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Obama Urges Democrats Help Him ‘Finish The Job’
Reuters reports: “President Barack Obama urged Democrats on Thursday to help him “finish the job” at the first events of his 2012 re-election bid, appealing for higher taxes on the wealthy and a rejection of Republican budget policies. Obama, seeking to reignite the energy of supporters that propelled his candidacy in 2008, said ‘extraordinary progress’ has been made during his two years in the White House but ‘we’ve still got work to do.’ ‘If you’re just as fired up now despite the fact that your candidate is a little older and a lot grayer, then I have every confidence that we’re going to be able to finish the job,’ he said.”

Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will depart from Chicago, Illinois, at 12:55 p.m. ET. He will arrive at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:35 p.m. ET, and arrive back the White House at 2:50 p.m. ET. Obama and Vice President Biden will meet at 3:20 p.m. ET with the leadership of the National Conference of State Legislators.

Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will meet at 1 p.m. ET with Budget Director Jacob Lew, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling, and senior advisers to discuss fiscal policy. At 3:20 p.m. ET, Obama and Biden will meet at 3:20 p.m. ET with the leadership of the National Conference of State Legislators.

Clinton Warns Against Hasty Afghan Withdrawal
Reuters reports: “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday backed further away from a US timeline to start pulling troops from Afghanistan in July, warning “political expediency” would benefit the Taliban. Speaking at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Berlin, Clinton also warned of a ‘violent spring fighting season’ in Afghanistan as the Taliban try to exert themselves in areas where Afghan forces are due to assume control. ‘We have to steel ourselves and our publics for the possibility that the Taliban will resort to the most destructive and sensational attacks we have seen,’ she said.”

White House To Gang Of Six: Wrap Up Work On Deficit-Reduction Plan
The Hill reports: “Senate Democrats and the White House are pressuring Republican members of the Gang of Six to reach an agreement on a deficit-reduction package so it can be used as a credible alternative to the budget unveiled last week by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), according to Senate sources…’They’re impatient and I don’t blame them,’ said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the Gang of Six, when asked about the White House’s efforts to push the talks along. ‘Let’s look back at the healthcare debate. There was a study group there that never finished.'”

No-Tax-Hike Pledge Creates Republican Rift, Potential Roadblock To Deficit Deal
The Washington Post reports: “Republicans are feuding over whether to abandon the party’s long-held opposition to higher taxes in pursuit of a deficit-cutting deal with Democrats. The rift in the Republican ranks has surfaced in a bitter back-and-forth between two heroes of the conservative movement: Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who has been working with a bipartisan group of senators on a compromise to reduce government borrowing, and Grover Norquist, author of the no-tax-increase pledge that has become a rite of passage for GOP candidates. At stake is a pillar of Republican orthodoxy that has for decades united every wing of the party in a quest to shrink government’s reach.”

Independent Groups Expected To Rake In Hundreds Of Millions
CNN reports: “As President Barack Obama kicks off the 2012 money race with a series of well-publicized re-election fundraisers in Chicago, Democratic operatives are quietly crisscrossing the nation to raise big money for new independent expenditure groups. All told, these Democratic third-party groups aim to raise up to $200 million in outside money — that’s in addition to the $1 billion Obama’s fundraisers set as their campaign goal. The number and size of the independent expenditure groups ballooned last year, thanks in part a Supreme Court ruling that allows unlimited contributions by corporations.”

Barack Obama Reelect’s First Job: Reconnect
Politico reports: “President Barack Obama’s fledgling reelection campaign is building a volunteer network with the audacious goal of contacting every single person who voted for him in 2008, as part of a reinvented voter outreach that will be as focused on smart phones in 2012 as it was on text messages last time. Strategists plan to customize videos and other messages for the iPhones and other mobile devices of targeted groups of voters. They also envision “virtual networks” among supporters’ friends and families, so that millions of people will feel a personal connection to the campaign.”

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