Here are ten things you need to know today.
- Sunday shows line-up: Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) will be on NBC’s Meet the Press; Newt Gingrich, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) will be on Fox News Sunday; DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be on CNN’s State of the Union; Pastor Rick Warren will be on ABC’s This Week; an interview with Cardinal Timothy Dolan on religion and politics will air on CBS’s Face the Nation.
- Santorum cancels all Monday events: Rick Santorum cancelled all events Monday so that he and Karen could be in the hospital with Bella, their youngest child who suffers from Trisomy 18. As of now, the campaign has events planned Tuesday through Friday.
- Obama, Romney, set aside politics for Easter weekend: This weekend, President Obama and frontrunner Mitt Romney switched out of campaign mode for a few days to enjoy the holiday weekend with their families. The Romney camp put up a picture of Mitt and Ann decorating Easter eggs with their grandchildren.
- Obama will make national security a campaign issue: Soon, the Obama camp will unleash high profile surrogates to tout Obama’s foreign policy achievements while seeking to portray Mitt Romney as a neophyte who takes multiple sides of the same issue, reports the New York Times.
- Romney, RNC create joint money-raising group: The Romney campaign and the RNC have filed paperwork to create a joint fundraising committee, Romney Victory, Inc., according to paperwork filed to the Federal Election Commission.
- Santorum doesn’t like porn, and the porn industry doesn’t like Santorum: Several porn stars appear in a video defending the porn industry and attacking Santorum for his anti-porn stance.
- Gingrich wants to keep Romney from tacking to the center: Newt Gingrich talks to the Washington Post about why he’s still in the race, saying that he is there to keep his party conservative. People walk up again and again and say, ‘Please stay in and please fight for conservatism,’â” Gingrich said. So, starting with the party’s platform, that’s what he says he’ll do.
- Gingrich on why he refuses to drop out: “The only way I’ll be the nominee is if Romney makes a major mistake and ends up with a number of his delegates saying they just can’t do that,” he told the Washington Post. “On the other hand, that has happened in American history, and as a historian, I’m probably the calmest person about not getting out [of the presidential race] of anyone you know.”
- Portman for VP?: As Mitt Romney all but officially takes the nomination, pundits and journalists are starting to look at Romney’s options for choosing a running mate. And one person who’s been overlooked but seems to have the right qualifications is Ohio Sen. and Romney-backer Rob Portman.
- Santorum to speak at National Rifle Association: Rick Santorum will travel to St. Louis, MO Friday to speak at the annual conference of the National Rifle Association. He will hold events Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Pennsylvania.
