Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), who may run for president in 2016, said Hillary Clinton’s potential White House bid won’t intimidate others from seeking the office, Bloomberg reports.

Said Portman: “The Democratic Party is more populist and more liberal than it was when she ran last time, and yet she’s more mainstream. It is no longer the party of Bill Clinton.”

First Read: “When looking at the potential 2016 GOP field, here’s a question to ponder: Who looks stronger today than at the beginning of the year?”

“It’s not Chris Christie (whose administration has been besieged by the Bridge-gate scandal). It’s not Jeb Bush (consider how his ‘act of love’ statement would be playing right now during this current immigration debate if he were running for president). It’s not Scott Walker (who got bad headlines from the release of those John Doe documents, though the prosecutor walking things back is a temporary help). And even though he’s had a bit of Inside-the-Beltway renaissance, it’s not Marco Rubio (if Eric Cantor’s support for a limited Dream Act took him down in his GOP primary, think of how Rubio’s authorship of the ‘Gang of 8’ could play out in 2015-2016). No, the person who’s arguably had the strongest 2014 — and remember we’re still a year away from the contest beginning — is Rand Paul.”

Kyle Kondik: “With the primary season more than half over, it’s fair to say that incumbents have done just fine this cycle so far: better than fine, in fact.”

“So far this cycle, 273 of 275 House incumbents who wanted another term have been renominated, and 18 of 18 Senate incumbents. That includes results from the 31 states that have held their initial primaries; while a few of those states — Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina — have runoffs coming up later this month, those overtime elections for House or Senate seats are all in open seats. This is a better performance than the postwar averages in both chambers.”

Failed Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin (R) is out with a new book, Firing Back.

Politico: “Two years after the Missouri Republican’s comments on rape, pregnancy and abortion doomed his campaign and fueled a ‘war on women’ message that carried Democrats to victory in the Senate, one of the few regrets he mentions in a new book is the decision to air a campaign ad apologizing for his remarks.”

Writes Akin: “By asking the public at large for forgiveness, I was validating the willful misinterpretation of what I had said.”

A new SurveyUSA poll in Florida shows Gov. Rick Scott (R) edging challenger Charlie Crist (D) in the race for governor, 45% to 43%.

A new WMUR Granite State Poll in New Hampshire finds Sen Jeanne Shaheen (D) with a comfortable 12-point lead over Scott Brown (R), double what it was in April when Brown made his candidacy official.

The Fix: “So far in the 2014 election cycle, 114 super PACs have spent money on federal races, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Yes, 114. And that’s before the primary season is over. Those 114 super PACs have spent $77.8 million so far — a number that will jump up after the groups submit their latest Federal Election Commission filings next week. The top five super PAC spenders this year have spent $38.3 million of that total. In total, 23 super PACs have spent more than $1 million.”

A new Impact Management Group poll in Arkansas shows Rep. Tom Cotton (R) leading Sen. Mark Pryor (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 47% to 43%.

“With four months to go until this year’s midterm elections, perhaps the only thing clear about the fight for the Senate is that it will pose challenges to public polling,” Nate Cohn reports.

“There’s always the possibility that the polls could miss the outcome in a close contest. Polls have missed the result in three close Senate races in the last two cycles. But this year is particularly challenging. The rapid growth of partisan polls has contaminated the polling averages in states where surveying public opinion is already difficult. Many of these partisan polls employ dubious weighting and sampling practices. The combination will make it even harder for polls to nail the result.”