From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Luke Russert
GOP aides tell NBC News that floor debate, on Tuesday, will resume on the House Republican efforts to repeal the health-care law.

Aides add the official detailed schedule will be released tomorrow.

“As the White House noted, it is important for Congress to get back to work, and to that end we will resume thoughtful consideration of the health care bill next week," said a spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. "Americans have legitimate concerns about the cost of the new health care law and its effect on the ability to grow jobs in our country. It is our expectation that the debate will continue to focus on those substantive policy differences surrounding the new law.”

Obama recaptures his 2004 voice…. He addressed the civility debate head-on… The Incredibly Shrinking Palin… Boehner’s statesman-like speech, then his unforced error… And Pawlenty’s big day.

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Obama recaptures his 2004 voice: The past two years have made the 2004 convention speech that helped launch Barack Obama’s national profile -- “There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America” -- seem like an eternity ago. Health care. “You lie.” The 2010 midterm campaign. And most recently, the partisan back-and-forth over Saturday’s shooting in Arizona. But in an address that was the Obama he sold himself as during the '08 campaign (hopeful, uplifting, focused on Americans’ better angels), the president last night recaptured that 2004 voice as he honored the dead, the wounded, and the heroes in Saturday’s shooting. “At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized … it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds,” Obama said. He later added, “If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate -- as it should -- let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost.”

*** Addressing civility head-on: Indeed, the most surprising part of last night’s speech -- beyond breaking the news that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D) eyes had opened -- was that Obama addressed the civility debate head-on, but with a twist. In the hours leading up to his address, we were convinced he was going to duck that debate, opting instead to eulogize the fallen and celebrate the heroes. But he must have realized that he couldn’t avoid it, especially after all the attention from Sarah Palin’s “blood libel” Web video. At the end of his remarks, he focused on the 9-year-old girl who died in Saturday’s shooting, Christina Taylor Green. (Being a father of young girls, that was something in Obama’s wheelhouse.) “I want to live up to her expectations,” he said. “I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us, we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.” Atlantic Monthly writer (and former Carter speechwriter) Jim Fallows ranked Obama's speech last night in Obama's top-three addresses, joining the 2004 Dem convention and the 2008 Philly race speeches. It's hard to disagree.

*** The Incredibly Shrinking Palin? The president’s speech made Palin’s response look very small by comparison. While Obama tried to uplift, Palin tried to settle scores. While the president called for more civility, the former Alaska governor talked about duels and “blood libel.” And while Obama’s message was, well, presidential, Palin’s was not. We’ll say this: If Palin has ambitions for the White House -- and we’re still not sure she does -- then her tone, message, and timing from her eight-minute video was a serious miscalculation. Is this what happens when you live in a bubble? Is this what happens when you don't have advisers you trust that live outside her bubble? Palin's speech struck as a natural response only if she spent the last three days reading every nasty email and Tweet she received, and didn't extract herself from the story.

*** Boehner’s unforced error: While Obama was in the spotlight in Arizona, newly minted Speaker John Boehner was in the spotlight back on Capitol Hill. And he delivered, with what is now becoming a trademark emotion, in his address honoring Giffords and the other victims of Saturday’s shooting. Roll Call writes, “Instead of playing the role of a partisan, Boehner found himself practicing the art of a statesman. ‘Our hearts are broken, but our spirit is not,’ Boehner said Wednesday in floor remarks on the tragedy. ‘This is a time for the House to lock arms, in prayer for those fallen and wounded, and in resolve to carry on the dialogue of democracy.’” A strong moment. Yet Boehner committed an unforced error a few hours later when the news came out -- also from Roll Call -- that he hosted an RNC cocktail party last night at the same time as the Tucson memorial. As one Boehner fan put it to us: it was a bit "tone deaf."

*** Pawlenty’s big day: Because of what happened in Arizona, this might not have turned out to be the best week to grab the 2012 spotlight. But former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has been able to make some news surrounding the release of his new book, “Courage to Stand.” First, he took a subtle jab at Palin’s crosshair/target map. Last night, he was on the “Daily Show,” where he addressed the civility debate. “We got to be really careful here because if you start saying, ‘You can say this, you can’t say that; You can use that tone, you can’t use that tone,’ then pretty soon you know you start to discourage, maybe chill, intimidate.” Today, Pawlenty gives a speech at 12:30 pm ET at the National Press Club. He also attends a book signing in DC and meets with College Republicans at George Washington University. Pawlenty's had a hard time breaking out recently, but is it possible that his less combative personality actually helps him stand out? Something to ponder.

Countdown to the RNC chair election: 1 day
Countdown Chicago’s mayoral election: 40 days
Countdown to Election Day 2011: 299 days
Countdown to the Iowa caucuses: 389 days
* Note: When the IA caucuses take place depends on whether other states move up

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The Washington Post writes, “President Obama comforted a community suffused with grief and summoned the nation to recommit to a more civil public discourse as he delivered a eulogy Wednesday evening urging Americans to talk with each other ‘in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.’”

The Boston Globe’s front page: “Obama’s message is heal, unite, ‘be better.’”

The Wall Street Journal: "The president chose to dwell on the heroes of Saturday, and the victims of the violence -- especially nine-year-old Christina Taylor Green -- as he urged the nation to rise above ugly political debates and see civic life 'through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol' of adults."

"The president directly confronted the political debate that erupted after the rampage, urging people of all beliefs not to use the tragedy to turn on one another. He did not cast blame on Republicans or Democrats, but asked people to 'sharpen our instincts for empathy,'" the New York Times adds. 'It was one of the more powerful addresses that Mr. Obama has delivered as president, harnessing the emotion generated by the shock and loss from Saturday’s shootings to urge Americans 'to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully’ and to “remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together.'"

The New York Times' Nagourney observes that last night's speech presented Obama this challenge that Bill Clinton didn't have with the Oklahoma City bombing or George W. Bush with 9/11: that the Arizona shootings had actually inflamed some political passions. "It was a political reality Mr. Obama seemed to recognize the moment he took the stage. And it was one he seemed determine to address, with language that recalled a central part of Mr. Obama’s appeal as a presidential candidate in 2008."

Politico’s Martin: "In the span of a single news cycle, Republicans got a jarring reminder of two forces that could prevent them from retaking the presidency next year. At sunrise in the east on Wednesday, Sarah Palin demonstrated that she has little interest -- or capacity -- in moving beyond her brand of grievance-based politics. And at sundown in the west, Barack Obama reminded even his critics of his ability to rally disparate Americans around a message of reconciliation."

The New York Post’s cover: “Gabby opens eyes.” The Post’s story called it a “stirring plea for national unity.”

The New York Daily News’ cover: “Hope amid tears” with a photo of First Lady Michelle Obama holding hands with Congresswoman Giffords’ husband Mike Kelly.

The Hill: “The White House has disappointed gun-control advocates on and off Capitol Hill with its silence on the issue.”

“Americans gave higher marks to President Obama and congressional Republicans after a holiday season of compromise paid dividends for both, according to the latest Associated Press-GfK poll,” AP reports. “At the start of the divided government era, the survey found 53 percent of Americans approve of how Obama is doing his job, up 6 percentage points from just after the November elections. The rating is his best since the divisive health care vote 10 months ago. Republicans in Congress got a slight bump too, with 36 percent giving them high marks, compared with 29 percent last fall. … But a majority also now view the Democrats favorably, an oddity just two months after voters dealt Obama’s party what he called ‘a shellacking’ in congressional elections. Democrats generally viewed by 53 percent of those polled, with 45 percent holding an unfavorable view.”

“The federal budget deficit narrowed slightly in December compared with a year ago, but the deficit for the entire fiscal year is still on pace to exceed $1 trillion,” AP writes. But, “Private economists expect that the tax-cut package signed into law last month will lead to a much larger deficit while helping to boost economic growth.”

The Atlantic’s Jim Fallows: “The standard comparisons of the past four days have been to Ronald Reagan after the Challenger disaster and Bill Clinton after Oklahoma City. Tonight's speech matched those as a demonstration of ‘head of state’ presence, and far exceeded them as oratory -- while being completely different in tone and nature.” More: “[A] performance to remember -- this will be, along with his 2004 Convention speech and his March, 2008 ‘meaning of race’ speech in Philadelphia, one of the speeches he is lastingly known for.”

The New York Times’ Gail Collins: “For me, Obama’s best moment came when he warned that ‘what we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on one another.’ In his honor, I am not saying a word about Sarah Palin’s video.”

Conservative John Podhoretz said, “The sentences and paragraphs of President Obama's speech last night were beautiful and moving and powerful. But for the most part they didn't quite transcend the wildly inappropriate setting in which he delivered them.”

Politics Daily's Jill Lawrence: "President Obama's Tucson memorial speech was as much about being a father as it was about being a president. He melded the personal and the political into a call for renewal and a road map to a healthier civic life – all of it powered by memories of the dead, in particular a murdered little girl who expected great things of her country."

Lawrence adds, "Obama did not take the easy way out at the University of Arizona. He could have simply eulogized those lost in the eruption of violence last Saturday, and raised up the heroes. And he did do all that in a moving way. But he also went much further. He confronted the sore points and flash points of the rampage and its aftermath. He urged Americans to take stock of themselves, their relationships and their responsibilities as citizens, and to make sure that we 'align our values with our actions.'"

Here’s conservative Andrea Tantaros’ lead, ripe with criticism of the left, but leaving the president alone: “Despite the pressure from some on the left to capitalize on the Tucson killings for political gain, and amid occasional inappropriate cheering from the audience, President Obama acutely understood our collective need to heal when he addressed the nation on Wednesday night.”

Roll Call: “Republicans and Democrats alike said Boehner has had a calming influence in a time of crisis.” Behind closed doors at bipartisan prayer service, he said, “Our nation mourns for the victims. It yearns for peace. And it thirsts for answers.”

Last night, however, Boehner hosted a cocktail party of the RNC at the same time as the memorial in Tucson. “Boehner turned down a Tuesday invitation from Obama to fly to Tucson with him, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other lawmakers for the Wednesday night memorial service,” Roll Call reported. http://bit.ly/fHeWKb

Starting over: “House Republicans gather today in Baltimore to plot the path forward for their hard-fought new majority under the inevitable shadow of the shootings in Tucson, Ariz., which essentially put the GOP agenda on hold this week,” Roll Call writes. “But Members insist they don’t plan to forestall their agenda for long and see no reason to alter their strategy for implementing it, even if they get a later start than they hoped.”

More on speakers: “Conservative commentator Dennis Prager will keynote today’s dinner, while columnist George Will be Friday’s dinner keynote. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), who engineered the 1994 Republican revolution, and former Sen. Phil Gramm (Texas) will speak to Members at a Friday breakfast. Also Friday, conservative economists Larry Kudlow and Arthur Laffer, the economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan for whom the “Laffer curve” is named, will lead a session on creating jobs and growing the economy. And GOP Govs. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Bob McDonnell of Virginia and Rick Perry of Texas will brief Republican lawmakers on innovative policies that they are pursuing in the states.”

Bloomberg News: Representative Darrell Issa, House Republicans’ new chief investigator, is expanding his oversight committee to focus on the heart of President Barack Obama’s legislative achievements. The California Republican, who has called Obama’s administration 'corrupt,' says he will hold hundreds of hearings as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform." More: "He has created two subcommittees to scrutinize policies defining Obama’s first two years in office: the $814 billion economic-stimulus plan and the bailouts of banks and automakers. A third panel will oversee Obama’s health-care overhaul."

BARBOUR: After South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s swearing-in ceremony, Haley Barbour “convened something of a meet-and-greet with a handful of Republican legislators at the Palmetto Club in downtown Columbia,” CNN reports. “Among those planning to attend the closed-door meeting: David Wilkins, a former U.S. Ambassador and South Carolina House Speaker who remains a power broker in state GOP politics. Wilkins was also the chief of Haley's transition team.”

The New York Times profiles Haley’s nephew Henry Barbour, a lobbyist and RNC member who is leading the campaign to oust Michael Steele. Governor Barbour, the Times writes, “has become synonymous with an old-fashioned approach to politics, driven by force of personality and conducted over Maker’s Mark. He has also, however, been dogged by statements that suggest a considerably old-fashioned, even blinkered, view of history… Henry Barbour, 46, came of age in the Reagan era, when Republicans were not only newly viable in the South but also increasingly dominant, and when the art of politics shifted from the handshake to the database.”

CAIN: Mark it down. We have our first presidential exploratory committee, and it’s Herman Cain, a conservative talk show host and former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza.

CHRISTIE: The New Jersey governor recommended that Sarah Palin go unscripted, The State Column writes. “The New Jersey Republican added that Ms. Palin’s avoidance of reporters will hinder her ability to run for president. ‘And I would contend to you that if Governor Palin never does any of those things, she’ll never be president, because people in America won’t countenance that. They just won’t,’ Mr. Christie added.”

“The verbal spat between political pals Rudy Giuliani and NJ Gov. Chris Christie over the recent blizzard intensified Wednesday as Christie accused his former mentor of ‘shooting from the peanut gallery,’” The New York Post writes. Giuliani had said of Christie: "Chris should've come back … They elected you governor, they've got an emergency, they expect you to be there.”

GINGRICH: A day before speaking to a group of South Carolina business leaders, Newt Gingrich “readily acknowledges the state's historic importance in backing GOP presidential nominees - and his interest in becoming a White House candidate. "’South Carolina has picked the last five Republican presidential nominees,’ Gingrich told McClatchy Newspapers. ‘So it's clear that along with Iowa and New Hampshire, it's a key state in the presidential nominating process. There's no question it will retain that importance in 2012.’”

PALIN: The New York Daily News writes, Palin’s “evocation of the slur on Jews [‘blood libel’] in connection with the shooting of Arizona's first Jewish representative did not sit well with many.”

The Hill says Palin “set off a firestorm” after using the phrase and that it “arguably overshadow[ed] her counterattack to the left’s salvos.”

“Former Bush White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, a member of the Republican Jewish Coalition's board of directors, did not address Palin's use of the phrase ‘blood libel’ but said she would have been better served by focusing on a more positive message,” The Hill writes. He said, "I liked much of what she said, but it would have been even better if she simply rose above the accusations about her map and focused entirely on the bigger message of loss, tragedy and the greatness of our country and the strength of our people. The better way to repudiate the nonsensical charges against her would have been to rise above them."

PAWLENTY: “Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty took his ubiquitous book launch to the Daliy Show today where he expressed skepticism at calls on political figures to watch what they say,” Politico writes. "’We've got to be really careful here,’ he said, warning about the consequences for speech ‘if you start saying, 'You can't say this, you can't say that.'" http://politi.co/he1lmM

Pawlenty also listed what he believed to be the most important qualities for a GOP candidate in order to defeat President Obama in 2010: “I think the next president is going to have an unusual, really historic amount of fortitude. And I think there’s going to be a lot of similarities on various issues that Republican candidates are espousing. But I think the question people should ask is based on their life experiences, based on their record, not just who gives a pretty speech or who offered a failed amendment,” he said on the Hugh Hewitt radio show.

ROMNEY: “Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has stepped down from the board of directors for hotel chain Marriott International Inc. for the second time in eight years,” Bloomberg reports. “Romney served as a director from 1993 to 2002 before stepping down at the start of his run for governor. He rejoined the board in January 2009.”

SANTORUM: “Rick Santorum will make his eighth trip to South Carolina on Saturday as the Pennsylvania Republican continues his courtship of conservatives while exploring a potential presidential bid,” The Hill writes. “Santorum will address an anti-abortion rally in Columbia on Saturday before traveling to Aiken to speak at a county GOP lunch on Monday.”

The New York Times: "As Republican officials from across the country gather for their winter meeting, five candidates are competing for those votes. The arm-twisting that has been under way for weeks has given way to last-ditch persuasion, with the voting by secret ballot to begin on Friday."

Roll Call’s table-setter: “When the Republican National Committee met in Washington, D.C., two years ago, the party was coming off two brutal election cycles and looking for a road map out of the political wilderness. After a highly successful midterm cycle, the circumstances have changed heading into 2012. As the RNC meets in the Washington area again this week, its goal is to begin preparations for a well-funded and organized presidential election cycle. That groundwork starts in earnest Friday with the selection of a chairman to lead the party through the presidential nomination.”

Rothenberg Political Report’s Nathan Gonzales warns, “Republicans are in danger of entering the next stage of redistricting at a significant financial disadvantage thanks to a cash-strapped Republican National Committee and a high-profile outside group that never got off the ground.”

Speaker John Boehner endorsed former Bush official Maria Cino officially for RNC chair. But influence from outside the committee’s 168 members is limited. Case in point, Boehner placed a call last week to a Connecticut committeeman on behalf of Cino, and that committeeman came out for someone else instead.

From NBC's Michael Isikoff
A leading gun-rights advocate says there is no constitutional barrier to restricting the sale of high capacity gun magazines such as the one used by accused Tucson shooter Jared Loughner and that such proposals are justified to prevent "looney tunes" from committing more gun massacres.

Robert A. Levy, who served as co-counsel in the landmark Supreme Court case that established a Second Amendment right to bear arms, said there was no reason the court's decision in that case should apply to the purchase of high-capacity gun magazines.

"I don't see any constitutional bar to regulating high-capacity magazines," Levy said in an interview with NBC. "Justice [Antonin] Scalia made it quite clear some regulations are permitted. The Second Amendment is not absolute."

The comments by Levy, chairman of the board of the libertarian Cato Institute, come as Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York is preparing to circulate a bill tomorrow that would ban the sale or transfer of high-capacity magazines. Supporters took Levy's comments as a sign that at least some gun-rights advocates might be open to the idea.

"For somebody like him to say this is significant," said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Project, a leading gun control group. (Levy was one of the lead lawyers for gun rights in D.C. v. Heller, the 2008 Supreme Court case that overturned Washington D.C.'s ban on handgun ownership and affirmed that the Second Amendment encompassed an individual right to own firearms.)

There is little doubt that any gun-control proposal will face tough sledding in the Congress. A spokesman said today House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is against the idea. One leading gun-rights group, Gun Owners of America, posted a statement on its Web site this week denouncing "liberal politicians flocking like vultures" to gain political advantage from the Tucson tragedy by proposing new gun control measures.

But gun-control groups argue that measures like the one being proposed by McCarthy in the House (and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), who is sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate) are so modest and reasonable that they could gain traction. Law-enforcement officials have noted that Loughner's high-capacity round magazine substantially increased the lethality of his rampage; he was able to get off at least 31 shots without reloading and was only wrestled to the ground when he tried to reload with another high-capacity magazine.

The manufacture of such magazines were prohibited under the 1994 federal assault weapons ban, but that law lapsed in 2004 and gun experts say the sale of such magazines have since proliferated.

President Obama, during his 2008 campaign, had supported reinstating the assault weapons ban, but soon abandoned the idea as politically impractical after taking office. This week, the White House has declined to respond to requests for comment on whether the president would support a restriction on high-capacity magazines.

Although he is strongly opposed to most gun-control measures, Levy said in this case, "as a policy matter," restricting access to high-capacity magazines such as the 33-round ones used by Loughner makes sense.

"It may stop a few of these looney tunes," Levy said. While saying that he saw it as a "close call, he said that that a restriction of "10 to 15 rounds makes sense."

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) and the Conservative Political Action Conference have been targeted by the American Principles Project, specifically Andy Blom, the group’s executive director. Blom is upset over CPAC’s invitation of Daniels to give a keynote speech at the conference honoring Ronald Reagan, because of Daniels’ call for a “truce” on social issues.

Daniels, who describes himself as a “pro-life conservative,” has said it’s a matter of prioritization, which I wrote about yesterday.

Blom chatted briefly in a telephone interview with First Read yesterday afternoon, talking about his misgivings with both CPAC and Daniels.

“We’ve gotten involved because the social conservative movement and social conservative issues are a critical part of the conservative movement,” Blom said.

He added that the invitation of Daniels was a “sign” that the group is “out of line” and “trying to abandon core values. We cannot be a movement without morals and values.”

Blom charged that Daniels shouldn’t be speaking about Reagan, because he’d heard that he didn’t support Reagan for president, that he wanted it to be Richard Lugar (R-IN) instead.

When it was pointed out to him that Daniels worked for Reagan, Blom said he didn’t know that, but that he didn’t feel Daniels was recognizing Reagan’s three-legged stool of conservatism -- fiscal, national security, and social.

(For the record, Daniels eventually became Reagan’s chief political adviser in the White House.)

“The core issue here is there is not a truce on social issues,” Blom said. “The other side does not have a truce. We cannot take this position.”

Responding to Daniels’ point that the economy and long-term debt and deficits should be the top priority, Blom said, “It is certainly true that the economy is a very serious consideration, but that does not allow us to abandon social issues.

“When one side adopts a truce, and the other side doesn’t, that’s called surrender.”

He said he doesn’t yet have a preferred 2012 Republican presidential candidate, but stressed that social issues are key in GOP primaries in Iowa and South Carolina, and that no Republican in the modern era has won the nomination without winning two of those three.

“We have an abundance of candidates who stand not just for very intelligent economic positions,” he said, “but also the complete range of core conservative values. No candidate is going to win the nomination without the social values. … The candidate is going to have to meet the approval of social conservatives.”

From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and Domenico Montanaro
During the first speeches in Congress since the mass shooting in Arizona, gun control, the role of rhetoric, and individual responsibility were brought up.

Members, introducing a resolution honoring Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), largely stuck to honoring the victims. But there were some notable moments of speeches that strayed from that.

California Democrat and veteran Member, Jane Harman, after praising Giffords and recognizing the victims, was the first to bring up gun control.

"Finally, we should revisit sensible federal laws to control access to guns and ammunition," Harman said. "At a minimum I believe we must promptly restore the expired federal ban on extended magazine clips. I personally would urge us also to re-enact the 1994 ban on assault weapons which I was proud to support and bar sales of Saturday night specials."

Indiana Republican Mike Pence, who is considering a presidential run, talked about the political blame game. He and others referred to the suspected shooter as a "single, deranged gunman"

"We must refrain from personal attacks... resist in moments of heartache temptation to assign blame to those we disagree with," Pence said, adding, "No opinion expressed by left or right was to blame for Saturday's attack.... We must resist efforts to suggest otherwise."

That was echoed by Louie Gohmert, a bombastic Texas Republican. "This is no time for assigning blame to anyone but the gunman," he said.

But House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) urged members of Congress to reflect on the role of rhetoric.

"We do not know the specific motive which led the perpetrator of this crime to act," Hoyer said. "Nor can we draw conclusions as to specific causes. But it is a time for us to reflect on the heightened anger being projected in our public debate and the daily denigration of those with whom we disagree. And it is appropriate that the wrenching, shocking, senseless violence of that day compel us all to reflect on our own responsibility to temper our words and respect those with whom we disagree, lest the failure to do so give incitement to the angriest and most unstable among us."

Arizona Republican Ben Quayle, who attracted much attention as a candidate last summer calling Mr. Obama "the worst president in history," gave his first floor speech as a Member of Congress.

"That, Mr. Speaker, peaceful discourse and participation, is a precious part of our society and one of the things that makes our country great," Quayle said, but then added a line that some will see as a subtle defense of the right to hot rhetoric: "We must not allow an act of violence to inhibit the free exchange of thoughts and concerns -- free exchange of thoughts and concerns. The six that lost their lives died because they loved America. They wanted to be involved in the process."

Remember, Quayle's primary saw a lot of hot rhetoric. In addition to his declaration about the president, one of his opponents was Pamela Gorman, who ran a provocative Web ad in which she fires an automatic weapon multiple times.

From NBC's Pete Williams
At a time when some members of Congress are advocating new gun laws and raising questions about the eligibility of the Tucson shooting suspect to buy a gun, it's worth noting that the agency responsible for enforcing federal gun laws has been without a director for more than four years.

Congress changed the law in 2006 to require that directors of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives receive Senate confirmation. Since then, there has been no confirmed director. All have been acting. During the George W. Bush administration, ATF's acting director was a commuter: Michael Sullivan was trying to run the agency, while also serving as the U.S. attorney in Boston.

The Obama White House did not nominate a director, Andrew Traver, until 23 months into the administration. Officials say a major problem was finding someone who would take the job. Several people, who were approached, said they did not want to get caught up in a confirmation process that would be long and tortured, these officials say. Others said even if they could get confirmed, they thought being ATF director would be a career-killer, given that the agency's powers are constantly in danger of being reduced in the face of aggressive lobbying by the National Rifle Association, administration officials say.

Traver, a career agent and chief of the agency's Chicago office, was quickly opposed by the NRA, dooming his prospects for confirmation.

From NBC's Pete Williams
All federal judges in Tucson have taken themselves off the case of Jared Loughner.

A brief order filed late Wednesday by Judge Raner Collins, on behalf of the other Tucson federal judges and magistrate judges, said, "[I]n order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and because a judge has a duty to disqualify him or herself if his or her impartiality could be reasonably questioned, whether or not such impartiality actually exists, this Court must recuse itself."

Judy Clarke, Loughner's defense lawyer, has been notified by a court clerk that if she wants to claim that every federal judge in Arizona should also be disqualified, she must file a motion promptly.