a federal investigation, two people with knowledge of the review said Monday,” AP writes, adding, “FBI agents have asked questions about gifts the McDonnells have received from company CEO Jonnie Williams and whether the Republican governor or his administration aided the company in return.”

AP: “A national group of prominent GOP donors that supports gay marriage is pouring new money into lobbying efforts to get Republican lawmakers to vote to make it legal. American Unity PAC was formed last year to lend financial support to Republicans who bucked the party's longstanding opposition to gay marriage. Its founders are launching a new lobbying organization, American Unity Fund, and already have spent more than $250,000 in Minnesota, where the Legislature could vote on the issue as early as next week. The group has spent $500,000 on lobbying since last month, including efforts in Rhode Island, Delaware, Indiana, West Virginia and Utah.”

Billionaire Paul Singer is behind the group.

Maggie Haberman looks at whether Kirsten Gillibrand could run for president.

But Hillary could clear the field: For example, “New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) ‘has quietly told associates that he is resigned to the fact that he can't run for president in 2016 if Hillary Rodham Clinton enters the race, as is widely expected,’ the New York Post reports,” Political Wire writes.

GEORGIA: “Former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, endorsed Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., in what is shaping up to be Republicans’ widest and most unpredictable Senate primary,” Roll Call writes.

MASSACHUSETTS: Roll Call on Tuesday’s special election:” It’s difficult to discern how much Lynch has cut into Markey’s earlier lead because public polling has been all over the map. Markey led by around 30 points in two separate polls in the early months, while other surveys had him up by around 10 points. This week, the Lynch campaign leaked an internal poll that showed him within 6 points of Markey. It’s rarely a good sign when a candidate boasts a poll that shows him behind, but the Lynch campaign hoped to show that the margin would continue to close.”

But the only thing that could prevent a Markey win – he hasn’t run a competitive race in a long time: “Markey, the dean of the state delegation and one of the most senior members of the entire House, hasn’t run a competitive campaign in more than 30 years. He won a 12-candidate primary with just 22 percent of the vote and since then has been held below 70 percent just twice.”

“Lynch forecast 23 percent turnout and, for himself, a five-point victory. Both predictions exceed those held privately by both Lynch supporters and by Democrats unaffiliated with either campaign,” the Boston Globe writes. “Lynch said his campaign had detected unexpectedly strong support in the state’s mid-size cities, like New Bedford, Fall River, Everett, and Lawrence. His primary rival, US Representative Edward J. Markey, declined to give a projection for either the number of voters who will participate or the race’s outcome.”

Meanwhile, GOP favorite Gabriel Gomez is raising money with the help of a group using sharp anti-Obama rhetoric. “Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, was a spokesman for the conservative group during the 2012 presidential election, when it accused Obama of exploiting the killing of Osama bin Laden and endangering troops for political purpose,” the Boston Globe writes. “But the group’s fiercely anti-Obama rhetoric stands in sharp contrast to the letter Gomez sent to Governor Deval Patrick in January, asking the Democratic governor to appoint him interim senator.”

Ex-U.S. Attorney and GOP candidate Michael Sullivan is calling on the Boston bombing suspect to have his citizenship revoked.

PENNSYLVANIA: Gov. Tom Corbett (R) is in trouble in next year’s election, according to a Quinnipiac poll. He loses to three potential Democratic candidates for governor – Joe Sestak 48%-34%, Rep. Allyson Schwartz 47%-34%, and state Treasurer Rob McCord 44%-35%. Corbett gets just a 38% approval.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Mark Sanford’s political fate is on the line May 7 in a special election for SC-1. He still could win, and it’s because of sentiments like this one found in a letter to the editor in The State newspaper today: “Former Gov. Mark Sanford sitting with his son to watch a ballgame doesn’t look to me like a mortal sin. Obviously, his son wanted his dad to be with him and enjoy the game. Where was the wife? Had she deserted the son?”

The State: “Sanford is still the favorite, according to many of the state’s politicos, despite a Democratic poll that indicates Colbert Busch leads and a recent allegation by Sanford’s ex-wife that he violated their divorce settlement by trespassing at her home. But, they add, Colbert Busch has a growing list of advantages. State and national Democrats and their affiliated groups are pouring money into TV ads and mailers to build her up and tear Sanford down. She has a famous comedian brother, Stephen Colbert, fundraising by her side. And the former governor’s troubled personal life could mean some Republicans stay home on Election Day. But Colbert Busch most likes to talk about her tough, no-nonsense businesswoman reputation, much as Sanford relishes his reputation as a fiscal hawk.”

“Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch raised more than twice the amount that Republican Mark Sanford did in the most recent reporting period — possibly a sign that allegations by Sanford’s ex-wife damaged his fundraising prowess,” The State writes. Sanford still has more cash on hand heading into the final days of the race, though. … The numbers from the most recent campaign filings show Colbert Busch is getting strong support from national Democratic political action committees and groups. About $96,000 of the more than $874,000 she raised this period came from political action committees. Those include donations from unions, such as the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association and the United Transportation Union. Midwest Values PAC, a progressive group started by Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, a former writer and performer for “Saturday Night Live,” also donated to her campaign.”

With a week to go, Sanford has $284,000 cash on hand compared to Colbert Busch’s $254,000.

The Charleston Post and Courier: “As the theme from ‘Shaft’ plays in the background, an announcer warns that ‘they’ have been passing laws requiring photo ID to vote, reducing early voting days and ‘even trying to overturn the Voting Rights Act.’”

Beth Reinhard looks at the importance of the black vote for Colbert Busch. The district is about 22% black. While running radio ads accusing Republicans of trying to suppress the vote, she has also been critical of Obama, trying to appeal to whites in the district: “Not only does President Obama’s plan fail to put our finances back in order, it would cut benefits for our seniors, which is wrong,” she said.

“But the campaign’s radio ad linking Sanford to allegations of voter suppression makes her intentions clear. With Isaac Hayes’ soundtrack from the 1971 movie about a black private detective as backdrop, the ad assails a new South Carolina law that requires voters to show photo identification. A federal court blocked the law from going into effect until after the 2012 election. ‘Somebody doesn’t want African Americans to vote, and it doesn’t take Shaft to figure out who,’ a narrator says in the radio spot. ‘Tuesday May 7^th is your chance to show them they can’t get away with it.’ The spot doesn’t mention that the ID law was signed after Sanford left office by Gov. Nikki Haley.”

As Republicans mount opposition once again to President Barack Obama’s health-care law, the president appealed to women and specifically Planned Parenthood for help in fighting back.

Mike Theiler / Reuters

President Barack Obama speaks at the Planned Parenthood National Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington April 26, 2013.

"I am here to also ask for your help, because we need to get the word out," Obama told Planned Parenthood Friday.

Much of the Affordable Care Act will begin being implemented next year, including the unpopular mandate, requiring those who do not have health insurance to obtain it or pay a fine. The Supreme Court upheld the law in a 5-4 decision last year.

Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have begun a messaging campaign against the law’s implementation in much the same way the GOP did before the law’s passage in 2009.

“I urge my friends on the other side to join with Republicans and stop this ‘train wreck’ before things get even worse,” McConnell said Thursday in a Senate floor speech. McConnell’s up for reelection in 2014 in Kentucky.

The Republican leader’s use of the phrase “train wreck” was a reference to retiring Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana. Baucus, who ironically helped write and pass the health-care law, gave Republicans ammunition last week while questioning Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during a Senate hearing.

"I just see a huge train wreck coming down,” he said. "You and I have discussed this many times, and I don't see any results yet."

Baucus, who was up for reelection in a red state in 2014, made the remark the same day he voted against the compromise gun background check legislation.

He announced his retirement just six days later.

Republicans have indicated it will use concerns about the law’s implementation against Democrats in next year’s midterm, hoping it will help fuel a takeover of the Senate.

“In 2014, ObamaCare will be a political tsunami.... and Democrats are terrified,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brad Dayspring said in a tweet, part of a series of tweets messaging against health care and highlighting other Democrats’ concerns.

Republicans need to net six seats to gain control of the Upper Chamber and make McConnell majority leader.

During the first fight over the health plan, before it became law in 2009, President Obama was seen as the best messenger for it. There were few, if any, other Democrats who showed an ability to frame the argument in favor of the plan as well as Republicans who opposed it.

Health-law advocates, however, worry that the president will be consumed with immigration over the next several months into the fall, just as the behind-the-scenes implementation of the law will be taking place.

That’s one reason Obama is looking for allies, and there’s no better place for him to start than Planned Parenthood, a group that helped advocate for the law’s passage.

“Planned Parenthood’s not going anywhere,” Obama told the group, referring to Republican attempts to de-fund it. “It’s not going anywhere today; it’s not going anywhere tomorrow. … You've got a president who's going to be right there with you in that fight every step of the way."

This story was originally published on Fri Apr 26, 2013 12:30 PM EDT

On MSNBC's "Jansing &Co.," Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said he has "no intention" to run for Florida governor next year.

"Look, I have no plans to run for governor. I have no intention of running for governor," said Nelson, who won re-election last November. "I love this job as senator, except that I am very, very frustrated as we have discussed this morning -- that we can't get anything done because you can't get people together to build consensus."

Nelson's statement comes after Roll Call quoted a "senior Democratic official" who said that the senator was considering challenging Republican Gov. Rick Scott.

“It’s on the way to being fairly serious. I think he is going to take a very close look at it,” a senior Florida Democratic official told CQ Roll Call. “It’s not very far along. I wouldn’t tell you it’s likely ... [but] I think he will really look at it.”

MASSACHUSETTS: “A political action committee that issued automated campaign calls to boost Democratic US Senate candidate Stephen F. Lynch said Thursday that it would halt the advertising, after Lynch disavowed the message that seized on the tragedy at the Boston Marathon,” the Boston Globe reports.

Who is the group? “The treasurer of the group that paid for the calls is also treasurer of the ironworkers union that endorsed Lynch, the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union, AFL-CIO. Treasurer Edward McHugh said his 99 Percent PAC was just formed last month. Documents filed with the Federal Elections Commission include contributions from two local ironworkers unions.”

The script: “All of us share the shock and sorrow of the recent events in Boston. But as Americans, we’re not going to let the perpetrators of this tragedy or anyone else stop our democracy from moving forward. … “Wouldn’t it be great to have a real working person representing you in the US Senate? Not just another millionaire. Someone who truly understands the day-to day problems facing regular working families. Someone like Steve Lynch, the highly skilled and well educated ironworker who put himself through law school at night. In Congress, Steve Lynch has fought for Massachusetts working families not just when it was convenient or easy, but every day. That’s what you’d expect from an ironworker.” 

Lynch’s campaign distanced itself from the ads and said it didn’t know it was running, the Boston Globe reports. Lynch spokesman Conor Yunits in an email: “We did not know about it. We do not agree with it. We ask this group to stop immediately.”

Our colleague Jessica Taylor has more on the Markey-vs.-Lynch contest. 

MISSOURI: Local affiliate KSDK interviewed Todd Akin. He says he regrets his rape comments and would take them back if he could: "Oh, of course I would! I've relived them too many times. But that is not reality.” Asked if he regrets them, “Of course. You think what would it have been like if I hadn't done that."

But he also reflects the divide going on within the GOP – leadership told him to step aside, his base didn’t want him to: "Really what it goes back to is whether the Republican Party is going to be run by the insiders, or run by the grassroots organization. That's a question still to be determined,” he said, adding, “"I believe the party will either stand on principled positions or its going to be replaced by some other party.” He also takes a shot at Karl Rove: “Karl Rove has made himself an expert. I think I lost one race. He managed to lose about 12 of them in one night." 

Akin hinted he’s interested in a comeback: "It's one of those things that depends on the circumstances really. I don't rule anything out. I consider it a bright new future and I'm interested to see what the possibilities are." 

PENNSYLVANIA: “Though the background-check amendment co-sponsored by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., failed last week to earn enough votes to be adopted, Toomey's standing among Pennsylvania voters is now at the highest point of his three-plus-year term, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released on Friday,” National Journal’s Steven Shepard writes. 

Toomey’s approval is 48%/30%, up from 43%/32% before the background-check push in March; Sen. Bob Casey (D) gets a similar 48%/34% approval, the same as March; President Obama’s is split at 48%/48%, an improvement over his underwater 44%/51% approval last month.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Pro-Democratic House Majority PAC is up with its second ad in SC-1, hitting Sanford with a veteran accusing him of “abandoning his post.”

VIRGINIA: Ken Cuccinelli (R) is with his first TV ad, and it features his wife talking directly into camera, selling him as someone who “has spent his life standing up for the vulnerable and those in need,” “worked the night shift at a homeless shelter, spent his college days leading efforts to prevent sexual assaults, and represented those suffering from mental illness.” 

More: “As Attorney General, Ken fought to find and prosecute child predators and human traffickers. Virginia deserves a Governor who is experienced, principled, and honest. I think you’ll find that’s what Ken Cuccinelli is all about.”

The New York Times dips into the Virginia governor’s race and looks at Terry McAuliffe’s (D) involvement in GreenTech Automotive. He’s been criticized for establishing the plant in Mississippi and not Virginia, where “Officials also questioned GreenTech’s plan to attract Chinese investors using a visa program that awards green cards to foreigners who put up $500,000 or more for a start-up business. One development official wrote that she could not ‘get my head around this being anything other than a visa-for-sale scheme.’”

ALASKA: The Democratic-backed Council for American Job Growth is up with a TV ad touting Sen. Mark Begich (D).

HAWAII: “The lingering fallout from the 2008 presidential primaries could rear its head in another congressional contest — this time in Hawaii,” Roll Call writes. “The two Democrats who will face off in next year’s Senate primary took leading roles on opposite sides of the primary that pitted Barack Obama versus Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

MONTANA: Our colleague Jessica Taylor looks at Republicans who want Marc Racicot (R) to run for the state’s open Senate seat.

NEW YORK: Anthony Weiner says there might be other pictures out there… “If reporters want to go try to find more, I can’t say that they’re not going to be able to find another picture, or find another … person who may want to come out on their own, but I’m not going to contribute to that. The basics of the story are not gonna change,” he said on RNN-TV, per Politico.

Weiner made the media rounds and says he’ll decide on a mayoral run “soon,” per Political Wire.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Referring to South Carolina and Mark Sanford, Stu Rothenberg writes: “Republicans are on quite a streak when it comes to throwing away elections.” More: “This tossup contest tilts toward the Democrat. If Colbert Busch wins the seat next month, it won’t be because most voters wanted her to represent them in Congress. It will be because many voters — Republican voters — concluded that Sanford was unacceptable.”

“An outside group tied to South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is poised to go on the air early in the 2014 cycle,” Politico writes. “The Movement Fund, a registered 527 organization helmed by Republicans close to Haley, has booked about $130,000 in airtime in three major markets starting next week, according to a source tracking media buys.” More: “Haley is expected to face a serious reelection fight: a Winthrop Poll taken earlier this month found her approval rating just under 45 percent among registered South Carolina voters, with 39 percent disapproving of her job performance.”