Good morning folks,
As the sun rose on the Supreme Court this morning, lawmakers, politicos, journos, and Americans across the country began the final countdown to its ruling on ObamaCare.
There is little doubt that the Court's decison will have a permant imprint on the Obama presidency and the 2012 presidential campaign. Imagine, for a moment, if Barack Obama spent the first 2 years of his historic Presidency leading a national conversation about economic growth and jobs in the 21st Century, instead of forcing a national conversation about his extremely unpopular and likely unconstitutional signature health care law... one that may not even exist on election day? The commercials practically write themselves.
Or, as said in this Bloomberg piece, “If the Supreme Court takes away from Obama his biggest accomplishment, this is exactly what a president really fears. In some ways, it’s worse than not getting re-elected,” said Julian Zelizer, a presidential historian at Princeton University.
Let's not forget the ObamaCare roll call in the House....
JUDGEMENT DAY
America Awaits: Jake Tapper's evening news piece.
ObamaCare on the ropes with Legal Scholars, via Politico's Jen Haberkorn.
Politico's Win/Loss Scenarios (WHO ELSE WOULD?):
BUZZFEED WINS THE OBAMACARE CHART/GRAPHIC OF THE DAY
The Fix's Six Charts to Explain Health Care Polling
From YG Network's "Woman Up:" The Only Health Care Poll Focused Exclusively on Women.
Obama pulls a Murdoch? Prepares Three Speeches Ahead of Health-Care Ruling
All Quiet in the West Wing: “As the nation’s capital prepared ... the White House was unusually quiet.... [A] White House that so often pre-spins the news has maintained a studied silence about Obama’s plans. His staff won't even say whether he will make a public appearance or statement Thursday, a day he is scheduled to spend in meetings at the White House. ... ‘I cannot speculate on all the various permutations,’ White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said."
What to expect from Mitt Romney via Yahoo's Holly Bailey...
After all the chaos, tweets, instapolls, cable react, watch Mike Allen love on POLITICO LIVESTREAM AT 2 P.M. Editor-in-Chief John Harris and Mike Allen break down the SCOTUS decision live from 2-3 p.m. this afternoon. They’ll get live updates from the Court and the Hill.
ON THE TRAIL...
Romney's Biggest Fan Get's a Romney Ride...
Troubles plague Democratic National Convention, via USA Today.
SHOT: Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, says her party can take a strategy to regaining a House majority that is as simple as A-B-C.
CHASER: "Indeed, if we had to project the House right now, we’d say a net Democratic gain of less than 10 seats. One possible but highly unlikely outcome — at least at this point — is that the Democrats overperform and recapture the House majority by netting 25 or more House seats. And equally unlikely but also possible is this: The Republicans winning their biggest House majority since before the Great Depression." (Sabato's Crystal Ball)
Closest Seats, from the Crystal Ball:
- Democrat-held toss-ups: Illinois 12 (Rep. Jerry Costello retiring); Pennsylvania 12 (Rep. Mark Critz); Rhode Island 1 (Rep. David Cicilline); Utah 4 (Rep. Jim Matheson);
- Republican-held toss-ups: California 52 (Rep. Brian Bilbray); California 7 (Rep. Dan Lungren) & 26 (Rep. Elton Gallegly retiring); Minnesota 8 (Rep. Chip Cravaack); New Hampshire 1 (Rep. Frank Guinta) & 2 (Rep. Charlie Bass); Nevada 3 (Rep. Joe Heck); New York 18 (Rep. Nan Hayworth) & 19 (Rep. Chris Gibson); Ohio 16 (Rep. Jim Renacci [R] running against Rep. Betty Sutton [D]); Texas 23 (Rep. Francisco "Quico" Canseco).
Charlie Rangel - maybe he didn't win? An updated tally yesterday afternoon showed that Rangel’s margin of victory had dwindled from 5 percentage points Tuesday night to 2.8 points — 43.98 percent for the congressman to 41.18 percent for Espaillat, with 93 percent of precincts reporti
CT-05: Maggie’s List, a federal political action committee “dedicated to electing fiscally conservative women,” has announced its endorsement of Lisa Wilson-Foley for Connecticut’s 5th congressional District in CT.
Meanwhile, CT-5 Democrat Candidate Chris Donovan's problems aren't limited to the FBI
And in my home district, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach got a surprise endorsement in his race against Bill Pascrell….
THIS & THAT
Reporters were complaining about Twitter before Twitter Existed...
This Reddit Post By a McDonald's Employee exposes all the secrets you need to, and don't need to know.... Too long? Here's the cheat sheet.
It's Groundhog Day! (In CA)... From Reed Galen
Only in New Jersey: Hallway flatulence leads to gun threat in New Jersey
Is Background noise the key to success?
Carmelo Anthony scares the hell out of fans in the wax museum.
Seize the day....
Brad Dayspring
Senior Advisor- YG Action Fund
@YGActionFund - @BDayspring