The Oregon Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a bid to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot based on the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban,” saying it’s waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the issue, CNN reports.

“Every campaign takes a certain number of precautions heading into the critical stretch run of a primary. But no one was prepared for the winter hellscape that Mother Nature was about to throw at them in Iowa this week,” Politico reports.

“Republican presidential candidates braced for a once-in-a-decade blizzard on Friday, a bitter forecast that derailed their campaign plans three days before the Iowa caucus — and threatened to drive down turnout on Monday.”

“The forecasted blizzard conditions and nearly a foot of snow on Friday prompted event cancellations for Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, the two contenders fighting for a second-place finish in Iowa. A Donald Trump campaign event featuring Kari Lake as a surrogate was also called off.”

For members: Ice Cold Iowa

“Even if Nikki Haley’s dream scenario comes true—a strong finish in Iowa’s caucuses and an upset win in New Hampshire—she’s going to run headfirst into a lethal obstacle,” the Daily Beast reports.

“Call it the great Trump firewall.”

“After the early primary states, contests loom in late February and early March across a slate of states where the former president has a dominant upper hand—and where anyone else would have to work fast to establish any organization.”

“Donald Trump’s strength in delegate-rich states like Texas, North Carolina, and California—all of which vote on Super Tuesday, March 5—has GOP operatives foreseeing a swift end to this anticlimactic primary campaign, even if Haley, or potentially Ron DeSantis, manage to beat expectations.”

“The only problem with being the Republican presidential frontrunner in 2024 is that voters expect a blowout victory,” Bloomberg reports.

“The outcome of Monday’s Iowa caucuses, the first fight in the quest for the GOP nomination, looks to be in little doubt. Recent polls show former President Donald Trump’s support among Iowans at 51%, dwarfing the backing of his chief rivals, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, Trump’s onetime ambassador to the United Nations.”

“Through decades of political life before he entered the White House, Joe Biden rarely shied from leaning into his public persona as an affable everyman more comfortable in a Dairy Queen than the Situation Room. Now a buttoned-up president who often appears behind a lectern in a suit and tie, Biden is heeding pleas from top advisers to return to his original form,” NBC News reports.

“Biden, these people said, is taking advice from confidants who’ve suggested he try a more casual approach in public to try to ease one of voters’ chief concerns about his 2024 candidacy: his age.”

“That means more informal remarks, unannounced stops at diners and appearances in social media posts and on podcasts, as well as fewer ties and Rose Garden ceremonies. The series of subtle shifts, which aides say they’ve proposed to him in multiple conversations over the past few months, are meant to signal that Biden is more youthful than his 81 years might suggest.”

“No Labels, the centrist organization plotting a potential 2024 presidential ticket, has 13 possible candidates to challenge a rematch of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“The group is expected to determine sometime after March 15 whether to put forward a unity ticket. If Trump appears to be the likely Republican nominee, No Labels is most inclined to announce its choice for a president and vice president alternative.”

Greg Sargent: “Rep. Elise Stefanik no doubt thought it was shrewd to describe the rioters who attacked the Capitol as ‘January 6 hostages.’ This sort of talk hits a sweet trifecta for a GOP leader with seemingly limitless ambition. It reassures the right-wing media that the GOP leadership is fully behind Donald Trump. It fires up the MAGA base’s small-dollar donors. And it infuriates the libs, which excites the right-wing media and MAGA voters all over again.”

“But it turns out vulnerable House Republicans aren’t too thrilled about Stefanik’s barb. The Washington Post reports that many are distancing themselves from it, a sign that being associated with pro-insurrection sentiments is politically dangerous in swing districts across the country.”

“News flash, vulnerable Republicans: This will almost certainly get much worse. If you think some throwaway sound bite designed to pump up Sean Hannity creates political problems for you, what will it mean for you if Trump goes to trial this year or even earns a criminal conviction?”