The Washington Post envisions a Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ):

“Booker is no
stranger to Washington. His parents met here. He was born here. He spent
his Christmas breaks from Oxford here. Now a political sensation and
media darling with nearly 1.5 million Twitter followers, the 44-year-old
seems to have been engineered in a political lab to walk the halls of
Congress….He is prepping for the eventual move to the capital with a
nightly audio book appointment with ‘This Town,’ the bestseller by New
York Times reporter Mark Leibovich that paints an unflattering portrait
of official Washington.”

New York Times: “William
C. Thompson Jr. is the sole African-American among the leading
candidates for mayor of New York City, and he has long counted on the
support of black voters to propel him to victory in a crowded Democratic
field. But two weeks from the hotly contested primary election, Mr.
Thompson’s campaign is confronting an unexpected challenge: Bill de
Blasio, a white candidate, has threatened Mr. Thompson’s support among
blacks with his fierce denunciation of the Police
Department’s stop-and-frisk tactics.”

Despite a pledge to steer clear of endorsing incumbents, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has financially backed a handful of Senate Republicans through his PAC, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), whose campaign Cruz said that he would not endorse, the Washington Post reports.

Cruz’s leadership PAC, Jobs Growth and Freedom Fund, “made only five donations in the first six months of its existence, and all of those dollars went to incumbents.”

Former Tennessee U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Kenneth Owens (D) has been arrested in connection with an attempted murder-for-hire plot, WJHL reports.

“Owens was arrested after he met up with the hit man at a sports bar and paid him $500 as down payment to kill his uncle, Ernest ‘Ernie’ Widby. According to the TBI, Owens brought a picture of the intended victim and the victim’s home address. That’s when law enforcement got involved and arrested Owens after the payment was made.”

First Read: “While Ted Cruz and Rand Paul are on the same page when it comes to most issues, there is one BIG different between the two GOP senators: Paul is supporting his fellow senator up for re-election next year (Mitch McConnell), while Cruz isn’t supporting his (John Cornyn).”

“The difference appears to be in the different goals both men may have right now. Rand Paul seems to be intent on trying to take over the GOP and win the internal argument; Ted Cruz seems to be about creating the brand of Ted Cruz and establishing ANTI-party credentials.”

President Obama “has no plans to campaign on behalf of the underdog Democrat in an uphill battle against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and is weighing how much help to give his party’s scandal-enmeshed candidate for governor of Virginia, where Democrats are more bullish about winning,” the AP reports.

“It’s the type of delicate, race-by-race calculation the White House repeatedly will have to make in the 2014, when Obama’s own legacy will be on the line. Next fall, voters will decide whether to elect a Congress that will help Obama achieve his goals for his final two years in office, or whether to elect one that will block him at every turn.”