Maine’s Republican caucus results will be announced today and it’s the last day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Here are ten things you need to know.
- Maine caucuses finish up: Republican caucuses in Maine, which have been going on all week, will be announced Saturday evening. There’s no polling data on the contest there, but Public Policy Polling (D) pollster Tom Jensen published a few thoughts on the race: He said the conventional wisdom is that Romney, who was in Maine on Friday, will do well in the New England state. But Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has campaigned there too and may have the organizing edge. “I’m not making any predictions for tomorrow — I really have no idea — but our past Maine polling certainly suggests some vulnerability for Romney there,” wrote Jensen.
- Palin closes out CPAC: Former Alaska Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin will close out CPAC, speaking at 4:30pm Eastern. The day will also include talks from Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) on the last day of the conservative event.
- Pro-Obama super PAC pushes back hard on Romney’s CPAC speech: Priorities USA Action took Romney task for his speech at CPAC, in which he said “On my watch, we fought hard and prevented Massachusetts from becoming the Las Vegas of gay marriage.” “Mitt Romney’s rehearsed statement comes from a hateful politics of the past that aims to arouse to the prejudices of a few by demeaning the relationships of millions of gay Americans. Unfortunately for Romney, a desperate campaign based on divisive demagoguery is beneath most American voters who instead want their President focused on a stronger economy and better future for all,” said Bill Burton, senior strategist for Priorities USA Action in a release.
- Blunt will address Heritage Foundation on contraception decision Monday: Sen. Roy Blunt will keep up the fight on the Obama Administration’s decision to require all health insurance providers to include contraception free of charge, shifting the onus of coverage from employers to insurers. Republicans have characterized this as an attack on religious freedom, an issues they hope to use in the 2012 election, which Blunt will continue on Monday at 10:30 eastern in a speech to the conservative group.
- CPAC straw poll vote today: Straw poll voting for the Republican nomination will close for CPAC attendees at 1pm, and results (along with a new national poll) will be released at 4:15pm Eastern. The count could provide an indication to whether conservatives are ready to accept Romney as the nominee, or if they want to keep other candidates like Santorum in the race.
- Conservatives ask Romney not to attack Santorum: The Washington Examiner’s Byron York reports that however the GOP presidential contest shakes out from here, conservative opinion leaders asked Romney in a private meeting to not attack Santorum the way he went after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich when he was Mitt’s chief rival. “He said Rick has to be held up to the same scrutiny as everyone else,” York quoted one meeting participant as saying.
- Dems hit Walker on using foreclosure settlement funds to plug budget gap: Wisconsin Democrats are going after Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) for using some of the state’s $143 million portion of the national settlement with financial institutions over their practices during the foreclosure crisis to plug a hole in Wisconsin’s state budget. “Now that they are finally getting some relief from the federal government, Scott Walker is snatching that money to finance his $2.3 billion tax giveaway to millionaires and billionaires. Walker has previously criticized such raids, characterizing them as “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate in a release on Friday. “In this case, Scott Walker is robbing Peter and Paul to pay for his own radical agenda.” Walker faces a likely recall election in 2012.
- Dems say US Chamber buy tipped GOP hand: National Democrats said in an email to reporters that the recent ad buy from the US Chamber of Commerce, a typical ally of Republicans, tipped their hand about the Senate map. Dems charged the ads in North Dakota were to soften the ground for Rep. Rick Berg (R-ND), and that Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)’s clear path to nomination was a major advantage as Republicans face a primary fight there.
- Trump tweets Romney will give a great speech…after the speech: Real estate mogul Donald Trump seemed pretty excited on twitter about Mitt Romney’s speech at CPAC. Unfortunately, he may have missed it. Trump tweeted that Romney was going to give a great one, literally hours after it had already happened. Perhaps someone was on the wrong end of Trump’s signature line “You’re fired” after the snafu.
- New numbers in Michigan next week: Public Policy Polling (D) tweeted that they are in the field in Michigan and nationally, and should be out with numbers at the beginning of next week. Michigan’s Republican presidential primary will be held on February 28th.
