ILLINOIS: Political Wire: “Republican voters picked ex-convict Paul McKinley (R) as their nominee to run for the seat recently ceded by former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr, the Chicago Tribune reports. McKinley, a convicted felon who served nearly 20 years in state prison for burglaries, armed robberies and aggravated battery, declared victory, beat businessman Eric Wallace (R) by 23 votes.”

MASSACHUSETTS: Republican Gabriel Gomez officially launched his Senate bid.

NEW JERSEY: Seriously, Cory Booker helped a guy from New York with a marriage proposal. The man contacted him on Twitter. Booker replied: "I am a romantic. Sounds fun."

NEW YORK: “Mayoral front-runner Christine Quinn came under fire Thursday night as fellow candidates criticized her refusal to allow the City Council to vote on a bill to require paid sick days for workers,” the New York Daily News writes.

Mark Shields, the veteran political analyst for PBS, yesterday asked Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), House Judiciary chairman, whether the problem with his party was the “pizza” or the “box.” As First Read reported, Goodlatte responded this way: “It’s primarily our inability to communicate our message in a variety of ways. … Our message still resonates with a lot of people; we have to figure out how to get it to resonate with more.”

Translation: It’s the box.

It’s a view held by many in the party. But Rich Lowry today says it’s the pizza, too. “Republicans should prepare for more discontent,” because they have no leader and it’s the message – not just the messaging – that’s the problem: “At times, it seems as if “we have a $16 trillion debt” is the sum total of the party’s argumentation. When party leaders say that they have to become the party of growth again, the policy they invariably advance to that end … is reducing the $16 trillion debt. This necessary, but hardly sufficient message is almost all we hear from Republicans in Congress, where their majority in the House gives them responsibility without decisive influence.”

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg claimed yesterday that the Illinois special election, in which he spent $2.5 million to defeat a Democrat with ties to the NRA: "Is it a harbinger of what's to come? I think so."

But Stu Rothenberg’s unimpressed, dismissing the win as one in a heavily Democratic district.

What’s with all the butt talk this week? Karl Rove on why he started a group to take out fringe conservatives: “My posterior was shredded a little bit by donors wondering why we are writing checks for people who then turn around a run such lousy campaigns.”

And this kind of thing just keeps on happening to the GOP: Minnesota state Rep Glenn Gruenhagen (R) said this of being gay: "It's an unhealthy, sexual addiction."

And this: Louie Gohmert (R-TX): "Slavery and abortion are the two most horrendous things this country has done but when you think about the immorality of wild, lavish spending on our generation and forcing future generations to do without essentials just so we can live lavishly now, it's pretty immoral."

ARKANSAS: “The Club for Growth will launch a television advertisement in Arkansas on Friday targeting Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, who is up for re-election in 2014,” Roll Call writes.

MASSACHUSETTS: Five candidates qualified for the ballot in the April 30 Senate special election – two Democrats and three Republicans. “According to the Central Voter Registry at the secretary of state’s office, Democratic US Representative Edward M. Markey led the field by day’s end, with 33,799, followed by his rival for the party nomination, US Representative Stephen P. Lynch, whose tally was at 25,104,” the Boston Globe writes. “Former US Attorney Michael Sullivan, using only volunteers, led the Republican field, with 18,812, followed by Cohasset businessman Gabriel E. Gomez, whose count was at 16,937, and state Representative Daniel B. Winslow, at 13,406. Winslow and Gomez paid signature-gathering firms to help their signature drive.”

NEW JERSEY: Ex-Sen. Scott Brown’s holding a fundraiser for Chris Christie in Boston Friday.

Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) released a letter on Wednesday signaling that he would not run for Iowa's open Senate seat in 2014, which was vacated by retiring Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA).

"The opportunity to serve Iowa in the U.S. Senate is appealing to this farm kid who grew up here, raised a family here, and helped grow a family business in Iowa. I love Iowa," Latham wrote.

"However, only 56 days ago I took an oath to 'faithfully discharge the duties' of an office with which the people of Iowa's Third Congressional District entrusted to me. I cannot in good conscience launch a two-year statewide campaign that will detract from the commitment I made to the people who elected me, at a time when our nation desperately needs less campaigning and more leadership."

With Latham not running, that would potentially give fellow Iowa Congressman Steve King a clear shot to win the GOP nomination, if he decides to mount a Senate bid.

Several weeks ago, the Karl Rove-backed American Crossroads operation said it was creating an additional outside group -- called the Conservative Victory Project -- in an effort to help the GOP nominate more electable Senate candidates.

One of the chief examples the organization cited: making sure the conservative King didn't become Iowa's GOP Senate nominee.

"We're concerned about Steve King's Todd Akin problem," Steve Law, president of American Crossroads, told the New York Times. "This is an example of candidate discipline and how it would play in a general election. All of the things he's said are going to be hung around his neck."

King is known for his right-wing positions and statements, and Latham's decision potentially increases the chances for Democrats to hold the Senate seat. However, King last year won a competitive House contest against Christie Vilsack, wife of Agriculture Secretary and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack.

It's also possible that other Republicans might decide to run for the vacated Senate seat. One name that has surfaced: Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds.

“Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds is very serious about running,” an Iowa source tells NBC News.

“Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus will head west this week to hear from minority voters and technology experts as a part of his committee’s efforts to rebuild and modernize the GOP,” Roll Call reports. “Priebus’ four-day swing is scheduled to take him to Denver on Monday for a listening session with Hispanic voters and GOP activists, then to Los Angeles on Tuesday for listening sessions with Hispanic and Asian voters. On Wednesday, Priebus will be in San Francisco for meetings with technology experts; a visit to Facebook is included on the chairman’s itinerary. Priebus will then travel to Seattle for a meeting focused on early voting, an aspect of voter turnout where Republicans continue to trail the Democrats significantly.”

Mitt Romney will do his first post-election interview (with his wife Ann) on FOX March 3.

ARKANSAS: There’s speculation that Rep. Tom Cotton (R) might run for the Senate.

ILLINOIS: The Chicago Tribune: “The complexities of a special primary contest to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress gave way the final weekend before the election to more traditional campaigning as candidates spent Sunday visiting churches and restaurants in search of votes. The three top contenders for the Democratic nomination in the 2nd District — Robin Kelly, Debbie Halvorson and Anthony Beale — each displayed optimism that they would cross the finish line first after the voting is finished Tuesday.”

More: “Several diners told Kelly they recognized her from the TV endorsement ads run by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's super political action committee. Halvorson has been attacked in many of those ads for opposing an assault weapons ban.” Kelly’s the favorite. Here’s Halvorson: "The first thing out of people's mouth is, 'We're voting for you. We're sick of those commercials. We don't want a mayor from New York coming in and trying to buy a seat in Congress.’”

KENTUCKY: The liberal group Progressive Change Campaign Committee is targeting Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on guns with a new ad, spending about $100,000 online and on TV, USA Today notes. A former Vietnam vet in the ad says, “I only shot my rifle one time this last season. One shot. One deer. But I'd be a pretty bad hunter if I needed an assault rifle to shoot that buck. I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep 'em out of the wrong hands. Because I know these guns. I know what they can do."

And Planned Parenthood is running an ad against McConnell, too. “Think Mitch McConnell's listening to you? Listen to this,” an announcer says. “McConnell voted to let your boss pay women less for the same work. And he wants to let your boss deny you birth control coverage while men get their Viagra covered. McConnell would cost Kentucky women up to an extra $600 a year for our health care. Call Mitch McConnell. Tell him that with birth control, we all benefit.” (h/t: New York Daily News)

MASSACHUSETTS: Republican Gabriel Gomez, a private equity investor, is out with a video showing him gathering signatures. He mentions that he was a Navy SEAL three times and throws in a little Spanish. Feb. 27 is the deadline to submit the 10,000 signatures to get on the ballot. The primary’s April 30^th.

NEW YORK: “Gov. Cuomo has quietly been seeking to raise $5 million to finance an array of television ads promoting his agenda — and he is doing it apart from a secret lobbying outfit that sparked controversy in the past,” the New York Daily News’ Lovett reports. “Donors are being asked to contribute to the Cuomo-controlled state Democratic Party, which technically is responsible for running the ads, sources said. The fund-raising arrangement is a departure from his first two years as governor, when much of the coin used to push his initiatives came from the Committee to Save New York, a private lobbying group that was not subject to state campaign finance law.”

TEXAS: Rick Perry on the prospect of Texas becoming a blue state. “The University of Texas will change its colors to maroon and white before Texas goes purple, much less blue,” he told the Wall Street Journal. (H/t: Political Wire.)… But as one of your Longhorn authors notes, things can always change. Who knew that a Texas A&M football program that struggled MIGHTILY over the past decade would switch conferences and have a Heisman Trophy winner? Things can change.

VIRGINIA: “For the first time in more than a year, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is riding high,” Politico writes. “With a successful weekend vote in Richmond to enact sweeping transportation reform, the popular Republican set himself on a path to leave office on an upbeat note – and turn the page on a string of state-level controversies that have clouded the second half of his tenure.”

The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent: “Dems in charge of the party’s strategy for retaking the House next year are planning to campaign aggressively on not just tax fairness and defending entitlements, as in the last two elections, but on issues like gun control and the minimum wage, too. In an interview today, DCCC chair Steve Israel told me the party’s House candidates will be running aggressively on Obama’s proposals to reduce gun violence and raise the minimum wage.”

“Twice burned, Republicans are treading carefully around tea party groups as they pursue a Senate majority that slipped through their fingers in 2010 and 2012,” the AP writes.

National Journal: “Bashing ‘Obamacare’ just isn’t what it used to be. Just over two years ago, the rallying cry against President Obama’s health care overhaul unified Republicans and hoisted the party to historic electoral gains in state capitals and in Washington. But in the latest sign the script has flipped, Florida Gov. Rick Scott — who rode that tea-party-fueled crusade to victory in 2010 — this week became the seventh Republican governor to agree to the new law’s Medicaid expansion.”

“The National Republican Senatorial Committee raised just $1.5 million in January, according to its most recent fundraising report,” Roll Call writes. “That’s significantly less than the $4.2 million the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee brought in last month.” The DSCC, though, had more debt.

GEORGIA: Rep. Phil Gingrey’s set to run for the Senate, too, The Hill reports.

ILLINOIS: Robin Kelly, the Cook County chief administrative officer, looks like the favorite to replace convicted ex-Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in next week’s special election.

MASSACHUSETTS: “Representative Edward Markey is refusing to back down from comments he made this week that seemed to compare the US Supreme Court’s decision on campaign finance law to the high court’s 19th-century Dred Scott decision, which upheld slavery,” the Boston Globe writes.

NEBRASKA: Is the next Scott Brown this man, one of People magazine’s 50 most beautiful people?

NEVADA: Harry Reid, retiring to make way for Chuck Schumer? Not so fast… Reid isn’t up again until 2016, but asked by local reporters if he plans to run again, he said, “Sure, why not?”

SOUTH CAROLINA: Grooms-ing him for the seat? “Palmetto State Republican Reps. Jeff Duncan and Mick Mulvaney backed state Sen. Larry Grooms on Thursday for the GOP nomination in the 1st District special election,” Roll Call reports. “Grooms, who faces 15 opponents including former Gov. Mark Sanford in a March 19 primary, will likely receive a major boost from their endorsements. GOP insiders see Grooms as ideologically similar to Sanford — very conservative — but without the former governor’s political baggage.”

The Hill calls the endorsements “a blow to Sanford, who hopes to return to the House and revive a once promising political career.”

SOUTH DAKOTA: John Thune told a class of second graders he has no plans to run for president. Roll Call: “Do I plan on running for president?” Thune said. “I don’t. I enjoy the job I have. And being the president is a very, very hard job.”

The Boston Globe on Mitt Romney speaking at CPAC: “CPAC is the same conference where Romney officially dropped out of the Republican primary race in 2008, and where last year he said he had been a ‘severely conservative Republican governor.’ … At one of those events, he told supporters that he planned to stay politically active by supporting like-minded candidates and weighing in on issues he cared about. But so far he has kept quiet.”

“They've heard of Sen. Marco Rubio's ‘Watergate’ moment, even in Israel,” the New York Daily News writes. “The Florida Republican once again made light of his awkward reach for a sip of water while responding to President Obama's State of the Union last week, this time with none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in on the joke. A photo from their meeting in Israel on Wednesday shows them holding up bottles of water in a toast, both of them sporting wide smiles.

“For the first time in a dozen years, Karl Rove’s critics smell blood,” Maggie Haberman writes. “After his electoral wipeout in November — and motivated by years of resentment that’s spilling over — Rove’s credibility within his own party is at an all-time low.”

NEW JERSEY: Cory Booker looks well situated in a 2014 Senate run so far. Quinnipiac has him with a 59/11% fav/unfav. He would trounce Geraldo Rivera 59-23%, the only opponent tested.

Frank Fahrenkopf, former RNC chairman and head of the Commission on Presidential Debates, lit into Mitt Romney’s campaign and Republicans for not understanding the country’s demographics and losing on voter turnout. “And I thought McCain’s campaign was the worst I’d seen in modern history,” he said, per Jon Ralston.

He also took a shot at debate moderator Candy Crowley, calling her selection a “mistake” and contended that media bias is real but the GOP has to “live with it.” He also called Michael Steele a “name that will live in infamy” for not fixing how primaries are run or limiting debates. Of Chris Christie’s embrace of Obama during Sandy: “He kissed him. He didn’t have to French-kiss him. I think he went overboard.”

“The National Rifle Association will launch a print advertising campaign targeting mostly Democratic senators up for re-election in 2014, according to sources close to the group,” Roll Call reports. “On Thursday, full-page ads are scheduled to run in local newspapers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina and West Virginia. They will be supplemented by digital advertising in these states and 10 others, including Alaska, Colorado, Montana, New Hampshire and South Dakota. Additionally, the group has scheduled full-page ads to run Feb. 25 in regional editions of USA Today, reaching parts of 15 states. The campaign is estimated to cost north of $375,000, sources said.”

“Who could bring together President Obama and Dick Cheney on the same side of an issue?” USA Today asks, “Supporters of gay marriage. The Respect for Marriage Coalition launched an ad Wednesday featuring comments from Obama and Cheney, who have clashed repeatedly on national security issues but back the idea of same-sex marriage. The ad also includes clips from former first lady Laura Bush and ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell.”

Stu Rothenberg on the GOP’s internecine problems: “Ultimately, the Republican Party’s problems go back to its base voters, who participate in primaries and nominating conventions. Many of them are so blinded by their anger toward President Barack Obama, the national news media and their own party leaders that they are willing to nominate the most conservative candidate in a primary, no matter how limited his or her appeal in a general election. And for party strategists, there is no easy solution to that problem.”

ALASKA: Here we go again… “Joe Miller, the tea party favorite who was backed by Sarah Palin when he roiled GOP politics in the 2010 midterm elections, is seriously considering another bid at an Alaska Senate seat, a campaign that could prompt a bare-knuckled effort against a candidate pushed by the party establishment,” Politico writes.

ILLINOIS: The Chicago Tribune: “Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., and his wife, former Chicago Ald. Sandi Jackson, are expected to plead guilty to federal charges today, when more details may emerge about an alleged crime spree in which he is accused of spending more than $750,000 in campaign cash to buy luxury items, memorabilia and other goods. Attorneys familiar with public corruption investigations said the amount of campaign cash allegedly converted to personal use in this case is the largest of any that they can remember. Jackson Jr., who has been largely out of the public eye for eight months, is to appear in court at 9:30 a.m. Chicago time. His wife is to appear at 1:30 p.m. Chicago time.”

KENTUCKY: Mitch McConnell put out this video poking fun at Democrats’ search for a candidate to run against him.

NEBRASKA: “Sen. Mike Johanns’s (R-Neb.) retirement could open up another battleground in the fight between the establishment and grassroots factions of the Republican Party, with a deep bench of potential candidates likely to run in a state in which $1 million can go a long way,” The Hill writes. “At least one outside group that typically backs grassroots and Tea-Party-affiliated candidates — the Senate Conservatives Fund — is looking at the race as an opportunity in 2014.”

NEW JERSEY: Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) approval is at a record 74% in a Quinnipiac poll. He leads in a hypotchetical matchup against state Sen. Barbara Buono (D), the leading Democrat by a whopping 62-25%.

VIRGINIA: A Quinnipiac poll finds Terry McAuliffe (D) and state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) tied at 38-38%. With Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling in the race, McAuliffe gains a narrow advantage, 34-31% over Cucinelli; Bolling gets 13%.

Despite rumors that he might retire, signs are that Frank Wolf (R-VA) will run again, Roll Call reports.

WEST VIRGINIA: Democrats still don’t have a candidate for the Senate seat. Yesterday, Carte Goodwin (remember him???) turned down a run.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says it raised $6.1 million in January -- it’s biggest January haul in history. The National Republican Congressional Committee raised $4.4 million last month.

KENTUCKY: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) could see a primary challenge from local businessman Matt Bevin, who sources say is reaching out to Tea Party groups in the state to gauge support for a 2014 Senate run. Sarah Duran, president of the Louisville Tea Party, told The Hill that Bevin had been in touch with her over the phone to discuss his run multiple times over the past few weeks, and that he met with the group two weeks ago to discuss his interest in the race.”

NEW JERSEY: Not sure this is a headline that will win Chris Christie any votes in a GOP presidential primary: “Christie: ‘I’m not much different from Andrew Cuomo’.” A former Democratic county chairman from Upstate New York said he met Christie he told him, “I’m not much different from Andrew Cuomo. I probably agree with him on 98% of the issues.”

SOUTH CAROLINA: Mark Sanford on “TODAY”: "I failed mightily." He acknowledged that his run is partially because "we all hope for redemption." He also said, "If we live long enough, we're going to fail at something." Despite his settling ethics charges and pay $74,000 in fines as well as an additional $66,223 for the cost of the investigation, Sanford contended that he may have failed in marriage, but "not the taxpayer.”

Flashback to the March 2010. The Columbia State: “In the agreement, released Thursday, the Ethics Commission issued a public reprimand to the governor and disagreed with his argument that he broke no laws. … Sanford previously reimbursed the state $3,300 for airfare for a 2008 South America trade trip, sponsored by the state Commerce Department, during which he met his lover.” More: " ‘The fact that he signed the consent order, there's clearly some issue,’ said state Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens.”

And: “S.C. House lawmakers held impeachment hearings to investigate but decided only to formally rebuke the governor.”

Here’s Sanford new ad, in which he says, “I’ve experienced how none of us go through life without mistakes. But in their wake we can learn a lot about grace, a God of second chances and be the better for it. In that light, I humbly step forward and ask for your help in changing Washington.”

Beth Reinhard looks at Marco Rubio, the hype, his role in immigration reform, and his presidential chances: “No matter that he’s only punched up the old script, swung back and forth on immigration policy, and never shepherded major legislation through Congress. What Rubio brings is the star power, adoring fan base, and command of the national media unmatched these days by anyone in Washington outside of the Oval Office. It’s the same aggressive product placement that has made the 41-year-old a top-tier presidential contender just two years after his swearing-in. Rubio is the GOP’s Barack Obama, minus the intellectual heft intimated by two Ivy League degrees and a law-school faculty post. A Generation X-er with a name that sounds like change. The author of an American Dream-laced memoir that, audiences are frequently reminded, helped pay off his student loans. A former state lawmaker and a Senate short-timer with a thin binder of achievements but perhaps blessed with the greatest rhetorical gifts in politics today.”

USA Today looks at the backlash from conservative groups that Crossroads and Karl Rove have faced since the launch of a group to defeat fringe conservative candidates.

MASSACHUSETTS: Republicans might get another candidate in the Senate race: “Former US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan announced today that he is ‘giving serious consideration’ to running for US Senate, reaching out to activists and operatives and collecting signatures required to qualify for the April 30 Republican primary ballot,” the Boston Globe notes.

A WBUR poll has Ed Markey beating Stephen Lynch 38%-31%.

NEW JERSEY: “Don't get too excited about that Senate seat, Geraldo Rivera: A new poll says only a quarter of voters would consider backing you,” the New York Daily News writes. “The survey by Monmouth University found that only 26 percent of New Jersey voters are likely or somewhat likely to vote for the Fox News host. More troublesome, a majority of voters- 51 percent - wouldn't even consider voting for Rivera. 

“It’s man vs. the machine: Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. are on track to have a New Jersey-style knockout primary for the Democratic Senate nod in 2014,” Roll Call’s Livingston writes, adding, “This brewing political battle would match an outsider with an army of Twitter followers, wealthy celebrity connections and television news fame against a congressman who has spent years currying favor with the state establishment to run for this very seat. Immediately, national Democrats predicted Booker would have an easy walk to the nomination. But some Garden State operatives are dubious. Booker upset party elders when he announced his exploratory committee in mid-December. Many Lautenberg loyalists are furious with him for not being patient and allowing Lautenberg a graceful exit. In the end, Booker only needed to wait two months to make his move. Meanwhile, Pallone bent over backward to take the opposite approach as he quietly prepared for a run.”

NEW YORK: “Swaggering through his final State of the City address on Thursday, Mayor Bloomberg defended his 11 years of accomplishments - and openly worried about what will happen when he's gone,” the New York Daily News writes. “In a boisterous event that featured dancing children, peppy cheerleaders and championship-style banners touting lower crime stats and higher test scores, Bloomberg used the speech to suggest that no one can do the job like him.”

A new Marist poll shows New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn leading the Democratic field in New York’s mayoral race with 37% among registered Democratic voters. She’s followed by former City Comptroller Bill Thompson at 13% and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio at 12%. The poll also shows that former MTA Chair Joe Lhota leads the GOP field. 

Updated 3:40 p.m. ET: New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D, won't seek re-election next November, a Democratic source confirmed to NBC News.

Lautenberg, the 89-year-old senator who served for almost two decades in the Senate from 1982 through 2001 before returning for a second term in the upper chamber in 2003, will not seek another six-year term.

"I will be traveling to my hometown of Paterson tomorrow to announce that I will not seek re-election in 2014.  This is not the end of anything, but rather the beginning of a two-year mission to pass new gun safety laws, protect children from toxic chemicals, and create more opportunities for working families in New Jersey," Lautenberg said in a statement. "While I may not be seeking re-election, there is plenty of work to do before the end of this term and I'm going to keep fighting as hard as ever for the people of New Jersey in the U.S. Senate." 

The decision clears the path for Newark Mayor Cory Booker to pursue the Democratic nomination for Senate. Booker, who's built a high national profile with his work as mayor, had provoked some public sniping from Lautenberg for seeming too quick to assume that the longtime senator would necessarily retire when his term is up in 2015.

Another Democrat thought to be eyeing the seat, Rep. Frank Pallone, effusively praised Lauternberg in a statement.

"I have peen proud to serve with Senator Lautenberg and even prouder to call him a friend," he said. "I look forward to continuing to work together in the coming months to continue to address the issues that are important to him and New Jersey.  Like all New Jerseyans, I am grateful for his service to our state and our nation."

KENTUCKY: “Actress Ashley Judd’s movement toward a Senate run against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell makes Democrats in Washington, D.C., happy,” Roll Call writes. “But back in Kentucky, for many Bluegrass State Democrats, a potential Judd run brings a different feeling: heartburn.”

A Republican polling firm, Harper, shows Minority Leader Mitch McConnell leading Judd 49%-40% in a hypothetical matchup. (H/T: Politcal Wire.)

NEW JERSEY: Rep. Rob Andrews, who once himself tried to challenge Frank Lautenberg (and lost) defended Cory Booker: “I think he’s tried to be respectful of the senator’s choice, but made it clear he’d like to serve in the Senate and I think that’s very legitimate.”

“Former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour, one of the most influential players in the Republican party, is privately battling the Club for Growth,” National Review’s Costa reports of Barbour, who is an adviser to American Crossroads, which launched its effort to defeat what they see as fringe conservative candidates. “Last week, at a closed-door retreat in northern Virginia, Barbour told a large gathering of congressional staffers, including several leadership aides, that party officials should discourage donors from funding the high-profile conservative group.”

Barbour told NRO: “We kicked away four or five Senate seats in the last two cycles by nominating candidates who did not have the best chance to win. We ought to talk to Republican donors now, in the off-season before the primaries, and discourage them from donating to organizations that will attack good Republicans.”

The Club for Growth hit back, saying Barbour didn’t seem to so dislike the club when he was thinking about running for president in 2011. Club President/ex-Rep. Chris Chocola: “Haley Barbour is a good guy. When he was thinking of running for President, he was more than pleased to attend the Club for Growth’s winter economic conference, and he had nothing but nice things to say about us! Now that he’s back to his more familiar roles as a lobbyist and Republican Party insider, he is singing a different tune. That’s politics.”

Also… Republican committees are getting together -- with Uncle Sam -- to hit congressional Democrats on spending: “The Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a joint effort today to remind Democrats that even if they don’t want to admit it, spending in Washington is a problem.  Today, Uncle Sam can be spotted around the Capitol handing out flyers … encouraging Americans to remind Democrats that their spending addiction must be stopped. Just this week, the two top ranking Democrats in the House have stated that they don’t think Washington has a spending problem.” (We didn’t know Uncle Sam was a Republican…)

ILLINOIS: Democrats are coalescing around Robin Kelly, the Cook County chief administrator, for the special election to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. The latest is Rep. Jean Schakowsky (D-IL),” Roll Call reports.

NEW JERSEY: Frank Lautenberg on Cory Booker: Do your job. He told the New York Times: “I’m going to finish the work I’m doing. And he should finish the work he is doing instead of traipsing around the country.”

Meanwhile, Booker’s finance director quit. “Her departure comes as questions about Menendez’s campaign finances percolate throughout the political world. A Booker aide said Maltzman’s departure had “absolutely” nothing to do with Menendez,” Roll Call writes.