Schwarzenegger at Emory University Commencement: “I was also going to give a graduation speech in Arizona this weekend. But with my accent, I was afraid they would try to deport me.”

The NRSC is hosting a fundraising coffee tomorrow morning with the ‘draw’ none other than Sen. John Ensign.

Since he managed to raise only $50 for himself last quarter, I wouldn’t have thought he’d be such a hot draw. But there you go.

Is Arlen Specter toast?

There are three big senate primaries on May 18th — Democratic primaries in Pennsylvania and Arkansas and a Republican one in Kentucky. It’s been clear for some time that the establishment GOP candidate in Kentucky will likely get rocked by Rand Paul — son of Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R). But it’s now looking like the one in Pennsylvania could be the first real political bombshell of the 2010 season. Read More

That’s the total amount the State of Florida paid to George Alan Rekers, disgraced co-founder of the Family Research Council, for his expert testimony on the evils of homosexuality.

We’d originally reported that Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum (and now leading gubernatorial candidate) publicly disclosed $60,000 paid to Rekers. But it turns out that was just the retainer. Florida paid him about another $60,000 for billable hours.

Our Kagan nomination liveblogger Andrew Pincus looks at part two of the SCOTUS nomination process: the interest groups descend.

In the wake of the BP spill, the Obama Administration will propose splitting the Minerals Management Service into two new agencies to separate its oilfield enforcement role from its oilfield leasing role. That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist spent most of 2010 a pitiful figure, falling behind an upstart Tea Party opponent and struggling to remain competitive in a senate primary when only two years before he was a presidential kingmaker and widely viewed as a future vice presidential or even presidential contender. But now he seems to be having if not the last laugh than at least biggest current one. Another poll is out showing Crist not just ahead in a three-way race for Senate but by a significant margin — six points over Marco Rubio and 19 points ahead of Democrat Kendrick Meek. And now Sen. Reid’s office is calling Crist’s office to chat. Read More

On GMA this morning Vice President Biden not only defended Elana Kagan on the silly charge that she’s anti-military but actually said that Kagan “was right” to bar military recruiters from Harvard Law School.

Now, I get the logic of banning military recruiters as a protest of the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law. And it’s not completely clear to me just what Biden meant to say. I think he was just stumbling on his words. But I don’t think it’s sustainable for a sitting Vice President to say that it’s right to ban military recruiters from university campuses. I suspect a walk back is soon to follow.

Greetings folks. We’re currently having some problems with the sign in function at TPM. More details after the jump. Read More

Everybody hates the bailouts — liberals, conservatives and everyone in between. So can anyone admit that they were amazingly successful and cost only a fraction of what people first thought?