“Hillary Clinton’s next chapter — the paid speaking circuit — begins today,” Maggie Haberman writes. “The former first lady, senator and secretary of state has overnight become one of the most in-demand speakers in the world — as a a reported $200,000-a-pop fee attests — even before she takes the stage at the National Multi-Housing Council in Dallas. A few hours earlier, also in Dallas, former Florida governor and fellow potential 2016 contender Jeb Bush will give his own address to the World Affairs Council. Both speeches — Bush’s is open to the press, Clinton’s is not — are on the eve of Thursday’s opening of the George W. Bush presidential library.”

“Jeb Bush can check the boxes needed to win the White House — money, résumé and connections.

But he’s also got a problem: his last name,” Politico notes. “Many leading Republicans say the former Florida governor would be a stronger candidate ahead of 2016, if they weren’t worried about Bush baggage. On Wednesday, he’ll be in the spotlight in Dallas, giving a speech ahead of the dedication of his brother’s museum.”

Over the weekend, David Catanese profiled Jon Huntsman and Huntsman 2.0 for the Daily Beast. "He’s begun dipping his toe back into the political pond—traversing the country at a brisk pace and delivering meaty op-eds and speeches that pointedly address the woes of his party. 'They want to see a vibrant two-party system,' he says of the universities and business groups that have extended speaking invitations to him. 'And I think they're curious at how we might regain that diverse debate that the two-party system allows in this country.'"

"But when asked if the reception he’s receiving indicates there’s an appetite for another White House run, it’s clear he’s not even sure of the answer. 'I don’t know.  It’s way premature,' he said."

ARKANSAS: “Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns, the well-funded group co-founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is seriously considering a months-long television, radio and direct-mail campaign against Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor, one of four Democrats who opposed expanding a background check for guns,” National Journal reports. “The goal: Make an example of him. Senior members of Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns met at length Sunday to debate potential responses to the failure of President Obama’s gun regulation package, including a watered-down background check provision that fell five votes short.”

MASSACHUSETTS: “The final debate of the Senate Democratic primary devolved into an exchange of insults and character allegations Tuesday night, as Representatives Edward J. Markey and Stephen F. Lynch abandoned collegiality for a heated confrontation with one week remaining in their contest,” the Boston Globe writes, adding, “The sharpest exchange, though, came when Markey said Lynch’s opposition to federal financial assistance for manufacturers prompted an endorsement for Markey from an automobile workers union. Lynch retorted that he had voted for that bailout, frequently praised by the Obama administration as a successful countermeasure to the recession.” 

LYNCH: “I don’t want to call you a liar, but you are.”
MARKEY (to the moderator): “Steve was inappropriately, personally insulting.”
LYNCH: “I take it back, you’re not a liar, you’re just misinformed.”
MARKEY: “He is incorrigible here.”

The Senate candidates are back on air after the Boston bombings.

MONTANA: “The surprise retirement of Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) immediately swung attention to the state’s former Democratic governor, Brian Schweitzer, who declined to say Tuesday if he would seek the job,” the Mark Z. Barabak writes in the L.A. Times.

Schweitzer told Barabak: “I’ll look around once I climb that mountain. There should be a pretty good view from there. I’ll look around and see what I do next.” But he indicated he’s not in a rush to leave Montana: “There’s not a sound to be heard, unless it’s the howl of a wolf or the yip of a coyote. Life is good. You can print that in the L.A. Times." (Irony: Schweitzer lives on Georgetown Lake in Montana.)

NEW JERSEY: Chris Christie leads Barbara Buono (D) 58%-26% for the governor’s race and he has a 67% approval rating in the latest Quinnipiac poll.

VIRGINIA: Writing for the New Republic, David Catanese notes that Ken Cuccinelli could be the GOP’s next big star if he wins Virginia’s gubernatorial contest. “If indeed he’s able to dispatch former Democratic National Committee chairman and uber-fundraiser Terry McAuliffe just as Republicans are enduring a wrenching period of soul-searching about their identity, his timing could be impeccable. He has the social conservative street cred of Rick Santorum, speaks the libertarian language of Rand Paul, and brandishes the constitutional acumen of Ted Cruz. And if he captures the governorship, odds are he’ll have a longer list of tangible achievements in two years than Marco Rubio racks up in five. He'll also, surely, have a longer list of controversies.”

After nearly three months of speculation, Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds has decided not to run for Iowa's vacant U.S. Senate seat in 2014, Republican sources familiar with her decision told NBC News.
 
Reynolds, who is in her first term as lieutenant governor, was viewed as one of a handful of GOP front-runners in the upcoming race to challenge Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, especially with Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, now appearing to lean against a run.
 
Longtime 73-year-old Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, announced his retirement in late January and paved the way for the first open senate seat election in Iowa in three decades. No female has ever served in Congress from Iowa -- nor assumed the role of governor. Sources close to Reynolds suggest she is more interested in being groomed to replace Republican Gov. Terry Branstad in the future rather than head to Washington.
 
It is still unclear when Reynolds will announce her decision.
 
The question now turns to just who on the Republican side will jump into the race.
 
Earlier this year, it had been widely speculated that King would take on the challenge, although some are now doubting the likelihood he will run.
 
Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey may also potentially launch a bid.
 
Other names that have surfaced as potential candidates include Secretary of State Matt Schultz, former U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker, former gubernatorial candidate Rod Roberts, and social conservative leader and former gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:24 PM EDT

First Read confirms that Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., will not run for re-election in 2014. The news was first reported by the Washington Post.

Baucus, 71, who was first elected in 1978, currently chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee. He recently angered liberals when he voted against the background-check measure on gun control.

Baucus' decision gives Republicans a key pick-up opportunity in Montana -- where President Obama won just 42 percent of the vote in 2012.

However, a Democrat familiar with former Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer's thinking says the former governor is leaning toward running for Baucus' seat, which would give Democrats a solid chance at holding onto the seat. 

So far this cycle, six Senate Democrats have announced they won't seek re-election -- Baucus, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, Carl Levin of Michigan, and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. And two Republicans have announced their upcoming retirements -- Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Mike Johanns of Nebraska.

This story was originally published on Tue Apr 23, 2013 10:06 AM EDT

HAWAII: Political Wire: “Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI) has decided to challenge Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) in the Democratic primary next year, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reports.”

MASSACHUSETTS: ‘The two Democratic hopefuls for Massachusetts’ open Senate seat went toe-to-toe Monday night in a debate filled with fireworks. Representative Stephen F. Lynch, Democrat of South Boston, went on the attack repeatedly against the voting record of Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Malden, who is widely seen as the frontrunner in the two-man race,” the Boston Globe writes.

AP: “Democratic U.S. Senate hopefuls Edward Markey and Stephen Lynch clashed Monday night on homeland security in their first debate since the Boston Marathon attacks.”

On the GOP side, Gabriel Gomez got the endorsement of ex-Gov. Bill Weld. 

MICHIGAN: “Even though a big majority of recently polled Michigan voters don’t know who Democrats Mark Schauer and Bart Stupak are, the two politicians are in a dead heat with Gov. Rick Snyder in head-to-head matchups for the 2014 gubernatorial election,” the Detroit Free Press writes. An EPIC/MRA poll finds: “Schauer holds a slim 39-38% lead over Snyder, while Stupak is a point behind Snyder at 38-39%.”

Snyder’s fav/unfav dropped from 55% in December before the right-to-work legislation controversy to just 42% now with 46% having a negative view. And his job approval was 38%/58%. 

NEW YORK: “Amid a growing perception that corruption is a serious problem in New York, six politicians are up for arraignment in a case that alleges an audacious plot to buy a line on New York City’s mayoral ballot,” AP writes.

So… maybe Weiner’s not so bad? “Former Congressman Anthony Weiner is back on the social network that helped end his career in public service,” the New York Daily News writes. “Weiner, who infamously sent lewd pictures of himself over Twitter in 2011, officially rejoined the social network Monday, the Daily News has confirmed. It’s possibly another indication that he will jump into the 2013 mayoral race.” 

Mike Bloomberg thinks telecommuting is “one of the dumbest ideas.”

SOUTH DAKOTA: Political Wire: “Former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD) told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader she is seriously considering a run for the U.S. Senate and plans to make her decision soon.” 

VIRGINIA: Bill Hamlet Bolling… He tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he wished he’d waited longer: "If I have one regret about the decision it's that I wish I had waited longer. Because if I had waited longer I think we may have (seen) the direction these campaigns were going and that may have made it easier to raise more money." (H/T: Political Wire.)

Ken Vogel and Maggie Haberman: “The GOP didn’t have an answer for Big Democratic Data in 2012, costing them in close races from Congress to the White House. Now, they’ve got lots of answers — possibly too many — and a feisty rivalry is brewing between tea party upstarts, nonpartisan data geeks, operatives linked to the Koch brothers and insiders like Karl Rove.” (The Kochs are also trying to buy newspapers, the New York Times says.)

“As if President Barack Obama’s political machine hasn’t left them battered and bruised enough, Republicans are fretting that it could help Democrats win the House next year,” Politico writes. “The president’s deep-pocketed political arm, Organizing for Action, can’t by law spend most of its money on elections, and officials insist it won’t play directly in the 2014 midterm. But Republicans aren’t buying it: They’re convinced OFA will find other, indirect ways to help Democrats capture the House and allow Obama to finish his presidency unchecked by Congress.”

The Hill: “The Republican National Committee raised $18.02 million in the first three months of this year and has $8.67 million cash on hand, Chairman Reince Priebus announced Friday. About a third of that sum, or $6.3 million, was raised in March alone, and the committee had no debt at the end of the quarter.”

CALIFORNIA: Eric Garcetti leads Wendy Greuel 50%-40% in the L.A. mayor’s race in a USC Price/L.A. Times poll. The runoff is May 21.

MASSACHUSETTS: Rep. Ed Markey leads the field for the Massachusetts Senate special election. He’s ahead of Stephen Lynch (D) 44%-34% in the Democratic primary for the Senate special election and bests Gabriel Gomez (R) 51%-36% for the general election in a Western New England University poll. Gomez leads the GOP field 33%-27% over Michael Sullivan. The primary is May 28. June 25 is the general.

NEW YORK: Another poll – Quinnipiac - has Anthony Weiner in second place behind Christine Quinn, 28%-15%. Quinn is short of the 40% needed to avoid a runoff, but Weiner has a net-negative favorability, 33%-41%. The primary is Sept. 10.

VIRGINIA: Ken Cucinelli is going after Terry McAuliffe on tax returns calling for him to “release the documents” in a new video. It’s the Mitt Romney campaign in reverse. First, Republicans went after McAuliffe for his business record. Now, they’re making calls for him to release his tax returns, using clips of President Obama, David Axelrod, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Bill Clinton, and even McAuliffe himself (!) criticizing Romney for not releasing his tax returns.

KENTUCKY: “Mitch McConnell continues to seize on the bungled taping of his Louisville campaign headquarters,” Politico writes. “The Senate Minority Leader will go on the air Thursday with a new commercial that links last week’s brouhaha to the Democratic president’s desire to oust him.”

His ad tries to link Obama with those who recorded his strategy session. “Mitch McConnell’s is Obama’s No. 1 target, because Mitch protects Kentucky from Obama’s bad ideas. Liberals will do anything to beat McConnell,” a narrator says in the ad. Then a TV news clip: “Two active Louisville Democrats are accused tonight of spying on Mitch McConnell’s Louisville campaign headquarters.”

Narrator: “They also launched racial attacks against Mitch’s wife. And now, liberals compare Mitch to al Qaeda terrorists and North Korea’s dictator. How dirty will Obama’s allies get.”

McConnell still doesn’t even have a Democratic opponent.

And there’s this: “Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s reelection campaign didn’t waste time pointing out that he won the gun control fight,” Politico writes. “Immediately after Wednesday’s vote, his campaign posted an image on his Facebook page showing Majority Leader Harry Reid with his hands open [just a pinch] with the caption, ‘Can we have this much gun control?’ The next box showed McConnell with the caption, ‘No.’”

SOUTH CAROLINA: “Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford’s (R) ex-wife, who we learned Tuesday filed a trespassing complaint against her husband earlier this year, has also accused her husband of shirking their divorce agreement on at least three other occasions,” the Washington Post reports. “According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, Jenny Sanford filed a complaint against Mark Sanford in March 2012 for violating the terms of having their sons on the Sanford family’s Coosaw plantation. The terms state that ‘no airplanes will be flown at the children.’ She has also accused him of failing to properly insure the property and of missing a child support payment. Jenny Sanford told AP the latter situation has been resolved.”

And when Jenny Sanford says it’s about the kids, well, maybe this is why: “For Sanford’s teenage son Bolton, that very public moment marked the first time he had ever been in the presence of Maria Belen Chapur,” the Washington Post reports. “Sanford’s former wife Jenny confirmed in a text message: ‘That was indeed Bolton’s first intro and both boys were quite upset and visibly so.’ Their son’s discomfort is evident in photos of the event.”

The State: “A source at the committee [the NRCC] said it was caught off guard by the trespassing complaint, filed in February, which is why the committee decided to get out of the race.”

But that doesn’t mean Sanford’s going to lose: “If the district holds true to its demographics, you’ve still got to think that it should lean in his favor,” GOP strategist Richard Quinn of Columbia said.

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council is urging social conservatives to stop giving to the Republican National Committee. "Until the RNC and the other national Republican organizations grow a backbone and start defending core principles, don’t send them a dime of your hard-earned money,” CNN reports. “If you want to invest in the political process, and I encourage you to do so, give directly to candidates who reflect your values and organizations you trust-like FRC Action."

NBC’s Michael O’Brien reported Wednesday: “Thirteen social conservatives, representing various influential groups, wrote Priebus ahead of the RNC's quarterly meeting this week in Los Angeles to sternly rebuke the conclusions of a post-election report that advised Republican elected officials to adopt a softer tone toward social issues. ‘We respectfully warn GOP Leadership that an abandonment of its principles will necessarily result in the abandonment of our constituents to their support,’ concludes the letter.”

RYAN: “Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012 and an abortion opponent, said Thursday that anti-abortion activists should try to build a broad coalition and find common ground with supporters of abortion rights as a way to advance their agenda,” AP writes. “Ryan, R-Wis., said in a speech to the Susan B. Anthony List that those who oppose abortion ‘need to work with people who consider themselves pro-choice — because our task isn’t to purge our ranks. It’s to grow them. We don’t want a country where abortion is simply outlawed. We want a country where it isn’t even considered,’ he said.”

Flashback to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R)’s Wall Street Journal op-ed in December: “As a conservative Republican, I believe that we have been stupid to let the Democrats demagogue the contraceptives issue and pretend, during debates about health-care insurance, that Republicans are somehow against birth control. It's a disingenuous political argument they make. As an unapologetic pro-life Republican, I also believe that every adult (18 years old and over) who wants contraception should be able to purchase it. But anyone who has a religious objection to contraception should not be forced by government health-care edicts to purchase it for others. And parents who believe, as I do, that their teenage children shouldn't be involved with sex at all do not deserve ridicule.”

But Ryan also said, per The Hill and Political Wire: "Our critics say we should abandon our pro-life beliefs. But that would only demoralize our voters. It's an odd strategy, I think: the cynical ploy followed by the thumping defeat."

NEW YORK: Anthony Weiner’s comeback may be coming up short. The New York Daily News: “Anthony Weiner’s trial balloon is falling flat. The former congressman’s revelation that he’s considering a run for mayor after a cringeworthy sexting scandal has failed to send past supporters stampeding to his side. The Daily News interviewed nearly a dozen people who played key roles in the Democrat’s 2005 mayoral campaign as advisers, supporters or contributions. The reactions, for the most part, ranged from ambivalence to opposition, with only a few urging him to try again.”

VIRGINIA: Beth Reinhard: “It’s not easy to be the new Ken Cuccinelli. The new Cuccinelli, the Republican frontrunner in the Virginia governor’s race, is more likely these days to be calling for job growth and education reform than he is to be railing against abortion and gay marriage. But the old Cuccinelli, the state attorney general who crusaded for conservative values, keeps cropping up, offering a steady stream of fodder for opponents determined to frame him as a right-wing ideologue.”

A local liberal group has become the target of scrutiny in a probe into the surreptitious recording published earlier this week capturing a campaign strategy session with Sen. Mitch McConnell’s re-election team.

A local Democratic Party official told NBC News Thursday that two members of the activist group Progress Kentucky claimed that they were responsible for a recording published this week on the website of the progressive magazine Mother Jones. In the audio, McConnell is heard discussing with his staff opposition research into potential Democratic challengers, including the actress Ashley Judd.

"They told it to me right when it happened," said Jacob Conway, a member of the executive committee of Louisville and Jefferson County Democratic Party, in reference to two Progress Kentucky officials.

Conway said Shawn Reilly and Curtis Morrison -- founders of Progress Kentucky, a liberal, anti-McConnell group unaffiliated with the Democratic Party of Kentucky -- told him that day, Feb. 2, "that they got this McConnell recording. They told me because of the tackiness and the horrible things that McConnell was discussing. ... That is why I think they recorded it."

But a lawyer for Reilly said he is denying that he was involved. 

"Other than acknowledging we were in the building, we completely disavow his characterization of those events," attorney Annie O'Connell said.

O'Connell described Reilly as a "witness" and was cooperating with the FBI. 

"On the day that Mother Jones released the recording, our client met with the U.S. Attorney here in the Western District of Kentucky with the lead FBI investigator," O'Connell said. "Mr. Reilly has provided information in the FBI's efforts to locate Curtis Morrison. Our position is that Mr. Reilly is innocent of any wrongdoing. He is simply a witness, not a suspect. What we're saying is Shawn was in the office building that day, but was simply a witness to what happened."

Local NBC affiliate WAVE in Louisville spotted Conway Thursday afternoon entering and leaving the local FBI office to be interviewed for their investigation.

It is illegal for someone to wiretap or bug a room and record a conversation to which they are not a party. Kentucky, like most states, is a one-party state. In other words, if one of the people involved in the conversation recorded it, that is allowed. Illegal wiretapping is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations.

But it is a murkier legal area if someone is in a hallway, for example, and overhears a conversation. Provided an individual is not trespassing, recording something that can be heard by the naked ear, is legal. But using a device to amplify sound that would not otherwise have been heard by the naked ear is not.

Separately Thursday, the treasurer of Progress Kentucky confirmed to NBC News that he had resigned from the group following the publication of the audio.

Douglas L. Davis, the group’s now-former treasurer, would not comment as to his precise motivations for quitting.

"At this time based on advice of both friends and counsel, I will be not be making a public statement available until everything has been reviewed by an attorney at this time," Davis told NBC News. "I have resigned my position as treasurer and did not and do not condone any allegations of illegal activity that might have taken place."

Asked directly if Reilly and Morrison are responsible for the taping of the strategy session, Davis paused, and said, "I can't comment."

NBC News has reached out to Morrison multiple times by email and phone, but he has not yet responded.

The revelations come as federal investigators begin an investigation into the source of the audio recordings. McConnell’s re-election team has publicly suggested it was the victim of a bugging operation, and McConnell pointed the finger at Progress Kentucky.

A source familiar with the investigation into the leaked McConnell audio told NBC News that the FBI had collected surveillance tape from the building in which the McConnell re-election campaign is headquartered.

The Republican Kentucky senator's re-election team has taken this as a sign that federal investigators are more actively probing the possibility that someone outside of the meeting captured on tape was responsible for the recording.

Conway, the local party official, said he has only now come forward to help disassociate the Democratic Party with any actions alleged of Progress Kentucky, especially given that Democrats in the state have a slim majority in the legislature.

"I don't want the party to be associated with this," he said.

Conway called Reilly and Morrison generally "well-intentioned." "I don't think they had sinister motives,” he said. “They were there, were inexperienced, and got excited."

Progress Kentucky has a contentious history with McConnell this election cycle. Earlier this year, the group leveled criticisms of McConnell based on the ethnicity of his wife, former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

This story was originally published on Thu Apr 11, 2013 4:51 PM EDT

House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio, publicly distanced himself on Thursday from another member of his Republican leadership team who criticized a component of President Barack Obama’s budget having to do with entitlement reform.

Boehner said that he had spoken with Rep. Greg Walden, Ore., the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee who on Wednesday criticized “chained CPI,” a part of Obama’s 2014 budget which changes how Social Security benefits are calculated to grow over time.

Walden has fallen under increased scrutiny from conservatives, who have threatened a primary challenge, along with Democrast who wish to cast the House GOP leadership as mired in discord.

"I've made it clear that I disagree with what Chairman Walden said," Boehner said at his weekly press conference, calling the chained CPI proposal "the least we must do to begin to solve the problem of Social Security."

Recommended: Gun bill clears key Senate hurdle with bipartisan support

Walden, speaking Wednesday on CNN, was sharply critical of the chained CPI proposal contained with President Barack Obama’s 2014 budget.

“Well, once again, you're trying to balance this budget on the backs of seniors and I just think it's not the right way to go,” he said. “I don't see this budget as either on time, adding up, balancing, and, further, I think it really does go right at seniors in a way they're going to be shocked, coming out of the administration.”

The problem for Walden, however, was that the chained CPI proposal was included as an enticement of Republicans, who have clamored for any sort of entitlement reform from the White House. Moreover, Obama’s decision to include such a concession – which would essentially amount to a cut in benefits, over time, for seniors – angered progressive supporters of the president.

White House press secretary Jay Carney on Thursday noted that the chained CPI proposal in Obama’s budget came “at the specific request of behest of Republican leaders and represent a “cynical attempt to disown a proposal that came from Republican leaders.”

The NRCC chairman’s comments drew the ire of many fellow conservatives, and in short order.

"Greg Walden ought to think about clarifying his remarks on chained CPI, and think about clarifying soon," said Chris Chocola, the president of the fiscally conservative Club for Growth.

But when he did offer a clarifying statement, Walden doubled down on his original sentiment.

“Chairman Walden supports the budget passed by House Republicans that preserves and protects Medicare and Social Security while also balancing the budget in 10 years,” said an NRCC spokesperson. “He disagrees with President Obama's political plan that hurts current seniors just so he can pay for more wasteful spending."

Walden’s difference with fellow Republicans, however, illustrates Republicans’ difficulty in handling the politics of entitlement issues in recent years.

Mitt Romney and his running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, for instance were sharply critical of the $716 billion in Medicare savings contained within Obama’s health care reform law, and vowed to restore the cuts if elected. But Ryan’s subsequent budget this year, in his capacity as chairman of the House Budget Committee, counts those very cuts in Medicare reimbursements to hospitals and reinsurers toward balancing the budget.

Moreover, Ryan’s budgets for the past three years – which Republicans have generally supported in overwhelming fashion – have called for sweeping changes to Medicare, namely by transforming it into a private marketplace in which the government would provide a voucher (or “premium support” payment) to seniors to buy insurance for themselves.

Democrats eagerly used those Medicare proposals against Republicans in the election of 2012, further cementing entitlement programs’ reputation as a “third rail” in politics, which politicians should not touch, or risk political peril.

“Making a down payment on his vow to go all in for Democrats in 2014, President Barack Obama is courting well-heeled donors in California on a two-day fundraising jaunt that requires the president to walk a fine line: Berate Republicans too much, and Obama could put fragile prospects for achieving his second-term goals in jeopardy,” the AP writes. “Obama’s California swing, which started Wednesday with two fundraisers for House Democrats, kicks off a concerted effort to help his party win back the House and keep its Senate majority next year.”

Obama said: "I would be dishonest if I didn’t say that it would be a whole lot easier to govern if I had Nancy Pelosi as Speaker.”

The AP launches an Obama IOU’s series, looking at his campaign promises and whether they’ve come to fruition.

Maggie Haberman reads some Hillary Clinton tea leaves.

“After more than 13 hours of debate that was at moments impassioned and agonized, the General Assembly early Thursday approved an historic and far-reaching gun-control bill that proponents said was their toughest-in-the-nation response to the Dec. 14 Newtown school massacre,” The Hartford Courant writes. “The state House of Representatives at 2:26 a.m. gave final legislative approval to the bill by a vote of 105 to 44, with 2 absent. Of the 98 House Democrats present, 13 voted no; and 31 of the 51 Republicans in the hall voted no.”

USA Today: “Connecticut has approved far-reaching gun control legislation that will be the toughest in the United States. Following hours of respectful and at times somber debate, the House voted early Thursday in favor of the 139-page bill crafted by leaders from both major parties in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly. It passed the Senate in a 26-10 vote on Wednesday.” It will be signed into law today.

The Baltimore Sun: “The House of Delegates voted Wednesday to give Maryland one of the toughest gun laws in the nation, passing a bill that would ban the sale of assault-type weapons, set a 10-bullet limit on magazines and require fingerprints and a license to buy a handgun. Delegates altered the Senate's bill during more than 10 hours of emotional floor debate that lasted over two days. Key lawmakers said they expect the differences to be resolved quickly and the legislation sent to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his promised signature. After the 78-61 vote, O'Malley said the House strengthened his proposal, which he has called his top legislative priority of the session.”

National Journal wraps gun legislation in the states with a handy guide.

The NRCC is going to copy Buzzfeed in a website redesign.

IOWA: The Des Moines Register: “As he ponders whether to run for U.S. Senate, Republican Steve King isn’t moderating his views to appeal to more middle-of-the-road Iowa voters. He’s doing the opposite. In an email to supporters [Wednesday], King said he’s ‘living proof conservatives don’t have to sacrifice everything we believe in to win elections.’” And: “King wrote that he wins elections by talking about the economy as well as ‘talking about social issues—abortion, illegal immigration, and gay marriage.’”

MASSACHUSETTS: “They rolled together through the cornfields of Iowa, the retirement villages of Florida, and the icy mountain towns of New Hampshire, hoping they might one day serve together in the White House,” the Boston Globe writes. “But Mitt Romney’s former aides, from the most senior strategists to the young advance staff, have splintered and taken up with rival candidates in the Massachusetts Senate race, creating an intriguing subplot to the main event.”