A new Human Events-Gravis Marketing poll in Kentucky finds Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) leading challenger Allison Lundergran Grimes (D) by five points, 42% to 37%.

McConnell also leads GOP primary challenger Matt Bevin (R) by double-digits, 53% to 31%.

A new NBC News/Marist poll finds that nearly seven in 10 Americans say the George Washington Bridge scandal engulfing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s administration hasn’t changed their opinion of him.

Key findings: 18% say the scandal makes them like Christie less, compared with 5% who say it makes them like him more. But a whopping 69% say it hasn’t changed their opinion of the New Jersey governor.

Said pollster Lee Miringoff: “The numbers suggest it’s far from politically fatal for him. This is a developing story, so the extent
of the damage down the road is an open proposition.”

Despite these numbers, Christie has lost ground to Hillary Clinton in an early hypothetical presidential match up. He now trails Clinton by 13 points, 50% to 37% among nationwide voters.

Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA) will retire and not seek re-election, The Hill reports.

“Democrats are hopeful they can compete for McKeon’s slightly Republican-leaning now that he’s retiring. McKeon’s Southern California district leans slightly Republican, and President Obama won 48 percent of the vote there in 2012. Lee Rogers (D), who held McKeon to under 55 percent of the vote in 2012, is running again and had $180,000 in the bank as of the end of September.”

Topic A: Defense: Retirement sets up battle for House Armed Services chairmanship.

Coming this spring: Blue Collar Conservatives by Rick Santorum, who is almost certainly gearing up for another presidential bid.

Former Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) has a new website and it sure looks like he’s running for something.

A new Public Policy Polling survey shows Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) leading Brown in a U.S. Senate match up, 46% to 43%.

First Read: “Here’s something for political reporters and pundits to chew on: It’s more likely that Hillary Clinton would face only gadfly opposition in a 2016 Democratic primary… rather than a competitive challenger. California Gov. Jerry Brown has become the latest Democrat to rule out a presidential bid… Already, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) has said no. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has said he won’t run if Hillary does. And while former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is certainly dipping his toes into the presidential waters, he did the same thing regarding the state’s vacant Senate seat — and remember how that turned out.”

“American politics is full of surprises. But right now, the smart money is on Hillary facing little to no opposition if she runs in 2016.”

Dick Black (R), running in the GOP primary to replace longtime Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), opposed making spousal rape a crime, Mother Jones reports.

He cited the impossibility of convicting a husband accused of raping his wife “when they’re living together, sleeping in the same bed, she’s in a nightie, and so forth.”

Politico says President Obama “has a plan to save the Senate’s tenuous Democratic majority: Sell a populist message, try to make Obamacare work better and raise lots of cash.”

“And unlike previous years when Senate Democrats were mostly left to fight on their own, the White House is wasting no time coordinating its political and policy agenda with congressional leaders and vulnerable lawmakers.”

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said that “he will not run for president in 2016, dashing political speculation that he might make a fourth bid for the White House,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Said Brown: “No, that’s not in the cards. Unfortunately. Actually, California is a lot more governable.”

“When you choose your next national leader, ask them how they’re going to be different than Bush. Ask them how they’re going to be different than Obama.”

— Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D), quoted by MSNBC.